Soft skills for University Library Staff in Thailand

This research study was aimed to evaluate the soft skills for university staff in Thailand and to investigate the developing methods of soft skills for the University library staff of Khon Kaen University. The sample size was determined following the table of Kerjcie and Morgan. The 149 participants were selected by way of stratified random sampling according to work experience. Questionnaire was also utilized to survey the current situation and the need for developing soft skills for library staff of Khon Kaen University in seven aspects which were : 1) Communication skills 2) Thinking skills and problem solving skills 3) Teamwork force 4) Life-long learning, and information management 5) Innovation development 6) Ethics and professionalism 7) Leadership skills. For the qualitative data obtained from interviewing the library staff, it involved the sequence of the developing requirement of soft skills and the components of developing the program to enhance soft skills. The findings revealed that the behavioral level of soft skills of the library staff were entirely moderate ((x) over bar = 69.63). When considering the specific components, it was found that the innovation development was the skill that showed the least behavioral level ((x) over bar = 7.14) and followed by Communication skills ((x) over bar = 8.06), Thinking skills and problem solving skills, and Leadership skills ((x) over bar = 8.55). It was also found that the three primary skills that require development for the staff consisted of Communication skills, Thinking skills and problem solving skills, and Life-long learning and information management whilst the developing method of soft skills for the library staff employed an innovation development as a main principle integrating with Communication skills, Thinking skills and problem solving skills, and Life-long learning and information management (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.