Embedded librarianship, in which librarians partner with groups to identify information sources in knowledge-intensive projects, is not a new concept, but Shumaker draws on his research to identify the characteristics, principles, and best practices of successful embedded librarians in public, academic, medical, corporate and other specialized library settings.

Part I. Embedded librarianshipyesterday, today, and tomorrow : Defining embedded librarianship: Definition of an embedded librarian ; Embedded librarians and physical location ; Examples of embedded librarianship; Advantages of embedded librarianship; Embedded librarianshipand other models of librarianship; How embedded librarians are changing the profession -- Push and pull: the forces driving embedded librarianship: Push: traditional services that no longer work ; Pull: Fundamental trends in work and society -- Embedded librarians in higher education : Subject librarians, liaison librarians, and the origins ; The teaching role of embedded librarians ; Beyond the teaching role ; How to succeed, and what to watch out for ; Opportunities for embedded librarians in higher education: a vision -- Embedded librarians in the health sciences : Origins ; Transition: from clinical librarian to informationist ; Contemporary roles of embedded librarians in healthcare and training of informationists ; Best practices ; Evaluations of clinical medical librarianship; What lies ahead -- Embedded librarians in corporations, nonprofits, and government : Origins ; Rules and functions ; Evaluation ; Organizational patterns ; Challenges and opportunities -- Embedded librarians in schools and public libraries : Primary and secondary education ; Public libraries -- Part II. Your path to success : Assessing your readiness : Indicators of embeddedness ; Assessing your readiness for change -- Getting started with embedlibrarians hipship : Considering your options ; A framework for action planning ; Matching actions to readiness ; Developing your action plan -- Sustaining your embedded role : The habits of successful embedded librarians ; Problems and pitfalls -- Evaluating your success : What to measure: activities, outcomes, and impacts ; Applying the framework to elibrarians hiprianship ; Evaluation and management culture ; Developing your evaluation plan ; Evaluation and sustainability scenarios.