Although some people are still clinging to stereotypical notions of librarians, technology and the information revolution have radically changed the field, and becoming a librarian today is an exciting and fulfilling career decision.
Librarians still work with and collect books, but their collections are increasingly shifting to digital with everything from ebooks to streaming films.
Additionally, their role of instruction relating to information literacy goes far beyond what are thought of as the “traditional” library domain and into our increasingly complex digital environments.
This website is designed to give you everything you’ll need to get off and running, whether librarian is your first or fifth career.
We have a series of career-focused articles based on the most important aspects of securing a librarian job, including educational and other requirements, typical job duties, and other key information and tips:
Articles about Library Careers
- Librarian Job Description
- Librarian Qualifications and Education
- Library Scholarships
- Library Assistant Job Description
- What Exactly is Library and Information Science, Anyway?
- Librarian Salaries
- Duties of a Reference Librarian
A Career with Great Societal Impact
Librarians play a crucial role in a democratic society by providing equal, uncensored access to information spanning a wide range of viewpoints. They also work tirelessly to ensure patron confidentiality in an era where other institutions are engaging in mass data harvesting for financial gain.
With more and more content moving from print to electronic form, librarians must negotiate with increasingly powerful information vendors to work out deals so that the public maintains access to information. In many cases, libraries do not actually own their electronic content, but rather lease it. The implications of this arrangement are often troubling, with regards to cost, archiving, and even the power of selection.
In addition, eBook readers such as the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook are the latest craze and will only continue to gain in popularity. Finding a model in which libraries can provide these devices to patrons are still in the early stages, with many libraries participating in pilot tests.
These are just a couple of examples to demonstrate the importance of librarians in today’s digital age. Many crucial decisions need to be made in the coming years, and if you want to be part of a field on the cutting-edge of technology, focused on what’s good for society, then a librarian career is an excellent move.
Library and Information Science Blog
In addition to our collection of career-focused articles, we have an LIS Blog, with thoughts and opinions as well as real research, essays and criticism of library and information science scholarship.
This is a great way to explore examples of the type of work involved in obtaining a degree in library and information science, as well as the types of research in which librarians engage.
If you have any questions or suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment.