The role of the paraprofessional in technical services in libraries

Selection

In medium- to large-sized libraries (as determined by collection size), materials selection, also known as collection development, has largely remained the responsibility of professional librarians, often working in direct consultation with constituent user groups. Where paraprofessionals hold positions because of their expertise in a certain subject area, they may take part in the selection process, though often under the direct supervision of a professional librarian or as part of a selection team. In small or one-person libraries, and in some school libraries where paraprofessionals rather than media specialists or teacher-librarians are employed, the paraprofessional may have responsibility for selection of materials.

That selection/collection development has remained, for the most part, within the domain of librarians is a reflection of skill set requirements. While abilities in more than one language may be desirable, subject expertise is paramount in combination with: (1) a solid understanding of the publishing industry and of changing user requirements and tastes; (2) well-honed skills in collection analysis, measurement, and evaluation (e.g., content analysis, bibliometrics, etc.); (3) a knowledge of cognate or related disciplines and publishing trends within; (4) an ability to anticipate and monitor shifts in the subject literature (emerging themes, the changing status of a discipline or topical area, etc.); (5) an ability to develop strategic plans regarding collection development and to work within a budget framework; and (6) an intuitive sense of the collection as a kind of case study in biblio-diversity--i.e., continually changing to meet the needs of end-users. The library technician may have the skills of someone trained in library and information techniques but may not have particular expertise in a subject area or areas. The opposite may be true of the paraprofessional. The librarian should reflect a strong mix of both, along with a well-developed sense of professional judgment. It seems unlikely that selection/collection development activities and demands in medium- to large-sized libraries would change sufficiently to warrant having a paraprofessional responsible for this core activity. Moreover, the increasing interest in creating digital library collections and a core of Internet-based electronic resources has sharpened the emphasis on subject expertise as a prerequisite for identifying and evaluating a myriad of knowledge sources from within a vast domain where quality of information may vary dramatically. The skills required to locate a Web site are indeed part of a paraprofessional's toolkit; the foundation of subject expertise and the ability to judge the relevance and quality of the resource may still reside primarily with the professional librarian.

Acquisitions

Acquiring materials has traditionally fallen to those employed at the clerical or support staff level who receive requests from selectors, obtain item and publication information, create an order form manually or in electronic format, receive and check in materials, and forward a completed invoice to accounting for payment. A paraprofessional would be more likely to be serving as a functional unit and/or clerical staff supervisor rather than creating or receiving/processing items. In the supervisory role, the paraprofessional could be responsible for liaising with selectors and/or the collection development team; following-up or through with publishers, jobbers, or other vendors (i.e., claiming for orders only partially received or never received); troubleshooting electronic ordering systems; and monitoring budget changes. While requiring good organizational and communications skills, a supervisory position in acquisitions would not require the same level of subject expertise as for selection.