Report of the Sub-Group on CPD
December 2006
1
Contents
1. Executive summary……………………………………………………..…3
2. Key recommendations…………………………………………………… 3
3. Background………………………………………………………………....5
4. Methodology………………………………………………………………...5
5. Survey of employers and employees –top training needs
identified……………………………………………………………...……...8
6. Commentary on survey findings………………………..……………….9
7. Conclusions………………………………………………………………..19
8. Appendix 1. Literature review……………………. ……………………22
9. Appendix 2. Glossary…………...……………………………………………….23
10. Appendix 3. Role of CPD Co-ordinator…………………………….…24
Membership of Sub-Group:
Pauline Corrigan [ANLTC]
Mary Antonesa [CONUL Committee on Information Skills]
Miriam Corcoran [ANLTC]
Ursula Gavin [ANLTC]
Trevor Lyttle [ANLTC]
Niall McSweeney [CONUL Committee on Information Skills]
2
1. Executive summary
Introduction
Following the CONUL colloquium February 2005, ANLTC was requested,
together with representatives of the Committee on Information Skills to
“work on elements of a CPD programme with accreditation an integral part
of this….” ANLTC set up a sub group to undertake this work, with a
particular focus on CPD provision for professionally-qualified librarians.
The sub group gathered opinion from the School of Information and
Library Studies, UCD [SILS], An Chomairle Leabharlanna [CL], the
Library Association of Ireland [LAI] and conducted an on-line survey of
staff and Directors of academic libraries in Ireland. The key
recommendations are noted below and the supporting evidence is
presented in the relevant parts of the report.
Key recommendations
1. National Centre for CPD for professionally-qualifiedly librarians
A National Centre would be jointly funded by the employers in the sector
and would provide the national framework for CPD. This Centre would
ensure international standards were adhered to, that accreditation was
internationally recognised and would be the national point of contact.
2. Employment of a CPD Co-ordinator
The Centre would appoint a CPD Co-ordinator and provide administrative
support in the organisation and running of CPD courses. The CPD
3
co-ordinator would establish accreditation pathways and liaise with course
providers to ensure standards were applied and that courses were
relevant and tailored to the sector. A further outline of the role of CPD Coordinator is attached in Appendix 3.
3. Adoption of accreditation methods (UCD SILS or LAI or other
relevant provider)
Accreditation is essential and such accreditation should be internationally
recognised to enable librarians to transfer within the EU, in the first
instance.
4. Financial support for CPD
Staff participating in accredited courses or in recognised short courses
should have full funding from their employers. In addition, it is proposed
that employers and other stakeholders should jointly fund the employment
of a Training Officer across all library sectors
5. Sabbatical leave for accredited courses
At the minimum staff should have release to attend classes, for study
leave and exam leave. As a reward/recognition for participation,
employers should consider additional leave for successful completion of
recognised courses.
6. Sector wide approach
It is important that CPD issues are addressed across all sectors of
librarianship. There are benefits from economy of scale as well as a
broader CPD perspective if the needs of Academic, National, Public,
Health, Government, Corporate and Special Libraries are considered as a
whole.
4
7. Local CPD framework
Within ANLTC institutions, CPD should be structured, consistent and
linked to the local institution’s CPD strategy. It should be accessible, well
documented and promoted within individual libraries.
2. Background
This group commenced its work in May 2005, with four representatives from
ANLTC and two from the CONUL Committee on Information Skills.
The group held its first meeting in May 2005 and agreed terms of reference,
objectives, a timescale, action plan and desired outcomes.
The desired outcomes were identified as:

Define the necessary skill sets required for the sector

Propose accreditation and standards to be applied

Identify financial support

Recommend a strategy for the organisation of the CPD activity on a
national basis.
3. Methodology
The group undertook to embark on a broad consultation process, to carry out a
literature review of best practice internationally [appendix 1] and to conduct a
survey of employers and employees in the academic library sector
[http://www.anltc.ie].
Consultation Process SILS, CL /LAI, employers and employees]
SILS: The group met with Dr Mary Burke, SILS on 27th October 2005
and the discussion followed closely along the lines of the presentation
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made by Dr Burke at the ANLTC CPD Colloquium in November 2004
and included observations arising from SILS QA review of April 2005.
