Mid Sweden University

Archivists have many times been compared with librarians, which is done in this master thesis. The two professions have changed in recent years. One of the reasons is digital development. The digital age has changed the way people live and the need of information, but also processes within organisational structures. In order to be able to provide relevant and efficient services, the archives and libraries have strived for new skills that are useful in the digital environment. Therefore, the need of competence has increased. There are different types of knowledge required of archivists and librarians, but both have their theoretical knowledge from information science. Through digital development, similar interests can be developed that can be a good reason for collaboration between the two professions. The purpose of the study is to see how the two professions have changed as a result of the digitalisation. Literature studies provide a long-term perspective, which provides an opportunity to see how well something has been discussed and relevant to research that has been conducted. Therefore, the study uses this approach. Literature that has been searched for was limited between the years 2000 to 2020. Assessment of the relevance of literature is done by reading through the abstract and title from searches results in databases. The study collects a total of 40 literature for analysis. Theory of profession is used as a tool to analyse the result. In archival research and information science, digital curation has emerged. The concept is about the availability and usability of data in a long-term perspective. There is a connection to the concept for both archivists and librarians. Digital data needs to be planned and managed at an early stage, to ensure the life cycle of records. Leadership in archives and libraries is something that has developed more, because project management has become important for developing services and the profession. This may be due to threats about the relevance of the professions, but it can also be about being able to develop better services, strategy and different standards, which are more adapted to the digital possibilities. Collaboration between archivists and librarians can be useful in projects where the focus is on developing data management and services, also for promoting research and accessibility and in terms of assisting researchers in their research with information retrieval. Further studies can focus more deeply on areas of expertise that are being developed, which are relevant for both archivists and librarians.