Skills LIS Students Need

and
How Practitioners &
Educators
Can Collaborate to Provide
Them
From One Adjunct Instructor’s Perspective

Bobby Bothmann

Metadata & Emerging Technologies Librarian

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Adjunct Instructor
Graduate School of Library & Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
 Overview
 Desired Competencies

 Competencies LIS Teaches

 Competencies LIS Practitioners Offer

 The Intersection of the Competencies

 Collaboration Opportunities

All images used are

 Definitions
Competence (Competences) Competency (Competencies)

 Oxford English  Merriam-Webster

Dictionary Online
 Industry jargon

 An ability or skill
 4.a. Sufficiency of
qualification;
capacity to deal
adequately with a
subject.
 ALA Core Competencies
1. Foundations of the Profession

2. Information Resources

3. Organization of Recorded Knowledge and Information

4. Technological Knowledge and Skills

5. Reference and User Services

6. Research

7. Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning

8. Administration and Management

http://www.ala.org/educationcareers/careers/corecomp/corecompetences
 Instructor Wish List
 Critical thinking

 Curiosity

 Holistic visioning

 Open-minded listening

 Patience

 Time management

Source: Facebook Poll

 Competencies We
Teach
Typically Taught Possibly Included by Some

 Authority control  Original vs. Copy

Cataloging
 Descriptive
cataloging  Research &
Publication
 Classification
schemes  Technological
applications
 Standards

 Subject analysis

Source: Hall-Ellis, 2008

 Skills LIS Practitioners Offer
 Administrative  Organizational
awareness management
 Authority control
 Original vs. Copy
 Descriptive cataloging Cataloging
 Classification schemes  Research & Publication
 Collaborative initiatives
 Standards
 Communication
 Subject analysis
 Holistic visioning
 Technological applications

Source: ALA 2009; Bello and Mansor, 2013; Hall-Ellis, 2008; MAGERT, 2008
 Necessary Competencies
 Administrative  Multilingual proficiencies
awareness
 Open-minded listening
 Advocacy & Outreach
 Authority control
 Organizational
management
 Classification schemes  Original vs. Copy
Cataloging
 Collaborative initiatives
 Patience
 Communication skills
 Critical thinking
 Project Management

 Descriptive cataloging  Standards

 Holistic visioning  Subject analysis

 Interpersonal skills  Technological applications

Source: ALA 2009; Bello and Mansor, 2013; Halll-Ellis, 2008; MAGERT, 2008
 The Intersection
Shared LIS Competencies Unclaimed Competencies
 Administrative awareness  Advocacy & Outreach

 Authority control  Communication skills

 Classification schemes  Critical thinking

 Collaborative initiatives  Curiosity

 Descriptive cataloging  Interpersonal skills

 Holistic visioning  Multilingual proficiencies

 Organizational management  Open-minded listening

 Subject analysis
 Project management
 What is Left Over?
 Advocacy & Outreach  Original vs. Copy
 Communication skills
Cataloging

 Critical thinking  Technological

applications
 Curiosity

 Interpersonal skills
 Collaborative
initiatives
 Multilingual proficiencies
 Holistic visioning
 Open-minded listening

 Project management
 The Lego Effect
Project Management Skills LIS Equivalents

 Attention to detail  Descriptive cataloging

 Papers, presentations, etc.

 Communication
 Group projects
 Leadership
 Group projects; degree
 Negotiation
design
 Organization  Classification/Subject
analysis
 Recognizing and
solving problems  Reference interview; Case
studies
 Holistic Visioning
 Holism: tendency in nature to produce wholes
from the ordered grouping of unit structures

 What skills do you have that can be re-

purposed for this competence?
 Multi-lingual
proficiency

Collection
Ranganatha
Developme
n’s Laws
nt

Admin &
Managemen User needs
t Courses

Classificatio
FRBR
n
Collaboration Options

 Mentoring

 Practicums

 Professional organizations

Source: Bothmann, 2007

Perspective
 Sources
 American Library Association. 2009. “Core Competencies of Librarianship”
http://www.ala.org/educationcareers/careers/corecomp (Accessed 9 January
2014)

 Bello, M. A. and Y. Mansor. 2013. Strengthening Professional Expertise:

Mentoring in Knowledge Transfer, the Cataloguers’ Perspective. The
International Information & Library Review 45, (3-4): 139-148.

 Bothmann, Robert L. 2007. Meeting the Needs of Special Format Catalogers:

Ideas for Professional Organizations, Library Schools, and Professional
Catalogers, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 44 (3-4): 221-232.

 FaceBook poll, 14 January 2014.

 Hall-Ellis, Sylvia D. 2008. Cataloger competencies ... what do employers

require? Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 46, (3): 305-330.

 MAGERT Education Committee. 2008. “Map, GIS and Cataloging / Metadata

Librarian Core Competencies.” http://
www.ala.org/magirt/sites/ala.org.magirt/files/content/publicationsab/MAG
ERTCoreComp2008_rev2012.pdf