David Stern was Director of Science Libraries and Information Services at Yale University from 1995 to 2008. He was involved in the development of end-user search systems for both local and remote hosts, including a Web-based expert systems librarian emulator. As of March 2008, David Stern is now Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources at Brown University, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, 10 Prospect Street / Box A, Providence, RI 02912.

Leading authorities in the field of librarianship offer their extensive experience and insight to help beginners to understand precisely what actual measurable skills are required to become a successful career science librarian.

1. Understanding Your Competencies to Create a Successful Career Judith J. Field 2. Collection Development Competencies for Science and Technology Libraries Michael R. Leach 3. Reference, In-Depth Research Assistance, and Administrative Assistance David Stern 4. Information Literacy Instruction: Competencies, Caveats, and a Call to Action Alexius Smith Macklin and F. Bartow Culp 5. Core Cataloging and Metadata Standards and Best Practices Mary S. Alexander 6. Humor Deficit : A Librarian's Guide to Being Funny and Competent Liz Bryson 7. The Management of SciTech Libraries: Services, Staff, Facilities, and Outsourcing Lynn Berard 8. Teams, What Are They Good For, and How Do You Get Them to Work? Michael Fosmire 9. Basic Competencies for Statistical Work in the Library and Information Science Profession Nisa Bakkalbasi 10. Assessment 101 for Librarians: A Guidebook Tina Chrzastowski 11. How to Understand and Influence the Industry Libby Trudell