Communicative competence: an administrative competence for contemporary librarian

Abstract

Introduction: This ongoing study asks about administrative skills to enable librarian manager's their libraries on current complex societies, considering that Administrative Science has renewed its theoretical framework to conceive organizational structures more flexible and collaborative in their arrangements and decisions.
Objective: Propose the communicative competence as a fundamental element to contemporary administrative librarianship competence.
Methodology: Literature review on management methods and Brazilian librarians skills in administration and their origins. Literature review on managing alternatives based on the theories of Habermas and Luhmann to contemplate ways of managing in complex societies.
Results : Limitations in librarians administrative skills were detected. Their model methods still grounded in public libraries, as they emerged in nineteenth century, when the training of librarians took the path of technical work on documentary process. Actually it becomes precarious their management skills. Among the administrative skills to reconfigure libraries contemporary shows up, as a first result of this research, the communicative competence, as a typical skill of a Discursive Management, which open argumentative spaces towards a rational and consensual library model reconstruction fitting to complex societies.
Conclusions: Efforts to ensure librarians administrative competence should include their communicative competence as a fundamental skill to formulate new models for libraries in complex societies.