new roles & skills for the new normal: the multi skilling academic librarian in action
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Presentation at the Internet Librarian International, 26-28 October 2011, LondonTRANSCRIPT
New Roles & Skills for the New Normal:
The multi skilling
academic librarian in action
Pavlinka Kovatcheva
Faculty Librarian: Natural Sciences
[email protected]; Twitter: @ujlibscience
University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Internet Librarian International Conference, 28 October 2011, London, UK
In this session I will talk about a TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY:
• Introduction
• The “New Normal” defined
• The Metamorphosis Life of a Librarian
• New Roles & Skills for Librarians
- Something Old: The Traditional Academic Librarian
- Something New: The Technological & Social Librarian
- New Trend: The Mobile Librarian
- A New Partnership: The Embedded Librarian
• Way Forward
• References
IntroductionThe University of Johannesburg came into existence from
a merger between the Technikon Witwatersrand, Rand Afrikaans University and Vista Universities in 2005.
• Over 45,000 students• 9 Faculties on 4 Campuses• 5 Academic Libraries Challenges for the SA Education:• 11 Official Languages• Poverty and Crime• Cultural and Language diversity• Urban vs Rural education• Access to Internet and Bandwidth • Information and Computer Literacy
http://www.uj.ac.za/
The New Normal defined….“The new normal isn’t just about austere budgets or doing
more with less – it’s also about new technologies. The new normal is having library patrons, users, customers
and clients who know as much or more about technology than we do.
It’s about partnerships and transparency, about new ways to develop and disseminate knowledge, about the increasing importance of communication skills, about opening up access to information, data and knowledge”
(ILI, 2011)
The Metamorphosis Life of a Librarian
The 80s – The traditional roleThe 90s – The transitional role The 1st decade of the 21st Century - The growing online access to Information Resources
- The implementation of Web 2.0 Technologies - The increase use of Mobile Technologies
- The practice of Embedded LibrarianshipThe 2nd decade of the 21st Century - It is all about Social Media & Networking , Mobile Devices &
Applications, eReaders & Tablets, Embedded Librarianship, Open Access….
Adapting to the changing needs of patrons,
make it a necessity for the libraries and librarians to embrace the new technologies.
Something Old…….
The Traditional Academic
Librarian
The Traditional Librarian may be out of fashion, but it still lives… and learns new survival skills
…. within new environments…. and adopts new roles.
The Traditional Academic Librarian provides:
Support to Teaching, Learning & Research:
• Information Retrieval• Reference Services• User Education &
Information Literacy• Collection Development• Promote Library Services
& Collections• Liaison with Library
stakeholdersHelp PATRONS within the
Library Physical space The Traditional “happy” Librarian
http://www.wordle.net/
And Something new…….
Learning New ROLES & SKILLS to become:
THE Technological & Social Librarian
Make use of Web 2.0 tools to ENHANCE her TRADITIONAL
role by contributing, sharing and collaborating with patron
UJ Sciences Librarian Web 2.0 Strategy: The Adventure just started
Stage 1: 2007-2008 (Individual Experiments)
Created accounts to the following tools:
- UJ Sciences Librarian Blog (Oct’07)- UJ Librarian News Blog (Oct’ 07)- Delicious: tag articles (Oct’ 07)- Flickr account (Nov’ 07)- YouTube account (Dec’ 07)- Wiki portal (Early’ 08)- Facebook profile (May’ 08) - Second Live account (May’08)- Mind Maps (Mid’ 08)- Twitter (Sep’08)- Library Thing account (Sep’ 08)- UJ Science Library News Blog (Oct’08)- Technorati; Snap Shots; Share This;
Scribd, LinkedIn, many more …..
