Tracing the Core Competencies of Librarians Working in Government Aided General Degree Colleges of Cooch Behar District, West Bengal

The Iceberg Model Approach

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the present status of core competencies among the librarians working
in government-aided general degree colleges in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. The
Competencies Iceberg Model, which serves as the guiding framework, distinguishes between visible
and invisible competencies, it designed to rank the individual librarians in the government-aided
general degree college libraries of the Cooch Behar district. This study employed a survey method
using a structured questionnaire, followed by face-to-face interviews to collect authentic data.
David McClelland’s Competencies Iceberg Model (1973) was used to measure the core competencies of librarians, while ALA’s Core Competencies in Librarianship (2023) was used to assign scores utilizing its 9 different indicators. Finally, a scoring system was developed based on revised Bloom's Taxonomy (2001) to assess and categorize the responses. By applying the Iceberg Model (1973), this study provides a comprehensive assessment of librarians' competencies and tries to find out their areas of further improvement of their day-to-day library services inthe government-aided general degree college libraries of Cooch Behar district, West Bengal.