LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal ISSN 1058-6768 1995 Volume 5 Issue 3-4; December 31. Quarterly LIBRE5N3 REVIEWS ________________________________________________ Special Librarianship as a Career: An SLA Information Kit. Washington, DC: Special Libraries Association, 1995 Special Librarianship as a Career: An SLA Information Kit is designed to be a guide to the field of special librarianship and its target audience is Special Libraries Association members. The 100 page kit contains two section, the first is a collection of resources for individuals seeking jobs in a special library, including a listing of career and employment services provided by SLA; a bibliography of newsletters, publications, and online sites featuring job listings; placement and search firms; and telephone joblines. The second section is a compilation of professional articles on the field of special librarianship. These articles, reprinted from various library journals, discuss library school curriculum, the management strategies, and the future of the library profession. This section closes with a bibliography of additional articles on similar topics. This handbook is useful for individuals searching for specific information, such as a certain phone number or address of a professional organization. The inclusion of other profession library association membership information demonstrates the vastness of this field, and would let any researcher know there are numerous professional options to anyone pursuing a career in special libraries. The second section of Special Librarianship as a Career is neither useful nor representative of SLA's publication work. The articles in the second section are not representative of the full spectrum of the field of special librarianship. Business libraries are discussed in 5 of 12 of them. No where are geographical libraries, museum libraries, pure science libraries, or other special libraries discussed. No discussion is provided about solo libraries, nor is information brokering mentioned. An SLA publication should be more representative of our entire field. Further, the articles selected fail to discuss topical issues. For example, the internet is mentioned in one of them. The internet is a vital tool for many special librarians; a resource describing the field of special librarianship should include electronic resources, including the internet and the World Wide Web. A more useful, and more interesting, tool would be a document which uses real work examples to shed light on exactly what a special librarian is (as Special Librarianship as a Career fails to do.) Testimonials, gained from surveys or interviews with special librarians at professional conferences could provide this type of information. For instance, how many special libraries/librarians use the internet in reference? How many provided direct internet access to their patrons? Another avenue would be to create an "introduction to the field type handbook, geared to a non-professional. This handbook could feature definitions of various terms (like special librarian) and could explain the variety of skills we use on a daily basis. From this type of publication, an individual considering being a librarian would gain a more concrete impression of the field of special librarianship. I volunteer at a job resource center for woman, where I spend a great deal of time discussing the library and information science profession. I will include this resource in our library, but with reservation. The first section, which lists employment resources, will be useful to my clients. I will attach my business card to the second section, and ask readers to contact me for more up to date information on our profession. Amy A. Begg, Reference Librarian, Smithsonian Institution Libraries E-mail: sil.abegg@ic.si.edu ________________________________________ This document may be circulated freely with the following statement included in its entirety: Copyright Amy A. Begg, 1995. This article was originally published in _LIBRES: Library and Information Science Electronic Journal_ (ISSN 1058-6768) December 31, 1995 Volume 5 Issue 3-4. For any commercial use, or publication (including electronic journals), you must obtain the permission of the authors: Amy A. Begg, Reference Librarian, Smithsonian Institution Libraries E-mail: sil.abegg@ic.si.edu To subscribe to LIBRES send e-mail message to listserv@kentvm.kent.edu with the text: subscribe libres_ ________________________________________