A Study of the Relationship Between
Digital Librarianship Skills Taught in
Continuing Education Courses
and the Skills Required for Digital
Librarian Positions in Job Advertisements
Agnes Wnuk
Southern Connecticut
State University
ILS680-71 Evaluation
and Research
Dr. Sierpe
Fall 2007
Abstract
Today, continuing
education (CE) is important for developing new skills needed to perform a
current job or to procure a new position. This is especially true for those who
work with, or who would like to work with digital materials or processes. While
libraries promote life long learning for their patrons with the resources and
services they offer, who is providing continuing education opportunities for
librarians? An equally important question is what are the skills needed in
library positions that handle digitized material?
This study
focuses specifically on the relationship between online continuing education
courses on digital librarianship and the skills catalog librarians currently
need to work with digital materials. Although various library related
organizations provide professional development opportunities and many library
positions manage digital materials this study deals exclusively with library
school offerings and cataloging skills for digital materials. Two sets of data are
therefore gathered
and analyzed to determine whether there exists a correlation between the two.
First, library school websites will be examined to gauge whether they offer
continuing education online courses teaching cataloging of digital materials
skills. Second, listserv posting library positions will be examined to determine
what skills digital cataloging positions require. This will assess whether
library schools are contributing to the continuing education
of librarians in the important field of digital materials.
1. Introduction
Digital materials and services are
increasingly important in all libraries: school, public, academic, medical and
corporate. They are crucial to digital libraries and to online education, as resources
like periodicals are being collected almost exclusively in electronic form,
especially in science
and medical libraries.
Librarians working with digital
collections, whether developing, cataloging, maintaining, preserving or
providing reference assistance, need specific skills to function efficiently
with digital formats. Cataloging digital materials requires knowledge of metadata
more appropriate for
electronic materials and beyond MARC
record creation. Continuous advances in computer technology require that
librarians working with digital materials update their skills. Digital
libraries are a dynamic and evolving phenomenon that requires continued
learning on the part of the librarian to keep up with the ongoing technical and
theoretical developments. As such, whether graduated from library school recently
or years ago, librarians may need to take supplementary, continuing education
courses to learn the new skills needed to work with digital resources.
Viewed from the professional/vocational
perspective, one may question the need of universities to teach according to
what the job market requires. Master’s degree library graduate program courses
do not need to cater to actual industry needs but
rather teach the theoretical aspects of librarianship. However, with continuing
education courses there may exist a direct correlation between the skills
taught and the skills needed by working librarians, by teaching skills needed
in new and ever evolving library positions, especially vis a vis digital
resources and services.
Because digital materials and continuing
education are both so important to librarians today we need to examine how
currently available continuing education courses can affect librarian’s digital
library skills, and whether librarian’s need to learn these skills from scratch
or just augment those they already have. The study will look at two things: what
continuing education courses are currently available and what skills needed in
digital librarianship they teach, and what skills employers are currently
looking for in digital librarian positions. It will evaluate whether the skills
being taught in continuing education courses at library schools are those that
employers are seeking for their digital librarian positions, by analyzing
websites of library schools that offer CE courses and websites that post library
job advertisements.
2. Literature Review
Over the past ten years there have been
several studies conducted which cover the subjects of library school course
offerings in digital resources and of librarians’ continuing education needs.
These studies focus predominantly on what digital courses library schools [offer/cover],
what librarians feel they missed in library school, what skills librarians feel
they need to learn and what job postings have been seen on the Internet. The
research has added needed information to these areas of study but has not shown
how library schools are continuing to educate working librarians to provide
them with the skills they need for positions in the digital field, as reflected
in current job openings, in a comprehensive and updated way.
The first set described has examined
whether graduate level library and information science programs offer students
degree track courses on digital libraries. Several of these studies compare
the different graduate schools that offer master’s degree students “digital
library” courses, both in the United States and across the globe (Bawden, 2005;
Liu, 2004; Roes, 2001; Tenopir, 2000; Spink and Cool,1999). These studies
concentrated on the degree track offerings and on the basic orientation
“digital library” course. Liu’s research differentiated the types of digital
library classes as the “hands on” technical and the more theoretical(Liu,
2000). However, even the “hands on” courses were only survey type which touched
upon all the different technical skills associated with digital materials in a
cursory way as introductions to the subject.(Liu, 2000) These studies however,
did not discuss continuing education courses offered by these same library
schools.
