Youth to youth : paraprofessional in NTU Libraries (Singapore)

• Main Authors: Somasundram, V., Nurashikin Mohamed Jasni
• Other Authors: ALIA National Library & Information Technicians Conference (2011 : Perth)
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Library and information science::General::Careers and profession; DRNTU::Library and information science::General::Education
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/93765; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/7454
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper aims to look at the paraprofessionals in NTU Libraries and the various responsibilities that the paraprofessionals take on. They bring with them various technical skills to support the professional librarians. These paraprofessionals – where some of them belong to the younger generation - also take on roles to engage the majority of the users – the students. Besides the roles in their respective divisions, the paraprofessionals are involved in engaging users in other ways such as using social web applications, graphic design, coordinating submissions to the institutional repository, etc. The paraprofessionals in NTU Libraries - mainly young people – also strive to engage the users by promoting the library and providing the service. This paper will look into how these young and young-at-heart paraprofessionals work together with the librarians to ensure that consistent service is provided and assist the professional librarians in the development of new projects.