How to become a Librarians and Media Collections Specialist 2024

Librarians and Media Collections Specialist Administer and maintain libraries or collections of information, for public or private access through reference or borrowing. Work in a variety of settings, such as educational institutions, museums, and corporations, and with various types of informational materials, such as books, periodicals, recordings, films, and databases. Tasks may include acquiring, cataloging, and circulating library materials, and user services such as locating and organizing information, providing instruction on how to access information, and setting up and operating a library's media equipment.

Librarians and Media Collections Specialist is Also Know as

In different settings, Librarians and Media Collections Specialist is titled as

Catalog Librarian
Instructional Technology Specialist
Librarian
Library Media Specialist
Media Specialist
Media Technician
Multimedia Services Coordinator
Reference and Instruction Librarian
Reference Librarian
Technical Services Librarian

Education and Training of Librarians and Media Collections Specialist

Librarians and Media Collections Specialist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Librarians and Media Collections Specialist

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Education Required for Librarians and Media Collections Specialist

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Degrees Related to Librarians and Media Collections Specialist

Training Required for Librarians and Media Collections Specialist

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Librarians and Media Collections Specialist in different industries are

What Do Librarians and Media Collections Specialist do?

Check books in and out of the library.
Teach library patrons basic computer skills, such as searching computerized databases.
Review and evaluate materials, using book reviews, catalogs, faculty recommendations, and current holdings to select and order print, audio-visual, and electronic resources.
Keep up-to-date records of circulation and materials, maintain inventory, and correct cataloging errors.
Search standard reference materials, including online sources and the Internet, to answer patrons' reference questions.
Analyze patrons' requests to determine needed information and assist in furnishing or locating that information.
Supervise daily library operations, budgeting, planning, and personnel activities, such as hiring, training, scheduling, and performance evaluations.
Plan and teach classes on topics such as information literacy, library instruction, and technology use.
Confer with colleagues, faculty, and community members and organizations to conduct informational programs, make collection decisions, and determine library services to offer.
Code, classify, and catalog books, publications, films, audio-visual aids, and other library materials, based on subject matter or standard library classification systems.
Respond to customer complaints, taking action as necessary.
Explain use of library facilities, resources, equipment, and services, and provide information about library policies.
Plan and deliver client-centered programs and services, such as special services for corporate clients, storytelling for children, newsletters, or programs for special groups.
Locate unusual or unique information in response to specific requests.
Troubleshoot problems with audio-visual equipment.
Develop library policies and procedures.
Direct and train library staff in duties, such as receiving, shelving, researching, cataloging, and equipment use.
Evaluate materials to determine outdated or unused items to be discarded.
Develop, maintain, and troubleshoot information access aids, such as databases, annotated bibliographies, Web pages, electronic pathfinders, software programs, and online tutorials.
Engage in professional development activities, such as taking continuing education classes and attending or participating in conferences, workshops, professional meetings, and associations.
Compile lists of books, periodicals, articles, and audio-visual materials on particular subjects.
Confer with teachers to select course materials and to determine which training aids are best suited to particular grade levels.
Evaluate vendor products and performance, negotiate contracts, and place orders.
Arrange for interlibrary loans of materials not available in a particular library.
Represent library or institution on internal and external committees.
Set up, adjust, and operate audio-visual equipment, such as cameras, film and slide projectors, and recording equipment, for meetings, events, classes, seminars, and video conferences.
Assemble and arrange display materials.
Maintain inventory of audio-visual equipment.
Maintain hardware and software, including computers, media equipment, scanners, color copiers, and color laser printers.
Train faculty and media staff on the use of software and audio-visual equipment.

Qualities of Good Librarians and Media Collections Specialist

Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.

Tools Used by Librarians and Media Collections Specialist

Audio or video editing systems
Audio presentation systems
Audio tape players
Barcode scanners
Bookmobiles
Cash registers
Claw hammers
Compact disk CD players
Desktop computers
Digital camcorders
Digital cameras
Digital video disk DVD players
Film projectors
High speed video duplicators
Laptop computers
Large screen projectors
Light boards
Liquid crystal display LCD projection systems
Microfiche readers
Microfilm printers
Microfilm readers
Motion picture projectors
Multi-line telephone systems
Multimedia projectors
Opaque projectors
Overhead display projectors
Personal computers
Photocopying equipment
Portable amplifiers
Public address PA systems
Scanners
Screwdrivers
Slide projectors
Sound boards
Still cameras
Television monitors
Video cassette recorders VCR
Video screens
Videoconferencing equipment
Voltmeters
Wireless microphones

Technology Skills required for Librarians and Media Collections Specialist

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe Dreamweaver
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Premiere Pro
Apple Final Cut Pro
Apple iMovie
askSam Systems SurfSaver
Autodesk AutoCAD
Blackboard software
Blogging software
Cascading style sheets CSS
CatchTheWeb
CATNYP
Classification Web
Data visualization software
Database software
Desktop publishing software
Drupal
Dynix Digital Library
Electronic Online Systems International EOS.Web
Email software
Ex Libris Group Aleph
Ex Libris Group Voyager
Extensible hypertext markup language XHTML
Extensible markup language XML
Facebook
FileMaker Pro
Google Workspace software
Graphics software
HTTrack
Hypertext markup language HTML
Infovision Amlib
Inmagic Genie
Inmagic TextWorks
Innovative Interfaces Millennium
JavaScript
Kelowna Software L4U
Learning management system LMS
LexisNexis
Macropool Web Research
MC2 Systems Auto Librarian
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Onfolio
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Word
National Library of Medicine DOCLINE
National Library of Medicine Medline
Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) databases
Online databases
Oracle Java
PHP
PrimaSoft PC Small Library Organizer Pro
QuarkXPress
RCL Software Media Library Manager
Really Simple Syndication RSS
Saora Keepoint
SirsiDynix Symphony
SmugMug Flickr
Social networking software
Springshare LibGuides
Standard generalized markup language SGML
StataCorp Stata
Structured query language SQL
Surpass management system software
Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge
Thomson Scientific Dialog
Web browser software
WebClarity Software BookWhere
Wiki software
Word processing software
WorldCat
Zoom

US Universities

How to become Librarians and Media Collections Specialist in 2024