hello shinta! u can always drop me a pm or email if u dun c me online u know?
Hmm what's it like being a librarian? Very different from what I first thot it'd be like! Many people assume that all librarians do is stamp books & read all day long but it ain't true. There are librarians who do management type stuff, heading branch libraries & departments, children's/young adult librarians, librarians who provide reader advisory services for govt departments (e.g. current awareness to make sure the staff in these depts stay updated with the latest news in their industry). There are also systems librarians who handle all aspects of IT (from troubleshooting to creating software specially for the library they're in) within the library.
I got this info from a website that I thought might interest you:
"LIBRARIANS bring order to and guide users through the vast array of information available in today's libraries. Public libraries provide services to all members of the community. School libraries serve the information and pleasure reading needs of students and faculty in elementary, middle, and high schools. Academic libraries are located in colleges and universities. Special libraries serve the demands of one specific organization such as a business or governmental agency or one field of study such as law or medicine.
Librarians perform the following tasks to ensure library patrons have the information they need:
- Organize collections of books, publications, documents, audiovisual aids, and other reference materials for convenient access.
- Research, retrieve, and disseminate information from books, periodicals, reference materials or commercial database in response to requests.
- Acquire and manage materials in various formats to add to the library collection.
- Assist patrons in selecting books and informational material.
- Demonstrate library equipment.
- Explain how to use library facilities and procedures.
- Assemble and arrange display materials.
- Review, compile, and publish a listing of library materials, including bibliographies and book reviews.
- Manage library resources stored in files, on film, or in computer databases for Research information.
- Create databases.
- Instruct staff and customers on database use in information retrieval.
The size and character of the library determine whether Librarians perform all phases of the work or engage in a specialty.
- Acquisitions Librarians (that's me!) select and purchase books, periodicals, newspapers, films, recordings, and other types of material that make up the library collection.
- Administrative Librarians supervise, direct, and coordinate library activities, programs, and services and may be known as Library Administrators, Library Directors, or Head Librarians. Their duties include hiring and training library personnel, preparing budgets, and planning public relations activities.
- Catalogers (me again!
) examine, classify, and organize materials based on subject matter or standardized library classification systems.
- Children's Librarians select materials for children, show children how to use the library, and organize and conduct story hours and film programs.
- Library Media Teachers (this was in my previous job, where I had all the time in the world to chat via MSN wif u
) work in library media centers within the public school system in the role of information specialist, teacher, instructional partner, and program administrator to develop strategies and teaching methods promoting the integration of technology into the curriculum. They teach information literacy skills to students and staff using print and nonprint resources.
- Reference Librarians direct patrons to reference sources; aid them in Researching information; explain the use of equipment such as microfilm readers, computers, and copiers; and obtain requested information from data retrieval systems.
Other library specialization includes young adult, audio-visual, bookmobile, document, medical, and legal.
WHAT SKILLS ARE IMPORTANT?
Skills, knowledge, and abilities key to success as a Librarian include the following:
:: Information Organization - Finding ways to structure or classify multiple pieces of information.
:: Information Gathering - Knowing how to find information and identifying essential information.
:: Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
:: Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
:: Category Flexibility - The ability to produce many rules so that each rule tells how to group or combine a set of things in a different way.
:: Information Ordering - The ability to correctly follow a given rule or set of rules in order to arrange things or actions in a certain order.
:: Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
WHATÂ’S THE WORK ENVIRONMENT?
Work schedules for Librarians directly serving the public may be busy, demanding, and even stressful. Answering the information needs of people and teaching them to use library resources can be taxing (oh yea! I agree!).
The job may require much standing, stooping, bending, and reaching. Acquisitions and Catalogue Librarians often work all day at desks or computer terminals.
Hope this info helps!
R u looking for a job change?
