Abstract:

The University of Library Studies and Information Technologies has a long tradition in training specialists for the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) industry. We have always worked in direct connection with the needs of the labor market. The university offers practice-oriented education, with a focus and structure of the learning content corresponding to the changing environment. An interactive approach is used in teaching and application of modern technologies in teaching. The creative and analytical thinking of the students is stimulated and they become active participants in the process of acquiring knowledge. We are working to increase the level of readiness for work in the dynamically changing modern environment. Through educational practice and adapted pedagogical approaches, current professional expertise is developed.

In the GLAM industry in the last decade there is a shortage of trained specialists in archival and documentary studies. On the one hand, highly qualified staff is needed, satisfying the needs of the constantly changing information environment. Оn the other hand, it is necessary to increase the prestige of the specialists and to work for the maximum real financial assessment of their skills.

The report presents the results of a survey conducted within the project "Information Portal for Archival-Documentary Heritage of the Bulgarian Revival" (Contract № KP-06-N 25/2, 13.12.2018 with Annex FNI-2912, 17.12.2020, National Science Fund of Ministry of Education and Science), where the attitudes of bachelor students of the specialty Archival and Documentary Studies for their professional realization in GLAM industry are also examined.

A survey was conducted in an online environment in the period 04-14 March 2021 among students majoring in full-time and part-time education programmes. The rate of 91.3% of the currently studying students took part in the survey, which gives a high representativeness of the research. Some of the results of the survey are presented and interpreted in this report.

The attitudes for professional realization of the students of the specialty of Archival and Documentary Studies are determined both by motivational (social psychological) factors for choice and training in the specialty by individual personality characteristics (individual - professional factors) and by parameters of the learning process at the university (institutional - educational factors). The results of our study show that the trend for implementation in the field of archival institutions is leading. Financial satisfaction among the respondents is not one of the leading factors for choosing a field for professional realization. It has been displaced by the intrinsic motivation to work in an institution that preserves the history and memory of the nation.

Keywords:

Attitudes, professional realization, archival and documentation studies, Bulgaria, University of Library Studies and Information Technologies.