Informational Interviews for LIS Students. Last week I found myself suddenly teary-eyed during a meeting with a librarian.
No, I wasn’t sad or upset. The librarian’s obvious love for his work had just inspired and moved me so much that I couldn’t keep my eyes from filling. I’m only a little bit embarrassed to admit that this wasn’t the first time I got a little misty about librarianship. There are few things I find more inspiring than talking to people who love what they do, and that goes for librarians especially. Accordingly, incorporating informational interviews into my supply of professional development tools was one the best things I did during my first semester in library school (shout out to Zack Frazier and his tips for the first semester).
Dewey-It-Yourself: How to supplement your library school education. No matter how great a MLS/MLIS program is there just isn’t enough time and courses to learn everything.
HLS alum Annie Pho previously discussed the interpersonal skills we don’t learn in school and identifying what you want to know, and Lauren Bradley contributed a guest post on continuing education after library school. It can be very frustrating to look at job postings and think, “What does that even mean? They didn’t teach me that!” But with an optimistic and do-it-yourself attitude the gap between what you know and what you need to know can shorten. So you want to be a librarian? I just saw 1946 video which was part of the “Your Life Work Series” which promoted librarianship as a career.
The video suggests that you must love book and people in order to become a good librarian. It also explains that there are many different types of libraries, and each needs different collections to serve their local patrons. It continues on to explains the different types of librarians (Catalogers, Reference, Circulations, YA (Young Adult), and School Librarians), and gives examples of the work they do; all with the final goal better serving library users and the nation at large. Acabo de ver un vídeo de 1946 que formaba parte de la “Serie de la vida laboral” que promueve la bibliotecología como buena una carrera. El video indica que usted debe amar a los libros y la gente para poder ser un buen bibliotecario.
Source/fuente . More recently Marty Nemko of Kilplinger made another video promoting libraries. So You Want to Go to Library School? So, you're thinking about going to library school for children's services.
Or maybe you've decided to go, but you're wondering what you can do to make yourself marketable after you finish. Speaking as a librarian who had a job lined up before she graduated, I have some advice for you! But hey, please keep in mind that I'm just one person and this is based on my experience. I invite other librarians to add to this post in comments! What advice do you have for people just starting their MLS program? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Online Special Education Degrees. Today’s librarian can work in a variety of places and in many different specialty areas.
For example, one can work as a librarian in a public library, a school media center, a college or university library, or other specialty libraries, such as a law or art library. Librarians can also be found working in agencies run by the federal government, corporations, museums, religious organizations, or advertising agencies. In most cases, librarians of today work directly with technology. Say This, Not That: Public Library Edition, by Cari Dubiel. Despite my long history in public libraries, I have only recently been a part of the hiring process.
I was promoted to manager of a growing department in the library where I've worked for the last six years. For the first time, I've been asked to sit in on interviews for other departments, as well as conduct interviews for my own department. I have even interviewed candidates over Skype while on maternity leave. What I have noticed during this introduction to hiring is that the pool of candidates is varied and talented. Career Q&A with the Library Career People » library school. Q: I’m currently a library branch manager and want to make the jump into administration.
What’s the best way to make my resume stand out and to cultivate the skills I need for this type of position? Do you know any career coaches or advisers that specialize in library management? TA: Well, you are certainly … Continue reading. So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers. I get a lot of email asking for advice either on getting an MLS, the job search or the skills needed.
So I’ve pulled together a list of the best of the best advice for potential MLS students, current students and job seekers. In cases where the titles are not self explanatory I’ve grabbed a sentence or two from the post to give context. #MLA DEAL Career Post 2: Begin With The End In Mind « Development of Emerging & Aspiring Librarians. So we begin and as Stephen Covey (author of a book of long ago fame…Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and my first experience with really meaningful goal setting) says, let’s begin with the end in mind.
Your library career has the ability to take a lot of twists and turns. It’s an adventure! Library School To Do List. Photo by Carissa GoodNCrazy on Flickr In getting my MLIS, there are things I’m glad that I did, and there are also things that I wish that I had done differently.
To get a library job there are some important skills you need. If I had to do it over again I would make sure that I had all of these things checked off my list: Real World Experience You can’t expect to get hired out of library school unless you have some real experience to point to. New Job Title: Innovation Catalyst Librarian. Image via WilzDesign on Flickr There are a growing number of positions that I’ve seen that are focused on new technologies and fresh ideas in libraries.
