The Fall 2009 issue of "Library Trends," a quarterly standard in the field 
of library science scholarship, is devoted to "Workforce Issues in Library 
and Information Science." Edited by Drs. Joanne Gard Marshall, alumni 
distinguished professor, School of Information and Library Science (SILS) 
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Paul Solomon, associate 
professor, School of Library and Information Science, University of South 
Carolina and former associate dean of Academic Affairs at SILS; and Susan 
Rathbun-Grubb, Ph.D., 2009 SILS alumna, the "collection of articles in this 
issue of "Library Trends" represents an initial attempt to bring together 
works that discuss key projects and research issues that can be explored 
using the available data" (from previous LIS research, the WILIS study and 
"lifecourse perspective from sociology").

Marshall, Solomon and Rathbun-Grubb have put together an impressive 
collection of academic literature associated with the issue's primary 
theme. Included are articles authored and co-authored by other SILS faculty 
and students, as well as colleagues in the library world, with 
contributions by:

* Deborah Barreau, SILS associate professor
* Kathleen De Long, associate university librarian, University of Alberta 
Libraries
* Brandy Farrar, doctoral student, North Carolina State University
* Jennifer Grady, director of the American Library Association-Allied 
Professional Association
* Elisabeth Leonard, associate dean for library services at Western 
Carolina University and doctoral student at SILS
* Zeth Lietzau, associate director of Library Research State, Colorado 
State
* Victor W. Marshall, professor of sociology, UNC at Chapel Hill, former 
director of the Institute on Aging
* Barbara B. Moran, SILS professor
* Jennifer Craft Morgan, research scientist and associate director for 
research at UNC at Chapel Hill's Institute on Aging
* Chad H. Morgan, SILS TRLN doctoral fellow
* Irene Owens, dean, School of Library and Information Sciences, North 
Carolina Central University and SILS alumna
* Ericka Patillo, doctoral student at SILS
* Allison Sivak, assessment librarian at the University of Alberta 
Libraries
* Nicolle Steffen, director of the Library Research Service, Colorado State 
Library
* Cheryl A. Thompson, UNC at Chapel Hill Institute on Aging
* Jessica Zellers, public librarian, Williamsburg Regional Library

To view the article titles, authors and each article, visit the "Library 
Trends" site at: 
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/library_trends/toc/lib.58.2.html

This particular issue of "Library Trends" is devoted to examining workforce 
issues related to librarianship and is based in part on the landmark 
"Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science (WILIS)" studies 
conducted by Marshall and her colleagues at SILS and at the UNC Institute 
on Aging.

In the issue's introduction, Marshall, Solomon and Rathbun-Grubb explain 
the scope and purpose of the articles they have chosen to include—which 
all have to do, at least in part, with novel approaches to track and 
improve librarianship as a profession both now and well into the future. 
"Beyond buildings, collections, and services, the library and information 
(LIS) workforce is key to the success of many aspects of a knowledge 
economy," Marshall, Solomon, and Rathbun-Grubb write.  "Having these 
articles together in a single issue gives a sense of the scope and 
complexity of the workforce issues facing the field today and the potential 
of research to inform workforce planning at all levels."


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Wanda Monroe
Director of Communications
School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
100 Manning Hall
Campus Box 3360
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3360
Phone: 919.843.8337
Web site: sils.unc.edu
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