Identifying Skill Sets for Repository Staff

Transcription

1 Identifying Skill Sets for Repository Staff Natasha Simons Senior Project Manager eresearch Services Joanna Richardson Associate Director, Scholarly Content and Discovery

2 About the survey Purpose: to identify the skill sets required to work on a digital repository in Australia and New Zealand Period: run over 3 weeks:, November to December Participation: CAIRSS e-list Motivation: UK and Italian surveys; staff recruitment needs Outcomes (from 2011 presentation): Used to better inform community Shared with the community Could be used to produce documents similar to SHERPA e.g. generic job descriptions New section of the CAIRSS website? Identify training needs: now and future Leverage for encouraging library schools to teach digital repository skills Image: Heidi Perrett, Griffith University

3 About the survey 39 questions Five sections: 1. About the repository 2. About your repository job 3. Training 4. Job skills and knowledge 5. Trends in repository skills & knowledge Participation rate: 37.3% (85 out of 228 members of the CAIRSS Google Group)

4 Section One: About the Repository - Content

5 Section One: About the Repository - Software

6 Section Two: About Your Repository Job - Roles

7 Section Two: About Your Repository Job - Experience

8 Section Two: About Your Repository Job - Time

9 Section Three: Training - Required at Commencement

10 Section Three: Training Keeping Up-To-Date

11 Section Three: Training Current Requirements

12 Section four: job skills and knowledge Importance of specified knowledge sets Knowledge set Importance rating Percentage of responses Specific repository software Very important 66% Copyright legislation Very important 55% Open access issues Very important 49% Goverment reporting requirements Interoperability standards & protocols Very important 45% Fairly important 32% File preservation formats Fairly important 31% Taxonomies Fairly important 27%

13 Section four: job skills and knowledge Use of technical skills Technical skill Most common response Liaise with IT support staff Almost always 29% Communicate technical issues to management and team members Liaise with clients regarding technical problems Analyse and solve problems related to repository software Regularly 42% Sometimes 33% Sometimes 28% Percentage of responses

14 Section four: job skills and knowledge Use of collection management skills Collection management skill Identify & manage copyright issues Most common response Almost always 49% Monitor metadata quality Almost always 44% Liaise with clients Almost always 43% Percentage of responses Use metadata sets Almost always 23% Select appropriate file format Regularly 31% Use reporting tools Regularly 30% Use statistical analysis skills Sometimes 30% Liaise with software vendors Never 34%

15 Section four: job skills and knowledge Use of management skills Management skill Most common response Lead & manage staff Almost always 32% Plan & develop the repository collection Regularly 32% Access & evaluate repository performance as a service Regularly 31% Engage in strategic planning Regularly 30% Liaise one-on-one with internal clients Regularly 30% Percentage of responses Ensure digital rights management issues are resolved Promote the repository to external stakeholders Promote the repository to internal stakeholders Same percentage for regularly and never 27% Sometimes 29% Sometimes 28%

16 Section four: job skills and knowledge The top 5 metadata standards and exchange protocols in use Metadata schema / exchange protocol Dublin Core 68% OAI-PMH 46% MARC 40% RIF-CS 16% Local customised metadata 16% Percentage of responses

17 Section five: trends in skills and knowledge Most challenging aspects of repository work

18 Section five: trends in skills and knowledge Most challenging aspects of repository work Our repository is extremely understaffed, which means were [sic] simply trying to keep up instead of trying to maximise the repositorys [sic] potential. Two things: 1. Time management, getting it all done when I am the only dedicated repository staff member. 2. Finding the time to train, support and prepare work for the staff I am obliged to borrow from other sections of the library...

19 Section five: trends in skills and knowledge New skills and knowledge developed over the past year

20 Section five: trends in skills and knowledge Additional skills or knowledge: anticipated areas of need

21 Further comments Repositories are an exciting, interesting area in which to work It is a challenging role that requires an in-depth knowledge of the research processes within the institution and the ability to negotiate with many different stakeholders. Potential area of growth is the promotion of open access publishing for outputs of institutional events, and in-house journals.

22 Implications for practice Working on a digital repository requires a specific set of job skills and knowledge that is largely acquired through informal training rather than through formal training courses or academic curriculum. As an emerging and evolving profession, repository staff would benefit from tailored training at the commencement of a position in addition to ongoing training and skills development. The specific set of job skills and knowledge sets required to work on a digital repository has implications for staff recruitment, development, training, and retention strategies.

23 Further information Article Simons, N, Richardson, J. (2012). New Roles, New Responsibilities: Examining Training Needs of Repository Staff. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication 1(2):eP Dataset Simons, N. & Richardson, J. (2012). Identifying skill sets for repository staff [data file and survey questions]. South Brisbane, Australia: Griffith University Data Registry. Retrieved from Comprehensive report Available on request.

24 Australasian repository worker Contact for: Multi-tasking Managing time and competing priorities Expert information management Copyright and metadata expertise Challenging or interesting work A supportive environment with flexible working hours and job stability Recognition of our capabilities and achievements A good pay packet

25 Questions?

26 The End which is just the Beginning