IT skills among LIS professionals of medical libraries in India and Iran: A comparative study

Abstract

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to elicit IT skills needed for LIS professionals working in medical, dental,

and pharmacy colleges affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) in Karnataka, India; and Ministry

of Health and Medical Education and Islamic Azad University (MOHME & IAU), Iran. Results revealed that all the skills

listed under IT basics and, internet were considered important by medical librarians in India and Iran. However, skills in

working with non-popular software packages in areas such as presentation, publishing, and email were considered as

unimportant. Concludes that Iranian LIS professionals’ IT skills requirement was higher than that of Indian LIS

professionals. Iranian professionals attributed more importance to the ability to use non-popular software packages in some

areas, such as electronic mail, publishing, presentation, and databases than their Indian counterparts did.