Search results

The paper aims to describe a workforce‐planning model developed in‐house in an Australian university library that is based on rigorous environmental scanning of an institution, the profession and the sector.

The paper uses a case study that describes the stages of the planning process undertaken to develop the Library's Workforce Plan and the documentation produced.

While it has been found that the process has had successful and productive outcomes, workforce planning is an ongoing process. To remain effective, the workforce plan needs to be reviewed annually in the context of the library's overall planning program. This is imperative if the plan is to remain current and to be regarded as a living document that will continue to guide library practice. Research limitations/implications – Although a single case study, the work has been contextualized within the wider research into workforce planning.

The paper provides a model that can easily be deployed within a library without external or specialist consultant skills, and due to its scalability can be applied at department or wider level.

The paper identifies the trends impacting on, and the emerging opportunities for, university libraries and provides a model for workforce planning that recognizes the context and culture of the organization as key drivers in determining workforce planning.

The purpose of this study is to assess the current level of education qualifications of the workforce working in academic libraries in Botswana. The study also aims to determine the current and required level of continuing professional development (CPD) of librarians working in academic libraries in Botswana.

The study adopted positivist research paradigm and quantitative research design using a structured questionnaire to collect data, where survey questions were developed based on existing, tested and verified NeXus1 and NeXus2 instruments developed in Australia.

Findings revealed that majority (41 or 35.3%) of the academic workforce in Botswana had first degree professional qualification, while those with diploma qualification were 28 or 24.1%; about a quarter of respondents had obtained master’s degree qualification. Most of the CPD activities undertaken were workshops and other workplace training programmes. While about half of the total respondents had attended conferences, less than half of them had published or presented a paper, and mentoring, that should have been given a pride of place in the libraries, largely suffers near neglect. Some knowledge and skills have been acquired on the job and have beneficial impact in the service rendered.

The study seems to be the first of its type in Botswana as a thorough search of literature did not yield any result in the field. What is more, it combines the librarians in public and private universities, colleges of education and institutes of health sciences. Recommendations generated from the findings are likely to improve the services rendered and interest of the librarians in the profession.

This paper seeks to describe an approach to staff development and workforce planning which is implemented as part of a process of internal reviews of service areas within an academic library.

The paper describes the factors leading to the development of such a process within the Deakin University Library.

A number of different factors – internal to the library, at the university level and in the wider environment – have driven the need for such reviews and influenced their design. The approach developed focuses on comparing current workforce capabilities (competencies and resource levels) with the set of competencies and resources required to deliver the projected services to the standards required. This account highlights the links between the review process and the implementation of a library‐wide staff development framework.

A number of practical implications may be drawn: the value of a flexible approach taking into account the local and institutional environment; the critical importance of organizational needs driving individual staff development and the benefits of mapping links from strategic goals to staff development.

The paper focuses on an emerging process for service delivery in an academic library.

It has been widely projected in the library literature that a substantial number of librarians will retire in the near future leaving significant gaps in the workforce, especially in library leadership. Many of those concerned with organizational development in libraries have promoted succession planning as an essential tool for addressing this much-anticipated wave of retirements. The purpose of this chapter is to argue that succession planning is the wrong approach for academic libraries. This chapter provides a review of the library literature on succession planning, as well as studies analyzing position announcements in librarianship which provide evidence as to the extent to which academic librarianship has changed in recent years. In a review of the library literature, the author found no sound explanation of why succession planning is an appropriate method for filling anticipated vacancies and no substantive evidence that succession planning programs in libraries are successful. Rather than filling anticipated vacancies with librarians prepared to fill specific positions by means of a succession planning program, the author recommends that academic library leaders should focus on the continual evaluation of current library needs and future library goals, and treat each vacancy as an opportunity to create a new position that will best satisfy the strategic goals of the library. In contrast to the nearly universal support for succession planning found in the library literature, this chapter offers a different point of view.

This study investigates how university libraries in Nigeria are staffed and presents staff development opportunities and learning activities that sustain staff.

