GIS Mentoring

The implementation and development of effective mentoring is crucial to the growth and success of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) librarianship and staffing. Mentoring is necessary to fill the gaps for all staff members, especially students. I propose that mentoring can assuage many of the staffing obstacles to successful GIS programs. Effective mentoring will create a healthy and productive work environment as well as nurture future GIS librarians and staff members. Although mentoring within librarianship has been discussed in library literature, unfortunately work on the area of GIS mentoring is lacking. This article discusses the benefits of mentoring and demonstrates how the need for GIS mentoring is different from other library mentoring, specifically because of staffing. It also offers strategies for effective GIS mentoring.