=Paper=
{{Paper
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|title=The DigCurV Curriculum Framework. Structure, Context and Approach
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1016/paper11.pdf
|volume=Vol-1016
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/digcurv/GowMK13
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==The DigCurV Curriculum Framework. Structure, Context and Approach==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1016/paper11.pdf
The DigCurV Curriculum Framework:
Structure, Context and Approach
Ann Gow Laura Molloy
Humanities Advanced Technology Leo Konstantelos
Humanities Advanced Technology
and Information Institute University Library
and Information Institute University of Melbourne
University of Glasgow (HATII) University of Glasgow (HATII)
Glasgow, Scotland Melbourne, Australia
Glasgow, Scotland leo.konstantelos@unimelb.edu.au
Ann.Gow@glasgow.ac.uk Laura.Molloy@glasgow.ac.uk
Abstract—This paper describes the development of the initial definitions may be useful to all users of the Curriculum
curriculum framework, focusing on the method and theory Framework, the concept model and map are reproduced
underpinning the content and structure within the context of here to aid understanding of the development process and
the project. the relationship between concepts involved in the
Keywords - Training, education, skills, skills frameworks,
Framework development and need only be referred to by
vocational training, lifelong learning, curriculum development, users where this is of interest.
digital curation, Europe. At the core of our Framework lies the recognition that
digital curation is a complex profession. For successful
I. THE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK professional performance, staff must demonstrate domain-
The DigCurV Curriculum Framework draws on specific and technical competences, generic professional
knowledge, expertise and research developed within and project skills, and personal qualities in a blend
DigCurV and related initiatives in order to synthesise a appropriate to their particular professional context. We do
matrix of core digital curation skills and competences and, not, however, expect an individual working within cultural
where appropriate, pathways of skills progression between heritage digital curation to possess every skill, ability or
one type of professional role and another. To this end, the piece of knowledge enumerated within the Framework.
Framework comprises three interrelated parts: Rather, the Framework is an aspirational model, providing
• a core Curriculum Framework model, which aims a range of competences and qualities to which individual
to provide in a cogent, relevant and approachable professionals can aspire in their pursuit of professional
manner the constituents and interactions of excellence. To address the full scope of digital curation
different layers involved in digital curation activities, and to provide the necessary flexibility for
training; relevance across diverse professional and institutional
contexts, the DigCurV Curriculum Framework
• three ‘lenses’, or views, one each for three broad encompasses a wide range of skills. These skills are
types of professional role: Practitioner; Manager expressed as descriptors and arranged into a hierarchy of
and Executive; quadrants and subcategories in order that users may either
examine the full scope of digital curation activities, or drill
• a technical specification in the form of the current
down into the skills associated with specific areas of
report, which outlines the groundwork for the
interest.
Framework, defines the Framework’s terminology
To aid navigation across this range of skills, each
and identifies the interactions between the
Framework and lenses. individual descriptor in the DigCurV Curriculum
Framework is assigned a unique alphanumeric identifier.
II. OVERVIEW These, however, are not reproduced in individual lenses.
The lenses are intended to be a representation of the content
The DigCurV Curriculum Framework aims to reflect a
of the framework at the highest possible level meaningful
detailed yet coherent approach to curriculum design and
for a particular audience; the skill identifier code would add
evaluation, whilst remaining useable to those with or
visual clutter and would not add to meaning in this context.
without specialist knowledge of curriculum development.
The identifiers do, however, enhance usability in the overall
For clarity and in order to supplement understanding of
framework by providing an additional means of identifying
the development process, a short list of definitions of
specific descriptors in the larger overall set of information.
