by Rebecca Crago, Head Editor, INALJ Virginia How to Deliver Great Customer Service: Lessons from an ALA Webinar As a newbie to public libraries, I was thrilled to participate in an ALA sponsored webinar on delivering great customer service a few weeks ago. While the session wasn’t taught by a librarian, the overall points discussed,…
Sarah Parramore, Head Editor, INALJ Middle East/Arabian Gulf Spotlight on Libraries-Thailand What is it? The Neilson Hays Library and Galleries www.neilsonhayslibrary.com Where is it? 195 Surawong Road, Bangkok, Thailand Why should you visit? This library houses one of the largest collection of English language materials in Thailand and features local artists in their domed…
by Kate Kosturski, Head Editor, INALJ New York State New Librarianship Master Class: What IS a Librarian? What is a Library? This month, I am participating in the Syracuse University iSchool’s New Librarianship Master Class. I’m just finishing up the first week of classes, which will set the precedent for the rest of the course.…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama Meet Suzy Szasz Palmer, Dean of Greenwood Library at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia I had the pleasure of meeting Suzy at the JobList Placement Center at ALA…
by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri Why I became a librarian My interest in libraries started when I was very young. Some of my first memories are about me reading books (or at least looking at the pictures) at my local library. I still remember my library card number. We didn’t have actual cards,…
by Lisa Huntsha, Head Editor, INALJ Sweden Being an Advocate for the Profession Almost every time I meet a new person and they ask what I do for a living, I am met with the same confused face when I answer: “I’m an archivist.” Then there is a brief moment of awkward silence when I realize…
by Renee Holden, Head Editor, INALJ Nebraska Dystopian Future: YA Book Recommendations I have had a lot of teens come to the reference desk recently saying that they want to read something similar to the Hunger Games. When I ask them what they liked about the book they always say that they would love to…
by Duda Trickovic, Head Editor, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick Portable apps Portable Applications (http://portableapps.com/) is free app that lets you carry your favorite applications with you on an USB drive or Cloud drive, and use on any computer. For example, with the portable Firefox browser, you have all your settings and bookmarks with…
by Brad McNally, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio Defining Success There is something funny about the word successful – it is completely subjective. It is something everyone wants in life, but getting there is a source of a lot of frustration for many people. For some people, success is about having the most physical things: a…
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey Adjusting the Sails: Managing Temporary Disruptions in My Job Search I have two elementary-aged sons, who, until a few weeks ago, were busy all day at school. Now, they are home for summer. Yikes! I was able to stay at home with them (for the most part)…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions Venus Bradley…Patient Resource Center Manager by Leigh Milligan, Head Editor, INALJ Wisconsin For the last year, I have been working with Venus as Lead Library Assistant in the Patient Resource Center at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital…
by Africa Hands, Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky Tips on Open Access Writing & Publishing Last month, I wrote about the 4 P’s of writing and publishing as described by Beth Evans during a NMRT webinar. For this month’s post, I continue the conversation this time looking at Maura Smale’s discussion open access publishing. Maura Smale,…
Jennifer Crutchfield, Head Editor, INALJ Connecticut My Top 5 historical places to visit in Hartford, CT It’s the time of year when many families are looking for exciting and educational places to visit. Because of this, I wanted to explore my top five places I love to visit in Hartford. The Connecticut Historical Society is…
by Caitlin Moen, Head Editor, INALJ Louisiana Know a Good Thing I’ve wanted to be a librarian for a long time. I’ve wanted to work in an academic library for a long time as well. I’m open to different duties and roles, but constrained by location because of my family. I had a position that…
by Caitlin Bailey, MLIS Rare books; not just for dusty people I started out trying to write a post about why I like rare books. Then I realized it was just as long-winded and wordy as the rare book blogs that I dislike and go out of my way not to imitate on my own…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Dawn Thompson, former Head Editor, INALJ Ohio Sheila Campbell, Columbus Zoo Librarian 1. How did you find your job as the librarian at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium? Oddly enough, in the want ads…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Lauren Bourdages, Head Editor, INALJ Ontario Talking about Technicians – with Michael David Reansbury I got in touch with Michael David Reansbury, the current President of the Ontario Association of Library Technicians (OALT/ABO) and…
by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina Keeping Track of Your Accomplishments I’m learning a lot in my current administrative position, and not necessarily what I thought I’d be learning. It’s exhausting (I’m either traveling to or at work 14 hours out of the day) and I find the position really uncomfortable, but…
Dillon Wackerman, Assistant Editor, INALJ Illinois 4 ways to answer, do you have any questions for us? In any interview format – phone, video chat or in-person – the interviewers will eventually (or hopefully) ask the interviewee: do you have any questions for us? For the interviewee, asking relevant and pertinent questions can show not…
by Sean O’Brien, Head Editor, INALJ Colorado 5 Reasons Why I’m Starting the Job Hunt Early This week is kind of an exciting time for me. Why? Because I’m finishing up the last of my summer classes, which means that I only have a single semester left before I finish grad school. But, with excitement…
