Presented by

  • Kathryn Greenhill

    Kathryn Greenhill
    @infoventurer
    http://kathryngreenhill.com

    Kathryn Greenhill has worked professionally in the GLAMR sector for over 35 years, delivering keynotes and facilitating workshops internationally on impact of technologies and how a sharing ethos is better for both tech and GLAMR - and magic when together. She has lectured in information management for the last decade, currently coordinating courses in Foundational Knowledge, Information Retrieval and Scholarly Communications at the University of South Australia. Her Masters Thesis was about influencing and concerning factors when libraries created their own Open Source Software. Her current PhD topic is "Understanding Kindness in Public Libraries".

Abstract

This is a facilitated listening session, where after a short provocation, the participants will do more talking than the facilitator. Conference participants are diverse, but interested in both tech and GLAMR. When we design courses at university, what can we do to produce students who are assets for jobs requiring both tech and GLAMR knowledge? What do conference participants want graduates of library, records and archives university courses to know? What is missing - or wonderful - in the disciplinary skills and understanding of graduates you are interviewing or hiring? What do you wish you had learned in your information management course, or that your colleagues had learned? Are graduates of Information Management degrees the best people for GLAMR jobs, or are there other formal qualifications that are more important? Three pieces of background to target the conversation. 1. Every industry discussion makes it clear that excellent human beings - regardless of their qualifications - are the best to employ and work with. Often the most-sought qualities are those generally encouraged in all university courses, rather than disciplinary skills. For example ability to take initiative, social intelligence, consideration of others, organisational skills, continous learners, flexibility, great communication and time management. Let's presume we agree on this, and focus on those skills that people would probably not also learn in other degrees. 2. Accredited degrees use as guidance ALIA's Foundation knowledge for entry-level library and information professionals: https://read.alia.org.au/foundation-knowledge-entry-level-library-and-information-professionals . Are there bits missing here? 3. A 10 week course for people who may have no disciplinary background, creating graduates who will work in a very wide range of organisations, tends to mean material covered is broad and foundational, rather than developing depth or proficiency in a narrow range of skills. Does this limit the usefulness of skills you are seeing in graduates? With these boundaries, what are the absolute "MUST HAVES"? A summary of the session will be created and made public as a resource to help improve Information Management courses.