terminology is provided here alongside a concept model
(Figure 1) and a concept map (Figure 2). Whilst the list of
III. DEFINITIONS Framework lenses: Practitioner, Manager and Executive. In
Competence: the ability to do what is required [1]. this instance, these roles are viewed as comprising the
Designated community: an identified group of potential cultural heritage domain identified within the remit of
consumers who should be able to understand a particular set DigCurV, specifically libraries, museums, galleries,
of information. The designated community of each archives and associated departments of higher education
institution may be composed of multiple user communities. institutions. A domain can be an institution (e.g. the British
Domain: the specific professional context of a cultural Library) or a subject area within the Humanities and
heritage institution or a subject area within arts and Information Sciences relevant to the cultural heritage
humanities disciplines. sector. In this sense, the domain layer encapsulates an
Domain expertise: knowledge, experience and competence instantiation of a curriculum within the context of the
that have been acquired through a consistent track record of specific domain. The areas of convergence between the
successful projects accomplished in various domain areas. lenses form common grounds. Further work could usefully
Knowledge: the body of facts, principles, theories and define a set of core knowledge and skill elements that
practices that is related to a field of work or study. This is should be shared across all three lenses. The areas of
identified in the Curriculum Framework as ‘understanding’. convergence are described and connected on the page of the
Longitudinal Evaluation: reiterative review over time, DigCurV website entitled, ‘Comparing Skill Requirements
resulting in ongoing improvement. across Executives, Managers, and Practitioners’ [2]
Skills: cognitive competences (involving the use of logical, Figure 2: Alternative concept map
intuitive and creative thinking) or practical competences
(involving manual dexterity and the use of methods,
materials, tools and instruments. These are identified in the
Curriculum Framework as ‘abilities’.
IV. CONCEPT MODEL
In order to facilitate the understanding of the framework
and the relationships between layers, a generic high-level
concept model has been developed (see Figure 1).
Each layer of the model is described in more detail below.
For definitions and disambiguation of terminology, see
section III above, ‘Definitions’.
The Curriculum Framework Layer: This layer
represents the Curriculum Framework as presented in its
current form in this document and any future iterations.
Interactions between Domain and Curriculum
Framework Layers: Each lens should portray its ability to
participate in digital curation curriculum activities through
knowledge and skills components. These components form
the core of the Curriculum Framework and feed into the
generation of a domain curriculum.
Figure 1: Concept model of the DigCurV Curriculum Framework In parallel, the roles within the domain lenses possess
knowledge, experience and competences that have been
At the heart of the Curriculum Framework is a common acquired through continuing and consistent
set of descriptors, from which can be selected those specific accomplishments within a domain. This domain expertise
to three distinct roles represented by the Curriculum informs the Curriculum Framework, providing input in the
necessary knowledge and skills that a digital curation successful digital curation curricula in their own particular
curriculum should include to be relevant to contemporary context. These tailored skillsets are presented in a clear and
professional practice. This generates a corpus of knowledge accessible visualisation for each lens, which is intended to
within the Framework. Through the Framework’s use, this serve as an effective resource for curriculum development
knowledge is fed back into the domain through the or evaluation and can be worked with in printed or digital
curricula that are created. form. Each lens binds together elements from the previous
Communities: Communities represent the extrapolation work with the RIN taxonomy, the results of research
of the Curriculum Framework from the organisational/ conducted by DigCurV survey work and the influences of
institutional layer (domain) to the collective/social layer. A the other relevant models listed above.
digital curation curriculum required for the purposes of one The lenses consider how practical, managerial and
organisation/institution in a domain becomes part of a wider executive roles in digital curation map to each descriptor.
network that comprises curricula from a range of These skills and competences encompass not just technical
organisations and domains. In addition to eliciting knowledge and duties but widen out to also encompass
Framework content from communities, the collective personal attributes and behaviours, further helping to define
memory and derivation of expertise from multiple/different the approaches that a curriculum should encourage in
uses of the Framework informs the ongoing development of individuals to shape them for success in digital curation
the Framework. In the long term, the Curriculum professions. To ensure ease of use and to minimise barriers
Framework may combine a variety of sub-frameworks to comprehension, the language was attuned in response to
(hence pluralised) each satisfying the requirements of feedback from the community, and skills and competences
specific domains and/or uses. throughout were categorised into things that the individual
Interactions between Curriculum Framework Layer ‘understands’, ‘is able to’ do and ‘is aware of’.
and Communities: Each lens aims to specify the knowledge, abilities and
By definition, the Curriculum Framework cannot be static, awareness that should be addressed by digital curation
neither as a concept nor as a tool. Digital curation is a training for a specified level of staff in a cultural heritage
dynamic field, its methods and techniques changing as we institution.
