Librarians and Media Collections Specialists

What librarians and media collections specialists do

Administer and maintain libraries or collections of information, for public or private access through reference or borrowing. Work in a variety of settings, such as educational institutions, museums, and corporations, and with various types of informational materials, such as books, periodicals, recordings, films, and databases. Tasks may include acquiring, cataloging, and circulating library materials, and user services such as locating and organizing information, providing instruction on how to access information, and setting up and operating a library's media equipment.

Typical tasks

1. 1Search standard reference materials, including online sources and the Internet, to answer patrons' reference questions.
2. 2Analyze patrons' requests to determine needed information and assist in furnishing or locating that information.
3. 3Supervise daily library operations, budgeting, planning, and personnel activities, such as hiring, training, scheduling, and performance evaluations.
4. 4Plan and teach classes on topics such as information literacy, library instruction, and technology use.
5. 5Code, classify, and catalog books, publications, films, audio-visual aids, and other library materials, based on subject matter or standard library classification systems.
6. 6Confer with colleagues, faculty, and community members and organizations to conduct informational programs, make collection decisions, and determine library services to offer.
7. 7Review and evaluate materials, using book reviews, catalogs, faculty recommendations, and current holdings to select and order print, audio-visual, and electronic resources.
8. 8Evaluate vendor products and performance, negotiate contracts, and place orders.
9. 9Direct and train library staff in duties, such as receiving, shelving, researching, cataloging, and equipment use.
10. 10Arrange for interlibrary loans of materials not available in a particular library.

Technology used

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office software
• Springshare LibGuides
• Adobe Acrobat
• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Creative Cloud software
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Photoshop
• Autodesk AutoCAD
• Cascading style sheets CSS
• Extensible markup language XML

How to become one

Experience

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Training

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.