While interest was expressed by Dr. Burke on the inclusion of CPD in
the School’s curricula, whereby practitioners could undertake individual
modules of the emerging modular postgraduate programme, there was
little evidence of their ability to employ a CPD Training Officer, which
the group felt was essential in ensuring continuity and coordination of a
business enterprise within the academic environment. Dr Burke also
had some misgivings about mixing experienced practitioners with
students. The group understood this concern but felt there was also
advantage for students to gain from the experience of practitioners if
they were part of the class.
An additional factor, which may preclude the inclusion of CPD short
courses for practitioners, is the UCD strategy to increase research
output within the next few years. While CPD would be financially
attractive, it does not sit within this research intensive strategy.
Since most professionally-qualified librarians in academic libraries
already possess a postgraduate degree or diploma, the group felt this
was not necessarily fulfilling the need for refresher education/training
or updating skills of existing practitioners, particularly when there is no
evidence of additional financial recognition available for those
upgrading from Diploma to Masters, within the sector.
Currently, CONUL is in communication with SILS regarding curriculum
requirements, and is invited to propose courses for inclusion in the
SILS curricula.
The issue of accreditation was not addressed other than participation
in existing postgraduate examination, and degree award.
6
An Chomairle Leabharlanna(CL)/ Library Association of Ireland
(LAI):
The group met with Brendan Teeling in June 2006, to discuss CPD
from the perspective of public libraries, and his work on the Education
Board of the LAI. It was noted that the LAI was focussed on the relaunch of the ALAI and FLAI as a priority within their education
strategy.
However, the LAI does not have a framework for CPD and in his view
would not have the resources to accredit courses, being a voluntary
organisation. There is a longstanding relationship between LAI and
CILIP, but it was felt that CILIP run courses would not have sufficient
local input.
In the public library sector, most funding for training is controlled by the
Local Authorities and training tends to be generic for all workers and
not targeted at the library sector, for example.
It was agreed that there is a cross sectoral void and a proposal
emerged to seek support from CONUL, CL and LAI for an initiative to
locate CPD for all library sectors under the auspices of COLICO , the
only organisation which has representatives from all sectors, north and
south.
Employers and employees
Consultation with employers and employees was carried out through a
web based survey, using Web Surveyor, which was conducted in
summer 2006.
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4. Survey of employers and employees
145 staff responded to the survey, from 12 libraries – which represents
48% of the total 302.5 professionally-qualified librarians working in the
sector
Top training needs identified by respondents. This question was
broken down into distinct categories of training: management; IT related
skills, communication/interpersonal skills, teaching skills and other skills.
Management skills
1
2
3
4
5
Directors
Advocacy
Strategic planning
Negotiating skills
Building design
Marketing
Senior Managers
Project management
Leadership
Strategic Planning
HR management
Negotiating skills
Assistant Librarians
Project management
Marketing
Team building
Knowledge management
Strategic planning
IT related skills
1
2
3
4
5
Directors
Emerging technologies
Hardware/software
developments
Advanced IT skills
Senior Managers
Emerging technologies
Hardware/software developments
Network services
LMS management
Systems selection
Assistant Librarians
Emerging technologies
Hardware/software
developments
LMS management
Systems selection
Network management
Communication/Interpersonal skills
1
2
3
4
5
Directors
Presentation skills
Chairing meetings
Report writing
Senior Managers
Presentation skills
Report writing
Users with special needs
Diversity awareness
Chairing meetings
Assistant Librarians
Presentation skills
Report writing
Customer care
Chairing meetings
Users with special needs
Teaching skills
Directors
Senior Managers
Assistant Librarians
Content design through VLEs
E-learning
Problem/project based learning
Information literacy design and delivery
E-learning (perceived as a need for career
Content design through VLEs
advancement)
4
Information literacy design and delivery
Problem/project based learning
perceived as a need for career advancement)
5
Theory of learning and teaching
Theory of learning and teaching
Note: It is clear from these responses that Assistant Librarians are at the heart of these activities
and Senior Managers are at a remove from the activity although they are aware of the need to
update their skills for career advancement
1
2
3
8
Commentary on the survey findings
The questionnaire was divided into 5 sections, the fifth section was reserved for
Directors of Libraries who responded on issues relating to employment policies,
CPD activities and reward mechanisms, ending with a vision of the skill sets
required of the academic librarian of the future.
Sections:
Section 1 (questions 1 – 6) “About You”
Section 2 (questions 7 – 15) “About your library”
Section 3 (questions 16 – 20) “About your CPD Activities”
Section 4 (questions 21-28) “About Your CPD Needs”
Section 5 (questions 29-38) For Directors of Library Services about CPD activity
in their libraries
Section 1 (questions 1 – 6) “About You”
Age Profile
47% of respondents were in the 30-44 age group and 20% were over 55.
