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Research Training Institute (RTI)

Rti results, rti program information, rti applicant information, research resources & tools, research results, mla communities, the research training institute is made possible in part by a grant from the.

a research institute is recruiting a librarian

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Call for Applications to the MLA Research Training Institute (RTI)

  • Find out more about the application process and requirements.
  • See the  RTI Open Forum Recording and learn from faculty and past students on what to expect and how to apply. (Passcode: mlarti2024!)
  • Submit an online application . - Now open!

MLA Research Training Institute (RTI) is an online continuing education program for health sciences librarians and LIS graduate students that provides advanced research methods training and an intensive level of support as participants successfully design, conduct, and disseminate a research project.

The RTI Fellowship Program offers a unique and highly effective training model that includes:

Series of online modules over a one-year period that align with the various stages of the research process.

Full year of mentoring and support by faculty and peer coaches as participants complete a research project during the institute year.

Specialized MLA-approved curriculum that covers research planning and design, theoretical frameworks, method selection, data collection and analysis, digital dissemination of research, and reporting findings.

Faculty consists of 6 research/education experts assisted by 5 peer coaches who are participants from previous RTI institutes.

Membership in an online network of colleagues and other institute Fellows (RTI community of practice).

Opportunity to present a poster presentation at the MLA annual meeting.

Opportunity to earn 48 MLA continuing education (CE) contact hours.

Opportunity to earn an MLA Research Training Institute (RTI) Fellow Certificate.

Many scholarship opportunities with reduced tuition fees.

For questions regarding the RTI Fellowship Program, please contact Susan Lessick , AHIP, FMLA, RTI founding director.

Latest RTI News

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Last Chance to Apply for the 2024 Research Training Institute: Deadline is February 19, 2024

Last chance to drop in with questions for the 2024 research training institute on february 8, rti research spotlight: impacts of searching systems on the quality of systematic searching, drop in to learn how the rti fellowship can help you elevate your career in research, rti research spotlight: graduate students' perceptions of jobs in health sciences libraries.

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What does a librarian do?

Would you make a good librarian? Take our career test and find your match with over 800 careers.

What is a Librarian?

A librarian is responsible for organizing, managing, and providing access to information resources in a library setting. They are responsible for selecting and acquiring books, journals, databases, and other materials for the library's collection, as well as cataloging and classifying them for easy retrieval by library users. Librarians also assist library patrons in locating information resources and provide guidance on how to use them effectively. They may develop and deliver programs and services that meet the needs of the community, such as literacy programs, book clubs, or cultural events.

In addition to traditional print materials, modern librarians are also responsible for managing digital resources, including e-books, online databases, and multimedia content. They stay up-to-date with changes in technology and the latest trends in information science to ensure that library users have access to the most current and relevant resources. Librarians may work in a variety of settings, including academic libraries, public libraries, special libraries, and corporate libraries, and may specialize in areas such as children's literature, law, or medical research.

What does a Librarian do?

A librarian putting books back on a bookshelf.

Whether in public, academic, or specialized libraries, librarians serve as information specialists, fostering a love for learning, supporting research endeavors, and facilitating equitable access to knowledge for individuals across different age groups and backgrounds.

Duties and Responsibilities Librarians have a wide range of duties and responsibilities that can vary depending on their specific role and the type of library they work in. Here are some of the key responsibilities that librarians typically have:

  • Collection Development: Librarians are responsible for selecting, acquiring, and organizing materials for their library's collection. This can include books, journals, magazines, newspapers, digital resources, and multimedia materials.
  • Cataloging and Classification: Once materials have been acquired, librarians must catalog and classify them so that they can be easily located and accessed by patrons.
  • Reference Services: Librarians help patrons locate the information they need by answering reference questions, providing research assistance, and guiding patrons through the library's resources.
  • Instruction: Librarians may also provide instruction on how to use library resources effectively, including search strategies, database use, and citation formatting.
  • Programming: Librarians often create and implement programs that promote literacy, cultural awareness, and lifelong learning. These may include book clubs, author talks, and educational workshops.
  • Outreach: Librarians may engage in outreach activities to promote library services and resources to their communities, including working with schools, community organizations, and other groups.
  • Management: In some cases, librarians may be responsible for managing library operations, including staff supervision, budgeting, and facilities management.

Types of Librarians There are several types of librarians, each with their own specific duties and responsibilities. Here are some of the most common types of librarians:

  • Academic Librarians : Academic librarians work in colleges and universities and support the research and academic needs of students, faculty, and staff. They may provide instruction on research skills and citation formatting, manage electronic resources, and develop special collections and archives.
  • Archivists : Archivists are responsible for collecting, organizing, and preserving historical documents, records, and artifacts. They may work in archives, museums, libraries, or other institutions focused on preserving cultural heritage.
  • Cataloging Librarians : Cataloging librarians organize and classify library materials, ensuring accurate and accessible catalog records for effective resource discovery. Utilizing cataloging standards and systems, they contribute to the systematic arrangement of library collections.
  • Community Librarians : Community librarians are dedicated to fostering a strong connection between the library and its local community. This role involves designing inclusive programs, managing collections that reflect community interests, and collaborating with local organizations to ensure the library meets the diverse needs of its patrons.
  • Digital Archivists : Digital archivists manage, preserve, and provide access to digital collections within archival institutions, libraries, or cultural organizations. They specialize in digital preservation, metadata creation, and access management to ensure the long-term integrity and usability of digital materials.
  • Health Sciences Librarians : Health sciences librarians manage and disseminate health-related information within healthcare institutions, academic settings, or community organizations. They provide access to medical literature, facilitate evidence-based practice, and contribute to health literacy initiatives.
  • Law Librarians : Law librarians manage legal resources, providing research support, and ensuring access to authoritative legal information within legal institutions such as law schools, government agencies, and law firms in the United States.
  • Library Assistants : Library assistants help to facilitate the smooth operation of library services and the overall patron experience. They assist with tasks such as circulation, shelving, and customer service, ensuring that library materials are organized, accessible, and available to patrons.
  • Music Librarians : Music librarians manage and organize music collections, including scores, recordings, and reference materials. They catalogue, preserve, and retrieve music materials for use in schools, universities, orchestras, and recording studios.
  • Outreach Librarians : Outreach librarians work to connect the library with underserved or marginalized communities. They develop programs and services to reach diverse populations and address specific community needs.
  • Public Librarians : Public librarians work in public libraries and serve a diverse range of patrons, from children to adults. They are responsible for managing the library's collections, providing reference and research services, and creating programming and outreach activities to engage the community.
  • Reference Librarians : Reference librarians assist patrons with their information needs by providing expert guidance in locating and accessing resources, both print and digital. They leverage their knowledge of library collections, research methodologies, and information literacy to empower users in navigating the wealth of information available to them.
  • School Librarians : School librarians work in K-12 schools and support the academic and personal growth of students. They may collaborate with teachers to integrate library resources into lesson plans, provide instruction on research skills, and curate collections that support the school curriculum.
  • Technical Services Librarians : Technical services librarians are responsible for the acquisition, cataloging, and management of library materials, ensuring accurate and organized access to both physical and electronic resources.
  • Youth Services Librarians : Youth services librarians work in public libraries and focus on serving children and young adults. They may provide programming and outreach activities that promote literacy and engagement with the library.

Are you suited to be a librarian?

Librarians have distinct personalities . They tend to be conventional individuals, which means they’re conscientious and conservative. They are logical, efficient, orderly, and organized. Some of them are also social, meaning they’re kind, generous, cooperative, patient, caring, helpful, empathetic, tactful, and friendly.

Does this sound like you? Take our free career test to find out if librarian is one of your top career matches.

What is the workplace of a Librarian like?

The workplace of a librarian is diverse and can vary based on the type of library and the specific role within the field. Whether in public, academic, school, or special libraries, librarians contribute to the vibrant and dynamic environments that cater to the informational needs of their communities.

Public librarians often find themselves working in community libraries, serving a broad spectrum of patrons. The atmosphere is typically welcoming and community-oriented, with librarians actively engaging with individuals of all ages and backgrounds. Public librarians may host events, such as book clubs or educational workshops, and create spaces that encourage reading, learning, and community interaction. The workplace may include both public service areas, where librarians assist patrons, and behind-the-scenes spaces where they manage collections, plan programs, and conduct administrative tasks.

In academic libraries, librarians work in university or college settings, collaborating with faculty, researchers, and students. The workplace may include reference desks where librarians assist with research inquiries, instructional areas for information literacy sessions, and specialized sections for managing extensive collections. Academic librarians may also engage in collaborative research projects, contribute to curriculum development, and support the academic mission of the institution.

School librarians operate in K-12 educational settings, creating environments that promote literacy and support the curriculum. Their workplaces often include school libraries equipped with resources for students and teachers. School librarians may collaborate closely with educators, integrate technology into their services, and play a key role in fostering a love for reading and learning among students.

Special librarians work in various industries, such as corporations, law firms, or government agencies. Their workplaces may include corporate libraries, legal research centers, or information management departments. Special librarians focus on meeting the specific information needs of their organizations, providing specialized research services, and managing industry-specific collections.

The overall work environment for librarians has evolved with the integration of technology. Librarians often work with digital resources, online databases, and electronic cataloging systems. Additionally, the trend of remote work has become more prevalent, allowing librarians to engage in tasks and services virtually, especially in response to changing work dynamics and the impact of technology on library services.

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Library Related Careers and Degrees

  • Academic Librarian
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  • Digital Archivist
  • Health Sciences Librarian
  • Law Librarian
  • Library Assistant
  • Music Librarian
  • Outreach Librarian
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Recruiting and Retaining LGBTQ-Identified Staff in Academic Libraries Through Ordinary Methods

While the American academic library field works hard to include all patrons and materials that represent less dominant populations, it should be more mindful of inclusivity in its own workforce. Particularly, the field does nothing to explicitly recruit or retain LGBTQ-identified librarians. The author proposes practical remedies to these problems that directly respond to workplace studies on interpersonal difficulties LGBTQ-identified librarians and others have cited as barriers to happiness in the workplace, and argues toward more inclusive LIS education and financial support. Most importantly, the author hopes to convince others to abandon the tired rhetoric that positions the library field’s “feminization” as a misunderstanding and damaging consequence to be combated, and instead replace it with feminist conversations about the gendered aspects of the field.

Introduction

The Library and Information Science (LIS) field is its own worst enemy in terms of recruitment and retention of underrepresented employees. While the field has sufficient scholarship on diversity in collections, censorship issues, and how to provide programming for patrons from various backgrounds, LIS articles rarely discuss successfully recruiting and retaining librarians who come from less dominant cultures or are underrepresented within the field. The small amount of scholarship that does exist on this topic is excellent, though limited to visible minorities. Particularly, the field lacks recruitment and retention strategies for academic librarians and staff who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ).

I argue that the way the LIS field discusses the gendered nature of library work constitutes a microaggression in itself, and that the field does not do enough to recruit and retain academic librarians who identify as LGBTQ. My argument is built on several foundations. First, “Current Research on Recruitment and Retention” reviews the scholarship that proves that comfort and safety at work are the most important factors in retaining employees in academic libraries. For those who are not members of America’s dominant culture, the issue of comfort and safety is both more urgent and pronounced; this section expands on the literature that discusses the issue for people of color. Second, “How Microaggressions Ruin Positive Workplace Culture” explains the current scholarship on microaggressions directed toward people of color in the library workplace, and includes scholarship from other fields that discuss microaggressions toward LGBTQ-identified employees. Third, “LIS Scholarship and Anti-Feminist Rhetoric” discusses the LIS field’s characterization of the “feminization” of librarianship as a detrimental act, and how this view is a sexist, aggressive behavior in itself. Finally, “Practical Methods for Improvement” describes feasible tactics both individual libraries and the global LIS field can practice in order to be more thoughtful toward these issues. I suggest that all these changes be made every day, in the quotidian aspects of our work, in order to lead to a permanent cultural shift.

Current Research on Recruitment and Retention

Scholarship on LIS management practices demonstrates that internal workplace forces are more significant than external forces in keeping librarians happily employed in the academic library field. Though much of the opinion-based scholarship deals with budget cuts, lack of respect for the field from non-librarians, and other forces outside of a library’s control, a wealth of empirical evidence suggests that the most important factor in retaining librarians is an internal factor: a positive workplace environment. Libraries spend large sums of money on the hiring process for new librarians, as Jones argues, but they rarely spend any money or time on acclimating the new librarian into the new work environment, much less acclimating the library to the new employee. 1 Given Kawasaki’s argument that the initial period for an incoming librarian is the most significant time in the new-hire’s career in terms of deciding how they feel about their work, we should focus much more on this early period. Even if a successfully-retained librarian stays at a library they dislike, the librarian likely has formed an attitude that decreases workplace satisfaction and inhibits successful performance. 2

Some studies that focus on worker attitude exist, though the exact number of academic librarians who quit their job after being hired is unknown. In 2001 the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) formed the Ad Hoc Task Force on Recruitment and Retention Issues to address what they termed a “top issue” in the field. The Task Force surveyed librarians and asked how long one worked in the field, what type of college library they worked for, what their reason for leaving was, and so forth. But, despite the Task Force’s effort, individuals who have left the field infrequently want to participate in the research. What data the Task Force collected tellingly showed that 44.4% of librarians who left academic libraries entirely to go into other fields stated that work environment was the reason for their departure; another 27.8% cited salary, and 16.7% cited respect for the field from others. Luzius and Ard note that a poor workplace environment ultimately contributes to a lack of ability to attract new and interesting people to librarianship. 3 Albanese’s survey about workplace satisfaction never directly asked a question about “workplace environment,” instead opting to bank on external reasons; but when Albanese asked “Which attributes contribute most to success?” his survey participants responded with a resounding 68% for interpersonal skills, and only 2% for budget. 4

More specifically, scholarship on retaining librarians of underrepresented communities echoes the two sentiments that studies reveal: positive workplace culture and climate keeps happy and productive employees, and underrepresented groups face more varied issues related to workplace culture. Andrade writes that the problem typically begins after potential librarians decide to enter library school, even before they enter the job market. Few library schools have any classes related to diversity training, what it means to be culturally competent, or similar issues that may affect the workplace environments of new librarians. 5 This deficit results in a group of people on the job market who are untrained in several significant elements of workplace professionalism. To illustrate this point, surveys such as the ClimateQUAL at the University of Arizona cited by Andrade 6 and Williams II 7 indicate that low scores in “interpersonal justice and work unit conflict” prove the main reason for workplace unhappiness, and that the highest amount of unhappiness in these categories came from “individuals who did not associate themselves with the dominate culture.” 8 Similarly, Love writes that library “employees in the workforce who are not part of the dominant culture have struggled with subtle demands to ‘adapt and fit in,’” 9 rather than with appreciation of who they are. This is a huge factor in retention because an employee who feels unwelcome can create an adversarial environment with the administration, often leading to a less productive employee who wants to leave rather than to increased performance. As Love says, “Change has come at such an alarming pace to every aspect of work life except diversity” 10 ; the sentiment in this quote reflects the amount of talk in the academic library field about changes in technology, roles, and instruction, and the minimal talk about adaptation to increased diversity of staff within the academic library workplace. Love cites a 1994 study that lists internal barriers to job satisfaction in a workplace as “negative attitudes, discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping, racism, and bias,” 11 all of which fall within workplace climate descriptions similar to those used in Andrade’s study.

