This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions
My interview with success story Catherine – this interview is from last year and Cathy has since found another position at a higher level- congrats Cathy!
Naomi: How did you find your current job?
Catherine: I found my current job on the INALJ daily .pdf. I didn’t hear anything from them for about two months after I applied, and at the suggestion of a friend I called their HR department to follow up on my application. I found out the position was still open, and was given contact information for the hiring manager. I contacted her to let her know I was still interested and find out where they were in the decision process and was contacted for a phone interview the next day. Two weeks and two interviews later I was offered the position. I am now digital librarian for a tech company in the Washington, DC metro area.
Naomi: Favorite library you have been to?
Catherine: It’s hard to pick. I’ve visited several, primarily special libraries. My favorite public library is the Seattle Public Library Central branch. When I lived there, I loved sitting at the tables on the top floor of the book spiral with my laptop and the free wifi, but was easily distracted by the view.
Naomi: Favorite book?
Catherine: One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodi Smith. I think I read it a million times when I was a kid and I still love it.
Naomi: Favorite thing about libraries/ library technology?
Catherine: I love the democratic nature of libraries, in that anyone who wants access to information can get access through a library, whether public, academic, or special (for the most part anyway). It’s so important that well curated and preserved collections are accessible to researchers, students, entrepreneurs, innovators, and anyone who wants to learn.
Naomi: Any websites or feeds or blogs we should be following?
Catherine: These are fun:
http://fluxmachine.tumblr.com/
http://bookshelfporn.com/
http://www.ted.com/talks
and this is my blog: http://lovespeciallibraries.blogspot.com/
Naomi: Best piece of job hunting advice?
Catherine: I think overall the best advice I was given was to just keep busy and keep applying. The keep busy part kept me going through the rough spots, and the keep applying part got me the job.
Catherine Wagner received her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Washington Information School in June 2011. She moved to the Washington, DC area with her husband in December and embarked on a six month campaign to find a library job. Catherine is passionate about librarianship, enjoys web development and digital information management. She recently accepted a position as digital librarian for Get Well Network. Then was hired at a federal library and now has another, more senior position, in a different federal library!
Formerly entitled Catherine Wagner …In Six and published on 5/1/12