Digital Librarian, Cybrarian, Or Librarian with Specialized Skills 143
Digital Librarian, Cybrarian, or Librarian with Specialized Skills 143
Digital Librarian, Cybrarian, or Librarian with Specialized Skills: Who Will Staff Digital Libraries?
Linda Marion
Abstract but are not yet coordinated and targeted at the This exploratory study examined 250 online aca- task of creating a digital librarian.” (Carbonell). 2 demic librarian employment ads posted during 2000 to determine current requirements for tech- What specific skills does a digital librarian need to func- nologically oriented jobs. A content analysis soft- tion effectively? Is a digital librarian only one who main- ware program was used to categorize the specific tains a digital collection? What is the difference between a skills and characteristics listed in the ads. The re- digital librarian, a systems librarian, and a reference librar- sults were analyzed using multivariate analysis ian who supports web-based course delivery? Is “digital (cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling). librarian” an identifiable job? The answers to these and The results, displayed in a three-dimensional con- similar questions are varied and disjunctive. It is not sur- cept map, indicate 19 categories comprised of both prising that the definition of digital librarian is unclear computer related skills and behavioral character- given that it nests within the field of digital libraries that istics that can be interpreted along three continua: is rapidly evolving and inventing itself. (1) technical skills to people skills; (2) long-estab- Although authors write about job competencies they lished technologies and behaviors to emerging consider essential in an automated library environment, trends; (3) technical service competencies to pub- there is no research that systematically examines the cur- lic service competencies. There was no identifi- rent job requirements for librarians working in that envi- able “digital librarian” category. ronment. Examining job ads is an established method of assessing what employers consider important in hiring new “… what is a digital library? Conceptions differ. staff. While job ads do not identify the characteristics of Approaches differ. Realizations differ.” (Saracevic).1 the individuals hired, they do provide a picture of current “Advances in all these technologies are underway, trends in desired qualifications and skills. In other words,
Linda Marion is a doctoral student at Drexel University. E-mail: [email protected].
143 March 15–18, 2001, Denver, Colorado 144 Linda Marion job ads represent an idealized picture of employers’ wishes • flexibility; for new personnel, and thus, employers’ vision of the fu- • innate skepticism; ture. Nesbeitt3 found that online job boards are increas- • propensity to take risks; ingly popular resources used by library job seekers. Pre- • abiding public service perspective; sumably, the individual looking for a technologically ori- • good interpersonal skills; ented job would be particularly drawn to such a resource. • skill at enabling and fostering change; and This study explored the content of online employment • capacity for and desire to work independently. ads to determine the content and boundaries of librarianship. The goal of this study was to identify the Content analyses of job ads skill sets currently associated with technologically oriented Several longitudinal studies, tracking change over decades, library jobs in order to: have examined employment ads to assess how much and • aid librarians interested in current job requirements; what kind of change has occurred in library positions. and Hong Xu6 concluded that, as technology use increased • assist managers in defining the skills needed for new in libraries between 1970 and 1990, the requirements for personnel. reference librarians and catalogers have become more simi- lar and both groups require increased computer skills. Xu Background noted that there was an overall trend toward “holistic li- Existing literature on the subject of job requirements for brarians” with titles and responsibilities reflecting func- computer related library jobs consists of: (1) articles about tional definitions rather than the traditional library job cat- technical and personal competencies, and (2) content analy- egories. ses of job ads. Zhou7 performed a systematic quantitative analysis of trends in demand for computer related skills for academic Librarians’ job competencies librarians from 1974 to 1994. He devised a thirteen-point The literature on job competencies for the technologically checklist for computer related skills appearing in job ads oriented librarian consists of two major streams: those that that include knowledge of, or experience with, the follow- focus on the knowledge base (professional skills) and those ing aspects: that focus on attributes or attitudes (personal characteris- • bibliographic utilities, such as OCLC or RLIN; tics). • automated library systems; Roy Tennant4, a leading proponent of developing digi- • online database searching, such as Dialog; tal librarians, published a list of skills he considers neces- • microcomputer applications; sary for those who create and manage digital collections • mainframe computer applications; and services. These skills are knowledge of: • CD-ROM products; • imaging technologies; • computer languages or programming; • optical character recognition (OCR); • computer hardware; • markup languages, including HTML, SGML, and • possession of a degree in computer science; XML; • networks, such as LAN or WAN; • cataloging and metadata; • Internet searching; • indexing and DB technology; • resources in electronic formats; and • user interface design; • image technology or multimedia. • programming; Zhou found that the technological job requirements • Web technology; and changed over time as new technology appeared and was • project management. implemented. When technology was new, it was more likely In a subsequent article Tennant5 acknowledged that the to be mentioned in ads. As a particular form of technologi- rapid rate of change in technology meant that certain skills cal skill, such as Internet searching, becomes commonplace, might be obsolete in a short time. To remedy this, he rec- it was less likely to be mentioned. Besides devising a useful ommended that employers seek librarians with the follow- scale for assessing computer-related skills, Zhou’s research ing attributes or personal traits: supports the idea that job ads are one early indicator of • capacity to learn constantly and quickly; innovation in the profession.
