2014 Charleston Library Conference

The purpose of this project is to compare the North American Serials Group (NASIG) “Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians” to findings from a 2007-8 survey that collected data from 345 electronic resources librarians regarding their individual job duties and how and where they acquired the knowledge necessary to accomplish those tasks. [1] While the NASIG Core Competencies, which are based on electronic resources librarian position advertisements posted between 2005-2009, represent libraries’ stated requirements for electronic resources librarian positions, findings from the survey describe electronic resources librarians’ daily tasks. According to Hartnett, the Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians has been criticized for being “too broad – it is more a list of everything an ER librarian might be expected to do and less a list of ‘core’ competencies for the position.”[2] In addition to providing guidance for those tasked with describing an electronic resources librarian position as in an employment advertisement, the Task Force presents the document as a useful tool for identifying “criteria upon which to evaluate the performance” of electronic resources librarians, [3] establishing it as a significant guidepost for electronic resources librarians’ professional lives and development. Attendees will learn about the extent to which the NASIG document reflects electronic resources librarians’ descriptions of their daily lives on the job as depicted in the survey.

Although the survey was conducted in 2007-8, it is an appropriate source of comparison data for the NASIG Core Competencies, which draw upon employment advertisements from the same period. Findings from this analysis will inform development of an updated electronic resources librarian survey to be conducted in the spring and summer of 2015.

1. North American Serials Interest Group. Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians, 2013.
2. Fleming-May, Rachel A. and Jill E. Grogg. Finding their Way: Electronic Resources Librarians' Education, Training, and Community. Austin, TX: 2010.
3. Hartnett, Eric. "NASIG's Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians Revisited: An Analysis of Job Advertisement Trends, 2000–2012." The Journal of Academic Librarianship (2014).