Building a Collaborative Position Description Archive …...and necessitated a radical reimagining...

Brian W. Keith, Bonnie J. Smith, and Laurie N. Taylor 419

portal: Libraries and the Academy, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2017), pp. 419–434. Copyright © 2017 by Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD 21218.

Building a Collaborative Position Description Archive as a Community of PracticeBrian W. Keith, Bonnie J. Smith, and Laurie N. Taylor

abstract: Analyzing position descriptions provides insights into new and emerging trends, especially as the role of academic and research libraries continues to evolve, and new position types and new ways of organizing work emerge. Personnel officers and other library leaders frequently collaborate by sharing position descriptions in an effort to understand work assignments at peer institutions. The Association of Research Libraries Position Description Bank is an important digital collection produced as a result of the engagement of a community of practice. It provides a valuable resource that supports library leadership and administration in an era of tremendous and rapid change.

Introduction

As libraries and the roles of libraries change and as new position types and ways of organizing work continue to evolve, personnel officers and other leaders from academic and research libraries frequently collaborate by sharing position

descriptions in an effort to understand how work is defined and assigned at peer institu-tions. Position descriptions serve as important elements of effective human resources (HR) management, but they are only useful if maintained, organized, and accessible. HR managers spend considerable effort managing (archiving, locating, and retrieving) and circulating these documents. The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Position Description (PD) Bank was created to support immediate, local, institutional document management needs and to simultaneously leverage a new capacity created by a shared multi-institutional system to create an industry-wide platform for collaborative learning and inquiry. The ARL PD Bank’s success has been made possible through engagement with academic library HR managers as a community of practice, a group of people who share a concern for their profession and learn to do it better by interacting regularly. As This

mss

. is pe

er rev

iewed

, cop

y edit

ed, a

nd ac

cepte

d for

publi

catio

n, po

rtal 1

7.2.

Building a Collaborative Position Description Archive as a Community of Practice420

the community continues to develop the PD Bank for immediate and long-term needs, its collection of documents becomes an ever more valuable digital resource supporting

library leadership and administration in an era of tremendous and rapid change. As we consider the fast-evolving roles in library public and technical services, it becomes all the more beneficial to share resources documenting current and emerging posi-tions, roles, and responsibilities in academic libraries. The ARL PD Bank serves as a com-munity node, bringing together academic libraries to support new and evolving roles in public and technical services. In addi-tion to providing a valuable management and professional resource, the PD Bank’s

comprehensive collection presents new and ongoing opportunities for research into the current state and evolution of academic and research library employment, organizational models, and more.

Literature Search: The Changing Environment

Two of the most striking features of the new millennium are globalization and the explo-sion of technology. Raj Aggarwal, writing on the cusp of the twenty-first century, fore-

saw the economic and social transformations driven by these two factors: “At the dawn of the new millennium, we are on the threshold of a new age of progress, an information age that is transforming the nature of business and society.”1 Globalization and technology, among other factors, have created new paradigms and necessitated a radical reimagining of the academic and research library. This evolution is exhibited in the libraries’ physical environ-ment. Libraries are moving from a place to seek information to a space of learning and collaboration where cross-curricular syner-

gies take root, encouraging continuous creative dialogue and anticipating the evolving needs of the academy. The services offered for research and education are now deeply seated in a digital information system, rapidly evolving and radically changing access to information through reliable, pervasive technology. There are a growing number of partnerships, regional, national, and, increasingly, global. Lastly, there is a reenvisioning of libraries and a new focus on metrics to monitor and measure library impact. Barbara Dewey describes this new environment, in which the global research library must “ad-dress sweeping changes in technology transforming all aspects of creating, disseminat-ing, and accessing scholarship in a multi-cultural world.”2 Academic libraries have, in

As we consider the fast-evolving roles in library public and tech-nical services, it becomes all the more beneficial to share resources documenting current and emerg-ing positions, roles, and responsi-bilities in academic libraries.