ACRL Tenth National Conference Digital Librarian, Cybrarian, or Librarian with Specialized Skills 145
Smith and Lynch8 used Zhou’s scale and Tennant’s list News, and LIS programs’ job boards. Two criteria deter- of behavioral characteristics in a recent investigation of mined inclusion in the study. First, because this study fo- the changing nature of work in academic libraries in the cuses on job requirements for professional librarians, the 1980s and 1990s. They found that required computer-re- job had to require an ALA approved Master’s degree. Sec- lated skills increased over time. Additionally, most jobs in ond, the ads needed multiple mentions of “electronic”, “vir- their data set listed general, rather than specific, computer tual”, “technology”, or more specific terms potentially rel- skills; for example, “working with resources in electronic evant to computer related librarian skills and qualifications. formats” or “knowledge of computerized systems”. Men- In other words, in order to capture the most technologi- tion of behavioral traits, such as “creativity”, “enthusiasm”, cally oriented jobs, an ad needed to include more than a and “flexibility” also increased over time. The researchers single reference to “knowledge of computers” or a similar discovered that “combination” jobs that shift from tradi- general phrase. tional specialist to more complex functionalist positions The author conducted a pilot study in May 2000. The rose in their sample. original data set included ads encompassing public, school, and special library jobs as well as academic jobs. Prelimi- Questions Guiding This Study nary analysis of the data revealed that public and school (1) What specific technical skills and behavioral char- library jobs and senior administrative positions in all set- acteristics are listed in current online job ads for profes- tings overwhelmingly mentioned only very general tech- sional librarians? nologically related requirements, such as “familiarity with (2) Can a subset of these ads be classified as digital li- computers” or “knowledge of automated library systems”. brarian jobs? Special library jobs presented a different picture than aca- demic positions and will be analyzed separately. Therefore, Methods this paper reports on an analysis of academic library jobs. This exploratory study examined 250 online academic li- A content analysis software program, WordStat9, was brarian employment ads posted during 2000 to determine used to categorize the specific skills and characteristics current requirements for technologically oriented jobs. The listed in the online ads for academic libraries. The coding ads were selected from the ACRL online job board, C&RL categories were derived from a combination of sources: (1)
Table 1. Content Analysis Categories Category Label Examples of Dictionary Terms Automated Library System Integrated library system, Innovative Interfaces Bibliographic Utilities OCLC, RLIN. MARC Collegial Collaborative, Interested in partnerships,consultative Computer Hardware PC, network, microcomputer, Mac Distance Education Asynchronous education, online education Diversity Work effectively with multicultural staff, faculty, and/or students E-Library Digital library, electronic library, virtual library Emerging Trends Newly emerging, newly evolving Energetic Enthusiastic, highly motivated Environment Rapidly changing or complex environment E-Resources Electronic journals, databases, digital, online, computerized resources Independent Self-directed, self-managed Innovative Creative, visionary, interested in leading-edge Interpersonal Skills Communication, oral, verbal, written presentation, organization skills Leadership Leader, leads, leading Public Service Commitment to; consumer, user, or client focused Programming Languages Java, XML, Perl, SQL Teamwork Work effectively as part of a team Website Creation, organization, maintenance, development, support of web pages and web site
March 15–18, 2001, Denver, Colorado 146 Linda Marion a frequency count of the most commonly mentioned rel- file” of category labels that forms the basis for further evant terms in the ads; (2) Zhou’s thirteen-point checklist data analysis. This technique is related to cocitation of computer-related skills; and (3) Tennant’s lists of per- analysis. (See McCain12 for a detailed explanation of sonal attributes and technical skills. (See Table 1 for a list cocitation and co-word techniques). of the categories). The structure of the correlation matrix was explored Katherine W. McCain10, 11 used examination of classi- using two multivariate techniques: cluster analysis fication terms, such as headings or descriptors, for struc- (SimStat13, a statistical analysis program) to identify clus- tural analysis of a knowledge domain. In order to ex- ters of terms with similar co-occurrence patterns, and mul- amine the structure of the