ALCTS has published a new online resource, “Career Profiles in Cataloging, Metadata, and Related Fields.” These profiles of 14 individuals are a project of the Cataloging & Metadata Management Section (CaMMS) Recruitment & Mentoring Committee. The purpose of these profiles is to demonstrate the wide range of professional opportunities available in this area of librarianship.
In the spring of 2017, members of the CaMMS Recruitment & Mentoring Committee solicited volunteers on various email lists who were willing to share information about their positions on the ALCTS website. Fourteen participants were selected for this project. They were asked to describe their current positions and respond to a series of open-ended questions. Such questions included how they chose their specialties; what specific skills, aptitudes, training or education they needed to acquire; how their formal education prepared them and what they needed to learn on their own; what they found challenging and rewarding; how they kept up with trends in the field; what advice they had for people considering a career in their specialties; and how they viewed the career outlook in those specialties.
Below are the 14 profiles:
- A&I Content Specialist, EBSCO Information Services
- Associate Librarian, Technical Services, Colorado Christian University
- Cataloging and Metadata Education Librarian, Minitex
- Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, Loyola Notre Dame Library
- Cataloging and Special Collections Assistant, McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin-Eau Clair
- Director, U.S. ISSN Center/Head, ISSN Section, U.S. Programs, Law and Literature Division
- Editor, Dewey Decimal Classification, OCLC
- Metadata and Digital Collections Specialist, San Diego State University Library & Information Access
- Metadata Librarian, ProQuest
- Metadata Librarian, University of South Florida
- Music/Media Cataloger, University of Washington Libraries
- StreamNet Regional Librarian, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
- Supervisory Librarian, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- Technical Services Manager, Southern Maryland Regional Library Association
We hope that by providing a snapshot of various opportunities, these profiles will help newcomers to the profession (as well as more experienced individuals) learn about career paths they may wish to pursue and competencies for those roles.