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Looking at electronic resources librarians Is there gender equity within this emerging specialty?

Looking at electronic resources librarians Is there gender equity within this emerging specialty? Purpose – The position of electronic resources librarian emerged as a specialty to deal with the management of digital resources, but little has been written about the librarians now working in this specialty. This article aims to review the history of gender inequity in libraries, outline salary issues in libraries, and attempt to define what an electronic resources librarian is, with systems librarians being used for comparison. Design/methodology/approach – Electronic resources librarians were surveyed for gender, salary, and other demographic information in an attempt to determine whether gender equity or gender stratification is occurring within their specialty. Findings – The majority of respondents work in the USA, but 20 percent worked around the world. Results appear to indicate that males are not being favored over females for employment in this library specialty. Experience and geographic location were found to be the only significant factors affecting salary. Research limitations/implications – Further data need to be gathered from a greater number of electronic resources librarians in order to determine the validity of these results. Originality/value – Electronic resources management appears to substantially blur the line between public and technical services. This blurring could be an interesting aspect to examine more closely to see if the computerization of library resources is changing the definition of what librarians do as well as that of what libraries are. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png New Library World Emerald Publishing

Looking at electronic resources librarians Is there gender equity within this emerging specialty?

New Library World , Volume 106 (3/4): 12 – Mar 1, 2005

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References (29)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0307-4803
DOI
10.1108/03074800510587336
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The position of electronic resources librarian emerged as a specialty to deal with the management of digital resources, but little has been written about the librarians now working in this specialty. This article aims to review the history of gender inequity in libraries, outline salary issues in libraries, and attempt to define what an electronic resources librarian is, with systems librarians being used for comparison. Design/methodology/approach – Electronic resources librarians were surveyed for gender, salary, and other demographic information in an attempt to determine whether gender equity or gender stratification is occurring within their specialty. Findings – The majority of respondents work in the USA, but 20 percent worked around the world. Results appear to indicate that males are not being favored over females for employment in this library specialty. Experience and geographic location were found to be the only significant factors affecting salary. Research limitations/implications – Further data need to be gathered from a greater number of electronic resources librarians in order to determine the validity of these results. Originality/value – Electronic resources management appears to substantially blur the line between public and technical services. This blurring could be an interesting aspect to examine more closely to see if the computerization of library resources is changing the definition of what librarians do as well as that of what libraries are.

Journal

New Library WorldEmerald Publishing

Published: Mar 1, 2005

Keywords: Librarians; Electronic media; Gender; Pay; Surveys

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