Technical skills for new digital librarians
| Date | 18 October 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419051111187851 |
| Pages | 11-15 |
| Published date | 18 October 2011 |
| Author | Elías Tzoc,John Millard |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
I. Introduction
Over the last decade, libraries,
archives and museums have made a
major contribution to the creation of
historical digital collections which
subsequently provide immediate access
to primary source materials that might
otherwise be unavailable to researchers,
scholars, and the general public. A typical
workflow for a digital collection project
includes processes such as: digitization,
conversion and loading data (often in
batch), exporting and parsing metadata,
and designingweb sites.
Two main benefits of digital
collections are:
(1) access – whereby institutions can
provide multiple and simultaneous
users with remote access to a variety
of digital objects, including
photographs, manuscripts, books,
etc.; and
(2) preservation – whereby a digital
copy can help preserve the original
objects.
Because of the constant changes in
technology, librarians working on
digital collection projects need to
constantly evaluate their access and
preservation practices.
This article aims to analyz e the
current technical skills being sought
for digital librarian positions by
examining the required and preferred
qualifications listed in 43 position
announcements posted in 2010, and to
explore how well topics – offered by
seven major Library and Information
Science (LIS) programs in 2010 – have
matched these qualifications.
II. Literature review
In an ever-changing technology
landscape, the capacity to learn
constantly and quickly is more relevant
than ever, and is the primary motivation
of this study. Similar studies to this one
exist in the literature, both as planning
tools for hiring administrators on what
skills are likely to be needed as libraries
change and evolve, or as advice for
those new librarians seeking positions in
these evolving roles. However, not
many have explored the special case of
positions focused on digital library
development. In 2004, Marion (2000)
conducted an exploratory study that
analyzed 250 online academic librarian
employment ads posted during 2000 to
determine current requirements for
technologically oriented jobs. Marion
organized the results into different
categories, and two of those categories
seem relevant to this study:
programming languages and web site
creation.
Perhaps the bestattempt at addressing
digital library competencies, Choi and
Rasmussen (2006) conducted a survey
for their 2006article: “What is needed to
educate future digital libr arians” to
identify their skills and to detect
possible gaps in their training. The
authors concluded “LISeducation needs
to pay attention to [...] integration of
practical skills and experience with
digital collection management and
digital technologies into curricula.”
In 2007, Tammaro (2007) analyzed
the trends for digital library education in
Europe. Although the focus of this work
was about a “curriculum for digital
librarians,” the first set of competencies
(information architecture, information
retrieval, web-publishing, database
theory, networking, human computer
interaction, evaluation of information
systems, and technical troubleshooting
skills) are directly related to what this
study plans to examine in the list of
technical courses currently offered in
library programs. Most recently, in the
Spring of 2009, Mathews and Pardue
(2009) conducted a five-month study to
analyze the IT skills that employers were
looking for when posting job ads in
ALA’s online JobLIST.
III. Methodology
Basedinpartonthisliterature
review, a twofold data collection
methodology was developed that
compared the required and desired
technical skills as expressed in position
announcements and the skills currently
being taught in major LIS programs.
A common set of categories was
developed to account for variations in
wording and specific implementations
of a technology.
3.1 Data collection
Analysis of required and preferred
qualifications:to ensure the most current
data, a 12-month periodwas selected for
analysis, from January to December
2010. Data were collected from five
sources: ALA JobLIST, job
opportunities from EDUCAUSE,
LISJobs.com, and three library schools’
career sites. Position announcements
were limited to those for digital
collection/digital library-related
positions.
Analysis of technical courses:
included an analysis of technical
courses offered in 2010 at selected
library programs listed among the top
schools as identified by the 2009 US
News and World Report ranking.
An initial list included the top five
schools specializing in archives and
preservation, information systems, and
digital librarianship. Duplicates were
removed from the combined list
resulting in a final list of seven target
schools (US News and World Report,
2009).
Library Hi Tech News
Number 8 2011, pp. 11-15, qEmerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419051111187851 11
Technical skills for new digital librarians
Elı
´as Tzoc and John Millard
To continue reading
Request your trial