Libraries are moving from a place to seek information to a space of learning and collabo-ration where cross-curricular synergies take root, encour-aging continuous creative dialogue and anticipating the evolving needs of the academy.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


large part, mirrored transformations within higher education to reflect the new ways in which teaching and research are conducted and to adjust to the need for rapid and relentless change to remain relevant to students and society. At the annual meeting of the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C., in 2009, during the Great Recession, Scott Jaschik quoted Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State University, in his call for intentional upheaval and stated that the choice for higher education is between “reinvention or extinction.”3 The same can be said for academic libraries, where radical transformation continues. As John Seely Brown explains, “We have moved from an era of equilibrium to a new normal that is an era of constant dis-equilibrium.”4 Envisioning, learning new skills, creating, and implementing systems and procedures to respond to the rapidly changing academic environment require a technology-savvy, vibrant, innovative, and flexible workplace. Lori A. Goetsch states:

Technology has significantly influenced how students and faculty use the services and collections of academic libraries. In response, libraries are identifying new roles and responsibilities for librarians by both reinventing more traditional positions as well as creating new job roles that require different skill sets and mind sets.5

Library directors and human resource and organizational development profession-als recognize the need to recruit and cultivate this new workforce through creative ap-proaches to defining and organizing roles, hiring personnel, and deploying and retraining existing staff. This new workforce can conceive, build, and implement adaptations to ensure effective engagement of the library in the academy.

Research on Library Positions

Documenting these changes is the ubiquitous position description, “an orderly record of the essential activities involved in the performance of a task that is abstracted from a job analysis and used in classifying and evaluating jobs and in the selection and placement of employees.”6 Posi-tion descriptions (PDs), while narrowly focused individually, reflect in total the culture, priorities, and changes within an organization. They are important operationally and, although most com-monly known as part of the hiring process, they also serve as a baseline for training programs; define the expected contributions of employees; list the skills, knowledge, and abilities required to succeed; provide a framework to evaluate job performance; and establish a basis for comparison and classification purposes. Within rapidly chang-

Envisioning, learning new skills, creating, and imple-menting systems and pro-cedures to respond to the rapidly changing academic environment require a tech-nology-savvy, vibrant, inno-vative, and flexible workplace.

Within rapidly changing work environments, such as that of the academic library, position descriptions are es-sential tools for deliberately building change, reorganiz-ing work, and articulating competencies.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


ing work environments, such as that of the academic library, position descriptions are essential tools for deliberately building change, reorganizing work, and articulating com-petencies. They communicate detailed information and priorities not only to employees and their departments but also to the academic institution within which the library func-tions and to the profession beyond. Supervisors and human resources managers spend considerable time and energy analyzing the needs and dynamics of the organization, the required and preferred qualifications, the supervisory structure, the pay range, and the way to best communicate the essential duties of each position. These are carefully transcribed into position descriptions that, as a collection, define vital attributes and responsibilities of departments, units, and organizations.

Job advertisements often provide information similar to that in PDs. Not surpris-ingly, studies that analyze job advertisements are common in the library literature. These studies span specific to broad time frames and job types within the library and information studies (LIS) field. Studies that analyze specific job types look at new and emerging titles and trends, such as digital curation,7 but also more traditional roles such as the subject specialist8 and the reference librarian.9 Some studies focus on the specific skills described, or the qualifications required, such as requirements for technologically oriented jobs.10 Other studies analyze LIS job advertisements more broadly, such as “Staffing for the Future: ARL University Library Hiring in 2011.”11 Many such studies in the last 10 years have focused on the emergence and proliferation of technology skills needed for working in the digital era, such as digital librarians;12 scholarly communica-tion librarians;13 social science data librarians;14 instructional design librarians;15 and emerging technologies librarians.16

Therese Triumph and Penny Beile analyzed job announcements from 2011 and compared the results with studies from 1996 and 1988. Their purpose was to determine “the current state of the academic library job market and identify emerging trends over a 23-year period.”17 One of the main findings of this large study was the proliferation of new position titles, reflecting that “academic library jobs are becoming increasingly specialized—and many require new job skills.”18 Not surprisingly, the new titles indicate “that the primary drivers are emerging technologies and digital materials.”19 Many stud-ies also note a range of personal attributes, such as Pussadee Nonthacumjane’s research on the need for flexibility and creativity “when dealing with the changes in collection, services and users. Critical thinking, ethical understanding, social responsibility and problem solving skills are vital for the future.”20 Through a content analysis of vacancy announcements over 10 years, Lori Goetsch finds:

Drawing on the core roles and responsibilities of positions such as systems librarians (high-level technological expertise), reference librarians (user assistance and education), and subject librarians (collection development and management and liaison work), a re-envisioned and interrelated set of four new core responsibilities emerges: consulting services; information lifecycle management; collaborative print and electronic collection building; and information mediation and interpretation.21

Through content analyses, job advertisements have been key elements in understand-ing the profession and the work of academic libraries. Job advertisements may be the perfect tool for analysis since, as noted by Beverly Lynch and Kimberley Robles Smith,

