. . . by Lauren Bourdages, Head Editor, INALJ Ontario Breaking Out: Non-Traditional Jobs for Library Technicians There’s a lot of talk out there about non-traditional LIS jobs for librarians. For example: 61 Non-Librarian Jobs for LIS Grads The ALA’s Non-Traditional Jobs for Librarians page The Where We’re Going: Non-Traditional Careers for LIS Graduates slideshare…
by Sarah Roark Schott, Head Editor, INALJ Arizona Should You Leave the MLS off Your Resume? I recently left my job in Arizona and moved to another state. The move is slightly temporary; I only plan on living here for a year unless my partner or I find amazing positions here. Unfortunately library or archive…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions . . by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming Interview with Janssen of Everyday Reading Emily’s interview with Janssen, of the blog Everday-Reading.com, who started blogging in 2006 to chronicle the books they were reading and…
by Sarah Porter, Head Editor, INALJ California Do It Anyway Do you ever find your “dream job” posted, and feel discouraged from applying for it after reading a long list of qualifications? Some of the wish lists of requirements are so long and comprehensive that only a highly intelligent robot set on world domination could…
by Sarah Deringer, Head Editor, INALJ Mississippi Back to the Book Shelf: This Librarian’s “To-Read” List If you are anything like me, you have plenty of books on the shelf to read but are always looking for more. I recently ran across a Pinterest item that describes the situation perfectly. It reads, “Abibliophobia: (n). The…
by Renee Holden, Head Editor, INALJ Nebraska Great Sci-Fi for Those Who Don’t Like Sci-Fi I used to read sci-fi books as a kid, but when I became a teenager I traded sci-fi stories for the passion of teen romance books. As a reader’s advisory librarian, I talk to adults who like me fell out of…
by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Oklahoma Don’t Let Job Searching Become a Path to Losing Your Mind I have a dirty little secret: I’m thoroughly enjoying NOT job searching at the moment. But, I just graduated and I need a job right now, right? And how can I work for INALJ and not be…
. . . by Duda Trickovic, . Head Editor, INALJ New Brunswick and INALJ Prince Edward Island Cardmunch, a new way to store business cards on your phone In today’s digital world I am still getting a lot of information on paper. I am trying to convert everything in digital form but that is not always easy. One of the…
by Mychal Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico Why You Must Travel Full disclosure: I’m writing this from atop a hillside overlooking Laboucherre Bay on the most North Western point of Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Currently on vacation in what I like to call Baja Alaska, technically volunteering for an archaeologist friend on…
by Elinor Crosby, Head Editor, INALJ Nova Scotia Overcoming Procrastination Hello, my name is Elinor and I am a procrastinator. I’ve been getting better as I get older, but I’ve always been an at-the-last-possible-minute kinda gal. As a child I found my schoolwork easy, so I spent my time reading instead, and then did my work…
by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri What a job seeker wants to see in a job posting (An article to employers) I’ve been volunteering at INALJ since January of this year, and I’ve looked at thousands of job postings. Some of them are fantastically written and sadly, some of them could use a little…
. . . by Christina Wilson , Head Editor, INALJ Alberta Achieving Success in a Non-Traditional Position: Meet Stephen MacDonald, MLIS and Resource Coordinator for Edmonton’s Social Planning Council (ESPC) After obtaining his MLIS, from Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University, Stephen MacDonald aspired to become a reference librarian, but was open to pursuing other information management opportunities.…
by Julie Watson, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania updated by Naomi House on 4/10/14 Tweet-up with INALJ Are you following INALJ on Twitter? Well, you should be! It’s another great way to engage with the INALJ community. We tweet when we post new jobs and share the best articles from INALJ. We also link to great advice…
by Rebekah Kati, Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina What Do You Do When You Can’t Relocate For a Job? The most frequent piece of advice that I was given in library school was that I would need to relocate to find a job. “You’ll likely have to move to a place where you won’t want to…
by Gabrielle Spiers, Head Editor, INALJ Montana You Are Not A Good Fit For This Position Recently I got to be involved in hiring interns which was a very interesting experience partly because I love reading people’s resumes. I find what other people have done work-wise to be fascinating. Part of me wishes that I…
by Jill Olsen, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada My Friend Is Interested in Becoming a Librarian, Can You Talk to Them? I seem to be getting this question a lot lately so I thought I would put it out here and talk about my recommendations to someone who is thinking about becoming a Librarian. I’d love to…
by Alexandra Janvey, Head Editor, INALJ Iowa 6 Great Books on Writing One of my new years resolutions for 2013 was to begin writing seriously and I’ve followed through, with my work appearing in numerous publications in the past few months. To get into the proper mindset, I began devouring a slew of good books…
by Amanda Viana , Head Editor , INALJ Massachusetts . . . Founders’ Day : what library outreach can look like Every community has its own unique events that bring people together. In the town where I work, the Founders’ Day Picnic is one of those events. Organized by the town’s Recreation Department (all volunteers), Founders’…
by Scottie Kapel, Head Editor, INALJ Oregon Podcasts to make your commute bearable I had intended to write this post earlier in the summer in preparation for the height of vacation season, but time got away from me, and now here we are just a hop, skip, and a jump away from fall. Until the holiday…
by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri How to apply for a job: resume and cover letter advice I’d assumed that anyone with a bachelor degree knows how to apply for jobs, but I was surprised by how many graduating students asked me for help at the reference desk at an academic library. Usually when…
