Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the employment of graduates majoring in Library and Information Science(LIS) in K University, to identify problems in the employment of those graduates, and to propose approaches to improve employment. Among 178 graduates getting a job for five years from August 2006 to February 2011, 65% of them was employed, 32% was not employed, and 3% continued further study, The 116 graduates employed were analyzed. The results revealed that 40% are full-time employees and 60% are part-time workers. For workplace types, 29% worked in general companies and 16% worked in public libraries. 10% worked in school libraries and college libraries. Those who worked in administrative divisions in colleges or schools comprised 9%. Those who worked in public organizations and publishing companies/bookstores were 6% each. 5% worked in specialized libraries. In the case of duties, 38% were librarians. 30% were engaged in office work. Those in sales/administration were 7%. Tellers/salesperson comprised 7%. 5% worked as teaching assistants and 3% worked in the web or in IT related businesses. Those who worked in private institutes and product planning/design comprised 2% each. Teacher librarians, day care center teachers, secretaries, company newsletter reporters, soldiers and self-employed workers were 1% for each. As a result, the major congruence was around 40%. For the career which the (56) unemployed desired, 57% prepared themselves for employment and 21% prepared for Civil Service Examination. Those who prepared for teacher recruit examination and who weren't confirmed were 11% for each. The problems identified were high unemployment to 32%, higher employment as part-time workers than full-time workers, and major congruence of just around 40%. As the results, the study proposes that the national and local authorities should actively create jobs, make the students majoring in LIS have the opportunity to understand and experience jobs related to information science, develop jobs related to LIS on the academic level and provide guidance to graduates.