Newsletter Issue 5

Editorial | ECDL 2005 | DELOS Award Winner | Other Autumn Research Exchanges | European Digital Library: Catalyst for Great Change | DELOS Clusters to Contribute to a Joint Prototype | Support for Library Education in Digital Resources | TEL and DELOS Confer on Common Interests

Support for Library Education in Digital Resources

The DELOS Network of Excellence collaborated with the European Library Automation Group (ELAG) in providing a workshop entitled Information Technologies Profiles and Curricula for Libraries which took place at the Biblioteca Civica in Parma over 13-14 October, 2005.

Biblioteca Civica, Parma

The driving force behind such an initiative lay in the recognition that, with the evolution of digital resources as part of the holdings and services of our libraries, there is a growing demand for library professionals with the requisite information technology skills. In fact the demand for such competencies is currently outstripping supply and many library administrations are faced with the necessity of developing policies for the education and training of their staff to meet these new demands (increasingly covered through the role of System Librarian for example) in the medium and long term.

The principal aim of this workshop was to provide participants with the opportunity to identify and define the skill sets they might require in any programme to improve professional skills and define more closely the sort of professional development opportunities for colleagues together with the training investment such development might necessitate.

The workshop divided into three major parts. Firstly participants were offered an overview of the current position in educational issues with respect to ITC technologies for libraries and recent trends in research on digital libraries. To this end, Anna Maria Tammaro, University of Parma, Vittore Casarosa of DELOS, Paula Goossens, President of ELAG, Maristella Agosti, Università di Padova and Ragnar Audunson, President of EUCLID gave presentations on the theme Relationships and cooperation between IT education and LIS schools.

The second part of the workshop was devoted to contributors' own experience and case studies of skills and competencies. To this end, Pat Dixon, International Master, University of Newcastle, Krasi Angelova, University of Sofia, Keith Nairn, a Master student from the University of Northumbria and Annalisa Spinello, Università di Parma all gave of their own experience under the general theme of Competencies and Profiles. Both these sets of presentations were supplemented by a process of feedback through a series of parallel breakout sessions and workgroup discussions which reported back in a plenary session on the second day. Anna Maria Tammaro, University of Parma who had welcomed participants in her opening address then brought the workshop to a close with an overview of the workshop's conclusions and future activities.

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