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Originally posted by Sarasa:
Library jobs are hard to get at the moment, most public libraries are cutting back, certainly on their qualified staff and I know some schools (my field) are rather short-sightedly getting rid of their librarians on the grounds that now everything is on line you don't need information professionals. Have a look
here to see the sort of jobs that are available. Metro on Mondays sometimes has school jobs too.
I'm afraid I know nothing about work in academic, law or other sort of libraries, but if you'd like to know more about school work pm me.

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Business libraries are still out there, but it's a competitive field and entry level positions are hard to find. Employers tend to like people with knowledge/ experience in the relevant field as well as library experience.

Academic and Legal libraries tend to like people with a first degree followed by a library qualification.

The main job agencies for business / legal library jobs are Sue Hill, TFPL and Glen Recruitment. (Sorry, no links, on phone!). Maybe speak to them and see what they say.

There are related fields like knowledge management as well. More jobs there if my LinkedIn feed is to be believed.

Good luck!

Tubbs
 

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Posted by Tina (# 63) on :
 
Will reply at more length over the weekend, but just wanted to say thanks everyone
 

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Posted by Garasu (# 17152) on :
 
I think it would be irresponsible of me not to warn you against working in public libraries. Stress levels are higher and satisfaction levels lower there than in any other part of public services. And that pre-dates the current attack on the public sector.

Personally, I'd be inclined to steer clear of large academic libraries as well, although there you do at least have access to some interesting resources...
 

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Posted by Gracious rebel (# 3523) on :
 
Just wanted to chip in to counter the previous poster's views - I really enjoy working in public libraries. Would be my dream job if only they paid me a bit more! Yes it can have its stressful moments, but what job doesn't? I love books, computers and meeting people, and the job combines all these and more!
 

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Posted by Scots lass (# 2699) on :
 

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Originally posted by Tina:
My current role involves updating and linking records, summarising and indexing them so users know where to find stuff, so I think this is a good match for part of the library assistant’s role, but would need to develop my customer service credentials and get some experience (as a volunteer I guess) of actually working in a library.

Any comments gratefully received, Shiply biblio-gurus!

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Those skills are certainly useful for archives work as well - a hefty proportion of the public side of it actually involving telling people how they can find what they're looking for and having an idea of how to search for it. Sue Hill (as already mentioned) do have non-professional posts which may be more short-term than long - longer term it gets very competitive. Age isn't a factor with that really, last time I was in the fortunate position to be hiring we were more concerned with the right fit than with experience. The issue with archives, as with libraries, is that there is a shortage of posts and a lot of archivists out there. My initial suggestion would be to get voluntary experience, whether it's regular or a placement type thing, to see if you genuinely like it. On a good day, I love being an archivist, as one of my lecturers said "you will never be rich, you will sometimes be happy".

Feel free to ask me questions! I think I may be the only archivist on board, and I'm London based (with a pretty good idea of what's going on in the wider sector), plus I happily chat to people about it a lot .
 

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Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :
 
As several other people have already said, this is a bad time to be working in libraries because they are the first things to be cut. Business libraries are still out there, as Tubbs said. A friend of mine got his first job working for British Gas, cataloguing 'holes in the ground' (cores and data from exploratory drilling) as he put it. Public libraries are not particularly well paid (even compared to other librarianship jobs) but can be rewarding if you like dealing with people. It should be quite easy to get experience as a volunteer at the moment, because most councils are trying to get volunteers to run their libraries to save money; the difficulty will be finding a job that pays you enough to live on once you've got your experience. Academic libraries are dreadful employers IME (you are expected to do lots of unpaid overtime just like the academic staff, only not on a professor's salary) but having access to an academic library is quite nice and some of the library users appreciate what you do, which makes it worthwhile most days.

If you are not a 'people person' you may wish to consider indexing as an alternative - there is a distance learning course for that, run by the Society of Indexers . Freelance work can be precarious financially, though; you're dependent on work coming in regularly and if you fall ill or can't work for a while for some other reason you only get the government's statutory sick pay, which is peanuts (I think it's about £100 a week, which is less than I can earn in a day, when I'm working). You're also entitled to statutory maternity pay, but again that's less than most employers will pay.

It is only fair to add that these are Interesting Times for indexers too; the changeover to electronic publishing has caused some publishers to dispense with human-produced indexes altogether, on the grounds that 'Full-text searching is just as good... right?' (wrong), but there is still work out there - which I ought to be doing right now instead of wasting time on the Ship.

Being made redundant is a good time to assess your priorities and retrain for a more interesting job. Best of luck, whatever you decide to do.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I'm not a librarian. But the public libraries in my county have undergone swingeing cuts to the point where most of the books are now catalogue-only in the remaining libraries, and the era of self-service terminals has arrived. It's entirely possible to come into the library and have no contact with any librarians as you can borrow, return, reserve and collect books from a terminal now. Obviously, this cuts down on staff.

quote:

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My current role involves updating and linking records, summarising and indexing them so users know where to find stuff, so I think this is a good match for part of the library assistant’s role, but would need to develop my customer service credentials and get some experience (as a volunteer I guess) of actually working in a library.

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Sounds like it would fit into being an archivist as well.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I worked as a library assistant in the Orkney Library during the summer holidays when I was a student; it was my first proper job and I loved it. Unfortunately, it was over 30 years ago, so probably of very limited relevance to your situation ...

While I can understand that many local authorities and universities are chopping their library services, the place where I worked was actually replaced a few years ago with a beautiful, purpose-built library/archive building, although it has to be said that they were bursting out of the old building even in the early 1980s when I worked there.

If you have the time, money and inclination to do some kind of library training course (possibly with a bit of IT thrown in), it surely wouldn't hurt your CV.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
 

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Posted by Jengie jon (# 273) on :
 
Or the relatively new career as a data curator.

Jengie
 

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Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
Originally posted by Piglet:

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I worked as a library assistant in the Orkney Library during the summer holidays when I was a student; it was my first proper job and I loved it. Unfortunately, it was over 30 years ago, so probably of very limited relevance to your situation ... [Big Grin]

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