Top Ten Things a New Sci/Tech Librarian Should Know

Anonymous Patron sends this “summary of a presentation at ALA Annual 2003 about what employers look for in new Sci/Tech librarians. There are lots of helpful hints which appeared in this conference report from the Winter 04 edition of “Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship.”

May 8, 2004 by Uncategorized 2

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2 Responses

  1. GregS* says:
    May 8, 2004 at 9:08 pm

    *Core* Competencies
    If you take into consideration the following statement from the report:

    “She does not require a science degree. Given the large number of disciplines her library serves, she does not believe that a specific science degree is that helpful. Even with a degree in a specific field, a librarian will have to answer questions, do collection development, etc., outside his or her area of expertise. Unless those with specific scientific degrees keep current, their knowledge will be out of date anyway. Therefore she is willing to hire “English majors” who are not afraid of science, and can and will develop subject expertise”

    Then the whole discussion seems a little silly. All librarians are the same, only their environments are different. This why we go to library school to learn how to study a collection and use or adapt to new resources. If they have to have a discussion group on it then what was the point of all that money they spent on college?

    Reply
  2. mdoneil says:
    May 9, 2004 at 12:36 am

    Re:*Core* Competencies
    I am a librarian with undergraduate science degrees. I could not be a good librarian without my MLIS (although I think an undergrad degree in library and info studies would work too) but I could certainly be a good librarian without degrees in hard sciences. However I’m not going to give back my science degrees. Use ’em if ya got ’em.

    The lists are kind of scary. Learn to use google, you’ll get a lot of colds, learn web publishing skills.
    What kind of advice is that for a librarian. What is there to ‘learn’ about google. It seems fairly intuitive to me.
    Wouldn’t the kid at McDonalds get as may colds working with the public?
    If I wanted to do web dev I could certainly do it full time for more money. It is too bad the librarian has turned into the whore of academia doing anything no one else will do. Hire some web developers if you want it done. I am a librarian.

    That could explain why I don’t get a lot of interviews after the first phone interview when I tell them that. Well, their loss. (guess I’m not getting hired by the one who does not like egotistical people).

    Reply

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