Special librarians support the organizations they work for by finding and adding value to data and information for organizational use, and may represent specialized areas within an academic library. A recent report published on the Special Library Association website suggests that about 10% of LIS Professionals work in special library settings. Special librarianship is related to work in Nontraditional, Non-library settings. [link to that suggested courses page].

Qualifications

Special library careers work out well for those with ALA-accredited masters degrees who also have experience or education in non-library fields. Additional professional degrees are required for some special library positions; for example, most legal librarians have law degrees.

Job titles

Job titles special librarians can hold include:

• Military Librarian
• Intelligence Analyst
• Corporate Librarian
• Information Specialist
• Records Manager
• Research Specialist
• Cataloging Director
• Information Services Manager
• Medical Librarian
• Museum Librarian
• Science Librarian
• Knowledge Manager
• Technical Library Coordinator

Omission of the term 'librarian' in these titles does not necessarily mean a library is not involved in work responsibilities. Some special librarians report being given the opportunity to create their own job titles.

Work environment

Librarians in special libraries work in diverse settings, many of which are not referred to as libraries at all. Special libraries include he following types of environments and more:

• Government or military libraries
• Corporate or private business libraries
• Research laboratories
• Advertising agencies
• Museums
• Information management consulting firms
• Professional associations
• News offices
• Unions
• Medical centers and hospitals
• Law firms
• Religious organizations

Special librarians working at some corporations report hours in fast-paced environments. However, even corporate special library positions vary in work environment characteristics.

Responsibilities

In Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know (Harvard Business School Press, 1998), Davenport and Prusak find corporate librarians can be "indispensable knowledge brokers," who make connections between those who seek knowledge and those who have it, because they have contact with employees from many departments in the corporation . The Special Libraries Association lists the following as common responsibilities of special librarians:

• Preparing research reports in response to staff requests for specific information
• Gathering competitive intelligence
• Identifying research done at other organizations to avoid unnecessary duplication
• Verifying facts for external and internal reports and publications
• Creating databases for organizations to access their internal information
• Searching patents and trademarks
• Evaluating and comparing information software and sources of data prior to purchase
• Training other staff to efficiently and cost-effectively use online databases

Recent developments in Special Librarianship

In the 2009 report entitled The Changing Terrain of Special Librarianship, the Workforce Issues in LIS Group found that despite closure and staff reduction trends in corporate libraries, there is still a need for new MLIS graduates to replace retiring special librarians. It was also suggested that those who have worked in special libraries may retain advantages over other library job seekers due to the versatility and managerial responsibilities required within many special library roles.

Preparing to become a Special Librarian:

SIRLS Courses

The following is a list of courses that apply to public librarianship. In some cases, specializations are indicated.

Internships & Independent Study

Some special libraries tend to look for experience and educational focus in fields related to their supporting organizations. Check for new internship opportunities for opportunities in special libraries. Speak to your advisor before setting up an internship or independent study. For more information on internships or independent studies, check the web site on individual studies.

Professional Associations

The Special Library Association (SLA) is a member-driven organization connecting and supporting special library information professionals, students, and job seekers. There is also an SLA Arizona Chapter offering a listserv, the SLA-CAZ Discussion List. Finally, SIRLS Students in Tucson can join the AZ SLA Student Chapter.

Special Librarianship: Suggested Courses

Distributed Electives:

Evaluation of Information Resources

• IRLS 518: Information Quality
• IRLS 532: Online Searching
• IRLS 533: Medical Online Searching
• IRLS 572: Government Information
• IRLS 587: Information Seeking Behaviors
• IRLS 660: Business Information Resources
• IRLS 671: Introduction to Digital Collections
• IRLS 689a: Teaching Legal Research

Management

• IRLS 564: Corporate Library Administration and Practice
• IRLS 565: Health Sciences Library Administration and Practice
• IRLS 608: Planning and Evaluation of Libraries and Information Centers
• IRLS 613: Decision Making for Library and Information Professionals
• IRLS 546: Managing Healthcare Information: Theory & Practice
• IRLS 673: Managing the Digital Environment
• IRLS 681E: Law Library Practice and Administration

Information Technology

• IRLS 570: Database Design and Management
• IRLS 574: Digital Libraries
• IRLS 575: User Interface and Website Design
• IRLS 588: Issues in Information Resources: XML and Semantic Web Standards
• IRLS 614: Information Technology and Transfer
• IRLS 624: Health and Medical Informatics
• IRLS 630 Controlled Vocabularies
• IRLS 634: Data Management in Health Care Systems
• IRLS 650: Theory of Information Systems
• IRLS 672: Introduction to Applied Technology*
• IRLS 674: Preserving Digital Collections
• IRLS 675: Advanced Digital Collections
• IRLS 689a: Teaching Legal Research

Cultural Perspectives

• IRLS 550: Information Environments from Hispanic & Native American Perspectives
• IRLS 551: Equity of Access
• IRLS 553: Issues in Culture and Informational Technology
• IRLS 556: Health Information in Ethnic-Cultural Communities & Environments
• IRLS 557: Documenting Diverse Cultures and Communities*
• IRLS 558: Group Information Rights*
• IRLS 559: Marketing Library and Information Services to Communities
• IRLS 651: Information Policy and Cultural Perspectives

Other Electives

Note that 588 Courses are new courses. After being offered twice, they will be eligible to be assigned a unique course number and may also be eligible for inclusion in one or the other of the distributed electives.

• IRLS 531: Indexing and Abstracting
• IRLS 584: Introduction to Copyright
• IRLS 586: Economics of Information
• IRLS 588: Issues in Information Resources:
•                  International Librarianship (Summer 2011)
•                  Special Libraries Administration and Practice (Fall 2011)
•                  Information Search and Retrieval (Fall 2011)
•                  Community Health Informatics (Fall 2011)
• IRLS 601: Theory of Classification
• IRLS 617: Social Epistemology and Information Science
• IRLS 630: Controlled Vocabularies
• IRLS 693 / 694: Internship / Practicum