Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center picture

 

April 3-9, 2022, is National Library Week. This is a time to celebrate libraries and the work that we do.  All of you probably know what a library is and hopefully know what the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center is. Yes, the library is a building containing books and materials to support users at the Health Sciences Center. It’s also a place to either sit quietly and study or meet with others to collaborate on projects.  The library is committed to fostering a place of belonging for our diverse communities and cultivating an environment that inspires open minds, curiosity, and continuous learning.  

But the library is more than the walls surrounding its physical structure, the library is the people who cultivate the inspiration. The people who work in the library make it what it is.  But what really is library work?    What do library workers really do? 

The roles of library workers are as varied as any profession and range from public services to collections to teaching to administration and even more varied within those units.  So what is library work at HSLIC? 

Library work is:

  • answering questions at the public services desk

  • cataloging new material and making electronic resources accessible 

  • teaching classes on how to find information

  • shelving material so that users can find what they are looking for

  • investigating new technology to deliver information and resources

  • processing collections and connecting history with the future

  • offering events, workshops, and learning series to support student success and/or enhance knowledge of health sciences

  • promoting data and research

  • collecting work created by HSC authors and saving to the UNM Digital Repository

  • scanning articles from print journals to make them available electronically through document delivery

  • reserving print and etextbooks that are assigned to a course to help students save money on textbooks

  • conducting systematic reviews

  • researching and acquiring new resources

  • maintaining HSLIC’s budget and space

Moses Moya cataloging a book requested by faculty member

LIsa Acuff researching articles in JMLA

This list is a sampling of library work at HSLIC and is by no means exhaustive.  There are many more job duties and projects at the library that contribute to its success and to the vision and mission of the Health Sciences Center.  At HSLIC we are all library workers - no matter what our official job title is or what unit we work in or even our specific job duties, we work together to support you, to support our community at the HSC. This is library work.  This is our work. 

Picture of Tim Mey wearing Virtual Reality Glasses Varina Kosovich Picture of Lori Sloane doing a Zoom session on on the Faculty Book Display Case in the Digital Repository

If you have pictures or stories that you would like to share of HSLIC or library work in action, please post on Twitter and tag us in it @unmhslic #thisislibrarywork.