Articles

The Art of Down Time

by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina The Art of Down Time Oofah, it’s been a busy month! My first INALJ blog post, Learn From My Mistakes, came out this morning. (Stay with me now, this is the segue.) I reread it to see how it came out and to get some inspiration…

Skype Your Way to Success

by Christina Wilson, Head Editor, INALJ Alberta Skype Your Way to Success As a hiring manager,  working in a public library I found Skype to be an effective tool when faced with the prospect of interviewing candidates from across this vast land.  Although our city had an airport, service was “regional” and the next largest…

Feed your RSS Reader – Blogs to follow for career advice

by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Feed your RSS Reader – Blogs to follow for career advice Just because Google Reader is shutting down is no reason not to keep cultivating new RSS feeds for resume, cover letter and general interview advice.  When I graduated from high school, I was told to always tell…

Work You Can’t Not Do?

by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska Work You Can’t Not Do? Since most people reading this are in the LIS field, I feel like it’s pretty safe to assume that we share a fascination with information and learning. TED talks are one of my favorite ways to come across new information, ideas, and perspectives.…

A Case for Learning HTML

by Rebekah Kati, Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina A Case for Learning HTML I remember sitting in a required technology class during my first semester of library school and wondering if I was ever going to use any of the information presented.  I was so sure that I was going to be a reference librarian,…

March 2013 Roundup (INALJ Stats )

Wordle word cloud from 2013 of words found on INALJ all of them are library and job related

What a great month it has been! INALJ reached 1,000,000 page views on March 17, 2013!!! Fifty-three fans reported that they found jobs! In March the daily site visits jumped up 50%!!! Some fast stats for March 2013: 1,120,534 total INALJ.com page views (all time) and 239,353 in March alone over 12,830 Tweets milestone reached…

Taking a look at Ireland’s Trinity College Library

by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island Taking a look at Ireland’s Trinity College Library As library and information science professionals it can be easy for us to get caught up in new trends, learning the hottest technology, or even researching a new avenue for research.  So I thought I would take this opportunity…

6 Things You Should Do After Your Library Job Interview

by Kristen Jaques, Head Editor, INALJ Maine 6 Things You Should Do After Your Library Job Interview The Scenario: Today you just had an interview with a terrific library where your skills and passion will truly be an asset.  Good job, you!  However, there is much more work to be done if you want to…

Jobs In Your Basket: Happy Easter

For all those who celebrate Easter today is a day for either hunting for Easter eggs and or going to church.  But after brunch is done, and visiting is over, as you wind up your day- take a moment to look through all the jobs we have at INALJ.  Cherry pick some and even if…

Gaming @ Your Library

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Gaming @ Your Library There are many diverse (and often heated) opinions on whether video games belong in libraries or library collections.  Are they library-worthy digital media?  Are there benefits to playing video games in terms of social issues and their educational value (including their link to literacy)? …

How to Stand Out on LinkedIn

by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor, INALJ Wisconsin How to Stand Out on LinkedIn A couple weeks ago, I attended a webinar through Drexel University called “How to Stand Out in the LinkedIn Network” The title of the webinar caught my eye and I decided to attend as I love professional development opportunities.  I use LinkedIn…

The Unintentional Librarian

by Dawn Thompson, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio The Unintentional Librarian When I began the library science program at Kent State University in 2007 I was unsure about my decision to attend a Masters program in library science.  My plans hadn’t included attending library school.  My plan had been to get an MFA in nonfiction from…

Skimming the Barrel or Scraping the Barrel?

Skimming:  Using quality websites that are targeted towards librarians and info pros. Scraping:  Using job scrapers that search out jobs on the web and deliver them to you in a daily email. As I look towards moving the INALJ Daily Jobs Digest into state/country pages, I have been mulling over which job scrapers I want the new…

The “L” Word

Librarian. It means so much to those of us with our MLS/MLIS, etc. It was the job I wanted and the reason I went to Library School. But there are so many other jobs we can do as librarians that use our skills set. I have created a list of key terms and job titles…

Preparing for a job interview

by Jennifer Crutchfield, Head Editor, INALJ Connecticut Preparing for a job interview Hi everyone! I am currently getting ready for the rare occurrence of a job interview, which is coming up in a few days. I am really excited about the interview because it is with a great company, but I’m also really nervous because…

Fear of Success: Following Up

by Alfonso Colasuonno, Assistant, INALJ New York City Fear of Success: Following Up What makes INALJ great is that it is a positive, supportive network of information professionals looking to help one another, and offer concrete ways to do so. By reading the blog entries on the site, and reaching out to your fellow information…

Finding Hidden Treasure: a Cache of Librarian Blogs

by Sarah Deringer, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi Finding Hidden Treasure: a Cache of Librarian Blogs Every great once in awhile I find a collection of good blogs to follow, and this week I found four blogs that shine so much that Captain Jack Sparrow would not be able to keep his hands off them. The…

Coding Classes 101

by Amanda May, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota Coding Classes 101 Is coding an essential skill for information professionals to learn? Well, I think that it really depends on how you look at it.  On one hand, I believe that information professionals do not need to know any programming languages in order to be successful. …