63% of directors and 26% of senior managers who responded were over 55,
which points to a major shift into senior management in the next 5 – 10
years, as the over 55s retire from the sector. This highlights the need for
succession planning, and an increase in “up-skilling” for senior managers
whose formal management skills training may have been delivered some time
ago. By taking into account the skills identified by directors for future
librarians, (Q.38) we can try to put programmes into place to rectify this
perceived gap.
Gender profile
75% of respondents were female, as were 77% senior managers, however
only 50% of directors who responded were female.
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Grade profile of respondents
61% Assistant Librarian; of these - 29% were subject librarians
19% - Sub librarian
5.5% - Directors
5.5% - Assistant Keepers
4.8% - Deputy Librarians
4.2% had other titles
Length of time since formal postgraduate qualification
32% of respondents qualified with a postgraduate diploma in LIS over 20
years ago.
50% of respondents were at least 10 years qualified.
Of those respondents who obtained a postgraduate qualification over 20
years ago, the majority completed postgraduate diplomas in LIS, with only 4%
having Masters qualifications, however of those qualifying in the last ten
years, the profile has changed and the majority of those responding had a
Masters qualification.
Section 2 (questions 7 – 15) “About your library”
Staff development activity in academic libraries
There is a lack of consistency from the responses to the survey about who is
responsible for the preparation of staff development policies in the library, in
instances where there is no staff development committee.
Furthermore, library staff development committees should be linked to the overall
institutional committee where one exists. In any case, there should be formal
links between organisational and library staff development.
The issue of PMDS was equally confused, perhaps the terminology is not in
universal usage – performance related reviews, annual reviews, appraisal are all
terms for the same activity. In some institutions it is quite formalised, in others it
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seems to happen on a fairly casual basis. In some libraries it has not yet been
adopted.
The responses to the question “which of the following training and development
activities are available to you” (q14) show an apparent lack of awareness of what
is actually on offer. In fact, all of the activities mentioned are available to staff.
However responses varied from 1% to a maximum of 93%.
It is also evident that staff are not fully aware of the support for training and
development activities (q.13) and libraries need to address this.
Section 3 (questions 16 – 20) “About your CPD Activities”
Less than half of the respondents (44%) were members of the LAI and 20% held CILIP
Chartership. It may be that LAI and CILIP need to reflect on this, but if membership of
LAI gives a measure of interest in CPD then it must be a matter of concern that less than
half hold membership. This may have implications for librarians as the currently
recognized accreditation for CPD is channeled through the LAI via their ALAI and FLAI
awards.
While the survey revealed a wide range of activity in the last two years, some activities
were rare. Few had published a paper (7%) and 14% had contributed to published
literature.
This probably reflects a widely held perception that publication takes a poor
second place to getting the job done and action should be taken to encourage this form
of professional activity.
Only 3% were involved in a mentoring programme, probably because programmes are
not available in most Libraries. However, mentoring programmes are seen as very
valuable and it is recommended that Libraries consider how they might be introduced.
The number who had visited another Library in the last two years was small (43%).
This is considered to be a valuable way of learning from the experience of others and it
is recommended that Library visits should be promoted in their own right and that they
should become a standard part of conferences.
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The main reasons for being unable to participate in CPD were Cost (15%), Limit on
attendance (12%), Relevance and Distance (both 10%). Cost is a little surprising as
most Libraries appeared to offer full funding and time off for short courses. It may be
that respondents were thinking of longer courses leading to a higher qualification where
50% remission of fees was normal. It was not clear whether the limits on attendance
were set by the course organizers or the employing Library. Both are likely to arise at
various times.
Many courses are offered on a regular basis so that staff may be released in turn to
attend. Travel time is an important consideration. While Ireland is a relatively small
island, unless courses are held in central Dublin, many people appear reluctant to attend
simply because of the time required to get to the venue. Course organisers try to avoid
holding all their courses in Dublin and are to be commended for this, but there can be no
doubt that numbers are reduced if the venue is difficult to reach.
The importance of attendance needs to be highlighted and encouraged by library
managers, as the purpose of joint training events is not only to increase skill levels, but
to encourage staff to meet with their counterparts from other libraries, to exchange views
and to develop a network of contacts within their specific fields or areas of interest.
