Medical librarians are also known as health sciences librarians and health information professionals. This career encompasses far more than just cataloging medical books and other literature. They work with computers and set up and maintain networks, they develop Web pages, and they assist with research for other health care professionals to use to write papers.

Duties, Activities, and Scope of Practice

Medical information is an exploding field. Medical librarians are specially trained information specialists in health sciences information. They are responsible for procuring and cataloging new books, journals, and other media sources for their library. This can be a challenging proposition with over 8,000 professional journals to choose from. In 2004, there were over 3,000 new books published for the medical field alone, and over 1,000 other media selections from which to choose.

Depending on the size of the library in general, as well as the number of students, educators, staff, and researchers who need to access the information, a facility's medical library can be quite large. And if it's small, the choices may be even more critical.

Medical information professionals have to organize, categorize, and maintain the information as well as make it accessible. In doing so they will need to make use of other media to help promote and disseminate the information available. These specialists will also have to be available to assist the medical professionals in researching the available literature as well as online sources to find critical information for the diagnosing and treatment options of their patients.

Education and Training

Health information professionals need a master's degree in library science with an emphasis on health sciences. Although certification is not required it is highly recommended. In order to become certified, the candidate has to have a degree from an accredited program. The American Library Association is the accrediting agency.

Licensure/Certification

Certification is not required. However, the Medical Library Association (MLA) offers four levels of certification that signify competency. Membership in the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) is also highly recommended. More information is available from MLA. Their Web site is www.mlanet.org. They also have a list of ALA-accredited schools.

Work Settings and Salaries

Medical librarians work for hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, federal and state agencies, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), research centers, and professional medical associations. They also work in schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and allied health. Over 60 percent of the medical libraries are in hospitals, and 12 percent are in professional schools.

Salaries range from $30,000 to $65,000 per year.

Career Potential and Additional Information

It has been estimated that in the last ten years more health literature has been published than in all previous years combined. This trend is not expected to change, and with the Internet, information will only continue to explode. This creates a tremendous need for information professionals to organize and categorize the information to improve the access.

Cost-containment issues facing hospitals may influence the number of jobs available, but highly qualified candidates should have no problem finding jobs.

For more information about careers in medical library science, contact the Medical Library Association. Their Web site is www.lanet.org. Their address is MLA Professional Development Department, 65 East Wacker Place, Suite 1900, Chicago, IL 60601-7298.