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


“The assumption is that the ad will indicate the ideal job as defined by the employer and that the library will include in it the knowledge, skills, and abilities the library believes to be important at that particular point in time. The ad defines the job without making the necessary adjustment to it when a person is already in it.”22 Additionally, by design, advertisements are readily accessible beyond the originating institution, at least tempo-rarily. Job advertisements provide, however, only a glimpse into the inner workings of the academic library. To accurately assess the changing nature of library work, “a more detailed and careful study of the jobs themselves, not just the advertisements for these jobs, is needed . . . the actual job content can help explain structural changes that also are ongoing in academic libraries.”23

Studies such as these rely heavily and often exclusively for their analyses on data gathered from position descriptions and job announcements. These studies help answer questions and provide valuable insights into library professions. Findings from these studies offer insight into the expectations and priorities of hiring institutions, including responsibilities and qualifications for positions. The position description documents track historical developments and changes to the profession, including the new types of positions and responsibilities and those that are becoming less common. As jobs and requirements change, in light of new and emerging trends in academic libraries, so, too, does the organizational structure, and these documents offer evidence of such change. The academic library will continue to redefine and transform itself in an effort to remain relevant. These transformations will be portrayed in the evolution of library positions and the emerging trends will “help to paint the picture of possible futures for librarians.”24

History of the ARL Position Description Bank

The ARL PD Bank was conceived by the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, based on the recognition of core needs facing HR professionals in academic libraries. Library human resources professionals frequently share best practices, information, processes, and documents, including PDs, harnessing the joint knowledge and experience of the community to meet the needs of the profession. Besides querying this community, or searching the Web, there was no repository or space for storing and easily accessing current and historical position descriptions outside one’s own institution. UF has a long tradition of excellence in building digital collections and in leveraging digital collections for other strategic goals, including supporting digital humanities, digital scholarship, data curation, and building communities of practice.25 For example, in 2004 the UF Libraries became a founding partner and the technical host institution for the Digital Library of the Caribbean, an international digital library operated collaboratively by academic institutions in the Caribbean and the United States:

The Digital Library Center at UF provided the technical expertise necessary to advise the development of the digital collection. The [Digital Library of the Caribbean] partners developed a model in which the cultural and national patrimony would be united online, but the items and the rights would remain with the contributing partner.26

Thus, the Digital Library of the Caribbean was developed to support local institutional needs while simultaneously supporting community needs for creating a shared resource,

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


building a community of practice, and increasing capacity for digitization and digital initiatives.

A team at the UF Libraries designed the ARL PD Bank as a digital collection fol-lowing this model. The PD Bank would leverage digital collection activities in service to programmatic goals for libraries, including daily operations for HR management, effective recruitment, and strategic planning. As Dennis Defa explains:

Effective recruitment begins with a strategic understanding of what the organization needs now and what direction it must take . . . Preparation must begin long before a vacancy or a new position becomes available . . . Vacancies, whether new positions or replacements, need to be considered within the organization’s strategic plan.27

From this conceptual foundation, the PD Bank was proposed to ARL, and in March 2012, the ARL Board of Directors authorized its establishment.28 ARL contributed a significant portion of the programming cost for the system, which was developed by a team at the University of Florida with broad input from other institutions, including over 20 ARL member institutions, via surveys, focus groups, and beta testing.

In February 2013, ARL officially launched the PD Bank, which was initially avail-able only to ARL members. To sustain the community, maximize the collection use, and create an even more comprehensive collection, access was expanded. Beginning in 2014, library consortia that included at least one ARL member institution could join the PD Bank as a group and obtain access for their non-ARL members. The first consortium to join was the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries. The Canadian Association of Research Libraries followed in 2015.

As of May 2016, there were 330 registered users from 124 institutions. At that point, the ARL PD Bank contained 1,684 position records: 681 for professional librarians, 141 for other professionals, and 862 for exempt and nonexempt support and paraprofession-als.29 Position records are searchable by the following categories:

● Full-time equivalency (FTE);● Position status (filled, open, or discontinued); ● Position type (professional librarian; support or paraprofessional; other profes-

sional; or other);● Appointment type (regular; tenure accruing or permanent; temporary/time

limited; or residency/fellowship/internship);● Library type (medical library; law library; nonuniversity library; or all other);

and● Functional areas.

When uploading their PDs, institutions are asked to select the main functional areas for each position. This information provides not only useful search criteria but also important data on the frequency and, over time, the evolution of positions within academic librar-ies. Table 1 depicts all functional areas available in the ARL PD Bank and the number of records selected for each, as of May 2016.