Alire describes how a lack of leadership possibilities also leads to low retention of ethnic and racial minority employees. The secondary benefit of having underrepresented populations in leadership positions is that not only is the individual growing their career, but they are more likely to retain the minority employees under them and aid in recruitment by taking on “the additional responsibility of identifying and developing emerging minority leaders.” 12 Similarly, Neely and Peterson write that retaining librarians of color should involve shadowing existing leaders and nomination for awards that will assist in promotion, which does not currently occur enough. 13

Damasco and Hodges echo the sentiment that workplace culture is the largest problem facing, specifically, librarians of color. They cite a study from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) that concluded that African-American academic librarians who reported being unsatisfied with their jobs mentioned “feelings of isolation, [inadequate] library diversity programs, working conditions, [lack of] support from peers” 14 and other issues of that nature. Their survey-takers complained that isolation at work led to tokenism, including frequent instances of being asked to lead diversity programing, or being given titles such as “diversity specialist,” though these types of involvement were not acceptable contributions for the tenure and promotion process. They also reported general discouragement from peers, hostility, and disparate expectations of people of different cultures in their workplace. Some scholars, such as Simmons-Welburn 15 and Majekodunmi, 16 suggest dialogue groups, staff trainings, and open forums to discuss issues such as these in the workplace.

How Microaggressions Ruin a Positive Workplace Culture

The singular study on microaggressions and workplace culture is Alabi’s 2015 survey about the occurrence of racial microaggressions in the academic library workplace and the consequences of these actions. 17 The survey was circulated via several listservs in 2011 and completed by 139 participants of various races and ethnicities. 18 The results suggest that frequent microinsults, microinvalidations, and other forms of microaggressions often left people of color in the academic library workplace feeling isolated and finding their work environment to be hostile. Even survey participants who did not identify as minorities expressed surprise at some of the comments made by co-workers. In “‘This actually happened’: An analysis of librarians’ responses to a survey about racial microaggressions,” Alabi includes comments from the survey that illustrate how some participants felt that current efforts toward retention and recruitment were insincere. Alabi writes, “Eight comments focused on issues related to recruitment and retention. One non-minority respondent said, ‘I think there needs to be a bigger push for minorities to enter library school and encourage librarianship as a career,’” and another wrote, “In my experience, attempts at ‘increasing diversity’ are still quite superficial.’” 19 More poignantly, a participant stated, “‘Racism is a major issue in libraries. We’ve closed it off as a viable career path because it relies on shared cultural values and access to cultural and material capital.’” 20 And finally, one participant commented that, “’The reason that many African American and Latino Librarians leave this profession is because of the constant lack of emotional intelligence that is needed in the work place today […]. Academic Libraries are very poor examples of pushing forth Diversity candidates for positions at the administrative level for Minorities’” 21 (capitalization in original). Though these statements are made in regard to race, they also speak to diversity in general in the academic library field, and can be used to point to some universal issues. Because no survey on LGBTQ microaggressions has been done in librarianship, this survey can apply, as can additional research from other fields. This research reveals that microaggressions are the route through which academic librarians who live outside of the dominant culture realize they are not welcome in the profession, despite the liberal mask the profession wears.

Microaggressions are a particular type of discrimination; they are different from outright violence, and they fall within subtle or accidental statements or behaviors that reveal one’s heterosexist attitudes. Nadal, Whitman, Davis, Erazo, and Davidoff write:

Microaggressions are behaviors and statements, unconscious or unintentional, that communicate hostile or derogatory messages, particularly to members of targeted social groups… Because people in contemporary times do not engage in overtly hostile or consciously biased behavior toward marginalized groups, some people believe they neither hold biases against other groups nor participate in discriminatory behavior; in fact, many individuals may report that discrimination no longer exists. 22

Or as Platt and Alexandra explained, microaggressive “discriminations stem from systemic, deeply ingrained social justice problems such as privilege, inequities in power, stereotyping, and societal biases.” 23

LGBTQ microaggressions fall within many categories, but can be characterized by common themes. Nadal, Whitman, Davis, Erazo, and Davidoff write that a microinsult is something such as, “you’re too pretty to be a lesbian.” 24 Invalidating reactions to daily experiences (such as suggesting someone is overreacting); applying dominant social norms to all relationships; erotizing people based on their identity; and making assumptions of sexual pathology also constitute forms of microaggressions toward LGBTQ-identified individuals. A difficult and ill-recognized microaggression can also be the denial or defensiveness of the aggressor.

Another difficult aspect of studying LGBTQ microaggression is the lack of scholarly sources in any field on this topic—LGBTQ-focused research has lagged behind other research. Seventy-three articles with key topics related to “race” and “microaggressions” show up in databases, but only five articles show up related to “transgender” and “microaggressions.” 25 From the few studies conducted on academic campuses, we can extrapolate some information about academic libraries. Nadal, et al., write that when college students who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer were surveyed, 96% reported experiencing interpersonal microaggressions and 98% reported experiencing environmental microaggressions, while only 37% reported blatant discrimination due to sexual orientation. 26 Relatedly, Tetreault, Fette, Medlinger, and Hope write that in a survey conducted about perceptions of the LGBTQ climate on campuses, LGBTQ-identified people viewed environments free of overt heterosexism positively because of a lack of violence and lack of attention generally to LGBTQ issues. 27 The standard for a positive environment consisted of a lack of negatives rather than of blatant cultural inclusiveness, such as expecting a campus to provide resources and actually welcome LGBTQ for who they are.

Research also suggests that microaggressions have a more dangerous impact on mental wellbeing than overt discrimination. Nadal, et al., write, “Results further indicated that microaggressions were predictors of most self-acceptance and distress, while blatant discrimination did not significantly relate to either variable.” 28 This particularly matters for the workplace because, as Buddel notes, LGBTQ-identified people come into a workplace with pre-existing stress: before even meeting new coworkers LGBTQ-identified people must deal with “identity management” and “sexuality disclosure.” An employee entering a new workplace does not know what the consequences of coming out or revealing certain preferences may be. Buddel writes that Degges-White and Shoffner’s 2002 Theory of Workplace Adjustment

describes four facts that people negotiate as they transition into the workplace: 1. Satisfaction describes the ability to engage meaningfully with coworkers; 2. Person-environment correspondence refers to the degree of congruence between the person and the work environment; 3. Reinforcement value refers to the extent that the workplace fulfills a psychological need; 4. Ability refers to the degree of skill and personal trait congruence with the workplace. 29

All of these categories, each necessary for a person to adjust to a new workplace, are at risk if (1) there are no other openly LGBTQ people; (2) there are no LGBTQ people in leadership; (3) microaggressions are present in the workplace; or (4) the workplace neither attempts to adapt to the new person, nor makes an effort to ease the new person’s adjustment.

LIS Scholarship and Anti-Feminist Rhetoric

Unlike much of the research already discussed, Nectoux’s book of personal narratives written by LGBTQ-identified librarians in 2011, titled Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians, is less empirical and more personal, and it provides a great diversity of different identities and workplace issues to consider.

One such anecdote comes from Phillips, who shares that the reason he pursued academic librarianship was because the university he attended had accepted a non-discrimination policy that included sexual orientation (but not gender identity), so he decided that he could pursue academic librarianship as a field, as it seemed universities were growing in this way. 30 But he cites having to work with only straight colleagues on LGBTQ-related scholarship and being forced to use his social media accounts in his professional life (thus automatically outing him), as ways his job lacked sexual-identity-related issues awareness. Ciszek writes from the perspective of a library administrator who remains closeted, fearing being out will hinder advancement in his field. (Phillips, 86.)) He cites that a supportive network, both in one’s individual library and nationally, is the most important element to being out at work. 31 Roberto discusses the difficulties in transitioning (female-to-male in this case) at work in a library. He describes the double life lived between different subsets of librarians, and he worried that at conferences their two separate groups would interact. He describes the awkwardness of being on the job market while transitioning, but notes that LGBTQ allies at his particular library helped him get and keep his job. 32 In these cases and others, interpersonal relationships were the crux for success in the workplace.

These anecdotes also provide evidence that many academic library environments provide neither a comfortable nor a supportive workplace for many LGBTQ-identified people. But what is of greater interest to me is that LIS scholarship that engages with notions of gender shows hostility and backward thinking by continually arguing that the field itself suffers from being associated with that which is feminine and that which is homosexual, and that this association renders the field illegitimate. This scholarship often focuses on the male librarian stereotype and the embarrassment and struggles to which male librarians are subjected for working in a “female” profession. This literature does not discuss gender equality or recruiting more diverse people into the workforce—it is heterosexist writing concerned only that people might mistake straight men for gay men (feminine ones at that), and a repeat of the antiquated idea that what is feminine is naive and shameful. This literature is written not as a critique of equating femininity and homosexuality with negativity, but rather with the expressed intention of proving that the field is not feminine, and not homosexual. Further, it is written by and for librarians, with little input from or attention to cultural forces outside of the field. As Dickinson writes, “the possibility remains that such stereotypes never really found strong footing in the public consciousness,” and that “the image of the effeminate or gay male reference librarian was more entrenched within the library profession itself than it was outside of it.” 33

The study referenced by Dickinson, James Carmichael, Jr.’s “The Male Librarian and the Feminine Image: a Survey of the Stereotype, Status and Gender Perceptions,” sought to disprove that men only wanted administrative positions and to prove that men, in fact, shared with women the “negative (feminine) stereotype of the profession while being immune from it, thus profiting from its existence in terms of preferential treatment and consideration because they were men.” 34 He also sought to prove that male librarians suffered from “low self-esteem” 35 on account of their public image. In gathering the results, he notes that “The most prevalent stereotype is ‘effeminate (probably gay)’” 36 and commenters wrote various statements about how they were presumed gay until proven straight (which is the same scenario as being assumed straight until coming out as gay, which affects gay people in every facet of life). Not surprisingly, ten percent more of the gay-identified respondents showed awareness of the feminine stereotype than did straight respondents. 37

When this study was repeated (with a smaller sample size) by Piper and Collamer (2001), they concluded, “The greatest puzzlement was that respondents acknowledged that there were more women in the field than men, but did not consider librarianship a women’s profession… male librarians are currently quite content with their role, with respect to gender issues, in the library world.” 38 Even given such clear research results, more scholarship continues to be published that frets over the supposed abuse and shame men face in librarianship. Hickey’s (2006) study focused on how male librarians fare working in a “non-traditional work environment,” or rather, in a work environment where there are more women than men. His study participants reported feelings of social isolation, 39 criticism for not understanding how to organize a teatime, 40 and anxiety in dealing with issues related to personal identity formation. A major flaw with his study is that the anecdotes relate common workplace issues (e.g., a supervisor picking favorites) more than anything directly related to gender issues. There are many other examples of questionable research and assertions. Blackburn’s 2015 “Gender Stereotypes Male Librarians Face Today” worries over how heterosexual male librarians must feel hurt and thus avoid the LIS profession because they risk being thought of as feminine or gay. Blackburn writes, “Men in nontraditional professions such as nursing and librarianship have become targets for stereotyping, creating a vicious cycle. Men assume the stereotypes are valid, they avoid taking the jobs, and the profession continues to see fewer males entering the workforce, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of low employment rates.” 41 Her logic suggests that what is distinctly feminine is by nature negative, and should be taken out of the profession so that men who are uncomfortable with that which could be viewed as feminine or homosexual will join the profession. Critical discussions of gendered aspects of the field would do better to critique the systems that associate what is feminine and homosexual with what is unlearned, illegitimate, and shameful. We should avoid becoming more “masculine” in order to solve this issue, but more aware and culturally competent, instead.

Practical Methods for Improvement

One major difference between tackling recruitment issues for librarians (and potential librarians) who identify as LGBTQ, and for librarians of color, is that there are no identity-based initiatives at either the individual library level or the national LIS field level for LGBTQ-identified people, as there are for people of color. There are programs related to librarianship, like the Martin Duberman Visiting Fellowship at New York Public Library, which funds a scholar using the LGBTQ sources in their archive, or the American Library Association’s (ALA) Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Round Table, which discusses information needs and serving patrons who identify as LGBTQ, but neither is specifically about librarians themselves. The LIS field has taken commendable steps that result in people of color feeling more welcome in library school and in entry-level positions after graduation. According to Haipeng 42 and Acree, Epps, Gilmore, and Henriques, 43 part of the commitment to recruiting new graduate librarians in underrepresented populations into an academic library can involve offering them something that makes them feel wanted for who they are. Many schools have residency programs for ethnic minority librarians, such as Cornell University, Iowa State University, University of Michigan, Ohio State University, and Yale University, among others. 44 These programs are good for recruitment because they offer librarians a chance to develop collections based on their interests, participate in workshops that may increase retention, and earn fellowships with high-quality benefits. The librarians already employed by these universities also have the opportunity to show their support for this type of recruitment and learn from these newly-recruited students. The ALA’s Spectrum Initiative, which provides financial aid to students of color for three years and includes annual reports from the student, participation in a longitudinal study, and support to attend the Spectrum Institute, is described as the largest diversity initiative in the field. 45 This type of opportunity has significant value because it not only helps fund a student’s education, but it also supports research related to the needs and satisfaction levels of the award-winners. Symbolically, it serves as an important welcome sign to people of color interested in librarianship.

