Second career librarians: teachers transitioning to librarianship

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Second career librarians have emerged from many professions over the years. They have made significant contributions to librarianship as they transfer their years of expertise, knowledge and skills from their former careers into the field. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which motivate teachers to leave the teaching profession and make the entrance into librarianship. The findings will be used to justify whether the switch is just a means of acquiring advance education or is a conscious desire to change their career. This research will discover common themes in their experiences and perceptions and draw reasonable conclusions about them. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is a qualitative analysis of data gleaned from in-depth interviews with teachers who completed the Master in Library and Information Studies degree between 1996 and 2008 at the Department of Library and Information Studies, University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and responses were recorded to facilitate transcription in an effort to detect similar themes in their experiences. Findings -Findings of this research substantiate existing empirical evidence which highlights better opportunities as a major career motivation for second career librarians. Originality/value -The paper builds on the literature in second career librarians and offers essential information which should impact library education and library administrators' recruitment policies. The findings of this research are therefore expected to be of value to educators and practitioners in the field of library and information science.

Chinese Students’ Motivations for Overseas versus Domestic MLIS Education: A Comparative Study between University of Tsukuba and Shanghai University

“…Librarianship has never been known to be a high-paying occupation worldwide, and people are aware of this. 45 The student participants in this study seemed to be well aware of the limited career prospects, and also the potentially slow career progress in librarianship. Nevertheless, the less-competitive working environment, job security, and stable nature of library work all seemed to be major factors that motivated some of the student participants of this study to opt for a career in librarianship.…”

Motivations for choosing librarianship as a second career among students at the University of British Columbia and the University of Hong Kong

“…In the past, it was customary for people to have a single career throughout their entire working lives. In comparison, an increasing number of people are now opting for second and even third careers by the time they retire (Lambert & Newman, 2012), especially with the existence of so many job opportunities nowadays, career changes and transitioning have become very common amongst many established professions. This is simply the trend as people seek to adapt to their social and economic circumstances in an age that is driven by globalization, information and technology.…”

Choice of Library and Information Science in a rapidly changing information landscape

“…Furthermore, teaching constitutes a significant component of librarian's role and work (Cox and Corrall, 2013;Vassilakaki and Moniarou-Papaconstantinou, 2015). It appears that among the motives that led the career changers to select LIS are changes or disappointment in their first career (Fikar and Corral, 2001;Lambert and Newman, 2012), the nature of library work, the desire to use knowledge and the transferable skills in their new career (Deeming and Chelin, 2001;Lambert and Newman, 2012).…”