About the University of Queensland Library
The University of Queensland Library is the largest in the state and employs around 230 people. There are 13 branches located in the St Lucia, Gatton and Ipswich campuses, and in various teachin hospitals and the Dental School.
The Library is an integral part of University life, with access to information in books, journals, videos, electronic databases and the Internet, as well as study and computer facilities.
The Library's research collection includes two million volumes, 15,000 videos, over 400 networked databases, 125,000 e-books and 18,000 journal titles (7,500 of which are available electronically).
The Library website has won awards for its Library.
Graduates are employed in the Library as Librarians, information technology professionals, archivists, and general administrative staff, with some specialist roles in Human Resources and Staff Development, Promotions and Publications, and Facilities Management.
Career Opportunities
According to the Work-level Guidelines issues by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), "work in an information service environment has a critical part to play in an information-based Australian economy and society". Public access to digitised information is being demanded more and more, and so there is a need for specialists who can manage, operate and redesign new information systems and services.
"This is a period of excitement and challenge for the library and information sector, and for its workforce ... and prospects for those qualified in library and information services are sound."
Future career paths will tend to be more diverse than in the past, with a much broader range of placements and lateral transfers to gain experience. Full-time and part-time options are available.
Work at the University of Queensland Library provides opportunities in specific subject areas in the branch libraries, ranging from law to architecture, and from Australian literature to dentistry.
Librarians conduct information skills classes, assist students with loacting material for their assignments, select and analyse items for the Library's collections, construct websites and pathfinders in specific subject areas, and train researchers in resource discovery techniques and knowledge management.
Information technology professionals manage about 1000 PCs, a network with 27 servers, and dozens of printers. They ensure that over 400 databases are available 24 hours a day on web-based software and the Library's catalogue and website provide effective access to the Library's catalogue and services.
There is a strong emphasis on service delivery and customer focus.
Qualifications
Librarians are professionals who manage and provide library and information services by analysisng, evaluating, organising and synthesising information to meet client needs. The role of the librarian focuses on management, direction, policy formulation and application to meet the information needs of clients. (Alia, 1998)
If you hold a degree from the University of Queensland and wish to become a qualified librarian, you will need to complete a graduate diploma or masters course (currently unavailable at the University of Queensland). Most courses can be studied full-time or part-time and some are offered externally.
Australian institutions offering courses in librarianship include:
 Queensland University of Technology (Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove)- University of Canberra
- Charles Sturt University
- The University of New South Wales
- University of Technology, Sydney
- Northern Territory University
- University of South Australia
- Monash University
- Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
- Curtin University of Technology
- Edith Cowan University
Finding out more
To find out more about employment opportunities in the University of Queensland Library, check the Unijob online recruitment service which advertises vacancies at the University of Queensland and other Australian universities. You can see it at: www.unijob.edu.au. Or check the University's website at www.uq.edu.au, or look at the employment pages in Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper.
To discover more about the library, explore the website at www.cybrary.uq.edu.au or pick up an information brochure at any branch library.
To enquire about Library job opportunities, rates of pay and other conditions of work, contact the Library's Human Resource and Staff Development Coordinator, Joanne Rutherford, on telephone 3365 2420.
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