LIBRARY AND INFORMATION WORK

 

Librarian? Information manager? Information scientist? Information officer?

Job titles in the information field can be confusing and not always very informative!

PROFILE: Librarian

INVOLVES: Matching people to their information requirements. Obtaining, organising & disseminating library resource material. Promoting services to interested groups/meetings.
EMPLOYERS: Public libraries (run by local authorities) – these employ around a third of all librarians. National libraries such as the British Library. Schools, colleges & universities. Independent libraries, such as the London Library and those of learned societies. Specialist libraries such as the Women’s Library or the Poetry Library; cathedrals; museums; etc.
RELATED JOBS: Archivist, information scientist, museum officer
SATISFACTIONS: Satisfying people's requests. Feeling that you have spread enthusiasm for books/reading/stories (in public/children's librarianship).
NEGATIVES: Too many meetings. Lack of resources. Demands from users can be unreasonable.
SKILLS REQUIRED: Spoken communication, organising, listening, co-operating, IT skills.
ADVANCEMENT: With a relevant postgraduate qualification, graduate has post with area of responsibility e.g. children's, reference. Career development can involve moving up to take responsibility for larger areas or group manager & eventually to management at HQ/county level.
DEGREE: Any degree subject acceptable: some specialised employers (e.g. law libraries, museums) may prefer a related subject.
POSTGRADUATE COURSES: Masters in Librarianship/Information necessary. Up to 1 year of practical library/information-related experience is normally required for entry to postgraduate courses. See http://www.cilip.org.uk/qualifications/where.html for details of courses. Some funding is available through the AHRC Postgraduate Professional and Vocational Awards Scheme – see   http://bit.ly/deT4BU for further information.
VACANCY SOURCES: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) www.cilip.org.uk/jobscareers ; www.jobs.ac.uk; www.jobsgopublic.com; local authority websites
TIPS: Get vacation or voluntary work experience (e.g. in hospital libraries). It’s not enough just to like books! You must also like people and have the right organisational skills. Any customer service experience, such as retail, is therefore valuable. 

 

PROFILE: Information Scientist

ALSO KNOWN AS: information specialist, specialist librarian, information manager, knowledge manager. They do not have to be, or to work with, “scientists” in the traditional sense.
THE ROLE: Monitors and stores information from a range of electronic and paper resources and uses this information to answer queries from users and to keep them up to date with current issues and developments in their specialist field. Conducts information audits. Scans and abstracts material. Writes and edits abstracts, briefings and reports. Database management.
EMPLOYERS: pharmaceutical, defence and other research-intensive companies, Government departments, NHS, patent attorneys, specialist publishers (such as scientific, technical and medical), universities, law firms.
SKILLS: investigating, computing, written communication, verbal communication, teamworking.
POSTGRADUATE COURSES: As for Librarian
VACANCY SOURCES: As for Librarian plus New Scientist www.newscientistjobs.com
“Certainly some information scientists have a special interest in the science of information - how it is accessed, how organised, statistical characteristics, etc - but I suspect the majority are simply information-seeking professionals using their own expertise to assist information-needing professionals who are using their own expertise to design nuclear power stations, find cures for disease, etc. The information specialist frees up these professionals to concentrate on their primary task by carrying out the essential task of seeking information.   But this is what librarians do, and always have done anyway.”
(Adapted from www.freepint.com/go/b22740)

 

Interview with a Scientific Information Officer http://bit.ly/abtraF

PROFILE: Information Officer

Manages the acquiring, supply and dissemination of information in an organisation. This may include paper-based materials, but also database and web-based material. Catalogues and stores information. Responds to enquiries. Writes reports. Publicises the service to potential users.
EMPLOYERS: businesses, schools, colleges and universities, public sector organisations etc.
SATISFACTIONS researching information; helping people; mainly regular working hours.
NEGATIVES: pay not high, office bound.
SKILLS: investigating, organising, communicating, computing skills, problem solving.
DEGREE: Any degree subject possible. Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in librarianship or information science will help.

