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1/12/2015 Looking Up Your Career at the Library | Science Careers http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_03_20/caredit.a0900038 1/3 Email Article Email Editor Discuss in Forum Related Articles Print Article Free Newsletter "This is a career where I can keep my hand in the science without having to have my paycheck or the paycheck of a graduate student or postdoc depend on the next grant." David Osterbur The Job Market Looking Up Your Career at the Library By Lucas Laursen March 20, 2009 David Osterbur spent a decade pursuing an academic science career before tiring of the "never ending cycle" of unfunded grant applications, he says. When his wife, like him a developmental biologist, accepted a job offer in Massachusetts, he took advantage of the change in location to weigh a change in career. He was considering a career in public health so he could continue using his science background, when his wife suggested he become a science librarian. "I had always enjoyed being in the library. In graduate school, people would always come to me when they couldn't find something," he says. His Ph.D. in genetics and his research career studying Drosophila development made Osterbur a hot commodity on the science library job market. Immediately after finishing his master's in library science at Simmons College in Boston, Osterbur took a job with a small branch library of DuPont Pharmaceuticals in Boston. He stayed there just over a year before moving, in 2000, to Harvard University's Biological Laboratories Library . Five years later, he landed his current position at Harvard's Countway Library of Medicine . "I really enjoy helping people and teaching," Osterbur says. "This is a career where I can keep my hand in the science without having to have my paycheck or the paycheck of a graduate student or postdoc depend on the next grant." Largely employed by universities, science librarians shape the library's collection, teach scientists how to search for information, and even directly assist with certain informaticsheavy research projects. Hiring managers and applicants say that the job outlook is positive for science graduates or working scientists interested in library careers; open positions can remain unfilled for years, says Brian Gray, an engineering, math, and statistics reference librarian at the Kelvin Smith Library of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. "If they're willing to relocate," notes Gray, science graduates, even those without a library degree, "can pretty much write their job ticket." The job John Meier worked briefly as an engineer before deciding that he didn't like the corporate environment. His interest in information management led him to explore, and eventually embrace, library science. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that academic librarians teach and assist in research. Furthermore, compared with Ph.D. researchers, librarians are generalists, which he considers a plus. Another bonus was that his employer, the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, places its librarians on the tenure track, with the same expectations to publish, teach, and serve the academic community as it places on professors in academic departments. Meier now specializes in math, statistics, and patents. About onethird of his workday is spent facing the public, answering questions from walkup patrons or researchers with appointments for help with, for example, bibliographic software such as EndNote or BibTeX. "It doesn't call on deep expertise usually," he says. When he's ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Science Home » Science Careers » Career Magazine » Previous Issues » 2009 » March 20 AAAS.ORG FEEDBACK HELP LIBRARIANS ALERTS ACCESS RIGHTS SIGN IN ADVANCED All Science Journals Help Meetings & Events About Science Careers Contact Career Magazine My Science Career Find A Job Graduate Programs Tools & Tips Forum For Employers Search Articles Search Issues & Perspectives Career Advice The Job Market Career Profiles Life & Career Diversity Issues

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  • 1/12/2015 LookingUpYourCareerattheLibrary|ScienceCareers

    http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_03_20/caredit.a0900038 1/3

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    "ThisisacareerwhereIcankeepmyhandinthesciencewithouthavingtohavemypaycheckorthepaycheckofagraduatestudentorpostdocdependonthenextgrant."DavidOsterbur

    TheJobMarket

    LookingUpYourCareerattheLibraryByLucasLaursenMarch20,2009

    DavidOsterburspentadecadepursuinganacademicsciencecareerbeforetiringofthe"neverendingcycle"ofunfundedgrantapplications,hesays.Whenhiswife,likehimadevelopmentalbiologist,acceptedajobofferinMassachusetts,hetookadvantageofthechangeinlocationtoweighachangeincareer.Hewasconsideringacareerinpublichealthsohecouldcontinueusinghissciencebackground,whenhiswifesuggestedhebecomeasciencelibrarian."Ihadalwaysenjoyedbeinginthelibrary.Ingraduateschool,peoplewouldalwayscometomewhentheycouldn'tfindsomething,"hesays.