Work/life balance, stress reduction, learning, and having fun

by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama Work/life balance, stress reduction, learning, and having fun I participated in the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) E-Forum: Work/Life Balance on March 13-14. The discussion was hosted by Leslie Burke, Collection Development and Digital Integration Librarian at Kalamazoo College, and Robert Roose, Support Services Manger…

Lasting Final Impression – Ask Those Questions

by Shayna Monnens, Head Editor, INALJ South Dakota Lasting Final Impression – Ask Those Questions I came across this very interesting article the other day by BrazenCareerist.com, and I was so blown away by the content that I had to share. You may have already seen this article. I know that I have seen it…

The ABC’s of an Internship in a Research/Business Library

by Amanda Marie Yetter, Head Editor, INALJ Maryland The ABC’s of an Internship in a Research/Business Library Follow along and learn more about internships in a research/business library from …A   to    Z. A:  Ancestry.com—Collections including Census information, Immigration and Travel, Birth Marriage and Death records even yearbooks and other information such as phone directories…

Naomi’s Daily Reads

I wish I had more time to browse the web.  There are so many great blogs and websites out there for info pros and librarians and I would love to read even more.  My daily reads (in addition to fab jobs websites like ALA JobList and ArchivesGig and METRO) are often pop culture or DC…

The Pope and Open Access

by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana The Pope and Open Access The recent election of Pope Francis may not seem to have much to do with libraries, but in fact, it may play a major role in determining the future of open access to Vatican Library documents. But first, a bit of context. EMC…

Job-hunting and interviewing when you have a disability

by Holly Lipschultz, Head Editor, INALJ Illinois Job-hunting and interviewing when you have a disability Job hunting is nerve-wracking, but it is even more anxiety-inducing if you have a disability. There’s so many questions involved in addition to the usual ones: When should I disclose my disability? What if the interviewer asks? What jobs can…

Preparing for a Phone Interview

by Marlena Barber, Head Editor, INALJ Tennessee Preparing for a Phone Interview Congratulations!  You have been contacted for a phone interview with a potential future employer.  I would like to share with you how I prepare for phone interviews. A phone interview is a wonderful opportunity for you to present yourself well to a potential…

Other duties as assigned?

by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri Other duties as assigned? Almost every job description has this line. It’s usually near the bottom of the list of duties. It says “Other duties as assigned.” What does this mean? Well, pretty much whatever you and your employer agree that you should do. One thing I’ve learned…

Building the Dream: You are Your Best Teaching Tool

by Lauren Bourdages, Head Editor, INALJ Ontario Building the Dream: You are Your Best Teaching Tool Earlier this week a friend of mine who is a Teacher in New Zealand found a job posting for a Teacher-Librarian position that she asked me to help her put together her application package for. That got me thinking,…

Keeping Current: Low-Cost Professional Development, March/April Edition

by Adrith Bedore Bicchieri, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada Keeping Current: Low-Cost Professional Development, March/April Edition Professional development opportunities can be difficult to take advantage of if you’re unemployed or underemployed. Here are some avenues for gaining new ideas, skills, or perspectives without breaking the bank. Free online webinars, on a variety of topics: Student Advisors,…

Library Jobs: Searching Outside-the-box

by Aingeal Stone, Head Editor, INALJ Northwest Territories Library Jobs: Searching Outside-the-box Whether you are a new graduate or a seasoned veteran, job hunting with its attendance cycle of testing, interviewing and rejection can be demoralizing heartbreaking. Often there are too few positions with far too many applicants. In my experience, I have found that…

Naomi House : Library Journal Mover & Shaker Award Winner 2013

* Naomi House RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS “MOVER & SHAKER” AWARD FROM LIBRARY JOURNAL MAGAZINE Naomi House founder of INALJ.com has been named a “Mover & Shaker” in the library industry by the national publication, Library Journal. In its March 15, 2013 issue, Library Journal named 50 outstanding professionals committed to providing excellent service to meet the…

Confessions of a well-educated stay-at-home mom

by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming Confessions of a well-educated stay-at-home mom Confession: I’m a library and information professional who has never actually been a library and information professional. Coming out of undergrad, I knew I wanted to get my MLIS, but since I was geographically limited—my husband was getting his JD at the…

1 Million (1,000,000) page views!!!

1,000,000 So excited to be typing this!  INALJ.com started as a small webspace to host my daily jobs and share success stories in November of 2011.  Just over a year later, on March 17th, 2013, I have hit 1 million page views!!! Here is to sharing more jobs, advice, tips & tricks and getting to…

INALJ Ireland & LibraryJobs.ie

As INALJ expands to more international locations often I come across a website that is doing it all already and well! So I don’t reinvent the wheel and instead forward them all the jobs I find for their country and share their website with you. INALJ Ireland sharesLibrary Jobs.ie, which is the best one I…

Happiness is Helping Out: 188 INALJ Volunteers!

This is just a brief place for me to say THANKS to the 188 current INALJ volunteers and the many, many more past volunteers! I am (nearly) speechless!  I just over a month and a half we have banded together some previous and a whole bunch of new info pros, librarians and library staff to…

Networking Gets a Bad Rap

by Alexandra Janvey, Head Editor, INALJ Iowa Networking Gets a Bad Rap The dreaded word, networking, was once the bane of my existence. And mostly because—get ready—I convinced myself it was. Like many other library school students, I had been repeatedly advised on how important networking was for an efficient job search. “It has long…