Keywords
digital skills, staff development, library workforce, information and digital literacy
Description
“Culture is the most significant self-reported barrier to digital effectiveness” (Goran, LaBerge & Srinivasan, 2017). Universities are looking to a “different kind of education for a much more uncertain world” (Havergal, 2017). University Libraries are preparing students to be effective citizens in these changing times by ensuring graduates are information and digitally literate. To continue to evolve and provide excellent library services it is essential that the library workforce embraces the challenges that the Fourth Industrial Revolution poses. Following the successful development and launch of an Information and Digital Literacy (IDL) framework for learning and teaching, The University of Sheffield (TUoS) Library is exploring how it can be adapted to provide a workforce development tool kit. This paper will explore whether it is possible to adapt the IDL framework into a staff development tool that supports the embedding of a digital culture at the University of Sheffield Library. Can this framework be used to enhance the digital readiness of staff and can it support diversity and talent management? There has already been some engagement with staff through the Library’s ‘Let’s do digital’ campaign and Library Carpentry workshops. A strategic focus has been to attract and grow talent and to strengthen innovative teams and their digital competencies. As yet, there has not been a systematic approach to assessing where our staff are in their digital development and where there might be gaps in workforce skills and the Library’s overall capacity to deliver.
Developing a digital culture and embedding digital agility within a library workforce
“Culture is the most significant self-reported barrier to digital effectiveness” (Goran, LaBerge & Srinivasan, 2017). Universities are looking to a “different kind of education for a much more uncertain world” (Havergal, 2017). University Libraries are preparing students to be effective citizens in these changing times by ensuring graduates are information and digitally literate. To continue to evolve and provide excellent library services it is essential that the library workforce embraces the challenges that the Fourth Industrial Revolution poses. Following the successful development and launch of an Information and Digital Literacy (IDL) framework for learning and teaching, The University of Sheffield (TUoS) Library is exploring how it can be adapted to provide a workforce development tool kit. This paper will explore whether it is possible to adapt the IDL framework into a staff development tool that supports the embedding of a digital culture at the University of Sheffield Library. Can this framework be used to enhance the digital readiness of staff and can it support diversity and talent management? There has already been some engagement with staff through the Library’s ‘Let’s do digital’ campaign and Library Carpentry workshops. A strategic focus has been to attract and grow talent and to strengthen innovative teams and their digital competencies. As yet, there has not been a systematic approach to assessing where our staff are in their digital development and where there might be gaps in workforce skills and the Library’s overall capacity to deliver.