The Invertebrates Scale of Librarianship

Engineering and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Samantha Dannick authors jocose essay in a national library science publication.

“The Invertebrates Scale of Librarianship”, published in the January issue of College & Research Libraries News (C&RL News) , is a playful and “irreverent” guide to finding your niche in librarianship. C&RL News is the official newsmagazine of the Association of College & Research Libraries.

Nudibranch Berghia coerulescens. Photo credit: Parent Gery, Public Domain.

Dannick encourages library professionals to establish their own personal  “policies” and “professional value system” by way of behavior analogies between librarians and jellyfish, nudibranch, and octopus. Dannick writes, “The Invertebrates Scale of Librarianship is intended to help librarians recognize and name their own professional tendencies… There will be times to be an Octopus, a Nudibranch, and a Jellyfish. Most of us will have a form that is more comfortable than the others. What’s appropriate is to recognize what that form is, how it helps and hinders, and whether a different form would be more suitable for a given situation.”   What’s a nudibranch? Learn more here.

The full article can be read here: The Invertebrates Scale of Librarianship