Similar residencies for LGBTQ-identified librarians would be an excellent addition to the field. These residencies would give these librarians an opportunity to take leadership roles, meet other librarians like themselves, and have special professional accolades when entering the job market. Scholarships such as the Spectrum Initiative opportunities would give LGBTQ-identified people encouragement to be out and pursue the field. Such scholarships could follow the Spectrum Initiative structure to ensure ongoing retention in jobs and in the field as a whole. Importantly, unlike people with disabilities, people of racial minorities, members of religious groups, those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer –and many others identities– are not protected classes of people by the United States government, though some of these categories are protected to some level in some states, counties, or cities. 46 Trying to find employment where one feels comfortable enough to come out is a precarious position. People cannot choose to come out or stay closeted on their own terms, as with transgender people who have changed their name or sex on their birth certificate, a fact that will be involuntarily revealed if a background check is done by the employer. Further, LGBTQ-identified people often have to break from their family of origin if that family does not support them, so a program such as the Spectrum Initiative would provide much-needed financial aid and emotional support for things like education and career training, as well as a sense of security within the field.

Another tactic that could be employed at the individual library level is producing academic library job advertisements written to recruit LGBTQ-identified librarians (as Williams, II argues doing for people of color 47 ) by broadening the job descriptions to include enticements that might attract people outside the dominant culture. He writes, “the hiring opportunity should be looked upon as a means to move the library to the next level of excellence by creating a post that is broad in scope, flexible,” 48 and allows for someone from an unconventional background to feel empowered to apply. He writes that, “when creative use of the vacancy becomes the norm in academic library recruitment programs, it establishes another norm that opportunities in our library are no longer static, but dynamic.” 49 This strategy would apply to all populations outside of the dominant culture. If the workplace is truly inclusive, signals or direct statements could be placed in the job advertisement to specifically recruit underrepresented applicants and alleviate the worry that they may end up in a hostile environment.

Also on the individual library level, as Simmons-Welburn 50 and Majekodunmi 51 suggest, interpersonal issues within the workplace can be improved through understanding. They argue for communication and education. Dialogue groups and forums about issues affecting minorities can be useful at staff trainings, though existing research only extends to visible minorities. This type of initiative can also be extended to LIS graduate programs. Since nearly all programs require a core class introducing students to the field of librarianship, that class could include substantial discussions of cultural competency, workplace ethics and attitudes, and the field’s commitment to inclusive behaviors. Library scholarship and training emphasizes accepting patrons who come to the reference desk as they are, on not judging their questions, and on including a variety of interests in the collection; yet simultaneously the field fails to foster these same attitudes among colleagues who work together at least 40 hours a week.

In terms of future scholarship, more quantitative studies need to be conducted on how many people in libraries identify as LGBTQ; how many people are out in the workplace; and what types of workplace behaviors and attitudes make LGBTQ-identified librarians and staff feel as if they are not included, or make them feel fearful, or hated. Identifying what microaggressions happen in academic libraries and general academic workplaces is another area of necessary research, especially since academic communities so often see themselves on the outside of—or beyond—issues related to discrimination. Because of the accidental nature of microaggressions, they are very likely to happen in the academic workplace, as the scholarship has proved.

Finally, LIS scholarship must immediately move away from publishing about the supposed shame of working in a profession associated with the feminine and the homosexual (an association largely managed and perpetuated by librarians themselves). The topic shows antiquated, sexist, self-hating, and self-perpetuating thinking; the notion that a male librarian must be worried about being perceived as homosexual is an unacceptable, contemptuous sneer toward what it is and what it means to be homosexual. The implication is, in no uncertain terms, that being feminine (or being a woman) or being homosexual is something about which to feel bad and something from which to distance oneself. As this line of scholarship stands now, if left uncorrected, the real enemy of recruitment and retention of LGBTQ-identified librarians will be the attitudes embedded in the field itself.

In addition to the practical steps we can take to recruit LGBTQ-identified people into the LIS field, we must also retain them and keep them satisfied, or even thrilled, with the field that they have chosen. In order to accomplish this goal, we must become critics of more than our collections, archives, and budgets, but also critics of our daily behavior and contributions to scholarship. We must be mindful of the goals of feminism when we are selecting the language to use when we describe the gendered aspects of the field, and the language and behavior we use around our colleagues or would-be colleagues. We must be mindful of the disparity of opportunities and safety among different types of people when we suggest new scholarships, initiate new workshops, and assist in decisions about whom to promote. These shifts are not the type that are made by showing allegiance to a particular activist group or participating in a single training; these shifts take place every day in the mundane and quotidian aspects of our work.

I am grateful to reviewers Amy Koester and Taryn Marks, and to Publishing Editor Ian Beilin, for their time and feedback. They made huge improvements to my work, thank goodness.

Acree, Eric Kofi, Sharon K. Eppes, Yolanda Gilmore, and Charmaine Henriques. “Using Professional Development as a Retention Tool for Underrepresented Academic Librarians.” Journal of Library Administration 31, no. 1-2 (2008): 45-61.

Alabi, Jaena. “’This Actually Happened: an Analysis of Librarians’ Responses to a Survey about Racial Microaggressions.” Journal of Library Administration 55, no. 3 (2015): 179-191.

Alabi, Jaena. “Racial Microaggressions in Academic Libraries: Results of a Survey of Minority and Non-Minority Librarians.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 41, no. 1 (2015): 47-53.

Albanese, Andrew Richard. “Take this Job and Love It.” Library Journal 133, no. 2 (2008): 36-39.

Alire, Camila A. “Diversity and Leadership: The Color of Leadership.” Journal of Library Administration 32, no. 4 (2001): 99-114.

Andrade, Ricardo and Alexandra Rivera. “Developing a Diversity-Competent Workforce: the UA Libraries’ Experience.” Journal of Library Administration 51, no. 7-8 (2011): 692-727.

Blackburn, Heather. “Gender stereotypes male librarians face today” Library Worklife: HR E-News for Today’s Leaders . (2015). http://alaapa.org/newsletter/2015/09/08/genderstereotypes-male-librarians-face-today/

Blobaum, Paul. “Gay Librarians on the Tenure Track: Following the Yellow Brick Road?” in Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians , edited by Tracy Marie Nectoux, 63-67. Duluth: Library Juice Press, 2011.

Buddel, Neil. “Queering the Workplace.” Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services 23, no. 1 (2011): 131-146.

Carmichael, James V. “The Male Librarian and the Feminine Image: A Survey of Stereotype, Status, and Gender Perceptions.” Library and Information Science Research 14 (1992): 411-446.

Ciszek, Matthew. “Managing Outside the Closet: On Being an Openly Gay Library Administrator,” in Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians , ed. Tracy Marie Nectoux, 83-90. Duluth: Library Juice Press, 2011.

Carmichael, James V. “The Gay Librarian: A Comparative Analysis of Attitudes Toward Professional Gender Issues.” Journal of Homosexuality 30, no. 2 (1996): 11-57.

Creth, Sheila D. “Academic Library Leadership: Meeting the Reality of the Twenty-First Century,” in Human Resource Management in Today’s Academic Library: Meeting Challenges and Creating Opportunities , edited by Janice Simmons-Welburn and Beth McNeil, 99-116. Westport: Libraries Unlimited, 2004.

Cook, James C. “Gay and Lesbian Librarians and the ‘Need’ for GLTB Library Organizations.” Journal of Information Ethics , Fall (2005): 32-49.

Damasco, Ione T. and Dracine Hodges. “Tenure and Promotion Experiences of Academic Librarians of Color.” College and Research Libraries 73, no. 3 (2012) 279-301.

Dickinson, Thad E. “Looking at the Male Librarians Stereotype.” The Reference Librarian 37, no. 78 (2003): 97-110.

Farkas, Meredith Gorran, Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, and Amy Harris Houk. “Bridges and Barriers: Factors Influencing a Culture of Assessment in Academic Librarians.” College and Research Libraries 76, no. 2 (2015): 150-169.

Hall, Liz Walkley. “Changing the Workplace Culture at Flinders University Library: from Pragmatism to Professional Reflection.” Australian Academic and Research Libraries 46, no. 1 (2014): 29-38.

Hastings, Samantha Kelly. “If Diversity is a Natural State, Why Don’t Our Libraries Mirror the Populations They Serve?” The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 85, no. 2 (2015): 133-138.

Haipeng, Li. “Diversity in the Library: What Could Happen at the Institutional Level.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 1-2 (1999): 145-156.

Hickey, Andrew. “Cataloging Men: Charting the Male Librarian’s Experience Through the Perceptions and Position of Men in Libraries.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 32, no. 3 (2006): 286-295.

Irshad, Muhammad. “Factors Affecting Employee Retention: Evidence from Literature Review.” Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences 4, no. 1 (2011): 84-102.

Jones, Dorothy E. “’I’d Like You to Meet our New Librarian’: the Initiation and Integration of the Newly Appointed Librarian.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 14, no. 4 (1988): 221-224.

Kawasaki, Jodee L. “Retention-After Hiring Then What?” Science and Technology Libraries 27, no. 1-2 (2006): 225-240.

“Know your rights: transgender people and the law.” American Civil Liberties Union. (2016). https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/transgender-people-and-law

Love, Johnnieque B. “The Assessment of Diversity Initiatives in Academic Libraries.” Journal of Library Administration 33, no. 1-2 (2001): 73-103.

Luzius, Jeff and Allyson Ard. “Leaving the Academic Library.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 32, no. 6 (2006): 593-598.

Majekodunmi, Norda. “Diversity in Libraries: The Case for the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (VimLoC Network).” Canadian Library Association 1, no. 59 (2013): 31-32.

Martin, Judith N and Thomas K. Nakayama. “Reconsidering Intercultural Competence in the Workplace: a Dialectical Approach. Language and Intercultural Communication 15, no. 1 (2015): 13-28.

Millet, Michelle S. “Is This the Ninth Circle of Hell?” Library Journal 130, no. 5: 54.

Nadal, Kevin L., Chassitty N. Whitman, Linsey S. Davis, Tanya Erazo, and Kristen C. Davidoff. “Microaggressions Toward Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Genderqueer People: A Review of Literature.” The Journal of Sex Research 53, no. 4-5 (2016): 488-508.

Neely, Teresa Y. “Diversity Initiatives and Programs.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 8 (1999): 123-144.

Neely, Teresa Y., and Lorna Peterson. “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity Among Academic and Research Librarians: the Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement of Librarians of Color, a White Paper.” College and Research Libraries 68, no. 9 (2007): 562-565.

Phillips, Jason D. “It’s Okay to be Gay: A Librarian’s Journey to Acceptance and Activism,” in Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians , edited by Tracy Marie Nectoux, 33-47. Duluth: Library Juice Press, 2011.

Piper, Paul S and Barbara E. Collamer. “Male Librarians: Men in a Feminized Profession.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 27, no. 5 (2001): 406-411.

Platt, Lisa F. and Alexandra L. Lenzen. “Sexual Orientation Microaggressions and the Experience of Sexual Minorities.” Journal of Homosexuality 60, no. 7 (2013): 1011-1034.

Ridinger, Robert B. “Out lines: an LGBT Career in Perspective.” In Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians , edited by Tracy Marie Nectoux, 131-130. Duluth: Library Juice Press, 2011.

Robert, K. R. “Pronoun Police: A Guide to Transitioning at Your Local Library,” in Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians , edited by Tracy Marie Nectoux, 121-127. Duluth: Library Juice Press, 2011.

Simmons-Welburn, Janice. “Creating and Sustaining a Diverse Workplace,” in Human Resource Management in Today’s Academic Library: Meeting Challenges and Creating Opportunities , edited by Janice Simmons-Welburn and Beth McNeil, 71-81. Westport: Libraries Unlimited, 2004.

Simmons-Welburn, Janice. “Diversity Dialogue Groups.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 1-2 (1999): 111-121.

Stambaugh, Laine. “Recruitment and Selection in Academic Libraries,” in Human Resources Management in Today’s Academic Library: Meeting Challenges and Creating Opportunities , edited by Janice Simmons-Welburn and Beth McNeil, 27-36. Westport: Libraries Unlimited, 2004.

Tompson, Sara R. “Competencies Required!” Science & Technology Libraries 27, no. 1-2 (2006): 241-258.

Thompson, W. On being as if, imagination and gay librarianship. In Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians , edited by Tracy Marie Nectoux, 255-266. Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press, 2011

Tetreault, Patricia A., Ryan Fette , Peter C. Meidlinger, and Debra Hope. “Perceptions of Campus Climate by Sexual Minorities.” Journal of Homosexuality 60, no. 7 (2013): 947-964.

Williams II, James F. “Managing Diversity.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 1-2 (1999): 27-48.

