Learning support professionals: the changing role of subject specialists in UK academic libraries

Abstract

This article discusses the changing role of librarians in a higher education sector that is having to adapt to a new social and educational agenda. Many converged library and computing services have been created and this has speeded the process of change for librarians, particularly those who are working as subject specialists. Such librarians, particularly those working in hybrid teams with information professionals from different skill backgrounds are having to acquire expertise and undertake tasks that only tenuously relate to the training they received at the start of their careers. Their work increasingly takes them away from those others in the same profession who undertake more traditional work. A brief list of organisations that can offer training and help for these new professionals is given along with the current UK initiatives for developing support for learning and teaching from the information community.

Educating the academic librarian as a blended professional: a review and case study

“…The changing role of academic librarians in supporting learning and their professional development needs as teachers of information literacy are well documented (Albrecht and Baron, 2002;Biddiscombe, 2002;Peacock, 2001;Powis, 2004;Saunders, 2009;Walter, 2006). However, library support for research has moved up the agenda and is demanding more attention with the development of institutional repositories and the emergence of escience (or e-research) and virtual research environments alongside their equivalents in the learning and teaching arena (Brandt, 2007;Candela et al, 2009;Gold, 2007;Hey and Hey, 2006;Walters, 2007;Webb et al, 2007).…”

The changing educational needs of subject librarians: A survey of UK practitioner opinions and course content

“…In the early 2000s, Biddescombe [20] and Pinfield [23] predicted that more and more job titles would reflect SLs' increased teaching role. However, a recent study by Bewick and Corrall found that very few job titles (4 out of 82) in their SL sample did so [19].…”

“…The teaching role in an academic library is often the responsibility of SLs [9,20]. In the early 2000s, Biddescombe [20] and Pinfield [23] predicted that more and more job titles would reflect SLs' increased teaching role.…”

“…ALCTS claims that library courses should not focus on specific library tasks and the skills of the job, but should prepare students for a process of lifelong learning throughout their career, that is, continuing professional development (CPD) [41]. CPD is considered important because the fast-changing nature of academic librarianship means that skills constantly need to be updated [11,12,20,29,42]. CILIP [36] and the ALA [37] emphasise that undertaking CPD is a key part of the information profession, and for course accreditation they require evidence that this is promoted to students.…”

“…The investigation included primary research on the views of SLs and library managers (LMs). There is a moderate amount of recent UK literature relating specifically to SLs, to which this study's findings can be compared [9,[19][20][21][22][23], but surprisingly little research specifically on their professional education.…”