Chapter 1: Competencies: Do We or Don't We?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5860/ltr.43n2Abstract
Sarah Houghton-Jan, the author of the second issue of Library Technology Reports in 2007, tackles technology competencies for librarians in the Information Age. “A few years ago,” she notes, “I found myself wanting a work like this to exist. Because it did not, I figured I might as well consolidate all the information about library technology competencies in one place so that others could benefit from my hunting and gathering.”
In her report, Houghton-Jan provides useful technology-training practices, including:
“This work,” summarizes Houghton-Jan, “is an attempt to fill the gap in knowledge about documenting technology competencies with overall guiding principles, examples of successful projects, and project-management guidelines for those embarking upon such a project in their libraries.”
Sarah Houghton-Jan received her MLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MA in Irish Literature from Washington State University. A member of Beta Phi Mu, she has worked in libraries for a decade as a page, reference assistant, reference librarian, e-services librarian, technology trainer, and technology manager.
Sarah is currently the Information and Web Services Manager for the San Mateo County Library in Northern California. She also works as a consultant technology instructor for the Infopeople Project, serves on LITA's Top Technology Trends Committee, is a member of the California Library Association's Assembly, and the past President of CLA's Information Technology Section. In her time as the IT Section President, she led the task force that developed the Association's Technology Core Competencies for Library Workers, building on her previous experience creating competencies for individual libraries.
Sarah is also the author of the blog LibrarianInBlack.net.
References
Bruce E Massis, '“How to Create and Implement a Technology Training Program,”' American Libraries 32 no. 9 (2001): 49+nIbid.nCindy Romaine, '“Staying Relevant: Competencies and Employee Reviews,”' Information Outlook 8 no. 4 (2004): 21nRoy Tennant, “The Most Important Management Decision: Hiring Staff for the New Millennium,”
Library Journal 123
, no. 3 (Feb. 15, 1998), www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA156490.htmlnKeith Swigger, “Congress on Professional Education: Education for an Ancient Profession in the Twenty-First Century” (adapted from a speech presented at the Military Librarians Workshop, Nov. 20, 1996, Annapolis, Md., full text published in
Change and Continuity in Librarianship: Approaching the Twenty-first Century, Proceedings of the 40th Military Librarians Workshop, 20–22 November 1996
, ed. Richard Werking, Defense Technical Information Center, 1997), www.ala.org/ala/hrdrbucket/1stcongressonpro/1stcongresseducationancient.htmnKirk Hastings and Roy Tennant, “How to Build a Digital Librarian,”
D-Lib Magazine
, no. 11 (November 1996), www.dlib.org/dlib/november96/ucb/11hastings.htmlnMassis, “How to Create and Implement a Technology Training Program.”nAnne Woodsworth, '“New Library Competencies,”' Library Journal 122 no. 9 (1997): 46nJens Thorhauge, '“New Demands—Old Skills: A Strategy for Bridging the Competence Gap: Building Competencies in a Daily Working Context,”' IFLA Journal 31 no. 2 (2005): 162-8nPhyllis Christensen, “More Thoughts on 21st Century Competencies,” Something New Every Day, July 30, 2006, http://snedlibrary.wordpress.com/2006/07/30/more-thoughts-on-21st-century-compentenciesnRoy Tennant, “Learning and Retooling,”
Library Journal
(March 1998), 28.n
