by Natalie Kahn Why I Turned Down my First Professional Library Job Offer They offered me the job. I haven’t even received my MLIS in the mail yet, but a small college has offered me the HEAD Librarian position. They offer a little more money, fine benefits, and the seemingly limitless opportunity to explore every and any…
Articles
Articles
Library Displays – Go Big or Go Home… or at least go crazy!
Articles
The Transformative Powers of Library School
Jennifer Reisch, Head Editor, INALJ NYC The Transformative Powers of Library School On the day that my son turned 8 I turned into an idiot. I spent years lost in the abyss of stupid ideas, ridiculous requests, inability to comprehend even the simplest ideas. Really, it was a mystery, even to the know-it-all himself, how two dolts like my husband…
Articles
Reader’s Advisory – If You Liked HBO’s True Detective
by Renee Holden, Head Editor, INALJ Nebraska Reader’s Advisory – If You Liked HBO’s True Detective As a fiction librarian in a public library, I often get patrons who have watched compelling shows or movies and want to read fiction books that are similar to what they have seen on TV or at the movies. The latest TV…
Articles
Conference Session Proposals and Presentations: Less Complicated than You’d Think
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey Conference Session Proposals and Presentations: Less Complicated than You’d Think During the first week of June, I attended my third New Jersey Library Association annual conference. The first time I went, I was a student; the second time, I was a job seeker; and this time, I was a gainfully…
Articles
Home Collection Conservation Practices and Tips
by Mychal Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico Home Collection Conservation Practices and Tips Whether a children’s librarian, an academic library systems administrator, or a special collections archivist, everyone has physical items and collections that they’d like to protect and preserve at home. As someone with both training in conservation techniques and the proud owner of various personal collections…
Articles
5 Tips for Conquering the Exhibits Hall
by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania 5 Tips for Conquering the Exhibits Hall Since its conference season and there are a lot of great conferences coming up such as ALA Annual, SLA’s conference and many others, I figured I would do another conference tips article since my last one Ten Conference Tips for a First Timer was…
Articles
Adjusting to Part-Time Work
by Amelia Zavala Vander Heide, Head Editor, INALJ NYC Adjusting to Part-Time Work It does not matter if you are finishing library school, relocating, or just looking to jump to a new position the amount of part-time versus full-time librarian work can be disheartening. It seems like everyone knows someone who is piecing together full-time work through multiple jobs.…
Articles
Paying your way through conference season
Angela J.A. Kent, Head Editor, INALJ-Virtual Work Paying your way through conference season Many information professionals and students, myself included, are currently gearing up to attend some of the industry’s largest annual library conferences. While there’s been no shortage of articles on conferences, there is one aspect that I thought was worth adding my two cents. Let’s talk…
Articles
How to Thrive After a Set-Back
by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina How to Thrive After a Set-Back Sometimes things happen in your professional life that you have no control over. The secret is to think of how you can turn these events into opportunities. (Easier said than done, I know.) In my usual way, I’ll explain with an example from…
Articles
Why SLA is a ‘Must’ Membership for Me
by Naomi House, MLIS Why SLA is a ‘Must’ Membership for Me SLA or Special Libraries Association is an organization I really believe in. I like to call it the “Specialized” Libraries Association, because that is what it truly is; it is an organization for LIS professionals in any field who specialize in something. Divisions…
Articles
Free Advice (Literally) for New Librarians
by Naomi House, MLIS Free Advice (Literally) for New Librarians INALJ along with many other jobs blogs out there, is full of great advice for new and transitioning professionals. Go to conferences! Tailor your resumés and cover letters each time! Take professional development classes! Network! Join associations! Actively participate IN associations! Volunteer! Take on an…
Articles
Learning how to be a good manager
by Gabrielle Spiers, Head Editor, INALJ Montana Learning how to be a good manager I must admit that managing others was never something that I particularly wanted to do but as sometimes happens in life it is something that I have been doing for quite awhile now. Like many other things it is something that I think you…