A survey research design was adopted. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 46 universities and 400 respondents consisting of 46 heads of libraries and 354 professionals from federal, state, and private universities. Content of the instrument was based on literature comprising six questions. The 327 (92.4%) usable responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in simple frequency tables.

The study showed that library workforce in Nigerian universities included different categories of professionals and para-professionals having diversified job opportunities and duties. Most libraries had staff development budget and respondents received various forms of assistance to foster learning. Although all nontransferable skills recorded high mean, respondents accorded less importance to nonlibrary personal skills that can be used to leverage the expectations of recruitment, retention, and sustainability.

The study was limited to practicing professionals but has staffing implications for all libraries across Nigeria.

Many professionals may lack the appropriate multi-skills that would enhance exploring new approaches and breaking out of traditional ways of operation in the different library and outside library settings.

The study contributes to knowledge about sustaining library staff in relation to adopting the recommended skills on a broad scale, and assessing how their acquisition can change the perception of professionals to its immense contributions to sustaining them in the workforce.

When I began to consider this topic I was struck by the number of times I wrote the word ‘change’ in my preliminary notes, and change is really the theme or leitmotiv which runs throughout this paper. I shall look first at a number of issues which are changing the use of information and the nature of information work Those changes have implications for the future information workforce and for the education and training of that workforce. Next, I shall briefly describe the way in which the main providers of information education and training are themselves changing to meet the new demands. Specifically, I shall discuss developments within library and information schools, the provision of continuing education against the ever present backcloth of reduced budgets and inadequate funds, and finally I shall touch on the development of the New National Vocational Qualifications in library and information work.

This paper aims to provide case studies of staff development programs at two university libraries: those of Montana State University in the USA and Victoria University Library in Victoria, Australia.

The paper examines how these differently sized institutions are using distinct approaches to grapple with the challenges of staff development in difficult economic and technological times. By providing examples of two very different environments and timelines, this paper provides ideas for a broad spectrum of library types and sizes at all points on the development continuum.

Despite differences, what emerges is that many concepts and principles span disparate library situations and are applicable to almost any staff development plan. These include the importance of establishing staff development methodologies, identifying competencies, linking with workforce planning, dealing with legacy issues, prioritizing communication and staff involvement, identifying needs and priorities, embedding accountability and consistently monitoring and evaluating to establish and maintain a successful program.

This paper will be valuable to large university libraries with mature staff development plans who wish to rethink basic principles or consider altering their established approach. It will also be valuable to smaller university libraries who are just beginning to chart staff development programs and who want to start off on the right track.

The goal of this review is to conduct an exploratory literature review on trauma-informed approaches in libraries to understand how librarians are discussing trauma-informed approaches and their integration into professional practice.

The author reviewed materials indexed in selected EBSCOHost databases. Included materials from selected EBSCOHost databases were available to the author in full text, in the English language and about trauma-informed approaches in libraries. Items were excluded from this review if they were a review of another work, a thesis or dissertation, or letters to or from the editor.

Twenty-five publications were included in this analysis. Publications included described approaches in school libraries, academic libraries and public libraries. Key topics are racial trauma-informed practices, trauma-informed teaching, resisting re-traumatization, social work and the effects of workplace trauma on the library workforce.

Trauma-informed approaches are gaining popularity in a variety of disciplines as the world copes with the turbulent events of recent years. The practical implications of this review are to explore the emergence of trauma-informed approaches in libraries to understand the current publishing landscape on this topic.

While librarians are writing about this approach and some are incorporating it into their practice, an analysis in the form of an exploratory literature review to summarize this work has not been done. Understanding how libraries are incorporating this trauma-awareness and trauma-informed principles into the work is crucial for identifying the future approach to library services.

In this second of two articles, the author examines the implications of demographic and social trends for Library and Information Studies Schools including present and future demand and supply for training. The response of the Schools by way of course changes and recruitment policies is discussed. The market for information professionals will also be affected when there is greater competition for new graduate labour. Ways of tackling the skills shortage could include: tied contracts, providing better prospects for women, increasing staff training and benefit packages, improving the image of the profession, and exploiting alternative sources of labour.