gather more knowledge and experience. We therefore The individual professional – the practitioner, manager
postulate that the framework requires ongoing development or executive – is deliberately positioned at the centre of the
in order to be creditable, usable and always relevant. This lens. The skills and competences desirable for the role
ongoing development is a result of a variety of methods, surround the individual and are divided into four quadrants.
including – but not limited to – longitudinal evaluation and These in turn divide into three or four subcategories. Each
appraisal and exposure to community expertise. subcategory has several descriptors. This structure is an
attempt to provide an ontology of the skills and knowledge
V. CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK: LENSES of each of three broad staff groups in digital curation in the
cultural heritage sector, but also follows the legible
DigCurV created three views or ‘lenses’ onto the overall approach of other successful skills models such as the Vitae
Curriculum Framework. The skills and competences Researcher Development Framework (which also
specified in each lens were initially based on the findings of influenced the use of term ‘descriptor’ in the framework)
the RIN Information Literacy Taxonomy [3] built by RIN and the UK Society of College, National and University
as an enhancement to the Vitae Researcher Development Libraries model, ‘Seven Pillars of Information Literacy’
Framework [4]. [6].
These three lenses were developed in response to the The aim is to provide a user-friendly format that showcases
findings of the DPOE initiative’s work on classification of information in a quickly digestible way.
audiences for training [5]. DPOE found that if cultural
heritage institution staff with digital curation
responsibilities are divided, based on their role, into one of VI. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
three broad staff groups, training methods which are more The answer to the dilemma of whether all cultural
appropriate for each group can then be applied. Following heritage professionals should up-skill in digital curation, or
this research, DigCurV developed one lens for each of these whether it should be left to specialists, is not is not
groups to maximise the accessibility of the overall something that can be resolved by one 30-month project
Framework to each group. such as DigCurV. Pragmatically, then, in order to address
The role of the lenses is to provide fine-grained as many futures in digital curation as possible, the project
information on the specific sets of key knowledge, skills has worked with an open definition of lifelong learning and
and competences that are necessary for each of the target vocational training, acknowledging the relevance of all
audiences to engage in successful digital curation practice. postgraduate and professional-level training available both
This provides a more closely-tailored model for the user to to those intending to enter and also those already working
employ when attempting to establish, conduct and/or assess in the field. This includes training types from short courses
on specific skills for existing professionals in the sector, to [2] DigCurV (2013). ‘Comparing Skill Requirements across
Executives, Managers, and Practitioners’, webpage available at
master’s courses specifically training students in digital http://www.digcurv.gla.ac.uk/lensComparison.html, accessed 1
curation skills. June 2013.
The international network established by the project – [3] As described in Molloy, L. and Snow, K. (2012). ‘The Data
which includes and extends beyond the founding partners – Management Skills Support Initiative: Synthesising
Postgraduate Training in Research Data Management’, in
has been involved in iterative development of the International Journal of Digital Curation, 7:2, pp 101-109.
curriculum framework including detailed evaluation events http://ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/download/223/292%E2%8
in the second half of 2012. Further useful activity in this 0%8E
area may consider domain-specific curricula, extend [4] Vitae (2010). Researcher Development Framework, available at
http://www.vitae.ac.uk/CMS/files/upload/Vitae-Researcher-
community use – both as contributors and browsers – of the Development-Framework.pdf. Accessed 7 Feb 2013.
DigCurV training registry [7], undertake mapping to [5] More information about the Digital Preservation Outreach and
relevant larger European skills frameworks and consider the Education initiative at the Library of Congress, Washington
DC, including the pyramid model of three audiences for
feasibility of accreditation of training offerings. training, is available at
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/education/educationneeds.h
tml.
[6] More information on SCONUL and the Seven Pillars model at:
REFERENCES https://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/information_literacy/seven_pi
[1] Grant, S (2010). ‘The Basis of Comptence Ideas’, blogpost llars.html
dated 24 November 2010, available at: [7] DigCurV (2010). ‘Training Opportunities’, online database of
http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/asimong/2010/11/24/the-basis-of- training courses available at http://www.digcur-
competence-ideas/ , accessed 7 Feb 2013. education.org/eng/Training-opportunities, accessed 7 Feb 2013.
[8] DigCurV Framework (2013): http://www.digcurv.gla.ac.uk/
accessed 16 June 2013