by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont 3 Great Podcasts for Library News As much as we love our blogs and social media, sometimes it’s better to have something to listen to on the commute or at the gym to help meet our “I learned something today” requirement. Here’s a list of three great podcasts…
Articles
What to do while you’re looking for a library job…
by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island What to do while you’re looking for a library job… As many of you browsing this blog are aware, finding a good LIS job can be quite difficult and time consuming. Recent grads struggle to find low level positions, and those that are employed often are on…
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The 4 Ps to Pleasing Your Potential Employer
by Sarah Deringer, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi The 4 Ps to Pleasing Your Potential Employer For the past three months, I served on a search committee for a children’s minister at my church. Through this experience, I have learned many new insights into what it takes to get the job. The top four areas I…
Interviews
Andy Leach …Director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Library and Archive
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Dawn Thompson, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio Andy Leach …Director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Library and Archive Dawn: How did you find your job as the Director of Library…
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See You Next Year, Tax Day
by Renee Holden, Head Editor, INALJ Nebraska See You Next Year, Tax Day April 15…Tax Day. As a public librarian, there is very little that strikes fear into the hearts of public librarians everywhere like Tax Day. On April 15 every year public libraries are filled with those last minute tax procrastinators and those filers…
Articles
ALA Conference Tips
by Caitlin Moen, Head Editor, INALJ Louisiana ALA Conference Tips Some websites to check out with tips for all you out there planning on attending the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago (or any other large professional conference!): http://ala13.ala.org/resources-for-first-timers http://libraryadventures.com/2011/10/31/10tips/ http://freerangelibrarian.com/2010/06/19/ala-conference-survival-tips-35-conferences-later/ http://pcsweeney.com/2012/06/05/how-to-be-awesome-at-going-to-library-conferences/ http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/01/ala-conferences-some-tips-for-newbies/ I am a total introvert and I find I have a better time…
Articles
Tips For a Library Conference Newbie
by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Tips For a Library Conference Newbie Raise your hand if you have never been to a library conference…… Me either. To tell you the truth, the idea of going to a conference is a little scary and intimidating. So, I did what any good librarian would do. I…
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Why We Do What We Do the Way We Do It
by Stephanie Leigh Taylor, Head Editor, INALJ British Columbia Why We Do What We Do the Way We Do It What draws a person towards a career as an information professional? Is it an obsessive need to have things in their right place, the satisfaction of everything formatted correctly, the thrill of a perfectly set-up…
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Finding your Niche in 3
by Lisa Huntsha, Head Editor, INALJ Sweden Finding your Niche in 3 For my first blog post, I thought I’d write to you about something that greatly affected my job hunt: finding my niche within the library/archives/museum field. First, I have a confession. I don’t have an MLS and I do have a full-time position…
Interviews, Success Stories
Nick Steffel …Success Story
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 Nick from 6/19/12 Naomi: How did you find your current job? Nick: INALJ! It was funny, actually, since the job was in the same LIS department where I was a…
Uncategorized
Happy Mother’s Day Mom!