Links:missing file

ARCHIVES AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT

PROFILE: Archivist

Manages and preserves historical materials of all kinds, from medieval parchments to films and business documents. Catalogues and stores information. Assists users in finding and using material. Carries out research. Organises exhibitions and events. Conservation work.
EMPLOYERS: National and local records offices, universities, specialist organisations (such as Canterbury Cathedral) and businesses.
RELATED JOBS: Records manager, librarian, conservator, museum officer
SATISFACTIONS researching information, working with unique materials.
NEGATIVES: pay not high; can require hard physical work. Work with materials that are often fragile, delicate and irreplaceable can be stressful.
SKILLS: investigating, problem-solving, communicating, IT skills.
DEGREE: Relevant degree, such as history, classics, business or film studies (depending on area of specialisation)
POSTGRADUATE COURSES: Masters/Diploma courses available in London (UCL), Liverpool, Aberystwyth, Glasgow and Dublin, with distance learning courses also available. Up to one year of relevant experience is normally required for entry to postgraduate courses.

LINKS

 

Susie ‐ Archivist (History, 2007) Graduate Career Story from HECSU


How did you become an archivist?

‘I spent quite a lot of time in archives doing research for my undergraduate degree, which is how I came to decide that I wanted to pursue a career in that kind of area. The information I needed for my undergraduate dissertation wasn’t available to the public anymore so I had to get in touch with the former Curator in order to access the archive and it was through her that I secured my first graduate job with a private research organisation (she introduced me to the director of the company). I then became a volunteer researcher at a local museum, working with a team of graduates to compile biographies of philanthropists who had given money to the museum in the past. By that point I had decided that I wanted to gain some experience of working in an archive so I also volunteered for the York City Archives. The post at the city archives then turned into a casual paid position as an archives assistant and I got a part‐time job as an archive and library visitor services assistant at another museum. To begin with I worked in a customer‐facing role, but I was soon given an extra day a week to work behind the scenes cataloguing collections. By this point I’d gained plenty of experience, but I really needed a professional qualification to show I was committed to working in the field so I applied to study for an MA in Archives and Record Management. After I completed my MA my old manager offered me some temporary work as a cataloguer which then led to a 6 month contract as an Archivist. That contract was extended after the museum won a bid for another project, but that project is now nearing completion so I’m currently looking for a more permanent role. At the moment I’m considering moving to London because I think there are more opportunities there and I’d like to work in a media archive for a newspaper or an organisation like the BBC because their collections are slightly less technical.’

How have you drawn on the experience you gained at university in your subsequent work?

I have definitely drawn on the experience I gained studying for my MA. The course was quite intensive but really hands‐on, and it taught us a lot about the practical reality of working in an archive. We learnt how to manage budgets and plan projects, and were also given the opportunity to undertake two work‐experience placements. It was also really useful to meet other students on the course as we were all expected to have a year of practical experience before we joined so we were able to learn from each other as well as from our tutors. My first degree has been useful in that it taught me how to manage my workload and how to analyse and present information. The historical knowledge I gained from my first degree has been useful in providing context for my day‐to‐day work but I don’t think it is essential for my job, and in fact a history degree was not essential when I applied for a place on the postgraduate course.’

What prompted you to undertake further study?

Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

From The chorus of the Rock by T. S. Eliot,

‘I felt that having a more practical and role‐specific qualification would improve my job prospects. I was interested in archive work and an MA in Archives and Record Management was essential if I wanted to become a professional archivist. I wanted to pursue a career that was related to my first degree, but found that a history degree on its own was not enough.’

Do you have any careers advice for the students who graduated this year?

‘I would advise students to do as much volunteering as possible. It is best to do this whilst you are still at university. Unfortunately I left it until I had finished, which led to a relatively long period of unemployment as I had to work for free in order to gain some experience. Volunteering is great because it provides you with experience and some very useful contacts.’
Graduate Career Story from HECSU

RECORDS MANAGEMENT

What is Records Management?

“The process by which an organisation manages all the elements of records whether externally or internally generated and in any format or media type, from their inception/receipt, all the way through to their disposal.” (Records Management Society)

What do Records Managers do?

“Records managers support and drive their organisations in the appropriate management of the records they create and use in the course of their business. This involves advising the organisation on how to manage their records throughout the records’ lifecycle, from creation or receipt, through active use and the maintenance and storage phases, to the records’ eventual destruction or archiving.” (Archives and Records Association)

LINKS

 

“Information networks straddle the world. Nothing remains concealed.
But the sheer volume of information dissolves the information. We are unable to take it all in”
Gunther Grass

You can find a wide range of Occupational Profiles for careers in this sector at www.prospects.ac.uk/links/InfoServices

These include:

 

 Last fully updated 2012