Section 4.0 Work Go to the Libraries FAQ Homepage Go to the Libraries FAQ Index |
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4.1 What distinguishes the work of shelvers, library assistants, library technicians and librarians? |
The U.S Bureau
of Labor Statistics, http://stats.bls.gov/ , maintains a
database of job descriptions and career outlooks. This is a
helpful place to start when researching career options:
Also, the Library Support Staff Resource Center provides descriptions of the various roles played by library personnel, plus links to more information on work roles: http://www.lib.rochester.edu/ssp/overview/overview.htm The following is from the Libraries FAQ 1.2 by Steve Bergson: In 1927, "The Report of the Bureau of Public Personnel Administration submitted to the Committee on the Classification of Library Personnel of the American Library Association proposed 'a separation of clerical from non-clerical duties.'" [Baker, P. (1986) _What About the Workers?: Study of Non-professional Staff in Library Work_. London: Association of Library Assistants, pg.2]. Shelvers are the minimum wage teenagers (usually) who shelve the materials after they have been returned. Library assistants or technicians might do any of the following: shelving (in the absence of shelvers), circulation duties (check in, check out, supervision), derived cataloguing, programming, ordering, answering ready reference questions or materials processing. Librarians might do any of the following professional tasks: book selection, original cataloguing, making library policy, evaluating performance of others, answering more complex reference questions, ordealing with the complaints and concerns of patrons. Librarians may do nonprofessional tasks in the absence of technicians and shelvers. Library technicians and assistants may do professional tasks in the absence of professional staff.
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4.2 Where can I find examples of library policies regarding Internet use, collection development, copyright, etc.? |
Sample Library Policies for the Small Public Library, Wisconsin Association of Public Librarians, http://www.owls.lib.wi.us/info/3ps/policies/sample_policies.htm . Copyright Resources Online, http://www.library.yale.edu/~okerson/copyproj.html , provides an excellent annotated list of online academic and nonacademic copyright policies. Law Library Collection Development Policies: Policy Documents and Resources, University of Colorado Law Library, represents a collective effort by law librarians in many countries to create a virtual collection of collection development policy documents for law libraries, and a bibliography of models, standards, and guides for creating law library collection development policies. http://www.colorado.edu/Law/lawlib/ts/aall/policies.htm. WWW Policies and Guidelines, compiled by Stacie Kimmel, Lehigh University, contains links to policies, guidelines, or suggestions for designing official university WWW pages, http://www.lehigh.edu/~sek2/wwwpols.html . Technology and WWW Policies, Colorado College Tutt Library, provides even more links to Web, computer and electronic resource use policies, http://www.cc.colorado.edu/Library/Current/wwwpol.html . Integrated Library System Reports, http://www.ilsr.com/tech.htm , has links to sample Technology Plans for review when preparing for a library automation project.
From the Libraries FAQ v 1.2 by Steve Bergson: Who decides the attitudes, policies and actions of libraries?It depends on who you ask. Librarians will proudly tell you that, being professionals, they make independent judgments based on sound, ethical principles. They will flaunt the infamous Library Bill of Rights (adopted 1948; revised 1961, 1967 and 1980) to prove it. The sad truth is that librarians have often been caught between their professional principles and nonprofessional antagonists. One type of antagonist is the library board member/politician seeking to gain easy publicity or to win votes at the expense of the library, its staff or its patrons. The other type of antagonist is the narrow-minded patron who insists that his/her opinion (on policy, book selection, hiring, etc.) is decisive because it is his/her library (this particularly is a problem in tax-supported and public libraries). See, Family Friendly Libraries, http://www.fflibraries.org/ and the article:
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4.3 What can I do about mouse ball theft? |
Threads on mouse
ball theft have appeared on a number of library discussion
groups. Replacement balls can be purchased from:
Different vendors may have different sizes, so check to make sure that you get the right ones. Prices seem to run $3-5 for replacement balls. Possible solutions (from a thread on web4lib):
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4.4 Which books are most often challenged in public libraries? |
According to the
ALA, http://www.ala.org/bbooks/ , the
top 10 most challenged books in 2000 were:
For an historical look at book banning, see University of Pennsylvania's Banned Books On-line: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.html See also: The American Civil Liberties Union http://www.aclu.org/issues/freespeech/bbwind.html Yahoo - Banned Books http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/Banned_Books/
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4.5 Where do librarians stand on the use of software filters to screen content on library Internet stations? |
Content filtering software - AKA cyberfilters, AKA censorware -
attempt to "clean up" the Internet for use in public libraries.
