1. Skills Taught in Ontario’s Library Technician Programs
Dolores Harms Penner,
Mohawk College

2. History of Library Technician Programs in Canada
First library technician program in Canada established in 1962 in Winnipeg, second in Vancouver in 1966
Canadian Library Association published first version of Guidelines for the Education of Library Technicians in 1966
Growth of LT programs paralleled growth of community colleges in 1970s and 1980s
Some programs have closed - various reasons, primarily because small programs not seen favourably by colleges
I’d like to start with a very brief mention of the history of library tech. programs in Canada

3. Currently 18 library technician programs in Canada
ONTARIO:
Mohawk College (also through Ontariolearn)
Seneca College
Algonquin College
BREAKDOWN BY PROVINCE:
British Columbia = 2 Alberta = 2
Saskatchewan = 1 Manitoba = 1
Ontario = 3 Quebec = 7
Nova Scotia = 1 Newfoundland = 1
Of the 7 programs in Quebec, 2 are at CEGEPs (senior high school) and are three year programs

4. Ontariolearn
A consortium of 22 colleges in Ontario that share their online courses
Colleges offer courses that are “hosted” by other colleges
Designed to reduce unnecessary duplication
Mohawk is “host college” for online library technician courses through Ontariolearn; students registering through another OL college are connected to Mohawk’s course but earn credit at the college where they registered
Some people are confused when they see library technician courses offered at other colleges in Ontario, like Conestoga or Durham; here’s the explanation

5. Skills currently taught: Technical Services Skills
Cataloguing (descriptive and derived cataloguing, subject analysis, classification), including print and materials in other formats
Indexing
Acquisitions
Processing of new materials
Starting with the traditional three areas of library service, these are the broad technical service topics that are covered in our curriculum.

6. Public Services Skills
Information/reference work (print and online sources)
Readers’ advisory
Client services/customer service
Programming
Promotion/Marketing/Advocacy
Circulation
Inter-library loan
There is a broad range of skills that are taught in our program that relate to public service work.

7. Computer Skills Database searching Web design
Integrated library systems
Electronic publishing
Emerging library technologies
Computer troubleshooting
Employers expect our graduates to have a broad range of computer skills.

8. Other Supervision/management skills Human relations
Specialized types of information services work (e.g. archives, special collections)
ALSO: 6 weeks of field placement in different types of libraries
These are some additional skills that are taught in our programs, and then students have an opportunity to gain some real-world experience in their field placements.

9. How have our courses changed in recent years?
Much more focus on online resources
Web 2.0 topics like social networking, wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, etc.
Advanced web searching
Developments in reference services like e- reference and AskOn
French (Algonquin – Ottawa/federal gov’t)
The information services world is changing, and new skills are required. These are topics that have been added to the curriculum of our various programs in recent years.

10. Elective research project (Algonquin)
More on how to teach others to use library services
Cataloguing electronic resources
We’re watching RDA developments closely!
Some additional new topics in our programs. These skills are taught to our students to ensure that they graduate with current skills. And we will be revising our cataloguing courses with the introduction of RDA.

11. “Soft” Skills Attention to detail/accuracy Interpersonal skills
Organizational skills
Problem solving/analytical skills
Communication skills
Flexible
Time management/work independently
These responses are based on an assignment in our Intro to Libraries class. We ask students to find a library technician to interview, and one of the questions they ask is “What skills, values and attributes are needed for a library technician to be successful in his/her work?” These were some of the most common responses in the fall term. An interesting debate is – to what extent are these skills “teachable”, or are they qualities that some people inherently have while others don’t? At Mohawk, our advisory committee has stated that as employers, they feel that these skills are even more important than some of the other technical skills possessed by our grads, because technology will change greatly over the course of someone’s career, but these skills will carry people through and allow them to adapt to new technology and learn the new skills they will need.

12. Graduate Library Technician responses to “What skills should be taught
More technology, esp. web 2.0
How to teach others to use library services
Leadership, conflict management
Core skills like cataloguing, reference
Working with difficult clients
Working with clients from different ethnic backgrounds, and with physical/mental challenges
In the same interview assignment, students ask library technicians what skills they think should be taught in library technician programs. It is interesting to see, once people have been in the working world, what the skills are that they think are particularly practical.

13. Graduate library technicians’ advice to library tech. students
Get experience as soon as possible: volunteer!
Join a library association, get involved
Be open to working in any environment: you may find yourself in a different setting than your initial goal
Prepare for constant retraining and updating
Embrace new technology and work to stay one step ahead of library users
Here are some other tidbits of wisdom that library technicians have passed on to our students – the benefits of volunteering to get experience, getting involved in a library association, and remaining flexible and prepared for changes in your work world.

14. More graduate library technicians’ advice to library tech. students
Be willing to take on a broad range of duties, e.g. webmaster
Work to create a warm, inviting space for users
In your studies, remember that you get out of a course what you put into it
Network and make connections through visiting libraries, attending workshops and conferences; strive to make a good impression
My last slide, with some additional advice that our students have received. As an instructor, I am pleased to see our students being told, by someone other than me, that they will get more out of a course if they put more into it.
To summarize, in addition to the broad range of “hard” skills that we teach library technicians, in many areas, there are some very important “soft” skills that will add to a library technician’s employability and success in their work.