The ARL PD Bank serves a community of practitioners and the institutions they represent by leveraging a key and ubiquitous tool, position descriptions, which are used to define roles and express organizational priorities. This dynamic and growing

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


Table 1. Functional areas in the Association of Research Libraries Position Description Bank as of May 2016

Functional areas Number of records

Subject specialist 218Reference/Research 217Cataloging/Bibliographic control/Metadata 160Branch/Unit/Department management 159Information technology/Systems 148Digital services 130Instruction 126Circulation 125Archiving/Curatorial/Rare books 120Liaison 115Collection development/Management 114Access services 104Acquisitions 93Electronic resources 64Senior management 56Outreach services 45Preservation/Conservation 44Clerical/Administrative support 43Document delivery 43Interlibrary loan 41Media/Multimedia specialist 34Facilities/Security 32Finance/Budget/Accounting 30Communications/Public information 29Human resources/Organizational development 27Data curation 24Scholarly communication/Copyright 24Shared collections 24Development/Fund-raising 22Assessment 20Exhibits 19Staff development/Training 17Off-site storage 16Distance learning 15Press/Publishing 15Government documents 14Integrated library system 12GIS (geographic information system) systems/Data 11Grants management 5

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


digital collection not only meets a basic need to share information as a community of practice but also provides a venue for detailed studies of the jobs themselves, across institutions and over time.

The PD Bank and the Community of Practice

Étienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William Snyder define communities of practice as having three crucial characteristics: (1) domain, (2) community, and (3) practice.30 The

domain is the shared interest; the community is the group of individuals who discuss, have joint activities, and share information; and the practice is the shared language, understanding, and experi-ences of the community. Communities of practice focus on specific practices as “a set of socially de-fined ways of doing things in a specific domain: a set of common approaches and shared standards that create a basis for action, communication, problem solving, performance, and accountabil-ity.”31 Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder explain, “Effective practice evolves with the community as a collective product. It is integrated into people’s

work. It organizes knowledge in a way that is especially useful to practitioners because it reflects their perspective.”32

Libraries continue to evolve rapidly with new types of positions being recruited. As with the digital humanities as a constellation of communities of practice—that is, a group of related communities of practice—libraries represent a rich ecosystem where new communities of practice connect to form a constellation of communities of prac-tice. The changing constellation of communities of practice within libraries bring new requirements. Bethany Nowviskie, director of the Digital Library Federation, a group of libraries and other institutions dedicated to digital library technology, states: “We should put as much energy into connecting and building up people—into developing and supporting motivated, skilled, diverse, and intersecting communities of expert practitioners—as we do into connecting the services, systems, and corpora that are the other pillars of a national digital platform.”33 A recent example of an intentional com-munity of practice in libraries is the American Library Association Sustainability Round Table, dedicated to preventing harm to the environment and the depletion of natural resources.34 Another example is the digital humanities, which might be regarded “as a ‘constellation’ of communities of practice”—a set of connected communities of scholars who present their work in digital form or who study and teach about the intersection of digital technology and culture.35

The ARL PD Bank meets the criteria for both a community of practice and a con-stellation of communities of practice because it engages multiple communities simul-taneously, including personnel officers, library management, library associations and consortia, and researchers. The stages of establishing and maintaining the PD Bank as a community of practice reflect the life cycle presented in EDUCAUSE’s “Community

The ARL PD Bank serves a community of practitioners and the institutions they represent by leveraging a key and ubiquitous tool, position descriptions, which are used to define roles and express organizational priorities.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


Table 2. The stages of establishing and maintaining the ARL Position Description Bank as a community of practice

Phase of Explanation of the life Position Description (PD) Bank the life cycle phase steps taken for each phase cycle of a community of practice

Inquire Explore, to identify audience, Pre–2012: ARL personnel officers purpose, goals, vision. conferred regularly on PDs through e-mail list. ARL PD Bank leadership team identified opportunity to create a repository to meet community and institutional needs.

Design Define activities, technologies, group 2012: Local team collaboratively processes, roles to support the group. developed grant proposal; defined design process to engage ARL personnel officers, including focus groups, surveys, and orientation and feedback webinars; collectively created a structure for implementation.

Prototype Pilot the community with selected 2012–2013: Leveraged existing key stakeholders to gain commitment, community, local team and ARL test assumptions, refine strategy, personnel officers, during pilot phase. and establish success story.

Launch Roll out to a broader audience, in 2013: Launched full demonstration and ways that engage newcomers and training program for the ARL PD Bank deliver immediate benefits. as a community resource for the community of practice and constellation of communities of practice. Presentation for ARL Directors Meeting and final report.