From time to time I get questions or emails asking about my previous role as an Emerging Technologies Librarian and advice that I might have for people starting out in a similar role. While I think these roles are going to be very different from institution to institution I think there are some bits of advice that will contribute to success in a role dedicated to new tech and ideas.
People in these roles should not think of themselves as the “tech person” though. Thinking only about tech is extremely limiting. Lauren in Libraryland » Post Topic » The Dos and Don’ts of Library School. Ten Tips for Building Your Career While You’re in Grad School. Grad school is not only an opportunity for you to develop your LIS skills and expertise, it’s also an opportunity for you to build a professional platform that will help launch you into a career that’s rewarding both personally and financially.
The following tactics will help you jumpstart your career: 1. Set your personal career growth agenda. Focus on growth, not grades, because your ability to grow professionally (that means stretching beyond your comfort zone, trying new challenges, recovering from failures and moving on to successes) lasts a lot longer – and will do you more good – than an A in cataloging. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6 Grab every opportunity to build your portfolio. 7. 8. 9. 10. What MLIS Grad Schools Need to Tell Prospective – and Current – Students NOW.
One has only to participate in a few LIS discussion lists or online groups, hang out at a professional conference or two, or read some of the many LIS blogs and their comments to realize that the library profession is in the midst of extensive and somewhat discouraging change. Although the long-promised “graying of the profession” is in fact underway, the equally long-awaited results – thousands of professional-level jobs opening up and tons of great, entry-level opportunities for new grads – are simply not happening. Nor are they likely ever to do so again. Welcome to Library Profession 2.0 Current MLIS students and graduates need to assume that although they may, indeed, find jobs in the traditional-library fields they desire, those jobs are likely to: • take months to find • require previous experience • offer less-than-stellar salaries • require relocating • possibly require starting at a paraprofessional level So If This is the New Normal, Why Should I Get My MLIS?
The smart move? Class Recommendations. Library Work Experience. If you’re currently in library school, you’ve probably already discovered one of the profession’s dirty little secrets. That promise that there would be plenty of jobs available soon? That there are all of these aging librarians out there who are going to retire at any minute and leave plenty of jobs open for recent graduates? Yeah, it’s all a myth. The Sheridan Libraries Blog. I was on a plane recently with a few librarians coming from a library conference, and the flight attendant expressed how much she would enjoy being a librarian because she would love to sit at her desk all day and read. We all laughed together in unison and politely told her, “Sorry, but we don’t do that!”
As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time I sat down and read an entire book. I have some memory of it but I do believe it was in graduate school and I have to admit that even that was a bit of a blur. This conversation got me thinking about how much people know about librarianship and what we actually do daily. So here is a day in the life of an academic librarian for all of you who wonder what we do or maybe you’re interested in being a librarian. My Guide to Job Hunting Part V – Find Mentors & Maintain Relationships with Them.
My Guide to Job Hunting Part IV – Update Your Resume and Cover Letter Daily. My Guide to Job Hunting Part III – Diversify Your Sources. Way back in 2010 (when this blog was still Adventures of an Unemployed/Newly Employed Librarian!) My Guide to Job Hunting – Treat Job Hunting Like Your Job. Way back in 2010 (when this blog was still Adventures of an Unemployed/Newly Employed Librarian!) My Guide to Job Hunting – Get Organized. Tip: Ask Questions. Tip: Don't be afraid to take a risk. Ten More Tips on how to be Productive and Employable. Ten Practical Tips for New Library Students « SLIM-Oregon Student Chapter of the ALA. (Many thanks to Monique Lloyd for contributing the following article. The SLIM-OR SCALA Blog welcomes submissions relevant to library and information science. If you would like to submit an article, please attach it to an e-mail and send it to: VintageRedhead22[at]gmail[dot]com.
We look forward to your contributions! –Laureen Burger, Web Manager) by Monique Lloyd (OR-7) If you really want something, and really work hard, and take advantage of opportunities and never give up, you will find a way. ~ Jane Goodall Here is a list of ten tips I’d like to have had when I began library school.I hope you find some of them useful.Please feel free to add others by using the comment function. 1.
I never lost anything by giving things away. ~ Anonymous.