The road ahead 5 Transforming Professional Competencies
Sheila Corrall Professor & Chair LIS Program [email protected]
The Future of Academic Libraries A Symposium at The Open University Thursday, March 17, 2016
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
The road ahead 5
Transforming professional competencies Whicharethekeychallengesinthewiderorganiza4onandenvironmentalcontext?
Howareacademiclibrariesevolvinginresponse?
Whataretheimplica4onsforcompetencydevelopment?
Outline • Se?ngthescene
– Trendsanddevelopmentsintheinforma4onfield
• 21Cservicemodels– Rolesandcompetenciesfor
thedigitalnetworkworld
• Newcompetencyframeworks– Definingcategoriestohelp
servicetransforma4on
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
• Rapiddevelopmentandconvergenceofdigitaltechnologiesincludingnewdevices,formats,andstandardsàrequirescon4nuouslearningforinfoprosandendusers
• Massivegrowthinnon-specialistinterac4onwithinforma4onincludingcontentproduc4on,sharing,andtaggingàrequiresmorespecializedworkforinfoprostoaddvalue
• Evolu4onofthenetworksocietyaspar4cipatorycultureincludingopensystems,socialmedia,andprivacyissuesà requiresmakerspaces/collaboratories,andcapacityto
engagewithonlinecommuni4esandlegal/ethicalissues
“growthindepth,sophis4ca4onandcomplexityoflibraryservices”(Shumaker&Talley,2009,p.9)
General trends
Technology trendsAdvancesinnatureandapplica4onofcyberinfrastructure
func4onalcomprehensivenessless more
less
more
techno
logycapacity
Increasingcapacityandfunc4onalcomprehensivenessofcyberinfrastructureenablebothdepthandbreadthapproachestodiscovery(NSF,2003,p.45)
depth
breadth
ACP
Technology trendsDemandshumaninfrastructuretomatchtechnologyinfrastructure
func4onalcomprehensivenessless more
less
more
technicalcapacity
Infoprosexpectedtodelivermorefunc4onalityathighercapacitywithincreasingtechnologicalcapabilityavailabletoinforma4onservices(Corrall,2005,p.30)
depth
breadth
NDL
Informa4onformats
Serviceofferings
Userpopula4ons
Professionalexper4se
Domainknowledge
Businessunderstanding
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Participatory culture “Apar4cipatorycultureisaculturewithrela4velylowbarrierstoar4s4cexpressionandcivicengagement,strongsupportforcrea4ngandsharingone’screa4ons,andsometypeofinformalmentorshipwherebywhatisknownbythemostexperiencedispassedalongtonovices.Apar4cipatorycultureisalsooneinwhichmembersbelievetheircontribu4onsmacer,andfeelsomedegreeofsocialconnec4onwithoneanother(attheleasttheycarewhatotherpeoplethinkaboutwhattheyhavecreated).”
(Jenkinsetal.,2006,p.3)
PhaseOne.Emergence(1985-1993)
PhaseTwo.WakinguptotheWeb(1994-1998)
PhaseThree.Push-buconPublishing(1999-2004)
PhaseFour.UbiquitousConnec4ons(2005-2011)
(Delwiche&JacobsHenderson,2013,pp.4-7)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Participatory librarianship “Par4cipatorylibrarianshiprecastslibraryandlibraryprac4ceusingthefundamentalconceptthatknowledgeiscreatedthroughconversa4on.Librariesareintheknowledgebusiness,thereforelibrariesareintheconversa4onbusiness.Par4cipatorylibrariansapproachtheirworkasfacilitatorsofconversa4on.Beitinprac4ce,policies,programsand/ortools,par4cipatorylibrariansseektoenrich,capture,storeanddisseminatetheconversa4onsoftheircommuni4es”(Informa4onIns4tuteofSyracuse&ALAOfficeforITPolicy,n.d.)
Four methods of facilitation Access–toar4factsof
conversa4on(e.g.,books,journalar4cles)
Knowledge–representedbyinstruc4onandevalua4onoflearning
Environment(e.g.,privacyandfilteringpolicies)
Mo4va4on–includingmarke4ngandoutreach
(Lankes,2010,p.65)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Specific developments • Blurringofboundariesbetweenestablishedprofessionsand
emergenceofhybrid/blended/thirdspaceprofessionals– Convergence,regrouping,andcrea4onofmicro-special4es
• Increasingspecializa4onandmul4disciplinaryworkingmeansupskillingincoreareaandnewknowledgeofotherdomains– PreferenceforT-shapedorπ-shapedoverI-shapedpeople
• Newthinkingaboutlibrary,archival,andpersonalcollec4ons– Inside-out,collec4ve(orshared)collec4ons,discoverability
andstewardshipatscaleàthe“inside-out”“living”library• Promo4onofnewservicemodelsandmindsetsforacademic,
publicandspeciallibrariesandinforma4onorganiza4ons– Conceptofspace-as-service(physical/virtual)andmoving
beyondservice-as-supporttoprac44oner-as-partner
Hybrid and Blended
Specialist Roles
LibraryandInforma4onScience
“Contentexperts”
Informa4onTechnologyand
Media“Conduitexperts”
AcademicandProfessionalDisciplines
“Contextexperts”
KnowledgeManagement
Lawyer
Biocurator
ClinicalLibrarian
RepositoryManager
LearningTechnologist
Informa4onist
(Corrall&Lester,1996;Corrall,2008;Corrall&Cox,2008;Corrall,2010)
ChiefInforma4onOfficer
DataScien4st
Information Specialists in Context
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Blended librarianship “...anacademiclibrarianwhocombinesthetradi4onalskillsetoflibrarianshipwiththeinforma4ontechnologist’shardware/soowareskills,andtheinstruc4onaloreduca4onaldesigner’sabilitytoapplytechnologyappropriatelyintheteaching-learningprocess.”
