Professional Development Opportunities for Academic Subject Librarians

Library professionals who specialize in particular disciplines have a deep understanding of the unique needs in their area to support faculty research, enrich student learning, and manage certain collections. Librarians and staff in such positions rely heavily on the expertise of their colleagues who have similar responsibilities, as well as standards developed by library and academic professionals in their respective fields. Therefore, professional networking is a critical practice for academic librarians who manage a particular subject area in their library. This chapter will provide information on subject-specific library conferences and other professional development opportunities that are useful for both conference organizers and librarians who specialize in subject areas and have responsibilities in collection management, instruction, cataloging, and liaison duties.