Although most of our colleagues in the academic environment still carry titles like Reference Librarian and Public Services Librarian, we are increasingly earning titles as technical specialists. With the pervasive presence of electronic bibliographic tools, the librarian must master the vagaries of mutated Boolean systems, rapidly changing platforms, and software "upgrades" in an endless quest to stay ahead of the quarterly revolution in the hardware industry.

The role of the academic librarian has its roots in scholarship and the life of the scholar. In that sense, one receives a calling to this life of scholarship and works to support and facilitate global communication by bringing students together with primary and secondary research information. Academic librarians should also be productive scholars, expanding the information base where possible, and improving access to previously collected information.

To that end, academic librarians are interested in the goals of preservation in addition to the acquisition of new material. Preservation is not exclusive to the museum community or the large research university, rather it is a primary component of the total asset management package required of the modern academic librarian.

To close on this theme, the academic librarian is a jack-of-all-trades, knowledgeable in the rudiments of research methods and reference tools; skilled in the art of negotiation between administrators, faculty, students, and community organizations; accepting of technological change; committed to the preservation and stewardship of historic collections; versed in the complications of copyright law; involved in the governance of the profession and always present to the students.

Academic librarianship is a dynamic field, well-suited to innovation and ingenuity. The successful academic librarian is one who wears each of these hats with honor.

--Robert Bleil
Head of Public Services
Juniata College