Ablueprintforredefiningtheteachingandlearningroleofacademiclibrarians(Bell&Shank,2004,p.273)
T-shapedpeople
“Theyhaveaprincipalskill(thever4callegoftheT),buttheyaresoempathe4c,orunderstandingofusers’needsorsitua4on,theycanbranchoutintootherskills(thetopoftheT)anddothemaswell.”
(Bell&Shank,2007,pp.9-10)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
T-shaped, Pi-shaped, and Comb-shaped
“theknowledgeeconomyrequiresalleconomicactorstodevelopasetofcompetencesanddynamiccapabili4estocompletea‘T-shapedknowledge’configura4on,which…includesbothver4calcompetences(I-shapedcompetences)(i.e.,technological,industrialspecializa4on)and‘horizontalcapabili4es’.Thelacerexpressionreferstoboundary-crossingcapaci4es...,orcapabili4esthatalloworstronglysupportconnec4ons/linksofvariouskinds.”(Barileetal.,2015,pp.1180-1181)
Interactivity
200021stCenturyServiceModels2010
Informa4onist(Davidoff&Florance,2000)
CivicLibrary(Schull,2004)
EmbeddedLibrarian
(Dewey,2004)BlendedLibrarian
(Bell&Shank,2004)
Library2.0
(Casey,2005)
OpenLibrary(Larsen,2007;
Johannsen,2012)
Par4cipatoryLibrarianship(Lankesetal.,
2007) Innova4onCommunity
(Xiaobin&Jing,2009)
CommunityBuilding(McCook,2000;Hill,2009)
TotallyDIY
Library(Choh,2003)
Community/Campus
Engagement(Goulding,2009;
Williams,2009)
Bou4que[Academic]Library
(Priestner&Tilley,2010)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Informationist “Atthemostbasiclevel,aresearchinforma4onistcanbedefinedasanembeddedinforma4onprofessionalwhoprovidesspecializedservicestoresearchersattheirpointofneed,suchasinalaboratoryorclinicalresearchse?ng.Thesespecializedservicesmayincludeavarietyofac4vi4esspanningtheresearchlifecycle,includingexpertsearching,datacura4on…andguidanceonscholarlycommunica4ons.”(Federer,2014,p.1)
Pi-shapedpeople
Definingacributes• Formaltraininginboth
informa4onscienceandasubjectdomainexper4se
• Deepunderstandingofworkculture(e.g.,knowledgeofresearchmethods)
• In-contextworkasateammemberorexpertconsultant
• Cri4calappraisalandliteraturesynthesisand/orcomplexbiosciencedataanalysis
(Rankinetal.,2008,p.198)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Evolving academic library specialties “Professional
autonomygiveswaytoastressoncollabora4on,persuasion,and
boundarycrossing.”
“Thesamefactorsthathavecreatednewspecial4esareac4velyreshapingexis4ngroles.”
Hybrid,blended,embeddedrolesareexci4ngandsignificant,
butrequirecon4nuouslearningtodevelopknowledgeandskills(Cox&Corrall,2013,pp.1536,1538)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Themes • Data-intensiveins4tu4ons• Contextually-situated
informa4onwork• Solu4ondevelopers(and
notserviceproviders)• Cross-boundary
interdisciplinaryteamwork• Collabora4on,co-working,
andpartnership• Communica4onand
conversa4on• Engagementcentered(and
notcollec4onsoriented)
Implications • Higherleveltechnologyskills
essen4alforeveryone• Contextualunderstandingisa
cri4calsuccessfactor• Backroomtasksreinventedas
frontlinecontribu4ons• Tradi4onalspecial4es
overlappingandcoalescing• Rela4onshipmanagement
becomesakeycompetence• Real-worldexperiencefully
integratedincurriculum• Lifelongprofessionallearning
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Aspecialistprofessionoraprofessionofspecialists?