by Brad McNally, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio Being Prepared: Building a Better Application Portfolio “Be Prepared” – it is the motto of the scouts and no doubt you have heard it countless times throughout your life. For any job related situation, from application submission to interview and job offer, it is better to have more…
by Elena Bubelich, Head Editor, INALJ Quebec Resuming Free Online Tools for Job Searches In my previous blog postings, I’ve presented some free tools for searching for jobs, so in this article I would like to resume this theme and to tell a little bit about other tools. So, 1. One of the most usual…
by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri Knowing is Power: How I organize my job search As of June 23, 2013, I have applied for over 70 jobs and have had 15 interviews. How do I know all this? I keep a record of it. When I first started searching for jobs, I asked some…
by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas Location, Location, Relocation? My Journey. Sometime last year, I read a short article about relocating to a city in order to find a job in a specific area. I remember thinking this was kind of backwards. Job first, relocation second. I had always planned on relocating when I…
Reflections on Library Journal’s Lead the Change by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama “Librarians are human change agents. Their product is a child who learns, a young person grown into a self-respecting adult; a changed human life altogether.” –Peter Drucker Last month I attended Library Journal’s Lead the Change Leadership Event Series at Alabama…
by Courtney Baron, Head Editor, INALJ Georgia My Library Bucket List: Summer Edition I’m in my second semester of library school now and still do not have a library job (nor am I planning on looking for one just yet). I try to stay connected to the field through INALJ and my collection development internship,…
by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island Advice on Finding Career Advice Right now as you are reading this there are thousands of articles, books and blogs out there waiting to provide you with all of the career advice you would ever need. Unfortunately just sticking a couple of words into the google search…
by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska Soon-to-be grads: have you considered an internship? One of the most frustrating aspects of being a recent graduate in any field is the how-do-I-get-a-job-without-experience-but-how-do-I-get-experience-without-a-job conundrum. Well, if you’re still in your LIS program (not that it’s impossible to do an internship outside of school, but it’s harder and…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Oklahoma Ingrid Abrams …Creator of Libraries Changed My Life and the Magpie Librarian Recently, I discussed library advocacy and what we as librarians can do about it. A lot…
by Alexis Stapp, Head Editor, INALJ Minnesota What (not) to do while job hunting Here is my tongue-in-cheek guide to what you should do while job hunting: Take longer than a week to complete a single job application. Complain endlessly – especially to library school friends who are in the same boat. Be super disorganized…
by Marlena Barber, Head Editor, INALJ Tennessee Sharing My (Jobs) Sources I go to many websites to locate open positions to share with Tennessee job hunters. I would like to share a few of my favorite local and national resources here for you. Each is also linked on the INALJ-TN page. 1. ATLA American Theological…
by Mary-Michelle Moore, Head Editor, INALJ Vermont 10 Takeaways from #SLA2013 With more than 200 programs and 2,800 attendees the Special Libraries Association recently finished up their annual conference. The 2013 conference occurred in San Diego, CA and included an unofficial INALJ meet up! If you are not yet involved in SLA, please consider it…
by Nena Schvaneveldt, Head Editor, INALJ Utah Believe (that you will get a library job) I had a rough start to my professional life. I was quickly laid off my first job out of college and was fired from my first librarian job. In hindsight, I can see that I wasn’t quite ready to handle…
Jill Olsen, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada There are no jobs, there are needs to be filled! Recently I attended a workshop facilitated by an Executive Recruiter. One thing he said really struck me and changed how I approach every aspect of my job search. It’s really simple but powerful. “There are no jobs, there are…
by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming What I Should Have Learned in Library School Like me, my sister is a librarian. Unlike me, she’s gainfully employed (minor detail), and so I like to live my librarian life vicariously through her. She was recently telling me that her boss wanted to put something together entitled,…
by Gabrielle Spiers, Head Editor, INALJ Montana Dealing with Rejection Let’s face it: rejection sucks. Rejection for your carefully composed cover letter and tailored resume stings but it hurts even more when it is after an interview. It makes it feel more personal somehow. Since I have dealt with a few job rejections in my…
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey The Cover Letter, Demystified I must confess that, not all that long ago, I did not enjoy writing cover letters. Or, more precisely, I did not enjoy writing about myself. My lackluster self-selling skills made the cover letter writing process excruciating. I’d hem and haw, do Internet…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Meet Aimee Graham – INALJ Florida Assistant Editor Aimee Graham is the fabulous Assistant Editor of INALJ Florida. Her dedication and commitment have helped make the INALJ Florida…
by Sarah Porter, Head Editor, INALJ California Failing to Succeed It’s easy to feel like a failure when entering or attempting to enter the LIS field. When applying for jobs, it’s not uncommon to be rejected by job after job. Even when you land a job it’s likely that you will fumble in the beginning.…
by Africa Hands, Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky 4 Ps of writing and publishing Many librarians use blogging as a means to express opinions and ideas about library programs and services. We blog about books, we blog about our angst with library systems, we blog about our wardrobe, we blog library and information trends. While blogging…