Eric Schwarz serves as the Membership Chair for the Division. He keeps himself very occupied professionally with three positions. In his day job, he is a Customer Service Executive for Dow Jones & Company, where he helps customers with search and account questions related to several product lines (Factiva, Newswires, and Private Markets). He has also just began his fourth semester as an instructor, teaching Principles of Searching, a master’s-level course in Library and Information Science at Rutgers University. As if that weren’t enough, he moonlights as a part-time reference librarian at the Clarence Dillon Public Library in Bedminster, NJ.

Eric is relatively new to a leadership role in the Business & Finance Division, beginning in January with his current position. However, that’s not to say that he hasn’t benefited from being a member. As he says, “I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with some of the smartest and most gracious people around. Amy Affelt, my predecessor as Membership Chair, slyly recruited me to step up when I interviewed her for the class I teach.” [If you'd like to read the interview, it is available on Eric's website].

If you’re new to the Division, Eric recommends putting yourself out there. “Make sure to introduce yourself to your colleagues in B&F at conference events, especially the social events. If you can’t make the conference, you can also join us via social media,” he suggests.

He also has some tips for getting the most out of being a part of the Business & Finance Division:

• Don’t be shy in volunteering; you can get a lot of good experience developing career skills as you work with B&F colleagues to plan programs, write for the newsletter, or participate in another project.
• Make sure to read the B&F Bibliography. It’s a great resource, showing the work and scholarship B&F members have contributed in the previous year. If you’ve written any professional or scholarly works, or made any presentations related to B&F work, make sure to get your name and work in the list for the next year.
• If you don’t understand something about the Division or SLA, or if you have any suggestions for programs or projects, just ask me or any of the other board members.

Eric can be reached at eric@ericthelibrarian.com or via social media.