Published: September 27, 2016 by Kate M. Spaulding

The skills you learn as a student can take you in any direction you’re interested in – including digital marketing!

Recently, an article about non-traditional library jobs came across my virtual desk: Librarians: Digital Marketing Needs Your Skills by Laurel Norris via CMSWire (which is now in my RSS feed, btw). What I think is interesting about it is that it reiterates what we here on the Career Blog have been talking about all along – that the skills you learn as a student can take you in any direction you’re interested in.

Norris makes the case that “if you have modern library skills like taxonomy development, web system management, data analytics, information architecture, and information literacy, you’re qualified to work in many marketing departments.” And she’s right.

MLIS and MARA students can learn those skills in iSchool courses like INFO 281 (topic: metadata), INFO 282 (topics: digital assets management, digitization and digital preservation, and more), and INFO 284 (topic: digital curation). There’s also Database Management and Vocabulary Design to consider. Check out the digital services, digital curation, and information organization Career Pathways, in particular, to get a feel for job titles, skills, and suggested courses.

We are Awesome

Right now, all of us are learning about the value of managing information, making it findable and accessible, and how to communicate our ideas via myriad platforms. That makes us super valuable in the workforce, even if employers haven’t yet figured out that what they want is a librarian.

Not sure if digital anything is the way you want to go? You already know the answer: take advantage of the vibrant alumni network we have and conduct some informational interviews. You could also do some of the keyword searches Norris suggests in order to get an idea of what jobs are available and what sounds interesting. Basically, do your research.

Now, go forth and organize!