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Medical library assistant vs reference assistant

The differences between medical library assistants and reference assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a reference assistant has an average salary of $27,874, which is higher than the $27,247 average annual salary of a medical library assistant.

The top three skills for a medical library assistant include medical library, interlibrary loan and literature searches. The most important skills for a reference assistant are library materials, library patrons, and interlibrary loan.

Medical library assistant vs reference assistant overview

Medical Library AssistantReference Assistant
Yearly salary$27,247$27,874
Hourly rate$13.10$13.40
Growth rate-4%-4%
Number of jobs74,733658
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4747
Years of experience--

Medical library assistant vs reference assistant salary

Medical library assistants and reference assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Medical Library AssistantReference Assistant
Average salary$27,247$27,874
Salary rangeBetween $21,000 And $35,000Between $21,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between medical library assistant and reference assistant education

There are a few differences between a medical library assistant and a reference assistant in terms of educational background:

Medical Library AssistantReference Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorNursingEnglish
Most common collegeUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillNew York University

Medical library assistant vs reference assistant demographics

Here are the differences between medical library assistants' and reference assistants' demographics:

Medical Library AssistantReference Assistant
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 27.6% Female, 72.4%Male, 32.3% Female, 67.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 6.1% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between medical library assistant and reference assistant duties and responsibilities

Medical library assistant example responsibilities.

  • Conduct literature searches for patron using Internet resources including pubm, Medline, NLM, InfoTrac, and Docline.
  • Receive, verify, and enter article and book requests using computerize systems (Docline and JerseyCat).
  • Help troubleshoot technology relate issues.
  • Assess and discard non-fiction collections as assigned.

Reference assistant example responsibilities.

  • Construct and manage subject LibGuides.
  • Manage yearly budget for DVDs.
  • Search for and retrieve cases from online databases such as Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis.
  • Prepare library libguides and bibliographies on various areas of law.
  • Train fellow staff members in inter-library loan procedures and online database, OCLC.
  • Process requests for journal articles and books from RapidILL, OCLC, and DOCLINE.
  • Show more

Medical library assistant vs reference assistant skills

Common medical library assistant skills
  • Medical Library, 26%
  • Interlibrary Loan, 21%
  • Literature Searches, 18%
  • Data Entry, 9%
  • Docline, 9%
  • Statistical Data, 6%
Common reference assistant skills
  • Library Materials, 8%
  • Library Patrons, 7%
  • Interlibrary Loan, 6%
  • Reference Desk, 6%
  • Reference Services, 6%
  • Library Resources, 5%

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