This chart was done to see if there was a correlation between experience required and degree. The hypothesis was that jobs that many libraries or academic institutions will hire a recent graduate with an MLS- a professional degree. The data, however, does not indicate a trend toward this. It is possible that the jobs retrieved were not entry level positions, or that because visual resources is a specialized field, one would expect that in order to have the analytical skill necessary, several years of direct or related experience is necessary. It is also possible that a larger sample size will result in a visible trend in this area.
This chart was done using the 100 jobs gathered from the listservs which directly involve visual resources. Among the requirements, the words “knowledge of…” were seen frequently. The specific areas of knowledge that were seen have been recorded, and can be seen here. Trends are ‘current trends’, ‘emerging technologies’, and ‘issues facing…’ Specialized knowledge was recorded when the request was for a unique area of knowledge not seen elsewhere- for instance, “knowledge of the history of microcomputers”, or “history of the Pacific Northwest”. VR standards and Practices was marked if there was any mention of “standards for visual resource dissemination, digitization, etc.”. If the wording of the ad indicated knowledge of standards for digitization or photography, both VR standards and practices, and the area mentioned, were marked. If however, the wording was such that “knowledge of digitization” or “knowledge of classification schemes” was mentioned, then only one category would be marked. It is apparent that employers desire employees who keep current with issues in the field. One can assume this is so in order to make appropriate long term decisions and for the future of the collections.
This chart was done to illustrate the occurrence of skills desired by the employers in the jobs that were surveyed. It is becoming clear that three main functions- management, cataloging and digitization- are the core areas of operation that require skilled and experienced workers. The other skill areas and knowledge requested seem to support these functions. As can be seen from the chart, Management skills- in particular communication and interpersonal skills are widely requested, which furthers the assumption that the purpose of visual resource jobs is to make the images available to the people who need them. These three functions operate together to make this possible.
This chart clearly shows that the majority of required background knowledge that is required for the jobs surveyed require that background knowledge to be in the area of Art. One assumed that during the course of an Art degree program, the focus would be on interpretation and analysis of images, so this is an appropriate request on the part of the employers.
From the skill area chart, we can see that three main areas of skill are often required: cataloging, digitization, and management. Within these categories, employers were often specific in their request for areas of skill. In the case of cataloging, this can be seen in the areas detailed above. General cataloging skills were requested most often, but other ads were specific, which might be a result of job responsibilities. A slide librarian might need cataloging knowledge and experience, while a slide cataloger position would require a more specific level of expertise or experience.
This chart is the second in a series of 3 which detail the 3 main areas of skill or experience that were requested in the job ads surveyed. It is clear from the chart that communication skills are almost always requested in the ads. Many of the jobs surveyed were upper level positions within the organization, or positions where the employee must act as a representative of or liaison between departments. In this case, it is even more important to be able to have confidence in the communication skills of the employee.
Many of the jobs that were surveyed listed among their duties that the employee would initiate or continue digitization projects. In most cases, it can be assumed that when a person has experience in digitization, he will have scanning experience, or experience in image archiving or storage. This might be why digitization in general is seen so much more than the individual aspects. The interpretation of images requires a level of analytical above that of simple digitization. This would be an aspect related more to cataloging than the actual hands on process. Knowledge of technologies is fairly straightforward as well, and might be related to either a managerial position or one at entry level, suggesting that one needs to know the physical processes rather than the more complex organization and further use??