(Salo,2015)
Key core skills for a participatory culture (IMLSSalzburgCurriculum)• Transforma4vesocial
engagement• Technology• Managementfor
par4cipa4on• Assetmanagement• Culturalskills• Knowledge/learning/
innova4on(Lankesetal.,2015)
Boundary-spanning roles and skills Family of data scientist roles • Dataanalyst• Dataarchivist• Dataengineer• Datajournalist• Datalibrarian• Datasteward/curator
(Lyon&Brenner,2015)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Framing information service competencies
Professional
Technical
Essen4alEnablers(bothgenericandcontext-specificskills/knowledge)
SpecialistProfessionalKnowledgeBase–willevolveandexpandover4me
SurvivalSkills(neededbyallprofessionals)
Interpersonal
Personal
Organiza4onal
Managerial
CoreCompetence(necessary,butnotsufficient)
CPD
(Corrall,2005,p.35)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Interpersonal
Personal
Organiza4onal
Managerial
ProfessionalCPD
Technical
Publishing
CoreCompetence
Essen4alEnablers Survival
Skills
RelatedProfessionalCompetencies
Expanding the core into other related
professional domains
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
(MLA,2007)
(CARL,2010)
(FLICC,2011)
(CILIP,2013)
(SLA,2012)
“Yourcorecompetenciesshouldsetyouapart”(Moore,2012,p.18)
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Terminology and frameworks Professional
competenciesCorecompetenciesFounda4onal
competenciesFunc4onal
competenciesGenericskillsEnablingcompetenciesTypically6-8categories
brokendowninto30+elements
à12+categoriesandc.100elements
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Introducing threshold competences “Acoreconceptisaconceptual‘buildingblock’thatprogressesunderstandingofthesubject…butitdoesnotnecessarilyleadtoaqualita4velydifferentviewofsubjectmacer.”“Athresholdconcept…representsatransformedwayofunderstanding,orinterpre4ng,orviewingsomethingwithoutwhichthelearnercannotprogress.”(Meyer&Land,2003,pp.1,4)
Acorecompetenceisadefiningacributethatformstheessen4alanduniquefounda4onofaspecificprofessionalfieldAthresholdcompetenceisatransformingacributethatenablestheeffec4veapplica4onofacorecompetenceinthefield,andwhichisessen4alforthecorecompetencetobeusedtofulleffectAthresholdcompetenceisnotuniquetothefield,butcombineswithcorecompetencestoformuniqueanddis4nc4vecapabili4es
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Elaborating the concept Characteristics of threshold concepts and threshold competences MeyerandLand(2003)iden4fyfivelikelycharacteris4csofathresholdconceptas:
a) Transforma4veb) Irreversiblec) Integra4ved) Boundede) Troublesome
Candidates for threshold competences in academic libraries Contemporaryservicemodelssuggestthreekeyareaswhereenhancedcapabili4esareimportantandurgent:
Ø TechnologicalfluencyØ Rela4onshipbuildingØ Reflec4veprac4ceProfessionalprepara4onandcon4nuingeduca4onprogramsneedtofocusonkeycapabili4es
Information Culture & Data Stewardship
Selected References Barile,S.,Saviano,M.,&Simone,C.(2015).Serviceeconomy,knowledge,andthe
needforT-shapedinnovators.WorldWideWeb,18(4),1177-1197.Bell,S.J.,&Shank,J.D.(2007).Academiclibrarianshipbydesign:Ablendedlibrarian’s
guidetothetoolsandtechniques.Chicago,IL:ALA.Cox,A.,&Corrall,S.(2013).Evolvingacademiclibraryspecial4es.JASIST,64(8),
1526-1542.Delwiche,A.,&JacobsHenderson,J.(Eds.)(2013).TheparHcipatoryculturehandbook.
NewYork:Routledge.Federer,L.(2014).Exploringnewrolesforlibrarians:TheresearchinformaHonist.San
Rafael,CA:Morgan&Claypool.Lankes,R.D.(2010).Innovatorswanted:Noexperiencenecessary.InS.Walter&K.
Williams(Eds.),Theexpertlibrary:Staffing,sustaining,andadvancingtheacademiclibraryinthe21stcentury(pp.52-75).Chicago,IL:ACRL.
Meyer,J.,&Land,R.(2003).Thresholdconceptsandtroublesomeknowledge:LinkagestowaysofthinkingandpracHsingwithinthedisciplines.U.ofEdinburgh.
Moore,G.(2012).Yourcorecompetenciesshouldsetyouapart.InformaHonOutlook,16(1),18-19.
Rankin,J.A.,Grefsheim,S.F.,&Canto,C.C.(2008).Theemerginginforma4onistspecialty:Asystema4creviewoftheliterature.JMLA,96(3),194-206.
Salo,D.(2015).Aspecialistprofession,oraprofessionofspecialists?NewYork:LJ.
Sheila Corrall Professor & Chair LIS Program [email protected]
The Future of Academic Libraries A Symposium at The Open University Thursday, March 17, 2016
Thank you for listening Questions? Concerns?
Challenges?