Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian

Abstract

The title of this book might lead you to believe that it is a “how-to” for librarians who are just starting their professional careers. It is not. The book offers something for everyone—even those librarians who are not at all interested in making a career change. Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian is a compilation of twelve chapters written by professional librarians. The book is organized into two parts: “Part 1: Planning Your Career” and “Part 2: Practicing Your Career.” Part 1 defines digital librarianship and describes the work of digital librarians. It goes on to offer practical advice on how to get a new career in digital librarianship off to a good a start. The chapter, “Getting the Most out of Library School,” provides guidance for students who intend to work in the field of digital librarianship. The author advises potential digital librarians that they may need to design their own program of study in library school and points out the importance of networking, both in person and virtually, and staying abreast of technology. “Landing Your First Job” reinforces time-honored advice on what to expect in the search for a job. For practicing librarians, chapter 4 addresses “Making a Career Shift.” Monson identifies skills from traditional librarian specialties (technical services, archives, reference/instruction, access) that transfer to digital librarianship. Chapter 5, “Furthering Your Career,” provides information for librarians who are not planning on changing their career, but who want to upgrade their skills or broaden their horizons with strategies such as seeking a mentor, joining professional organizations, or pursuing continuing education. The chapters in part 2 are not so specifically targeted. The content in these chapters is more technical in nature with titles that run along the lines of “Understanding Key Technology Concepts,” “Learning about Metadata,” and “Putting Metadata into Practice.” The author covers topics from the effects of digital librarianship on scholarly publishing to the preservation of digital content. She gives readers a view of the working environment of digital librarianship with a sampling of the discipline's need-to-know terms and the dynamics of collaborating with a group involved in a digital project. The information in these chapters is beneficial to the library school student who is planning on following the digital librarianship career path and practicing librarians who might not have been exposed to the world of digital librarianship when they were in library school. Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian is easy to read. Each chapter includes references, recommended resources, and a feature that I really like, a “Final Thoughts” section to wrap up the theme of the chapter. The book includes a glossary and an index. While this book does not have clinical value and is not one that would be included in a medical library collection, I highly recommend it for any librarian who wants to become familiar with the basic concepts of the field of digital librarianship.