Exploring the affect of current trends and future expectations on the boundary of the academic librarian using Critical Systems Heuristics

This research is concerned with the professional, academic librarian of the future. Technological development alongside policy and funding change in UK Higher Education has made the past two decades one of the most turbulent periods in academic library services and for professional library practice. Within this context, we ask here how the role of the academic librarian has changed, and how we might expect it to change in the future. This information is central to ensuring that our current, and future, academic librarians are suitably equipped for their professional role.I take a Systems Thinking approach, using Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH) to explore the changing boundary of the academic librarian’s professional work. In gathering data from practitioners, Van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenology is called upon to effectively elicit and analyse librarians’ perceptions of being a librarian, and how the role of academic librarian is changing.Data was gathered from the academic and professional literature on higher education libraries and librarians, and five phenomenological interviews were carried out with academic librarians, from early career professionals to library directors. A hermeneutic phenomenological analysis extracted meanings and themes, providing the source material to map CSH’s ideal and descriptive reference systems. A process of boundary critique, through a comparison of the ideal and descriptive maps, show that while individual librarians continue to enrich the education of all their users and are willing to adapt to new ways of working, additional change is needed within the profession to accommodate technological, social and leadership challenges. The complexity and uncertainty of technological advances, the necessity of adopting professional marketing practices to mitigate communicatively disparate user groups, and an increasingly politico-ethical focus on the availability of information, all mean that the librarian of the future needs a better-structured panoply of leadership and training provision. The provision of better structured, post-qualification, professional development routes and strengthened professional bodies would benefit the profession in building the capacity to proactively manage the professional boundary of practice, rather than passively reacting to external pressure and change

Responding to challenges: the training and educating of the information professional for the next millenium

“… in most fields the issue of the professional competence and qualification of individuals is viewed as an integral part of the quality assurance of organisations and the services that they provide.” This view has long been embraced within the librarianship profession. Librarians and information professionals have a strong culture of responding to new opportunities in professional development to ensure that their skills meet the continually changing environments in which they work. This is illustrated by initiatives such as the Library Associations programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Masters programmes for librarians entering management positions, increased availability of qualifications and training for paraprofessional staff and the adoption of the government instituted system of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SNVQs). Two further initiatives have been undertaken as a response to concern about the pace of change and the importance of sustaining an adequately skilled professional workforce. Firstly, the Library and Information Studies Training and Education Network (LISTEN), is working with employers, the profession and educational institutions to identify, CPD and post-qualification competencies required when staff have been in post for several or more years. Secondly, the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) which aims to accelerate the development and uptake of the ‘electronic library’ has recognised the need for CPD and has funded a number of training and awareness projects including EduLib. This paper will examine the role, education and training of information professionals from two distinct points of view. First the paper will concentrate on initial undergraduate training which students receive at an established Department of Library and Information Studies — with particular regard to the training and education of business information in order to prepare students for the global business world. The second part of the paper will deal with an aspect of continuing professional development for which there is an increasing demand in academic libraries — teaching skills for librarians. The paper will focus on EduLib — a development project which aims to provide a nationally recognised and accredited network of trainers in academic libraries

The New Knowledge Environment: Quality Initiatives in Health Sciences Libraries

published or submitted for publicatio

The changing roles and identities of library and information services staff

A review of the changing roles of library, IT and e-learning staff from 1960 to date. Examines convergence and blurring of roles and what constitutes professional identity

Computational sense: the role of technology in the education of digital librarians

The rapid progress of digital library technology from research to implementation has created a force for change in the curricula of library schools. The education of future librarians has always had to adapt to new technologies but the pace, complexity and implications of digital libraries pose considerable challenges. In this article we explore how we might successfully blend elements of computer science and library science to produce effective educational experiences for the digital librarians of tomorrow. We first outline the background to current digital librarian education and then propose the concept of computational sense as an appropriate meeting point for these two disciplines

Planning A Future Workforce: An Australian

Libraries throughout the world are facing the dual challenge of an aging workforce and a workplace which is requiring significant reassessment of the skills base of its staff as a result of the impact of technology on the delivery of information services. The implications for libraries in responding to this environment are significant. This paper looks at the age profile of the library workforce and discusses the need for libraries to acknowledge and plan for the impending retirement of a significant proportion of their workforce. The paper argues that integral to this planning is the need to identify the skills and attributes required of library staff in both the short and long term. The response of some Australian academic libraries in preparing to address these challenges is described. Particular reference is made to strategies adopted at Queensland University of Technology Library in Brisbane, Australia to ensure that existing and new staff are equipped with the skills to be able to work in changing environments and that staff are provided with opportunities to develop leadership skills that will be required for the future

#Socialtagging: Defining its Role in the Academic Library

The information environment is rapidly changing, affecting the ways in which information is organized and accessed. User needs and expectations have also changed due to the overwhelming influence of Web 2.0 tools. Conventional information systems no longer support evolving user needs. Based on current research, we explore a method that integrates the structure of controlled languages with the flexibility and adaptability of social tagging. This article discusses the current research and usage of social tagging and Web 2.0 applications within the academic library. Types of tags, the semiotics of tagging and its influence on indexing are covered

The unseen and unacceptable face of digital libraries

The social and organisational aspects of digital libraries (DLs) are often overlooked, but this paper reviews how they can affect users' awareness and acceptance of DLs. An analysis of research conducted within two contrasting domains (clinical and academic) is presented which highlights issues of user interactions, work practices and organisational social structures. The combined study comprises an analysis of 98 in-depth interviews and focus groups with lecturers, librarians and hospital clinicians. The importance of current and past roles of the library, and how users interacted with it, are revealed. Web-based DLs, while alleviating most library resource and interaction problems, require a change in librarians' and DL designers' roles and interaction patterns if they are to be implemented acceptably and effectively. Without this role change, users will at best be unaware of these digital resources and at worst feel threatened by them. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of DL design and implementation of the social context and supporting user communication (i.e., collaboration and consultation) in information searching and usage activities. © Springer-Verlag 2004

Cutting out the middle man?: disintermediation and the academic library

Big Deals, open access, and digitisation increasingly mean that selection decisions are being removed from librarians and transferred to the end user. David Ball looks at the forces pushing towards this ‘disintermediation’ and considers the future role of the academic library