The concern generally centers over objectionable or adult
material that children may be exposed to. Foul language, sexually
explicit graphics, and pages with violent or anarchical subject
matter are usually targeted. Software filters use some
combination of three strategies for limiting access to web sites:
The major players in the filter business are:
For a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the various filters, see Karen G. Schneider's The Internet Filter Assessment Project, http://www.bluehighways.com/tifap/ . "The Internet Filter Assessment Project began in April, 1997 as a volunteer project led by librarian Karen G. Schneider to assess Internet filters used to block sites and/or keywords. This project arose from a growing concern by many librarians over the use of Internet filters in library systems. Over 30 librarians and information specialists have volunteered in the assessment phase." The goal of the Censorware Project, http://censorware.net/ "is to bring to light information about censorware products which is, by its nature, hidden." The Censorship Project is " committed to exposing the flaws of this misunderstood software and working to encourage alternatives to censorship." Seth Finkelstein's Anticensorware Investigations, http://anticensorware.com/ , discusses the flaws and dangers in content blocking software and rating/labeling schemes. Enough is Enough, http://www.enough.org/ is a pro-filter group that is working "to protect children and families from the dangers of illegal Pornography and On-Line Predators" and has developed a Library Action Manual, http://www.enough.org/safeguards_lib.htm. FilteringInfo, http://filteringinfo.org/ , is sponsored by N2H2, a filtering software company.
The ALA has come out against the use of filtering software in libraries: Resolution on the Use of Filtering Software in Libraries http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/filt_res.html
The ALA has published the informative Librarians Guide to Cyberspace for Parents & Kids, http://www.ala.org/pio/cyber/cando.html . The guide is aimed at helping librarians work with parents and their children in safely exploring the vast resources on the Net.
Dr. Laura vs the ALA
For more information on filters and the issues involved, I suggest the following online articles (NOTE: some of these articles are a bit out of date. I'm looking for more recent online articles; feel free to forward to me the URLs of any articles you have come across.): Dangerous Access by David Burt (formerly of filteringfacts.org, now of N2H2, http://www.n2h2.com/), http://www.frc.org/get/bl063.cfm Blacklisting Bytes by Seth Finkelstein and Lee Tien http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Censorware/20010306_eff_nrc_paper1.html Understand Software that Blocks Internet Sites Looking at Filters, PC magazine Internet World, September, 1996 Internet Freedoms and Filters: Roles and Responsibilities
of the Public Librarian on the World Wide Web Filtering the First Amendment for Public Libraries: A Look
at the Legal Landscape Filtering the Internet in American Public Libraries:
Sliding Down the Slippery Slope |
4.6 Where can I get information on careers in LIS? |
Library Link Careers, http://www.liblink.co.uk/management/careers.html, is a source for articles and essays on the profession of Librarianship, links to job postings, and an interesting monthly feature concerning the career of the Librarian world-wide. LIScareer.com, http://www.liscareer.com/, offers career development resources for new librarians and information professionals, students & those considering a library-related careers. LIScareer.com was developed as a companion website to the book "Jump Start Your Career in Library & Information Science" by Priscilla Shontz. Ann E. Robinson's Library Job Hunting page has a extensive list of online job hunting sites, journals and career information: http://tigger.cc.uic.edu/~aerobin/libjob.html Jobs for Information Professionals, by Joe Ryan, http://web.syr.edu/~jryan/infopro/jobs.html , has some interesting "Background and General Interest" links, plus links to job prep help, job postings, etc. Also, the IFLA job listerv, LIBJOBS, http://www.ifla.org/II/lists/libjobs.htm , is a good sources of job leads. To subscribe send the message "subscribe LIBJOBS your name" to listserv@infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca . Demand for Librarians Hits an All-Time