  • Dorothy E. Jones, “’I’d Like You to Meet our New Librarian’: the Initiation and Integration of the Newly Appointed Librarian.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 14, no. 4 (1988): 221-224. [ ↩ ]
  • Jodee L. Kawasaki, “Retention-After Hiring Then What?” Science and Technology Libraries 27, no. 1-2 (2006): 225-240. [ ↩ ]
  • Jeff Luzius and Allyson Ard, “Leaving the Academic Library.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 32, no. 6 (2006): 593-598 [ ↩ ]
  • Andrew Richard Albanese, “Take this Job and Love It.” Library Journal 133, no. 2 (2008): 36-39. [ ↩ ]
  • Ricardo Andrade and Alexandra Rivera, “Developing a Diversity-Competent Workforce: the UA Libraries’ Experience.” Journal of Library Administration 51, no. 7-8 (2011): 693-694. [ ↩ ]
  • Andrade and Rivera, 692-727. [ ↩ ]
  • James F. Williams II, “Managing Diversity.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 1-2 (1999): 27-48. [ ↩ ]
  • Andrade and Rivera, 696. [ ↩ ]
  • Johnnieque B. Love, “The Assessment of Diversity Initiatives in Academic Libraries.” Journal of Library Administration 33, no. 1-2 (2001): 77. [ ↩ ]
  • Love, 78. [ ↩ ]
  • Love, 83. [ ↩ ]
  • Camila A. Alire, “Diversity and Leadership: The Color of Leadership.” Journal of Library Administration 32, no. 4 (2001): 98. [ ↩ ]
  • Teresa Y. Neely and Lorna Peterson, “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity Among Academic and Research Librarians: the Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement of Librarians of Color, a White Paper.” College and Research Libraries 68, no. 9 (2007): 562-565. [ ↩ ]
  • Ione T. Damasco and Dracine Hodges, “Tenure and Promotion Experiences of Academic Librarians of Color.” College and Research Libraries 73, no. 3 (2012): 281. [ ↩ ]
  • Janice Simmons-Welburn,. “Diversity Dialogue Groups.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 1-2 (1999): 111-121. [ ↩ ]
  • Norda Majekodunmi, “Diversity in Libraries: The Case for the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (VimLoC Network).” Canadian Library Association 1, no. 59 (2013): 31-32. [ ↩ ]
  • Jaena Alabi. “Racial Microaggressions in Academic Libraries: Results of a Survey of Minority and Non-Minority Librarians.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 41, no. 1 (2015): 47-53. [ ↩ ]
  • Jaena Alabi, “’This Actually Happened: an Analysis of Librarians’ Responses to a Survey about Racial Microaggressions.” Journal of Library Administration 55, no. 3 (2015): 182-184. [ ↩ ]
  • Alabi, 187. [ ↩ ]
  • Kevin L. Nadal, Chassitty N. Whitman, Linsey S. Davis, Tanya Erazo, and Kristen C. Davidoff,“Microaggressions Toward Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Genderqueer People: A Review of Literature.” The Journal of Sex Research 53, no. 4-5 (2016): 488. [ ↩ ]
  • Lisa Platt and Alexandrea Lenzen, “Sexual Orientation Microaggressions and the Experience of Sexual Minorities.” Journal of Homosexuality 60, no. 7 (2013): 1012. [ ↩ ]
  • Kevin L. Nadal, Chassitty N. Whitman, Linsey S. Davis, Tanya Erazo, and Kristen C. Davidoff, 490. [ ↩ ]
  • Kevin L. Nadal, Chassitty N. Whitman, Linsey S. Davis, Tanya Erazo, and Kristen C. Davidoff, 492. [ ↩ ]
  • Nadal, Whitman, Davis, Erazo, and Davidoff, 494. [ ↩ ]
  • Patricia A. Tetreault, Ryan Fette, Peter C. Meidlinger, and Debra Hope. “Perceptions of Campus Climate by Sexual Minorities.” Journal of Homosexuality 60, no. 7 (2013): 950. [ ↩ ]
  • Neil Buddell, “Queering the Workplace.” Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services 23, no. 1 (2011): 139. [ ↩ ]
  • Joseph Phillips, “It’s Okay to be Gay: A Librarian’s Journey to Acceptance an Activism,” in Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians , ed. Tracy Marie Nectoux. (Duluth: Library Juice Press, 2011), 38. [ ↩ ]
  • Phillips, 87. [ ↩ ]
  • K.R. Roberto, “Pronoun Police: A Guide to Transitioning at Your Local Library,” in Workplace Issues for LGBTQ Librarians , ed. Tracy Marie Nectoux. (Duluth: Library Juice Press, 2011), 121-127. [ ↩ ]
  • Thad E. Dickinson, “Looking at the Male Librarians Stereotype.” The Reference Librarian 37, no. 78 (2003): 106. [ ↩ ]
  • James V. Carmichael, “The Male Librarian and the Feminine Image: A Survey of Stereotype, Status, and Gender Perceptions.” Library and Information Science Research 14 (1992): 416. [ ↩ ]
  • Carmichael, 417. [ ↩ ]
  • Carmichael, 422. [ ↩ ]
  • Carmichael, 423. [ ↩ ]
  • Paul S. Piper and Barbara E. Collamer, “Male Librarians: Men in a Feminized Profession.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 27, no. 5 (2001): 410. [ ↩ ]
  • Andrew Hickey, “Cataloging Men: Charting the Male Librarian’s Experience Through the Perceptions and Position of Men in Libraries.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 32, no. 3 (2006): 290. [ ↩ ]
  • Hickey, 291. [ ↩ ]
  • Heather Blackburn, “Gender stereotypes male librarians face today” Library Worklife: HR E-News for Today’s Leaders. (2015). http://alaapa.org/newsletter/2015/09/08/genderstereotypes-male-librarians-face-today/ [ ↩ ]
  • Li Haipeng, “Diversity in the Library: What Could Happen at the Institutional Level.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 1-2 (1999): 145-156. [ ↩ ]
  • Eric Acree, Sharon K. Epps, Yolanda Gilmore, and Charmaine Henriques. “Using Professional Development as a Retention Tool for Underrepresented Academic Librarians.” Journal of Library Administration 31, no. 1-2 (2008): 45-61. [ ↩ ]
  • Haipeng, 146. [ ↩ ]
  • Teresa Y. Nealy, “Diversity Initiatives and Programs.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 8 (1999): 125. [ ↩ ]
  • “Know your rights: transgender people and the law.” American Civil Liberties Union. (2016). https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/transgender-people-and-law [ ↩ ]
  • Williams II, 44. [ ↩ ]
  • Janice Simmons-Welburn, “Diversity Dialogue Groups.” Journal of Library Administration 27, no. 1-2 (1999): 111-121. [ ↩ ]
  • Norda Majekodunmi, “Diversity in Libraries: The Case for the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (VimLoC Network).” Canadian Library Association 1, no. 59 (2013): 31-32. [ ↩ ]

Pingback : LGBTQIA Scholarship Roundup for April 12, 2017 – GLBT News

New Role for Academic Librarians in Research

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The library on campus used to be a hot spot of activity and learning for researchers, but is it still the valuable resource it once was? How is it adapting to the digital age? And, with all these questions arising, what kind of role do academic librarians have in research today? Short answer: a major one .

There was a time when the library was the resource for students and researchers from elementary school on through Ph.D. work and beyond. Through academic libraries, students and faculty alike had access to a wealth of information and resources that they couldn’t possibly collect, navigate, or share on their own.

With the technological advances of the past two decades, however, searching for information and resources got significantly easier, more convenient, and more universally possible. As a result, the role filled by academic librarians and academic libraries in the world of education and scientific research has changed dramatically. So dramatically in fact, that many librarians and librarian associations are still debating and defining what their place within the modern world of academia truly is, what skillsets will best suit their new role, and how they can most effectively serve their patrons and become change agents and thought leaders.

Despite all these ongoing debates, there’s no doubt that academic librarians are still an integral part of the scientific research that’s being done around the world, and the various leaders amongst them are paving the way for libraries to serve an exciting, new purpose without abandoning the services which they’ve always provided.

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How are Academic Librarians Modernizing?

Academic libraries are adapting to the technological advances of the digital age in a number of ways, from investing just as passionately in electronic resources as they always have in print, to adopting a more integrated role including more technologically-focused skills , more campus outreach , and more connectivity with faculty . This new idea of an integrated role was perhaps first (and best) defined in “The Blended Librarian” , a paper by Steven Bell and John D. Shank, that provided a “blueprint for redefining the teaching and learning role of academic librarians”.

With the technological advances of the past decade or so, academic librarians have had to adapt and modernize to continue providing scientists and researchers at their institution with the continued support and resources they need.

Since the paper’s release in 2004, there has been a tremendous shift in the services offered in research libraries. Librarians are expanding beyond their traditional collection acquisition and curation duties to serve more fully as educators, technological guides, and communicators both across campus and across the community.

This increased focus on outreach, innovation, and information technology skill-building enables modern academic librarians to better adapt to the needs of their patrons.

How are Academic Librarians Affecting Research?

From the perspective of a scientist, or even a layman outside of the scientific community, the impact which academic librarians have on research often isn’t as obvious and as appreciated as it should be. That said, there is no doubt that academic librarians are an integral part of scientific research.

The RIN-RLUK Report illustrates a number of highly valuable benefits which academic librarians provide to the researchers and faculty at their institution.

According to a 2011 report from the Research Information Network (RIN) and the Research Libraries UK (RLUK), academic libraries and academic librarians not only supply researchers with the tools they need to perform their work but also aid their patrons and institutions by

  • Helping to recruit and retain top researchers
  • Helping researchers win research grants and contracts
  • Promoting and exploiting new technologies and models of scholarly communication

a research institute is recruiting a librarian

  • Contributing to institution-wide initiatives
  • Working in partnership with academic departments
  • Connecting with researchers to enhance the value of library services
  • Providing a better work environment for researchers
  • Ensuring easy access to high-quality content
  • Representing the values of the institution and scholarship

These effects on research not only display the value that academic librarians and academic libraries bring to the world of scientific research but, by creating such a clear picture of what librarians bring to the scientific community, also illustrate just how much would be lost without them.

What is the New Role of Academic Librarians?

It’s always difficult to say with certainty how an industry, or the professionals within one, will change over time but in the case of academic librarians there are some exciting trends arising today which suggest an exciting future tomorrow.

In a recent study by Library Journal and Gale Cengage, both faculty and librarians were surveyed in regards to their thoughts on connection, communication, and a number of other factors. The results show a gap between the two groups but also highlight the opportunity to bring them together in collaboration.

Educational Collaborators

According to a 2015 study entitled “Bridging the Librarian-Faculty Gap in the Academic Library” , there’s a growing interest on campuses across the country in developing better communication, more advocacy, and more collaboration between faculty and academic librarians . While the study went on to highlight a number of differences between these two parties, it also laid a valuable foundation on which to build more of a connection between researchers and academic librarians. Through this interest and a concerted effort to modernize and adapt what academic libraries offer and prioritize, academic librarians have the opportunity to not only secure their place in academic and scientific research but to bring more efficiency, more understanding, and more success to scientific research than ever before.

librarian leaders in reproducibility

Reproducibility Leaders

Science’s reproducibility crisis has become one of the biggest topics of discussion and concern for the scientific community in recent years. In response, librarians are stepping more and more into a leadership role , developing initiatives and conferences to increase research reproducibility. This topic is becoming such a focus, in fact, that institutions are now beginning to create entire positions dedicated to reproducibility librarianship . Librarians already engaged with research reproducibility are quick to note that the solutions needed to improve reproducibility are largely those that a successful librarian practices every day, particularly the development of awareness-building and educational initiatives, campus-wide outreach, and resource support and promotion .

Author’s Note: This post was originally published in August, 2016. It has been updated and expanded to be more comprehensive.

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  • You can use upper-case AND to require all words, but this is the same as the default behavior. Example: cat AND dog (same as cat dog, content must contain both "cat" and "dog").
  • Use quotes to search for a phrase. Example: "the cat eats mice".
  • You can precede keywords by - to exclude them; you must still have at least one "positive" keyword. Example: cat -dog (content must contain cat and cannot contain dog).

Other Openings

  • Examining Racism in the Library

Recruiting and Retaining Librarians from Underrepresented Minoritized Groups

  • Allyship, Anti-Oppression Practices, and Building Inclusive Libraries
  • Cultural Competence for Librarians
  • Examining Institutional Racism in Libraries
  • Additional Resources

The resources on this list were offered in the LJA Continuing Education course "Recruiting and Retaining Librarians from Underrepresented Minoritized Groups" with instructors Tarida Anantachai and Twanna Hodge in July, 2020. 

LJA Profile: Tarida Anantachai  is the Lead Librarian for the Learning Commons at the Syracuse University Libraries, where she also serves as liaison to her campus’ international student services center, English language institute, and multicultural affairs office. Tarida received her MS in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include diversity, equity, and inclusion, early career development and mentoring, and outreach programming. Tarida was an ALA Emerging Leader and is an alumna of the Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians.

LJA Profile: Twanna Hodge (she/her/hers) is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Librarian at the University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries. She holds a BA in Humanities from the University of the Virgin Islands and an MLIS from the University of Washington. Her research interests are diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility issues and efforts in the LIS curriculum and workplace, library residencies and fellowships, cultural humility in librarianship, and the retention of minority library staff in librarianship. She is a 2013 Spectrum Scholar and 2018 ALA Emerging Leader.

April Hathcock

  • << Previous: Examining Racism in the Library
  • Next: Allyship, Anti-Oppression Practices, and Building Inclusive Libraries >>
  • Last Updated: Jan 26, 2023 3:11 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.sjsu.edu/examiningracismLIS

Integration and Implementation Insights

Integration and Implementation Insights

A community blog and repository of resources for improving research impact on complex real-world problems

How librarians contribute to interdisciplinary research teams

By Kelly Miller and Kineret Ben-Knaan

mosaic_kelly-miller_kineret-ben-knaan

What can librarians contribute to interdisciplinary research teams working on complex problems? We suggest that librarians add value in the following three ways:

  • finding and accessing information resources across disciplines
  • connecting teams to experts and resources, and
  • improving collaboration and communication strategies.

Our experience comes from being part of the University of Miami’s Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge initiative, also known as U-LINK, which aims to address the world’s most compelling problems through interdisciplinary inquiry. From 2018-2020, teams of scholars from multiple disciplines have received funding to pursue solutions to global challenges.

Librarians have been embedded in each of the teams. This opportunity has provided librarians with direct knowledge of the needs and demands of interdisciplinary teams. It has also allowed them to deepen their relationships with research faculty members and experiment with new ways to share their expertise and skills for the benefit of all.

Of the three contributions that librarians make to interdisciplinary research teams, the first―finding and accessing information resources across disciplines―is not surprising. The other two―connecting teams to experts and resources, and improving collaboration and communication strategies―show that librarians are serving as connectors and also helping the teams cohere and engage more meaningfully.

