Acceso usuarios
Referring to the work carried out by the SHERPA Project in the UK on the skills set for repository staff the authors of the article performed a survey among reposiltory managers in Italy to assess the educational and professional background of the repository managers and the skills set required to implement successful institutional repositories.
This article reports the findings of the above metioned survey. Survey findings show that repository manager is a multiform and complex professional profile. It requires cross-functional and highly specialised competencies. Italian reposiltory managers evaluate that internal promotion of the respositories and management of the copyright issues are by far the most essential skills a repository manager should acquire and be trained on.
Collection development, metadata expertise, familiarity with the project management, and workflow design are also highly rated. Technical skills are important but mainly in relation to the expertise on interoperability of standards and protocols. Italian academic curricula are deemed unsuitable to fulfill repository managers' educational needs. Academic programas should focus on providing communication, project management and team work skills on top of placing a great emphasis on copyright issues. Due to the lack of suitable academic curricula and professional training self-directed learning and self-training play an essential part in the repository managers' daily activity.
