The Working Group on Training and Education in Subject Access (TESA) was formed to review and assess the scope and depth of necessary knowledge for quality subject representation, analysis and access,  and how these areas and associated competencies are being accommodated by educational programmes, professional development and training opportunities offered by professional organizations. In doing so, TESA will liaise and collaborate with other professional fora and projects within IFLA and beyond.

The WG’s goals are to create awareness, recommend, promote and inspire training and education in areas relating to knowledge organization systems, subject analysis, subject indexing, and subject access to information.  TESA’s end goal is to contribute to the improvement of knowledge access in libraries and other information institutions.

The TESA WG plan covers broadly the following areas of work:

  • Research on professional education and competency standards
  • Identification of knowledge, competencies, and skills for subject access
  • Liaison with experts and other fora
  • Gap analysis & recommendations

Completed outputs and activities (2021 – 2023)

  • Webinar “Knowledge Organization and Skills”, 31 August 2022

Planned outputs and activities (2025 – 2027)

  • Survey of competency standards and gap analysis related to subject access (in progress)
  • Knowledge, competencies, and skills for subject access: a recommendation (in progress)
  • Public consultation, collecting feedback, and revision of recommendations (in progress)

Who are we?            

Stacy Allison-Cassin (co-convener), Dalhousie University (Canada)
Olivia Pestana (co-convener), University of Porto (Portugal)
Elena Corradini, Università di Trento (Italy)
Drahomira Cupar, University of Zadar (Croatia)
Daniel Martinez Avila, University of León (Spain)
Margaret Mering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (USA)
Amanda Ros, Texas A&M University (USA)
Darija Rozman, National and University Library in Ljubljana (Slovenia)

How do we work?

TESA’s work takes place online.  We manage our projects via IFLA’s Basecamp, as well as collaborating on written documentation via Google Drive. We meet regularly via Zoom.

If you are interested in TESA, you can attend one of our online meetings as an observer. Please email the Working Group Co-conveners, Stacy Allison-Cassin ([email protected]) or Olivia Pestana ([email protected]), if you wish to attend.