Collection Development

Liaison Librarians

Selection of Liaision Librarians

Liaison Appointments are made by the Dean of Libraries and Media Services. A librarian is asked to work with one or more academic units based on the following criteria:

• the librarian's educational experience
• the librarian's job-related duties
• the librarian's job-related workload
• the demands of an academic unit placed on the Libraries

In general, assignments are made to best match a librarian's expertise with a given academic unit. However, intervening variables may include changes in library staffing, a desire to maintain some level of continuity in liaison assignments, or the lack of required expertise among the Libraries' staff.

Role of Liaison Librarians

Liaison librarians are expected to establish and maintain regular and frequent contact with the academic units to which they are assigned. The foremost purpose of this relationship is to assist in effectively and appropriately expending an academic unit's library allocation. The liaison librarian's primary contacts should be the unit's library representative and the chair or director. Liaison librarians should attempt to keep academic units informed of the Libraries' policies and procedures.

A liaison librarian's responsibilities could include some of the following major activities: monitoring an academic unit's allocation; assisting library representatives with bibliographic verification, selection, and ordering; reviewing approval shipments, approval forms, Choice cards, publishers' catalogs and fliers, gift items, and damaged materials; collaborating with other liaisons in related disciplines; conducting informational sessions for members of academic units; and working with academic units on special projects, such as serials cancellations and/or ordering, remote storage selection, accreditation reviews where information about library resources is required, etc.