Wishing my Mom (a former INALJ interviewee no less), Sheryl, a Happy Mother’s Day. My Mom is a teacher, library lover and volunteers at the local Historical Society. Glad we could be there! Love, Naomi and Sana reposted from 5/13/12
Articles
Developing a Healthy Job Search
by Alexandra Janvey, Head Editor, INALJ Iowa Developing a Healthy Job Search The job hunt these days is a long affair, one that is an emotional roller coaster full of discouragement, stress, and mood swings. However, there are ways to manage and reduce the negativity produced during this tough period. Developing a healthy job search…
Articles
MOOCs to Watch
by Courtney Baron, Head Editor, INALJ Georgia MOOCs to Watch I work at a university and the School of Art recently went through a national director search. We invited four candidates to present and meet and greet the faculty, staff, and students. Nearly all of them mentioned MOOCs as a serious trend in higher education…
Interviews
Meet Alex Perry: INALJ Alabama Assistant Editor
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama Meet Alex Perry: INALJ Alabama Assistant Editor & Legal Assistant at McArdle & Whitman and a freelance researcher/writer Rachael: Favorite Library you have been to? Alex: The Jefferson Market Library…
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The 3 Ps of Federal Job Hunting
by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska The 3 Ps of Federal Job Hunting Are you considering federal librarianship in your job search? Working for a federal agency is challenging in many ways, but correspondingly rewarding. Whether you’re primarily interested in the public service aspect, the opportunities to transfer and relocate, or the wide range…
Articles
9 To Follow: Sharing and Expanding Knowledge with Learnist
by Kiersten Bryant, Head Editor, INALJ California 9 To Follow: Sharing and Expanding Knowledge with Learnist I recently discovered the website Learnist. It is a relatively new website that launched in May 2012. It is similar to Pinterest in that it provides a place to collect content from the World Wide Web and organize it…
Articles
Why, If You’re Willing to Relocate, You Should Consider the DC Metro Area
by Rebecca Crago, Head Editor, INALJ Virginia Why, If You’re Willing to Relocate, You Should Consider the DC Metro Area It’s easy to get cynical when you hear the Library and Congress and Smithsonian are preparing for furloughs and a reduction of acquisitions over the coming fiscal year, but that doesn’t mean the job-creating grants…
Articles
On What Candidates Should Wear
by Genise Gorman, Head Editor, INALJ Arkansas On What Candidates Should Wear I really enjoyed Emily Weak of Hiring Librarians article, As long as the candidate shows they have taken care over their appearance that day … it doesn’t matter what they wear. This appears to be one of the best blogs I’ve read this year. Thinking…
Interviews
Cristela Garcia-Spitz …Digital Library Program Project Manager, UCSD
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Todd Simpson, Head Editor, INALJ New York City Cristela Garcia-Spitz …Digital Library Program Project Manager, UCSD Todd: Hi Cristela, it’s great to talk with you, thanks for taking some time out for INALJ. Can…
Articles
Join SLA
JOIN SLA! SLA Annual Conference is coming up soon and I have been able to attend several DC, MD and VA SLA events the past two months and that has got me thinking about just how much value SLA (Special Libraries Association) has brought to me in my own personal career. I am a member…
Articles
Tennessee Volunteer
by Marlena Barber, Head Editor, INALJ Tennessee Tennessee Volunteer When beginning my studies in San Jose State University’s completely online MLIS program, I had no professional library experience. My experiences have been in editing, quality control, restaurant service, and working in television and film production. While all of my work experiences that I have had…
Articles
Tips and Tricks for Job Seekers Panel Discussion
by Rebekah Kati, Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina Tips and Tricks for Job Seekers Panel Discussion The North Carolina Library Association hosted a “Tips and Tricks for Job Seekers” panel in late March. The panelists included Susie Corbett from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Rusty Taylor from the Wake County Public School System, Lisa Ruth…
Articles
Career Management Tip: Plan to Attend a Conference
by Christina Wilson, Head Editor, INALJ Alberta Career Management Tip: Plan to Attend a Conference Library conference season is upon us! Whether employed or not, attending a library conference offers many opportunities for career management, from meeting senior hiring managers in other spheres through gathering information about targeted organizations to expanding your own personal network. …
Articles
Open Minds Open Doors
by Courtney Butler, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho Open Minds Open Doors Recently there were some complaints on INALJ that some editors were posting too many “out of the box” jobs. The disregard for Head Editors’ time and efforts aside, I had a lot of trouble understanding why such a complaint would ever exist. In Support…
Articles
The Library Job Search: A Trip Upstream
by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas The Library Job Search: A Trip Upstream Recently I went kayaking on the Wakulla River in north Florida. The day was beautiful, and I was so optimistic. As I started paddling upstream, as the tide was going out and making it rather difficult, I was struck by just…
Articles
Aingeal’s Hunt: first stop, Dalhousie University’s MIM Program
by Aingeal Stone, Head Editor, INALJ Northwest Territories Aingeal’s Hunt: first stop, Dalhousie University’s MIM Program This edition of my blog will be first in a series that will explore my search for a graduate program in which to enrol. Dalhousie’s Master of Information Management (MIM) program (http://www.dal.ca/academics/programs/graduate/information-management.html) is the program I have been leaning…
Articles
An RSS Brain Break
by Amanda May, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota An RSS Brain Break As an information professional, my RSS feed includes blogs on collection development, information literacy, library management, reference work, etc. These topics are relevant and interesting to my profession, but there are only so many posts on metadata one can take, you know? Anyway,…
Interviews
Lanora Melillo…Youth Services Librarian and Webmaster
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor, INALJ Wisconsin Lanora Melillo…Youth Services Librarian and Webmaster Lanora is my great librarian friend who I met through my MLIS classes at Drexel University. She has my goal job of…
Articles
To Brand or not to Brand?
