by Amanda May, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota Interviewing Tips for Introverts As an introvert, I dread the interview process. It feels awkward to sit in front of new people and talk about my accomplishments. Honestly, it feels like I am just bragging about myself. Many times, people would tell me to be more outgoing. …
Articles
Articles
Kate Goes Conferencing, Part 2: Tips and Tricks
by Kate Kosturski, Head Editor, INALJ New York State Kate Goes Conferencing, Part 2: Tips and Tricks In my last blog post, I talked about stretching out of your conference comfort zone and attending non-librarian conferences. Now that you have a list of conferences in your toolbox, and you’re getting ready to attend your first…
Articles
Preparing for a Video Interview
by Nicole Usiondek, Head Editor, INALJ Michigan Preparing for a Video Interview As I mentioned in my last post, I recently participated in a job interview conducted with Skype. I am going to share with you the steps I took to ensure that the interview was successful and not wrought with technical difficulties or other…
Articles
In downtown Chicago for #ALA13? Take advice from this Chicagoan
by Holly Lipschultz, Head Editor, INALJ Illinois In downtown Chicago for #ALA13? Take advice from this Chicagoan I moved to downtown Chicago 3 years ago, and since then, I’ve learned a lot about navigating Chicago, and what kind of free things there are to do. I’m focusing on the most common issues and concerns I’ve…
Articles
The Yangambi Research Station Library
by Mychal R. Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico The Yangambi Research Station Library Belgian Colonial Congo (1908 – 1960) The Congo region that is now home to the African nation known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC) became Belgium’s only colony on the African continent after its national assembly voted to take control…
Articles
Professional Organizations: Diversity in ALA
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Professional Organizations: Diversity in ALA This is part two of a three part series on professional organizations. Part one was published on June 14, and part three will be available on June 28. Librarians serve many different groups and interests – within the ALA there are several divisions…
Articles
INALJ Summer Reads – you’ll love these books!
by Julie Watson, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania INALJ Summer Reads – you’ll love these books! I asked some of my favorite librarians, who also happen to be INALJ volunteers, what books they are recommending this summer. Here’s what they had to say (and my recommendation as well): Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy…
Articles
My Librarian Origin Story
by Amanda Viana, Head Editor, INALJ Massachusetts My Librarian Origin Story Something I’ve discovered over the past five years or so is that every librarian has an origin story. They range wildly from the most deliberate to the almost accidental, and each of them is as unique as we are. I’ve just taken two major…
Articles
Informational Interviewing: A Unique Way to Learn …
by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania and former Head Editor of INALJ Wisconsin Informational Interviewing: A Unique Way to Learn about Libraries and Network at the Same Time One technique in networking and job-hunting that I have been interested in as of late is informational interviewing. I read a blog post on INALJ last…
Articles
How to Negotiate a Raise
by Rebecca Crago, Head Editor, INALJ Virginia How to Negotiate a Raise Employed job seekers may be looking for the next best thing not because they don’t like their job, but because it doesn’t pay enough. While it can take months to complete the hiring process and even years to find that next job, if…
Articles
Librarians Have Skills: Celebrating Librarianship on Spotify
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey (Shameless Self-Promotion, Take One) Librarians Have Skills: Celebrating Librarianship on Spotify You are awesome, yes? Yes! You have theme songs, yes? Yes! Then…let’s play! I’ve created a Spotify playlist that celebrates our hard work, our tenacity, our creativity…I could go on (ad infinitum), but I won’t. Instead,…
Articles
Common interview questions
by Duda Trickovic, Head Editor, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick Common interview questions I found this great web site with the 50 MostCommonInterviewQuestions. Lately I’ve been to quite a few interviews and each time before the interview I would go over these questions. Almost 90% of questions I’ve got asked on the interview are…
Articles
What is the latitude and longitude of Portland? How I got the job
by Karly Szczepkowski What is the latitude and longitude of Portland? How I got the job I graduated in December 2008 in the midst of a horrible economy. I was interested in non-traditional positions and came across a job posting that is a perfect example of an employer that doesn’t know it’s looking for someone…
Articles
School Librarians Not Done Learning
by Sarah Deringer, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi School Librarians Not Done Learning: 5 Professional Development Resources In the LIS 644 class I currently attend, an assignment brought to my attention the various professional development resources available to school librarians. As a future school librarian, I believe that learning is a continual process that involves applying…
Articles
Professional Organizations: Divisions of the ALA
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Professional Organizations: Divisions of the ALA This is part one of a three part series on professional organizations. Part two will be available on June 21, and part three on June 28. The American Library Association is the largest and most inclusive professional organization in our field and…
Articles
Take Some Time from the Reference Desk…and Laugh!
