Embracing New Trends in Scholarly Communication: From Competency Requirements in the Workplace to LIS Curriculum Presence

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Scholarly communication has undergone dramatic change in the digital era as a result of rapidly evolving digital technology. It is within this context of evolving scholarly communication that this paper reports on an inquiry into (1) the extent to which university libraries in South Africa are actively embracing new and emerging trends in scholarly communication; and (2), the extent to which LIS school curricula in South Africa are responding to new and emerging scholarly communication competencies required in university libraries. METHODS This qualitative study, located within an interpretivist epistemological worldview, was informed by the Operational Elements of Scientific Communication aspect of Khosrowjerdi's (2011) Viable Scientific Communication Model. Data was collected using summative content analysis of university library job advertisements over a four-year period; South African university libraries' organizational organograms; and course descriptions available on the websites of South Africa's LIS schools. RESULTS & DISCUSSION A review of job advertisements and organograms shows that on the whole university libraries in South Africa are embracing the new and emerging trends in scholarly communication, but some university libraries are performing better than others in adopting emerging scholarly communication services such as RDM, digital humanities, or research landscape analysis. Course description analysis provides evidence that LIS schools' curricula, as per global trend reported in the literature, do not seem to be keeping pace with developments in scholarly communication. CONCLUSION The ambivalent nature of an evolving scholarly communications field with unclear definitions and boundaries necessitates professional practitioners who are adaptable and open to change as well as an LIS education curriculum that is in constant review to seamlessly embrace an evolving field propelled by advancing digital technologies.

Critical Adaptability and Collaboration: A Student Reflection on Preparing for Scholarly Communication Librarianship

“…Although I find this advice positive in that it reassures me that others may be confused about what is going on and we are all just trying to figure things out as we go, I am more inclined to find this advice discomforting because it implies that not knowing or not understanding should be hidden and is therefore shameful. I consider Raju's (2019) focus on embracing newness and openness to be helpful for confronting this issue. She stated that "the ambivalent nature of an evolving scholarly communications field with unclear definitions and boundaries necessitates professional practitioners who are adaptable and open to change" (p. 1).…”

“…On a larger scale, Raju (2019) explained how scholarly communication has undergone intense change as a result of rapidly evolving digital technology. She described the ambivalence within the field of scholarly communication and exhibited how it requires adaptable professionals who embrace newness and change (Raju, 2019). Raju also explained how LIS curricula must mirror this rapid change and therefore undergo frequent and recurring review to ensure that competencies of such an evolving field are taught effectively by teachers and embraced by students.…”

“…• Collaboration (Burpee & Fernandez, 2014;Craft & Harlow, 2020;Hollister 2017;NASIG, 2020;Tran & Chan, 2020) • Research data management (Burpee & Fernandez, 2014;Cox et al, 2019;Craft & Harlow, 2020;Ducas et al, 2020; NASIG, 2020) • Knowledge of copyright, intellectual property issues (Burpee & Fernandez, 2014;Calarco et al, 2016;Ducas et al, 2020;NASIG, 2020) • Knowledge of open access (Burpee & Fernandez, 2014;Calarco et al, 2016;Craft & Harlow, 2020;Ducas et al, 2020) • Repository management and services (Burpee & Fernandez, 2014;Calarco et al, 2016;Craft & Harlow, 2020; NASIG, 2020) • Scholarly publishing services (Burpee & Fernandez, 2014;Calarco et al, 2016;Ducas et al, 2020; NASIG, 2020) • Assessment of scholarly resources (Calarco et al, 2016;NASIG, 2020) • Comfort with change and ambiguity (NASIG, 2020;Raju, 2019) • Good communication (oral and written) (Burpee & Fernandez, 2014; NASIG, 2020) • Knowledge of OER (Craft & Harlow, 2020;Ducas et al, 2020) • Adaptability (Raju, 2019) • Ambition (NASIG, 2020) • Development and delivery of educational programs (Ducas et al, 2020) • Enthusiasm (NASIG, 2020) • Generalist knowledge (NASIG, 2020) • Knowledge of funder policies (Ducas et al, 2020) • Relationship building (Burpee & Fernandez, 2014) Though all of the mentioned research on scholarly communication librarianship spans more than ten years, the broad theme of constant change and therefore the need for comprehensive skills of collaboration and ...…”

Finding Our Way: A Snapshot of Scholarly Communication Practitioners' Duties & Training

“…Hollister further states "only about 15% (9 of 59) ALAaccredited programs appeared to include SC courses" at the time of his research and the authors are not aware of significant changes in the following two years. Admittedly, reviewing LIS websites to identify course offerings is an imperfect method for determining topic coverage because it can be difficult to ascertain currency and completeness, and, perhaps more importantly, because it does not reveal course content (Raju, 2019). There may be a great deal of attention to topics in scholarly communication hidden behind titles with no apparent relevance.…”

Databrarian ed? Preparing Information Specialists for Participation in an Open Datafied Society

“…Literature reveals practitioner consensus that competency requirements here centre on repository development, publishing support, copyright/licensing and impact assessment (bibliometrics/altmetrics); and criticism of educators for not developing specialist SC courses (Bolick et al, 2017;Finlay et al, 2015;Raju, 2019) and failing to update courses on copyright, which often omit key developments such as Creative Commons, alternative licensing and other OA issues (Kawooya, Ferullo and Lipinski, 2019). Pittsburgh is a notable exception having revised and expanded its course on 'Copyright and Fair Use in the Digital Age' to encompass 'Intellectual Property and "Open" Movements' (http://courses.sci.pitt.edu/courses/view/LIS-2184).…”