Examples of how these three contributions have manifested in individual projects include librarians conducting extensive literature searches, connecting their team to community stakeholders, and identifying and managing project collaboration software for the team.

Our experience and the literature demonstrate that, with their unique skill sets and neutral vantage points, librarians can help teams address some common challenges, including how to:

  • manage large teams
  • navigate difficulty communicating with team members, and
  • find a common language with which to address the proposed problem.

Librarians also found that participation on interdisciplinary research teams was personally rewarding and helped them grow professionally. For instance, James Sobczak, who served as the librarian on a U-LINK team addressing the need for improved coastal resilience in the face of climate change, commented that:

“Not only did U-LINK provide me with a direct opportunity to learn and engage with new science and engineering faculty, but it also allowed me to learn more about research practices and information needs across the wider university. I could then translate this ‘hands-on’ experience with faculty conducting active research into my daily practice as a librarian. Helping to organize, collect, and communicate a variety of research outputs generated by the team provided a testing ground to experiment with new collaboration tools and workflows.”

To get the most value from librarian involvement, we recommend that interdisciplinary researchers:

  • include librarians on teams as early as possible in the team-formation process
  • involve librarians in all team meetings and interactions, and
  • value the librarians’ skills in listening, connection-making and collaboration, as well as their expertise in information and information-seeking behaviors.

What has your experience been with librarians participating in interdisciplinary research teams? Are there additional contributions that librarians can make? Are you aware of any pitfalls to be avoided?

To find out more about U-Link, the University of Miami’s Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge initiative, see: https://ulink.miami.edu/

This blog post is based on a lightning talk presented at the 11 th Annual International Science of Team Science Conference , in June 2020, which was a virtual conference. For more on the conference see: Applying human-centered design to virtual conference planning by Kristine Glauber, Ben Miller and Christine Ogilvie Hendren https://i2insights.org/2020/09/15/human-centered-conference-design/ .

Biography: Kelly Miller PhD is Associate Dean for Learning and Research Services at University of Miami Libraries in Coral Gables, Florida, USA. Her interests include emerging librarian roles, designing library spaces and services to support learning and research, and the beneficial role that libraries can play in supporting health and well-being .

Biography: Kineret Ben-Knaan MA MIS is Research and Assessment Librarian at University of Miami Libraries in Coral Gables, Florida, USA. Her interests include understanding, predicting, and accommodating user needs, as well as enhancing organizational effectiveness .

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19 thoughts on “how librarians contribute to interdisciplinary research teams”.

  • Pingback: CNI Fall 2020 Membership Meeting: Exploring Roles for Librarians on Interdisciplinary Research Teams: A Collaboration between the University of Miami’s Office of Research and Libraries

I appreciated this post about the role of librarians in research teams. The journal (I co-edit) “Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies” regularly publishes on teams, but none has included a librarian that I can recall. It makes so much sense. In another vein, when my undergraduate program started including regular planned sessions with a librarian in our required interdisciplinary courses, the courses and student learning got better. The librarian now knows our courses and has become a critical part in their delivery.

Thank you, Sven, for making the connection with the journal, “Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies.” We think this is an area for further inquiry, so perhaps there is an opportunity for future publications on the topic?

And it’s wonderful to hear that the presence of a librarian in your undergraduate program has made such a difference. Here’s to ongoing collaboration that benefits student learning!

Although it does not deal specifically with teamwork, the 1992 volume of the AIS journal focused on information access. It was rich in librarians’ insights about interdisciplinary. Would be great to think about another special issue on the role of librarians since it’s nearly 20 years later now (Gasp!). Here’s the link to ISSUES publication:

https://interdisciplinarystudies.org/volume-10-1992/

Future publications? Absolutely Kelly. My co-editor and I would be happy to see ideas or submissions from you or others reading this. And thanks for the shout-out dighummama. The journal website is here: https://interdisciplinarystudies.org/issues/ . You will see a stellar international editorial board (incl. Gabriele 🙂 and instructions for authors. We are looking for submissions now to peer-review for the 2021 volumes (we are published by Texas Tech UP).

I join others in being pleased to see this posting about librarians. If I may, I’d add a fourth attribute. They are bellwethers of change. Users from multiple disciplines, fields, professions, and communities arrive at their doorsteps and screens with needs and interests at the forefront of change. That puts librarians on the frontline of addressing complex problems and questions through crossdisciplinary searching and collection building. I’d add that when I wanted to start a crossdisciplinary Digital Humanities Collaboratory on my campus I located it wthin the library. The Technology Resource Center at the time had a talented team of web designers who were working with other specialist librarians to craft forward-looking research projects and educational resources.

Thank you for sharing your insights and experience with us. Yes, I agree that librarians serve as “bellwethers,” in part, due to their position at the crossroads of campus intellectual life and technological change. And it’s wonderful that you found a home in the library for your Digital Humanities Collaboratory and were able to get the expert support you needed there.

Excellent point! Librarians definitely have a unique vantage point for recognising innovations and trends as they are happening and pollenating other domains with these developments.

“Pollenating” is a great metaphor, Caryn, for the ways librarians incubate and crossfertilize ideas.

Thank you so much for all the beautiful comments. Librarians hold unique qualities and have experience that can help interdisciplinary research teams overcome challenges. In addition, librarians play a dual role in research teams. They function both as contributors and coordinators, connecting their team members to resources and the array of services and spaces that libraries have to offer.

This work was such a great contribution to the 2020 SciTS Conference. The concept of librarians “serving as connectors and…helping the teams cohere and engage more meaningfully” really strikes a chord for me. As a science communicator, I try to perform this role as well, in my own way. I think more and more researchers are coming to understand that including professionals like librarians and communicators in their teams can add immense value!

We appreciate your kind comments about our 2020 SciTS Conference presentation, Ben! For other readers, who are interested in seeing our lightning presentation at the June conference, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-0hmgLXd_4&feature=youtu.be

And thank you for letting us know that the idea of librarians as connectors resonated with you! We definitely think it’s an area for further exploration.

I am so pleased to see this post about librarians and interdisciplinary research. Based on my experience developing libraries all over the world, editing a library & information science research journal, and teaching many aspects of librarianship, I agree whole-heartedly with the points made by these authors and previous commenter.

I would like to dive a little deeper on two reasons why librarians are uniquely trained and experienced to make the contributions mentioned.

Librarians are rarely fully appreciated for their skills as “knowledge brokers” and not just knowledge finders. Brokering is about facilitating the exchange of resources and providing connections, which requires broad networks of both information and people. Academic libraries, even specialist ones, provide specific and personal services to hundreds, if not thousands, of scholars, students, and teaching faculty each semester. As a result, most librarians have some of the largest and most diverse personal networks in the university and experience with a large variety of research scenarios. This is what makes them valuable assets for connecting research teams to experts and resources across disciplines.

Another important librarian skill rarely discussed outside our field, can be summed up in what we call “the reference interview”: determining what information is really needed by the patron/scholar. As all librarians know, the question someone asks is frequently very different from the information they actually need. Every accredited librarian has completed a required course in “Reference”, much of which trains librarians in how to communicate with people in order to identify what their real information need is, regardless of what question they start with.

In many ways, we librarians are like psychologists. We know how to use iterative communication processes to ask the right questions and interpret language, behaviour, and context in order to determine what the real problem is. As such, most librarians are exceptionally skilled in “reading” a variety of personality types and circumstances. Like a parent who can instantly determine whether their child is crying because they are hurt, hungry, frustrated or tired, identifying fundamental information needs is second nature for librarians.

Combine these interpretative and problem-solving communication skills with librarians’ vast networks, and it is easier to see how and why librarians can be so valuable in connecting interdisciplinary teams with valuable experts and resources, in facilitating more effective collaboration and communication, and in providing useful insight from a much larger and holistic view of the research.

Thank you, Caryn, for sharing your thoughtful observations on our post! We agree that librarians’ networks, experience, and reference-interview training add to their value as team members on interdisciplinary research teams.

Thank you for this post. I am a librarian who has worked with a number of research teams. And I wholeheartedly agree with everything written. Another advantage of working with librarians is that we often have a more holistic view of the research being conducted by the team. This big picture view can be helpful and can be used to see connections and solutions to problems that aren’t always obvious to someone immersed in the research being conducted.

Thane runs the WordPress blog “kusp fyi: what’s new in the world of KT (knowledge translation), QI (quality improvement) and aging”: https://kuspfyi.com/ . Another great example of what librarians can contribute.

Thank you, Thane, for the work you are doing on research teams! And it’s so interesting to learn more about KT, QI, and aging via your website that Gabriele kindly shared.

Thanks to you both.

Thank you, Thane, for your encouraging comments! We agree that librarians offer unique perspectives that can lead to creative connections and solutions.

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  • Career in Librarian

Updated By Sakunth Kumar on 28 Sep, 2021 11:20 A.M

Last Updated By Harleen Kaur on 05 Sep, 2022

How to Become a Librarian

About librarian.

History of Libraries and Librarians have been witnessed ever since the evolution of writing. People have been writing and recording their thoughts and ideas on different platforms. To keep a check of these documents, professionals were appointed. These professionals were later termed as librarians and the work of Librarianship then came into existence. The history of Librarianship in India can be witnessed with the presence of a large number of artifacts related to Indian mythology and kings and their kingship. Libraries at that time were mostly privately open for selective readers and writers. Whereas, in the modern era, there are two types of libraries - Public Library and Private Library. The work of a librarian, however, has remained the same, that is, to keep a track of the books and arrange them systematically and in order as prescribed by the concerned authority of the respective library.

The work profile of a Librarian, today has gained recognition with proper degree and training. So, if you like being around books and have an interest in reading and maintaining books, then this job meant just for you. Grab all opportunities to become the best Librarian of all times. To help you with this we have assembled relevant and necessary details that you must know if you are thinking of becoming a Librarian.

In a nutshell: People who choose to become librarians assist others in gaining access to the enormous amount of information present in books, periodicals, and contemporary tools like ebooks, audiobooks, video recordings, and other digital sources. He or she is in charge of running and setting up a library so that it is simple to find the study materials.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Librarian

Typically, a librarian is in charge of organising and running the library. Reading book reviews, publisher announcements, and catalogues are among his or her duties because it is up to him or her to stay current on the literature and find other resources to buy books from different publishers. People who choose to become librarians analyse collections and keep databases of periodicals, books, articles, audiovisual resources, and electronic resources up to date. A librarian gathers and arranges books, manuscripts, pamphlets, and other relevant materials.

  • Collection: All of the library's resources, including books, movies, and other publications, must be gathered and catalogued by a librarian. He or she is in charge of seeing to it that the library's guests' needs for resources are met
  • Maintenance: A librarian is a specialist who updates and maintains library records. It contains information such as the day and time the study materials were released. He or she must make sure that all of the library's resources are easily accessible and findable
  • Setting Up Events: A librarian plans and manages author appearances, sales, and book promotions. He or she oversees employee activities, plans events, and manages budgets. Publishers must be contacted by a librarian in order to purchase books and place them on library shelves
  • Providing Assistance: A librarian's job is to assist people in finding books and direct them to related reading material or study aids based on their interests. He or she is in charge of making sure the library satisfies the demands of its patrons
  • Educating: A librarian must also instruct customers on how to use the library's databases for information search. Additionally, it is his or her duty to inform patrons of the library's rules. A librarian also instructs customers on how to use the library's electronic resources

Eligibility to become Librarian

For those who want to pursue this career path, they must know the process of how to become a Librarian and follow the steps designated for the same. Aspirants should know the different courses offered to become a Librarian. These courses include Certificate in Library Science (C.Lib.)/ Library and Information Science (C.LISc.), Diploma in Library Science (D.Lib.)/ Library and Information Science (D.Li.Sc.), Bachelor in Library Science (B.Lib.)/ Library and Information Science (B.Li.Sc.) and Master of Library Science (M.Lib.)/ Library and Information Science (M.Li.Sc.). Apart from this, a candidate can also pursue M.Phil or Ph.D. in these courses. Candidates must know the subjects they must study to become a Librarian and the eligibility criteria prescribed by the colleges offering courses related to the designated field. The different Librarian courses include Certificate Aspirants of Librarianship can read the details given below and start preparing for it accordingly.

Subject Combination – Any Stream in 10+2 

Exam – As per the institutional guidelines and courses’ requirement

Eligibility –

  • A candidate who wants to pursue a Certificate Course must have a passing mark sheet of 10+2 from a recognised institution with at least 55% total aggregate.
  • Candidates planning for Diploma Course should have passed 10+2 with at least 55% total percentage. The certificate must be valid and issued from recognised school or college.
  • For a Bachelors course, candidates must have cleared their graduation with qualifying marks from an affiliated or accredited institution.
  • Those who want to do Masters course, must produce their Bachelors mark sheet at the time of admission. Candidates must remember that a minimum of 55% total aggregate in Bachelor course is compulsory for taking admission in Masters course.
  • Aspirants opting for M.Phil or Ph.D. courses need to qualify entrance exam defined by the concerned institutions. Along with the mark sheet of the entrance exam, candidates will have to produce the passing scorecard of Masters course with a minimum aggregate of 60% to take admission in the M.Phil or Ph.D. course.      

Steps to become a Librarian

The steps listed below can be used to become a librarian:

Step 1: Clear 10+2

Successful completion of the 10+2 in any subject from a recognised board is required for a librarian.

Step 2: Entrance Exam

No need to worry if you were considering how to become a librarian after your 10+2; we are here to assist you. There are many colleges and universities that hold entrance exams to grant admission to the programme.

AMUEE: Aligarh Muslim University Entrance Examination

Step 3: Pursuing Bachelor

After earning a bachelor's degree in any specialisation, you must choose a bachelor's degree in library sciences if you want to work as a librarian. The main bachelor's degree programmes are listed below.

Step 4: Pursuing Masters If you have a bachelor's degree in a non-relevant field but have no idea how to become a librarian, you should enroll in a master's degree programme.

