Saturday, August 6, 2011

Redifining the Special Library

The corporate library I worked in was very non traditional because it was redefined from a place to access paper records or books to one that also housed the most advanced electronic resources, including the Internet, digital photo-library, and remote access to a wide range of information sources.

I often refer to my nigerian colleague who was of the old school but really he was a mine of library Knowledge and a mastermind of Library science. He always suggested that we should not be referred to just as special librarians per se, but now could be known as  information professionals or knowledge managers.

Increasingly  we have combined traditional duties with tasks involving new and emerging technologies.  I mean how many times do you see that there is a need for an emerging technology Librarian.

As librarians, we  help people find information and use it effectively for personal and professional purposes. We are bowls of  knowledge of a wide variety of scholarly and public information sources and we follow trends related to publishing, computers, and the media in order to oversee the selection and organization of library materials. On the whole and as best as we can we manage staff and develop and direct information  and literacy programs  for all and ensure that information is organized in a manner that meets users’ needs.

As special librarian in a small library we worked in all areas, including user services, technical services, and administrative services.

At intervals we used surveys to  analyze users’ needs to determine what information is appropriate and searching for, acquiring, and providing the information. As an information literacy expert  I used my role to  instruct, by showing users how to find information.  Our role as librarians usually to help users navigate the Internet so they can search for and evaluate information efficiently. Special Librarians in technical services, such as acquisitions and cataloguing, acquire, prepare, and classify materials so that patrons can find it easily. Abstracts and summaries are now ready made and can even be found on the internet.

However, because we were jack of all trades... we worked as special Librarians in administrative services overseeing the management and planning of the library. We negotiated the contract for services, materials, and equipment. As much as possible we supervised library employees; performed public-relations, prepared budgets; and directed activities to ensure that everything functioned properly.