SHE BLINDED ME WITH LIBRARY SCIENCE! Fun Facts About a Future in Library & Information Studies

So, You Want to be a Librarian? Do you like working with books, even old ones? Do like research and looking for information that others can’t find? Do you enjoy people, technology, and information? Did you love Rupert Giles on Buffy? If you’ve answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, you may want to consider a career in Library and Information Science!

Questions to Ask: What do librarians do? What are the different types of libraries and professional jobs in libraries? What is the story behind the profession? What are librarians all about and what hot issues do they discuss in their professional lives? How do I become a librarian? What are some important things to know once I'm in a masters program in library science?

Reality vs. Perception While the popular perception of a librarian is of an older woman, hair in a bun, busily checking out books and shushing people all day, librarians’ actual duties, focus, and abilities are much more varied. While some still do enter the profession given their love of books, none of us gets to sit and read all day.

Librarians Aren’t Just About Books… Librarians’ workloads can range from creating original cataloging records for items in library collections and developing entire systems to organize data to using their awesome librarian ninja skills to answer complex reference questions. Many librarians also pursue newer career paths enabled by technology, which can range from having responsibility for implementing Web 2.0 technologies to managing an institutional repository.

What Does This All Mean? Being an Librarian is truly a Renaissance profession: any experience and knowledge comes in handy, making the field a great career path for many. Before deciding this is the right profession for you, talk to working librarians in different types of libraries to find out why they entered the profession, whether their initial perceptions match the reality of library work, and what they do—and enjoy doing—in their jobs. Our impulse to share information extends to sharing information on the profession itself.

IT & The Modern Day Librarian: A Love Story Librarians are no longer referred to as Librarians: they prefer to be called Information Professionals. This is because in the last decade, there have been many changes in the field of Library and Information Science. Today, Information Professionals have found that there are a wide variety of options available to them. Beyond traditional options in public, academic, corporate, and school libraries, just about any organization in the information age needs people to shape, retrieve, and manage its information; if you think broadly about your prospects, you are able to maximize your opportunities.

IT & The Modern Day Librarian: A Love Story If you choose to concentrate on newer information-related areas like human-computer interaction, informatics, or social computing, or if you see yourself using your information skills in a nontraditional career path, you might instead choose one of these areas of focus: Information Analyst Competitive Intelligence Information Technician Information Support Specialist And Many More!

Before You Take That Big Leap: Ask Questions and Know Your Options! Librarians, though, tend to be passionate about their career choice—this is not usually a profession people enter for the money but rather because they feel a calling to connect people with information, they find it a dynamic and fascinating field, they have a burning need to find information about anything and everything, or they are excited about technology’s potential to transform the way we interact with information.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW

Your Future Realize the importance of getting past public perception: today, Information Professionals need to be both comfortable and conversant with technology, which permeates nearly every aspect of the profession. Good IPs also need to possess people skills and a commitment to lifelong learning, as the profession and the expertise necessary for success are constantly changing. This is a connected profession where cooperation and collaboration are paramount; become a part of that web of connections as early as possible. Realize that every connection you make factors in to your future job-hunting and professional efforts; your network is key to your success.

Any Questions?