New job role profiles to bridge the digital skills gap in the cultural heritage sectors: The BIBLIO project

In the Digital Transformation (DT) Era, introducing new methodologies and technologies in the workplace has increased the need to renew the existing job profiles and create new professionals with adequate digital skills, especially in the cultural heritage sectors. An ERASMUS+ three-year project: Boosting Digital Skills and Competencies for Librarians in Europe (BIBLIO), related to this issue and focused on the library field as a case study has been granted by the European Union (EU) to the Department of Research and Innovation in Humanities (DIRIUM) of the University of Bari Aldo Moro (UNIBA). The Consortium comprises four partner countries: Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece, and Latvia. Following an introductory survey, this paper presents the results of four different activities carried out in the first two years by a mixed research framework: desk research, training needs survey, in-depth interviews with library professionals, and best practice interviews with Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers. Finally, two emerging job profiles for the library sector have been developed based on the research findings. They are respectively: the Community Engagement and Communication Officer (CECO) and the Digital Transformation Facilitator (DIGY). The training course is ongoing, and it will end in November 2022.