by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina Discovering Your Strengths I’m being hard on myself again. I’m at a perfectly good job, with wonderful coworkers and an environment that’s anything but stale. Problem is, this isn’t where I had envisioned myself a few years ago (or even one year ago, or six months ago).…
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont Mapping out your library career – 3 great reads How to stay afloat in the academic library job pool edited by Teresa Y Neely So you want to work as an academic librarian but you’re not sure what the interview process will look like or what the search committee…
by Caitlin Moen, Head Editor , INALJ Louisiana Translating Your Resume Language Prior to and while attending grad school for my MLIS I worked for 3 ½ years at a church. This is a huge chunk of my work experience, yet, the religious nature of the position makes it a little tricky to speak to.…
by Sarah Parramore , Head Editor , INALJ Middle East / Arabian Gulf Spotlight on Libraries-Egypt What is it? The New Library of Alexandria (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) Where is it? On the Corniche in Alexandria, Egypt http://www.bibalex.org/Home/Default_EN.aspx Why should you visit? Because this library originated in around 200 BC!!! It should be like Mecca to librarians. The new…
by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska Career Sustainability Monique Valcour over at Harvard Business Review recently wrote a piece entitled Craft a Sustainable Career. This is a thought-provoking read and one that provides a great framework for analyzing the way in which you think about your career. And in terms of sustainability, we’re not…
by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island Some Thoughts as a Novice Researcher at a New Job One thing that can be hard to do once you get settled into any new job, is find avenues of research. Perhaps those fresh from college, with professors words still ringing in their ears will jump onto…
by Kiersten Bryant, Head Editor, INALJ California 5 Fun and Interesting Blogs to Follow Need to lighten up your blog reading? Here are five blogs to check out when you need a break from the job hunt, or temporary relief from work doldrums. Reel Librarians Reel Librarians was created by academic librarian Jennifer Snoek-Brown who…
by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas Prepping for the Job Interview For this blog post, I want to share some ways that I prepare for job interviews. I’m told that I prepare too much sometimes, but I just feel more comfortable the more that I prepare. The one thing I try to remember, and…
by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming INALJ Book Club I recently moved to a new town, and in doing so, left my established book club in Laramie. I’m going through book club withdrawal and have subsequently been brainstorming different book club scenarios I could create in my new town. That got me thinking about…
by Shayna Monnens, Head Editor, INALJ South Dakota Spotted the Perfect Job? So Did Your Friend – The SAME Perfect Job This is it. You are at the stage where you are looking at open positions. Your head is 100% in the game. You have scoured the job market. The market is plumb for the…
by Courtney Butler, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho Positively Pleasant While I have my share of awful, grumpy days (and I don’t think anyone would refer to me as one of those “always happy” people), I make a strong, concerted effort to always be a positive, optimistic force in the workplace. I do this for a…
by Ashley Crace, Head Editor, INALJ West Virginia What are your Weaknesses? When I practiced for job interviews, I used notecards with common interview questions, gathered from varied sources. I started doing this on recommendation from a friend and it worked well for me. I felt more prepared and articulate in the actual interview. One…
by Kristen Jaques, Head Editor, INALJ Maine What I Gained from Living and Working in a Small Town From the moment I relocated to Simmons College in Boston for library school, I took right to city life and imagined that from then on, I would always work and live in the city. When I graduated…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Sandra Hoyer, Head Editor, INALJ Washington Being Daring as a Librarian: Nadia Pazolis-Gabriel on Creating Opportunities for Oneself I had the pleasure of meeting Nadia Pazolis-Gabriel during a brief, but exciting, time volunteering with…
by Amanda May, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota Job Searching Tips for Introverts If you are an introvert, like me, you may not be the biggest fan of social interactions. If I had to choose between a large group meeting and going to the dentist, I would probably choose to go to the dentist. Nonetheless,…
by Marlena Barber, Head Editor, INALJ Tennessee References upon Request When I was in undergrad, my advisor recommended adding “References upon Request” to the end of our resumes. In between that time and graduating with my MLIS, that common practice had changed. Internship and full time positions frequently come with online applications and ask for…
by Nicole Usiondek, Head Editor, INALJ Michigan Teamwork Not too long ago I wrote a blog on the seminar I attended that focused on work style preferences. The seminar was very insightful and was followed by a second seminar on effective teamwork strategies. In every work place scenario, teamwork comes into play some way or…
by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Rejected Two months ago I tentatively dipped my toe in the job market. I applied for a job. So, now it has been two months and I haven’t heard anything from the employer. No call. No email. Nothing. Now I know I shouldn’t take it personally. In fact, several…
by Alexis Stapp, Head Editor, INALJ Minnesota Best Regional Job sites As a seasoned job hunter, you probably have some key websites you check daily for jobs, and/or subscribe to RSS feeds and are on various listservs. INALJ is one of them, obviously!, but the ALA JobList makes the cut, too, I’m sure. Perhaps the…
by Yandee Vazquez, Head Editor, INALJ Texas Picking up a new language: Helpful tools for developing a new skill As an individual applying for jobs in Texas, one of the more common preferred skills I see in job descriptions is the ability to speak at least some Spanish. Other states along the border probably ask…