Case Study Participant 2
1. What would you say are the soft skills or attributes and types of knowledge that are necessary for getting started with decolonisation in a role that is similar to yours?
Most of the work I have undertaken is collections analysis using the analytics functionality of our library management system (Alma). This requires a reasonable knowledge of how to build analytics reports, though this knowledge was self-learned, using the guidance the vendor provided – as well as trial and error. Any Alma library should be able to develop the kinds of reports to analyse their collections on a geographical basis. Then, good Excel skills to further interrogate this data is very useful. Besides the data analysis skills, it is useful to have strong relationship building and diplomacy skills, because ultimately you are working with colleagues to try to enact change based on what your data tells you.
2. Please give examples of where soft skills and personal attributes have proven useful to you during any stage of collection-based decolonisation.
During some of our work to make our collections inclusive, we have worked with partners across the school, e.g., academic staff. This requires the relationship building and diplomacy skills mentioned previously. It is important to be trusted by partners and for them to know that you’re committed to diversifying your collections. Being timely, transparent and accountable also helps.
3. How can someone starting out in a similar role get an introduction to collection-based decolonisation and develop a basic skill-set/ knowledge/ awareness? What can this process entail? Please suggest any resources and approaches.
I think as a sector we need to share our experiences and knowledge so we could develop a sector-wide toolkit for those wanting to start out in these roles or this kind of work. In particular, we can focus on the ‘hard’ skills such as leveraging the data from our library management systems. Alma libraries can easily share reports between them anyway, but also sharing how to construct effective reports would be useful – our collections are different but the LMS’s are the same. Teaching ‘soft’ skills is more difficult, but when you are working with partners across the university, those skills are the same that you already possess – namely, communication, relationship building, diplomacy, collaboration, etc.
4. How does an advanced collection-based decolonisation skillset/ expert knowledge look like from your perspective (including soft and specialised skills)?
An expert skillset probably just focuses on the harder skills to a much more detailed extent – specifically, data analysis and interpretation. There is a huge degree of complexity with LMS analytics and we usually just scratch the surface. Particularly useful in terms of communicating collections analysis is the ability to work with and visualise data – using Excel or Tableau, as those visualisations can tell a powerful story.
5. How can someone in a similar role further develop their skills/ knowledge/ awareness in collection-based decolonisation and build an expert skill-set? What can this process entail? Please suggest any resources and approaches.
Particularly with Alma, there is a lot of training you can undertake to learn more about how detailed your reports can be, though trial and error really helps too! Skills in data visualisation can be learned too. Your own university probably offers Excel training for staff – Tableau too, possibly – though this can also be learned from Youtube or via courses on Udemy, etc.
6. Please add any other thoughts or advice you may have for those who want to develop their skills and knowledge in collection-based decolonisation.
Start experimenting with data analysis and visualisation – these aren’t just skills related to collections, they’re a fundamental part of librarianship now. It is all about identifying a problem and using data to come to a solution. This should be part of every library qualification now anyway.