THOMAS MINDER Library Systems Analyst - A Job Description

SYsTEMS ANALYSIS has become an important part of librarianship. Courses are being offered in schools. Librarians want to add analysts to their staff, and the term frequently appears in library research and development literature. There can be little doubt concerning the reasons for interest. The continuing pressure to introduce automation, especially electronic data processing, into the profession has caused librarians to look to the computer .field for techniques. At the same time, there is an increasing awareness of the weaknesses in the traditional methods of library evaluation, design, and operation. Finally, operating costs within libraries are increasing to such an extent that libraries are being forced to look for improved methods of cost analysis for justification of budget requests. Despite the common use of the phrase "systems analysis," very little has been written in library literature concerning it, its nature, the qualifications of the analyst, and the relationship of these two to librarianship. The following is intended partially to satisfy a need for a better understanding of systems analysis within the library profession. It is also a suggested working paper for those in-