Articles
Interview Basics for First Time Job Hunters
by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming Interview Basics for First Time Job Hunters As the school year winds up, I’ve been thinking a lot about teenagers job hunting for a summer job or internship and approaching the dreaded interview for the first time. A lot of advice I would give a first-time job hunter are…
Articles
What is Library School All About? (Written by Someone Still in School)
by Nicolas Resteiner, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi What is Library School All About? (Written by Someone Still in School) I recently saw a forum posting that made me pause and think about what most students expect from library school. The poster in question lamented that he only went for a library degree because it “seemed more marketable than…
Articles
A Quest: One Productivity App to Rule them All
by Alexis Rohlfing, Head Editor, INALJ New Hampshire A Quest: One Productivity App to Rule them All There must be something in the air in June and July that attacks the productivity apps that I love. Many people scrambled to find a new feed reader last year when Google Reader shuttered, myself among them. I had a similar…
Articles
Lessons from Previous Paradigm Shifts
Stephanie Noell, Head Editor, INALJ Texas Lessons from Previous Paradigm Shifts Information professionals tend to be very passionate individuals. We thrive on providing access to information and pointing users to the best possible resources. This enthusiasm can guide us through lengthy, enriching careers filled with paradigm shifts at every level. In an effort to grasp what…
Articles
Why Didn’t I Get the Job and What Should I Do Next?
Articles
Creating Research Guides for Events or Special Occasions (Happy Pride Month!)
by Rebecca Vogler, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio Creating Research Guides for Events or Special Occasions In academia, research guides, like LibGuides, are often used to help students find resources in a particular subject area or class topic. Many will list databases, textbooks, e-journals, websites, and reference works. They are an amazing resource, especially for those who are…
Articles
Is Homestuck the future of the digitally-native publication?
by Clayton Hayes, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota Is Homestuck the future of the digitally-native publication? Several months ago I got into a discussion on reddit about the online comic/story/cult known as Homestuck. For those of you unfamiliar, Homestuck is a label-defying piece of online storytelling created by Andrew Hussie. Started in 2009 as a single page, Hussie…
Articles
Slide into Your New Job: How to Ace the Presentation
by Grey Maixner, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Slide into Your New Job: How to Ace the Presentation One of the most challenging aspects for someone interviewing for an academic librarianship position is the presentation. I have yet to come across someone who hasn’t had to give one, and nearly all of my colleagues, coming straight out…
Articles
May 2014 Roundup (INALJ Stats)
6 million page views total / 500,000+ in May alone What a great month! The big news is we reached over 6 million page views on INALJ.com and we broke 500,000 page views in a single month for the first time ever! In addition it was the best month at INALJ.com for all other stats! Our busiest day EVER was 23,771 views on 5/27, and our…
Articles
Developing Relationships in Life—How can this benefit in the workplace?
by Heidi Greathouse, Head Editor, INALJ Utah Developing Relationships in Life—How can this benefit in the workplace? In the past couple of months since I moved here to Portales, I have had to say goodbye to a lot of people, but also meet new ones. I have been thinking of how important it is to have relationships…
Articles
Applying for public library jobs in the U.K. – What to expect
by Suzanne Schultz Pick, Head Editor, INALJ UK Applying for public library jobs in the U.K. – What to expect There are lots of fellow librarians on social networks such as Twitter, and Facebook. Plenty of librarians can give you insight on what hiring libraries may be looking for in a new employee. I asked public librarians on…
Articles
The Embedded Librarian: Never Underestimate the Power of Human Connection
by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Illinois previously published 11/7/13 The Embedded Librarian: Never Underestimate the Power of Human Connection I recently attended the Special Libraries Association Education Division (SLA DEDU) webinar, “Embedded Librarianship” presented by David Shumaker, faculty member at the School of Library and Information Science at the Catholic University of America and…