2016 Charleston Library Conference

The traditional subject liaison role is evolving. Users increasingly require functional information support (e.g., for GIS or data mining) rather than simply domain-specific. At the same time, reports from the ARL Pilot Library Liaison Institute and others have noted self-conscious trends towards developing liaison roles that engage and support the full research life cycle, as opposed to traditional service models focused on building and promoting library collections as more or less fixed products. This session will outline and collaboratively address the future of these new roles, with participants exploring questions that include: What does it mean to be a "collections" librarian in this new world? What "new" skills do we need to develop? What "old" skills should we not lose? How do we adapt both our institutions (and our individual staff) without sacrificing our (or their) very identities?