Types of Job Roles Librarian

Being a Librarian is not an easy task. It is very important for candidates to have a strong memory power so that they may remember the different slots and categories of books present in the library. To make things easier for the Librarians, different job profiles for Librarians have now been introduced. These profiles have been categorized according to the type of role and type of library we have around us. Let’s check these Librarian job profiles and see what profile suits best for candidates of different caliber.

Public Librarian: These Librarians work for the libraries that are open for all. They assist people to search the right book they want to read. Public Librarians also help people in their research work by providing the researchers with the artifacts and scholarly books. They also check and keep the record of the term of due dates for each reader.

Academic Librarian: Academic Librarian is the person who is hired by the academic institutions to look after the library of the institution. These librarians help students in their projects and researches. They also help students in finding the right book and reference material related to their course.

School Librarian: These professionals are different from the others. They are hired to teach school students the essence and usage of a library. School Librarians help primary, middle and high school students to understand what exactly a library is, how they can search for the right book, they should maintain the library norms and what procedure they should follow to issue and return a book.

Special Librarian: Special Librarians are the professionals that are hired by organisations for their personal libraries. These organisations and firms include law houses, museums, corporate houses, hospitals, media firms, government agencies, research organisations, etc. Librarians of these libraries work to organize data, files and records of the organisations. They also keep a track of video and audio file (if available), and arrange them accordingly so that the information need of the organisation is fulfilled.   

Employment Opportunities for Librarians

To become a Librarian is a tough task, as the candidates will have to remember and track the books, reference materials, records and other related files and folders of the organisation they are serving. Employment opportunities for Librarians explain the different sectors and fields where the Librarians are hired. These sectors hire Librarians to get their libraries well organised and arranged the way they want. Let’s check out the list of these sectors and fields that hire Librarians.

  • Educational Institutions
  • Governmental Organisations
  • Corporate Houses
  • Media Houses
  • Research Organisations
  • Private Firms
  • Foreign Embassies
  • Museums and Galleries

Top Recruiting Companies for Librarians

Librarians are those professionals who work in a literary surrounding and are hired by organisations that possess a library of books, reference materials, audio, video, journals, etc. for the purpose of research, knowledge or reference. These organisations are present in different sectors including educational institutions, medical firms, governmental organisations, media houses, corporate houses, etc. Mentioned below is the list of some these top recruiting companies for librarians for the reference of interested aspirants.

  • All India Radio
  • Doordarshan
  • Lawyers Associations
  • St. Xavier's Collegiate School
  • La Martiniere For Girls School
  • The National Library of India
  • Sinha Library
  • Delhi Public Library

Skills Required to become a Librarian

You must be wondering how to enter the field of librarianship. Therefore, we will address the most frequently asked question—how to become a librarian—in this section. One needs to have certain skills in order to become a librarian. Here are some abilities a librarian needs to have:

  • Digital literacy is a necessary skill for a librarian to have in order to manage and organise the library's digital resources. He or she must understand how to get at and use these resources. Due to the popularity of audiobooks, video lectures, and ebooks among students today, librarians must be digitally literate
  • To keep up with records, a librarian must work on computer systems to maintain and update the database of library resources. He or she must maintain a record of the titles, authors, and prices of all books as well as the names of those who obtain them for class assignments
  • A librarian's job is to organise the library's materials so that it is simple to find a specific book among the thousands of other items that are kept there. He or she frequently needs to handle several tasks at once, making organisation skills essential
  • A librarian must be able to interact with visitors and customers effectively in order to help them find the materials they need in the library and to provide them with information
  • An analytical career for a librarian is essential. In order to find opportunities for process improvements and policy changes, he or she must be able to recognise the needs of clients and conduct research

Planning to choose Librarian as your career?

Pay scale/salary of librarian.

The salary of a Librarian is determined by the organisation for they are working. The pay scale can be based on the merit of the candidates, their level of understanding, educational qualification and work experience (if any). Given below is the Librarians’ Salary in general which may differ according to their job profiles and work role as specified by the hiring organisation.

Note: The figures mentioned above are an approximate estimate and may vary.

Career Path for a Librarian

A librarian can be found in many places like universities and colleges, courthouses, public schools, law offices, museums, local library buildings, etc. Librarians typically find employment in the education sector. A librarian must have a strong passion for reading and education.

  • Assistant Librarian: An assistant librarian is in charge of helping with all facets of circulation and customer service responsibilities. He or she assists users in finding the necessary study materials
  • Senior Librarian: A senior librarian oversees the library and maintains database updates to guarantee the accuracy of information regarding books and other library resources. He or she organises the catalogue and keeps track of the loan of library materials

Books & Study Material to Become Librarian

In order to pursue this career, you will first need to acquire a related professional degree. To do so, all that you can do is take admission in a good, reputed and recognised institution offering the course of your choice. There are no specific entrance exams for taking admission into these institutions. You will have to prepare for the admission as per the norms described by the concerned institution. Books related to your course can help you in clearing the admission process easily and smoothly. So, if you desire to go to a good institution then you must read good books related to the Library and Librarians. However, experts also advice to grab all possible opportunities of learning available to you and strive hard to become a good Librarian. Given below is a list of best books and study materials for preparation of becoming a Librarian.

  • Becoming a Powerhouse Librarian by Jamie M Gray
  • Being Indispensable: A School Librarian's Guide to Becoming an Invaluable Leader by Ruth Toor Hilda K Weisburg
  • I'm a Librarian (a Tinyville Town Book) by Brian Biggs
  • How to Teach: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Beverley E. Crane
  • So You Want To Be a Librarian by Lauren Pressley
  • Data Librarians Handbook by Robin Rice and John Southall

Pros of becoming a Librarian

  • If you are an avid book lover, then being a librarian will help you satisfy your thirst for different books of your choice.
  • This job profile will improve your sense and taste of books as your involvement with a variety of books will automatically increase.
  • It will help you improve your communication skills to a great extent.
  • Being a Librarian is an interesting job as you will be surrounded with not only books but good magazines, reference materials and audio and video stuff.
  • A library is usually a relaxed and quiet place where most people want to be. So, if you are Librarian you will be fortunate enough to enjoy the peace of the surrounding. 
  • Being a Librarian enables you to interact with people of different thoughts and fields. 

Cons of becoming a Librarian

  • No doubt that you will be around your favorite books but the biggest drawback is that you will not be able to read them all due to your work role.
  • You might be unfortunate if you encounter a bunch of chaotic people. Making them understand the rule of silence can become difficult and sometimes impossible for you.
  • Keeping a track of all the books, reference materials audio and visual inputs, etc. can sometimes be confusing and hectic.
  • Not always you would want to talk to strangers but if you are a Librarian it will be compulsion as you will have to help them in their searches.
  • Level of stress can also be high as by being a Librarian you will have to look after everything related to the library.

Top Colleges to pursue career as Librarian

Paths for being librarian, do you think this is the right career choice for you.

Take our test and find out if it suits your strengths.

FAQs about Librarian

Librarians have a moderate career scope in India. The demand for experienced librarians are high with good pay.

Candidates aspiring to become a librarian is to have a Bachelor’s degree in Library Sciences.

The average starting salary for Librarian is Rs. 1,50,000 to Rs. 2,00,000.

Being a librarian can’t be a stressful if you have passion and determination.

If you are a vivid book lover and love to read books, librarian is a good career path. However, the candidates must have a good management skills.

There are several government libraries in India and the recruitment process takes place for librarians.

Librarians are eligible to become professors in various universities and colleges. However, the candidates must have either qualified UGC NET or Ph.D.

Candidates with relevant qualification and skills can aspire for Librarian jobs in foreign countries. A foreign degree in the field of Library Sciences is most preferable for such jobs.

Some of the top job roles for librarian are Public Librarian, Academic Librarian, School Librarian etc.

There is a diploma course in Library Sciences.

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Librarians as methodological peer reviewers for systematic reviews: results of an online survey

Holly k. grossetta nardini.

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Melissa c. funaro, rolando garcia-milian, judy m. spak, janis g. glover, associated data.

Data and materials are available on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/s6yab/ .

Developing a comprehensive, reproducible literature search is the basis for a high-quality systematic review (SR). Librarians and information professionals, as expert searchers, can improve the quality of systematic review searches, methodology, and reporting. Likewise, journal editors and authors often seek to improve the quality of published SRs and other evidence syntheses through peer review. Health sciences librarians contribute to systematic review production but little is known about their involvement in peer reviewing SR manuscripts.

This survey aimed to assess how frequently librarians are asked to peer review systematic review manuscripts and to determine characteristics associated with those invited to review. The survey was distributed to a purposive sample through three health sciences information professional listservs.

There were 291 complete survey responses. Results indicated that 22% ( n = 63) of respondents had been asked by journal editors to peer review systematic review or meta-analysis manuscripts. Of the 78% ( n = 228) of respondents who had not already been asked, 54% ( n = 122) would peer review, and 41% ( n = 93) might peer review. Only 4% ( n = 9) would not review a manuscript. Respondents had peer reviewed manuscripts for 38 unique journals and believed they were asked because of their professional expertise. Of respondents who had declined to peer review (32%, n = 20), the most common explanation was “not enough time” (60%, n = 12) followed by “lack of expertise” (50%, n = 10).

The vast majority of respondents (95%, n = 40) had “rejected or recommended a revision of a manuscript| after peer review. They based their decision on the “search methodology” (57%, n = 36), “search write-up” (46%, n = 29), or “entire article” (54%, n = 34). Those who selected “other” (37%, n = 23) listed a variety of reasons for rejection, including problems or errors in the PRISMA flow diagram; tables of included, excluded, and ongoing studies; data extraction; reporting; and pooling methods.

Conclusions

Despite being experts in conducting literature searches and supporting SR teams through the review process, few librarians have been asked to review SR manuscripts, or even just search strategies; yet many are willing to provide this service. Editors should involve experienced librarians with peer review and we suggest some strategies to consider.

Systematic reviews (SR) summarize and evaluate primary studies on a research topic to establish evidence about the efficacy of an intervention [ 1 ]. When a systematic review is done well, it is considered to be evidence of the highest level on which to base health care decisions [ 2 ]. Systematic reviews (SR) and other types of evidence syntheses, for example meta-analyses, scoping reviews, integrative reviews, rapid reviews, and clinical guidelines, use rigorous protocols and guidelines to gather and synthesize all literature relevant to a research or clinical question [ 1 , 3 ]. The methodology requires a systematic, transparent, reproducible, and comprehensive search to locate all studies, published and unpublished, about a topic [ 4 , 5 ]. Conversely, narrative literature reviews do not require the same level of rigor in the literature search, nor the double screening of results to determine if the information found meets pre-established inclusion criteria. A literature review does not typically include formal quality assessment or risk of bias assessment and is not considered evidence-based.

The number of published systematic reviews is increasing dramatically; one study reports an increase of 2,700% between 1991 and 2014 [ 6 ]. Unfortunately, many of these SRs are conflicted, overlapping, and poorly reported [ 6 ]. Some research shows possible improvement in reporting quality, particularly in Cochrane SRs [ 7 ]. Methodological rigor, such as the quality of the search strategies, directly affects the quality of systematic reviews.

Identifying a comprehensive body of potentially relevant studies from the literature is a critically important initial step in an evidence synthesis and, if done poorly, can compromise the entire review [ 8 , 9 ]. “Data” in a systematic review are the set of studies resulting from the comprehensive literature search, which is analogous to the findings and data from a primary research study or specific results or data from an experiment [ 9 ]. Proper construction, validation, and reporting of search strategies to retrieve these data are fundamental to the quality and reproducibility of systematic reviews and meta-analyses [ 4 , 5 , 7 , 9 – 13 ]. Librarians, information specialists, and informationists are experts in searching for information, and systematic review quality improves when the systematic search methodology is designed and performed by a librarian [ 10 , 14 , 15 ]. Involvement of a librarian in the process of developing and executing a comprehensive search is increasingly evident in the literature and strongly encouraged by organizations such as the Cochrane Collaboration; the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (previously Institute of Medicine—IOM); and the Campbell Collaboration [ 1 , 4 , 9 ]. Increasingly, because of expertise in searching and methodological advice, librarians are sought after as partners and co-authors of systematic reviews [ 16 ] and research shows that the quality of SRs is higher if librarians are included as co-authors [ 12 ]. At the authors’ institution, research teams undertaking systematic reviews with significant librarian involvement are required to include the librarian as a co-author [ 17 – 21 ].

Biomedical journal editors have expressed interest in improving the quality of published evidence syntheses, both in design and in reporting. Several journals now include specific systematic review instructions for authors or have appointed section editors especially for systematic reviews and other review types [ 14 , 22 , 23 ]. Some journals put submissions through statistical review as a matter of policy or encourage editors to pursue statistical review of certain sections by methodological specialists [ 24 , 25 ]. Some journals require that authors use specific reporting standards for systematic reviews [ 26 , 27 ]. Multiple standards exist for the design and reporting of systematic reviews as well as other evidence syntheses, chief among them IOM, Cochrane Handbooks, Methodological Expectations for Cochrane Intervention Reviews (MECIR), Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE), and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) [ 1 , 4 , 28 – 30 ]. Evaluation tools have also been developed for critical appraisal of systematic reviews (AMSTAR) and of SR search strategies (PRESS) [ 31 , 32 ]. The EQUATOR Network provides a robust list of reporting guidelines for many study types [ 33 ]. If these standards are recommended by editorial policies and used by authors, then peer reviewers of systematic review and meta-analysis manuscripts should also use them as they conduct a review of the design, execution, and reporting of a systematic review manuscript [ 34 ]. Reviewers are also best positioned to effectively peer review if they have both subject expertise and experience with the study design of the manuscript they are evaluating. Librarians and information specialists with search expertise are well qualified to peer review the methodology and reported search strategies of SR manuscripts.

Librarians' roles in the systematic review process are broadening [ 35 , 36 ]. However, the extent of librarians’ involvement as journal manuscript peer reviewers has not been investigated. This study sought to answer that question.

