REIVETION OF INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS IN THE DIGITAL ERA: THE KENYAN CONTEXT

Abstract

In the information ociety of which Kenya i an integral part, the government must respond to public information need by re-engineering information profe sionals, if it is to achieve and maintain it educational social and economic development. This i becau e the worldwide development of information has accelerated dramatically over the pa t few decades due to application and use of computers to proces , preserve and dis eminate information specifically cientific information for national development. Thi paper develops a the i that propose that, in order to meet the irnrnen e development challenge of the countr , the wide pread and innovative u e of knowledge and information i e ential. Thu, the reinvention of information profe ional in the digital era will trengthen local capacity to ynthesize, adopt and tran late relevant parts of global knowledge into local use. This can be done by boo ting information professional's education to empower them in the digital era. The paper further propose that using the three chool of: information technology (IT), economic and behavioural, can timulate and orchc trate information prole ional to be proactiv in the creation, haring and u e of knowledge a a resource. The paper further recommend that the information professional in the digital era must be equipped with modern professional kill, innate skill and a wide range of IT kills in order to survive in a dynamic digital environment. - Key word: knowledge; Digital era; Information profes ional . Kenya, Economic development.