The Embedded Librarian as a Triage Doc

I’m often jealous of other areas in The Company. 

The Company has several (small) units that can do research that a single librarian (or even a team of librarians) cannot.  They do “big data” analytics, usability studies, qualitative and quantitative consumer analysis, even some electrical and physical engineering.  Their services are top notch and highly specialized.  Because they are doing primary research in topics selected by clients, it’s hard to compete with their specialties when it comes to questions that secondary research can’t reach.  So sometimes I feel like I’m the second tier research.

(That said these areas were also the library’s best customers when it existed and most vocal when it closed.  I also count a lot of my colleagues in those areas as friends.)

The problem is these units often have huge backlogs and waitlists.  Their services are highly sought out, but they have small staffs.  So they can’t handle all of the work. 

That’s where I sweep in to save the day… Kind of.  While I can’t do the detailed primary research like the other groups, I can often find secondary sources that are close enough or supplemental.  And while it’s often not dead on topic, sometimes it’s enough for the project groups to make some assumptions and extrapolations.

So like the triage doctor, embedded librarians can help project groups stay alive when the kind of information they would prefer to have is not available.  In fact, I’ve turned this “bug” in my position into a marketing feature.  When I do outreach, I often tell prospective clients that if they can’t get in to see the specialists or if they’d like me to see what I can find while they wait to see a specialist, I’m happy to help.