Section 4 (questions 21-28) “About Your CPD Needs”
Management Skills (Q.21)
Overall results - this broad category asked for responses in relation to 17
specific management skills.
Greatest need for current post
Least need for current post
Greatest need for career
advancement
Least need for career advancement
12
Project Management (44.1%)
Records Management (9.7%)
Strategic planning (29%)
Quality control (7.6%)
Top 3 needs identified for current post were:
1.
Project Management (44.1%)
2.
Marketing and Promotion (35.2%)
3.
Strategic Planning (33.8%)
Top 3 needs identified for career advancement were:
1.
Strategic Planning
2.
Strategic IT planning and management and Leadership (22.1%)
3.
HR Management and Interview skills (21.4%)
Directors - when the survey was analysed just for responses from directors,
Strategic Planning was again the number 1 need but jointly so with Advocacy at
a high 75%.
Assistant Librarians -when the survey was analysed for responses from
Assistant Librarians again Strategic Planning was identified as the greatest
training need for career advancement at 31.5%. The need least identified for
career advancement was Quality Control along with Building and Spatial Design
and Use with both coming in at 9%. Interestingly Leadership did not make the top
3 list of training needs identified for career advancement by Assistant Librarians
but it was the second most identified need by Directors and by other Senior
Managers.
In summary, the results analysed by Assistant Librarian were as follows
Greatest need for current post
Project Management (40.4%)
Least need for current post
Greatest need for career advancement
Building/spatial design and use (5.6%)
Strategic planning (31.5%)
Least need for career advancement
Quality control (9%) and Building
spatial design and use (9%)
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Top 3 needs identified for current post:
1.
Project Management (40.4%)
2.
Marketing and Promotion (39.3%)
3.
Team building (34.8%)
Top 3 needs identified for career advancement:
1.
Strategic Planning (31.5%)
2.
Interview skills (27%)
3.
HR management (25.8%)
Financial Management Skills (Q. 22)
Only (28.3%) people identified Financial Management as a training need in their
current post and only (22.1%) identified it as a training need for career
advancement. A low (26.9%) identified Making Applications for Funding as a
training need for both current post and career advancement. Respondents
identified Budget Planning as a training need for current post (29%) and for
career advancement (29.7%)
Directors - 50% of Directors identified Making Applications for Funding as a
current post training need.37.5% identified Budget Planning as training need in
their current post and only one identified Financial Management as a training
need.
Assistant Librarian - analysed by Assistant Librarian, Making Applications for
Funding and Budget Planning were identified as needs more for career
advancement (32.6% each compared with 18% and 24.7% for current post.
Senior Managers - results analysed by Senior Managers were similar to
Assistant Librarian with 36.4% identifying Making Applications for Funding as a
training need for career advancement.
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Systems (Q.23)
Responses in this category were generally low, (less than 10% of respondents);
given the specialist nature of systems work this is not surprising. However there
were 81 responses to the Emerging Technologies section with 41% identifying
this area as a training need for current post and 15% identifying it for career
advancement.
When analysed by Assistant Librarian, 21.3% felt Hardware and Software
Developments was an area of need for their current post.
The results are interesting when this category is analysed by those identifying
themselves as Systems Librarians. A high 57.1% selected LMS administration
and management as a training need within their current post and 42.9% also
identifying Network Services, Network Management and Hardware and Software
Developments as a current post training need. The question needs to be asked
how these training needs are to be met.
Technical Skills (Q.24)
Similar to the Systems skills responses, the number of responses to this category
was relatively low with a maximum of 44 people responding to the questions on
Cataloguing, Classification, Marc, Subject Headings, Metadata Development,
Federated Searching and Link Resolving. This perhaps reflects the specialist
nature of these activities. The number of responses increases in the area of
Electronic Resource Management with 66 responding and Advanced IT Skills
with 71 responding, reflecting in turn the more generalist nature of these
activities.
34.5% identified Electronic Resource Management as a current post training
need and 33.1% identified Advanced IT Skills as a current post training need.
15
Again these results are interesting when analysed just by those identifying
themselves as cataloguers. As with Systems Librarians, there appears to be a
clear need for training in these specialist areas:
1.
66.7% identify Metadata Development as a current post training need
2.
58.3% identify Marc as a current post training need
3.
50% identify Cataloguing and Subject Headings as current post
training needs
Communication/Interpersonal (Q.25)
33.8% of respondents identified Presentation Skills as a current post training
need while 31.7% identified Report Writing as a current post training need.
