Job title

[Nina Mchale]

Why thank you, Louise! As do you, as usual. :D

Meant to add this before: my department (IT, aka "Digital Services") just
went through a re-org, and one of the outcomes was to add a public services
component to our jobs. The two internet librarians (who reside in IT/DS)
and I will be taking on some public service duties--NOT reference
duties--but tech...interaction? duties. ("Support" isn't quite the right
word; it's more "user experience," methinks.) We are all former reference
librarians, incidentally. I'm excited about: 1. what I will learn about
users and how they interact with technology in the public environment,
since all my experience up until last November was academic; 2. the ways in
which this will inform how we develop the web and other services.

Apologies to William for hijacking his original post. Thanks for initiating
a really interesting discussion!

-- 
Nina

Nina McHale, MA/MSLS
milehighbrarian.net
Facebook & Twitter: @ninermac

On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 1:47 PM, Louise Alcorn <Louise.Alcorn at wdm.iowa.gov>wrote:

>  Nina makes an excellent point.  My job title was very new in libraries
> in 1995.  I had a very forward-thinking boss at the time, who realized her
> public services dept would need someone to liaise with IT and vendors of
> electronic (online and (gasp!) CD-ROM) resources, with the ability to make
> these resources viable in our library environment.  Although my title has
> not changed (a point of very minor contention), my job has changed
> drastically in many ways.  That said, I still believe my job is primarily a
> public services function for the library.  If my job included more systems
> type work, I would argue that it should be under a different heading.  I
> see jobs like that a lot now, coming over this list.  I think there is
> still space for both – a public services-focused and sysadmin-focused
> positions (the latter of which might be outsourced to City IT or a company)
> - esp. in mid-size libraries and library systems.  But they have to be able
> to work together – that’s key.  ****
>
> ** **
>
> Louise E. Alcorn
> Reference Technology Librarian
> West Des Moines Public Library
> 4000 Mills Civic Pkwy
> West Des Moines IA 50265
> (515) 222-3573      louise.alcorn at wdm.iowa.gov ****
>
> (note new email domain as of July, 2011)
> http://www.wdmlibrary.org   ****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* Web technologies in libraries [mailto:WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU] *On
> Behalf Of *Nina Mchale
> *Sent:* Friday, July 06, 2012 2:06 PM
>
> *To:* WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> *Subject:* Re: [WEB4LIB] Job title****
>
> ** **
>
> William and all,****
>
> ** **
>
> I think this is becoming more commonplace--supplanting "traditional"
> titles with more tech-themed ones--and is a natural evolution as new user
> needs and service opportunities develop. Very, very few libraries actually
> have the resources to support the types of online environments we're
> shooting to build, maintain, and sustain to stay relevant in our users'
> eyes, and it's natural to shift positions and titles like this. Heck, my
> own career is a product of it; three jobs ago, I was Reference/Head of
> Instruction. Now=sysadmin for web. This isn't to say that public services
> roles are less important; we just need to provide the full infrastructure
> for our online selves. :)****
>
> ** **
>
> --
> Nina
>
> Nina McHale, MA/MSLS
> milehighbrarian.net
> Facebook & Twitter: @ninermac****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 12:00 PM, William Stein <guillermost2003 at yahoo.com>
> wrote:****
>
> Thanks everyone for responding to our request for input on a job title for
> our newly created position. Oddly enough we are phasing out a "traditional"
> job title (Adult Service Librarian) to be replaced by this newly minted
> "Information Services" position. We have a candidate fresh out of library
> school who is currently working as a part-time Reference Librarian waiting
> to be elevated to her new job (as soon as we figure out what that will be).
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Once again, our thanks.****
>
> Will Stein, Reference Librarian****
>
> Washington County Public Library****
>
> Abingdon, Va.****
>
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