Mentoring in library and information services: A literature review and report on recent research

Abstract

The article presents an overview of recent developments in mentoring in the library and information services (LIS) community in the United Kingdom (UK). The article discusses the concept of mentoring, provides a review of relevant literature and summarises a recent fourteen‐month project (May 1995‐July 1996) investigating mentoring as a staff development tool. The project was funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre (BLRIC) and was carried out by the Centre for Information Research and Training (CIRT) in the School of Information Studies at the University of Central England in Birmingham (UCE). Project results relevant to academic libraries are particularly drawn out in this article. The article makes some comparisons between findings in the general literature on mentoring and findings in the recent Birmingham research. It concludes with a discussion of some possible advances in mentoring in the UK LIS community, and a substantial bibliography.