Information professionals in the Algarve Region: 2020-2025

Abstract

In the context of the Information Society and national and European strategies for digital transition for the decade 2020-2030, information management is of critical importance to organizations, which increasingly depend on qualified information professionals. Five years after the collection of the first solid data on information professionals in the Algarve Region, a new survey is being conducted to identify and characterize them, using a comparative approach between 2020 and 2025, seeking to determine their number, gender, age, training, and professional category.

This is a descriptive and explanatory study, guided by a pragmatic paradigm and based on mixed methods, using documentary research and a questionnaire survey, conducted in May 2025, which seeks to answer the following research question: Who works in information management as their profession in the archives of the Algarve Region between 2020 and 2025? In terms of results, it was possible to identify 162 information professionals, 25,3% of whom have specialized higher education in the field of information science, and the majority of whom are in the professional career of technical assistant. In conclusion, this is a population with a marked feminization and aging.