Federal Librarians SIS Co-Sponsors Talk with Roberta Shaffer

The LLSDC Federal SIS and the Federal Library and Information Center Committee’s (FLICC) Human Resources Working co-sponsored a Learning @ Lunch talk on November 5, 2009. The guest speaker was Roberta Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress. The topic of the session was competencies needed by Federal Law Librarians in today's workplace.

Ms. Shaffer started the discussion on competencies by tracing the development of the GS pay system from its inception in the early 1950s to its present and future evolution into a new system based on performance. The original GS system, static and based on the premise of vertical mobility within the work environment, does not adequately encompass the skills of today's librarians. We’re now working in a dynamic environment and need to utilize an ever-increasing number of skills. These skill sets or competencies cannot be adequately measured by the old GS grading scales. The term "complexitivity" would be appropriate to define these competencies. Complexitivity, defined as a dynamic system, influenced and impacted by constantly changing forces, describes the role of today's librarian.

In looking at the future of the profession, FLICC developed the Federal Librarian Competencies to define the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed to perform successfully as a federal librarian. The Federal Librarian Competencies, which can be found on the FLICC Web page (http://www.loc.gov/flicc/publications/Lib_Compt/Lib_Compt_Oct2008.pdf), although not yet officially recognized by OPM, have been successfully used by a number of Federal librarians in classifying positions, writing position descriptions, and negotiating for classification changes.

The discussion of both the history of the federal pay system and the FLICC competencies was thought-provoking, as Ms. Shaffer challenged the group to think about how our roles have changed and how they will continue to change in the future.