Technical Services Job Ads: Changes Since 1995

Abstract

For this project, the researchers studied job ads posted during 2001 in American Libraries, Autocat, The Chronicle of Higher Education, College and Research Libraries News, and SerialsST. This article replicates studies by Penny M. Beile and Megan M. Adams, and Michael Towsey that analyzed job ads from the mid-1990s.1–2 The results from the current study were compared with their results. Findings included a very large increase in the number of jobs advertised, increases in the number of jobs reposted and in salaries, and a decrease in foreign-language requirements.

Skills in the market: an analysis of skills and qualifications for American librarians

“…As far as entry-level jobs are concerned, Tewell (2012) examined the availability of entry-level jobs for new graduates, concluding that entry-level positions were somehow scarce, affecting the perspectives of those seeking to be employed in academic libraries. This result matches with the findings of Holt and Strock (2005) but contradicts those of Albitz (2002), Deeken and Thomas (2006) and Choi and Rasmussen (2009), as well as the Conners and McCarthy (2007) conviction that a graduate who does not give up will, eventually, find a job in a library.…”

“…Regarding the source of data, it appears that American Libraries (Chaudhry and Komathi, 2002;Deeken and Thomas, 2006;Hall-Ellis, 2006a, 2006bHan and Hswe, 2010;Khurshid, 2003;Sproles and Ratledge, 2004;Starr, 2004) and College & Research Libraries News (C & RL News) (Albitz, 2002;Boff et al, 2006;Choi and Rasmussen, 2009;Frederiksen, 2005;Goetsch, 2008;Hernon and Rossiter, 2006;Kinkus, 2007;Lynch and Smith, 2001;Promís, 2008;Wang et al, 2010) are among the most popular resources for researchers, especially when they want to obtain data from "traditional" resources or when online resources are non-existent.…”

Job Satisfaction among Academic Cataloger Librarians

“…Yet, based on the number of paraprofessionals working in libraries, it seems likely that more of these positions would be replaced by paraprofessionals than what these findings reveal. 65 It is also likely that the numbers of cataloger librarians will remain small. Much will depend on the future advancements in technology and budgetary issues in individual libraries.…”

Succession Planning in Academic Libraries: A Reconsideration

“…Although there are number of approaches one could take to argue that succession planning is the wrong approach for academic libraries, there is one particular body of library literature that provides a thought-provoking counterpoint to those in the field who advocate for the use of succession planning in academic libraries. Studies of the content of job advertisements have analyzed specific jobs or job categories, such as cataloging (Buttlar & Garcha, 1998;Hall-Ellis, 2005); serials cataloging (Copeland, 1997); collection development and management (Robinson, 1993); electronic, electronic resource, and digital librarian positions (Albitz, 2002;Croneis & Henderson, 2002); serials (Kwasik, 2002;Mueller & Mering, 1991), systems (Foote, 1997) and technical services (Deeken & Thomas, 2006). Others examples include outreach (Boff, Singer, & Stearns, 2006); preservation (Cloonan & Norcott, 1989); reference (Cardina & Wicks, 2004;Detmering & Sproles, 2012;Wang, Tang, & Knight, 2010;White, 2000); reference-bibliographers (Schreiner-Robles & Germann, 1989); special collections (Hansen, 2011); subject specialists (Detlefsen, 1992;McAbee & Graham, 2005;White, 1999); and science and engineering (Bychowski, Caffrey, Costa, Moore, Sudhakaran, & Zhang, 2010;Osorio, 1999).…”