A series of studies surveying science
librarians and concerning their continuing education needs have been conducted
for the past ten years (Spackman, 2006; Christianson, 2003; Desai,2002). In
fact, according to Spackman et al.:
“The primary
charge of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)
Science and Technology
Section (STS) Continuing Education Committee is to
conduct a biennial survey of the STS membership to determine continuing
education needs.”(Spackman et al., 2006)
However, these studies surveyed
science librarians to gauge their personal perspectives on what they think they
need. Responses to open ended questions on the survey elicited the following
results in terms of what continuing education the science librarians felt they
needed to stay abrest of new developments: “New
Technologies, Professional Development & Keeping Current, Institutional
Repositories/Digital Archives, Information Literacy/Instruction Scholarly
Publishing/High Cost of Serials/Alternative Publishing Models, Marketing &
Outreach”. (Spackman et al, 2006)
In terms
of
cataloging and metadata specialists there are two recent studies that consider
the librarian’s ideas of what they require. Hider conducted a survey among
metadata specialists to see what their thoughts are on developments in digital
resources (Hider, 2006). Hsich-Yee created a proposal of what catalogers will
need in the 21st century in terms of LIS education for a proposed
conference (Hsieh-Yee, n.d.). While it is important to know what the librarians
themselves feel they need it does not answer the question of what skills the
library job positions posted seek nor whether the library schools provide them
with the information they need.
Between the two afore mentioned are
other studies that survey librarians about how they feel courses they took in
library school prepared them for working in a library (Buttlar et al,
1989).This information is important but it does not answer the question of what
the library schools are doing to help the working librarians who need new
skills training and continuing education rather than formal masters level
courses.
Last are the studies that delve into
employment advertisements for digital librarians (Croeis, 2002; Clyde, 2002).
Clyde’s content analysis of job
advertisements is especially revealing however her emphasis is on librarian
skills in support of “user education and instructional practices” (Clyde,
2002). She used the international listserv LIBJOBS from the International
Federation of Library Associations since her scope was international.
Marion also studied the job advertisements to gauge what type of skills
employers were looking for in digital librarian positions (Marion, 2001). She
did not address the question of library school CE courses and how they may or
may not help librarians develop the skills needed in these job postings.
These studies
are at least five years old and the use of digital resources has increased in
libraries since then. It may be that the need of librarians with skills to work
with digital resources has also increased. None of this research is
dedicated to continued learning for catalog librarians, especially those who
would like to augment their skills for digital library work. This is especially
important since Hans Roes notes “…that, now more than ever, lifelong learning
becomes important for library staff.” (Roes, 2001) Moreover, advanced
digital and technical skills are recognized everywhere around the world as
being needed:
“With the introduction of digital resources to libraries, recent years
have witnessed
an increasing number
of positions requiring advanced skills in information
technology (IT), in particular for the profile of the digital librarian.
The labour market
in Europe is now beginning to demand specialized skills, but there is a
serious
shortage of such skills, mainly due to the lack of formal (and informal)
opportunities
for education in IT profiles that are suited to libraries.”(Tammaro, 2007)
If it is true that there is a
shortage of librarians with the skills needed to work with digital
resources than it is important to
study the library school continued education course offering and see whether
they do meet library needs.
Some literature centers on technical
skills that digital librarians need, like “…database
management, web site design and
digitization…”(Barton, 2006; Sreenivasulu, 2000). While others like Todd and
Southen note more business and management skills are needed in digital
librarianship (Todd, 2001). Again, these studies do not discuss the library
schools’ continued education offerings to see whether they are addressing these
needs.
Building on those studies, this research
will focus on the skills that are necessary for digital librarian work as seen
on actual job postings, in particular the cataloging needs, and whether the
library schools are offering the continued education courses that can help
librarians develop those skills needed in the library market. This study would
add to the work done on
library school offerings of digital library courses by providing information on
what the schools provide in the continuing education sector. It would also add
to the work on library job postings with an updated version of that subject as
well as the studies done on skills needed in digital library work with an
emphasis on cataloging.
3. Research Design
Goals and objectives
The goal of this
research is to gauge the effectiveness of the library schools’ continuing
education courses in meeting the needs of working catalog librarians for skills
necessary in working with digital materials as seen in library job postings. Is
there a relationship between what is taught in CE courses and what libraries
are seeking in new employees as demonstrated on job postings.
Assumptions
Since CE courses
are offered for professionals who are looking to update or supplement their
earlier graduate level instruction and on the job training it would seem
reasonable to assume that they are intended to supply the information and
skills needed to retain a current job or procure a new one. Therefore they
would be necessarily designed to provide the professional librarian with the
newest up to date skills and information regarding technology, librarianship in
general and in come cases specifically skills on cataloging and metadata
techniques for digital materials.
4. Methodology
Research questions for this study
include:
1. Which library schools offer digital catalog librarian
continuing education courses?
2. What digital cataloging positions are being posted by
libraries?
The study will be organized as
follows:
Two set of data will be compiled of
library schools offering digital cataloging continuing
education classes and job postings
of digital cataloging positions posted by libraries stating the skills needed
for those positions. The results will
be analyzed to establish whether there is a common ground or a
relationship between the continuing education digital cataloging classes
available and the digital cataloging positions being posted. Since with
continuing education courses there would seem to exist a direct correlation
between the skills taught and the skills needed by working librarians in new
and ever evolving library positions, especially vis a vis digital materials
cataloging the results of this study should show how well library school
continuing education courses actually do meet the job market demand.