24.1% identified Customer Care as a current post training need and 22.8%
selected Chairing Meetings. Only 18.6% identified Diversity Awareness as a
current post training need which seems low given that this is a new area in terms
of course design and delivery.
Teaching Skills (Q.26)
Analysis of the overall results shows that the greatest need is identified in relation
to current post need rather than for career advancement. The top three needs
identified were:
1.
32.4% E-learning
2.
27.6% Information Literacy Design and Delivery
3.
26.9% Content design through VLEs
When these results are analysed by Subject Librarian, i.e. by those most likely
to be involved in teaching and information literacy the top three are as follows:
1. 57.1% Information Literacy Design and Delivery
2. 54.8% E-learning
3. 50%
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Content design through VLEs
Web (Q.27)
There were just two questions in this category. 26.9% identified Writing for the
Web as a current post training need and 31% identified Designing Web Pages as
a current post need.
Overall the information gathered in this section of the survey has been very
useful and has already been used to inform ANLTC’s programme planning for
2007.
Section 5: Analysis of Directors responses to Q 29-38
Budget spend on staff development and training – all responded less than 10%
Professionally-qualified librarians recruited to non-professional posts
In responding to appointment of professionally qualified staff to non-professional
posts – 5 directors do and 3 do not – this is more than likely reflecting institutional
employment policies.
Recruiting staff with undergraduate qualification to professional posts
Appointment of staff with an undergraduate qualification in library studies – only 2
directors responded positively, 6 do not appoint staff with an undergraduate
qualification in library studies.
Reward mechanisms
On the issue of reward mechanisms – 5 directors felt that sabbatical leave is an
appropriate reward in recognition of CPD, however, it was unclear from the
question whether the sabbatical leave was intended so that staff could
participate, or whether it was additional as a reward for engaging in CPD;
5 directors also felt that full reimbursement of fees was appropriate.
Mentoring
None of the institutions have a mentoring programme in place.
17
Skills gaps
On the subject of skills gaps in their libraries, the following were highlighted:
Marketing,
Advanced IT skills
Teaching skills
Managing new and emerging technologies
Digital preservation
Environmental monitoring
Strategic management skills
Systems development
Knowledge management
However, there were additional comments that some staff may have some of the
skills listed above, but they need to be spread more widely, so that we have more
multi-skilled staff.
Future skills needs
The librarian of the future will need:
Good IT skills, information management skills
Management skills, Advanced management training
Leadership, Visioning, Strategic planning, Future-proofing,
Innovative
Teaching and research skills
People skills
Change management skills
Flexibility, adaptability, multitasking
Political awareness
18
Comments on survey findings
There appear to be great similarities in the perceived training needs of all groups,
with the emphasis moving slightly as the respondent moves through to more
senior positions.
Of concern perhaps is the lack of engagement in mentoring, publishing and
contributing to publications, symptomatic no doubt of the frenetic pace of change
and the constraints of resources in all academic libraries. Future needs of the
academic librarian are perceived as people and management skills, with
acknowledgement of the continuing need to keep up to date with emerging
technologies.
5. Conclusions
It is clear that there is a significant educational gap between professional
qualification and progress to the role of director, which has been filled in the past
by individuals moving on to further study, or in most cases relying on ad hoc CPD
activities with little structure or formal input.
The demographic changes through the 1970s to the present (the expansion of
posts into the sector in the 1970s, followed by a freeze as the economic
recession of the 1980s hit) mean that there are a large number of librarians now
over the age of 55, who will retire in the next 10 years. Because of the low intake
of staff in the following decade, there is a potential management gap looming.
This has already been identified in the UK, and efforts to deliver leadership
training and succession planning are well documented there.
The responses of senior managers to a need for advanced IT and teaching skills
training for career advancement, highlights the fact that technological changes
are happening so fast that it is difficult to keep up with the pace. The need for
refresher courses or briefings is evident in the sector.
19
The advent of Performance Management Development Systems will provide a
structure through which staff and their employers can identify training needs
which can be channelled into a CPD framework.
Reward mechanisms have still to be identified in greater detail; agreement on
accreditation policies may meet this need at a future date. Given the age profile
of the respondents there may be scope for many of those who are over 40
converting their postgraduate LIS qualification into a Masters, by adding credits
and contributing to the research field, through a thesis.
