Training and Professional Development

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 2 Conservation professionals create a large number of digital resources, but have a superficial knowledge of how to use, manipulate and engage with these resources in the digital realm. Few in the profession have experience with code-based works, and fewer still understand the concept of “big data,” the large datasets whose potential is unearthed with nontraditional data processing applications. A prevailing sentiment in the profession is that “individuals will pick up these skills on their own,” but there is no evidence that self-learning of this nature is taking place. Indeed conservators admit to inadequate digital skills and cite time constraints and lack of training and professional development opportunities as key factors that limit their ability to learn new skills in this area.

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 3 Addressing the skills gap is a major concern. Conservation training programs are not equipped to take up this training mantle in their present form. They can teach digital skills only in a tangential manner, and cannot expand their curricula – which is already replete with coursework – to incorporate formal training in this area. Indeed, a significant reorganization of professional training programs would be required to accommodate the growing information and digital literacy needs of the profession.

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 1 “I have taught graduate students in museums studies, including online courses in conservation, and have found that the students enrolled were not as tech savvy as I thought they would be. I assumed they would know how to use social media, and would already have had accounts for major sites like Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, and Wikipedia. But they didn’t, and so we had to spend a lot of time getting up to speed.
When I developed a course for Johns Hopkins University, I created a “Week 0” in my syllabus, where enrolled students had to research, create, and set up all the social media and other accounts they would need to effectively participate and succeed in the course. This was all done before the first week of classes.
I think that all graduate students today should have a standard set of accounts that they hold and know how to use. In the same way many learned how to type on typewriters. Having online accounts today should be seen as ‘basic skills.’”
– Richard McCoy

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 2 Even if such reorganization were to come about, the ever-changing nature of the digital landscape means training in digital skills and competencies is a career-long pursuit. Traditional approaches to training cannot be the sole answer. It may be that professional training programs are best positioned to incorporate a basic understanding of the role of data into their curricula, leaving specific skill acquisition to take place over one’s career through alternative training and professional development programs.

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 A number of these alternative programs have emerged in the cultural and academic community. In the cultural arena, projects such as the Getty’s “10 Minute Tech” program, Imperial War Museum’s “Computer Club”, “23 Things” program, and THATCamps have successfully taught digital skills to a wide range of cultural heritage professionals.[1] These programs began as grassroots efforts to fill gaps in training at no or low cost. In the academic community, new models are emerging in the form of MOOCs and online courses, and in certification programs such as badging.[2] Alternative training models such as these offer important learning opportunities, and need to be adopted in the conservation community.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0 An underlying issue in all discussions about training is an uncertainty about what should be taught. No core digital competencies have been established for the profession, so there is disagreement on what constitutes digital literacy and proficiency and how it should be achieved. The development of core digital competencies will be a key priority for the field, and one that must be addressed before other training issues can be considered.

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 Recommendations:

¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 3 Create a Digital Competencies Task Force (Short-term)
AIC should create a Digital Competencies Task Force under the aegis of its Education and Training Committee (ETC). Leaders from the professional conservation training programs should be invited to serve on the task force, along with other conservators and educators.

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 2 Develop Digital Competencies Set for the Profession (Mid-term)
The Digital Competencies Task Force should draft a set of digital competences for the profession and identify a training agenda that will help the community develop these competencies.

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 0 Implement Training in Academic Programs and Develop Continuing Education Programs (Long-term)
The professional conservation training programs should implement whatever portion of the Digital Competencies Task Force training agenda applies to them. Other groups that can develop and provide continuing education programs need to be identified. These groups might include formal organizations such as FAIC, but also include the alternative, grassroots efforts that have been effective at local levels (see above).

¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 0 [1] The Getty’s “10 Minute Tech” program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toRnpDFlUmY; “Computer Club Awesomeness: An interview with IWM’s Carolyn Royston.” Blog. Museum Geek. https://museumgeek.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/computer-club-awesomeness-an-interview-with-iwms-carolyn-royston/; Blowers, Helene. “6 Years of 23 Things.” Blog posting, August 21, 2012. http://www.heleneblowers.info/2012/08/6-years-of-23-things.html; What is a THATCamp? http://thatcamp.org/about/.

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 0 [2] Diaz, Veronica, Smith, Sondra R. and Tracy Petrillo. “Seven Things You Should Know about Badging for Professional Development. EDUCAUSE. August 7, 2014. http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-badging-professional-development; “Seven Things You Should Know About MOOCS. EDUCAUSE. November 9, 2011. http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-moocs.

