iBlog

Well, I guess I should weigh in here. Most of my ramblings below are in response to the previous posts, although not necessarily in the order they appeared. Like Lisa, I want to avoid focusing only on the term “Librarian.” As I pointed out in my presentation (as did Luis Martinez and Stuart Macdonald in their presentation in the same session), the Data Profession is more than just librarians. We are also computer technicians, statisticians and data producers. Perhaps the only common thread is that we all fell into the profession somehow. I think some people during the session who did not raise their hands may not have done so because they do not have the word “Librarian” in their title, or perhaps, do not work in a library although they perform all the same functions. When I was the Data Archivist at OPR, I would not have raised my hand, even though I performed some librarian-type duties. I would raise my hand now only because I have word Librarian in my title. I’m not so sure I even like being called a librarian simply because most people would not assume a librarian can do statistics and statistical programming. Getting people to learn that they can come to the library for this level of assistance is one of the biggest obstacles I have faced so far. Your point, Chuck, about data librarians and data in general needing more recognition in libraries is well taken. I could be wrong, but I think many librarians were saddled with data due to ignorance on the part of administration as well as a mentality that if one has an MLS then one should be able to do anything in a library. Then again, it may be that some institutions do not need a full time data librarian. I don’t want to nit-pick, but even as a full-time data librarian, I do not spend 100% of my time strictly on data activities. I am part of the Maps and Government Information Department and spend an average of seven hours a week working on our reference desk. Lisa mentioned that the phrase “ALA accredited Masters Degree, or an equivalent combination of a relevant advanced degree and experience” is rare. I don’t think the phrase itself is rare, what is rare, though, is being hired without the MLS. I am the only librarian I know of who does not have an MLS. I got the job here at SU because of my experience and my connection to the university – I worked as a stats consultant while I was a grad student here. I’m not so sure I would have been considered at another library, particularly not after making it clear during the interview that I have no intention of getting an MLS. Please don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the MLS or anyone who has one. It’s only one of several ways a person can enter the data profession. I’m not sure if official certification is absolutely necessary. I would definitely not want any certification to be handled by ALA due to their obvious (and perfectly legitimate) focus on librarianship. The GIS page pointed out by Jen looks like a good model. What may be just as good is a list of courses or “required knowledge” for each of the four groups comprising the data profession. Certainly, we would need this even if we do go with official certification. In my presentation I also suggested having our workshops at other times of the year in other places. Another idea may be to have them as online/webcast courses.

In response to these postings, first, I am one of the librarians who has neither 100% data tasks nor the title (or any indication in my current title) of data librarian, yet in my job description "data services" is one of many that are listed. While my situation may be different (I'm creating the data service to be offered by the library, we are not a data archive yet we have many tools and certainly access to data sets), I still feel the terminology needs to be somewhere in my title--still working on that. I have asked that if the data service is indeed implemented at the library that my title be changed to reflect recognition of both the time and library's committment. As to the education piece, while I understand some of the issues with certification, I wonder if an option might be to speak with ALA and CLA (and other international orgs), for example, and add this on. ALA has the APA going, which is designed for certification (at the moment of non-MLS library employees). Since it's an existing structure, could IASSIST join up? Otherwise, I'd personally like to see some online courses developed. IASSIST members could act as instructors or students and it could be opened up to anyone else. I'm thinking primarily of a course like Cindy Severt taught at UW-Madison (she indicated it was a couple of years ago). It was an actual grad-level course on data librarianship, perhaps it could be paired down or parsed out to make it a 6-week thing, or two 6-week sessions? I wouldn't want to recreate the ICPSR training sessions. Certification will be great for some but unnecessary for others.

Most of the people with whom I have contact who are data librarians or who perform data librarian functions were trained by practicing data librarians. One could think of IASSIST as being its own small university where members train one another. When we look at the need for our profession to involve specialized training in a field of codified knowledge, we currently find a system heavily dependent on peer-to-peer instruction. Without other avenues for people in our profession to receive training, peer training has been a very successful system. For one thing, the collective expertise of the members in IASSIST provides you with almost all of the knowledge on this planet about data librarianship. Through IASSIST, the ICPSR Summer Program, DLI Training and other specialized workshops, one can acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be an outstanding data librarian.

This is fine if your job does not require special credentials in data librarianship or if we are willing to maintain our current professional status. The Education Committee of the DLI External Advisory Committee explored the possibility of certifying data librarians in Canada. Many practitioners told us that they would like to have a certificate verifying that they have achieved a specific level of training as data librarians. Our search for professional certification models led us to the Association of Canadian Archivists where we discovered that certification is a very costly endeavour. Canada does not operate its own certification program and appears to rely on the Academy of Certified Archivists, which is located in the United States. The overhead of an operation like the Academy is far more than the resources available to certify Canadian data librarians. As a consequence, the recommendation by the DLI Education Committee was to forego certification and to consider the use of recognition statements for completing workshops.

There is a level of demand at which one could justify a certification programme for data librarians. For now, it appears that such a business plan would need to be international in scope.