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Recent rapid changes in the LIS profession have forced realignment of organisational structures. Professional staff are no longer guaranteed opportunities for advancement, and the rate at which career plateaux are attained within LIS is accelerating. LIS professionals must, therefore, be proactive in seeking out continuing professional development. The Management of Library and Information Services programme offered via distance learning at the University of Wales Aberystwyth is the solution for many professionals to acquire both the skills and the academic credentials necessary to compete in the changing LIS marketplace.

Reports a survey undertaken in 2001 which examined employee satisfaction and customer orientation in a sample of six public library authorities in London. It forms part of a larger investigation into the evolution of internal marketing within these organisations.

This paper reviews some of the current issues with regard to demonstrating quality of service provision in academic libraries. The need to discover an effective means of measuring the impact of library services on the academic community is identified and discussed. Research into organisational effectiveness is reviewed, to assess its applicability to assessing quality of service provision. It is argued that libraries need to adopt a marketing orientation in measuring quality and performance. Scorecard models used currently in the private sector are outlined and their usefulness to the management of public sector libraries evaluated. The authors recommend the employment of the Balanced Scorecard as a means of demonstrating quality in academic libraries and the degree to which such services are responsive to the needs to their customers/stakeholders.

Examines the concept of the street corner university, and assesses the political, social and marketing implications of such a concept being adopted as a vision for the UK public library service. Current views regarding the provision of public library services are explored from the perspectives of Government and the profession. Issues regarding equity of provision and the role of the library service promoting policies of social inclusion are discussed and evaluated. Concludes that, unless the public library service can meet the challenges facing it, it will become increasingly marginalized within society. The dominant paradigms of the profession must be viewed as complementary rather than contradictory, and the successes of the present reconciled with visions of the future, if the true potential of both the street corner university concept and the public library service is to be achieved.

Reviews the literature which discusses the link between service quality and service delivery, and the recognition that employees are a critical factor in determining the success of the service exchange and customer satisfaction. Reports a study of a sample of public librarians in London using semi‐structured questionnaires, unobtrusive observation, and an analysis of mission statements. The results suggest that a planned internal marketing programme may help to improve the success of public library services.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/01435129810213343. When citing the article, please cite: Thea Farley, Judith Broady-Preston, Tim Hayward, (1998), “Academic libraries, people and change: a case study of the 1990s”, Library Management, Vol. 19 Iss 4 pp. 238 - 251.

The purpose of this paper is to review the contemporary theories of professionalism, together with an assessment of the complex factors resulting in a fundamental re‐examination of the nature and role of the information profession (IP) in contemporary society.

A combination of strong structuration and social identity theories is suggested as a suitable methodological framework for determining the meaning of “professionalism” within the context of the contemporary IP.

The future of the IP is by no means assured, and further empirical studies need to be undertaken to map the extent of change and the degree to which this is a matter of concern.

This paper outlines a suitable methodological approach for future studies, together with a review of key factors impinging on the contemporary IP.

This methodological framework has been utilised in related studies of cognate professions, but not thus far applied to IP.