The Systems Librarian

What is a systems librarian? Both history and practice indicate a wide variation in the field, strong commitments to local arrangements and a lack of functional standards. Library administrators and managers struggle with the broad requirements of the position, weighing the skill sets of degree holding professionals and the non-MLS technologists. Systems librarians are often designers, planners, implementors, consultants, technology representatives or facilitators. This text provides an assessment of what system librarianship is and what it can be, outlining the type of training needed for people to fill these positions, and illustrates challenges for libraries – and systems librarians – in computing and networking.