employment market for li- tidimensional scaling (SimStat) to produce a three-dimen- brarian jobs, the terms analyzed in this study are those sional display of the data. derived from the content analysis of the job ads in the data. The frequency counts of category labels were con- Results verted into a matrix of similarity (correlation) values, Cluster Analysis which indicates the relative similarity or dissimilarity The hierarchical agglomerative clustering approach used of pairs of terms. The use of correlations rather than in this study begins by joining two terms whose patterns raw frequency counts has the effect of compensating are the most similar according to the distance criterion cho- for large differences in frequency counts for commonly sen in this study—average linkage. Subsequent terms are occurring terms. While large frequency counts are joined to existing clusters and the clusters are combined themselves a measure of influence, the present research until one cluster is formed that encompasses the entire set is concerned with the structure of the job market; thus, of terms. The results are displayed in a dendrogram, in a measure of co-occurrence similarity provides more which (moving from left to right) the more similar the useful information. The result is a “co-occurrence pro- terms are, the sooner they are clustered and the shorter
Figure 1. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis Dendrogram using Average Linkage (Between Groups) Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine
C A S E 0 5 10 15 20 25 Label Num +------+------+------+------+------+
INTRPRNL_SKILL 1 -+------+ WEBSITE 2 -+ I COLLEGIALTY 3 ---+ +-----+ LEADERSHIP 6 ---+-----+ I I INNOVATIVE 4 ---+ +-+ +-+ ENVIRONMENT 5 ------+ I I PUBLIC_SERVICE 7 ------+ I TEAMWORK 8 ------+------+ ENERGETIC 11 ------+ +------+ INDEPENDENT 9 ------+ I I DIVERSITY 13 ------+ +------+ BIB_UTILITIES 12 ------+------+ I I AUTO_LIB_SYS 15 ------+ +-+ I COMP_HARDWARE 10 ------+------+ I I PROGRAM_LANG 16 ------+ +------+ I E-RESOURCES 14 ------+ I E-LIBRARY 17 ------+---+ I DIST_EDUC 19 ------+ +-+ EMERGNG_TREND 18 ------+
ACRL Tenth National Conference Digital Librarian, Cybrarian, or Librarian with Specialized Skills 147
the spatial distance between the linkages. (See figure Multidimensional Scaling 1.) There is no “best” number of clusters. The vertical Multidimensioal scaling (MDS) uses the same proximity line on the dendrogram partitions the set of terms into (correlation) matrix as cluster analysis to study the under- the number of clusters that most clearly informs the lying structure of the data. Often used jointly with cluster discussion. analysis, MDS produces a two- or three-dimensional map At the six-cluster level, three coherent groups emerge. in which similarity of the ads’ co-occurrence patterns are Three terms ultimately link to the rest of the cluster but represented by spatial proximity on the map. The MDS remain separate at this level. The largest cluster represents map (figure 2) contains a three-dimensional map for the a core of 11 skills and characteristics in the set of employ- category set (RSQ = .81, stress = .24). The cluster bound- ment ads. Most of the terms refer to behavioral and per- aries are those shown in Figure 1 (six cluster level); the sonality characteristics and only one category refers to com- three isolated terms are boxed to distinguish them. The puter related skills. The computer-related category, Website, map shows the superimposed category clusters from the refers to creation, organization, and maintenance of dendrogram as loops around groups of terms. The axes websites and web pages. The second cluster to emerge con- of the map are interpreted by examining the term and clus- sists of the most technically oriented skills found in the ter placement. Categories with many links to others tend ads. This group includes knowledge of computer languages, to be centrally located on the map while those that are weakly computer hardware and networking, and electronic re- linked or with a few focused ties are at the periphery. sources. The third cluster consists of Bibliographic Utili- Three-dimensional maps are very difficult to represent ties and Automated Library Systems. Finally, Distance adequately on a two- dimensional page, hence only two axes Education, knowledge of Emerging Trends, and Electronic are display here. The axes represent underlying dimensions (or digital) Libraries are isolates. in the data set. The horizontal axis (X) represents a varia-
Figure 2. Academic Library Job Skills
AUTOMATED_LIBRARY_SYSTEM BIBLIOGRAPHIC_UTILITIES
LEADERSHIP
COMPUTER_HARDWARE INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMING_LANGUAGE WEBSITE COLLEGIAL INTERPERSONAL_SKILLS
PUBLIC_SERVICE INDEPENDENT ENVIRONMENT
DISTANCE_ED E-RESOURCES TEAMWORK ENERGETIC
DIVERSITY
EMERGING_TRENDS
E-LIBRARY
