Flying Solo: Librarian, Manage Thyself.

1999; American Library Association; Volume: 30; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

ISSN

0002-9769

Autores

Judith A. Siess,

Tópico(s)

Library Science and Information Literacy

Resumo

Solo have to be team players who specialize in working alone. \j \f hat's a librarian? One * * who flies airplane alone? Not exactly, but there are similari ties. Martha Rhine, founder of the Solo Librar ians Division of the Special Libraries Asso ciation, defined a solo as an isolated or information collector/provider who has no professional peers within the immediate organization. Other names for are one-man band (in the U.K.), sole-charge librarian (sometimes used in Australia and New Zealand), and one-person librarian (used most ev erywhere else). Many members of the American Library Association call themselves independent librarians and join the Independent Librarians' Exchange, a section of the Associa tion of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies. How many solos are there and where do they work? The Special Li braries Association estimates that a third to a half of its 14,000+ members are in positions. That's 5,000 7,000 solos in special libraries alone. Solos work mostly in corporate li braries, but they are also found in museums, schools, churches or synagogues, prisons, law firms, and hospitals. The presence of li brarians is growing rapidly in non traditional jobs or nonlibrary settings such as information brokers, sales for library-re lated firms, publishing, and infopreneurs. In addition, U.S. Department of Educa tion figures show that the vast majority of public libraries employ only one profes sional librarian; often this is true of branches of larger library systems. In addi tion, nearly 80% of public libraries serving populations under 25,000 are staffed by only one professional. The is most likely found in a small library without extensive holdings or re sources. Solos are expected to do it all?or dering, cataloging, reference, bibliographic f SB ^ I.TO fl

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