Academic librarian competencies model (ALCM): recognising skills and identifying gaps

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.
 
[Peer reviewed] This conference paper puts forward the Academic Librarian Competencies Model (ALCM) based on the findings of a single-workplace study which explores the approaches and tools Early Career Librarians (ECLs) can utilise to equip themselves with the necessary skills and capabilities to determine their own professional development.
 
The authors are ECLs, working as members of Monash University Library’s (MUL) Research and Learning team. This team’s mandate is to ensure students develop the required research and academic writing skills for success both while at university, and in the workforce. The library as a professional environment is on the cusp of pivotal change with baby boomer employees approaching retirement age.
 
With this change comes the threat of a loss of knowledge, with outgoing staff potentially taking skills with them before ECLs have had a chance to recognise and work towards developing these skills for themselves.To address this issue, this paper discusses the adaption of the Work Skill Development (WSD) Framework (Bandaranaike & Willison, 2009), and the Chartered Institution of Library and Information Professionals’ (CILIP) Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB) self-assessment tool (CILIP, 2014). Through the adaptation of these two generic frameworks, the authors have created ALCM which is specific to those working in the academic library sector, and allows ECLs in particular to map their existing capabilities against the skills necessary for professional development.