Uncle Albert Needs You! Individual Recruiting Efforts are a Necessity and an Obligation

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2006-01-01
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Pellack, Lorraine
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Pellack, Lorraine
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Reference and Instruction
Subject librarians in the Reference & Instruction Division select books, journals, and other information resources for the Library's collections; provide general and specialized reference services; and provide instruction in the use of libraries and information. The Associate Dean for Reference & Instruction administers Library 160, a required, undergraduate course that helps students identify, locate, and use information resources in a variety of formats
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Abstract

The terms “recruiting” or “recruitment” are regularly used in two very different connotations: hiring (and retention) practices and also recruiting into the profession itself. This article will focus exclusively on recruiting to the profession. There has been a shortage of science librarians since the 1950’s, or earlier, and yet the problem has still not been adequately resolved. While there is a general acknowledgement that something needs to be done, in many cases, practicing librarians seem to feel they only have impact in one particular area—encouraging library student assistants to pursue a library science degree. There are many other ways individual librarians can participate in recruiting, even on a very small scale. Recruiting need not be a daunting, time-consuming task. This article provides some radical ideas to get people thinking and acting in ways to improve the visibility and attractiveness of science librarianship as a profession...and not just by serving as a good role model for student assistants they may (or may not) supervise.

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This is a post-print of an article published in Science & Technology Libraries 27, no. 1/2 (2006): 55–70, by Haworth Press. It was published simultaneously in Recruiting, Training, and Retention of Science and Technology Librarians, ed. Patricia A. Kreitz and JoAnn DeVries (New York: Haworth Press, 2006).

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Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2006
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