Abstract This paper reports on an aspect of a 2016 masters study which addresses the research question: what knowledge and skills do humanities librarians require to effectively provide support to postgraduate students in the digital age? The study adopted a qualitative approach using a multiple case study design, within a constructivist paradigm, to respond to the research question, with core competency theory used to provide theoretical support. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with purposively sampled librarians and postgraduate students from Stellenbosch University, the University of Cape Town and the University of the Western Cape, all of which are situated in the Western Cape of South Africa. A significant finding of the study is that a mixture of discipline-specific knowledge and skills, generic skills and personal attributes are required by humanities librarians to effectively support postgraduate students, especially in the current digital age. The study presents a knowledge and skills framework that could be used to ascertain humanities librarians’ current knowledge and skills as well as establish areas for further knowledge and skills acquisition.

中文翻译：

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人文图书馆员支持研究生的知识和技能能力

摘要本文针对2016年硕士研究的一个方面进行了报告，该研究解决了以下研究问题：人文馆员需要哪些知识和技能才能有效地为数字时代的研究生提供支持？该研究在建构主义范式下采用了多案例研究设计的定性方法，以回应研究问题，并使用核心能力理论提供理论支持。数据是通过半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论与来自斯泰伦博斯大学，开普敦大学和西开普大学的有意抽样的馆员和研究生进行收集的，所有这些都位于南非的西开普。这项研究的一项重要发现是，特定学科的知识和技能混合在一起，人文图书馆员需要通用技能和个人属性来有效地支持研究生，尤其是在当前的数字时代。该研究提出了一个知识和技能框架，可用于确定人文馆员的当前知识和技能，并为进一步获得知识和技能奠定基础。