Training, skills and competencies of the information professional

Training, skills and competencies of the information professional

a new paradigm, a new training model maria elisa cerveira

Prague

2010

THE LIBRARIAN AND THE ARCHIVIST: THE TRADITIONAL TRAINING MODEL

In most countries, professional training of archivists and librarians took a long time to become institutionalized within universities and was assured by other organizational bodies, including associations and professional schools.

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• Education and training of librarians and archivists was deeply technical and conservative because it was linked to institutions whose mission was the safeguard of the Nations documentation legacy, such as national libraries or archives.

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• Some of the courses were shared by librarians and archivists (as in École des Chartes) but most of them were separated and established near important libraries or archives that provided in-service training.

• This training model emerged with the French Revolution and was widely disseminated throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century.

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• In the beginning of the twentieth century many professional associations such as the Society of American Archivists, the Library Association or L’ Association des Bibliothécaires Français were the promoters of library and archivists' courses that were essentially practical and provide the basic knowledge and upgrade to the professional activity.

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DOCUMENTALIST: THE NEW INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL

• At the beginning of XX century a new group of professionals emerged, the Documentalists, as a result of the pioneering work of Paul Otlet and the International Institute of Bibliography.

• In 1909, within the American Library Association emerge a new professional association - the Special Libraries Association (SLA)

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DOCUMENTALIST: THE NEW INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL

• Documentalists didn’t want to attend the same training courses as librarians for several reasons:– The perception that the informational phenomenon

goes beyond the paper documents.– Their work context was different from libraries. They

work in companies, in information services, in business enterprises.

– Their background was also different because most of them were engineers, mathematicians, physicists and didn’t come from humanities’ areas.

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INFORMATION SCIENCE AND THE EMERGENCE OF NEW TRAINING MODELS

• After 1960, when the Information Science was recognized, the landscape of education tends to diversify, with a multiplicity of courses and curricula models.

• Although it is not easy to identify trends and stable structural lines in the curricula because everything was changing rapidly.

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• It was the beginning of wide-ranging training programs, offering an education in archives, librarianship and documentation (or information science) and the establishment of new specialized courses, encompassing either the library (library science) and documentation / information science or restricted to the area of the archives.

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• In the new courses the conservative, technical and historicist model prevails even if they seem renewed with new names (Library Science, Archival Science) and new technological disciplines.

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• The new "sciences", Library Science, Archival Science, Museum Science, were simply “practices”, as regards Yves Le Coadic “they were organization empirical practices “(pratiques empirique d’organization). These practices are visibly transformed by Information Technology (IT) but we can observe the failure of the traditional librarian and archivist in understanding the "information" phenomenon and process.

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• The concept of document prevails - the three-dimensional “artifact” (object), where the man registered information, and in second arises the “mindfact” (Information), it’s producer, and the origin of the info-communication phenomenon and all his complexity.

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THE PRIMACY OF INFORMATION

When do we begin to realize the primacy of information over the document (information carrier)?

• It began with the photography, the movie, the radio, the microfilm, the television and at last the new information and communication technologies that brought a dynamic approach to the informational process.

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Now we can see that information is not attached to any support, it is something that is possible to transfer to other carrier without losing quality, and now we can recognize there is no document without information but the opposite is possible.

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Social information is the structured set of coded representations (symbols, signifiers) socially contextualized and able to be registered in any tangible medium (paper, film, magnetic disk, etc.) and / or communicated in different times and spaces.

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• From this definition we can notice the importance of language (ability to articulate ideas, sounds and signs) and code (the language spoken and written, the numerical rating, drawing, etc.) which are the basis of information and characterized as a social phenomenon.

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• We can also observe some of the properties of information such as (1) Structure by the action (human and social)(2) Dynamic integration(3) Meaningfulness(4) Quantification(5) Reproducibility(6) Transmissibility

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The centrality of social information as an object (and not only as a source) of knowledge has deep, wide and even unpredictable epistemological implications. The key is to establish a new paradigm we call the “scientific-informational” marked by the following essential features:

• Appreciation of information (human and social practice / process), its own background (organic - contextual) and its legacy / cultural importance;

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• Declaration of the constant and natural informational dynamism opposed to document immobility.

• Inability to maintain the division between information professionals by the institutional or technological space they work (archive, library service, computer software) because this criteria is superficial and does not cover the dynamic context of information production (organic) or information use (functionality).

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INFORMATION SCIENCE - WHAT IS IT?

“Information science is that discipline that investigates the properties and behavior of information, the forces governing the flow of information, and the means of processing information for optimum accessibility and usability. It is concerned with that body of knowledge relating to the origination, collection, organization, storage, retrieval, interpretation, transmission, transformation, and utilization of information.(…)

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INFORMATION SCIENCE - WHAT IS IT?