by Nicole Usiondek, Head Editor, INALJ Michigan To Brand or not to Brand? Members of the librarian field are very familiar with the importance of having an online presence. During my library school orientation, and each and every class thereafter, the faculty stressed the importance of having an online presence and even the concept of…
Articles
April 2013 Roundup (INALJ Stats )
What a great month it has been! INALJ had over a Quarter of a Million page views in April! Fifty-six fans reported that they found jobs! In April the daily page visits totaled over a 250,000!!! Some fast stats for April 2013: 1,400,538 total INALJ.com page views (all time) and 280,004 in April alone over…
Articles
So….what is an adjunct faculty job fair?
by Holly Lipschultz, Head Editor, INALJ Illinois So….what is an adjunct faculty job fair? (updated 5/2/13) While searching for jobs, I ran across an intriguing posting for the City Colleges of Chicago. They were holding something called an adjunct career fair at one of the City Colleges, and the word “librarian” was nestled among the…
Articles
I Can Start Working on That Day But, I’ll Need a Week Off for my Wedding
by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri I Can Start Working on That Day But, I’ll Need a Week Off for my Wedding (what to do when you know you’ll need time off before you ever start the job) You know you’re going to have to take off work for several days, or several weeks,…
Articles
Don’t Forget to Practice: Keep an eye on refreshing basic skills
by Yandee Vazquez, Head Editor, INALJ Texas Don’t Forget to Practice: Keep an eye on refreshing basic skills You’re looking at a job post and notice that among the preferred qualifications it includes that basic list of programs you’ve seen everywhere: Excel, Word, Powerpoint. The big three of Microsoft Office. Of course you know how…
Articles
My On-campus Interview
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana My On-campus Interview Various things running through my head on the week of an all-day, on-campus librarian interview: Is this real? While I have experience being interviewed (as well as interviewing), this will be my first full-blown on-campus interview for a job. It’s kind of nerve-wracking. I kind…
Articles
Finding and Explaining Your Strengths
by Jennifer Crutchfield, Head Editor, INALJ Connecticut Finding and Explaining Your Strengths Finding your strengths and knowing how to explain them can be an excellent resource in finding a new job. It may seem like a simple idea, but I find that during hard times, it is easy to forget what you’re good at and…
Articles
Taking the Road Less Traveled
by Karly Szczepkowski Taking the Road Less Traveled I was always drawn to the non-traditional aspects of our profession. For me, it was never about working in a building with the letter L on it or in a position with L in the job title. No, for me, it was about using those L skills:…
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Keeping Current: Low-Cost Professional Development, May Edition
by Adrith Bedore Bicchieri, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada Keeping Current: Low-Cost Professional Development Opportunities in May May is a busy month for many people. If you find yourself with an extra hour, you may be interested in one or more of these free webinars: Extending Access to E-books for Public Libraries: New Strategies, hosted by…
Articles
Thinking of Vivian
My former supervisor at the Georgetown Law Library, Wolff International Library, Vivian Villasenor recently lost her battle with cancer. This is a devastating loss for her family and for her friends and former colleagues. Vivian only retired a few years ago and I was lucky enough to be able to attend her going away party…
Articles
On Thinking Outside the Box
by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Oklahoma On Thinking Outside the Box Now, obviously, as librarians, we all love books and libraries, but many of us also get very specific with our career paths. I can’t tell you how many fellow MLIS students start their intro posts in each class with “I’m getting this degree…
Articles
The “Do You Have Any Questions?” Question
by Ashley Crace, Head Editor, INALJ West Virginia The “Do You Have Any Questions?” Question A common piece of interview advice is to prepare questions for the inevitable moment when the interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions for us?”. Asking questions sounds good in theory, yet it becomes more difficult in practice. As an…