However, there is still an important distinction between the pursuit of academic
qualifications and research and the ongoing needs of the practitioner to update
their skills throughout their working lives. As can be seen by the training needs
identified, many of these could be considered generic management training
activities, which may not appear on a LIS curriculum, they may be acquired from
some other organisation and preferably they should be tailored to the library
environment.
It is further evident from our consultations, that these issues are not restricted to
the academic sector, but reflect the professionally-qualified profile in Ireland in
general, therefore the recommendations should take into account the need for a
national solution rather than a sectoral solution.
At the time of publication of this report, discussions are ongoing with CONUL,
ANLTC and the LAI to agree a framework for CPD for, which could provide a
national centre for CPD, including a training officer and an agreed accreditation
path for those committing time and effort to their career development.
Until there is greater clarity about the possible outcome of these discussions, it is
difficult to speculate as to what accreditation would be suitable. For example, if
an arrangement is made within the university sector to finance an academic
20
school to undertake CPD for the professionally-qualified librarians, there is a
pathway for academic awards, from certification, through Diploma to Masters or
PhD.
If the activity is linked to the Library Association of Ireland, there are recognised
awards of ALAI and FLAI, however as mentioned earlier in this report, there is a
serious lack of engagement by librarians with this professional body.
Many of the management skills identified are generic skills which could merit a
Business type certification or diploma, and this is could be explored either within
the university or the private sector.
Whichever accreditation pathway is identified, it is essential that it is
internationally recognised and will enable Irish librarians transfer to work in other
countries.
21
Appendix 1.
Literature review
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
"Skills foresight in the information services sector 2003-2009". isNTO, March
2003
"CILIP Framework of Qualifications". Cilip, 2004
"Implementing the OECD report" – address by Mary Hanafin T.D. Minister for
Education and Science on the occasion of the launch of the European University
Association, April, 2005
"Working to our advantage", NCPP, June 2005
"Ahead of the game, developing academic library staff for the 21st century",
Alasdair Paterson. Librarian Career Development, Vol. 7,no.12,1999.
"CPD for academic library staff', Pauline Corrigan, paper presented at CONUL
Colloquium, February 2005.
"Continuing professional development and workplace learning – 14.
Communicating in times of change" Ian Smith. Library Management, Vo.
27,no. 1/2, 2006
"Different approaches: common conclusions. The skills debate of the twenty-first
century". Biddy Fisher, Gillian Hallam and Helen Partridge. New Review of
Academic Librarianship, vol.11,no. 1,2005
"Planning a future workforce: an Australian perspective". Jenny McCarthy. New
Review of Academic Librarianship, vol. 11,no.1,2005
The original questionnaire and full survey results are available on http://www.antlc.ie
22
Appendix 2. Glossary
ALAI
ANLTC
CILIP
CL
COLICO
CONUL
CPD
FLAI
LIS
PMDS
VLE
23
Associate of the Library Association of Ireland
Academic and National Library Training Cooperative
Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
An Chomairle Leabharlanna
Committee on Library Cooperation
Committee of National and University Libraries
Continuing Professional Development
Fellow of the Library Association of Ireland
Library and Information Studies
Performance Management and Development System
Virtual Learning Environment
Appendix 3. Role of the CPD co-ordinator
The CPD co-ordinator will act as a champion for CPD across all sectors of
librarianship throughout Ireland. The post will involve the following main
activities:
1. Providing advice to employers on best practice in the area of CPD.
2. Liaising with LAI, An Chomairle Leabharlanna, CONUL, Public Library and
other employers groups to establish workforce needs and standards.
3. Liaising with course and training providers to ensure a good match
between courses offered and needs identified for training, CPD and
workforce planning.
4. Providing advice to individual librarians on CPD and personal
development plans.
5. Assisting LAI to develop course accreditation and accreditation of
individual portfolios. (If LAI wishes such assistance.)
6. Conducting research to inform employers, professional groups and
individual librarians on the European (and possibly world-wide)
accreditation requirements for librarians.
From the list of activities it can be seen that this post needs to be at a senior level
and the person appointed will need to have significant experience and a proven
track record in the area of CPD. Excellent negotiation skills and an ability to
work across all sectors of librarianship would also be required.
It is not envisaged that the person appointed would be involved in delivering
training or courses but may have a role in commissioning training to be delivered
by others.
It is not clear where such a post should be based or the reporting mechanism.
The LAI, An Chomairle Leabharlanna or SILS are all possibilities but each has
advantages and disadvantages. This can be discussed further with CONUL.
24