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P O S I T I O N P R O F I L EHidden Behind the Fancy Titlesby Jessica Lynn Marx
According to the latest reports, the job outlook for special librarians is looking up. However, finding those jobs for which we are qualified is becoming more and more difficult. We must learn to speak the new language of the 21st century; no longer are advertisements declaring "Corporate Librarian Wanted" or "Work in a Special Library." Today there are ads for knowledge managers and information officers, and with these new titles come new responsibilities. While we might perform traditional library tasks such as shelving and cataloging, we will also create web pages and databases, train coworkers and analyze data. We will need to do much more than simply find information and pass it along. We will have to become skilled in business and finance and be able to analyze data and offer advice to our companies. Computer and communication skills, along with subject knowledge will allow us to advance. And attending team meetings and staying visible will allow others to see the value that we can add to a corporation.
If there are no longer advertisements for 'special librarians' per se,
how will we possibly know which jobs to apply for? This is where those
fancy titles come into play! Nowadays special librarians go under the
guises of 'Competitive Intelligence Officer', 'Public Information Contact',
'Database Developer', 'Web Site Developer', 'Market Researcher', 'Training
Coordinator', 'Project Manager', 'Webmaster', 'Knowledge Coordinator',
'Editor', 'Vendor', 'Technology Support', 'Publishing Consultant', 'Knowledge
Specialist', 'Chief Information Officer', 'Knowledge Manager', and,
my personal favorite, 'Search Master'. Behind many of these titles
hide the special librarians of today! If we are up against MBAs for jobs in corporate settings, how can we prove that we would be a better hire for the company? These are valid concerns, for in today's job market it is not only possible but probable that librarians will be in competition for corporate employment with people boasting more business background. But we must set ourselves apart from the opposition. While library school might not have provided us with business savvy or taught us how to add value to data, it did teach us many useful skills. We are adept at finding out just what it is that people want, thanks to our familiarity with the reference interview. We are also quite skilled at the organization of information, for what else is a library than an organized collection of knowledge? This proficiency in organizing material can be incredibly helpful when designing web sites and managing data. If a job description includes database development we can fall back on our expertise in knowing how to access information, because metadata is really just an extension of cataloging and indexing. Finally, if we have questions or problems in an information search we
have an entire library community behind us who speak our same language!
Fancy Titles for Special Librarians
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