Four Decades of Position Announcements for

Latin American and Caribbean Studies Librarians

in U.S. Academic & Research Libraries:
1970-2009

Jesús Alonso-Regalado
University at Albany, SUNY
SALALM LV, Providence, RI
July 25, 2010
 Summary of the Study

► Update of the research article:

“Librarian for Latin American and Caribbean Studies in U.S.
Academic and Research Libraries: A Content Analysis of
Position Announcements, 1970-2007.” Full text available at:
http://eprints.rclis.org/17799/

► Object of study:
100 job announcements mentioning collection
development as a duty and Latin American Studies
as a subject responsibility.
► Sources: C&RLNews, SALALM Newsletter, and LALA-L
► Methodology: Content analysis
 Variables: 121 (73 analyzed in detail)

Variables divided into the following categories:

Position description characteristics
Academic background & knowledge
Work experience
Technology skills
Language skills
Personal traits
Duties
Subject responsibilities
 Position Description Characteristics
► Period: 1970-1989 1990-1999 2000-2009
25 35 40

► Job title: The most common title was “librarian”

65%(2000-2009)
24% (1970-89)

► Institution type: public Universities (64%), private (21%),

research/specialized libraries (15%)
► Geographic location: The Northeast and South accounted
for 80% of the jobs offered in 2000-2009
Academic Requirements & Background Knowledge

► Master of Library Science: 80% of the job ads required it.

63% required an ALA-accredited MLS. 28% would accept
an MLS equivalent.
► Advanced degree in a related field:
1970-1989 2000-2007
14 required or preferred (56% of ads) 28 required or preferred (70% of ads)

► Adv. degree in LACS or emphasis in this subject: 40%

► PhD: 19% preferred; but only 1 required.
► Knowledge of area publishing trade: Increase as required
from 12% in 1970-1989 to 42.5% in 2000-2009.
 Type of Required Prior Experience by Time Period
25
70-89
Number of Job Announcements

20 90-99
00-09
15

10

0
 Language (Required + Preferred) by Time Period

40
70-89
35 90-99
Number of Job Announcements

30 00-09
25
20
15
10
5
0
 Personal Traits by Time Period
35
Number of Job Announcements

70-89
30
90-99
25
00-09
20
15
10
5
0
 Top 10 Most Demanded Duties by Time Period

45
Number of Job Announcements

70-89
40
35
90-99
30
25
00-09
20
15
10
5
0
 Subject Responsibilities

► Latin American and Caribbean Studies: 88% of the jobs

require it. An additional 12% list specific countries.

Most common subject with LACS % of job ads

Iberian Studies 43%

Spanish language and literature 20%

Portuguese language and literature 19%

U.S Latino Studies 12%

► Iberian Studies over time :

1970-1989 1990-1999 2000-2009
8 18 17
 Changing Role - Duties
The average number of duties per announcement
has increased over time

8.1
(2000-
6.25 2009)
(1990-1999)
4.8
(1970-89)

Evolution of the position from being narrowly

specialized to being more diversified
 General Trends in Job Ads for Subject Librarians

► Increased vagueness in subject responsibilities:

Examples
▪“will support the curriculum of assigned departments”
▪“will serve as liaison with faculty in assigned subject areas”
▪“outreach to faculty/students in academic units as needed”

► Growing number of subjects:

Example
▪ Modern Lang. and Cultures Librarian “to collaborate with faculty in
programs for Spanish, Chinese, German, Italian, and Japanese.”

► Increasing number of positions not filled after retirements

and librarians leaving jobs.
Some of these jobs are distributed among librarians who were already
in the institution, adding more duties into their job profiles.
 Current & Future Studies

► Limitations of the study: Job ads do not necessarily

reflect the actual work experience of individuals
employed in this field.
Subject responsibilities can be later.

► Survey study of those librarians hired would provide a

more accurate picture of the current profile.
► As globalization studies gains recognition in
academic programs, how this would affect the scope
of area studies positions?
Example: “Global Studies & Foreign Languages Liaison
Librarian”
 Are LACS librarians still needed?

► Latin American Studies in the U.S. has grown significantly

• Number of academic programs
From 120 in 1970 to 202 in 2010
• Number of degrees conferred
From 431 in 1970-71 to 825 in 2007-08
► Volume of dissertation and theses
From 954 in the 70’s to 4,705 in the 00’s
► LACS library subject expertise still needed but growing
number of librarians responsible for Latin American
Studies WITHOUTbackground in this subject.
©

© Ruby Gutiérrez
© Anne Barnhart