Stephanie Noell, Head Editor, INALJ Texas For Those Who Cannot Relocate As a job hunter, you may have people, blogs, and news articles telling you that you need to relocate to get a job (especially the one you want), but relocation may not be an option for you. You might have family obligations such as taking care…
by Rebekah Kati, Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina Attend Your Local Library Conferences! In mid March, I attended the North Carolina Serials Conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I had heard of this conference, but had never attended until this year. As I sat through various sessions on serials assessment, I began to think about why I hadn’t…
by Rossy Mendez, Head Editor, INALJ Puerto Rico Virtual Connections: Mastering the Skype Interview When I found out my interview was going to be a video chat on Skype I was both horrified and relieved. Knowing my tendency to have clammy hands and a voice that changes pitch five times in the course of a minute, I was…
by Heidi Greathouse, Head Editor, INALJ Utah The Learning Curve Since my last post, I accepted a job as a Cataloging Librarian at an academic library. I’ve had to make many adjustments such as moving to a different state, making new friends, and being in a new environment. One major adjustment is of course the job I am…
by Alexis Rohlfing, Head Editor, INALJ New Hampshire Spring Clean your Resume Spring has finally sprung! With it, we all have our spring rituals—going back outside every day without being bundled, spring vacation, cookouts, and spring cleaning. Spring cleaning is probably the least favorite, at least for those who have to do most of it, but it is…
by Jennifer Devine, Head Editor, INALJ Maryland To Business Card or Not to Business Card With the Spring Conference season upon us I have been contemplating the relevance of business cards. In this world of technology you no longer have to write a phone number down on a piece of paper to remember it. You can easily…
by Suzanne Schultz Pick, Head Editor, INALJ UK Academic Library Job Applications – What to Expect in the UK Many library jobs are posted through universities or colleges in the UK. Many of these jobs require applications rather than a CV/resume submission. So how can we make sure that our applications stand out? Let’s look at what the…
by Clayton Hayes, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota Combating satisficing through relevance: Facebook, Reddit, and beyond The increased availability of information online has presented information seekers with an often overwhelming array of sources to choose from. This (along with other factors) has led to a growing concern in the academic world with satisficing. Satisficing, put briefly, is the…
by Julie Watson, former Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania previously published 6/11/13 Soft Skills = Success: 5 Ways to Manage Your Emotions During the Job Hunt This is the fourth in a series of articles on soft skills. Job hunting is a stressful time – the effort you put into applications, the uncertainty of not-knowing when/if…
by Sarah Roark Schott, Head Editor, INALJ Arizona Interested in Applying for that Job in Tucson? 8 reasons you should consider relocating Have you been checking out different states on the INALJ job boards lately? Thinking about moving somewhere new? Have you considered Tucson, Arizona? With over 20 public library branches, a bunch of museums, the largest public…
by John Jay Miller, librarian Zen and the Art of Unemployment-or-Catcher in the Wry February 3, 2014 Dear reader: “I am a sick man… I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man”. It is 2:00AM on a Tuesday and I am unemployed. I have applied for over 70 jobs and remain unemployed after…
by Christina Wilson, Head Editor of INALJ Alberta and INALJ Manitoba Why Big Data Matters to Libraries Earlier this week I attended a lecture at Red Deer College as part of their “Perspectives on the World” series. I was invited to represent Red Deer Public Library, a co-sponsor of the series. The topic was “Big Data” and the engaging…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana Low-Cost Emerging Tech Tools for Librarians Emerging technologies are inseparable from librarianship, especially when it comes to instruction and reference in an academic library. Sometimes acquiring certain tools can be difficult due to their expense; thankfully, there are lots of free and low-cost tools that librarians can use to…
by Elinor Crosby, Head Editor, INALJ Nova Scotia The Union and You: A Primer Most library jobs are unionized. What does this mean for the library job seeker? It certainly seems like it can make the job search harder in an already unforgiving economy. However, there are definite perks to landing a union job. Now, some people are…
Amanda Brooks, Head Editor, INALJ British Columbia Adjusting to Different Cultures of Information – Shifting Orientation from Freedom of Information to Confidentiality of Information I always felt that freedom of information was core to my professional philosophy while I worked in public and academic libraries. In the public library, many people were happy being in their own world…
by Veda Darby Soberman, Head Editor, INALJ Hawaii Keeping a Career Journal We often get caught up in our busy lives. Do you ever have those weeks which zip by, but by the week’s end you can’t even remember what you did? Surely, you must have done something because you are completely exhausted. Keeping a career journal, like other…
by Ruth Lincoln, Head Editor, INALJ DC Making the Most of your MOOC Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are everywhere. Offered through platforms such as Coursera, Udacity, and EdX, MOOCs are providing thousands of people across the globe with access to amazing courses. They’re perfect for librarians and information professionals because you can bone up on some missed materials…
by Tracy Wasserman, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Crowdsourcing in digital libraries Libraries of all kinds hold countless items of significant historical value that most people never see. That is, never would see, until now, with the advent of digital libraries. Efforts to bring hidden treasures to light and make them readily accessible online have resulted in hundreds of…
by Roselle Pendergast, Head Editor, INALJ Minnesota How does a membership to a field-specific society/association help your career? There are TONS of different library societies/associations out there (large and small) and I have no doubt at all that there’s also societies founded within your own state; look at Minnesota for an example, Minnesota Library Association or Twin Cities…
by Courtney Baron, Head Editor, INALJ Georgia Interview Day Hacks I recently had an interview and thought I would share my day-of interview routine! Give yourself a buffer. Give yourself a buffer before the interview. If the interview takes place at a location you’ve never been before, but is within a commuting distance, I suggest checking out the site…
