Analysis of Librarians’ Personal Knowledge Management

The purpose of this study was to identify the dimensions of personal knowledge management and to evaluate the status of personal knowledge management skills of librarians in central libraries of public libraries in Tehran.

This is purpose-based research and is qualitative-quantitative research based on the method and how to obtain the required data. The statistical population of this research in the qualitative section is individuals who have had a background in personal knowledge management and research, and in the quantitative section, it is the staff and librarians of central libraries of public universities in Tehran. A researcher-made questionnaire consisting of seven components of retrieval, evaluation, organization, collaboration, analysis, information provision, and information security was used to evaluate personal knowledge management. Cronbach's alpha reliability was 0.8.

Among the elements of librarians’ personal knowledge management in central libraries of state universities in Tehran, the component analysis has been at the relatively desired level, and other studied components were at the desired level. There is a significant relationship between personal knowledge management skills, but there is no significant difference between gender, age, and background with personal knowledge management skills.

Personal knowledge management serves as a viable tool for academic libraries, through which they can improve their services and retain their capacity. Personal knowledge management skills seem to need instruction. Because librarians, as well as other people with no personal knowledge management skills, are unable to improve their position in the library, they need to learn the basics of personal knowledge management. Learning and identification of librarians’ personal knowledge management skills will help them learn more about improving those skills; and library officials and academic community will be persuaded to pay more attention to the tools and techniques of personal knowledge management. Therefore, library managers and universities must be planned to be trained in this case.