There
are several things that I am learning about as my LIS program continues on
throughout this first semester. One of the items is that it is important to look
ahead at potential career possibilities, find the type(s) of career that
interests me, and analyze the skills and competencies requires to make sure
that one day I’d be able to perform that job.
While
I know I would like to focus my concentration on Archives and Digital
Management Content, there are a few different types of job, that I would be
interested in working in some day. Below
is short list of these jobs and some quick analysis!
Associate University
Librarian for Special Collections & Archives
This
position is what I think would be an ultimate goal of mine. It combines the worlds of academia with
document archiving in a senior management position.
The
following information has been taken from an actual job listing. Per GW Job
Listings, for this type of position you need:
- “ALA accredited MLS degree
- 10 years of experience or more as a professional librarian or archivist with increasingly responsible positions in collections development, special collections, or acquisitions
- At
least five years of experience in a managerial or supervisory role in an
academic or research institution”
Other
experience desired is:
- “Ph.D. degree in a subject discipline
- Experience working in a research library and supporting university faculty with their research that involves digital technologies
- Work in digital humanities and experience with technologies used to support digital humanities scholarship
- Experience in budget preparation, projection and analysis and grant proposal development
- Knowledge of an experience with current digital collection management practices and issues
- Able to work with other faculty to develop collections that can be used in research and teaching
- Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing
- Ability
to work effectively as a part of a team”
I
believe this job would be very tasking and yet very rewarding. With this type
of position, you would be working within the world of academics as I have mentioned
earlier. You would be working on a team
and reporting to a Dean or Director of some sort. While developing policies and strategies, you
would be improving the collections and services giving 21-century research
libraries their importance and place (Associate University Librarian for Special Collections and Archives,
2014) . You would still be interacting with users
such as students, faculty, and other scholars giving the position that level
person to person contact, too. You would be in charge of important decisions
while still operating within the ideals of traditional librarianship.
A
job that one may have before reaching this goal may be the following.
Archives and Special
Collections Coordinator
This
type of position would most likely be found within the world of academia, as
well. The person in this role “develops and implements uniform arrangement and
description standards and ensures the materials or efficiently and effectively
processes…[as well as]…creating, revising, and encoding finding aids” (American Library Association,
2013) . This type of position
works with both the physical and the digital collections of the University
library. They would report to department
heads and overall the Dean or Director.
Minimum
requirements would be:
- “ALA accredited MLIS degree
- Formal training and coursework in archival management and theory
- Two
or more years of professional archival processing experience”
Other
desired qualifications may be:
- “In-depth knowledge of library archives and special collection services, business practices, and methodologies
- Skill in conducting institutional research
- Ability to establish and maintain effective work relationships with students, faculty, staff and the public
- Experience and proficiency with current information technologies and computer applications
- Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
- Work
experience in diverse populations”
Anyway,
I know that my dreams are not the dreams of everyone. Regardless,
I strongly encourage you to do take a look at your chosen field and dream
job. See what is necessary and/or
required. This may help you or sway you
to determine if that type of job and the work required to get it are for you or
not. If it’s not, then you are saving
yourself a lot of time and efforts. If
it is, then I hope it helps to shed light on the next steps you need to take!
Melissa
References
American
Library Association. (2013). Archives and Special Collections Coordinator.
Retrieved from ALA Joblist:
http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/Archives-and-Special-Collections-Coordinator/25170.cfm
Associate
University Librarian for Special Collections and Archives. (2014, February).
Retrieved from GW Jobs University Human Resources:
https://www.gwu.jobs/postings/20206
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