He is also responsible for acquiring and maintaining the software used with the equipment, such as records, audiotapes, films and filmstrips. Media specialist is sometimes called library media specialists, audio visual specialists, or school media center directors. Moreover, audiovisuals are teaching materials that make use both sight and hearing. The development of these materials has had a strong impact on teaching methods, and almost every school now has its own audiovisual equipment by which the media specialist can provide.
Relative to librarian jobs in a school, media specialists help teachers select appropriate media, order materials that teachers request, and show teachers and students how to work with audiovisual equipment. They are presumed to be familiar and knowledgeable with media methods and materials, and must know the subjects that each grade studies, how children learn, and what training aids are best for specific age levels and topics.
Because they are responsible for acquiring audiovisual products, media specialists keep up-to-date by studying manufacturers' literature, talking with salespeople, inspecting new products, and attending professional conferences and conventions. They also sue cameras, film, and art supplies to make their own audio visual materials and may help teachers produce special materials for class projects.
Part of the library employment, media specialists usually work in media centers in their schools or school districts. To keep track of all the audiovisual aids stored in their media centers, they assign each item a number, maintain catalogs of software, and keep schedules showing when teachers plan to use specific materials. They perform such simple maintenance work as cleaning lenses and changing light bulbs, and they call in skilled technicians for more complicated maintenance or repairs.
Should students wish to end up in library careers, like the library job of a media specialist, aspiring students should take courses in communication, graphic arts, television, photography, psychology, and sociology, and college students should earn their undergraduate degrees in educational media or instructional technology. Large school systems often require a master's degree in educational media, instructional technology, communications, education, library science, or library media. Requirements vary throughout the United States. Some school systems allow teachers to become media specialists by taking twelve semester hours in media, and other schools require both the additional training and media experience. Media specialists must be creative, inventive, and adaptable. They must have good manual skills and the ability to work with machines. They also must be able to handle responsibility and work under pressure. They need to have the skills to operate different types of audiovisual equipment, and to be able to teach other s how to operate equipment. In some states, media specialists employed in the public schools systems must have state certification, and in other states they must be certified teachers. Media specialists who work for private schools and in industry or business, however, rarely need certification.
Students who are interested in becoming media specialists should volunteer to work in their school's media programs with other public library jobs. They also should read books and periodicals that deal with visual aids and education, and they should try to find summer or part-time employment with stores that sell audiovisual aids or companies that produce audiovisual equipment or software. Moreover, many media specialists are teachers who take additional training to qualify for this work. In addition, qualified graduates usually obtain help from their school's placement services. There are increasing opportunities for media specialists in business, industrial, medical, and government organizations that use media materials to train workers and get their messages to the public. Likewise, Media specialists who have worked in the schools may find jobs with educational product companies as software producers or as researchers who help their firms determine the materials that schools need.
With the technological advancement nowadays, openings for librarian employment are also expected in library media centers, and some media specialists will work in more variety of fields, like in health and welfare services in order to develop materials that teach people how to maintain their health and spend money wisely. In addition, media specialists who have earned doctorates may find work as college instructors or directors of college media programs. Nevertheless, new developments in media approaches to learning keep media specialists' work interesting. They are constantly busy checking orders in and out, inspecting new products, and working with teachers, and they are often responsible for large budgets. Although their work can be stressful, most media specialists enjoy their jobs and their functions add colors to the library jobs of an institution.
