Beyond Subject Specialization: The Creation of Embedded Librarians

Abstract

The concept of the embedded librarian takes subject specialization to another plane. The article that follows discusses the embedded librarian as an evolutionary product and speculates on the reasons driving the change from the library to the department or center for the delivery of information services. Four drivers for change are explored with examples from a major research library, and several questions are posed related to the future of this new service model.

KEYWORDS:

• embedded librarians
• field librarians
• library liason
• new models
• subject specialists

Notes

¹The assignment can be found in Appendix A with an example in Appendix B.