PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the self-perceptions of university information professionals about the current state of their soft skills and to highlight the barriers faced in the development of such skills.Design/methodology/approachA sequential mixed method research design using a questionnaire followed by in-depth interviews as data collection tools were used to achieve the objectives of the study. Self-completion questionnaires were used to collect the data from 560 respondents spread over 33 universities of Pakistan. Then, 21 interviews were conducted with purposely selected library and information professionals at the qualitative phase.FindingsThe findings of the survey revealed that the majority of the information professionals perceived themselves “moderately competent” in soft skills. Only 14.8% information professionals considered themselves “competent”. The qualitative findings revealed that university library and information professionals generally faced several barriers in the development of their soft skills that included “lack of administrative support”, “lack of personal commitment”, “lack of financial support by the parent organizations”, and so many others, which might have affected their current levels of soft skills.Research limitations/implicationsThe possible limitation of this study may be the bias of the respondents, toward their self-judgment. During interviews, most of the assistant librarians were not comfortable and expressive. This might be due to lack of soft skills knowledge, interview anxiety and poor communication skills.Originality/valueThis research is the first study in Pakistan that dealt with the state of soft skills and barriers in its development among university library and information professionals having a large number (N = 372) of respondents.

中文翻译：

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信息专业人员的软技能现状及发展障碍：一项混合方法研究

目的本研究的目的是调查大学信息专业人员对其软技能现状的自我认知，并强调在发展此类技能时面临的障碍。设计/方法/方法使用问卷的顺序混合方法研究设计随后进行了深入访谈，因为数据收集工具被用来实现研究的目标。自我完成问卷用于收集分布在巴基斯坦 33 所大学的 560 名受访者的数据。然后，在定性阶段对特意选择的图书馆和信息专业人士进行了 21 次访谈。调查结果调查结果显示，大多数信息专业人士认为自己在软技能方面“中等胜任”。只有 14 个。8% 的信息专业人员认为自己“有能力”。定性调查结果显示，高校图书馆和信息专业人士在发展软技能方面普遍面临若干障碍，包括“缺乏行政支持”、“缺乏个人承诺”、“缺乏上级组织的财政支持”等。许多其他人，这可能影响了他们目前的软技能水平。研究限制/影响本研究的可能限制可能是受访者对自我判断的偏见。在采访过程中，大多数助理馆员都不太自在，也不太善于表达。这可能是由于缺乏软技能知识、面试焦虑和沟通能力差。