Saturday, October 14, 2006

Additional Questions for Discussion: Monday October 16


Group Four discussion questions:
US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Librarians," Occupational Outlook Handbook (2006-07 edition).

Nature of the Work:
How would you describe the strengths and weaknesses of a qualified librarian?
What kind of work do librarians primarily perform?
What makes librarianship a unique profession?
What three aspects of library work do most librarian positions incorporate?
Why is it important for a librarian to develop skills in each of these fields of librarianship?

Working Conditions:
What are a few of the workplace hazards involved in librarianship?
What are the benefits of working so closely with computers? What are the weaknesses?
Is this an adequate description of the working conditions involved in librarianship? What would you add?
Training, other qualifications, and advancement:
Is it necessary for a librarian to receive training in both instruction and technology?
Does librarianship training overlap with too many fields? In other words, is the master’s degree program too broad with too many specifications? How could it be improved?

Job Outlook:
In what ways is technology capable of performing traditional library work? In what ways is a traditional librarian needed more than automated information systems?
What kinds of skills do librarians need to develop in order to compete with changing technological systems and a smaller job market?

Related Occupations:
Given the large amount of informational, interpersonal, and technological skills which librarians must now acquire, is "librarian" still a relevant term or is it too outdated?
What would be a more appropriate name to describe "librarianship" as a field?


*Photo: "The Librarian" by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Painted in 1566
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:The_Librarian.jpg
Submitted by Group 4 member: Catherine Panosh

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