• Guides and Web Directories
• Education
• Blogs/Social Web
• Associations

Guides and Directories

Use a guide or web directory that organizes sites related to library and information science.

Library Careers
http://www.gustavus.edu/oncampus/academics/library/about/careers.html
Brought to you by the librarians at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Careers in Librarianship
http://www.lib.udel.edu/info/jobs/careersinlibrarianship.htm
Though published in 2003, much of the information in the guide remains relevant. Includes links to profiles of information professionals and several articles about careers in information science.

Librarians’ Internet Index--Librarianship
http://lii.org/pub/topic/libraries
Organized by librarians, this directory has links about all areas of librarianship and information science.

Open Directory entry for Libraries
http://dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/
Contains links to a range of subtopics including: associations, library schools, employment, weblogs, and Librariana.

Education

Many professional positions in libraries and related fields require a Master’s degree. There are almost 60 ALA-accredited institutions in the United States.

“2004-2005 Directory of Institutions Offering ALA-Accredited Master's Programs in Library and Information Studies.” http://www.ala.org/ala/accreditation/lisdirb/lisdirectory.htm
Search the directory online or view the directory in PDF format.

“Guidelines for Choosing a Master’s Program in Library and Information Studies”
http://www.ala.org/ala/accreditation/lisdirb/guide.htm

Blogs/Social Web Resources

Many librarians are enthusiastic bloggers. Librarians blog early and often. The following are a sample of the blogs out there, and they give you another view of the profession.

Librarians at the Gate
http://librariansatthegate.blogspot.com/
“Interested in a career in libraries? We hope you'll join the conversation. This blog is about what's going on in the field, how to get into the profession (and why), and what issues we face - the ones the next generation of professionals will help solve. Join in and enjoy.”

Librarian.net
http://www.librarian.net/
“putting the rarin' back in librarian”

ACRLog
http://www.acrlblog.org/
“Blogging by and for academic and research librarians”

Librarian Avengers
http://www.librarianavengers.org/
“Thwart not the Librarian”

ResearchBuzz
http://www.researchbuzz.com/
“Search Engine news and more since 1998”

To identify other library blogs, browse Library Weblogs at http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html

Professional Associations and Organizations

Numerous professional organizations exist to serve a range of types of library and information professional. Use one of the web directories above to identify additional organizations/associations.

• American Library Association (ALA)
  http://www.ala.org/
• Public Library Association (PLA)
  http://www.ala.org/ala/pla/pla.htm
• Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)
  http://www.acrl.org/ACRLTemplate.cfm
• Special Library Association (SLA)
  http://www.sla.org/
• American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST)
  http://www.asis.org/
• Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP)
  http://www.scip.org/
• Society of American Archivists (SAA)
  http://www.archivists.org/
• Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)
  http://amianet.org/

***Remember that librarians and information professionals are themselves good resources for finding out more about what they do and what they care about. Ask a librarian you know about their experiences.