Researching and Benchmarking Best Practice in Library Staff Development: A Joint Australia – United Kingdom Study

Abstract : University libraries throughout the world are engaged in staff development but benchmarking of these activities is not widespread. In January 2008, two university library organisations – CAVAL (Australia) and EMALINK (United Kingdom) – commenced a joint project to research and benchmark best practice in staff development in member libraries. The project acknowledged that changes in technology, learning and society have impacted library services; leading in turn to the need for new roles, skills and approaches to library human resources management and development. With the project still a work in progress as at July 2008, considerable effort remains to analyse the baseline data sets obtained from member libraries and use them to agree common indicators, and develop the ‘dashboard’ and database tools first envisaged. As an immediate benefit to individual member libraries however, baseline data should enable the development of more responsive staff development activities, and facilitate more effective planning for the future. This paper constitutes a progress report and case study of the CAVAL – EMALINK library staff  development benchmarking project to July 2008. The paper outlines the drivers for benchmarking in library staff development and discusses why applied research of this kind is of potentially such great value to university and other libraries in the context of current issues impacting staff development: for example, recruitment and retention of staff. Details are provided of the research methodology agreed by the project partners, and the  benchmarking dimensions investigated by the project. With preliminary data from EMALINK available in early July 2008, the paper reports on initial findings and considers important practical lessons in international collaboration