This workshop will explore the skill sets for scholarly communication including questions about future requirements, the language we are using in this space and, beyond skills, what type of people are suited to different aspects of librarianship. Scholarly communication requires people who are able to be flexible in their approach, rather than ‘rule followers’, which may mean a fundamental shift in the library workforce into the future. Working collectively, the session will consider the implications for upskilling our ‘legacy’ workforce.

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Office of Scholarly Communication
Shifting sands:
Changing academic library skill sets
UKSG 2017
Dr Danny Kingsley - University of Cambridge
@dannykay68
Harrogate - 10th & 11th April 2017

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This workshop will explore the skill sets for scholarly
communication including questions about future
requirements, the language we are using in this space and,
beyond skills, what type of people are suited to different
aspects of librarianship. Scholarly communication requires
people who are able to be flexible in their approach, rather
than ‘rule followers’, which may mean a fundamental shift in
the library workforce into the future. Working collectively, the
session will consider the implications for upskilling our ‘legacy’
workforce.
Workshop description

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How many people:
• Work in a library?
• Are responsible for hiring staff?
• Work in Scholarly Communication?
Who are we?PhotobyKevinJarrettviaFlickr,CCBY2.0

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The nature of academic libraries is changing dramatically. What is the
role of the library in a wholly open access world?
What does this mean for our staffing?
Skill sets for librarians
https://www.macquarie.nsw.edu.au/courses/hospitality
-programs/skill-sets-and-part-qualifications

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•Qualified library & information professionals in
Further Education - Case for Support - 17 May 2016
• https://www.cilip.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/qualified_libr
ary_information_professionals_fe_colleges.pdf
•Qualified librarians are
– An accredited library and information qualification
– Chartered Membership of CILIP (MCLIP) to demonstrate ongoing
engagement with the profession
– A relevant teaching or training qualification is occasionally required
– An IT or e-learning qualification is occasionally required.
CILIP – ‘qualified’ librarians

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What do library schools offer in the way of Scholarly Communication?
Accredited library & information qualification?Businessschoollectureroom.Shouldyoupursueanadvanced
degree?Photoby:PromoMadrid/AlfredoUrdaci/CCBY-SA

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• City University London
–mentioned “research data management, repository management and digital
asset management”
• Dublin Business School
–Future … library programmes will incorporate modules such as the Research
Librarian & the Librarian as Publisher to reflect new roles & activities in the
sector.
• Aberystwyth University
– introduced new degree schemes in Digital Curation, Digital Information
Services, and a brand new postgraduate certificate in Digital Preservation.
• University of Ulster, University of the West of England, Robert Gordon
University
– No mention of anything related to scholarly communication
• University College Dublin
–Our newest programmes, which commenced in 2015, include an MSc, Graduate
Diploma and Graduate Certificate (CPD) in Digital Curation, the first such
programme in Ireland.
• Developing the professionals of the future Views from experts in ‘library schools’ -
https://www.sconul.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/2_18.pdf
SCONUL report - 10 Nov 2016

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•2012 analysis of job announcements – identified
‘Scholarly communications librarians’ as a new role
for health sciences
–https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC37946
82/
•2015 paper on scholarly communication coaching:
“To successfully address the current needs of a
forward-thinking faculty, the academic library needs
to place scholarly communication competencies in
the toolkit of every librarian who has a role
interacting with subject faculty.”
–http://thekeep.eiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11
00&context=lib_fac
Increased need

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• High skills gap in nine key areas
– Ability to advise on preserving research outputs
– Knowledge to advise on data management and curation, including ingest,
discovery, access, dissemination, preservation, and portability
– Knowledge to support researchers in complying with the various mandates
of funders, including open access requirements
– Knowledge to advise on potential data manipulation tools used in the
discipline/ subject
– Knowledge to advise on data mining
– Knowledge to advocate, and advise on, the use of metadata
– Ability to advise on the preservation of project records e.g. correspondence
– Knowledge of sources of research funding to assist researchers to identify
potential funders
– Skills to develop metadata schema, and advise on discipline/subject
standards and practices, for individual research projects
Reskilling for Research – RLUK report 2012
http://www.rluk.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/RLUK-Re-skilling.pdf

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CSmall research project
•Survey sent out September 2016
–Over 500 responses
–Employing a researcher to analyse findings
•Are academic librarians getting the training they need?
–https://unlockingresearch.blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=995
–Our hypothesis is simple: there is a systematic lack of education
on scholarly communication issues available to those entering
the library profession. This is creating a time bomb skills gap
in the academic library profession and unless action is taken
we may well end up with a workforce not suited to work in the
21st century research library.
•Changing roles and changing needs for academic librarians
–https://unlockingresearch.blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=1189
–Literature review of research on the issue of training for
librarians.
–Many people working in scholarly communication come from
outside the Library sector.

