Becoming a subject specialist is a rewarding career path for academic librarians: it allows you to pursue intellectual passions as well as move up in the organization. In this practical guide, experienced academic and research librarians describe how to succeed in various subject fields, presenting expert perspectives on the coursework, work experience, and core knowledge necessary for librarians interested in joining their specialty areas.

For each specialty, an expert identifies useful or necessary coursework, provides insights on work and internship experiences, and pinpoints core knowledge areas necessary for success. The chapters offer valuable advice for early- and mid-career librarians on how to advance their career goals through building relevant skills, professional development, networking, and participating in professional associations. This book is crucial reading for library and information science students—and those who teach and advise them—as well as new librarians preparing for their careers and mid-career-changers.

Features

• Supplies invaluable career advice from experienced professionals on key subjects such as changing fields within librarianship, patterns of scholarly communication in different fields, tenure, and moving up in your chosen field
• Provides information far beyond the basics taught in courses on academic librarianship
• Offers valuable insights for beginning academic librarians as well as experienced librarians and career-changers
• Covers the most commonly found subject specialties in colleges and universities—literature, history, social and behavioral sciences, arts, pure and applied sciences, and business—as well as in academic special libraries for law, health science, music, and government information