Grow Engage members in collaborative 2013–2015: Community of practice learning and knowledge-sharing discussions resulted in expansion to activities, group projects, and include consortial members. networking events that meet Association of Southeastern Research individual, group, and organizational Libraries joins in 2013; Canadian goals while creating an increasing Association of Research Libraries cycle of participation and contribution. follows in 2015. Constellation of

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


of Practice Design Guide,” which was adapted from Richard McDermott.36 The critical activities for each phase are represented in Table 2.

Early planning discussions on the ARL PD Bank reflected an appreciation for the value of projects that meet immediate community needs, both local and shared, as with digital collections and projects, which succeed and flourish based on active engagement and contributions from their communities. As Charlie Edwards explains in “The Digital Humanities and Its Users,” success for software is defined by the user community and re-lies on the community for testing and feedback for ongoing improvement.37 Similarly, the authors of the 2013 report “Searching for Sustainability: Strategies from Eight Digitized Special Collections” note the importance of “developing the value proposition through understanding the audience” and describe an example where the system display and operations for digital collection software directly benefit from user input with “iterative design as feedback rolls in from users.”38

Functionality and Community for the PD Bank

The ARL PD Bank was designed as a digital collection of position descriptions and related documents, such as annual assignments and position vacancy announcements,

communities of practice expands activities with digital humanities and library exhibit professionals researching position types and qualifications.

Strengthened engagement through biannual presentations of progress.

Sustain Cultivate and assess the knowledge Communicate with all member and “products” created by the libraries to assess engagement, needs, community, to inform new strategies, or questions. Implement assessment of goals, activities, roles, and. functionality and ease of use. technologies Encourage feedback.

Adapted from Beth Filar Williams, Madeleine K. Charney, and Bonnie Smith, “Growing Our Vision Together: Forming a Sustainability Community within the American Library Association,” Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy 11, 2 (2015), http://sspp.proquest.com/archives/vol11iss2/1509-020.charney.html.

Phase of Explanation of the life Position Description (PD) Bank the life cycle phase steps taken for each phase cycle of a community of practice

Table 2., cont.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


which describe the work of library employees, interns, and other affiliates. The PD Bank is a Web application with a simple, intuitive interface. As a shared community plat-form, the system relies on metadata submitted and maintained by each institution. Enhanced functionality includes the ability to upload other types of institution-level documents, archive, and access previous versions of documents and data. The PD Bank also includes a document-forwarding option to support easy distribution of PDs and permits e-mail communication between institutions to further connect the community of users and strengthen collaboration. The PD Bank fosters the sharing of information through a browsable and searchable digital archive. As a collective work of academic and research librar-ies in the United States and Canada, the ARL PD Bank provides a source not only for current PDs, which show the varied ways in which institutions organize and define functions, but also for archived records, which depict the evolution of positions and library functions and services over time.

Fundamentally, the system supports the management of PDs for individual institu-tions, providing an effective organizational method and system that supports findability as well as archiving for long-term digital preservation. Optional advanced features also allow individual libraries to design and use custom data fields not viewable by other institutions, such as department name, classification, review date, and other data iden-tified by the institution as useful for finding and organizing their positions and docu-ments. Standard descriptive data fields, such as the position’s functional area, support searchability across institutions.

The 2013 “Searching for Sustainability” report also emphasized the importance of engagement with the user community for sustainability and longevity, which it called “the ability to attract devoted users and other stakeholders and the ability to attract resources that will permit the resource to grow over time.”39 Devoted users and stakeholders can greatly add value to digital collections in terms of contents, technologies, and new pos-sibilities. Also, as explained by the authors of the report: “The best online ‘versions’ of the physical collections do not just translate them to the web; they transform and enhance them, making them potentially even more useful than their physical counterparts.”40 Audiences and users can have critical insights into collec-tions because they are uniquely informed on the collections and can bring that expertise

The ARL PD Bank provides a source not only for current PDs, which show the varied ways in which institutions or-ganize and define functions, but also for archived records, which depict the evolution of positions and library func-tions and services over time.

Audiences and users can have critical insights into collec-tions because they are uniquely informed on the collections and can bring that expertise into collaborative opportunities that support the technologically enabled enhancing and trans-formation of collections.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


into collaborative opportunities that support the technologically enabled enhancing and transformation of collections.

