[WEB4LIB] Academic Librarians, Conference Presentations, and a Contest

[Shirl Kennedy]

> Librarians
> Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education
> "A Shortage of Academic Librarians"

OK...personal aside here, as one who is job-hunting and would strongly
consider an appropriate position in an academic library, since I'd like to
be in an environment where writing and publishing is valued...  Big part of
the problem -- and I've had job-hunting colleagues tell me the same thing --
is that academic libraries tend to take a very l-o-n-g time to make any sort
of hiring decision.  It's almost as bad as the federal government.  Someone
who really needs or wants a job and doesn't have the luxury of waiting
around forever is quite likely to go someplace else.

Something like this happened to a friend about a year ago, who very much
wanted an advertised position in a particular large medical college library
(and who is highly qualified in every respect...second masters degree, MLA
certification, etc.)  She sent in her application and supporting
documentation well before the closing date.  Almost four months later, she
got a call from this institution that they were finally reviewing the
applications and wanted to know if she was still interested.  Well, by then,
she had taken another job, in industry -- which was not her first choice,
but it was "good enough" and she was in a position where she had to take
something.

Then there are the vacancy announcements that go on and on, listing so many
required/preferred skills and experience qualifications, including very
specific software applications, etc.  Come on, folks...  How many people are
you gonna find that meet every single bullet point?  Anyone with a decent
technical background is capable of learning other, similar software
applications without a struggle.  If you hold out for utopia, it's gonna be
pretty tough to fill those positions.

I'm not even gonna get into the profession/salary issue, since it's not
unique to academic libraries, but...

</rant>


Shirl Kennedy
Librarian-at-Large
http://home.tampabay.rr.com/hooboy/



> Librarians
> Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education
> "A Shortage of Academic Librarians"
>
> Jennifer Jacobson writes, "Academic libraries, experiencing a wave of
> retirements, are finding they have more job openings than
> qualified candidates to
> fill them. The seller's market for academic librarians is a
> result of a few
> trends: the graying of the profession, the stagnant number of
> graduates from
> schools of library and information science, and the fact that
> many of those
> graduates shun academe to take higher-paying jobs in the private
> sector." "Academic librarians fear that students will suffer the
> most from the
> recruiting problems in the profession.
>
> Full-Text at:
> http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/08/2002081401c.htm
> Librarian
> Gary Price Library Research and Internet Consulting
> gary at freepint.com
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