by Emma Pinault, Head Editor, INALJ Delaware Introverts Can Network, Too! Networking and making connections in your field is vital to career success, whether you’re just starting out and looking for a job or looking to move up into a more challenging position. We all know this. But not everyone is a people person, and the field of…
by Lauren Bourdages, Head Editor, INALJ Ontario So you’ve been laid off, what now? On February 4 2014 my, now former manager called me into her office at around 11am, it was a Tuesday, so this was normal, we had a regular 1-on-1 scheduled every Tuesday. Because it was normal I wasn’t mentally prepared for what…
Charissa Brammer, Head Editor, INALJ Maine 3 Ways that your Job Interview can go seriously awry, and how to avoid them Like most people, I feel really awkward in an interview situation. There is pretty much nothing in an interview situation that is designed to make people feel comfortable, but they do give the interviewers a good look…
Angie Solis, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri My life as a procrastinator As my time as a graduate student comes to a close I have been reflecting on the last two years I have spent at Wayne State University learning the ins and outs of Library and Information Science. I have gained so much knowledge throughout these years, but…
by Jennifer Crutchfield, Head Editor, INALJ Connecticut Professional Development: Helpful Websites Looking for professional development opportunities has been a priority of mine since I graduated with my MLS about five years ago. Since then I’ve been trying to find as many ways as possible to keep myself updated on developments within the library field. I have been specifically…
by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas Library Marketing to a Non-Digital Population If you’ve been following my blog posts here at INALJ, you probably know that I’m working at a rural library in Kansas. I love my job and I want people to love the library as much as I do. I’ve been working to promote children,…
by Alexandra Janvey, Head Editor, INALJ Iowa Top 3 Reasons to Use Twitter Twitter has quickly become my favorite social media outlet, but it wasn’t always this way. When I first joined the microblogging service, my attention and interest quickly faded because I was using the technology without a true purpose or focus. I signed up for a Twitter…
by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska Accepting (And Maybe Even Seeking Out) Honest Feedback In my last blog post, “Job Hunter, Know Thyself,” I wrote about the MBTI personality inventory and how understanding your own personality a little better could be valuable in helping to identify opportunities that may represent a more natural fit than others. Well,…
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ California What to write after they’ve turned you down Finding a library job can be a difficult process. Even if you are qualified, the interview went well and you did everything in your power to show you are the best candidate, sometimes all of your efforts are not enough and the hiring…
by Clare Sobotka, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho Working at a Public Library Reference Desk For three months now, I have been working as a substitute reference librarian for the adult and youth reference desks at my local public library. I thought I would share a little about my experience, because graduate school reference courses give a limited picture of…
by Amanda Viana, Head Editor, INALJ Massachusetts 5 Ways to Keep Negativity at Bay There’s a lot of variety to the blog posts on INALJ; some are expert posts, some are tips & tricks, and still others are stories of professional journeys and growth. This post is a bit of all of the above. Lately I’ve been finding…
by Katherine Kimball Adelberg, Head Editor, INALJ Michigan Interviewing for the Job You Already Have Three years ago, I graduated with my MLS and applied for a job on a whim. I was thrilled to be called for an interview and had nothing to lose since I already had a good job. Confident and relaxed, I aced the…
Samantha Read, Head Editor, INALJ New Brunswick De-Bunking Interpersonal Skills You’ll see the phrase “interpersonal skills” on most job ads these days. Good interpersonal skills are essential for any position in any organization. What exactly constitutes being interpersonal, though? When it all boils down to it, what does it really take to confidently claim that yes, indeed,…
by Sheryl L. Christensen, Head Editor, INALJ California Reputation Builder — Give Back, Pay Forward — Learn from Everyone One of my favorite books of all time, as far as its helpfulness with real world social interactions, has been Florence Littauer’s book, Silver Boxes – The Gift of Encouragement. Ms. Littauer compares all of the positive things that…
by Ashley Mancill, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama Tips for Completing a Self-Evaluation I recently had to complete a self-evaluation, a task dreaded by nearly every employee no matter what field he or she works in. Having been in the position for only three months and having limited responsibilities, I couldn’t help feel that I hadn’t made any significant contribution…
by Ruth Kitchin Tillman, Head Editor, INALJ Maryland How to Prepare for an Interview Like an RPG In my free time (so, y’know, not since August), I enjoy playing and running role-playing games. When I started job hunting in the fall, my friend Mary Richardson, a fellow gamer-archivist, gave me the advice to think about the boring parts of…
by Nicolas Resteiner, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi Don’t Discount Library Assistant Experience When I worked at my local library in high school, I was just a page. I shelved books for a couple of years, went to college and came back home and worked as a movie theater manager before realizing that I did not want to…
Angela J.A. Kent, Head Editor, INALJ-Virtual Work Thinking outside the box: moving beyond the cubicle and other office space Need to stretch your library skills? Need some extra cash? Looking to fill a gap in your skills, interests, or time? One way to fulfill these needs is through virtual work. Cut the commute time and…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Caitlin Moen, Head Editor, INALJ Louisiana Leadership and the LLAMA New Professionals Section : An Interview with Tyler Dzuba Name: Tyler Dzuba Position: Head, Physics-Optics-Astronomy Library, University of Rochester; Chair, New Professionals Section (NPS), Library…
by Veda Darby Soberman, Head Editor, INALJ Hawaii Unemployment Opportunities Throughout graduate school I also worked full-time (in a non-library setting). I spent many a sleepless night tackling research papers, only to get a few hours of sleep before heading off to a full workday. Time to do anything besides work or schoolwork came in precious little nuggets. I…