Teach Time Encyclopedia - Learn About Our World
Home Page
Teach Time
Featured Topics

United States
by state

CITYology

Academic Disciplines

Historical Timelines

Themed Timelines

Calendars

Reference Tables

Biographies

How-tos



Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Librarian

A librarian is a professional worker in a library. Although librarians are traditionally associated with collections of books, they are experts in the organization and retrieval of information in any format.

Examples:

  • Gramophone records and compact discs
  • Photographs and videotapes
  • Newspapers, magazines and scientific journals
  • Computer databases
  • Referrals to other community organizations and government offices.
  • Suggesting appropriate books for children of different reading levels, and recommending novels for recreational reading.

Librarians can be found be found in many areas. Public libraries, public schools and university libraries are the most common employers. Librarians can also be found at businesses, government departments, hospitals, law firms, museums, and other large organizations where academic research is performed or that store large quantities of information.

It is usual for a librarian to have an MLS (Master of Library Science) degree from an accredited university. Library technicians (also called assistant librarians or library assistants) may perform duties such as searching for items in the library catalog or basic cataloging, but lack the Master's degree.

The specific duties vary depending on the size and type of library and number of employees, but most librarians spend most of their time working in one of the following areas of a library:

  • Public service librarians work at the reference desk. Some specialize in serving adults or children. (In larger libraries they may specialize in teen services, the periodicals or other special collection.)
  • Technical service librarians work "behind the scenes" ordering library materials and database subscriptions, computers and other equipment, and supervise the cataloguing and physical processing of new books.
  • Experienced librarians may be promoted to administrative positions such as the library director, or the director of a group of libraries. Similar to the president of any other business, they are concerned with the long-term planning of the library as a business, and its relationship with its parent organization (the city or county for a public library, or the college for an academic library).

See: List of librarians
In the discworld book series by Terry Pratchett there is a librarian who has been magicallyally turned into an orangutan, if you are looking for him; I suggest you check out The Librarian (Discworld).

St. Jerome is the patron saint of librarians and translators.



Internet Hotel Solutions

Site Sponsors
AC Units
Baltimore Harbor
Boot Camp Grads
Bra Size
Burkittsville
College Hotels
Digital Harbor
Free Cell Phones
Golden Hare Travel
Golf Vacations
Golf Courses
Gourmet
Hair Styles
Hippodrome
iWoman
Lesson Plans
Maryland Hotels
MD Genealogy
Minor League Stuff
Motel Site
Ocean City
OC Real Estate
Old Agers
Office Supplies
Orlando
Pet Friendly Hotel
Room Prices
Savannah, GA
Ski Vacations
South Baltimore
Student Teaching
Travel Sources
University Hotels
Visit Military Bases
Washington, DC

Brought to you by NoChildLeftBehind.com and the Beaches and Towns Network, LLC.