    HisPh.D.ingeneticsandhisresearchcareerstudyingDrosophiladevelopmentmadeOsterburahotcommodityonthesciencelibraryjobmarket.Immediatelyafterfinishinghismaster'sinlibraryscienceatSimmonsCollegeinBoston,OsterburtookajobwithasmallbranchlibraryofDuPontPharmaceuticalsinBoston.Hestayedtherejustoverayearbeforemoving,in2000,toHarvardUniversity'sBiologicalLaboratoriesLibrary.Fiveyearslater,helandedhiscurrentpositionatHarvard'sCountwayLibraryofMedicine."Ireallyenjoyhelpingpeopleandteaching,"Osterbursays."ThisisacareerwhereIcankeepmyhandinthesciencewithouthavingtohavemypaycheckorthepaycheckofagraduatestudentorpostdocdependonthenextgrant."

    Largelyemployedbyuniversities,sciencelibrariansshapethelibrary'scollection,teachscientistshowtosearchforinformation,andevendirectlyassistwithcertaininformaticsheavyresearchprojects.Hiringmanagersandapplicantssaythatthejoboutlookispositiveforsciencegraduatesorworkingscientistsinterestedinlibrarycareersopenpositionscanremainunfilledforyears,saysBrianGray,anengineering,math,andstatisticsreferencelibrarianattheKelvinSmithLibraryofCaseWesternReserveUniversityinCleveland,Ohio."Ifthey'rewillingtorelocate,"notesGray,sciencegraduates,eventhosewithoutalibrarydegree,"canprettymuchwritetheirjobticket."

    Thejob

    JohnMeierworkedbrieflyasanengineerbeforedecidingthathedidn'tlikethecorporateenvironment.Hisinterestininformationmanagementledhimtoexplore,andeventuallyembrace,libraryscience.Hewaspleasantlysurprisedtodiscoverthatacademiclibrariansteachandassistinresearch.Furthermore,comparedwithPh.D.researchers,librariansaregeneralists,whichheconsidersaplus.Anotherbonuswasthathisemployer,thePennsylvaniaStateUniversityinUniversityPark,placesitslibrariansonthetenuretrack,withthesameexpectationstopublish,teach,andservetheacademiccommunityasitplacesonprofessorsinacademicdepartments.

    Meiernowspecializesinmath,statistics,andpatents.Aboutonethirdofhisworkdayisspentfacingthepublic,answeringquestionsfromwalkuppatronsorresearcherswithappointmentsforhelpwith,forexample,bibliographicsoftwaresuchasEndNoteorBibTeX."Itdoesn'tcallondeepexpertiseusually,"hesays.Whenhe's

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  • 1/12/2015 LookingUpYourCareerattheLibrary|ScienceCareers

    http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_03_20/caredit.a0900038 2/3

    (Photo:WilsonHutton/UniversityLibraries)

    JohnMeier

    (Courtesy,BrianGray)

    BrianGray

    notansweringqueries,"alotofitisbudgets,orderingbooks,selectingjournalsubscriptions,"headds,sohetalkstofacultymembersandanalyzestheusageofthelibrary'sresourcessohecanprioritizethem.Healsovisitsclassroomssomeweeksincludeseveralclassroomvisitstoteachstudentsaboutlibraryresearchtools.

    Workingalongsidehim,otherlibrariansspecializeinotherscienceandengineeringdisciplines,andstillothershelpwithcomputertechsupportormoregeneralfrontdeskqueries.Notalllibrariansaresospecializedatsomeinstitutions,asciencelibrarianmaybetheonlypersonwithascientificbackground.Osterbur,incontrast,supervisesastaffof16atalibraryfocusedentirelyonmedicalscience.

    WhatlibrarianslearnquicklyandtrytoimparttoscientistsisthatinformationretrievalisnotasstraightforwardasInternetsearchproviderswouldhavethemthink."Manyofthesespecializeddatabases,evenPubMed,donotworkwellifyoutreatthemlikeGoogle,"Osterbursays.Asciencelibrarian'sjobistomasterthespecializedtoolsthatcansavearesearchertimeandthenteachresearchershowtousethem.

