Step into the Future with New
Career Choices

Dr. Sandra Hirsh, Professor and Director
San Jose State University
School of Library and Information Science
February 4, 2011February 4, 2011
Changing Times
 “I’ve come to think that managing our
uncertain future is about achieving
fitness: adapting to change, staying
relevant.” - Stephen J. Bell
Agenda
 Current job situation
 New opportunities for information
professionals
 Strategies for pursuing new career paths
LIS Jobs: Average Growth
 Librarians (“Best career 2009”), Archivists,
Conservators and Curators
 Job growth is project to be average through
2018:
 US: 8%
 Canada: 6%
 The retirement level is expected to rise over
the next decade.
So why is it difficult to find a job?
 Geographic location
 Economic conditions for different
library settings, especially in state and
local governments
 Experience/Skill Levels required
New opportunities

LIS Skills are in demand…
 Agencies outside of libraries
experienced an increase in reported
placements from just over 15% (2008)
to over 27% (2009)
- Library Journal Placement and Salary Survey 2010
Opportunities outside of libraries
 U.S. News & World Report listed
these as top 30 careers in 2009:
 Usability/User Experience Specialist
 Systems Analyst
Opportunities outside of libraries
 Database development
 Reference tool development
 Information systems
 Publishing
 Internet coordination
 Marketing
 Web content management and design
 Training of database users
- Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011
Emerging Job Titles
 Emerging Technologies Librarian
 Web Content Manager
 Information Architect
 Usability Analyst
 Information Specialist
 Digital Collections Metadata Librarian
 Virtual Services Manager
 Digital Assets Librarian
Escobosa, C. (2010). Library and information careers: emerging trends and titles.
Highly requested skills
 Teaching/instruction
 Web design and maintenance
 Knowledge of metadata standards for digital
content
 Knowledge of integrated library systems
 Ability to create online tutorials
Escobosa, C. (2010). Library and information careers: emerging trends and titles.
Think broadly about LIS skills
 “LIS skills are good currency in this
world – but only for those with the
flexibility and insight to exploit the
opportunities.” - Stephen Abrams
Case Studies

Case Study: Head of New Center for
Digital Learning and Research
 Founding director of the CDLR at Occidental College
in 2009, which focuses on enabling student and
faculty success in the rapidly changing world of
digital scholarship.
 Assembled a group of technology, library science,
and media experts who could help the faculty use
technology in their teaching…
 Learn how to podcast
 Publish on a digital scholarship platform
 Master the intricacies of Moodle, an open
source learning management system.
Case Study: Learning Resource Exchange
European Schoolnet

Work as a semantic interoperability expert for the European
Schoolnet to manage their Learning Resource Exchange (LRE)
for schools, a portal of open educational resources.

research and writing in the field of metadata standards and
semantic interoperability.

develop and document the LRE metadata application profile

liaison with the LRE development team to improve tools and
develop new ones

manage controlled vocabularies

administer different semantic interoperability tools, such as LRE
metadata application profile registry and vocabulary bank for
education
Case Study: Digital Archivist
Stanford University

Stanford's First Digital Archivist to develop best practices for
acquiring, capturing, processing, and describing born-digital
materials.

making backup copies of a collection that had some born digital
files in a personal computer.

lobbied to expand the scope of his job to do further processing
of the digital files, such as migrating ones in obsolete formats to
long-term preservation formats and separating files with
restricted information.

merging the metadata of a map collection and processing a
born digital collection with 200,000 files in a full-text search
format to facilitate finding the program listing and
correspondence related to the computer game “Adventure.”
Case Study: Senior Analyst
Adobe Systems

Senior Analyst, Information Resources/Research Portal
Manager, Adobe Systems






Develop and maintain company-wide research and
information portal.
Drive the technology roadmap for the portal, manage
vendors and consultants, conduct user research and surveys,
and maintain extensive taxonomy structure.
Regularly write for the group’s Markets and Research blog,
Manage collaboration tools including blogs, wikis, eRooms,
and shared servers.
Create marketing materials and provide trainings in person
and via web conference.
Perform custom research and inquiry work for employees
worldwide.
My Career Path
University of Arizona (Academia)
HP Labs (R&D)
Microsoft (Product Development)
LinkedIn (Product Development)
San Jose State University (Academia)
Moving into industry –
untraditional library position
Scenario
 Professor at University
of Arizona
 Need to leave job for
family move
 No academic jobs
available in the Bay
Area
Strategies
 Leveraged network
 Created opportunity
 Took a chance
Moving into industry non-library position
Scenario
 Decided it was time to
diversify
Strategies
 Explored different
industry job titles to find
best fit – chose User
Experience
 Attended local
professional eventsnetworked
 Identified transferrable
skills
Moving from industry back into academia
Scenario
 Ready for a job change
 Planned to come back
to academia,
but…when?
Strategies
 Continue scholarly
activities
 Maintain LIS professional
involvement
 Take on advocacy for
public libraries
 Maintain connection to
LIS education
Strategies

