Information professionals perform various tasks in corporate libraries, but, generally speaking, parent organizations can invest only limited management resources in such libraries. Therefore, parent organizations are not able to allocate equal management resources to every job. The purpose of this study was to both analyze the performance situation of jobs and evaluate the specialty tasks performed by information professionals in order to help them distribute and utilize these limited management resources effectively. We hypothesized that it is becoming increasingly important for information professionals in corporate libraries to perform two tasks: provision of a positive and direct information service and provision of an administrative service. We distributed a questionnaire to clarify this hypothesis. Two results were revealed. First, the service of performing information searches using information technology was valued more highly than any other task by information professionals. Second, they considered that their other tasks did not meet the criteria of "important" jobs. We then interviewed the staff of two corporate libraries in regard to five tasks regarded as lacking in importance, including the planning of Internet and Intranet content for the library section of the company and the performing of user-oriented information analysis. We found that these five tasks were likely to gradually increase in importance in future.

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The Hospital Librarian Credentials Program and JMLA Health Sciences Information Professional (JHIP) Credentials Program have recently been discussed on credentialing for librarians engaged in medical or hospital libraries. The former program was not brought to realization, while the latter was approved in 2003 and the following year began to turn out graduating qualified persons. This study examined the two credentialing programs from the viewpoint of comparative research and inquired into the significance and problems of the programs by looking into their backgrounds, aiming at an investigation of the credentialing program in the future. The results suggested that a main contributing factor of the establishment of the program was a lack of professional education for librarians in medical and hospital libraries and it was this lack that encouraged the librarians' aspirations. The results also suggested the significance of the two programs as an attempt on credentials program made by a private organization for librarians in a specialized field, showing that the two programs not only clarified the necessity for librarians in medical or hospital libraries but sought a means of credentialing possible of realization. The results indicated, on the other hand, that the credentials program needs its gradual improvement and clear statement concerning its learning area.

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