Stage 2: 2009 (Integration + further experimentation)
Updated the Wiki Portal (Jan’ 09)- Over 45 web pages
- IM/Chat account: MeeboMe (Feb’09)- Embedded Widgets on the Portal (IM; Blogs; Twitter; Delicious; Google widgets, etc.)Some more experiments:
- iGoogle web profile (Apr’ 09)- Netvibes portal (May’09)- Custom Search Engine for the Portal- Library Google Maps (Aug’ 09)
Stage 3: 2010 +It all comes together within the:
- Virtual Learning Environment- Embedding Library Services - Mobile Technologies
http://ujsciencelibrarian.pbworks.com/
Embedded widgets on the UJ Sciences Wiki Portal
http://ujsciencelibrarian.pbworks.com/
The Technological & Social Skills/Roles/Tools for Academic Librarians
http://www.wordle.net/
new trend:
The Mobile Librarian
To BRIDGE the GAP in
Social Interaction
The Mobile world at the palm of our hands
Source
The Mobile Academic Librarian provides:• Library Services on the GO!• 24/7 Access to the Library
catalogue, websites, services & resources
• Social Interactions via Mobile Web 2.0 Applications
• Current Awareness to Services and Resources
• Information Retrieval & Reference Services
• eBook Readers on loan
At the PALM of your PATRON HANDS
A New partnership:
The Embedded Librarian
“Embedded librarianship takes a librarian out of the context of the traditional library and places him/her in an “on-site” setting or situation that enables close coordination and collaboration with researchers or teaching faculty” (Carlson & Kneale, 2011)
Embedded Librarianship is about …. (1)a Partnership with your Faculty and Students
Build relationships & increase the visibility of the Library Services by:
• Providing Information literacy instruction away from the Library (Lecture hall; Laboratories; Offices or Research facilities)
• Collaborate with the Faculty members on students’ research projects (Library-Subject based assignments)
• Make use of Virtual Learning Environment to reach to students in their study space
• Attend faculty Workshops, Open Lecturers, Seminars, Classes and Practical tutorials
Embedded Librarianship is about …. (2)a Partnership with your Faculty and Students
Build relationships & increase the visibility of the library services by:
Attend Faculty Board and Departmental meetings to learn about the latest on Research & Teaching, and information needs of its members
Work together with Faculty to enhance the library presence in all the relevant places.
Outreach to users by using Social Networking tools to communicate, share and collaborate.
Make use of Mobile technologies to connect and provide services to patrons
The Embedded UJ Sciences Librarian (1)
The Embedded UJ Sciences Librarian (2)
Curriculum Course on Plagiarism: Sciences for
Civics1st year Sciences,
October 2011
Are “We” The Future Ready Librarians?The “New Normal” is here to stay. The Librarians should focus on adapting to
the changing environment and to develop skills that can keep them current.• Be THE TRADITIONAL LIBRARIAN, but adapt to the changing world• Learn how to use the Social & Technological tools to improve relationships
and communication with your patrons. Be THE SOCIAL NETWORKING LIBRARIAN.
• Help your Library with the implementation of the Mobile Technologies, be THE MOBILE LIBRARIAN.
• Practice Embedded Librarianship by establishing trust and partnership with your Faculty. Be the EMBEDDED LIBRARIAN.
Traditional + Web 2.0 + Mobile + Embedded Librarian
= Modern Librarian
We can bridge the GAP in Social Interaction with our Users!
Consulted ResourcesCarlson, J. & Kneale R. 2011. Embedded librarianship in the research context: navigating
new waters. College & Research Libraries News, 72 (3):167-170 (http://crln.acrl.org/content/72/3/167.full)
Core Competencies for 21st Century CARL Libraries. 2010. URL: http://www.carl-abrc.ca/resources/reports_and_briefs/pdf/core_comp_profile-e.pdf (Accessed: 30/9/11)
Shumaker, D. 2010. Embedded Librarianship at SLA and ALA. (Blog post, Accessed 21/9/2011). URL: http://embeddedlibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/embedded-librarianship-at-sla-and-ala/
Technical Skills & the librarian. 2006. (Blog post, Accessed 21/9/2011). URL: http://scruffynerf.wordpress.com/2006/07/19/technical-skills-the-librarian/ Thank you!
Slide Share Presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/pavlinka163/presentations