In our paper we present an experimental study which investigated the possibility to projec the need for information specialists serving knowledge workers in knowledge industries on the basis of an average university library serving their counterparts at a university. Informati  management functions, i.e. functions and processes related to information evaluation, acquisition, metadata creation, etc., performed in an average university library are the starting point of this investigation. The fundamental assumption is that these functions do not only occur in libraries but also in other contexts like, for instance, in knowledge industries. As a consequence, we try to estimate the need for information professionals in knowledge industries by means of quantitative methods from library and information science Library Planning Model) and economics (input output analysis, occupational analysi\. Our study confirms the validity of our assumption. Accordingly, the number of information specialists projected on the basis of university libraries is consistent with their actual number reported in national statistics. However, in order to attain a close fit, we had to revise the original research model by dismissing the split-up of information specialists into reader services and technical services staff