“It is an interdisciplinary science derived from and related to such fields as mathematics, logic, linguistics, psychology, computer technology, operations research, the graphic arts, communications, library science, management, and other similar fields.(...)Librarianship and documentation are applied aspects of information science”

BORKO, Harold – Information Science -what is it? American Documentation. Washington. 19:1 (Jan. 1968) 3-5

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SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES ACCORDING TO SOME INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• EUROGUIDE LIS - ECIA (European Council of Information Associations)

• Body of Professional Knowledge - CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals)

• Competencies for Information Professionals - SLA (The Special Libraries Association)

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http://www.cilip.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3CA8898C-902F-4B1F-AE07-58B0BAE6AEB2/0/BPK.pdf

EUROGUIDE LIS

Fields of expertise: Group I – Information Group T – Technologies Group C – Communication Group M – Management Group S – Other scientific knowledge: This

particular group takes into account the competencies associated with the users’ sectors or with highly specialized information or documents that need to be treated.

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EUROGUIDE LIS

Group I – InformationI01 – Relations with users and clientsI02 – Understanding the LIS environmentI03 – Application of the law of informationI04 – Contents and knowledge managementI05 – Identification and validation of information sourcesI06 – Analysis and representation of informationI07 – Information seekingI08 – Management of collectionsI09 – Enrichment of collectionsI10 – Material handling of documentsI11 – Organization of site and equipmentI12 – Conception of products and services

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EUROGUIDE LIS

Group T – Technology T01 – Computer based design of information systems T02 – Computer based development of applications T03 – Publishing and editing T04 – Internet technology T05 – Information and computer technology

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EUROGUIDE LIS

Group C – Communication C01 – Oral communication C02 – Written communication C03 – Audiovisual communication C04 – Computerized communication C05 – Using a foreign language C06 – Interpersonal communication C07 – Institutional communication

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EUROGUIDE LIS

Group M – Management M01 – Global management of information M02 – Marketing M03 – Sales and diffusion M04 – Budgetary management M05 – Project management and planning M06 – Diagnosis and evaluation M07 – Human resources management M08 – Management of education and training

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EUROGUIDE LIS

APTITUDESA – Personal RelationsB – ResearchC – AnalysisD – CommunicationE – ManagingF – Organizing

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BODY OF PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE - CILIP

• The BPK sets out the broad framework of areas of knowledge and practice that characterize information and library work.

• The BPK is presented in diagrammatic format, the nucleus of which is a core schema (devices, knowledge and skills exercised by the information professional) contextualised by the applications environment and complemented by generic and transferable skills.

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CORE SCHEMA

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Personal/collective

memory

Curation/inf resource management

Inf. Need/ user behaviour

Inf.

Serv

ice p

rovis

ion

Operation on content

Body of Professional KnowledgeCore Schema

CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURES KNOWLEDGE

USER/CLIENTINFORMATION

COLLECTION/INFO RESOURCEDOCUMENTATION

Recording/publishing

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COMPETENCIES FOR INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS - SLA

Professional CompetenciesA. Managing Information Organizations B. Managing Information Resources C. Managing Information Services D. Applying Information Tools and Technologies

Personal Competencies - a set of attitudes, skills and values that enable practitioners to work effectively and contribute positively to their organizations, clients and profession.

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INFORMATION SCIENCE IN PORTO UNIVERSITY

Core scientific areas:- Information Systems (SIST)- Information Organization and Processing (OPI)- Information Service (SERV) Additional scientific areas:- Administration and Management (GAC)- Social Sciences and Humananities (SHS)- Informatics (I)

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Public and private higher Education Entities

1ºCycle 2ºCycle Post-gradua-tion/ Specializa-

tion

PhD0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Public and Private Higher Education Entities (2009)

PúblicoPrivado

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Higher Education Courses (created with Bolonha)

1st Cycle 2nd Cycle Post-graduation / Specialization

PhD0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Higher Education Courses (created with Bolonha)

2005

2007

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Internship proposals in the public and private sector.

2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/20080%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Propostas Sector Público e Privado

Público Privado

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No. of internship proposals / organizations (4 years)

Institution of Social Assistance

Church

Business Association

Association / Foundation

Central Administration

University

Local Government

Company

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

2007/20082006/20072005/20062004/2005

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Total of internship proposals

Institution of Social Assistance

Church

Business Association

Association / Foundation

Central Administration

University

Local Government

Company

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

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Thank you

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Documents

Training, skills and competencies of the information professional