Any news or law librarians out there?

[grad]

I got my B.A. in political science with a history minor, I'll be starting a MLIS/MLS program in the fall, and I am very interested in news and law librarianship. Both of these specialties drew my attention as I have always loved research and had an avid interest in political science, history, current affairs, law, policy, and international relations. Being able to conduct research is something I would find highly desirable in a job and is something I will look for in job descriptions. From news librarians and a law librarian I have been told that, more so than other librarians, research is more common in those career paths. I don't know if this will help at all either, but I've always kind of had an idealistic desire to "do good" with whatever I end up doing.

I have spoken with two news librarians who have told me how opportunities can be difficult given the economy and the state of newspapers, although they encouraged me to pursue it if that is what I really want. I have browsed around the SLA News Division site and read the profiles (reading a profile of a news librarian was the actually major turning point for me in deciding to seriously look into librarianship).

On the law librarianship side, I have met with a law librarian at a law school who spoke very highly of the career path. I was drawn to law librarianship as I have always been interested in the law and for awhile considered going to law school, but decided not to as I didn't think I would want to practice law. I have also browsed the AALL website and profiles. The law librarian also told me that at a law school the librarians, especially the reference librarians, do get to interact with the law a fair deal.

Just from what I know now, these seem to be the most research-oriented paths in librarianship; I would like to hear from other news and law librarians about how true this is and just about the specialties in general. I seem to find a lot of information about public and academic librarianship in discussion forums, but not as much about law (although there is some) and almost nothing about news librarianship. I know being willing to move for public or academic librarianship is very important once you graduate, but how important is it for news and law librarianship? I will strongly prefer to find a position in the greater Los Angeles area once I graduate for personal reasons. I know UCLA is the only lib school in So Cal, so I'm wondering if the job market will be impacted in those specialties in L.A. To outline my interests, as of now, a little more - I think I would like to work for a larger newspaper, a news or media company (such as NBC, CNN, etc.), a magazine (do culinary magazines have librarians?), publishing company, legal research service, law firm, law school, government agency, non-profit (humanitarian issues, environmental issues), or other international organization. How feasible is it to get a position like that in L.A.? What should I be doing now and/or in library school to work towards a job in a place like that? What are my options for those types of positions in L.A.?

I'm also wondering if an additional master's degree in political science, history, or something else might be an asset for either type of librarianship. I have heard for law librarianship that if I want to work at a law school it is likely that I would eventually be required to have a law degree, but law firm positions are not as likely to require a J.D. However, to make myself more marketable, would it be wise to consider a J.D. for a law firm position? Would the money be worth it?

Any and all advice will be appreciated. Thank you so much, and sorry for such a long post!

[Schillel]

I'm not a news or law librarian (yet!) but I am aspiring to law librarianship. To address your concern about the availability of jobs: there is just as much whining about the job market for law librarians as there is for librarians in general and academic jobs at large. I did a lot of research before I decided to pursue this. I am not sure if it will pay off, so I can't help you with that, but I would recommend you check out articles online by the Library Journal, read the section on librarians in the Occupational Outlook Guidebook (BLS.gov). Any job in an academic environment is tough to get. The employers of law librarians, like universities, governments, and law firms, are all strained right now. You need to look at the jobs people are qualified to do with that training if and when they do not get the specific professional job they hoped for. To me, working as a paraprofessional in a firm that did work I supported or in a small-town public library is acceptable, even if it's not my first choice. Depending on what school you go to, the MLS/MLIS/MIS degree equips you with technology skills and service training that is transferable to many different positions.

I completed an MA in history after undergrad. I was fortunate to be allowed to take graduate courses as an undergrad, so the MA was not a significant expense or hardship. I do think it was tremendously helpful. Graduate research was on a completely different level than undergraduate research. I also found that the MA gave me more time to talk to professors about their research, work in the department, and work closely with librarians, archivists, and academics. I don't think I could have proceeded confidently into such a specific professional program before the MA, but you may be more mature than I was. I would recommend an MA if you love the subject, are interested in the coursework, and it does not pose a financial hardship. Even if you decide to pursue librarianship afterwords, you will be a more competitive applicant and once you are done you will be more desirable candidate if you have a subject area specialty.