Ten tips for librarians looking to future-proof their skills
A list of must-have librarian skills for academic libraries
Traditional and digital library skills are evolving at pace. Roisin Gwyer explains how to keep up in her article, “Identifying and exploring future trends impacting on academic libraries”. Published in the New Review of Academic Librarianship, the article uses journal content analysis, focus groups, and trend reports to identify future trends likely to impact on academic libraries.
Taken from this analysis, the following librarian skills list shows how best to develop traditional library science to modernizse the role of the librarian in a constantly evolving digital world.
1. Change management
Higher education is a constantly changing sector – policy, technology, pedagogy and student behavior all impact on the institution. The academic library is subject to these changes, and there is a need to keep reviewing and renegotiating the position of the library within the institution. Being able to manage change effectively is one of the top skills for library leaders.
2. Proving value
In an increasingly evidence and data driven sector, it is more important than ever that libraries prove their value to the organization, showing a return on the investment made in them. Improving the student experience and demonstrating a contribution to student success builds on the trusted library brand.
3. Influencing and negotiation
Effective change to make a demonstrable difference relies on being able to influence and negotiate within the institution. These skills are also important in an increasingly collaborative world.
4. Creativity and innovation
The pace of change means that incrementalism is no longer the only game in town, more radical thinking is needed.
5. Supporting research in a digital world
Scholarly communication is evolving as it becomes digital: open access, Altmetrics, data sharing, digital humanities, text/data mining and using social media to disseminate and fund research are some areas developing currently.
6. Digital literacy
The role of the library in preparing students (and the academic staff who support them) for a digital world is of continuing and increasing importance
7. Marketing
Although the physical library space is still popular there is intense competition within the digital space. Academic libraries have to be able to maximize access to digital and print content and services to show the USP of the library in an increasingly embedded world.
8. Digital Information management
Issues of information ownership, rights management, curation, preservation, communication and dissemination of digital information are important issues for information-rich organizations such as universities.
9. Developing and managing space
As use of library real estate continues to increase developing our physical and virtual spaces to support pedagogical developments is critical. Evidence-based approaches to space development, such as using ethnographic approaches to space use, are becoming more popular. As is evaluating the effects of space on learning and attainment.
10. Collaboration
New collaborations within and outside of the institution are growing. As social media and digital working make the world smaller, global collaboration, supporting international research collaborations, transnational education and globalizing the curriculum increase in importance.
About the author
Roisin Gwyer is University Librarian at the University of Portsmouth where she leads a stand-alone service and is currently leading an institution-wide project to develop a digital and physical student ‘one-stop shop’. Prior to this Roisin worked at the University of Chichester, local government and the NHS. She is also a Fellow of CILIP, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is currently serving on the SCONUL Executive Board.
Twitter – @roisingw
Read the full article
Identifying and exploring future trends impacting on academic libraries: a mixed methodology using journal content analysis, focus groups and trend reports – New Review of Academic Librarianship.