Career in data librarianship for library and information science (LIS) professionals in Nigeria

Abstract

With the high rate of unemployment presently experienced in Nigeria, library and information professionals can expand their employment chances by creating jobs for themselves. One career option which is largely unexplored in Nigeria is data librarianship. This paper highlights data librarianship as a career opportunity for library and information science professionals in Nigeria. The paper adopted a narrative literature research design. From the literature, the concepts of data librarianship and data librarian were defined. The paper examines some factors that make a career in data librarianship for LIS professionals in Nigeria worthwhile. It also highlights some responsibilities of data librarians and some of the training needs of data librarians. The paper concludes by noting that the high level of unemployment in Nigeria makes it imperative that information professionals explore opportunities for self-employment, observing that advancements in technology have opened up opportunities that have hitherto not been explored. Finally, the paper proffers some useful recommendations including the introduction of data librarianship into the Nigeria LIS curricula and the development of skillsets by librarians to enable them to position themselves for a successful career in data librarianship.