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We are going to analyse some recent job advertisements for library staff
in scholarly communication areas
Time to do some work
The-Library-of-the-Future-Is-web(CC)byCalgary
NewCentralLibrary

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• At LEAST one person in your group must have
an internet enabled device
• You will be considering the job descriptions
you have been allocated:
• https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0K7mk
Ul0AXKN3pGMFpfWTZOaGM?usp=sharing
• Tiny URL version - https://tinyurl.com/mcoxwab
You will need to be in groups of three

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• Knowledge
– What specific knowledge or systems are being
requested?
• Generic skills
– What types of generic library skills are they asking for?
•Soft skills
–What type of person do they need?
•Attendees were asked to complete this table:
•Tiny url - https://tinyurl.com/jw33sqw
•https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1u6t4657h7hgAFmYxsGOp
AL8Xmhg6SbJI8aR3Ze1CxHU/edit?usp=sharing
Different TYPES of skills

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What does this tell us?
Discussion

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• Are these the kinds of skills, knowledge and
people you are currently employing or
working with?
• Which skills and knowledge should be:
– In initial qualification training?
– Learnt on the job?
– Part of ongoing professional development?
– Reliant on the type of person you are?
Discussion points

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• We have had to change job descriptions to get to a point that we can get the kind of person
we want through recruitment.
• Thought there should be learning on the job – when you first start in the job there is a
process already. Getting more knowledgeable about the job comes with time.
• Professional development is the appropriate place to get this knowledge – eg: UKSG
conferences
• Team that you can become part of – still fairly new. Library schools can’t churn people out
with these skills because they are always changing
• Want an advocate but also a skills set – split personality. – should we split the roles?
• If it is difficult to recruit then the job description itself is a problem. Type of person is more
important.
• Also something about having the type of person that will go outside their institution to
gather that knowledge
• Part of role is to liaise with academics. Culturally found that academics are quite resistant to
using the repository so an advocate role would be part of it.
• Implication that wants someone who can go around and communicate that value.
• Looking for someone who is resilient and adaptive
• Being bold – moving into a an environment where researchers recognise my expertise.
Researchers on teams haven’t been as good as good librarians.
Discussion notes - Monday

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• Copyright – discussed that at our library doesn’t have anyone that works with copyright.
• We have one person with specialist knowledge – but they were almost employed by chance
• We recently advertised for a Copyright and Scholarly Communications manager. Have people
who have developed these skills and knowledge but it was organic – after these skills and
knowledge started to develop we decided we needed to look at it properly. Lots of people
with pockets of knowledge and bring together so we knew what we knew and ensure we
were telling staff the right things.
• People go into libraries not knowing what they are about and then they develop a specific
interest and then develop own expertise. Very organically grown. Then an area becomes a
‘thing’ that you need to recruit to because it is a core thing.
• Learning is episodic - one time learning won’t set you up for your career. These are jobs that
don’t even exist yet. Should be teaching critical thinking.
• Things are changing and developing all the time. What you learnt in year 1 of your
qualification might be completely irrelevant by the time you do the job. Should lay
groundwork. Should be around flexibility and adaption as much as the knowledge.
Sometimes more emphasis on knowledge.
• More useful to teach librarians customer service skills or relationship management - that
would have wider benefits. Needs to balance the base information with other types of skills
and knowledge.
Discussion notes - Tuesday

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Are there options for our staff to be trained up?
What about professional training?

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•A Creative Community: Nurturing leadership,
innovation and skills throughout our libraries
–Nurture new skills and competences within
member libraries
•Work with Information Science schools to shape both
CPD and professional training for students, fitting them
for the challenges presented by modern academic
libraries and the changing landscape of higher
education
•http://www.rluk.ac.uk/strategy-2014-17/
RLUK Strategic Priorities 2014-2017

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• Bibliometrics and Scientometrics for Research Evaluation
– Basic and advanced citation analysis, bibliometric visualization, university rankings, journal impact
indicators and much more!
•Chicago, IL - June 26-28, 2017
• DPTP: Digitisation – from project management to access.
–The course will cover the basics of digitisation, from the initial planning through project
management to protecting and preserving the resulting digital assets for the long term. It explores
preparation, project management, equipment/outsourcing, workflows and policies. It will also look
at metadata, copyright and licensing, and managing access to the digitised content.
•Senate House, London: 28 April 2017
• UKeIG - Open Access, Open Data, Open Science: Anatomy of a Disruptive
Technology
–This one-day workshop gives an overview of developments in Open Access, Open Data and Open
Science framed within the context of a disruptive technology.
•May 24, 2017 at CILIP's headquarters in London.
• UKSG Licensing Skills for Librarians
–The course is designed for librarians involved in e-resource purchasing in academic institutions;
librarians in these institutions who are being trained to undertake purchasing roles will also benefit
from attending. Participants should gain a good understanding of the key issues surrounding
publisher licensing and negotiations, together with practical skills and knowledge which they will be
able to use in their professional lives
• London on 11 May 2017.
There are some courses available…

