Strengthening Professional Development for Academic and Research Librarians

Academic and research libraries serve as critical custodians of knowledge within tertiary and research-oriented institutions, providing essential support for teaching, learning, and research. As the knowledge landscape rapidly evolves due to digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and open access initiatives, academic and research librarians must continuously enhance their skills to remain effective. To support this need, OER Africa and the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) have developed a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Framework for Academic and Research Librarians, designed to provide structured and ongoing professional learning opportunities.

Why a CPD Framework for Academic and Research Librarians?

Libraries are experiencing profound shifts in how knowledge is created, accessed, and shared. The increasing availability of digital resources, open knowledge practices, and AI-driven tools necessitates a structured CPD approach to ensure that academic and research librarians can:

Stay up to date with emerging trends in knowledge management.
Develop expertise in digital knowledge management and open licensing.
Enhance service delivery to meet the evolving expectations of academics and students.
Advocate for open knowledge policies within their institutions and contribute meaningfully to their development and implementation.

While many librarians engage in professional development through one-off training activities, these approaches often fail to provide a holistic and strategic learning path. The framework offers a structured roadmap that aligns with institutional goals and creates a pathway for professional growth.

Key Domains of the CPD Framework

The CPD framework outlines ten key domains that are essential for librarians to thrive in the modern academic environment:

Open Knowledge – Understanding open science, open access, and open licensing.
Copyright and Licensing – Navigating intellectual property and digital rights.
Digital Knowledge Management – Organizing and preserving digital resources.
Library Excellence – Benchmarking best practices and quality assurance.
Library Data Management – Handling research data and metadata creation.
E-Learning – Supporting digital learning and online course integration.
User Community Engagement – Enhancing library accessibility and user support.
Partnerships and Collaborations – Building strategic networks within and beyond academia.
Advocacy – Shaping policies that impact knowledge ecosystems.
Library Grants – Securing funding and managing grant applications effectively.

How to Use the Framework

Institutions and individual librarians can use the CPD framework to design tailored professional development initiatives. The framework provides capability descriptors for each domain, outlining key competencies that librarians should develop. Institutions can:

Identify priority CPD domains based on institutional needs.
Access CPD resources on OER Africa to support learning.
Plan and implement CPD activities, such as workshops and training sessions.
Evaluate the impact of CPD initiatives to ensure continuous improvement.

We encourage those who want to implement CPD initiatives to visit our frameworks webpage, and click on the Academic and Research Librarians button. There, you will find resources curated from domains 1 to 5 mentioned above, which we consider essential for librarians to understand and apply.

For each domain, we have listed capability descriptors, that describe the key areas in which a librarian should be competent to carry out their duties effectively. For example, for the Open Knowledge domain, the descriptors are as follows:

Capability descriptors in the Open Knowledge Domain

For each descriptor, we have found and evaluated resources that can be used to support professional development. They can be used in their existing form, but, because they are all openly licensed with licences that permit modification, they also can be adapted to suit the institutional context. For example, if you wish to capacitate colleagues on explaining the characteristics and advantages of open knowledge across different disciplines, we have identified two resources:

We hope you find these resources useful. If you wish to read about the frameworks in more detail, go to the Download Framework link.

OER Africa invites academic and research libraries across the continent to adopt and implement this CPD framework. Visit our website to explore CPD resources and join our network of higher education professionals committed to continuous learning and professional excellence.

For more information, contact us at infooerafrica [dot] org (info[at]oerafrica[dot]org). Let’s work together to build a stronger, more responsive library system in Africa!