Subject librarian 2.0

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Introduction

Subject librarian 2.0 is a term coined by American librarians at an ARCL conference; are there any academic articles about it? I can't find much in Google or Google scholar. These academic librarians are administrators who are taking a glimpse into their collective crystal-balls in order to identify new challenges and future opportunities for subject liaisons. At this early stage, their view is biased and not always reflective of changes in librarianship. At a recent ACRL Conference, these librarians outlined emerging roles, discussed skills needed to fulfill new roles, and offered suggestions on how to develop new skill sets to thrive in a 2.0 environment.

The application of the "2.0" suffix to library services is an inevitable (but somewhat regrettable) aspect of the rise of social media. Not only is the use of the 2.0 suffix a source of confusion for many, it is also a trendy application of the term at best. For academic librarians somewhat new to the whole area of web 2.0, be advised that the 2.0 suffix is now being used to convey everything from soup to nuts but more commonly along two lines: 1) to denote a new generation, edition or version of something in our profession (and in social tech in general) and 2) to align the older topic or version with the eye-catching and revolutionary trends associated with web 2.0. For heaven's sake - let's get some definitions, policies and strategies in place before we start throwing these terms around.

What is subject librarian 2.0?

Before beginning this wiki entry, I was unable to locate a definition of subject librarian 2.0.

What can be discerned is that scademic librarianship is going through some radical changes and that they are creating a number of challenges and opportunities for subject liaison librarians. Subject librarians (like their other academic library peers in public, technical and administrative services) are dealing with some uncertainty within academic institutions because of the many changes in scholarly communication, collection development and outreach to faculty and students.

That said, some questions that are part of this debate include:

What are the new roles that have emerged for academic library subject liaisons over the last 3-5 years?
What roles will become important in the next 5 years?
How can liaison librarians work across disciplines to meet the needs of interdisciplinary research?
How conversant should they be with new technologies?
Should they serve as technology consultants for faculty who do not have time to integrate technology into their courses?
What is the role of scholarly communication in the work of liaisons? To what extent should liaisons be advocating for and actively creating change in the publishing environment?
Will liaisons be expected to play a larger role in instruction and curriculum design?
What new roles does e-science present?
What skills will liaisons need in the next 3-5 years? What core set of skills should we expect of all liaisons?
How can our more senior staff acquire these skills?
How can we address the discomfort and occasional resistance that accompanies a change in roles and expectations?

Other suggestions for subject librarians

Karen Williams says that:

"Everything we do at UMinnesota supports and advances higher education. We are different from public services, which has little relevance outside of the library space."
"How do we make the SL 2.0 model happen?"
"Position Description Framework: scholarly communication, teaching and learning, digital tools, outreach, collection development & management, fund raising, reference services."
"Nothing is static anymore in our universes."
"Teaching and learning” does not refer to “bibliographic instruction” or info literacy - it’s beyond that. UM wants to move beyond the old “guest lectures” model."
"Scholarly Communication is the focus of her talk. Very dense slide - she will upload them to the appropriate place for people to read."
"They form “collaboratives” at Minnesota - everyone participates “very broadly.”"
"Staff dev and support: experts, environmental scan, resources & tools, templates, action plans - toolkit created so no one has to start from scratch.
"Recruited advocates from faculty in other departments."
"Launched their Institutional Repository with collections already loaded so there were no empty links."
"A system view: constituent behaviors, library vision/mission/goals, position descriptions/realistic jobs, individual goals, knowledge/skills/ability, staff education, resources, performance evaluation."
"Have moved away from collection dev activities by using approval plans more heavily to free up liaison time. Also will scale down time spent at ref desk."
"Create a “risktaking” environment; you have to celebrate failures as well as successes."