Job Analyses of Earth Science Data Librarians and Data Managers

Bradley Wade Bishop,Ashley Marie Orehek,Hannah R Collier

doi:10.1175/bams-d-20-0163.1

Bradley Wade Bishop, Ashley Marie Orehek + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-20-0163.1

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Abstract

AbstractThis study’s purpose is to capture the skills of Earth science data managers and librarians through interviews with current job holders. Job analysis interviews were conducted of 14 participants—six librarians and eight data managers—to assess the types and frequencies of job tasks. Participants identified tasks related to communication, including collaboration, teaching, and project management activities. Data-specific tasks included data discovery, processing, and curation, which require an understanding of the data, technology, and information infrastructures to support data use, reuse, and preservation. Most respondents had formal science education and six had a master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences. Most of the knowledge, skills, and abilities for these workers were acquired through on-the-job experience, but future professionals in these careers may benefit from tailored education informed through job analyses.

Highlights

This study’s purpose is to capture the skills of Earth science data managers and librarians through interviews with current job holders
A sample of convenience was used and only participants, who are currently employed as Earth science data managers or librarians, were recruited through the Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI), Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP), and at other science conferences with data managers in attendance, which included some that worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University
This study’s job analysis approach is one attempt and a method for others to use to inform education by the current job tasks described by those doing the work

Summary

Introduction

This study’s purpose is to capture the skills of Earth science data managers and librarians through interviews with current job holders. Nearly every job will be affected or disappear as a result of continued advancements in automation, robotics, the Internet of things, climate change, and globalization, as well as an increasing and aging population Within this societal upheaval, information professions hold and may mold the central roles that facilitate these changes through wrangling machine-actionable data, crafting machine learning and artificial intelligence, and shaping the future through their data-intensive jobs. The depth of learning that occurs as on-the-job training is much richer than that gained from elective coursework, but any KSA learned prior to or in conjunction with work experience empowers and prepares students for the jobs of today Concerns from both instructors and those in current positions emerge anytime advancements in technology impact what needs to be known in these dynamic careers (Schuster et al 2019). This study will provide a method and an example of how to collect the KSA required to work in today’s rapidly evolving Earth science data professions

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