The University of Florida team has continuously supported the onboarding of peer institutions since the initial launch. Outreach and support activities have included live demonstrations, question and answer sessions, ongoing user support via e-mail and phone, and the production of extensive help documentation resources, including orientation and tutorial videos. These are available on the ARL PD Bank website for all institutions participating or considering participation in the PD Bank.41

Libraries continue ongoing transformations for myriad reasons. Recent research, including “New Roles for New Times: Transforming Liaison Roles in Research Librar-ies”42 and Re-Skilling for Research,43 identified new and emerging needs for subject and liaison librarians. Other research focuses on changing requirements for librarian positions,

as with Betsy Simpson’s “Hiring Non-MLS Librarians: Trends and Training Implications” and the subsequent impacts for libraries.44 Research into changes in library positions of-ten requires new data collection for analysis, where library leaders and administrators need the timeliest information possible with emerg-ing trends and current status across many institutions. Because the ARL PD Bank was developed based on well-defined, institutional and communal, immediate and longitudinal needs, the design ensures the ability to meet the changing needs of academic libraries as positions continue to evolve. The PD Bank was designed to support the needs of library

leadership and management for analysis and planning for the strategic review of current positions and foresight for transformative changes for the future.

The ARL PD Bank has begun to deliver upon its capacity as a repository of informa-tion on the work of libraries. In 2015, Amy Chen, Sarah Pickle, and Heather Waldroup explored the ways in which “digital libraries, institutional repositories (IRs), and both physical and digital exhibitions are . . . means by which academic libraries are leveraging their collections and institutional expertise to participate more actively in the research output of the academy.”45 As part of this work, the authors utilized the PD Bank to explore the “20 positions at seven institutions whose primary job responsibility is exhibition work.”46 As their research findings demonstrate, the PD Bank, as an interinstitutional digital collection, can support investigations into the work of libraries.

Ongoing Development, Future Phases, and Broader Impacts

The ARL PD Bank is a robust, industry-wide resource that offers simultaneous benefits for both individual institutions and the larger library community. As the PD Bank continues to grow into a comprehensive collection, it presents new opportunities for research into the current state and evolution of academic and research library employment; changes

As the PD Bank continues to grow into a comprehensive collection, it presents new op-portunities for research into the current state and evolution of academic and research library employment; changes in library, academic, and research organi-zational models; and more.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


in library, academic, and research organizational models; and more. Future potential research opportunities include studies by placement officers, curriculum committees, and faculty from information science to evaluate staffing trends and the stated qualifi-cations for library positions in relation to educational programs. Following the Digital Library of the Caribbean model, in collaboration with the community of practice, the PD Bank team at UF plans to continue with iterative, engaged development with users. This development extends from training and support on the system to regular reviews and assessment activities to ensure optimal success for local and community needs.

The ARL PD Bank represents both a significant new resource for library leadership and management and an example of how library excellence in digital collections can be leveraged to support library operations, management, and leadership for strategic planning activities. In short, the PD Bank is a new, flexible, strategic digital tool that informs and helps predict the core functions of academic libraries as they continue to transform and evolve.

Brian W. Keith is the associate dean for administrative services and faculty affairs at the George A. Smathers Libraries of the University of Florida in Gainesville; he may be reached by e-mail at: [email protected].

Bonnie J. Smith is the assistant program director for human resources at the George A. Smathers Libraries of the University of Florida in Gainesville; she may be reached by e-mail at: [email protected].

Laurie N. Taylor is the digital scholarship librarian at the George A. Smathers Libraries of the University of Florida in Gainesville; she may be reached by e-mail at: [email protected].

Notes

1. Raj Aggarwal, “Technology and Globalization as Mutual Reinforcers in Business: Reorienting Strategic Thinking for the New Millennium,” MIR: Management International Review 39, 2 (1999): 83–104, accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40835821.

2. Barbara J. Dewey, ed., Transforming Research Libraries for the Global Knowledge Society (Oxford, U.K.: Chandos, 2010).

3. Scott Jaschik, “Gordon Gee’s Call for ‘Reinvention’ of Higher Ed,” Inside Higher Ed, February 9, 2009, accessed May 16, 2016, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/09/gee.

4. John Seely Brown, “Changing How We Think about and Lead Change,” presentation at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Fall Forum, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, October 12, 2012, accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.slideshare.net/johnseelybrown/ff12-brown.

5. Lori A. Goetsch, “Reinventing Our Work: New and Emerging Roles for Academic Librarians,” Journal of Library Administration 48, 2 (2008): 157–72, accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01930820802231351.

6. “Job Description,” Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2015), accessed April 12, 2016, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/job%20description.