High, http://public.wsj.com/careers/resources/documents/19990928-francois.htm . Valerie Gray Francois writes "Knowledge managers, information specialists, chief answerists, knowledge navigators. They're more commonly known as librarians. As corporations rely on information to keep ahead of the competition, demand for these professionals is escalating." Article includes a nice list of links for job searchers and a salery table for Special Librarians, http://public.wsj.com/careers/resources/documents/19990928-librarians-tab.htm . But, Human Resources Development Canada, http://www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/JobFutures/english/volume1/511/511.htm , predicts that for Librarians, Archivists, Conservators and Curators "labour market conditions for new entrants will remain poor through 2001." And according to KiwiCareers, which provides New Zealand job, industry and training information, http://www.kiwicareers.govt.nz/jobs/11b_lib/j21720e.htm , employment opportunities for librarians are static in New Zealand. Mary Whisner shares some observations and good advice in Choosing Law Librarianship: Thoughts for People Contemplating a Career Move, http://www.llrx.com/features/librarian.htm .
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4.7 What areinformation brokers? |
As Marilyn M. Levine puts it in
"A Brief History of Information Brokering" , http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-95/levine.html
, information brokering is "the business of buying and selling
information as a commodity". Information brokers are independent
information professionals who may provide such services as online
and manual research, document delivery, database design, library
support, consulting, writing and publishing. See: Association
of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) http://www.aiip.org/
There are several good articles on information brokering in the February/March 1995 issue of the ASIS Bulletin : http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-95/index.html If you think information brokering is for you, be sure to
read: See also, the Yahoo category on Information Brokers:
http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/
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According to What Can You Do with an MLIS?, Victoria University of Wellington, http://www.vuw.ac.nz/mlis/ , "[t]he MLIS is a professional qualification that leads into many different career paths." Librarians are experts in the retrieval, analysis, and re-packaging of information. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the skills acquired and developed by librarians are prized by the "outside" world. At the ALA's CyberLib page, http://www.ala.org/editions/cyberlib.net/5bbest01.html , Barbara Best-Nichols lists many of the career possibilities:
Non-Traditional Careers: a bibliography, http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hauseret/nontrad.html , includes resources from 1980-1997 giving a broad look at industries and occupations requiring the skills practiced in libraries. Susan Weaver writes in Nontraditional Jobs for Special Librarians, http://www.libsci.sc.edu/bob/class/clis724/SpecialLibrariesHandbook/non-traditional.htm , that "[n]on-traditional jobs for special librarians require a fearless, non-superstitious, and forward thinking mind-set coupled with an acute ability to self-promote." Weaver provides an extensive bibliography for further reading and research.
See, also, these publications (thanks to Alistair Kwun, as posted to the web4lib listserv, http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Web4Lib/): What else you can do with a library degree : career options for the 90s and beyond. edited by Betty-Carol Sellen. New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, c1997. Opportunities in library and information science careers. McCook, Kathleen de la Pena. Lincolnwood, Ill. : VGM Career Horizons, c1997. Expanding technologies--expanding careers : librarianship in transition. edited by Ellis Mount. Washington, DC : Special Libraries Association, c1997. Careers for bookworms & other literary types. Eberts, Marjorie. 2nd ed. Lincolnwood, Ill. : VGM Career Horizons, c1995.
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4.9 Where can I find information on the outsourcing of library services? |
outsourcing, noun, the procuring of services from
an outside provider in order to cut costs.
