Librarians DO fly: strategies for staying aloft Julie Parry Bath Spa University

Skills and competences Fielden (1993)  Teaching & learning  New technology & information systems  Customer service  Management skills Heery & Morgan (1996)  Teaching & training  IT-related skills  Credibility with academic staff  Management skills

Skills and competences Feret & Marcinek (1999)  Communication/training skills  IT skills  Managerial skills  Commitment

Current competence requirements  Information literacy  Developing electronic services  Liaising with stakeholders  Customer service  Understanding of the higher education environment  IT skills Also  Experience of online sources/information retrieval  Awareness of legislation  Web development

Themes for the future  Personalisation of services  Collaboration (physical and virtual facilities)  Flexible use of space  Management and skills

The academic cybrarian in 2012 “Each information cluster is contained within a transparent shimmering wall of digits [known as] Curtain Silencer Software”

Saltire Centre, Glasgow Photographed by John Wilsher

Skills for the future  IT skills  Management skills  Communication  Learning and teaching

MSc in Information & Library Management Core module (Organising information) includes:  Hybrid libraries  Intranets  Knowledge management Advanced skills include:  Internet standards  Metadata schemas Not taught:  Teaching skills  Cataloguing  Classification Optional:

Recruitment A clear understanding of the current and future skills required for the post

Performance management To achieve results staff need to have:  Agreed objectives  Adequate resources (time, equipment etc.)  Requisite skills  Performance management system (such as appraisal) (such as appraisal)

Staff development and training  Individual employee level  Organisational level  Regional level  Sectoral level

The academic librarian… …like the phoenix “flies far ahead to the front, always scanning the landscape and distant space. It represents our capacity for vision, for collecting sensory information about our environment and the events unfolding within it. The phoenix, with its great beauty, creates intense excitement and deathless inspiration”.