Guinea (2003) examined the role of systems librarians in the administration of a
university ILS. Guinea (2003) found that systems librarians served as a bridge between
library and other university units in the development of library-initiated projects and the
promotion of information technology-based applications.
Xu and Chen (1999, 2000, 2001) in a series of studies from 1999 to 2001 examined 133
systems librarian job advertisements from January 1996 to December 1997 and
compared the results with a survey of employers and newly hired systems librarians
through content analysis. Xu and Chen (1999) found that a strong background in
information technology is required for the job of systems librarians.