I.B. Relationship to Other Competency Statements

Special collections professionals need many of the same skills required of all librarians, and in particular all academic and research librarians in the twenty-first century. In 2009, one year after the adoption of the Competencies for Special Collections Professionals, the 91´«Ã½ Council approved 91´«Ã½’s Core Competences of Librarianship, prepared by the President’s Task Force on Library Education.1 It begins as follows:

“This document defines the basic knowledge to be possessed by all persons graduating from an 91´«Ã½-accredited master’s program in library and information studies. Librarians working in school, academic, public, special, and governmental libraries, and in other contexts will need to possess specialized knowledge beyond that specified here.”

Divisions, sections, and other units within 91´«Ã½ are thus encouraged to take 91´«Ã½’s Core Competences as a foundational statement to which specialized knowledge and skills can be added. A number of 91´«Ã½ units, sections within ACRL (the parent organization of the section by whom this document is authorized), and other, related organizations have created more specialized competencies statements, but ACRL itself has not yet issued competency guidelines for academic and research librarians as a whole. For this reason, the original RBMS Task Force turned to the competencies statement adopted in 2000 by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), Shaping the Future: ASERL’s Competencies for Research Librarians.2 The ASERL document describes the competencies needed by all academic and research librarians in order to fully exploit the opportunities created by technological advances and to meet teaching and research missions now and into the future. The statement notes that “attributes of the successful research librarian include intellectual curiosity, flexibility, adaptability, persistence, and the ability to be enterprising. Research librarians possess excellent communication skills. They are committed to lifelong learning and personal career development.” Since the competencies enumerated in the ASERL document apply to all research librarians, the RBMS Task Force concluded that there was no need for duplication. The present RBMS guidelines build on the academic and research library competencies found in the ASERL document by delineating the knowledge and skills that the professional working in a special collections environment will need.

After drafting an initial set of competencies, this task force additionally turned to the Role Delineation Statement for Professional Archivists produced by the Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA). The ACA document describes the knowledge and skills necessary for archival practice.3 The task force compared the Role Delineation Statement against the drafted competencies and made revisions and emendations when appropriate.

I.C. Purpose

This document is intended to define professional practice and to foster a sense of community and common identity among special collections professionals. We hope that the statement will prove helpful to those planning a career in special collections, archives, and libraries; current members of the profession; and administrators writing or reviewing position descriptions and making hiring decisions. Additionally, this document hopes to assist educators developing library and information studies (LIS) curricula by clarifying relevant skill sets and by identifying educational priorities for future special collections professionals. These competencies aim to be measurable and to be written in a way that will allow their users to assess progress toward learning objectives and career development.

The definition of a “professional” is partially institution-specific and can encompass a variety of positions including such titles as librarian, archivist, and curator. While this document does not assume that a degree in library and information studies is required for appointment at the professional level, it recognizes the important role played by library schools in creating a knowledge base and a set of shared values. RBMS provides information regarding the profession and resources for specialized training on its website at . Advanced subject degrees may be appropriate as an additional qualification for specialized positions.4

I.D. How to Use the Guidelines

Due to the nature of special collections, practitioners in this field must have an understanding of subjects and materials outside of general library knowledge. The relationship between this knowledge and practice is reciprocal -- a certain amount of knowledge is needed to perform the most basic duties, but in performing them practitioners increase their knowledge. Wherever possible, these competencies point to professional knowledge demonstrated through practice.

The knowledge and skills listed in the competencies will not apply equally to all professionals but will vary in degree, depending on an individual’s job description and level of experience. Each of these competencies may be interpreted according to three levels of proficiency.5

Basic: is familiar with the activity or has been trained in it; can perform it with guidance or has a basic knowledge of it, such as would be appropriate for an entry level position. For example, competency III.B.2 states: “Ensures that materials are appropriately and effectively processed and described.” At a basic level, the professional has studied archival or bibliographic description, or has processed or described materials. They could explain what appropriate and effective processing or description comprises, perform the activity with supervision, and/or follow existing workflows.

