How Did They Get There? Resource Sharing Career Pathways

Abstract

This qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews explores the career paths of resource sharing librarians in the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA). There is a lack of qualitative analysis of career paths in this specialization. This analysis identifies how respondents began their career, what skills, knowledge and abilities are needed to be successful and how they were acquired along the winding pathways. The theme of community pervades all of the responses and current trends are identified. All of this analysis can be used to support early career resource sharing professionals entering the field with the theory, skills and flexibility needed for success.

Keywords:

• Career development
• career path
• interlibrary loan
• knowledge acquisition
• qualitative interviews
• resource sharing

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the following for their invaluable support in doing this research: Lorrie Woods, Hilary Thompson, Jessica Bower Revelo, Amanda Bena, Maggie Saponaro, and the IRDL 2022 cohort.

Disclosure statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.