{"id":1105,"date":"2021-05-03T15:02:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T19:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/?p=1105"},"modified":"2021-05-03T15:02:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T19:02:47","slug":"lean-on-librarians-a-quick-guide-on-subject-librarian-public-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/2021\/05\/03\/lean-on-librarians-a-quick-guide-on-subject-librarian-public-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Lean on Librarians! A quick guide on Subject Librarian public services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by: Gabrielle Milburn\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Two woman chatting<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Mentatdgt<\/a>, licensed under\u00a0Pexels\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Librarians have been an authoritative presence among the rows of literature for as long as the role has been established. There can be various beliefs arguing over the role of a librarian, from the idea that they only stock books and read all day, to looming the stacks and keeping the building quiet. From my experience as a student assistant working directly with UNT\u2019s subject librarians, while librarians do much more than stock the collection and read all day, the reading part is only somewhat correct. It should be explicitly noted that these perceptions are not entirely true– I can safely say that none of the librarians that I have worked with have ever cracked open a YA novel and spent three hours indulging in just that. Still, there is a ton of research that subject librarians do find themselves reading for a certain objective in accordance to their projects or patrons.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many students are not aware that there are people to ask when they need help researching for their paper other than their professor. As the desk receptionist, I receive many phone calls asking for further information on research projects and how to find materials. The process will usually start with the inquiry and finish with my directing them to their subject librarian, who could help them with their research. The subject librarians not only are able to sit with the patron and provide a professional research consultation, but they might already be familiar with the assignment itself. Part of the subject librarian\u2019s duty when they are assigned their department of research is to engage with the professors and faculty. With this outreach they can cement their familiarity with the subject and the potential assignments to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many might assume that the subject librarian would need to have a background in the subject to help their patrons. While that can\u00a0put them in a great position\u00a0to provide good service, subject librarians are not necessarily required to\u00a0have a degree\u00a0in the department\u00a0they are representing. Melissa Fortson\u00a0(2011)\u00a0illustrates her experience as a new subject librarian very well in her article\u00a0I\u2019m No Expert: A New Librarian Becomes a Subject Specialist.\u00a0<\/em>She\u00a0implies that the real secret is that although the librarian might not have professional experience with their subject prior to their position, they are trained and well-versed with the subject enough to help their patrons. They spend extra hours and effort\u00a0to find the most helpful resources to help researchers through scheduling meetings or even provide helpful links in their\u00a0Subject Guides<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that you know what subject librarians can do for their patrons, you know who to reach out to for extra help on research, right? For UNT\u2019s subject librarians, getting in contact with them is easy! If there is a specific subject or course that a patron needs help with, they can simply look through the\u00a0Subject Librarians<\/a>\u00a0list and find which librarian covers which subject. This page even allows visitors to filter the list by searching for the subject and finding their librarian through there! Some librarians also lead their own\u00a0classes\u00a0on how to research using the\u00a0university\u2019s resources and library website. This is a service that can be offered for students and other patrons within the libraries as part of their outreach. It is\u00a0important\u00a0to reach out to the students, faculty, and other university patrons and promote the library\u2019s support and services. After all, there is always a student struggling with research,\u00a0from narrowing down their topics to navigating the website and finding the resources they need.\u00a0Subject librarians are responsible for promoting their services and the backbones that support accessibility in research and instruction for all of our patrons.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our subject librarians are always open to discuss research opportunities! Need help getting in contact with them, or have any further questions regarding librarian and library services? Feel free to leave a comment and contact our\u00a0Ask Us<\/a>\u00a0services for more information!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortson, M. (2011). I’m no expert: A new librarian becomes a subject specialist. ALA New Members Round Table, 40(3). http:\/\/www.ala.org\/rt\/nmrt\/news\/footnotes\/february2011\/im_no_expert_fortson<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

University Libraries. (n.d.). Subject Librarians. https:\/\/library.unt.edu\/subject-librarinas\/<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Written by: Gabrielle Milburn\u00a0 Librarians have been an authoritative presence among the rows of literature for as long as the role has been established. There can be various beliefs arguing over the role of a librarian, from the idea that they only stock books and read all day, to looming the stacks and keeping the building quiet. From my experience… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[120,101,104],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-library-resources","category-research-help","tag-gabrielle-milburn","tag-research-help","tag-subject-librarians"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1117,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions\/1117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/scholar-speak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}