Competencies and skills of the digital librarian Profile

About the discussion group: • The Profile of the Digital librarian was discussed in a group of 9 LIS students, all of them Italian (mostly master students), 3 LIS teachers from 3 different countries, 2 working professionals also from different countries. • Exchange of different points of view, different opinion, different national specific aspects of the vision and development of digital librarians

Context for discussion • The Digital librarian is a bridge between digital resources and users (the role of facilitator, also remotely); • The Digital librarian is an agent of innovation, of citizenship, of information literacy etc. (the concept for the digital librarian as a mentor, as a friend of the user, as a personal trainer, who guides the user); • The social role of the librarian is still strong, even stronger in digital environment (the concept for social inclusion in digital environment); • Pedagogical skills get stronger in digital environment (teaching digital librarian) – the concept of the digital library as a virtual classroom.

Context for discussion-2 • The use of IT extends the core roles of the librarian, or helps the librarian to do these roles better; • The competencies, skills, roles vary, dependent on the specific type of the library or information center, where the digital librarian works • The digital librarian must has commitment to continuous learning and life long improving of skills in all areas of digital applications, services etc.

Methodology of work 1. Definition of core skills first and after that of specific ones 2. Definition of the most important 4 roles of the nowadays librarian 3. Listing and definition of the core skills and competencies for each of the roles 4. Following which of the defined skills and competencies are still valid in digital environment, which of them change, which new ones are added.

Development of a model • A matrix was developed by the group, where on the x-axis 4 core roles of the digital librarian are listed, and vertically – some of the most important competencies of the digital librarian; • The idea is to put a grade (1 -6 scale) of each competence for each role in order to define how important is the competence for the role; • We hope the matrix would be developed and improved with the help of other colleagues during the digital education forum

Model of Matrix for core roles and competencies Roles Com pe tencies Information technology -Inf. Architecture -Web-publishing -XML -Database theory -Networking Technical troubleshooting skills etc. Knowledge/Informati on Organization -Indexing -Thesaurus Retrieval Evaluation of IResources Knowledge organization and retrieval Cultural /Literary mediation Facilitating Learning/ Information Literacy Social role/ policy

Model of Matrix… - continuation Knowledge organization and retrieval Multicultural understanding Epistemology Literature/Cultural Knowledge Promoting social processes/Learni ng processes -Internet communities -Communities of Practice etc. Web-based Literary Mediation Cultural /Literary mediation Facilitating Learning/ Information Literacy Social role/ policy