http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/article6154172.ece
Shh, this is a digital library
Once upon a time a love of books and reading was considered a key requirement for an aspiring librarian. Today, with the advent of digitalisation and moves towards the virtual library, such an interest is no longer enough. Librarians must master sophisticated IT and information management skills as well as the traditional techniques.Bookishness has gone - along with the old stereotype of stern shushes from a bluestocking in a tweed skirt and spectacles with her hair in a tightly twisted bun.
Even Oxford University's venerable Bodleian Library is moving into the 21st century with plans to allow more online access to materials and electronic document delivery. And a significant proportion of Oxford's 19th-century out-of-copyright holdings, including Jane Austen's Emma and the first edition of Charles Darwin's On The Origin Of Species, have been digitalised to allow online access.
So what does it take to be a librarian in the digital age? Well, you can start work in a library with GCSEs, A levels or a first degree in information sciences. However, a postgraduate qualification - an MA or MSc - is necessary in certain sectors where there is a bar to promotion for anyone without a professional qualification. This is the case in schools, colleges and universities, and government and local authorities.
Every year some 2,000 students study for a masters level qualification in library and information studies in the UK. These students, who may have a first degree in virtually any subject, spend a year before their postgraduate course as a trainee in a library or information service. Oxford University, for example, has a graduate library training scheme offering up to 20 placements a year.
Trainees can choose from as many as 90 UK postgraduate librarianship or information science degrees, although only 58 of these are recognised by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip). This body accredits trainees' professional experience and training for them to attain chartered professional status.
Cilip-recognised courses are run in 18 institutions and have a variety of names reflecting different emphases in content. For example there is health infomatics for those wishing to work in the healthcare sector or legal information management for those aiming to join law firms.
Among the postgraduate course market leaders are University College London and Sheffield, Loughborough and City universities. Aberystwyth University has the most librarian students in the UK - some 800, most of them studying by distance learning.
What kind of qualities does a librarian need? Vanda Broughton, MA programme director for library and information studies at University College London, cites an interest in information, curiosity and, for those going into the technical areas of IT or cataloguing, an interest in detail and a methodical approach.
For librarians dealing with readers, people skills are important in helping users to find information, use databases and negotiate online resources.
Traditional librarianship skills of managing information, compiling collections, selecting and organising material and making it available to readers are still important but they are exercised in an increasingly digital context.
Bibliographic databases have replaced print-based services. Scholarly journals are now delivered electronically. E-text books are increasingly prevalent and rare texts such as the Gutenberg Bible and the Beowulf manuscript have been digitalised to allow public access.
Dr Gayner Eyre, head of Aberystwyth University's department of information studies, says: “We used to deal in tangibles, now we deal in virtuals. Librarians are becoming IT specialists. We now teach about the importance of social networking, skills in Web 2.0 and 3.0, electronic preservation and migrating information to new formats.
“We teach people how to organise information virtually and electronically and about the manipulation of data in a web environment. This is creating a new breed of librarians as online facilitators.”
Technological change is now so fast that it is hard to predict what the next development will be but Broughton insists: “The professional who is trained in the principles of managing information will not be fazed by this change. The medium is not the message - you respond as the medium changes.
“Do not go into library work if you do not like IT. If you really prefer books, think about the book trade or publishing, not librarianship.”
www.cilip.org.uk