7. Jeonghyun Kim, Edward Warga, and William Moen, “Competencies Required for Digital Curation: An Analysis of Job Advertisements,” International Journal of Digital Curation 8, 1 (2013): 66–83, accessed May 16, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.2218/ijdc.v8i1.242.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


8. Antony Brewerton, “‘. . . and Any Other Duties Deemed Necessary’: An Analysis of Subject Librarian Job Descriptions,” SCONUL [Society of College, National and University Libraries] Focus 51 (2011): 60–67, accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.sconul.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/18_2.pdf.

9. Hanrong Wang, Yingqi Tang, and Carley Knight, “Contemporary Development of Academic Reference Librarianship in the United States: A 44-Year Content Analysis,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 36, 6 (2010): 489–94, accessed May 16, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2010.08.004.

10. Linda Marion, “Digital Librarian, Cybrarian, or Librarian with Specialized Skills: Who Will Staff Digital Libraries?” in Crossing the Divide: Proceedings of the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) 10th National Conference, March 15–18, 2001, Denver, CO, Hugh A. Thompson, ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 2001), 143–49, accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/pdf/marion.pdf.

11. Tito Sierra, “Staffing for the Future: ARL (Association of Research Libraries) University Library Hiring in 2011,” poster presentation at ARL Leadership and Career Development Program, June 2012, accessed April 13, 2016, http://www.arl.org/storage/documents/publications/lcdp-2012-poster-sierra-tito.pdf.

12. Youngok Choi and Edie Rasmussen, “What Qualifications and Skills Are Important for Digital Librarian Positions in Academic Libraries? A Job Advertisement Analysis,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 35, 5 (2009): 457–67, accessed May 16, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2009.06.003.

13. Craig Finlay, Andrew Tsou, and Cassidy R. Sugimoto, “Scholarly Communication as a Core Competency: Prevalence, Activities, and Concepts of Scholarly Communication Librarianship as Shown through Job Advertisements,” Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 3, 1 (2015): 8, accessed May 16, 2016, http://jlsc-pub.org/articles/abstract/10.7710/2162-3309.1236/.

14. Jingfeng Xia and Minglu Wang, “Competencies and Responsibilities of Social Science Data Librarians: An Analysis of Job Descriptions,” College & Research Libraries 75, 3 (2014): 362–88, accessed May 16, 2016, http://crl.acrl.org/content/75/3/362.full.pdf+html.

15. John D. Shank, “The Blended Librarian: A Job Announcement Analysis of the Newly Emerging Position of Instructional Design Librarian,” College & Research Libraries 67, 6 (2006): 514–24, accessed May 16, 2016, http://crl.acrl.org/content/67/6/514.full.pdf+html.

16. Tara Radniecki, “Study on Emerging Technologies Librarians: How a New Library Position and Its Competencies Are Evolving to Meet the Technology and Information Needs of Libraries and Their Patrons,” presentation at International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), World Library and Information Congress, Singapore, 2013, accessed April 13, 2016, http://library.ifla.org/134/1/152-radniecki-en.pdf.

17. Therese F. Triumph and Penny M. Beile, “The Trending Academic Library Job Market: An Analysis of Library Position Announcements from 2011 with Comparisons to 1996 and 1988,” College & Research Libraries 76, 6 (2015): 716–39, accessed May 16, 2016, http://crl.acrl.org/content/76/6/716.full.pdf+html.

18. Ibid., 735.19. Ibid.20. Pussadee Nonthacumjane, “Key Skills and Competencies of a New Generation of LIS

Professionals,” IFLA Journal 37, 4 (December 2011): 280–88, accessed May 16, 2016, http://ifl.sagepub.com/content/37/4/280.full.pdf+html.

21. Goetsch, “Reinventing Our Work,” 167. 22. Beverly P. Lynch and Kimberley Robles Smith, “The Changing Nature of Work in Academic

Libraries,” College & Research Libraries 62, 5 (2001): 407–20, accessed May 16, 2016, http://crl.acrl.org/content/62/5/407.full.pdf.

23. Ibid., 419.24. Goetsch, “Reinventing Our Work,” 167.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


25. Laurie N. Taylor and Blake Landor, “Intertwingularity with Digital Humanities at the University of Florida,” dh+lib: Where the Digital Humanities and Librarianship Meet, July 23, 2014, accessed May 16, 2016, http://acrl.ala.org/dh/2014/07/23/intertwingularity-digital-humanities-university-florida/.

