A bit of intro:
I am working at a large company in Copenhagen, Denmark. I am a (solo) librarian, informationspecialist and Master-student (Knowledgeorganization 2nd semester).
My tasks are providing competitor surveillance, scientific searches, patent searches, supplying our users with all kind of information in forms of journal, books, webpages, guide them throught the various sytems ect.
Futhermore (and so important!) I have to develop the library services all the time.. And that is why I have started this blog. So much is happening right now in terms of Library 2.0 and Web 2.0. I want to keep track of all that and pick what seems to be the best for my library/users. This might be a way to do so…
February 5, 2008 at 3:58 am
Hello, I’ve enjoyed reading several of your post. I just wondered if you could give me a little more information about your job. The reason I’m asking is that I work as a solo-librarian at a small pharma company in the USA. I have been very over worked the past several years. I am scheduled to get some help. Anyway, my question is when you say you are a solo-librarian do you mean that you have no support positions/library assistants? I have discovered that many solo-librarians I’ve met have some type of assistant. Or it turns out that there are embedded information professionals else where in the company, so they aren’t “completely alone”. I’m really trying to get some realistic perspective, since management and HR do not have a good understanding of the work that can be involved in maintaining a library/information ctr. Or the time, research and energy necessary to create and develop more dynamic services.
A side note: over the past 4 yrs two workload factors have been my support to the Regulatory Dept for FDA submissions (document delivery) and the time spent shelving journals (one beloved researcher did not want to give up the print subscriptions).
I know this has been a very long post for basically a simple question, but I’d greatly appreciate your feedback. All the best, M
February 6, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Hello M,
Nice to hear from you
Its always interesting to read of other corporate librarians, so thank you for sharing your story with me.
I do have a “helper”.I don’t think I could manage without her. Or at least I would be unable to provide service as fast as I do now. She helps me with ordering books and articles and she does the hard work of registring and daily maintenance of our OPAC. In that way I can concentrate on developing the library-services, on training the users, budgets, intranet and do searches/competitor surveillance.
So If you do all those tasks alone + work for the regu.aff. I would agree with you that you are absolutely overworked!How many hours do you work a week(in your contract)?
If you need any more info or if you feel like discussing the subject more I would be happy to hear from you. I am to be found on MSN quite often
February 15, 2008 at 1:42 am
Hello pnille
Thank you so much for confirming my opinion.
It’s been hard to remember what a “normal workload” would be.
I’m very close to hiring an assistant. I’ll give you an update later.
Again, thank you for your comments, “reality-check” and support.
Best Regards, M
March 9, 2008 at 1:17 am