Hi, Cynthia,

You probably have acquired most of the skills anyone needs for serials
librarianship - except maybe for cataloging, if that's what you want to
do.

If you apply for jobs in academic libraries where the librarians have
faculty status, you will probably need a 2nd Master's degree, if you
don't already have one.  A lot of colleges and universities don't bestow
faculty status upon the librarians, but some still do.  (It's a mixed
blessing.)

Also, if you don't have experience with electronic serials (aggregator
databases, e-journals, etc.) you might want to take some kind of
continuing education class.  Some of us got our degrees when online
research meant pay-per-search (such as the old Dialog service).  A class
or workshop on that topic might give you an edge over the competition .
. . depending, of course, on what kind of competition there is.  At the
very least, it would be good preparation.

I'm sure others will have advise I've overlooked.

Good luck with your career!

Sarah Tusa
Lamar University

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
[mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Dieden, Cynthia
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 2:08 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Serials Career question

Hello-
I am a periodicals supervisor and librarian at a medium-large public
library.  I supervise two periodicals clerks, am responsibile for
serials control, claims, deletions (we don't bind), new magazines, as
well as other collection duties such as selection and weeding.  In
addition, I participate on a number of committees and work on public
services desks (readers' advisory and reference).  I have very limited
cataloging experience.  To get to my question, I am interested in taking
another step (possibly into academic libraries) in serials.  Would I be
qualified, in general and does anyone have any advice on skills to hone
or responsibilities to seek out to take this next step.  Thank you for
your assistance.

-Cynthia Dieden