March 15–18, 2001, Denver, Colorado 148 Linda Marion tion of an oft-noted phenomenon on cocitation maps; that Although the Core cluster of skills included only one is, a continuum from technical domain knowledge on the computer related category, Website, terms related to web far left to applications of domain knowledge on the far right pages and web sites occurred with the second highest fre- (see McCain14). In this case, the categories are arranged on quency exceeded only by Interpersonal Skills. Clearly, the a continuum from the technically oriented focus on pro- academic library world has wholeheartedly accepted the gramming languages on the left to a public service focus necessity for working with the online environment. Em- on the right. The Y-axis represents a time dimension from ployers are clearly eager to hire librarians with web skills. longer established skills at the top of the map to the newest A representative job ad would indicate that employers are categories of skills at the bottom. Thus, Bibliographic Utili- looking for an interpersonally skilled individual, knowl- ties, one of the earliest automated areas in the academic li- edgeable about web applications, able to work effectively brary, appears at the top. Emerging Trends, Diversity, and both independently and as part of a team. Electronic Libraries, representing the newest skill catego- The Technical cluster most closely resembles some ries found in the job ads, are placed at the bottom. Diversity, skills associated with Systems Librarians. As Tennant17 representing the ability to work effectively with diverse and Zhou18 indicated, computer savvy skills are in de- multicultural staff and patrons, reflects the relatively recent mand, especially for those who are knowledgeable about prominence of this personality characteristic. The Z-axis (not networking and computer languages, such as Java and shown) displays a continuum from technical service to public Perl. service positions in the academic library. The results of this study did not provide evidence for The most centrally located categories on the map are an identifiable digital librarian job category. Rather the evi- Website, Interpersonal Skills, Independent, and Teamwork. dence points to an increasingly and a rapidly changing au- These terms refer respectively to the creation and mainte- tomated library environment. The job titles vary a great nance of web pages and web sites; possession of excellent deal, often with little resemblance to traditional job titles. interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills; the Xu19 noted a trend toward “holistic librarians” with titles ability to perform independent creative work; and, the abil- and responsibilities reflecting functional definitions rather ity to work effectively as part of a team. than traditional library job categories. Smith and Lynch20 found a similar trend they labeled “combination” jobs. Discussion Worth watching will be the newly emerging areas of dis- The results of this study provide a coherent picture of tance education and digital libraries. Possibly, these topics, the job skills, both technical and behavioral, currently together with increasing emphasis on digital resources, will deemed desirable by prospective employers. The results also lead to the emergence of a definitive digital librarian. These illustrate the usefulness of using content analysis and co- findings of this study argue for the ongoing monitoring word analysis methods for establishing a baseline for ex- of job skills appearing in job ads as a useful perspective on ploring the field of librarianship. current trends in librarianship. This study provides support for Tennant’s15 focus on behavioral characteristics and some of his recommenda- Notes tions for computer related skills as well as for Smith and 1. Tefko Saracevic, “Preface. Digital libraries: Interdiscipli- Lynch’s16 findings. The latter researchers noted that be- nary concepts, challenges, and opportunities”. In T. Aparac et al., havioral characteristics, such as “excellent communica- eds. Proceedings of the 3rd CoLIS Conference, Zagreb, 1999. tion skills” and “leadership” became increasingly vis- 2. Jaime Carbonell, “Digital librarians: Beyond the digital ible during the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2000 job ads book stack,” IEEE Expert 11, no.3 (1996): 13. these types of phrases occurred very frequently, with 3. Sarah Nesbeitt, “Trends in Internet-based library recruit- Interpersonal Skills the most frequently occurring cat- ment,” Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 4, no.2 (1999) and egory overall. Skills like Teamwork and Collegiality
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5. Roy Tennant, “Skills for the new millennium,” Library Jour- ence: A preliminary co-descriptor analysis.” In M. Koenig and A. nal Digital, January 1, 1999.
March 15–18, 2001, Denver, Colorado