Why Do Employees Use Online Databases?

The organization is an academic library for a university, so employees of the library at librarian status or higher positions are MLS-holders. Employees of the library are expected to have reference skills, customer service skills, and technical knowledge. Workers for the Carlson Library are recruited nationally, but mostly in the state of Pennsylvania. In addition, there are student employees as well, who are solely on-campus students and recruited locally. There are specific needs for each department in regards to duties, but MLS-holders generally possess a similar set of skills and abilities to obtain their jobs. The dominant group of employees are student workers, while the following group of employees are reference librarians. It is a …show more content…
An undergraduate student in Accounting will have different needs from a graduate student in Special Education, who will have even more unique needs from a professor in the Nursing program. The resources being accessed, the databases being used, the inquiries being made, and the books being read will vary for each user. If there is any competition locally, the Clarion Free Library can compete based on what materials, services, and databases are offered as the town’s public library. Other websites, search engines, and information found online can be viewed as competitive against the library’s services, if the user determines that they are finding information faster or in different methods in comparison to what the Carlson library can offer. Many students feel that they can find any needed information through Google and view the library as old fashioned and out of touch with the modern world. The Carlson library has the responsibility to adapt to new changes in technology as well as evolving with students’ needs in order to be continually seen as relevant and beneficial in the competitive field. The environment will remain supportive and responsive to the library’s needs as long as the library responds just as …show more content…
On-campus students in the library science program are given opportunities to be a student employee for the library and gain ‘on the job’ experience for their education. For example, the newly hired technical services employee receive a lot of training from the current technical services employees for hands-on work. Overall, there is some basic training and expectations, but no specific step-by-step manual instructions. Furthermore, there is no reward system in place, but there are annual raises and staff appreciation lunches. The morale for the library is relatively high, each department is focused in their work and individuals are able to be hired into specific departments. In total, the library has a casual and friendly atmosphere that makes it an enjoyable place to work and