A survey was developed to capture experiences of medical librarians with regard to the peer review process of SR manuscript submissions to journals. The 16-question survey was developed in Qualtrics, pilot tested with a group of medical librarians, and reviewed by a methodological expert. The survey questions included demographic information about type of professional setting, years as a librarian, and depth of involvement in systematic review teams. Questions were also asked about respondents’ experience with systematic reviews and/or peer reviewing. Survey logic presented different questions to different respondents (e.g., only those answering yes to a specific question would be asked questions related to that answer. The Yale University Human Subjects Committee ruled that this survey was exempt from human subjects protection (IRB #2000022848). The survey and a CHERRIES-compliant reporting checklist are Additional file 1 : Tables S5 and S6 [ 37 ].

The survey was distributed to a purposive sample [ 38 ]. On March 15, 2018, the survey was emailed through three listservs known to be used by biomedical information professionals who do systematic reviews (AASHL-all, medlib-l, expertsearching) and a reminder notification was sent to the same listservs on March 29, 2018. To get wide distribution, recipients were encouraged to invite others to respond, a variation on a snowball sample. There were no financial incentives for participation. The survey closed on April 6, 2018. We were unable to calculate a response rate because respondents self-selected to complete the survey and were asked to invite additional respondents. Additionally, it is difficult to calculate the response rate because there is an unknown but potentially significant overlap between the three listserv subscriber groups. The survey data was extracted and analyzed using Microsoft Excel and R (version 3.5.3; The R Project for Statistical Computing). To analyze the association between variables, we used Fisher’s exact test. Preliminary results were reported at the Medical Library Association Meeting in May 2018 [ 39 ].

A total of 291 respondents completed the survey. The number of respondents per question ranged from 20 to 291. All results are presented in Additional file 1 : Table S1.

The median number of years that respondents had been librarians was 11.5 (IQR 6–20). Most respondents worked in either an academic medical library ( n = 169, 66%) or a teaching hospital ( n = 37, 14%, Q12-13). More than a third of respondents ( n = 95, 37%) had participated in over 11 systematic review teams or created and conducted searches for SRs. About one quarter ( n = 61, 24%) had participated in 5–10 systematic reviews, another third ( n = 79, 31%) had participated in 1–4 systematic reviews, and the remainder ( n = 24, 9%) had never participated in or created and conducted searches for systematic reviews (Q14).

Respondents gained their expertise through three main methods: classes/webinars ( n = 220, 85%), self-training ( n = 145, 56%), or in-house training ( n = 121, 47%, Q15). Most respondents had not been asked by a journal editor to peer review ( n = 228, 78%). Of the respondents who had not been asked to peer review, most indicated that they would ( n = 122, 54%) or might ( n = 93, 41%) peer review a manuscript if asked. Only nine respondents said they would not peer review a manuscript if asked ( n = 9, 4%, Q2, Q16).

For librarians who had been asked by a journal editor to peer review ( n = 63, 22%), respondents listed 38 unique journal titles. They included PLOS ONE with five mentions and JAMIA : a Scholarly Journal of Informatics in Health and Biomedicine , JBI Database of Systematic Reviews , Journal of the Medical Library Association , and Systematic Reviews all with three mentions each (Additional file 1 : Table S2). Most of the respondents ( n = 31, 70%) knew why they were asked to peer review. The most frequent reasons given were their professional expertise, referral by a colleague, and expertise in the topic area (Q3-4).

The median number of systematic reviews or meta-analysis manuscripts that any one respondent peer reviewed was four (IQR 1–5), with one librarian having peer reviewed 40 manuscripts (Q5).

The survey included two questions that asked respondents to identify if they used any standards for evaluating the methods section or the search strategy. Over half of the respondents ( n = 37, 59%) stated that they used standards to evaluate manuscripts’ methods sections. PRISMA was the most frequently mentioned methods standard ( n = 32, 86%), followed by Cochrane ( n = 10, 27%) and MECIR ( n = 4, 11%, Additional file 1 : Table S3). The respondents also identified the standards or checklists they utilized for evaluating search strategies ( n = 36, 57%). Most respondents mentioned using only one standard ( n = 28, 78%), while some respondents utilized two or three standards ( n = 9, 25%) PRESS was the most frequently mentioned search strategy standard used ( n = 13, 36%, Additional file 1 : Table S4).

The majority of librarians who had peer reviewed ( n = 40, 95%) rejected or recommended revisions of a manuscript. The most frequent reason given for manuscript rejection or revision was the “search methodology” ( n = 36, 86%), followed by “entire article” ( n = 34, 81%), then “search write-up” ( n = 29, 69%). Respondents also listed “other reasons” ( n = 23, 55%) for their decisions: the PRISMA flow diagram; tables of included, excluded, and ongoing studies; data extraction; inconsistent/incomplete reporting; pooling methods; and failure to use risk of bias tools. Note that these reasons could be identified as elements of the search methodology and of the search write-up, but respondents did not classify them in this way (Q8).

When asked if they had declined a request from journal editors to peer review SR manuscripts, almost half ( n = 20, 45%) reported they had declined (Q10). Top reasons included “not enough time” ( n = 12, 60%) and “did not have enough expertise” ( n = 10, 50%). One respondent said “I was asked to review the entire SR, which I did not feel competent to do. Had they asked for the search methods / search strategy only, I would have been happy to do so” (Q11).

Further analysis of the data showed that professional setting, if reported, made little difference in whether or not respondents had been asked by journal editors to peer review. Among librarians who were invited to peer review, the majority ( n = 39, 62%) had participated in SR projects themselves at least 5 times. Fisher’s exact test shows that previous systematic review authorship is indeed associated with invitations to peer review SR submissions (Table ​ (Table1 1 ).

Association of librarians’ workplace and authorship experience with invitations to peer review systematic reviews.

*Fisher test (does not include “no response”)

Our study has shown that the majority of librarians surveyed ( n = 228, 78%) have not been invited to peer review systematic review manuscripts and that half ( n = 122, 54%) of those not yet asked would be willing to do so. We also know that many editors struggle to find qualified peer reviewers [ 40 ]. This suggests that journal editors need ways to identify librarians who are interested in and capable of peer reviewing the search strategies and/or overall methodologies of manuscripts. Potentially a registry of qualified librarians could be developed and made available to editors. To help editors find a good match, the registry could include librarians’ experience with systematic reviews, and their areas of expertise. Journal editors could also look at SR search methods papers to identify qualified search specialists. Some automated tools help identify appropriate reviewers, such as Jane (Journal/Author Name Estimator) and PubReMiner [ 41 , 42 ]. Librarians who wish to peer review SRs should also explore existing peer reviewer registries, such as Publons, and make their profiles available on multiple platforms to increase their professional visibility and help journal editors find them [ 43 ]. Librarians who are already registered in journal submission systems as an author or those who proactively choose to register could indicate that they wish to peer review—often by simply checking “yes” during registration. However, many current submission systems do not capture librarians’ areas of expertise and skills in their pre-defined list of keywords or classifications or require that a minimum number of terms be selected, leaving librarians forced to choose from medical specialties or vague terms like “education” or “administration.” Some systems, like Editorial Manager or ScholarOne Manuscripts, allow journals to enable personal keywords beyond the pre-defined lists, but many journals have not enabled this option. There is an opportunity for advocacy with journal editors and software manufacturers to expand registration and profile options and establish some pre-defined options in journal submission systems (like “information specialist/librarian” or “systematic reviews” or “search specialist”). Promoting new ways to match qualified librarians with editors could help improve the peer review of systematic review manuscripts.

In our survey, 32% of information specialists/librarians ( n = 20) declined invitations to peer review entire manuscripts and only half of those who have not yet been asked ( n = 122, 54%) expressed willingness to peer review. Even though many librarians are expert systematic review methodologists and searchers, they may lack skills in peer reviewing and knowledge of the scientific content [ 10 , 44 ]. In addition to time limitations that all peer reviewers face, librarians might be reluctant to volunteer due to a perceived lack of expertise in peer review. It is important to acknowledge that there are different levels of expertise in the information specialist/librarian community and that the variation in breadth and depth of this expertise is likely reflected in our findings. With increased training and clear guidelines about which sections they are being asked to review, librarians might be more likely to accept invitations to peer review, adding to the pool of potential reviewers and improving published SRs.

One way of doing this would be for editors to ask librarians to review only specific sections of manuscripts, such as the methodology and search strategies, to harness their specialized expertise. Librarians who would like to gain peer review fluency could seek to increase their skills with the PRESS tool and through online peer reviewer training [ 31 , 45 ]. Professional organizations, library associations, and journal editors could also offer specific peer review training to librarians and maintain a searchable bank of librarian peer reviewers. Library associations and other stakeholders, like the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), could advocate to journal editors that librarian peer reviewers could improve search and methodological quality, reporting, and reproducibility [ 46 ].

The most prominent standards and guides recommend librarians be involved in systematics reviews. The Campbell Collaboration “requires the expertise . . . of an information specialist (IS) or a librarian” for information retrieval because it is a crucial part of the systematic review process [ 9 ]. The 2019 draft of the sixth edition of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions defines an integral role for the information specialist/librarian in the production of systematic reviews and recommends that authors work closely, from the start of the protocol, with a librarian experienced in the process [ 47 ]. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recommend that teams work with a librarian to plan and peer review the search strategy [ 4 ]. Yet most biomedical editorial policies do not require librarian peer review of search methodologies submitted in manuscripts. Some journals, such as Ophthalmology , Academic Medicine , Journal of School Nursing , and Annals of Family Medicine and those listed in Additional file 1 : Table S2 have turned to librarians and information specialists for peer review. Editors from other journals may not be aware that librarians have this expertise and are willing to take on this role. Biostatisticians have increasingly made the case that a biostatistician should review manuscripts’ statistical analyses [ 48 , 49 ]. Journal editors could adopt this model for librarian peer review of systematic review searches and methods.

Another important but perhaps not unexpected finding is that librarians were more likely to be asked to peer review a manuscript if they had a record of systematic review co-authorship. Co-authoring a published SR or serving on a systematic review team as a methodologist and expert searcher can demonstrate a level of expertise necessary for peer reviewing manuscripts. Editors who seek peer reviewers can discover some librarians more easily, perhaps from their record of publications, long service, and existing registrations on journal submission systems. Two thirds of respondents ( n = 194, 67%) had participated in SR teams but had not been asked to peer review a journal manuscript (Table ​ (Table1). 1 ). This group reported participating in at least one systematic review and up to 40, with more than half having participated in at least five systematic review teams (Additional file : Table S1—Q14). There is clearly a pool of untapped experts potentially available for peer review.

Librarians regularly refer to standards when designing, deploying, and reporting search strategies and methodologies for systematic reviews. PRISMA is a well-known standard for SR reporting elements and PRESS is a guideline for peer reviewing search strategies. Our survey revealed that very few respondents use both of these tools to review SRs. Respondents referred to PRISMA for reviewing the methods, but some librarians also reported using PRISMA to review the search strategy. This may reflect a lack of awareness of PRESS or an overreliance on PRISMA to simply assess the reporting of search methodologies, as opposed to the underlying quality and intellectual rigor of the search strategies themselves. As librarians gain more experience with the systematic review process, whether through years of experience, training, or involvement on SR projects, there may be less reliance on checklists and tools and more reliance on professional judgment. Librarians—and all reviewers—should refer to standards, checklists, and tools when peer reviewing [ 34 , 50 , 51 ]. The increased use of standards could improve the reliability and validity of peer review and, most importantly, the rigor of published systematic reviews. In fact, studies show that adherence to reporting guidelines and including a methodologist in peer review can lead to more citations [ 52 ] although that does not necessarily reflect the quality of the underlying search. Interestingly, since this survey was administered, a new PRISMA standard, PRISMA-S, has been released to serve as a reporting standard for searches to improve their transparency and reproducibility [ 11 ].

The reproducibility of the search in a systematic review or meta-analysis is one of the markers of a high-quality review [ 29 ]. As experts in literature searching as well as systematic review methodology, information specialists and librarians are able to critically assess the quality of search strategies and reporting. This study revealed that very few librarians who peer reviewed a manuscript found the search or the reporting methods of fully acceptable quality and rigor. The majority of respondents ( n = 40, 95%) rejected or recommended revisions to manuscripts they peer reviewed, reflecting the overall publication process where very few papers are accepted outright in journals [ 53 ]. Librarians who serve as peer reviewers for journals are not simply rubber stamping the manuscripts that they review. They bring their experience, knowledge of established tools and standards, as well as their professional judgment to this role [ 35 ]. The addition of a librarian with searching expertise and methodological experience to the peer review process for submitted systematic reviews should improve the integrity of the search strategies and methods and thus the data underlying the entire review, which should, in turn, improve the quality of published systematic reviews to inform health care decision-making.

Limitations

This study had several limitations. We used a non-validated survey instrument for this novel project. Its measurement properties, as described by the COSMIN definitions, are unknown, including its reliability, validity, responsiveness, and interpretability [ 54 ]. We are unaware of any validated survey instruments designed to measure the experiences of peer reviewers in general, let alone librarian peer reviewers. Survey results are based on self-reported responses, and the survey is likely to have attracted a non-representative sample of respondents with peer reviewing experience. It might have attracted librarians and information specialists who have more experience with systematic reviews, even though respondents with no experience were also encouraged to complete the survey. Respondents were asked to recall events in the past. For example, we asked respondents to estimate the number of manuscripts they had peer reviewed. Because of the use of professional biomedical librarian listservs to recruit respondents, we are unable to report a response rate, nor do we know how representative the participants are. Despite pilot-tested language in the survey, some responses clearly are referring to informal pre-submission peer review of searches by librarian colleagues rather than journal-level formal peer review of manuscripts. The terms “systematic review” and “meta-analysis” were not clearly defined and may have been interpreted inconsistently by respondents. This study did not explore whether a single reviewer is adequate to peer review the search strategy of a systematic review; further studies could examine inter-rater reliability of librarians as peer reviewers. All authors are or were practicing biomedical librarians, which could have introduced bias to the survey or manuscript.