by Renee Holden, Head Editor, INALJ Nebraska Take Some Time from the Reference Desk…and Laugh! I work in a public library and sometimes it can be a sea of questions and problems. I try at least once a month to make sure that I check out YouTube for some really hilarious videos that have been…
Articles
Long Distance Librarian
by Marlena Barber, Head Editor, INALJ Tennessee Long Distance Librarian While I was searching for work, I read many posts online from fellow information professionals who were seeking advice on how to secure a position out of state. Many posts I read were from those who were disheartened at perceived and real lack of opportunities…
Articles
Non-Library Positions on Your Resume
by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina Non-Library Positions on Your Resume Let’s talk a bit about looking outside the field for job experience. I know as well as anyone else just how hard it can be to get a professional position without a good deal of experience first (it’s a Catch-22, and…
Articles
Can I Put That On My Resume?
by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Can I Put That On My Resume? It’s been a long time since I have had an actual “job.” And by “job” I mean – a reoccurring time of work that is accompanied by a salary which is paid in money (as opposed to macaroni art and sticky-faced…
Articles
Should You Go to That (Non-Library) Conference?
by Kate Kosturski, Head Editor, INALJ New York State Should You Go to That (Non-Library) Conference? My fellow INALJ editor Sarah Dixon talked about attending the ALA conference in her latest blog post – and hers is not the first I have seen, so conference season is upon us. But, conferences are expensive, and a…
Articles
Interviewing: A Roundup of Advice on What They Can and Cannot Ask You
by Naomi House Interviewing: A Roundup of Advice on What They Can and Cannot Ask You Recently we have been sharing lots of our own tips and advice on the interviewing process. One question that is on many interviewee’s minds is, what can they legally ask me? We have found lots of advice from around…
Articles
On Library Advocacy: You Don’t Need to Work There to Support Your Library
by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Oklahoma On Library Advocacy: You Don’t Need to Work There to Support Your Library Recently, there has been a kerfuffle in the library world over an article written by Michael Rosenblum for Huffpost (seen here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rosenblum/whats-a-library_b_3239502.html) and what that means for libraries as a whole. I will admit that…
Articles
3 #TweetChats You Should be Following
by Africa Hands, Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky 3 #TweetChats You Should be Following: using hashtags in Twitter for learning (Editor’s Update: you can now participate Monday’s at 9pm ET with us on #inaljchat) Have you participated in a tweet chat? Tweet chats are chat sessions that happen regularly on Twitter using a particular hashtag. Chat…
Articles
Managing Your References Team
by Christina Wilson, Head Editor, INALJ Alberta Managing Your References Team: a necessary soft skill At some point in your quest for the perfect position, you will be asked to provide references. I think of my references as my team. They are a trusted group of colleagues who know my work style and achievements and…
Articles
MLIS and Motherhood
by Dawn Thompson, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio MLIS and Motherhood While attending graduate school my partner and I decided to try and have our first baby. We’d seen lots of friends go through the process and figured that we’d have just as much if not more trouble so we didn’t need to worry too much…
Articles
On SLA, Both Near and Far
by Naomi House On SLA, Both Near and Far I am missing SLA Annual this year in San Diego. I am frankly much the worse for it. I am blessed to have been able to speak and travel so much this year and my time-off requests finally caught up with me. Next year, I promise…
Articles
Leaving Librarianship: some recent blog posts
by Naomi House, MLIS Leaving Librarianship: some recent blog posts This past weekend I read three excellent blog postings by librarians and info pros who have left or are considering leaving the library field. Money is a huge part of the equation. Librarians, Masters holders that we are, are grossly under-compensated and often wrestle with…
Articles
Crafting a Superb Cover Letter
by Alexandra Janvey, Head Editor, INALJ Iowa Crafting a Superb Cover Letter Cover letters are an important part of the job application process. Your cover letter can have a very strong influence on prospective employers, as it’s the first item employers read. Therefore, your cover letter is the basis of the prospective employer’s first impression.…