Example: On March 31, 1995, the Chicago office of the law firm Baker & McKenzie fired its 10-person law library staff. While it had become common for law firms and other businesses to contract out specific library duties (cataloging, loose-leaf filing, etc.), at Baker & McKenzie all library services were outsourced. On March 17, 1997, Baker & McKenzie hired law librarian Barbara A. Schmid, as manager of library services. Baker & McKenzie insisted the hiring was not a retreat on library outsourcing. For information on library oursourcing, see these bibliographies:
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4.10 What should librarians know about copyright law? |
A very brief outline of US copyright law: U.S. copyright law, http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ , provides the copyright owner exclusive rights of:
Non-holders of the copyright may make fair use of a copyrighted work for "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching....scholarship or research." Fair use is determined by four factors:
When Works Pass into the Public Domain, http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm , Laura Gasaway provides a simple table that can help you determine if a copyrighted work is no longer covered by copyright restrictions.. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office, http://cipo.gc.ca/ , contains a Copyright FAQ, Guide to Copyrights, Glossary of Intellectual Property Terms, etc. In French and English. Copyright, the Internet and Libraries/A Primer for Library Science Students, written by students at the University of Arizona, http://www.sir.arizona.edu/sp97/560/web/Copyright/index.html |
4.11 Will that be a double-mocha-decaf-cappucino with your Grisham? |
At Entrepreneurial libraries: Bright Ideas for Todays Libraries, http://www.multnomah.lib.or.us/lib/entre/index.html, Leo MacLeod, the Entrepreneurial Activities Coordinator at Multnomah County Library, shares a variety of enterprises that libraries can sell to serve patrons better and to generate additional revenue, i.e. espresso bars, video sales, used book store, space rental, etc.
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4.12 Where can I find information on setting up a small school or church library? |
LION, is an online resource focusing on the needs of K-12 school librarians, http://www.libertynet.org/lion/lion.html . LION has lesson plans, cataloging resources, discussion groups, and many more resources for the school librarian. Starting a Church Library, by Ron Maness, features tips on planning and organization, http://www.bible.org/docs/pastor/library/maness/library.htm Also, be sure to look at Section 5.8 How do I set up a cataloging system for a small or private library.
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4.13 Where can my library get information on applying for grants? |
The Grants Information Center at the University of Wisconsin -Madison, http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Memorial/grantshp.htm , is an important source of information on private and corporate foundations and federal funding agencies. The Center has helpful advice on resources, seminars, proposal writing, etc. More specific to libraries is the Integrated Library System Reports, http://www.ilsr.com/sample.htm , list of web sites with sample Request for Proposals (RFPs) and Request for Information (RFIs) for library automation projects.
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4.14 Where can I find library-related promotional materials? |
Stephanie Stokes, of Library Media & PR, has some free banners to help promote your library. Also, check out her links to free clipart, fonts and web page design information: http://www.ssdesign.com/librarypr/ If you're looking for promotional materials with a little more edge, visit the Laughing Librarian's Print Shop, http://www.internettrash.com/users/lafnlibn/printshp.htm .
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4.15 Where can I find examples of library newsletters? |
If you are trying to design your own library newsletter, John Creech, of the Central Washington University Library, has a helpful set of links to online newsletters, http://www.lib.cwu.edu/~creechj/newsletters.html .
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4.16 Where can I find advice on salary negotiation? |
See UIUC's Dean Leigh Estabrook workshop on salary negotiation (in RealAudio format), http://www.lisjobs.com/advice.htm (scroll down to "salaries"). This SLA page has many links to other helpful job, interviewing and salary web sites.
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4.17 How can I safely remove smoke, and other odors, from books? |
There was a thread on Law-lib on removing odors from books. Some of the suggestions involved putting the book in a ziploc bag and sprinkling the pages with:
Also, check the following for advice:
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See previous section 3.0 Training & Education
Go to section 5.0 Classification
Anthony Wilson
paw@ibiblio.org