The librarian and the information scientist: Different perceptions among Israeli information science students

This study examined the perceptions of 118 undergraduate information science students enrolled in three different higher education programs in Israel. The classical roles traditionally performed in libraries are still perceived as tasks of the librarian. Tasks related to information itself, such as information retrieval (building, operating, and managing Web sites), information filtering, and matching processed information to the client’s personal profile are ascribed to the information scientist. In the three different programs, students perceive the professional image of the information scientist as ranked more highly than that of the librarian. If students are to have a broad and positive perspective of their profession, then perhaps there is a need to emphasize the technical topics that are related to the role of the information scientist, as well as those related to the traditional roles of the librarian. D 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.