Skilled: performs the activity without guidance or has a strong knowledge of it. For example, at this stage, the aforementioned professional has performed this function independently as a major job responsibility for a few years, regularly describes library holdings in an online catalog or designs workflows in an archival environment, and/or trains, supervises, or consults with others.

Expert: has considerable experience performing the activity; is the person who provides guidance rather than receives it; both operates in the area and impacts the profession’s understanding or practice of it; has extensive knowledge and contributes regularly to what the community knows. For example, at this stage, the aforementioned professional teaches a course in metadata or archival processing, has published on the subject, and/or regularly administers a complex cataloging or processing operation.

The specific activities and levels will always be rooted in institutional context, needs, and priorities.

II. Fundamental Competencies

Today’s special collections environments are increasingly diverse. They vary significantly with regard to institutional setting, the nature of collections, scope of functions and services, and audience. A special collections professional may experience much of this variety over the course of his/her career, taking on different public and technical service duties, curatorial functions, and management responsibilities. Even those who remain focused on a single functional specialty within one institution will best contribute to that institution’s vitality and success by developing broad awareness of the full array of responsibilities that define the field as a whole.

This document assumes that a professional gradually achieves general proficiency over the course of his/her career; full mastery in all areas, however, is by no means expected. Some of this also applies or can apply to librarians with special collections responsibilities. The fundamental competencies should answer the question, “What defines a special collections professional on the most basic level?” regardless of the type of work one performs.

The following key areas of skills and practice should form a knowledge base common to all special collections professionals. As noted above, this foundation builds upon the ASERL competencies. It also assumes such essential but hard to measure qualities such as excellent communication skills, dedication to the profession, and a commitment to lifelong learning. This list is intended to address the ever-changing and evolving field and to embrace the fundamental concepts of use and service which form the basis for all the work that we do.

Competencies:

1. Demonstrates an understanding of the enduring value and importance of special collections to the world’s collective cultural and intellectual heritage.

2. Possesses a working knowledge of the basic history, theory, and best practices relating to materials found in special collections research libraries, including but not limited to printed books, manuscripts, archival material, and ephemera; photographs, prints, maps and other graphic works; audio-visual material in all formats; born-digital and digitized media; art objects and three-dimensional objects.

3. Possesses cultural and linguistic competencies appropriate for their collections and user communities.

4 Develops and maintains knowledge of the production and dissemination of information resources, including the history of the book and the book arts, book construction, editions and variants, binding history, illustration techniques, digital printing and publishing techniques, typefaces, paper, parchment, paleography, and scribal practices, or other topics as appropriate for their collections.

5. Develops and maintains knowledge of the methods and materials used to create archival and non-print materials by physical, photographic, and digital processes; recognizes the context, function, and enduring value of archival materials and applies the concepts of respect des fonds, provenance, and original order to process materials and make them available.

6. Promotes the use of special collections through a variety of outreach and advocacy methods; is committed to integrating special collections into broader institutional and community environments through collaboration, outreach, and infrastructure development.

7 Engages with and supports diverse user populations in working with special collections; recognizes the potential research and learning uses of a wide variety of collections material and is able to effectively match these to the needs of diverse audiences; is committed to integrating special collections into broader institutional and community environments through collaboration, outreach, and infrastructure

8. Engages with professional organizations and provides leadership within the professional community.

9. Develops specialized competencies in particular areas of practice (e.g., collection development, description and access, teaching and learning, information technologies and data management, etc.), but remains flexible and open to acquiring new skills and subject knowledge as needed; is committed to lifelong learning as applied to professional development in a special collections environment.

III. Specialized Competencies

The following specialized competencies cluster around and build upon particular areas of knowledge and practice enumerated in the fundamental competencies. The introduction for each section describes the context for that area of practice in special collections environments, and the corresponding competencies outline related functions. Many special collections professionals have multiple responsibilities that require proficiency in several areas of practice, while others specialize in a single, focused area. The level of proficiency required will vary according to the particular position, the institutional setting, and the career path of the professional.