How can you extend your career beyond
libraries?
Set goals
for
career
growth
Translate
LIS terms
Leverage
transferrable skills
Articulate
career
narrative
Network
Network
Network
Develop
your
personal
brand
Bridging Terminology
• Cataloguing
User needs
• Reference
Metadata
• Library
Systems/D
atabases
Technical
Skills
Social
networking
• Library
Outreach
Transferrable Skills
Leadership
Creativity
Innovation
Collaboration
Flexibility/Ambiguity
Passion
Communication
Problem-Solving
Develop/Build Key Skills
 Get Experience
 Take a course (See LIS Career Resources)
 Find a mentor
 Perform “informational interviews”
 Read books, articles, blogs
 Read broadly for trends (in libraries, business,
general)
Networking!
Participate in
discussion groups
Attend conferences
and professional
events
Build online profile &
professional network
Develop your personal brand
Be visible
• Develop online portfolio, professional profile, website, resume
Speak out
• Blog, post to discussions, answer online questions
Tell a story (career narrative)
• Package your skills, experience, personality (online & offline)
Be professionally engaged
• Volunteer, take on leadership roles, write, publish, present
Manage your online reputation
 “According to a Microsoft survey of more
than 1200 hiring managers in December
2009, 79% of companies and recruiters
reviewed online information about job
applicants and 70% had actually rejected
candidates based on what they found.” Information Today, Nov. 2010, p.1
Takeways
 LIS skills are marketable and can be applied in
many settings!
 Think broadly about your own skills and how
you could use them in different contexts
 You own your career – chart it out
 Build and nurture your professional network
 Keep current and fill in gaps in your skill set
Questions?
 Thank you!
 Sandy.hirsh@sjsu.edu
LIS Career Resources
 Books
 Professional organizations
 Job sites
 LIS Blogs
 Listservs and Forums
 Continuing education
Books

Doucet, E. (2010). What they don’t teach you in library school.
Chicago: ALA Editions.

Haycock, K. and Sheldon, B., eds. (2008). The portable MLIS:
insights from the experts. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Lawson, J., Kroll, J. and Kowatch, K. (2010). The new information
professional: your guide to careers in the digital age. New York:
Neal-Schuman.

Murray, R. and Shontz, P. K. (2007). A day in the life: career
options in library and information science. Westport, CT: Libraries
Unlimited.
Professional Organizations

ALA – American Library Association (includes Canada) http://www.ala.org/

ALA Divisions Listings http://www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/divisions/divisions.htm

ALISE - Association of Library and Information Science Education
http://www.alise.org/index.html

ASIST -American Society for Information Science and Technology
http://www.asis.org/index.html

IFLAI – International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
http://www.ifla.org/

List of Professional Associations in the Information Sciences
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/resources/orgs.htm
Job Sites

American Library Association Job List http://joblist.ala.org/

Career Direction Research –
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/resources/career_development/careerdirection_resea
rch.htm

Combined LIS Job Postings List http://www.lisjobs.com/jobs/index.asp

LibJobs.com http://www.libjobs.com/

Library and Technology Association Jobs
http://www.lita.org/ala/lita/litaresources/litajobsite/newthisweek/newweek.
cfm

Library Journal Job Zone http://jobs.libraryjournal.com/

LISCareer.com – Career Strategies for Librarians
http://liscareer.com/index.htm
LIS Blogs

ACRLog - http://acrlog.org/
News and professional issues for academic librarians

Library of Congress Blog - http://www.loc.gov/blog/ Written by Matt Raymond,
Jennifer Gavin, and Erin Allen

Librarian in Black-http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/ Current news and updates for
“tech-savvy librarians”

LISNews - http://www.lisnews.org/
Articles, links, reviews and interviews on the latest LIS happenings

Annoyed Librarian - http://blog.libraryjournal.com/annoyedlibrarian
librarian weighs in on controversial LIS issues in a thought-provoking manner.

Blogwithoutalibrary.net - http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net
A continually updated look at what libraries are doing with blogs.

The Young Librarian - http://younglibrarian.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Chronicles of a recent MLIS graduate seeking employment.
A
LIS Blogs

Infomancy - http://www.schoolof.info/infomancy/
A weblog about information, libraries, and technology by a school library system
director from New York State.

Information Wants to be Free - http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/
Meredith Farkas’s blog, specializing in using social networking tools in an LIS
setting

Librarian.net - http://www.librarian.net/
Links to pertinent alternative web sites of interest, presented by Jessamyn West.

The Shifted Librarian - http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/
Library weblog intent on "making librarians more portable" from Jenny Levine

Threnody for the Public Domain - http://pdthrenody.blogspot.com/
Tracking the current state of copyright and related issues.
Listservs and Forums

ALA Discussion Lists http://lists.ala.org/wws

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions LIBJOBS
http://infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/info/libjobs

Info Career Trends - LISjobs.com's Professional Development Newsletter
http://www.lisjobs.com/newsletter/

iProJobs Information School Professional Jobs List
http://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/iprojobs

LIS Career Options – http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=3126663

NextGen Librarians – Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=7f4beb04efc2e5aaf439abf80951b41
5&gid=2240728154&ref=search
Continuing Education
ALA – Education and Careers – Continuing Education
http://www.ala.org/ala/education/ce/continuingeducation.htm (Includes searchable database
of ALA‐sponsored continuing education opportunities)
CLA (Canadian Library Association) – Continuing Professional Development
http://www.cla.ca/conference/continued.htm
ALA – State and Regional Chapters – List of Professional Associations
http://www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/chapters/stateandregional/stateregional.htm
Infopeople – Federally funded grant project providing a wide variety of training to LIS workers
http://www.infopeople.org/
IS/Continuing Education (ACRL) – A wiki listing online continuing education opportunities for
academic librarians http://wikis.ala.org/acrl/index.php/IS/Continuing_Education
Simmons College GSLIS Continuing Education – On-site continuing education courses for LIS
professionals http://alanis.simmons.edu/ceweb/teach.php
Trendy Topics (T2) – Online conferences on hot topics in the LIS field http://www.trendytopics.info/