Tag Archive for advice

Ask a Special Librarian – February Edition

Ask a Special Librarian Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Lucky for you, the special librarian saw a shadow and now we have at least six more weeks of the “Ask a Special Librarian” column! I was thrilled to see the great response from my inaugural installment of…

6 Career Journaling Techniques: Get Started Today!

6 Career Journaling Techniques: Get Started Today! by Valarie Swayze, Senior Editor  Have you ever kept a travel diary, fitness log, or a personal journal? Each helps us reflect on activities and can serve as a source of motivation in the future. A career journal is simply a record of your professional experiences kept on…

3 Writing Resources for LIS Job Seekers and MLIS Applicants

Writing Resources for LIS Job Seekers and MLIS Applicants by Oscar Giurcovich, Senior Editor   Error-free resumes and cover letters are paramount in the job hunt. I think this is more important than ever in our everyday world of texting and social media where acronyms and shorthand rule. Unfortunately, the spelling and grammar checkers in…

8 tips to pay your way to ALA

8 tips to pay your way to ALA by Angie Solis, Senior Editor   Each year librarians all across the world are invited to attend ALA’s Annual and Mid-Winter Conferences.  But at $255.00 (super early bird special) for the ALA Annual Conference plus hotel and airfare we’re looking at a nice chunk of change to…

Show Our Value

By Sarah Morrison, Senior Assistant, INALJ Alberta and INALJ Manitoba Show Our Value When I first started at library school, I really didn’t know if my previous experiences would be useful – how relevant will a Master’s degree in a bunch of dead languages and a 3 year stint in retail management (albeit in a…

How I Survived Library School

by Oscar Giurcovich, Senior Editor   How I Survived Library School For my first blog post, I thought I’d talk about something that has recently happened in my life: finishing library school. Before I continue, let’s set the scene: I live in a state that does not have a MLIS-type program, so I had to…

Large Job Boards and Recruitment Agencies: Some Thoughts

by Gabrielle Spiers, Senior Editor Large Job Boards and Recruitment Agencies: Some Thoughts   When searching for jobs I have always looked for jobs and applied for them. I know that some industries have headhunters and I have certainly used temp agencies in my pre-library life for temporary work mostly in the non-profit world . In…

8 must haves for going to a Library Conference

by Emily Woodcock, Senior Assistant, INALJ Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island 8 must haves for going to a Library Conference In the near future, I am going to be attending my first library conference. I am going to the OLA Super Conference in Toronto, Ontario at the end of this month. I haven’t been to…

One Year Done: Lessons from my first year of work!

by Amy Steinbauer, Senior Assistant, INALJ California One Year Done: Lessons from my first year of work!   By the time this is published, I will have my first year of professional library experience under my belt! It has been a really crazy and mixed up year. My personal life has been full of grief and…

Resolve to Communicate in the New Year

By Lisa Iannucci, Senior Assistant, INALJ New Jersey Resolve to Communicate in the New Year As we all move on into a new year, we’ve all probably taken some time to reflect back on the year that just ended. For me, there were job and schedule changes that required some adjustment, and some daily tasks…

Ask a Special Librarian

Ask a Special Librarian Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Greetings, INALJers! This is the first installment of my new “Ask a Special Librarian” column for the INALJ.com site. I’ve gathered that there are many myths, misconceptions and misunderstandings about special librarianship through my interactions during…

5 ways to de-stress during a long job search

By Brad McNally, Senior Editor 5 ways to de-stress during a long job search Searching for a job takes a huge amount of effort. When the job search is unexpected, or goes longer than you originally thought it would, you can definitely begin feeling the stress. Some people even feel like finding a new job…

Opening a Library, the Future of Librarianship, and Teaching—Interview with Tracy Hall

by Ashley Mancill, Senior Assistant, INALJ Alabama Opening a Library, the Future of Librarianship, and Teaching—Interview with Tracy Hall Tracy Hall is the library director for Spanish Fort Public Library, a long-awaited addition to the small Alabama community set to open in Spring 2015. Tracy previously served the staff and student body at Virginia Tech as the Information Literacy Instruction…

How to Avoid HR’s Wall of Shame. Job Application Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs (advice from non-library HR pros)

by Josh Rimmer, Senior Editor, INALJ Missouri, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kentucky, Louisiana How to Avoid HR’s Wall of Shame. Job Application Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs  (advice from non-library HR pros) Definitively not a prestigious accomplishment to include on your resume, but mistakes do happen. Did you come across an ideal job opportunity and…

Retail Customer Service Skills in the Library

by Erin Kinney, Senior Assistant, INALJ Wyoming Retail Customer Service Skills in the Library I recently took a seasonal job at a national retailer. This retailer prides itself on exemplary customer service. This got me thinking of how such customer service skills could be applied to a library setting. Respect This retailer has cashiers that look…

My INALJ U.K. Success Story

by Suzanne Schultz Pick, Senior Assistant, INALJ UK My INALJ U.K. Success Story I went on holiday to Florida at the end of September, as we usually do, so I wasn’t checking up on job posts for a good two weeks. I arrived back in England on the morning of the 7th October, and went straight back to…

The Top 4 Ways to deal with new administration

by Jennifer Stevenson, Assistant, INALJ Illinois The Top 4 Ways to deal with new administration I have been a librarian for ten and a half years, during this time I have worked in both public and school library settings. I have devoted a decent amount of time tomy chosen field. During my career, I have encountered many…

Are You Cultivating Executive Presence?

by Jennifer Reisch, Senior Assistant, INALJ NYC Are You Cultivating Executive Presence? Have you ever been passed over for a promotion you know you should have gotten? Ever had a great idea or important feedback that was discounted without any consideration whatsoever? Been in a competition where you performed flawlessly but still were passed over for top awards? You…

What to do while you’re waiting – Library Assistant edition

by Mary-Michelle Moore, Senior Editor, INALJ California, DC, and Illinois What to do while you’re waiting – Library Assistant edition Congratulations! You’ve done it – you sent off a beautifully researched, proof-read, edited and complete application packet to your latest dream job listing. Now what? Well if you’re like me and many of my colleagues, you still have…

Keeping your library skills cultivated outside of the library

by Clayton Hayes, Senior Assistant, INALJ North Dakota Keeping your library skills cultivated outside of the library The job search can be a long and drawn-out process, and for many it begins as soon as they settle into a new position. A large part of the job search process is identifying and maintaining important professional skills. For…

To Intern or Not to Intern…

by Rebecca Kluberdanz, Senior Editor, INALJ Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey,  New Mexico, and Wyoming To Intern or Not to Intern… As a graduate school student I’m always hearing about new internships becoming available, peers that are working internships, how valuable internships are for your resume and so on and so on. When I first started my program I was working in a…

Librarians Against Bullying!

by Whitney Zahar, Senior Assistant, INALJ Pennsylvania Librarians Against Bullying! First, I want to open with a little personal story. During my elementary and middle school years back in the 80’s and 90’s, I was bullied frequently by my classmates. It was mostly emotional and psychological bullying; I was teased, ostracized, and manipulated for nearly 7 years. I’ll…