Curious About a Career as a Librarian in Higher Education?
Matthew Shaw is Librarian of The Queen’s College, Oxford, and he has answered your questions about working within library services.
Working as a university librarian can be a hugely rewarding career, and Matthew has shared his experiences, how his career progressed, a typical day, and how technology has changed the sector.
Jump to question
- What does a librarian do vs a curator?
- What does a typical day in your role look like?
- Are there any specific qualifications I need to become a librarian in HE?
- What skills and experience should I develop to find work as a librarian?
- What advice would you give to someone starting out in library services?
- What inspired the change from being a curator to librarian?
- How did you get into this career? Did you always want to work in a library?
- What is it like working at The Queen’s College, Oxford?
- What is the best part of your job?
- What are the challenges?
- How has technology changed your job since you started?
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Meet the Host
Matthew Shaw
Matthew Shaw is Librarian of The Queen’s College, Oxford, and a former librarian of the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London. He studied history at the University of York, where he was awarded a BA, MA, and DPhil.
He began his library career as a curator in the British Library’s Department of Manuscripts before joining the Americas section, and now has over twenty years’ experience in library services.
I got a professional knowledge from your insight at pot spot of this experience.