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• ACRL Scholarly Communication Toolkit
http://acrl.libguides.com/scholcomm/toolkit/
• FOSTER - Key Skills for Open Science and
Responsible Research and
Innovationhttps://www.fosteropenscience.eu
/courses
•MOOC - Scholarly Communication (Coursera)
https://www.mooc-list.com/course/scholarly-
communication-coursera
Some good examples

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•Dr Sarah Pittaway - UKSG Forum 2016
–Arguing we need to broaden our definition of ‘librarian’.
Diversity is beneficial.
• “When is a librarian not a
librarian?”http://www.uksg.org/sites/uksg.org/files/PresentationP
ittaway.pdf
•Discussion at RLUK 2017
– We need to develop digital leaders for libraries. Are these
people already in libraries who we train up, or are they
people with these skill sets we bring in and introduce to
library culture?
•“Become part of the research process” – observations from
RLUK2017 https://unlockingresearch.blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=1384
Librarians or not?

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• “The research librarian of the future: data
scientist and co-investigator”
–Librarian as co-investigator, not an overhead
•By using their data science and digital skills,
research librarians have the opportunity to make
an impactful contribution to the workflow of their
faculty colleagues. Librarians’ data science skills
can help navigate through the deluge of
information, and can truly change how they are
perceived: from an overhead service to research
co-investigators.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/
12/14/the-research-librarian-of-the-future-data-
scientist-and-co-investigator/
Colleague not servant

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• Evolution of Library Ethnography Studies -
notes from talk - Susan Gibbons 2015
–https://unlockingresearch.blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/
?p=69
•Increasingly the university is asking librarians to have
outreach as part of their role. Outreach is valued in the
evaluation process.
•For some existing staff this was not comfortable – they
wanted to be curators. The feeling for these people was they
‘changed the rules on me’ – so the university helps them
make the transition.
•Some have come along the outreach path, others have
moved somewhere else – and the university helps them with
that move.
Legacy staff

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• What are the implications for your:
– Hiring processes?
– Current staff?
– Own practice?
Challenges for the future

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• Lots of implications – from the job advertisement, the person specification and where you
advertise – not necessarily the traditional places.
• In the US you always advertised in the Chronicle of Higher Education, no-one looks there
now. Had to step back – whole different way of advertising
• Also looking outside your profession. Looking for similar experience, possible implications
for current staff
• We should not be hung up on having a MS or MSD in library, particularly when people have
had years of experience, people don’t want to spend five years getting a new qualification
• We hired three part time people to give jobs for year to develop the skills sets.
• Information management skills are valuable but system analysis more important. A lot
unknown.
• There is loyalty of library staff – the term ‘legacy’ has a connotation. If there are no
opportunities internally then it is limited. Staff can be retrained. Make the best of who you
have got.
• Should we be looking at job descriptions regularly review them to ensure they stay up to
date – to give the opportunity to adapt and change
• There are lots of things that libraries do that are different to the skills that libraries do –
whole new definition of the profession.
• Reflects the discussion about digital literacy –different strands and different types of
librarian – different roles.
Discussion notes - Monday

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• We are super converged – blended the library with student services - massive impact of the range of skills
we are hiring for – wider range of skills than the library schools are producing. Increasingly library
qualifications are less relevant.
• Who is providing the kind of training? Need to take someone who has one of the skills and cross train
them.
• We recruited for a Scholarly Communications officer – new role – asked for experience from library.
• Lots of job descriptions brought back memories because they were my jobs! Have noticed requirement for
library qualification is moving from essential to desirable or just experience. Was going to do a course last
year, but CILIP said that it was an academic qualification not a professional qualification.
• I have learnt everything on the job. Interesting yesterday was bibliometric training where you do a week
long retreat where you get a badge.
• We recruit and there is not a lot of staff out there – significant lack of knowledge. Steep learning curve.
• CILIP is the elephant in the room here
• It is possible with CILIP to be an associate or chartered with a significant portfolio. Move away from having
a qualification. Might be an annual subscription fee and doing the job without that. Good to have some
leven in the mix
• This is very familiar. I was an e resources librarian - that was a massive transition. I didn’t feel qualified,
got more from the job and from a graduate traineeship. Losing the battle again in scholarly comms and
library skills have not caught up again.
• Often economic considerations for the person providing the course. There is a conflict of interest because
you need to ensure a number of students
• Library schools have narrow attitudes and it is difficult to teach skills in curiosity. Argument against a
formal route
Discussion notes - Tuesday

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Dr Danny Kingsley
Head of Scholarly Communication
Cambridge University libraries
dak45@cam.ac.uk
www.osc.cam.ac.uk
www.unlockingresearch.blog.lib.cam.ac.uk
@dannykay68