by Sara Dixon, former Head Editor, INALJ Kansas previously published 5/21/13 & 6/16/14 Making the Case to Attend ALA Annual Conference…to Yourself If you are like me, you have been weighing the pros and cons of attending the ALA Annual Conference. ALA says, “Expand your network. Build your knowledge. Improve your profession.” Why, yes, ALA, I would…
by Rebecca Kluberdanz, former Senior Editor previously published 11/11/14 Avoiding the Resume Black Hole As job seekers in an increasing technological world we are all familiar with the dreaded online job application. You’re asked to fill about everything you could ever know about yourself, insert your resume in five different places, take a questionnaire that lasts 24…
by Naomi House, MLIS Happy Ramadan Librarians! Happy Ramadan! Many of you know my husband, Sana, is Muslim and from Pakistan. Usually Pakistan is a day behind the US for starting Ramadan, but only the moon shall tell. 🙂 I have observed Ramadan 3 times, only once successfully, and certainly not in the heat of…
Library Maker Fest! June 18, 2015 by Michele LeSure Hey, guess what? I’m going to go to the Library Maker Fest this Thursday, June 18th, from 9:00am to 3:00pm at the Plant City Strawberry Festival Arthur Boring Civic Center. And, if you were going to tell me that Plant City has a drive-in restaurant, I…
by Emily Woodcock, Senior Assistant, INALJ Nova Scotia and PEI previously published 8/11/14 5 things you need to realize before starting to digitize a collection I am currently completing a co-op where one of my responsibilities is to work on digitizing a collection of documents mainly from the 1970-80s about the coal industry and co-operatives.…
Resilience During (and Beyond) the Job Hunt by Julia Feerrar I once applied for a job that, in many ways, felt like it had been made just for me. I progressed through a phone interview and then an on-campus interview, feeling confident and excited. While of course I knew that there must be quite a…
by Naomi House, MLIS #SLALeftBehind for #SLA2015 I was supposed to present at SLA in Boston on Sunday, June 14th, but on May 29th changed any chance I had of attending. I had my 4th miscarriage and with the blood clotting disorder I have my Doctor recommended I not fly. We didn’t announce this miscarriage…
Managing Student Employees in your 20s by Laura Birkenhauer Going from a being a student to managing students can be tough, especially when you still have the baby face and unbounded enthusiasm of a newbie 20-something. So, here are some of the upsides (and cons to steer clear of!) of managing student employees in your…
Libraries, hey? That could be a dissertation topic by Jen Li, INALJ Contributor I begin with a confession. I claim to be a lover of books, reading, and libraries, and indeed during the course of my PhD research, I have visited over seventy libraries in several countries, amassed a number of library cards, and borrowed…
4 Tips for Making the Most of Your Project Archivist Position by Amanda Axel, INALJ Contributor Finding a job in an archive early in one’s career can be very difficult. For any given position, we may be competing against hundreds of candidates that are just as qualified as we are. We may also be up…
by Naomi House, MLIS True Story – Librarian on a Mission Saves Timbuktu’s Manuscripts but Doesn’t Stop There! Librarian as a position in the United States is usually a job you seek out and get trained for through a university degree program, but in Mali, in the ancient region around Timbuktu, it is a lifetime appointment. ‘Abdel…
by Ruth Lincoln, former Senior Assistant, INALJ Washington, DC previously published 10/4/13 & 8/29/14 Conflict in the Job Interview: How to Approach the Tricky Questions A job interview isn’t complete without a little conflict. That is, questions about how you handle conflict. A great employee knows how to stay calm when plans go awry, attitudes clash,…
by Christina Wilson, former Head Editor of INALJ Alberta and INALJ Manitoba previously published 2/27/14 Your Career Statement Of Purpose: a SOP Story At a recent library conference, l learned a new approach towards the all-important career summary that all job seekers are expected to deliver during an interview. Typically, interviews begin with a request to provide a career overview. Most…
by Caitlin Moen, former Head Editor, INALJ Louisiana previously published 12/18/13 & 7/11/14 Lurk and Learn: Take Advantage of Library Social Media as a New or Aspiring Librarian When I was in library school I had never worked in a library or really had any connection to the library community. I knew there were communities…
by Krystal Corbray, Managing Librarian with Yakima Valley Libraries in Washington State previously published 7/15/14 Avoiding Cinderella Syndrome: Why Every Job Doesn’t Have to be a ‘Perfect’ Fit Once you’ve been job hunting for a while, things can get a bit…intense. Many job-seekers talk about their employment search as if it’s a full-time job—which is an…
Ask a Special Librarian – May Edition (Part 2 of 2) Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Joshua LaPorte Law Library Assistant – University of Connecticut @joshualaporte & https://www.youtube.com/user/JoshuaLaPorte It’s a banner month for all you INALJ.com readers. You get not one but two editions of…
By Katie Blake previously published 4/30/14 Workplace Information Needs: Color Perception and Color Blindness Tools for Worksheets In the everyday of work I am asked to do many things which involve some form of information interpretation. I started tracking reference questions just to be able to reflect upon the information needs which are the most…
Ask a Special Librarian – May Edition (Part 1 of 2) Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Mentoring. It’s a word that seems to strike fear in the hearts of new and experienced professionals alike. If you are just starting out, you probably often hear…
by Ryan Nitz, former Head Editor, INALJ Alaska previously published 5/14/14 Professional Shadowing for Your Toolbox As part of a training program at work, I recently had the opportunity to spend a day shadowing someone in a leadership position in my organization. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out to be one of the…
5 tips for telecommuting (and how to find a library job that will let you do it) by Brad McNally, Senior Editor Some positions require that a person be physically on site, and librarianship is one career field that typically is seen as an in-person job choice. With new technology, however, and positions such as…
by Samantha Read, former Head Editor, INALJ New Brunswick previously published 6/10/14 Avoiding that “Conference Itch” Well, folks, we’re in full conference season now. A relative newbie to this scene (I just started in my position as Archives Advisor at CANB in February), I attended the CNSA conference the other week and will be at the APLA conference…
by Rossy Mendez, former Head Editor, INALJ Puerto Rico previously published 6/11/14 Turning Disaster into Brownie Points Like many people I have had my share of crappy jobs. I have worked in places where people lacked ethics, in places where I have questioned my sanity and lost my dignity, places where I spent many afternoons in tears and…
by Naomi House, MLIS Congrats to “Julie Todaro, PhD, Dean of Library Services at Austin (Texas) Community College, has been elected president-elect of the American Library Association.” We look forward to her leadership starting after the 2016 ALA Annual conference. One thing we feel passionately about and feel that ALA leadership should be passionate about,…
by Kathleen Kosiec previously published 11/8/13 & 6/30/14 Taking the TARDIS back to the Start of My MLIS Program My fellow Doctor Who fans know the British sci-fi show celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. For those unfamiliar with the show, it’s about a time-traveling alien with a time machine that resembles an old telephone…
Cover Letters: They’re Kind of a BIG DEAL! by Natalie Browning, Senior Assistant, INALJ DC Cover Letter. Letter of Interest. I dare you to find a job posting that does not require you to write a letter about your qualifications. Sending in a resume is not enough; the hiring committee wants to see not only…