April 2009: Sci/Tech Librarianship
There are many changes afoot in academic libraries, perhaps in particular in science, engineering, and medicine—fields that have in a short time migrated much of their data and publications online. Practicing science librarians say that despite the economic downturn there are good jobs for people who like fast paced, interdisciplinary work. In this issue, we explore what some of those jobs look like and how to prepare for them. (Please download the full PDF here.)
FEATURE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE:
p. 1 - Methods in Medicine: The Role of Medical Libraries - Today's academic science librarians can't afford to wait for students and professors to come to them; they have to sell their services and show they add value. Boston University medical librarians have done so to great effect. David Flynn LS'06 runs the education program in BU's medical library, and he and his staff teach hundreds of classes a year to faculty, staff, and students of all four schools on BU's medical campus.
p. 2 - Snapshot Profile on Howard Silver: In his literature of science and technology class, GSLIS adjunct professor Howard Silver ‘07DA helps students learn about what's in store for them in the academic science libraries of the future. Silver, the co-head of the engineering and science libraries at MIT, previously worked as a librarian at Tufts and at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. He has a master's in zoology from Queensland University in Australia, where he studied sea cucumbers before switching to library science about 25 years ago.
To read the full issue, please download the full PDF.
Links in this issue:
Up Front: Methods in Medicine - The Role of Medical Libraries
- Boston University Alumni Medical Library:
http://medlib.bu.edu/ - MIT Libraries:
http://libraries.mit.edu/ - Tisch Library at Tufts University:
http://www.library.tufts.edu/tisch/
Resources for Science, Engineering, and Medical Librarians
- American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) career page and discussion lists
- Association of Research Libraries job listings
- Association of College and Research Libraries Science & Technology Section discussion list
- Competencies for Science Librarians (2009), edited by David Stern. Professionals in the field, including GSLIS adjunct professor Michael Leach, offer insights into the skills needed to be successful in science librarianship. In the Career Resource Library.
- Confessions of a Science Librarian, a blog by John Dupuis, head of the Steacie Science & Engineering Library at York University in Toronto.
- Medical Library Association (MLA) job listings, and discussion list.
- Special Library Association (SLA) career site, and discussion lists for divisions including science, medical, engineering, and academic
- SLA Boston Chapter job postings
Events
- GSLIS Boston Area LIS Events Calendar: http://my.simmons.edu/gslis/resources/calendars/events.shtml