III.A. Collection Development

Special collections professionals build, accession, and administer collections in accordance with their institutions’ mission statements, user needs, the history of their collections, and the policies of their institutions. By deciding what or what not to collect, librarians and archivists actively participate in the preservation of intellectual and cultural history.

Competencies:

III.A.1. Implements the principles and methodologies of collection development, including establishing goals and priorities, researching and documenting provenance and collection history, conducting assessments and appraisal of collections, creating and adhering to collection development policies and goals based on knowledge of user needs, existing collections and mission, deaccessioning when appropriate, and appreciating the relationships between the collection material, its content, and its monetary and research values.

III.A.2. Employs effective and ethical acquisition methodologies according to institutional and professional standards and values.

III.A.3. Engages with donors and creates strategies for long-term donor stewardship, including identifying and cultivating donors; negotiating gifts; preparing deeds of gift and deposit agreements; accounting for current and future intellectual property and copyright concerns; keeping a record of communication between creators and donors; and maintaining knowledge of sources for monetary appraisals, relevant tax regulations, and legal resources.

III.A.4. Develops and maintains a knowledge of current actors and behaviors relevant to an institution’s purchase, donation, and documentation activities, including but not limited to the antiquarian book trade and manuscript and ephemera marketplaces; private individuals, artists, and presses; documentarian and Web archiving activities; scheduled deposit programs; and other sources for acquiring materials.

III.A.5. Establishes and maintains effective relationships with vendors, organizations, communities, individuals, and colleagues for the purpose of developing collections; educates document creators and stewards about the importance of and proper practice of preserving material.

III.A.6. Identifies materials, in all formats, appropriate for a special collection, based on criteria documented in institutional collection development policies, and based on the institution’s mission, including format, rarity, scarcity, age, physical and intrinsic characteristics, condition and stability, market value, historical and cultural significance, teaching and research value, and assessed and/or expressed user needs; selects materials for digitization using the same criteria, when appropriate.

III.A.7. Develops collaborative collecting strategies with other institutions, when appropriate.

III.B. Description and Access

Professionals with responsibilities in processing and/or describing special collections materials in all formats need a strong working knowledge of the standards, practices, and tools for bibliographic and archival control. They also need subject expertise to interpret, describe, and build access to materials in their collections.

Competencies:

III.B.1. Describes special collections materials in accordance with institutional policies and current metadata best practices in special collections, archival, and museum communities; negotiates the relationship between professional practices and local implementation of these practices based on user needs.

III.B.2. Ensures that materials are appropriately and effectively processed and described, by applying a knowledge of archival and/or bibliographic principles, book history, book arts, subject and historical context surrounding the creation and use of materials, physical characteristics, and production techniques of special collections materials.

III.B.3. Determines appropriate processing and description levels and practices in light of assessed user needs and informed by knowledge of institutional priorities and resources; ensures that description is made available to patrons in a timely manner and understands the role of access and retrieval in making descriptive decisions.

III.B.4. Develops and maintains knowledge of current and evolving standards, guidelines, rules, best practices, tools, and trends regarding processing and describing special collections materials in all formats.

III.B.5. Applies knowledge of data management platforms and data models, such as integrated library systems, bibliographic utilities, digital repositories, linked open data, and federated, web-based platforms, in order to facilitate information retrieval and intellectual access to special collections materials.

III.B.6. Contributes to the development of local procedures concerning acquisitions, prioritization for processing, shelf preparation, collections management, and preservation for special collections materials in all formats.

Competencies:

III.C.1. Develops and maintains current knowledge of issues, standards, trends, and best practices regarding the creation, management, storage, organization, appraisal, description, and preservation of digitized and born-digital collections.

III.C.2. Uses and configures digital repository, digital preservation, data management, content management, and discovery systems, including open-source solutions.

III.C.3. Applies knowledge of data models and query languages to effectively maintain and deliver access to special collections and archival metadata.

