Liaison Librarianship in Shiny Packages: An Exploration of Product Ownership in Academic Libraries

This column investigates the emerging role of product owner (PO) – an individual tasked with ensuring that a specific service meets needs users in academic libraries. It explores PO at intersections functional specialization, public services, and technical as well from critical perspectives on gendered labor librarianship. By examining how our library used model to address pressing problems library’s institutional repository (IR), we demonstrate value approach can bring improving products, especially when is appropriately positioned advocate for user needs. We also interrogate overlap responsibilities between liaison librarian argue rebranding librarianship effort make emotional relationship more masculinized. emphasizing traditionally masculine work such technology innovation, allows libraries market these specialized roles ways are prestigious aligned corporate culture, while downplaying feminized work, service.