Academic & Research Libraries

Professional Organizati ons & Positi ons

Professional Organizati ons

• The Association of College and Research Libraries—a division of the American Library Association “dedicated to enhancing the ability of academic library and information professionals to serve the information needs of the higher education community and to improve learning, teaching, and research.6”

*Over 12,000 members• Association of Research Libraries—126 institutions in

the US and Canada• Others include many statewide organizations

Secti ons within the ACRL include members of:

The 3 “types” of libraries: College, Community College, and University*the Arts Section*Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Section*Anthropology Section*Instruction Section*Education and Behavioral Sciences Section*Law and Political Science Section*Rare Books and Manuscripts Section*Science and Technology Section*Slavic and East European Section*Western European Studies Section And most recently added (1987 and beyond):*Women's Studies Section*African-American Studies Librarians Section *Distance Learning Section *Literatures in English Section

ACRL Interest Groups

• Academic Library Services to International Students7

• Health Sciences• Image Resources • Residency Programs• Universal Accessibility• and Virtual Worlds

Professional Positi ons

• Positions within “Academic Libraries”: community and junior colleges, colleges, and universities

- Many are research libraries• Part of a “research community”- work with

professors, researchers, scholars, and sometimes the public

• Find academic library position descriptions at: http://www.ala.org/acrl/proftools/personnel/detail#descriptions

• May be focused on a specialized area (law, health sciences, etc.) or more general

• May have tenure-track faculty status (emphasis on research, publication, community service in addition to other duties)

• Sample duties: reference, cataloguing, selection, assisting faculty, online services, etc.8

Professional Positi ons(Conti nued)

Requirements/Qualifi cati ons

• Academic librarians often work irregular hours (evenings, weekends)9

• Best job opportunities with Master’s from an ALA accredited program10

-And additional training related to specialization might be encouraged or required• The Council on Library and Information Resources

will offer LIS training to individuals with PhDs for work in academic libraries (Rubin, 201)

Additi onal Resources

• http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/• http://www.ala.org/acrl/proftools/recruiting/r

ecruitingvideo• http://

www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/proftools/recruiting/Profession_Recruitme1.pdf

• http://www.libraryjobpostings.org/academic.htm