A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science

by Priscilla K. Shontz, Richard A. Murray

Overview

The editors of liscareer.com have assembled 95 authors, each of whom describes a typical workday or work routine, sharing joys, sorrows, and annoyances in refreshingly candid fashion. In the process, they offer those interested in finding a similar job exposure to useful skills and advice across a wide variety of traditional and nontraditional jobs. In addition to public, academic, school, and special libraries, consortia, associations, LIS programs, vendors, publishing, consulting, and other non-library fields are also covered.

Many people, not just those new to the field of Library and Information Science, are curious about their career options. The editors of LIScareer.com have assembled 95 authors, each of whom describes a typical workday or work routine, sharing joys, sorrows, and annoyances in refreshingly candid fashion. In the process, they offer those interested in finding a similar job exposure to useful skills and advice across a wide variety of traditional and nontraditional jobs. In addition to public, academic, school, and special libraries, consortia, associations, LIS programs, vendors, publishing, consulting, and other non-library fields are also covered. This is a perfect guide for library and information science students, prospective information professionals, new librarians-or anyone considering a career change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591583646
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/30/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	644,208
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Priscilla K. Shontz is a freelance writer and webmaster/editor of LIScareer.com.

Richard A. Murray is Catalog Librarian for Spanish & Portuguese Languages at Duke University.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: What Do Librarians Do All Day?
Part I: Public Libraries
Part II: Academic Libraries
Part III: School Libraries
Part IV: Special Libraries
Part V: Consortia
Part VI: LIS Faculty
Part VII: Library Vendors
Part VIII: Publishing
Part IX: Associations and Agencies
Part X: Nontraditional

Editorial Reviews

If a general overview of what one can do with a library degree is of interest, this work may prove useful.” —Library Jourbanal

“Shontz and Murray have gathered a diverse selection of career options available for those with an MLS, and each chapter is written by a person working in the position covered. Public, academic, school, and special librarianship are represented, as well as positions with consortia, library schools, vendors, publishers, associations and agencies, and other nontraditional arenas….This book would be an excellent source for library and information science students and is recommended for libraries in institutions that grant library and information science degrees.” —Reference & User Services Quarterly

“This book is extremely engaging and written in a breezy, conversational style. The contributors are very forthcoming, and will leave students and researchers looking for careers as information professionals with much food for thought. A Day in the Life is recommended for public, community college, and academic libraries.” —American Reference Books Annual

“The editors of LIScareer.com Murray (librarian, Spanish and Portuguese language, Duke U.) and Shontz, a freelance writer and former librarian provide a collection of 95 accounts of careers in library and information science by those who work in them. Public, academic, school, and special libraries, as well as those in consortia, LIS faculty, vendors, publishing, associations and agencies, and nontraditional careers (such as consultants and nonlibrary fields), contribute their experiences in a variety of careers in these fields. They each share about their typical workday or routine, advantages and disadvantages of their positions, and give advice to job seekers. They focus on the US, but some share experiences working around the world.” —Reference & Research Book News

“A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science is an omnibus anthology of ninety-five essays by diverse authors. Focusing primarily upon the many different types of library science jobs available, from working for school libraries or special libraries to library vendors, positions in publishing, and nontraditional careers such as personal librarian or independent information professional, A Day in the Life is a first-rate resource for library and information science students, prospective information professionals, new librarians, and anyone considering a career change. An index for quick reference rounds out this broad-ranged anthology steeped in the professional field experience of its many contributors.” —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

Coeditors Shontz (Jump Start Your Career in Library and Information Science; webmaster, and Murray (cataloging, Duke Univ. Lib.) asked 95 individuals working in the library and information science field to provide a brief job description, describe a typical day, list pros and cons of their job, and advise how someone might find a similar position. Because not all the contributors followed the guidelines, there is a certain unevenness. Most work in the United States and Canada in traditional areas of librarianship-public, school, academic, and special-though school librarianship only has two entries (neither are from a public school), and public libraries are represented by only 11 entries. The remaining profiles cover consortia, associations, library schools, vendors, publishing, and "nontraditional" jobs, including a "community evangelist"-someone who wants you to believe in their idea or product as much as they do. If a general overview of what one can do with a library degree is of interest, this work may prove useful.
—B. Susan Brown

Library Journal