Training as a specialist for media and information services

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What does a media and information services specialist do at the University of Kassel?

Image: UB Kassel

Information procurement and indexing

"Knowledge is power" - a phrase to be taken seriously for you. You're not satisfied with just the usual news, but are constantly on the lookout for more information. You also already know a lot about the media. For a person as inquisitive as you, training as a media and information services specialist is just the thing.
As a specialist for media and information services, you will obtain information, make it accessible systematically and prepare it in such a way that it is user-friendly.
Depending on the specialization you choose, you will of course also have specific tasks. In the library department, for example, you will be involved in setting up and maintaining library collections. You will also be responsible for advising customers and procuring media.
During your training, you will get to know every department.

Acquire and capture media

At Kassel University Library, you will mainly work on specialist literature in the area of acquisitions. You will prepare this specialized literature for teachers and students by learning the individual steps - from acquisition to placing the medium on the shelf or inserting the link in the cataloging system to the electronic resource. In cataloging, you will work according to an international set of rules for which you will be trained in detail.

Mediate and inform

On the one hand, you get to know the collection much better and familiarize yourself with the systematics and classifications. You also learn how to deal professionally with users when you answer library-specific questions and provide information at the service desk. You will also participate in database training and library tours.

In 3 years of training, you will get to know the various library locations - including the Landes- und Murhardsche Bibliothek, which has not only specialist literature but also fiction in its collection. Here you will spend your 2nd year of training, getting to know new colleagues and other work; because here there is a reading room, a manuscript department and much more.

When does the training as a specialist for media and information services begin at the University of Kassel and where does it take place?

Training as a specialist for media and information services begins on August 1 of each year and takes place at the University Library on Holländischer Platz at the University of Kassel.
The vocational school is the Stauffenbergsschule in Frankfurt/Main.

Svenja, trainee for media and information services, 3rd year of training

In comprehensive school, I did an internship at the Kassel University Library and got to know working life for the first time. I was so lucky because my first internship showed me relatively quickly that this was my dream job. Before that, I had no idea what was going on in the background of a library.

What is your motivation for this profession?

I love being able to provide information to anyone and everyone and being able to help with questions. That simply makes me happy. My father once quoted Confucius, and that's what I think of every time someone asks me about my motivation: "Choose a job you love and you'll never have to go back to work.

Are there moments or things that always impress you?

It's almost surreal how much money is regularly spent on media - that amazes me every time. If you buy a book privately, it's only a tiny fraction of what a library spends on an e-book package, for example.

Ask yourself beforehand if you ...

you are enthusiastic about books and other forms of media.
enjoy working with computers and people alike.
feel comfortable in libraries.
like to work independently.

or if ...

you don't like to work indoors.
you don't like administrative work.
you have no sense of order.

Go-Link of this page: https://www.uni-kassel.de/go/ausbildung-fachangestellter-medien