Articles
Outside-the-Box Jobs in Maine and Beyond
by Kristen Jaques, Head Editor, INALJ Maine Outside-the-Box Jobs in Maine and Beyond Hello, jobseekers! If you’ve been perusing the job listings on the beautiful and fascinating INALJ Maine page lately, you may have noticed that I post an assortment of jobs which do not feature the word “library” or “librarian” in the title, and…
Articles
My On-Campus Interview: Lessons Learned
by Lisa Huntsha, Head Editor, INALJ Sweden My On-Campus Interview: Lessons Learned After reading R.C. Miessler’s post regarding on-campus interviewing, I thought it might be worthwhile to share my experience. A little over a year ago I interviewed for, and landed, a position on a college campus. My interview lasted 2 full days, I met…
Articles
May 2013 Roundup (INALJ Stats )
Phenomenal growth! INALJ had nearly 300,000 page views in May! Sixty-four fans reported that they found jobs! In May the total page visits were over 299,000!!! Half way through 2013 and we already have nearly doubled the page views for 2011 and 2012 combined! And we reached 1.5 million views total on May 12. May…
Articles
Scary New Things #1: Go to a Conference
by Nena Schvaneveldt, Head Editor, INALJ Utah Scary New Things #1: Go to a Conference Well, I have begun my journey into doing scary new things: I attended the Utah Library Association conference. I’m starting locally because I want to meet local librarians, and I thought that jumping into ALA Annual as my first conference…
Articles
Landing a Job the “Old School Way”
by Genise Gorman, Head Editor, INALJ Arkansas Landing a Job the “Old School Way” Technology is a great way to look for a job, but in today’s economy why not try a different approach to your job search, the “old school way.” Listed below are several approaches to finding a job using old school job…
Articles
Creating your brand as a job searcher
by Stephanie Leigh Taylor, Head Editor, INALJ British Columbia Creating your brand as a job searcher When we’re looking for a job, especially these days, it’s tough to have your personality come through on an online application form. This is where branding yourself online, using social media and blogging, are definite aids in the job…
Articles
What I Learned About My Job Search by Helping Others Find Jobs
by Rachel Wightman, Assistant Editor, INALJ Washington What I Learned About My Job Search by Helping Others Find Jobs Last fall I relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota after living and working in Kampala, Uganda for a year and a half. I was a librarian at a small college and, as a solo librarian, spent my time…
Articles
3 Graphic Insights: Alberto Cairo on Successful Applications of Data Visualization
by Naomi House, MLIS 3 Graphic Insights: Alberto Cairo on Successful Applications of Data Visualization As many of you know I work in a library at a federal government facility that specializes in statistics. This means that I am often privileged with being able to see some of the cutting edge experts in fields such…
Articles
Summer Reading Magic: Bring on the Kids ..and the DIRT!
by Shayna Monnens, Head Editor, INALJ South Dakota Summer Reading Magic: Bring on the Kids ..and the DIRT! It’s that mystical time of year again where libraries and their staff are working diligently and quickly to finalize and implement their library summer reading program. As a children’s librarian and one who handles teen programming, I…
Articles
18 Tips for Writing a Manual for Work
by Holly Lipschultz 18 Tips for Writing a Manual for Work I’m one of those Hermione-types of people who read manuals. If I need to learn something, my first order of business is to read the manual. Give me a job manual, and I’ll read by tomorrow morning. And if there is no manual or…
Articles
Seeking a Library Job While Employed
by Veda Darby Soberman, Head Editor, INALJ Hawaii Seeking a Library Job While Employed Many of us are lucky enough to be in the process of hunting for our dream library jobs while currently employed either in another library job or at a job in a different field. Even if you think you already have…
Articles
4 Tips for Editing Your Resume and Cover Letter
by Amanda May, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota 4 Tips for Editing Your Resume and Cover Letter This past spring, I participated in my first library search committee. After being the “job searcher” for so long, it was really interesting to be on the other side of the process. I’ve read so many articles on…