The Blind Man Describes the Elephant: The Training Gaps Analysis for Librarians and Library Technicians

The Training Gaps Analysis for Librarians and Library Technicians (TGA), research completed by the 8Rs Research Team in 2006, built upon the earlier work of the team, The Future of Human Resources in Canadian Libraries (8Rs Research Team, 2005). The TGA published descriptive statistics on perspectives on education from current MLIS and library and information technology students, new librarians, and library technicians (those with under six years’ experience), educators, and employers; the resulting publication created a snapshot of stakeholders’ satisfaction with entry-level education and continuing professional development in the field. This article will review the major findings from the TGA, identifying areas for further communication and collaboration in order to enhance Canadian LIS education outcomes. Introduction The Canadian Library Human Resources Study, published in 2005 under the title, The Future of Human Resources in Canadian Libraries, served as the first major study of the changes and challenges being experienced in the field regarding staffing capacities and needs. With data from 461 institutional respondents and 4,497 individual survey respondents, the study addressed what had been noted as a “dearth of statistics examining the way in which the [library] profession is changing” (Statistics Canada, 2000). And yet, as with all research, regardless of how much is learned, the researchers are left with many more questions. Sivak and De Long (2009) note that The Future of Human Resources in Canadian Libraries provided a view of Canadian library organizations and Canadian library workers with 337 de long & sivak/blind man respect to the majority of the issues (Rs) under study: recruitment, retirement, retention, remuneration, repatriation, and rejuvenation (professional development). Outstanding questions from the study’s original scope included those surrounding reaccreditation (entry-level library education) and restructuring (how library organizations responded to a changing human resource landscape). It was fortunate, then, that the Canadian Library Association proposed a study of library education for librarians and library technicians to the Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC), a Canadian sectoral council that coordinates research and creates resources for those working in the cultural sector (which, in Canada, includes libraries). The CHRC commissioned the resulting TGA with funding from the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program. The 8Rs Research Team was the successful respondent to CHRC’s Request for Proposals, and embarked upon a second research project to investigate the match between educational and professional development offerings, and the perceived needs of students, librarians and library technicians, and organizations. The purpose of the TGA was to investigate questions around library education-industry match, both for professionals (master’s level programs, resulting in the MLIS degree) and for paraprofessionals (college library technician programs, resulting in the Library and Information Technology diploma1). The study examined central questions of library education, primarily how the competencies articulated by library employers were being met by educational programs. In addition to profiling current students and recent graduates, the report includes an analysis of library programs, student satisfaction and career interests, and accessibility issues to library education. This article will review the major findings from the TGA, identifying areas for further communication and collaboration in order to enhance Canadian LIS education outcomes. Methods The 8Rs Research Team drew upon five different data sources for the study.2 First, the research team conducted a review of Canadian online curriculum and professional development offerings, as well as overall program information on Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) and Library and Information Technology (LIT) program websites in January 2006. The researchers then repurposed data that had been collected from employers in June 2003, regarding professional librarian completencies and education; statistics from these data had originally been published in The Future of Human Resources in Canadian Libraries, and was titled the “Phase I Employers’ Survey” in the context of the TGA. In order to collect data regarding library technician competencies, and employers’ satisfaction with LIT education, the researchers surveyed fifty-eight employers in December 2005 (Phase II Employers’ Survey). The team 338 library trends/summer & fall 2010 collected qualitative data from in-depth telephone interviews with seven deans/directors from MLIS programs and sixteen LIT program heads. In February 2006, a census was conducted of students in MLIS and LIT students via Web survey, with a total response of 857. Finally, the team repurposed data from the June/July 2004 survey of professional librarians and paraprofessional staff, focusing on the responses from those individuals with five years or less working as librarians or library technicians. Detail on each of these data sources follows.