    Careerpaths

    Theskillsusedatacademiclibrariestranslatetoindustrialandbusinesslibrarysettings,andsomesciencelibrariansconsultforsmallerbiotechstartups,saysOsterbur.OsterburhimselfconsultsforaHarvardbioinformaticsproject,makingregularuseofhisgeneticstraining.

    Librarianscansticktothereferencelibrarianpathormoveontotheadministrativepath.Administratorsspendmoretimedecidingwheretoallocatealibrary'sresourcesandlesstimefacingthepublic,ifatall,thandoreferencelibrarians,whotendtobemoredirectlyinvolvedinresearchandansweringquestionsfrompatrons.Peopleusuallydecidewhichtopursuebasedontheirpersonalities,Osterbursays.Headdsthatpersonalityalsoplaysaroleinhishiringdecisions:"Ilookforagoodknowledgebase"intherelevantdiscipline,Osterbursays,but"theotherthingisagoodserviceattitude."

    Librariansspendalotoftimegivingadviceandteachingpeopleoneonone,soteachingexperienceisaplus,too.Gray'sstaffis"spendingmoreandmoretimeoninstructionandshowingpeoplehowtodoresearchandhowtouseresources,"sohechoseoneofhismostrecenthiresbecauseshehadexperienceteachingchemistrytoundergraduates."Wedon'thavetoteachherhowtoteachbecauseshe'salreadydonethat,"hesays.

    Preparation

    TeachingexperiencemaybewhyChristiePeters,arecentgraduateoftheUniversityofNorthCarolina(UNC),Greensboro,libraryprogram,landedajobinterviewthismonthataTexaslibrary"withoutevenaphoneinterviewbeforehand,"shemarvels.Petersgotabachelor'sdegreeinbiologyandworkedasalabtechnicianandasahighschoolteacherbeforereturningforasecondbachelor'sinthehistoryofscienceaspreparationforaresearchcareerasahistorian.Butshedecidedshewantedtostayclosertoscience,sosheenrolledinlibraryschoolinstead.Whileworkingonhermaster'sdegree,PeterssoughtoutfacultymembersinthechemistrydepartmentatUNCGreensboroughandhelpedthemintegratelibraryresearchmethodsintotheirundergraduatecourses."WhatreallyseemstogetmetheinterviewsisthatI'veworkedwithchemistryfaculty,"shesays.

    Perhapsthebestwayforscientiststodecideiftheymightlikeacareerinthelibraryinsteadofinthelabistoworkparttimeinalibrary.Inadditiontoherfacultyoutreach,Petershasinternedatthreedifferentlibraries."Thisisamuchbetterfitforme"thanatraditionalresearchcareer,Peterssays:"IfeellikeI'mmuchmoreofageneralist."

    Indeed,the30,000footviewofyourdisciplinewillbeusefulasasciencelibrarian.Forexample,knowingthespecializedgenomeorproteindatabasesusedinyourlabwillbeusefulasasciencelibrarian,butyoumightalsowanttostepbackandlearnaboutsimilardatabasesinrelatedfields.

    Alibraryscienceorinformationsciencemaster'sdegreewhichusuallytakes1year,fulltimeisnotalwaysnecessaryforcandidateswithgraduateworkoranadvanceddegreeinthesciences.Butmanylibraryjobadvertisementsdocallforanaccreditedlibraryscienceorinformationsciencedegree,andOsterburacknowledgesthatlibraryschool"reallydoesteachyouhowtosearch."Heandothersciencelibrariansalsosaythathavingalibrarydegreecanmakeiteasiertointegratewithotherlibrarians.

    Andfinally,althoughsciencelibrariansareinauniquepositiontotakepartinmanydifferentresearchprojects,it'simportanttorememberthat"it'sreallyaservicejob,"saysOsterbur:"You'renotouttomakeareputationforyourself."

  • 1/12/2015 LookingUpYourCareerattheLibrary|ScienceCareers

    http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_03_20/caredit.a0900038 3/3

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    Textcorrected:30March2009

    LucasLaursenisafreelancesciencewriterinCambridge,U.K.

    LucasLaursenisafreelancesciencejournalistinMadrid,Spain.

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