This survey reports medical librarian and information specialists’ experience peer reviewing systematic review manuscripts submitted for publication. Librarians are highly qualified to do comprehensive searching and often participate in systematic review teams. Furthermore, literature has shown that librarian involvement in production of a systematic review increases its quality. However, only a quarter of librarians in our study were involved in peer review of systematic reviews. Those who were involved were tough reviewers and overwhelmingly rejected or recommended revisions to manuscripts. More effort is needed from publishers, editors, journals, and professional library associations to increase the rates of librarian, information specialist, or other search strategy experts’ involvement in evaluation of systematic review manuscripts.

Supplementary information

Acknowledgements.

Fanny Duprilot and Denise Hersey for work on an earlier version of this project. Robert Hughes for Excel advice. Yale graduate students and statistical consultants Kayoko Shioda and Yingnan Lyu for statistical advice. Sarah Tudesco for reviewing the survey instrument. Robin Featherstone, Shona Kirtley, Joseph S. Ross, and Joshua Wallach for comments on drafts of the manuscript.

Abbreviations

Authors’ contributions.

All authors conceptualized the study. HGN served as principal investigator and oversaw the entire project and IRB approvals. HGN presented preliminary survey results at a conference. JB revised the introduction and was a primary editor. MF drafted the survey instrument and spearheaded the data analysis. RGM assisted with survey and data analysis. KN established an OSF project associated with the paper and compiled data for CHERRIES. JS assisted with IRB approval and survey design and was a primary editor. LW spearheaded survey and data analysis. JG drafted the initial project. All authors discussed the results and analysis and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Authors’ information

All the authors are librarians at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library at Yale University. Cumulatively they are co-authors on over 70 published evidence syntheses (including systematic reviews and meta-analyses) and biomedical research articles, in addition to articles in the library science literature. JB, RGM, HGN, KN and JS have peer reviewed over 40 manuscripts for journals including Academic Medicine ,  Annals of Family Medicine , JAMA , JAMIA , JMLA , the Journal of eScience Librarianship , the Journal of School Nursing , and PLOS ONE . JB serves on the editorial advisory board of the Journal for Pediatric Healthcare . HGN has served on publication advisory boards for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American College of Physicians (ACP), and the Radiological Society of North American (RSNA).

Not applicable

Availability of data and materials

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

A survey instrument was used. Participants had to agree to the following statement:

Participation in this research project is completely voluntary. You have the right to say no. You may change your mind at any time and withdraw. You may choose not to answer specific questions or to stop participating at any time.

There are no personal benefits or risks to participating in this study.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Yale University has reviewed this study and deemed it exempt. If you have any concerns or questions about the survey, please contact the researcher: Holly Grossetta Nardini, Associate Director, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, Yale University. [email protected]

Clicking the AGREE button below indicates that I have read the previous information and agree to volunteer to participate in this survey.

On March 7, 2018, the Yale Human Subjects Committee (Institutional Review Board—IRB) deemed the project exempt. Project number 2000022848

Consent for publication

Competing interests.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Contributor Information

Holly K. Grossetta Nardini, Email: [email protected] .

Janene Batten, Email: [email protected] .

Melissa C. Funaro, Email: [email protected] .

Rolando Garcia-Milian, Email: [email protected] .

Kate Nyhan, Email: [email protected] .

Judy M. Spak, Email: [email protected] .

Lei Wang, Email: [email protected] .

Janis G. Glover, Email: moc.liamg@revolggnaj .

Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s41073-019-0083-5.

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  • e) If the data provided is inadequate to make a decision.

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Top courses for cat, learn this topic in detail, similar cat doubts, directions: study the following information carefully and answer the question which follow:a research institute is recruiting a librarian to digitise its information resources among other duties. candidates must possess the following criteria. the candidate must -(i) be not less than 35 years and not exceed 40 years as on 01 .11 .2009.(ii) have a bachelor's degree in library and information science with 65 percent marks.(iii) have a ph.d. in library science.(iv) have post qualification experience of at least 4 years in a university library.however if the candidate fulfils the above mentioned criteria except -(, directions for questions: study the following information carefully and answer the questions which follow: a research institute is recruiting a librarian to digitise its information resources among other duties. candidates must possess the following criteria. the candidate must -(i) be not less than 35 years and not exceed 40 years as on 01 .11 .2009. (ii) have a bachelor's degree in library and information science with 65 percent marks. (iii) have a ph.d. in library science. (iv) have post qualification experience of at least 4 years in a university library. however if the candidate fulfils the above mentioned criteria except - (, directions for questions: answer the questions on the basis of the information given below. the capital city of the kingdom of alami has the royal palace in the centre, with five fortifications, labelled f1 to f5, surrounding the palace. all the alami soldiers are always present at the royal palace unless ordered to move to a fortification. an enemy kingdom bagami planned to attack the royal palace and built camps around the fortifications. the bagamis built seven camps - e1 to e7 - around the alami fortifications and each bagami camp had a certain number of soldiers. the soldiers from a given bagami camp can attack only some of the fortifications, as indicated in the diagrambelow. however, all the soldiers from a single bagami camp need not necessarily attack the same fortification. the alami king came to know about this and was planning to send his soldiers to the fortifications.the following diagram shows the royal palace (p), fortifications (f1 to f5) and enemy (bagami) camps (e1 to e7). the solid lines in the figure represent the respective fortification to which the alami soldiers can be deployed from the palace. the dotted lines from each enemy camp represent the fortifications that the soldiers from that enemy camp can attack. the numbers inside each enemy camp represent the number of soldiers stationed in that camp.assume that all the bagami soldiers attack the fortifications that they are assigned to at the same time and each soldier will attack exactly one fortification. also, a higher numerical strength in terms of soldiers will assure victory to any side in such a manner that, if, say, 10 bagami soldiers attack a fortification with 11 alami soldiers, all the bagami soldiers will die and the fortification will remain safe, but with only 1 alami soldier remaining alive. if the number of bagami soldiers attacking a fortification is equal to the number of alami soldiers at the fortification, all the soldiers belonging to both the sides will die but the fortification will remain safe. in a similar manner, if the number of bagami soldiers attacking is in excess of the number of alami soldiers, the fortification will be destroyed, but with only the excess number of bagami soldiers remaining alive.q. if the alami king wants to save at least three fortifications from being destroyed, what is the minimum number of soldiers that he must deploy, directions for questions: answer the questions on the basis of the information given below. the capital city of the kingdom of alami has the royal palace in the centre, with five fortifications, labelled f1 to f5, surrounding the palace. all the alami soldiers are always present at the royal palace unless ordered to move to a fortification. an enemy kingdom bagami planned to attack the royal palace and built camps around the fortifications. the bagamis built seven camps - e1 to e7 - around the alami fortifications and each bagami camp had a certain number of soldiers. the soldiers from a given bagami camp can attack only some of the fortifications, as indicated in the diagrambelow. however, all the soldiers from a single bagami camp need not necessarily attack the same fortification. the alami king came to know about this and was planning to send his soldiers to the fortifications.the following diagram shows the royal palace (p), fortifications (f1 to f5) and enemy (bagami) camps (e1 to e7). the solid lines in the figure represent the respective fortification to which the alami soldiers can be deployed from the palace. the dotted lines from each enemy camp represent the fortifications that the soldiers from that enemy camp can attack. the numbers inside each enemy camp represent the number of soldiers stationed in that camp.assume that all the bagami soldiers attack the fortifications that they are assigned to at the same time and each soldier will attack exactly one fortification. also, a higher numerical strength in terms of soldiers will assure victory to any side in such a manner that, if, say, 10 bagami soldiers attack a fortification with 11 alami soldiers, all the bagami soldiers will die and the fortification will remain safe, but with only 1 alami soldier remaining alive. if the number of bagami soldiers attacking a fortification is equal to the number of alami soldiers at the fortification, all the soldiers belonging to both the sides will die but the fortification will remain safe. in a similar manner, if the number of bagami soldiers attacking is in excess of the number of alami soldiers, the fortification will be destroyed, but with only the excess number of bagami soldiers remaining alive.q. during the attack, if a total of 612 soldiers died on both the sides put together, what is the minimum number of fortifications that would not have been destroyed, quick links for cat exam.

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  1. Guidelines for Recruiting Academic Librarians

    Recruitment for a librarian actively involves a number of individuals and groups within an academic or research library setting. These may include the following position types or some combination of these as not every organization will have each type of professional. Regardless, all of these roles and responsibilities serve important functions:

  2. Recruitment Resources

    Recruiting to Academic Librarianship This page provides links to resources for recruiting academic and research librarians. Recruitment to Public Librarianship This page provides links to information about Public Librarianship as a career and additional recruitment tools. Recruitment to School Librarianship

  3. Diversity Initiatives to Recruit and Retain Academic Librarians: A

    In 1990, the Association of College & Research Libraries determined that three main issues were responsible for the inadequate recruitment and retention of minority academic librarians: "lack of institutional commitment to change and accountability, personal and institutional racism, and barriers to advancement and retention." 19 Even though the...

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    MLA Research Training Institute (RTI) is an online continuing education program for health sciences librarians and LIS graduate students that provides advanced research methods training and an intensive level of support as participants successfully design, conduct, and disseminate a research project. The RTI Fellowship Program offers a unique ...

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    A librarian is responsible for organizing, managing, and providing access to information resources in a library setting. They are responsible for selecting and acquiring books, journals, databases, and other materials for the library's collection, as well as cataloging and classifying them for easy retrieval by library users. Librarians also assist library patrons in locating information ...

  6. Recruiting and Retaining LGBTQ-Identified Staff in Academic Libraries

    Neely, Teresa Y., and Lorna Peterson. "Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity Among Academic and Research Librarians: the Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement of Librarians of Color, a White Paper." College and Research Libraries 68, no. 9 (2007): 562-565. Phillips, Jason D.

  7. Redefining the Role of Academic Librarians in Research

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  8. Raman Research Institute Recruitment 2023 For Librarian and Various

    Candidates can check the latest Raman Research Institute (RRI) Recruitment 2023 Librarian and Various Posts Vacancy 2023 details and apply online at the www.rri.res.in/ recruitment 2023 page. Raman Research Institute (RRI) Recruitment Notification & Recruitment application form is available @ www.rri.res.in/.

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    21 August 2023, 11:59 PM. Research Assistant - Chromatin Biology Project. View / Apply. Shortlisted Candidates. Selected Candidates. SCM. 3. 21 August 2023, 11:59 PM. Research Assistant - Ultrafast and Nonlinear Optics Lab.

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    Tarida received her MS in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include diversity, equity, and inclusion, early career development and mentoring, and outreach programming. Tarida was an ALA Emerging Leader and is an alumna of the Minnesota Institute for Early Career Librarians.

  11. How librarians contribute to interdisciplinary research teams

    Librarians hold unique qualities and have experience that can help interdisciplinary research teams overcome challenges. In addition, librarians play a dual role in research teams. They function both as contributors and coordinators, connecting their team members to resources and the array of services and spaces that libraries have to offer. Reply

  12. How to Become a Librarian

    Home Careers Career in Librarian Last Updated By Harleen Kaur on 05 Sep, 2022 How to Become a Librarian About Librarian History of Libraries and Librarians have been witnessed ever since the evolution of writing. People have been writing and recording their thoughts and ideas on different platforms.

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    If you would like to discuss the possibilities of careers in the library profession, you may contact HRDR staff, Beatrice Calvin at 800/545-2433 ext. 4280 or [email protected].

  14. What Does a Librarian Do? (With Requirements and Salary)

    A librarian's regular duties might include the following: Manage books, periodicals, audio and video recordings and digital resources, including cataloging, organization and storage functions. Aid individuals with research by locating the appropriate databases or books and overseeing the use of those materials.

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    Raman Research Institute is hiring for administrative, librarian, and personal secretary positions with a deadline of January 4th, 2024.

  16. Librarians as methodological peer reviewers for systematic reviews

    At the authors' institution, research teams undertaking systematic reviews with significant librarian involvement are required to include the librarian as a co-author [17-21]. Biomedical journal editors have expressed interest in improving the quality of published evidence syntheses, both in design and in reporting.

  17. Become a Librarian

    Directory of ALA-accredited schools Occupational Outlook Handbook for Librarians at the Bureau of Labor Statistics has more detailed information about educational requirements, work environment and job outlook for librarians and library workers. Emerging Trends

  18. Diversity Initiatives to Recruit and Retain Academic Librarians: A

    the implementation of a library diversity plan. 21 However, there is little current literature that addresses the recruitment and retention practices of diverse academic librarians. Objectives This systematic review provides a review of all Canadian and American practices that enhance diversity recruitment and retention in academic libraries.

  19. CLTRI Recruitment 2023 For 6 Librarian and Various Posts

    Phone: 044-27426274. Fax: 044-27429308. Website: https://cltri.gov.in/. Central Leprosy Teaching & Research Institute (CLTRI), Chengalpattu was founded in 1955. CLTRI falls under Ministry of Health and Family welfare. CLTRI Recruitment includes in the field of Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology, Ortho-surgery and more.

  20. Directions for Questions: Study the following information ...

    Directions for Questions: Study the following information carefully and answer the quEstions which follow: A Research Institute is recruiting a librarian to digitise its information resources among other duties. Candidates must possess the following criteria.

  21. Librarian at Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru

    Home Government LIS Jobs Librarian at Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru Advt - 2/2023 - dtd 04/11/2023 Post Librarian No of post 01 post Pay level level 13 Upper Age Limit 56 years as on last date of application Essential: 1. Graduate in Science 2. Postgraduate qualification in Library and Information Science.

  22. Directions: Study the following information carefully and ...

    A Research Institute is recruiting a librarian to digitise its information resources among other duties. Candidates must possess the following criteria. The candidate must - (i) be not less than 35 years and not exceed 40 years as on 01 .11 .2009. (ii) have a Bachelor's Degree in Library and Information Science with 65 percent marks.

  23. Directions for Questions: Study the following information ...

    Directions for Questions: Study the following information carefully and answer the quEstions which follow: A Research Institute is recruiting a librarian to digitise its information resources among other duties. Candidates must possess the following criteria.