Converging educational strategies

An Italian e-learning class for young LAMs professionalsCarla Colombati - Elena De Carolis - Agnese

Galeffi

LIBRARY THEORY AND RESEARCH SECTION SATELLITE: Theory and research on the convergence of professional identity in cultural heritage institutions (Libraries, Museums, and Archives) beyond technology

Turin, 13 August 2014

We are going to talk about...

• This paper path (AIB course -> Bibliotecario reloaded)

• Do we need LAMs professionals?• LAMs professionals’ skills• Learning tecniques• Conclusions and... wishes

This paper path

The AIB offered a blended learning course to Italian librarian community:

AIB continuing education in e-learning…

As work group we realised: “Reloaded Librarian”

THEME: advocacy

TARGET: young students (18 to 25 year-olds)

OBJECTIVES: a)fostering orientation towards the librarian's

professionb) shattering of long-established stereotypes

Online learners (U.S.A.)

OCLC. (2014). At a Tipping Point: Education, Learning and Libraries.

This paper path

Bibliotecario reloaded

“Break the stereotype!”

Bibliotecario_reloaded_home.mht

Why train a LAMs professional?

“LAM professionals who understand issues

surrounding different types of collections and

collecting institutions […] bring an open-

mindedness that allows them to embrace ideas

from other professions in the interests of the

collaboration.”

OCLC. (2008). Beyond the Silos of the LAMs: Collaboration

Among Libraries, Archives and Museums.

Common LAMs topics

AcquisitionTreatment and physical organisation

Description PreservationMaintenance of catalogues, inventories, and database

Orientation and referenceUser education Promotion

Institutional communicationsAnalysis of the social contextHow to expand collections

Management of physical spacesDrafting of a Service Charter

One example

(archival) inventory

(library) catalogue

(museum) catalogue

Describe the Creators’ and Records’ history, etc.Describe the resources owned or to which access is guaranteedDescribe the cultural objects (even intangible)

Describethe «stuff»owned

Names Activities Objectives

And...

professional ethics

concept of service

concept of cultural heritage

support for professionals, for professional associations, advocacy

typologies of LAMs

So... why a LAMs professional?

It’s all about users:

their wishes are becoming ever more fluid and we need to build a LAMs

interdisciplinary bridge

● engage the audience so as to create connections and sharing among collections, institutions and users in information spaces

● positioning ourselves as trusted sources and avoiding the risk of getting lost in the meandering labyrinths of social media (Trant 2009)

Social engagement

Gamification

Source: <http://www.metadatagames.org/british-library/>

Learning techniques

“So, what is it that we are tipping toward?

We are tipping from the age of students as directed learners to an era of students as empowered education consumers and eager education evaluators. […]We will change how we learn, where we learn and who guides our path. […]. We will have options.”

OCLC. (2014). At a Tipping Point: Education, Learning and Libraries.

Learning techniques

AIB E-Learning training experience

success keys

● A constructivist educational approach

● Knowledge Sharing

● From a Community of Practice (CoP) to a Community of Practice of E-learning (CoPE)

● Glossary of communications and specific activities

Learning techniques

From Knowlegde Management to Knowledge Sharing

for Convergence

is the one of most interest to us since

•it develops the dimension of “social construction of meaning”

•it underscores the notion of "community", which is essential to the successful convergence of LAMs

Learning techniques

Knowledge sharing + Technology (web 2.0)

+ Social constructvist approach = CoPE

With technology, learning techniques based on "online learning":

•“E-learning is seen as a process of learning”, in which both the student and the teacher or supervisor learn reciprocally in a constructivist way•transformation of CoPs into CoPE, a new model of learning by E-learning (Chikh, Berkani & Sarirete, 2008)

LAMs Convergences

key components of the basic course

•to transmit a sense of "professional community" to the students •to transform their learning into knowledge•to enrich professional knowledge with a shared common glossary/practices•to propose a framework of common skills/good practices

Conclusions and … wishes

Proposed profile for a new generation LAMs professional

Characteristics

1.a trusted identity + a common language derived from traditional competencies

2.a range of not strictly technical abilitiescreative thinking + teamwork + problem

solving

Final aim

•to be able to manage social engagement•to be proficient in channeling user-generated content into the digital information space of memory institutions, as part of a steady process of collective lifelong learning

Conclusions and … wishes

LAMs associations role

Conclusions and … wishes

LAMs associations role

to foster a transition “from Coexistence to Convergence” (Duff et al. 2013).

according to the diagram convergence represents the final stage in in the evolution of cooperation process

Source: Waibel, G. & Erway, R. (2009). Think globally, act locally: Library, archive, and museum collaboration. Museum Management and Curatorship, vol. 24, no. 4, p. 326.

Thank you!