3.2 Methodology

In order to determine what information technology skills are required currently for a variety of employment opportunities across the museum sector, we undertook a content analysis of positions posted to job sites relevant to cultural heritage institutions in North America. We monitored sites maintained by the Canadian Museums Association (CMA), the American Association of Museums (AAM), the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), the Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG), and other sites, as identified and considered appropriate, regularly between the beginning of January, and the end of March, 2009.

We read each advertisement systematically, looking first at required qualifications, training, and/or experience, then at the job description itself, identifying key words, such as computer, software, database, digital, web, internet, etc. Irrelevant and duplicate entries were removed, and a total of 190 postings were captured for subsequent coding for analysis. The positions were sorted by function in accordance with categories used by the American Association of Museums (see Table 1), then further categorized according to the type of IT skill required.

The American Association of Museums (AAM) website organizes job postings by function, unlike many other museum job sites that accumulate postings by date of publication. The AAM has delineated 16 categories that we have used to structure our own classification scheme for job postings. With the exception of three categories that we omitted (Internships/Fellowships; Miscellaneous; and Publications), and one that we added (Consultants), we have adapted this classification system.^{Footnote 1}

It is not uncommon for job postings on the AAM to be cross-listed within two of these categories, or for the same type of job to be placed in different categories entirely, resulting in slight anomalies in the classification scheme. For example, heads of departments are often located under the category of "Directors/Administrators", however they may just as easily be located within the category to which their division is more closely aligned. Thus in the week of May 18, 2009, postings for a Director of Marketing and Director of Exhibits were located under Directors/Administrators, however in the same week a posting for a Senior Director of Exhibits and Design was posted under the category of Exhibitions.

The significance of this observation is that it opens up traditional job categories to broader interpretations about the functions implicit in these job postings, while also reinforcing the notion that no two institutions are the same. To speak of job types is to speak of a general observation about trends at best, and it is useful to bear in mind that in the museological profession in particular, museum workers in smaller institutions tend to perform more divergent tasks – they wear more hats – than in larger institutions where the employee base is both larger and more diversified.

Figure 1 ranks total postings by position category, illustrating that over two-thirds (68.4%) pertained to functions generally associated with managing (organizations and collections), curating, programming, and exhibiting within the sector. The AAM categories were considered to be a representative framework for the types of functions generally maintained within contemporary museums in North America.

The range of required or desired information technology skills listed in employment postings were categorized as follows:

1. basic software skills: includes MS or Open Office suite software – word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software – and email skills;
2. multimedia and creativity software and platforms skills: includes familiarity with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, other software for use with digital images; these applications are part of the larger Adobe Creative Suite, a collection of applications enabling graphic design, video editing and web development;
3. Web/Internet skills: includes familiarity with Internet search tools, Web 2.0 social networking tools (e.g., wikis, blogs, Facebook, etc.), and website design using software, such as Dreamweaver;
4. specialized museums software skills: includes familiarity with function-specific software, such as The Museum System (TMS); Pachyderm; Digital Asset Management systems; Raiser's Edge Fundraising software; Giftworks; Publisher; Contribute; etc.
5. database design and management skills. Includes familiarity with software, such as MS Access, FilePro, Oracle, etc.

Where IT requirements did not fit within a category, they were duly noted as "other" and a description recorded. Once initial coding of the 190 positions was completed, the coders discussed discrepancies or anomalies, coming to consensus on where to list each of the postings.

It is worth noting an observation about the manner that a number of the job descriptions were written. Across the five categories that we identified, the use of technological language varied greatly. In some instances, wording was vague, requesting, for example, "competency with computer programs" (OAF27-1), "good computer skills" (CM31-14) or stating that the "ability to understand and manage a database is critical" (OAF27-1), in others, requests for technological proficiency were far more precise, and specific software applications were named (Adobe, AutoCAD, Final Cut Studio, MS Access).

The distribution of postings by AAM position category and type of IT skills required is summarized in Table 2, and discussed further in the analysis of job profiles (Section 3.3.2).