What librarians do all day can be quite different to what people think they would do.
Watch:
What does a librarian do - YouTube video
When these students in the YouTube video were asked what they thought librarians do the majority stated that they just shelved books and scanned books in and out. Sure, librarians do their share of these jobs but there is more. Different types of libraries require different levels of skills and knowledge but there are some basics. Customer service skills, knowledge of the catalogue that the library uses, basic understanding of how to properly shelve books and knowledge on the maintenance of the catalogue (ordering and cataloguing material) are fundamental in the successful running of a library. The three basic services that librarians are involved in include administrative services, technical services and user services. While administrative services is the ‘management and planning of the informative material available’ and the technical services make sure the catalogue is maintained and library computers are working, the user services are basically keeping the library clients happy – helping them with queries and questions about information or how to find something. Customer service is even important in a library. As part of the user services, research for library clients is vital. Patrons will often go up to staff at a library and ask about something. It is the librarians job to either know the answer or know how to find the information.
“Librarians are professional researchers. We may not know the answer, but we know how to find the answer” - Susan
Many of the librarian jobs require qualifications and experience. Universities and Tafe’s provide a limited number of courses that teach students the fundamentals of the job. For example, Swinburne University of Technology – Tafe section, offers certificate 3, 4 and diploma in library and information services. The diploma allows the graduates to work in a range of libraries like academic, school, public and specialist but it isn’t just limited to libraries as bookshops, library supply agencies and software suppliers are covered under their ‘employment outcomes’. Their diploma covers basic skills and services required in becoming a librarian. Some of the subjects covered include cataloguing, research, preservation, digital archiving, collection management and even an industry placement to work up practical experience before going into the workforce. There are general, transferable skills that anyone can have – customer service skills, technology knowledge – but training is preferred as knowledge about cataloguing, databases and collection management is something that needs to be taught. While you become a library technician when you graduate from Swinburne, other universities like RMIT offer degrees in ‘information and knowledge management’ which allows you to become an information specialist when graduation comes around. You also become eligible to become a member of ALIA – Australian Library & Information Association.
“The basic job of a librarian is to maintain all the informative sources available in the library” – Mayuri Kulkarni
In 2006 America had approximately 167,000 librarians employed in about 117,950 libraries. Like other professions, librarians can become a member of their own organisation. Australia has ALIA which stands for Australian Library and Information Association. It is the ‘professional organisation for the Australian library and information services sector’. It has its own website that covers jobs, events, news, they publish their own material (Eg. Journals, monographs and newsletters) and they also outline the courses and qualifications approved by them for library and information services. They also provide conferences for people to participate in. But not all is so optimistic about being a librarian. The American Library Association (ALA) predicts that libraries will have fewer librarians and will need to be replaced by volunteers, part time employees and support staff because they think 1 in 4 librarians are expected to retire within the next 5 to 7 years. Also, now that some library tasks are being performed by computers (Eg. Store and retrieve information) there is a greater focus on computer skills. Though computers have helped librarians in a lot of what they do, you can be sure that personal judgement and knowledge will still be important.
“Fulfilment in a library profession comes through matching people with the information they need, and when they need it. There is particular satisfaction in finding obscure information through the wise and informed use of information tools and technology.” – Get Access
Gone are the days of librarians sitting behind the desk all day ‘ssshhhhhing’ people. Now, librarians do multiple tasks every day. They can change from reference desk work, circulation desk work, cataloguing work, material maintenance work (shelving, preparing new books etc) and technological work (library website maintenance/creation, fixing computers and printers etc). In Western Australia there are just over 3,000 people in the library and information field with 80% being female. As library professionals patrons expect them to be able to help them when they come to the library. It is their job to ‘assist in the delivery of information to users’. While librarians take on more of a management and supervisory position, library technicians provide the everyday operational and technical support to their facilities with the help of library assistants who are there to ‘provide administrative and clerical support to librarians and technicians’.
Reflection:
I had trouble finding information about librarian jobs from years ago. Apart from the obvious technology changes, I couldn’t compare and contrast very much so I had to change the topic from ‘how librarian’s jobs have changed’ to ‘librarians of today – what skills are required for the job’. Most of my focus for the research was online as I thought I would get more, up-to-date material.
References:
Video
teachertubeES, What does a librarian do, 23 October 2009, viewed 20 August 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAeM2D7eEM
Website
ALIA 2010, All about ALIA, Australian Library and Information Association, viewed 20 August 2010, http://www.alia.org.au/about.us.html
BP140 – Bachelor of Business (Information and Knowledge Management) 2010, RMIT University, viewed 21 August 2010, http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=EPSBP140P04IKAUSCY;STATUS=A?QRY=bachelor%20of%20business%20(information%20and%20knowledge%20management)%20program%20structure&STYPE=ENTIRE
Diploma of Library / Information Services, Swinburne University of Technology, viewed 20 August 2010, http://courses.swinburne.edu.au/courses/Diploma-of-Library-%2F-Information-Services-BCUL50104/local
Kulkarni, Mayuri 2010, Librarian Job Description, Buzzle.com, viewed 20 August 2010, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/librarian-job-description.html
Librarian, getaccess, viewed 20 August 2010, http://getaccess.wa.gov.au/careers/profiles/data/OCC91.asp
Susan 2010, What do librarians do all day?, PBS, viewed 20 August 2010, http://www.pbs.org/parents/booklights/archives/2010/05/what-do-librarians-do-all-day-1.html
Image
Agnos, Damon 2009, The librarians will decide if you’re mature enough to view that, Seattle Weekly, 22 June, viewed 20 August 2010, http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/06/think_youre_mature_enough_to_r.php
Book
Careers in focus: library & information science 2006, Infobase Publishing, USA
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