III.C.4. Manages digital repositories, applying knowledge of best practices to accession, create, edit, describe, and preserve digital objects.

III.C.5. Maintains active knowledge and awareness of data management and manipulation tools to support assessment and research activities.

III.C.6. Applies project management skills to plan and implement projects, coordinate staff, and report on deliverables.

III.C.7. Communicates the importance, methods, needs, and priorities of digital projects to a variety of partners, including those with limited technical knowledge; is an effective and diplomatic trainer of colleagues and collaborators in matters relating to information technology; identifies and includes stakeholders in decision-making.

III.D. Instruction

Special collections professionals participate in and contribute to the educational and research missions of their institutions as well as to the learning that occurs within their extended communities. They support and facilitate learning, teaching, and research by focusing on the use of special collections. They develop knowledge of their collections in order to instruct users in the value of appropriate resources and to assist users in locating relevant materials. They teach, write, and present based on materials in their collections. They may use or support a variety of teaching methods and are aware of and respond to changing trends in education, scholarship, and learning.

Competencies:

III.D.1. Applies relevant and effective pedagogical methodologies and best practices related to the institution’s full range of audiences and communities; creates appropriate interpretive content; and teaches research methodology, primary source literacy, and interpretative skills.

.III.D.2. Recognizes potential teaching, research, and learning uses for a wide variety of collection materials and matches these appropriately to diverse audiences and their needs.

III.D.3. Identifies and seeks out potential collaborators in teaching and research; actively works with these collaborators to produce and deliver inspiring and effective learning experiences; develops innovative teaching strategies and tools utilizing special collections materials and information technologies.

III.D.4. Demonstrates knowledge of pertinent disciplinary and interdisciplinary research methodologies; instructs users in search strategies for locating relevant materials for research; understands and teaches the relationships between research, creation of new knowledge, publication, and other forms of scholarly communication.

III.D.5. Uses information technologies to support teaching, learning, and research; trains users to apply relevant information technologies.

III.E. Management, Supervision, and Leadership

Special collections professionals are often required to lead people and projects and manage resources. Management and supervisory responsibilities may include strategic, fiscal, and facilities planning and oversight, assessment, policy making, and human resources functions, among other activities. Leadership responsibilities may include significant and sustained contributions to the profession through service, advocacy, guidance, and mentorship.

III.F. Preservation and Conservation

Special collections professionals understand the basic principles, objectives, and techniques for the preservation and conservation of objects in various formats, including printed books and ephemera; manuscripts and archival material; photographs, prints, maps, and other graphic works; audio-visual material in all formats; digitized and born-digital media; and art objects and other three-dimensional objects.

Competencies:

III.F.1. Understands issues and trends and applies library, archival, and museum preservation and conservation standards and best practices, including appropriate standards for the storage, transportation, exhibition, and preservation of works on paper, other special formats, digitized material, and born-digital content.

III.F.2. Advocates for proper handling and storage of special collections materials and trains staff and users in these practices.

III.F.3. Implements preservation assessment activities within a collection development and management program; identifies the preservation and conservation needs of collection materials and establishes treatment priorities.

III.F.4. Maintains knowledge of resources for specialized expertise and is able to seek, interpret, and apply professional advice when needed.

III.F.5. Contributes to the preparation of disaster response policies and procedures

III.F.6. Coordinates and implements disaster preparedness plans when required and as indicated in collaboration with designated institutional colleagues.

III.G. Promotion and Outreach

Outreach can take place in both physical and digital settings. Promoting collections through public and professional events and publications, social media, and other forms of outreach to an institution’s community and beyond is a vital part of the activities of a special collections professional. Special collections professionals strive to identify appropriate methods and platforms of outreach to engage current and potential users, including members of underserved communities. They endeavor to eliminate barriers to access by engaging a diverse community of users with institutional collections. Special collections professionals effectively represent their organizations to colleagues and outside communities, and they seek ways to develop appreciation and awareness of their collections and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Competencies:

III.G.1. Promotes special collections effectively to diverse audiences through well-developed communication skills; inspires interest in the teaching, learning, and research potential of special collections materials; heightens stakeholders’ commitment to the organization’s purposes and programs.

