Dunn & Wilson scholarship project 1995

Literature review

It was interesting to look back to an analysis of library technician tasks in 1983/84 and five year predictions of those tasks. The analysis was performed as a means by which syllabus implications for courses could be considered. The tasks were:

Write job descriptions as requested by Librarian... train nonprofessional and junior para-professional staff... write simple investigatory reports... monitor environment in relation to appropriate occupational health standards... [and] participate in systems analysis. Syllabus implications [were ]... that library technicians will be increasingly responsible for the supervision of junior para-professional staff... Included basic supervision - a unit existing in TAFE network as it met the requirements of the tasks and sub-tasks. (Smeaton, 1984, p34)

It would seem that underutilisation may arise out of a general undervaluing of the role of library technicians. Kreitz and Ogden (1990) reported 'a 'deep resentment' by paraprofessionals of the professional staff's treatment of them' (p298). In their study, they had experienced great difficulty in allocating the professional or paraprofessional label to library tasks and suggested that their 'difficulty ... parallels the problems faced by the profession in trying to define what it is that each class of library employee does that makes it unique and thus rewarded differentially' (p301). Evans (1993) commented on the misunderstanding of some librarians 'about the way library technicians can and should be used, and a lack of desire ... to provide a working environment that will challenge them and benefit the employing organisation' (p112). Clayden (1993), however, in commenting on the future of library technicians in cataloguing in Australian libraries, believed that her 'view of a future in which technicians skills are more fully utilized has already arrived' in special libraries (p180). Thornber (1993) identified 'technological advances; budgetary constraints; award restructuring; and educational and employer emphasis on the managerial skills of librarians' as the reasons for the delegation of some tasks which had previously been viewed as belonging to the librarian as (p9).

In a survey of library technicians in academic and state libraries in all Australian states and territories, Chambers (1993) found that those 'in supervisory positions were responsible for the attainment of team targets ... [which] were set by librarians' (p21-22). These were senior library technicians operating at what was equivalent to the HEW5 position and they were responsible for work flows and task allocation, staff training and supervision. Chambers also found that library technicians 'did not want to usurp the role of librarians, but they were ... keen to develop and extend their skills in all areas of the library ... [including] supervisory and management skills' because they were optimistic about the possibility of 'moving into management and supervisory positions in the future' (p23).

Senior library technicians at the State Library of New South Wales could be viewed as equivalent to the HEW5 level in academic libraries, and Crook, when talking about the imminent appointment of the first appointees in 1983, spelt out the very high expectations of them which Scott (1993) neatly paraphrased as: 'a thorough understanding of, and a high degree of competence in, a broad range of technical processes; organisational understanding; the ability to manage change; communication skills; leadership qualities; decision making skills; problem solving skills; action planning skills; goal setting skills; and competence in training others' (p96). Ten years later, when writing about the future for library technicians at the State Library of New South Wales, Coffey (1993) pointed out that 'in the area of human development and organisational change, their [senior library technicians] development needs are identical to [those of] enior librarians: awareness of organisational issues and dynamics; leading diverse and multicultural groups; counselling and grievance resolution; contributing to branch strategic planning; planning and organising work flows; project implementation; and working cooperatively with other team leaders and other branches of the Library' (p63). It may well be that some would consider those expectations to be higher than those normally associated with Level 5 positions.

Cherrett (1993) found it 'quite extraordinary' considering their education, that there were very few library technicians working in the serials departments of university libraries (p16). In commenting on the capability of library technicians to accept higher responsibilities, Cherrett also stated that she could identify 'no significant reason why library technicians under the direction of professional staff, could not administer a serials section/department in a large library' (p18-19). Cherrett believed that the allocation of such responsibilities to library technicians would result in librarians been freed to take up higher-level administrative duties because they would be 'assured that the duties were being performed by well trained, competent staff' (p19).

The potential for enhancement of the librarian's role was supported by the literature. Weihs (1986) predicted that library technicians would catalogue whereas librarians 'would shift to the design of information systems and specialized information' (p304-5). Eskoz (1990) expressed the 'belief that professional librarians still spend too much time in routine cataloguing that could be delegated to high-level paraprofessionals under supervision' and that 'a professional background should enable the catalog librarian to see the larger whole; to evaluate priorities; to make wise, long-range decisions; and to acknowledge the importance of sometimes tedious details of quality cataloguing' (p391). Thornber (1993), in commenting on the delegation of tasks to paraprofessionals in special libraries, stated that there seemed to be a perception 'that to achieve higher professional or academic status, [librarians] have had to relinquish the more repetitive and technically oriented tasks' (p9). Crook (1993) anticipated that work in library and information services would 'become progressively more demanding and more fulfilling for both professionals and paraprofessionals, and that the professionals will finally recognise that they can only find their place in the sun with paraprofessionals by their side as equal players in the team' (p1). More recently, Rider (1996) suggested that 'to meet the needs of the 21st century, libraries will want to maximise the potential of all library staff to develop new roles and contribute successfully to the mission and goals of the future library' (p31). According to Oberg (1992) this will contribute to what library technicians want: 'respect, trust, collegiality, just compensation, and a future - in short, a career and not just a job' (p107).

The development of national competency standards for libraries in keeping with the national education and training agenda, and the subsequent and almost immediate effort to develop a national curriculum for library technicians based on those standards, with the support of ALIA, could be seen to reflect a parallel recognition by the library and information community of the importance of the role of library technicians. Doyle (1995) wrote that 'competency standards can help educators and trainers to: match education and training to industry needs; provide better career advice to individuals; and identify gaps in existing training and show industry and learners the benefits of providing and undertaking training' (p17). Further, Williamson and White (1996) wrote that 'Competency standards are ... means by which industry expresses its education and training requirements... industries are able to make explicit statements to education and training providers about the skills and knowledge they require from people in the workplace' (p3-4). Bowden and Masters (1995) appeared to support this approach in that they 'have found it useful to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between observable practice and underlying capacities which make competent practice possible' (p155 ).

The national curriculum has been developed from the library industry competency standards and offers students the opportunity to exit at levels 3 and 5 within the Australian Standards Framework (ASF). Students are provided with a number of modules associated with a management/supervisory role. Graduates exiting at Level 3, that is with a certificate, have participated in modules on managing self, managing operations-change, managing an information agency, and occupational health and safety; a total of 140 hours. Those exiting at the diploma level (ASF5) have participated in further modules on managing effective work relations, work team communication, dealing with conflict, and a further occupational health and safety module; over 100 hours. Thereby the diplomate has experienced over 240 hours of educational input on management/supervisory related subjects which equates to almost one fifth of the total course of 1360 hours.

The literature review mainly supported the view that library technicians are underutilised, however, there were some optimistic comments about their increased utilisation in the areas of cataloguing and supervision. Whereas it was revealed that some senior library technicians had been operating at a higher level for over a decade at the State Library of NSW, there was concern at the lack of opportunity for higher-level functioning in the serials departments of academic libraries. Although there was some evidence of librarians having released technical tasks to library technicians there was much more comment, usually from librarians, of the need to do so in order to achieve library services of high standard. The literature revealed the importance of competency standards to the linking of education and practice and outlined the associated underpinning framework used in the development of the TAFE national curriculum. Quirk (1994) stated that competence is 'a stage of development of learning leading to expertise' (p15) and supported this by a citation from Benner (1984) who 'in her study of the development of expertise in nursing, makes use of the Dreyfus model, which identifies five stages of proficiency...: novice; advanced beginner; competent; proficient; expert'.