How it Works
Document your expertise
Select your skills, interests and product experience from best-in-class vocabularies designed from industry core competency frameworks including ALA, SLA, and NASIG.
Connect with organizations
Share your expertise with organizations you’re currently affiliated with, or ones you hope to one day - all in a secure and safe environment.
Advance your career
Unlock opportunities to grow your skills, earn supplemental income, and build your network in LIS and beyond - all based on what makes you unique.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Skilltype exist?
Information professionals spend their entire careers investing in a patron’s future. At Skilltype, we build tools to invest in their future. Our mission is to develop, diversify and disseminate the information profession. We are a majority-minority group of designers, library workers, and software developers rewiring how LIS talent is managed. We believe in the power of linked data, machine learning and empathy to help individuals and teams make better decisions around personal and organizational development in the 21st century.
What's a "market network"?
A market network is a new category of app that combines core elements of social networks like LinkedIn (profiles, messages, etc) with core elements of marketplaces like Uber (secure payments, transactions, etc), and use workflow tools to anchor the user experience around longer-term relationships like consulting projects rather than quick transactions like rides. Market networks use these tools to create a 360° pattern between service providers (in Skilltype's case, information professionals) and their clients (knowledge management organizations).
Who are Skilltype's Development Partners?
- Brandeis University Library
- Gonzaga University Foley Library
- Wayne State University Library System
- Wayne State University Office of Computing & IT
- Oberlin College Library and Conservatory
- University of Rhode Island Libraries
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.
How do I become a beta tester?
Currently, our beta testers are employed at our development partner institutions. If your institution is not development partner, and you would like to give us feedback on the app, follow us on Twitter and send a direct message. We will be inviting beta testers increasing amounts as we get closer to launch.
Does Skilltype cost anything?
Skilltype is free for individual users, but costs for organizations. Organizations pay a monthly or annual subscription to access premium features listed above. The subscription is based on a) the number of users employed at the organization and b) the number of users sharing data with the organization.
How can our organization get involved?
Each month we are increasing our capacity for development partners. Until our public launch, we are reviewing organizational involvement on a case-by-case basis. We are always seeking libraries or professional associations that offer a new perspective or set of use cases to our community. If you are entering a strategic planning or re-organization, and are rethinking your talent management strategy in the process, contact us at email@skilltype.com.
Who's behind Skilltype?
Skilltype was conceived by Tony Zanders, a library software veteran and award-winning EdTech entrepreneur. We are now a diverse collective of designers, developers and library workers interested in building the future library workplace. Interested in joining us? Contact us at email@skilltype.com.
Is Skilltype available to the public?
Not yet. We are still in research and development with our development partners and beta testers. Each release, we will broaden the pool of public users into the app. Stay tuned for more updates by following us on Twitter.