What is your current job and what does it entail?
I am the associate library director for the MBLWHOI Library (www.mblwhoilibrary.org), which is operated jointly by the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and the Woods Hole Oceanograhic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Mass. The MBLWHOI Library serves the scientific research and instructional needs of members of the Wood Hole scientific community, which consists of scientists and staff of the MBL (www.mbl.edu), WHOI (www.whoi.edu), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (www.nefsc.nmfs.gov), the US Geological Survey (USGS) Woods Hole Science Center (woodshole.er.usgs.gov), and the Sea Education Association (SEA) (www.sea.edu). The staff of the MBLWHOI Library maintains a collection of resources to support scientific research; provides access to the library's collection of print, electronic, data and archival resources; and assists scientists and students. Our library patrons are composed of resident and visiting researchers and undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students working in the fields of biomedicine, environmental sciences, marine sciences and oceanography. From 1997-2000, I was the director of Marine Sciences Information Services at the University of Rhode Island (URI) (www.uri.edu) in Narragansett, R.I., where my day-to-day activities focused on the leadership and administration of three units at URI's Graduate School of Oceanography (www.gso.uri.edu): Pell Marine Science Library (www.gso.uri.edu/pell/pell.html), the National Sea Grant Library (nsgl.gso.uri.edu), and the Coastal Data and Information Center. From 1985-1997, I was the head of Library and Information Services at Bodega Marine Laboratory (www-bml.ucdavis.edu), a field station of the University of California at Davis (www.ucdavis.edu). In this remote marine laboratory setting I worked very closely with students, faculty and researchers as well as with the general public.

What was the key factor in your career decision?
My interest in oceanography began when I was 13 years old and attended a weeklong special course at the University of Delaware's marine laboratory in Lewes (http://www.ocean.udel.edu/ships&facilities/lewes.html). Although I lived far from the ocean, I grew up watching TV shows like Sea Hunt, Flipper and, of course, specials by Jacques Cousteau! I was very focused on oceanography and planned the path to my career goals: get a college degree, work for a bit, then go back to grad school so I could get a job in oceanography. Following graduation from the University of Colorado (www.colorado.edu) [which may seem an odd choice for marine science but in fact had excellent science programs as well as proximity to major laboratories of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (www.noaa.gov)], I attended a 10-week officer training course at the US Merchant Marine Academy (www.usmma.edu) and then served as an officer aboard a 292-foot NOAA oceanographic research vessel working in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the exciting experiences I had, I discovered that I did not like shipboard life and decided I wanted a more shore-based oceanographic career. I went to work as a scientific manuscript editor for the NMFS laboratory in Seattle, Wash. (www.nwfsc.noaa.gov), and then transferred to a higher-paying job in the lab's library. I soon discovered that I liked working with the "end results" of scientific research rather than "doing the science" itself. I knew I still wanted to go to graduate school to advance my career so I applied to a number of Ph.D. programs at oceanographic institutions, but I also applied for the masters program at a library school (University of Washington, www.washington.edu). I was accepted into the various programs and was faced with a major career choice - oceanography or library science? In the end, my selection of librarianship over research science was based on two things I had learned about myself - I wanted a steady paycheck (and did not want to write grants for my research and salary) and I did not enjoy the process of designing and executing experiments, although I did want to be involved in other aspects of science.

What do you like least about your career?
As I've moved up the ladder to a more administrative position, I've become more removed from the day-to-day scientific enterprise. I spend most of my time making sure that the library has the resources the scientists want and need. I also make sure that the library staff and scientists are trained about how to access that information. It is an exciting time in libraries because there are many new opportunities and challenges in scientific publishing and digital libraries.

What do you do to relax?
Reading, Scottish country dancing, traveling and exploring, hiking and restoring an 18th century farmhouse and grounds.

Who are your heroes/heroines?
Writers! I admire anyone who can successfully put ideas into a cohesive unit - be it a work of fact, fiction or a scientific treatise.

Are career opportunities in your field increasing or decreasing and why?
Positions in library and information science are definitely increasing. The amount of information being generated is doubling at an alarming rate. Technological advances brought on by the Internet have made it easier to access remote information, but librarians serve a critical role by organizing and facilitating access to distributed information and by teaching and educating users about new ways to access information. National and international initiatives in marine sciences are renewing and stimulating interest, research and new facilities. Librarians will be more critical than ever to the process of selecting and evaluating information and teaching users how to use and evaluate information resources.

What will you be doing 10 years from today?
Good question! I hope to be continuing to shape the library of the future - a place, a portal and a partner to scientists and scholars.

Salary:$60,000 - $80,000

Email:euhlinger@mbl.edu