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2 Comments on paragraph 1

Suzanne Davis September 23, 2015 at 11:50 am

My experience is that you learn what you need to learn to do your work. Do most conservators need to work with big data or write code? In medicine, the sciences, and the social sciences, individual researchers work with field-specific statisticians to produce and analyze data sets. This argument, that conservators need to know how to do things like code and manipulate huge data sets, is not compelling to me. We don’t like it when non-conservators attempt conservation, so why not pay a trained professional who specializes in the kind of work you need to have done? This is where defining basic required competencies would help. It’s still okay for conservators to specialize in conservation, right? We don’t need to also do stats. I hope.

Reply to Suzanne Davis
Peter D Verheyen September 29, 2015 at 3:20 pm

@ Suzanne, you better be doing statistics. Those are the best way to document value to your institution…

Digital skills use will be determined by what is being done. Not everyone will need big data, but they should be able to create basic reports (and graphs) in Excel…

Blogging, writing in plain language, outreach to lay groups…

Tools getting easier and easier to use. Just need to take the time (even ones own) to practice.

Reply to Peter D Verheyen

3 Comments on paragraph 2

Fletcher Durant September 17, 2015 at 1:20 pm

Conservation training programs are “unable” to expand their curricula or “unwilling” to change to their curricula?

Reply to Fletcher Durant
Peter D Verheyen September 29, 2015 at 3:22 pm

Most of these skills can be acquired in high-school, college, … They are not unique to conservation. If not yet encountered, take an elective. Some of this may also be a generational issue. Work with younger colleagues, learn from them. Accept and embrace a fluid landscape.

Reply to Peter D Verheyen
Jessica Walthew September 30, 2015 at 3:54 am

I disagree. As a recent graduate, my program focused heavily on not just the basic digital skills used in conservation documentation but also on the broader issues touched on here. We discuss intellectual property and attend conferences on scholarship in digital humanities in related fields (art history, archaeology), working with colleagues across disciplines. We are a digitally engaged generation (of graduate students), with experience using digital assets, tools, and resources in our research. I think if you asked the last few graduating classes of conservators for their skill levels you’d find that emerging conservation professionals are digitally literate by any standards.

Reply to Jessica Walthew

1 Comment on paragraph 3

Suzanne Davis September 23, 2015 at 11:59 am

This quotation confuses the issue somewhat.We have moved from the need for conservators to code and analyze big data, to the need for conservators to have accounts on multiple social media platforms. What is the argument with social media? We need social media in order to conduct day to day work, or that advertising and promotion of conservation is necessary to increase public support? If the latter, and report authors feel this is key, I’d highlight this in the visibility section instead.

Reply to Suzanne Davis

2 Comments on paragraph 4

Fletcher Durant September 17, 2015 at 1:27 pm

I feel like this statement is a red herring. Yes, building digital skills and competencies is a career-long pursuit, but so are traditional conservation skills and competencies. Traditional approaches to training includes continuing education as laid out in our Code of Ethics. To say that digital skills require a different approach is untrue.

Reply to Fletcher Durant
Eric Pourchot September 17, 2015 at 8:34 pm

Good point. This paragraph is in the context of graduate training programs, so I think the intention was to say that you can’t just teach these skills once in the training program and expect that to suffice, but you are correct to say that is the case with many conservation skills. FAIC obviously has been working to fill continuing education needs for many years and could expand to digital needs as well.

Reply to Eric Pourchot

Kristin deGhetaldi September 9, 2015 at 7:11 am

This is long overdue…leaders from the professional conservation training programs should have ALWAYS been involved with the ETC…I am confused as to why this had not been the case in previous years.

Reply to Kristin deGhetaldi
Fletcher Durant September 17, 2015 at 1:36 pm

I might disagree with having representatives of the training programs serve on the task force. The role of the task force should be to identify needs and best practices for the field. Having program representatives might bias discussions towards “what is possible within current constraints and established programs” which should take place at a later point once needs have been independently established.

Reply to Fletcher Durant
Suzanne Davis September 23, 2015 at 12:09 pm

I agree with Fletcher. Best practices and desired competencies should be defined based on what’s needed, not on what can be stuffed into the 2 years of course work most conservators have at the graduate level.

It would be interesting to know what is currently being taught in the programs, but I doubt conservation program faculty think about “digital competency” as a specific teaching objective. Plus, it’s not difficult to acquire digital facility outside a graduate conservation program. It’s much harder to pick up advanced courses in material science and conservation treatment once you’ve left school.

Reply to Suzanne Davis

2 Comments on paragraph 9

Fletcher Durant September 17, 2015 at 1:39 pm

“competencies” not “competences”?

Reply to Fletcher Durant
Suzanne Davis September 23, 2015 at 12:18 pm

This is a good idea, but also seems like a Sisyphean task since technology evolves rapidly. Improving conservators’ access to ongoing training and the ability to acquire needed skills might be more important than identifying specific skills to acquire. Especially since the needed skills are likely to vary by individual. At a minimum, the defined competencies would need to be under continual review in order to effectively inform a continuing education agenda as outlined in paragraph 10.

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