III.G.2. Plans and implements programs and publications that promote and interpret the collections and the understanding of the value of primary sources, including exhibitions, conferences, guest lectures, and public speaking, as well as online exhibitions, blogs, social media, and online publishing.

III.G.3. Creates interactive programs, exhibitions, and displays that enhance the experience for users or visitors.

III.G.4. Advocates for the development and/or enhancement of primary source literacy according to institutional context and assessed user needs.

III.G.5. Designs programming and resources to connect users to specific collections and to enhance their understanding of the value of primary sources for research.

III.H. Reference

In support of learning, teaching, and research, special collections professionals seek to understand the scholarly needs and information-seeking behavior of their users, and they develop skills, resources, and services to meet those needs. Special collections professionals actively engage with users, taking a vested interest in their topics, helping them to locate materials, advocating for their needs, and presenting new trends and practices to other departments within the library that affect primary source discovery and use. In order to foster these relationships, special collections professionals working directly with users remain available in person and remotely to assist with citations, publication and copyright questions, and discovery of additional resources within and beyond the institution. As users now conduct research with archival and rare materials in digital environments, special collections professionals must reimagine public services and user communities in a number of different contexts.

Competencies

III.H.1. Develops and maintains public services, policies, and practices that provide access to special collections material in a manner consistent with their organization’s mission.

III.H.2. Adheres to the profession’s ethical standards, provides equitable and exemplary service to in-person and remote users, and maintains responsible stewardship of collections, particularly with equal access to collections and consistent and transparent enforcement of restrictions imposed by donor agreement, institutional policy, or statute.

III.H.3. Understands and adheres to institutional policies and procedures on access, duplication, and reproduction of diverse materials; explains pertinent reproduction, copyright, and privacy restrictions; and understands and adheres to professional standards of ethics pertaining to access and reproduction.

III.H.4. Develops knowledge of and records the history of their institution’s collections and their informational and intrinsic value within the context of the larger cultural heritage context.

III.H.5. Conducts effective reference interviews in the special collections environment; demonstrates how to use inventories, databases, finding aids, and catalogs; assists with the discovery of items held at other institutions and outside of institutional contexts; effectively connects users to other appropriate primary and secondary sources within their institution and beyond.

III.H.6. Recognizes the different handling and security needs of diverse materials and instructs users on proper handling techniques; meets the needs of users while maintaining and serving the collections in an optimally secure, conservationally sound environment.

III.H.7. Maintains active knowledge and awareness of current user activity; is a known presence to users; is aware of any special needs or issues that arise.

III.H.8. Engages with user populations and assesses those populations’ needs and usage; advocates for user communities within their department and institution.

III.H.9. Maintains awareness of changes in the uses of information technology and user expectations.

III.H.10. Demonstrates the value of special collections by providing accurate and meaningful assessment data for departmental or institutional reports; maintains statistics and regularly evaluates the impact of reference services, instruction, and programming as a means of improving services and learning outcomes.

Notes

1. .

2. .

3. .

4. In a 2011 article, Kelli Hansen notes that “...advertisements in over 30% of the study population specified a preference for an advanced degree in addition to the MLS” (p. 124). A breakdown of academic degrees required and preferred can be found on p. 119-121. More recently, Eira Tansey found that a second master’s degree was listed as a preference or requirement for 9% of archival positions posted between 2006 and 2014.

5. The Map, GIS and Cataloging/Metadata Librarian Core Competencies ), which emerged after the 91´«Ã½ statement, identifies competencies as being of Level 1, 2, or 3 (everyone needs to know, most will need to know, and advanced level of specialization). Similarly, the FLICC Competencies for Federal Librarians () distinguishes between the “stages” of “basic,” “advanced,” and “expert.”