26. Brooke Wooldridge, Laurie Taylor, and Mark Sullivan, “Managing an Open Access, Multi-Institutional, International Digital Library,” Resource Sharing & Information Networks 20, 1–2 (2009): 35–44, accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/07377790903014534.

27. Dennis R. Defa, “Recruitment of Employees in Academic Libraries: Advice from the HR (Human Resources) Perspective,” Library Leadership & Management 26, 3–4 (2012), accessed May 16, 2016, https://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/llm/article/view/6367/6190.

28. Brian W. Keith, Bonnie J. Smith, Laurie N. Taylor, Mark V. Sullivan, and the Association of Research Libraries, “ARL Position Description Bank Project,” accessed May 16, 2016, http://uflib.ufl.edu/arlpdbank/.

29. Brian W. Keith, Bonnie J. Smith, and Laurie N. Taylor, “ARL Position Description Bank Project: Guides & Documentation,” May 16, 2016, http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/arlpdbank/help.html.

30. Étienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder, Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2002): 27–29.

31. Ibid., 38.32. Ibid., 39.33. Bethany Nowviskie, “Supporting Practice in Community,” presentation at the IMLS

(Institute of Museum and Library Services) Focus Meeting, Washington, DC, April 28, 2015, accessed April 8, 2016, http://nowviskie.org/2015/practice-in-community/.

34. Beth Filar Williams, Madeleine K. Charney, and Bonnie Smith, “Growing Our Vision Together: Forming a Sustainability Community within the American Library Association,” Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy 11, 2 (2015), accessed April 8, 2016, http://sspp.proquest.com/archives/vol11iss2/1509-020.charney.html.

35. Harriett E. Green, “Facilitating Communities of Practice in Digital Humanities: Librarian Collaborations for Research and Training in Text Encoding,” Library Quarterly 84, 2 (2014): 219–34, accessed April 8, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/stable/full/10.1086/675332.

36. Darren Cambridge and Vicki Suter, “Community of Practice Design Guide: A Step-by-Step Guide for Designing & Cultivating Communities of Practice in Higher Education” (Washington, DC: EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, 2005), accessed May 16, 2016, https://library.educause.edu/resources/2005/1/community-of-practice-design-guide-a-stepbystep-guide-for-designing-cultivating-communities-of-practice-in-higher-education.

37. Charlie Edwards, “The Digital Humanities and Its Users,” chap. 13 in Debates in the Digital Humanities, ed. Matthew K. Gold (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012), 213–32, accessed May 16, 2016, http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/31.

38. Nancy L. Maron, Sarah Pickle, and Deanna Marcum, “Searching for Sustainability: Strategies from Eight Digitized Special Collections,” ARL and Ithaka S+R, 2013, accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.arl.org/publications-resources/3022-searching-for-sustainability-strategies-from-eight-digitized-special-collections.

39. Ibid., 16.40. Ibid., 29.41. Keith, Smith, and Taylor, ““ARL Position Description Bank Project.” 42. Janice M. Jaguszewski and Karen Williams, “New Roles for New Times: Transforming

Liaison Roles in Research Libraries,” ARL, 2013, accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.arl.org/storage/documents/publications/NRNT-Liaison-Roles-final.pdf.

43. Mary Auckland, Re-Skilling for Research: An Investigation into the Role and Skills of Subject and Liaison Librarians Required to Effectively Support the Evolving Information Needs of Researchers

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.


(London: Research Libraries UK, 2012), accessed May 16, 2016, http://www.rluk.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/RLUK-Re-skilling.pdf.

44. Betsy Simpson, “Hiring Non-MLS Librarians: Trends and Training Implications,” Library Leadership & Management 28, 1 (2013), accessed May 16, 2016, https://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/llm/article/view/7019.

45. Amy Chen, Sarah Pickle, and Heather Waldroup, “Changing and Expanding Libraries: Exhibitions, Institutional Repositories, and the Future of Academia,” chap. 5 in The Process of Discovery: The CLIR [Council on Library and Information Resources] Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and the Future of the Academy, ed. John C. Maclachlan, Elizabeth A. Waraksa, and Christa Williford (Washington, DC: CLIR, 2015), 62, accessed May 16, 2016, https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub167/pub167.pdf.

46. Ibid., 67.

This m

ss. is

peer

review

ed, c

opy e

dited

, and

acce

pted f

or pu

blica

tion,

porta

l 17.2

.

Building a Collaborative Position Description Archive …...and necessitated a radical reimagining...

Documents

Transcript of Building a Collaborative Position Description Archive …...and necessitated a radical reimagining...