Data Set One:
1. Websites of library schools listing current continuing
education courses for digital cataloging will be reviewed, including online
courses. (List not yet complete)
a. University of Wisconsin Madson,
School of Library and Information Studies
Retrieved
November 3, 2007, from: http://www.slis.wisc.edu/continueed/
b. Filipan, R. (2005) CONTINUING
EDUCATION at Kent State for Librarians, Ohio
Libraries, summer 2005
Retrieved November 3, 2007, from:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3978/is_200507/ai_n15350506
c. Carreer Opportunities, School of
Information Studies at Syracuse University, Retrieved November 3, 2007, from:
http://istweb.syr.edu/academics/graduate/mls/digitallibraries/careers.aspx
d. SOIS News, Wisonsin Library
Association, University of Wisconsin Retrieved
November
3, 2007, from:
http://soisnews.blogspot.com/2006/10/wisconsin-library-association-large.html
Data Set Two:
2. Websites listing current digital catalog librarian
positions will be reviewed, including libraries, library consortiums and
associations.
a. ALAJobLIST (2007) Retrieved
November 3, 2007 from: http://www.joblist.ala.org/
b. Gordon, Rachel Singer (2007)
LISjobs.com. Retrieved November 3, 2007 from: http://www.lisjobs.com/index.htm
c. Grafstein, A., Weicher, M. and
Berger, M. (2007) Greater New York Metropolitan Area Chapter, Association of
College and Research Libraries or ACRLNY. Retrieved November 3, 2007 from: http://acrlny.blogspot.com/
d. Johnson, Sarah L. (2007) Library
Job Postings on the Internet. Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University.
Retrieved November 3, 2007 from: http://www.libraryjobpostings.org/all.htm
e. Reforma (2007) The National
Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the
Spanish-Speaking. Retrieved November 3, 2007 from:
http://www.reforma.org/refoempl.htm
f. Schwartz, Deborah (2007) Library
Associates Companies. Retrieved November 3, 2007 from: http://www.libraryassociates.com/index.html
5. Data Analysis
Data gathered and
analyzed will include aspects of the two data sets. The following information
will be searched in order to elucidate the answers to the two research
questions posed for this study. For Library school continuing education course
information the following information will be searched on each school website:
1. Library School –
name and location.
2. Continuing
education courses offered – titles and descriptions.
3. How often they
are offered and when?
4. Are they online
or in person?
5. Are there
workshops instead?
6. Are the skills
learned in the class clearly delineated?
7. Are there credits
involved?
For Library job postings the
following information will be searched on the websites of job posting
directories, listservs:
1.
Number of jobs advertised.
2.
Number of cataloging/metadata or digital librarian positions advertised.
3.
What type of libraries are posting these jobs, academic, public?
4.
What cataloging/metadata, digital materials skills are mentioned in job
posting?
5.
Are other skills relevant to cataloging, metadata, digital materials mentioned?
6. Are other competencies relevant
to cataloging, such as metadata, mentioned?
6. Anticipated
Results
In terms of CE it
may be found that there are limited library schools that support continuing
education programs. Conversely, it may result that there are sufficient
programs but that they offer only traditional, in person courses or workshops
only without any online offerings. Also, another result may be that only
traditional cataloging classes or workshops are offered without mention of new
technologies, metadata or digital materials. In terms of library job postings
it may be found that few postings for digital librarian positions, especially
in terms of cataloging my be found in the period proposed for the study.
7. Impact of Study
This study will
add to the literature which deals with the library schools in North America and
their digital librarianship and cataloging courses, the continuing education
for digital librarians specifically but librarians in general provided by
library schools, , with the
continuing education needs of librarians, and the technical skills needed by
digital librarians, with studies on library job postings. The projected study will
result in the identification of library
school continuing education programs which teach the necessary skills for
digital cataloging and whether they correlate with the digital librarian
positions currently being posted by libraries via listservs.
8. Limitations of
Study
This study is limited
by analyzing actual course descriptions of continuing education opportunities
as well as analyzing currently posted digital librarian job descriptions from
the World Wide Web pages of institutions providing the information. Depending
on the quality of this information results of the study could be skewed. The
study cannot answer the question of whether continuing education courses
teach the skills sought for digital librarian positions. It cannot examine whether
courses fulfill their
expectations or whether they are consistent as advertised. It cannot establish conclusively
whether continuing education courses actually teach the skills sought for
digital librarian positions.
9. Conclusion
This study is timely in regards to digital
librarianship, continued education opportunities for librarians and skills
sought by employers in library job postings. Research into improving librarian
skills in handling digital resources and services is critical in today’s
library. Knowing what skills digital librarians need to be effective service
providers and whether and where they can procure those skills is imperative.
This study would help provide some of those answers. This study will contribute to the general knowledge provided by earlier
studies on library schools providing digital library courses, providing
continuing education for librarians, especially catalog librarians, and on job
postings by libraries. The expected results would fill the gaps in the existing
literature of continued education in digital cataloging and content analysis of
library job postings.
* *
* * * * *
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