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…
Tag Archive for article
Articles
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,…
Articles
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,…
Articles
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…
Articles
Job Search Taking Longer than Expected? Volunteer To Gain Experience!
by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas Job Search Taking Longer than Expected? Volunteer To Gain Experience! When I got done with library school almost 2 years ago, I wanted a library job, but I put off really focusing on the job search. I had a job throughout school that would continue to support me…
Articles
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…
Articles
Skills in Need: Why coding and technical skills can benefit your job hunt
by Alexis Rohlfing, Head Editor, INALJ New Hampshire Skills in Need: Why coding and technical skills can benefit your job hunt When you’re looking for a library or information professional job, whether you’re new to the field or just changing directions, you’ll find you need something to make you stand out. In the rapidly changing…
Articles
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…
Articles
So you need to write a cover letter…
by Lauren Arnsman, Head Editor, INALJ Puerto Rico So you need to write a cover letter… One of the most frustrating aspects of job hunting, for me, is writing the cover letter. When I first started job hunting about six months before my graduation date, cover letters were no big thang. Cut to over 100…
Articles
Let’s really get LinkedIn
by Africa Hands, Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky Let’s really get LinkedIn If you’re like many people, you received an invitation to join LinkedIn years ago when it first launched and just ignored the invite. Then you received another invitation a couple months or years later, and thought, “What the heck, I’ll join.” So you “joined”…
Articles
Tips for Court Library Job Seekers
by Genise Gorman, Head Editor, INALJ Arkansas Tips for Court Library Job Seekers This was a very interesting as well as informative publication put out by the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). It offers various tips for those seeking jobs as Court Librarians. Many of the tips given here are valuable for other areas…
Articles
Perspectives on Internships and Volunteering from a Sole-Staffer
by Rebecca Crago, Head Editor, INALJ Virginia Perspectives on Internships and Volunteering from a Sole-Staffer I am scheduled to speak at MARAC (Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference) coming up in Erie, PA (my hometown!) on April 25-27, regarding volunteer efficacy from the standpoint of a small institution. And boy, as a solo-librarian and archivist who manages…
Articles
Getting Organized for your Job Search
by Amanda May, Head Editor, INALJ North Dakota Getting Organized for your Job Search When I was searching for my current work position, I remember feeling overwhelmed. I had applied for quite a few positions, so it was really hard to keep track of everything. I felt like I was drowning in paperwork! I knew…
Articles
Continuing Education: It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it helps
by Yandee Vazquez, Head Editor, INALJ Texas Continuing Education: It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it helps I clearly remember one of the many job rejections I received because of the fact that they were kind enough to let me know. The librarian was extremely nice and, since I’d actually gotten someone on the…
Interviews
Jen Cwiok …AMNH Digital Projects Manager
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Melanie Masserant, Head Editor, INALJ NYC Jen Cwiok …AMNH Digital Projects Manager Melanie: Can you tell us about your current job and how you found it? Jen: I am currently the Digital Projects Manager…
Articles
Things That Make Me Smile in Public Libraries
by Renee Holden, Head Editor, INALJ Nebraska Things That Make Me Smile in Public Libraries I have read so many articles and have heard so many stories about the declining budgets and difficult times of public libraries. I have heard from so many people that question the need for public libraries since everything can be…
Articles
Location, Location, Location
by Tiffany Newton, Head Editor, INALJ Missouri Location, Location, Location Do you like horseback riding on thousand-acre ranches? Do you like living in the city so every night can be filled with different events, or do you like sitting on your front porch at night listening to the crickets? Do you like the beach? What…
Articles
Keep your head up
by Nena Schvaneveldt, Head Editor, INALJ Utah Keep your head up Easier said than done, right? This job market is terrible. I know I went to library school at a time when a local library was holding open recruitment for librarians and you needed only three-quarters of your Master’s done to apply. Now those postings…
Articles
On Being Versatile
by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming On Being Versatile As information professionals, we often engage in conversations justifying our existence or questioning if we have a future in a world with Google. On both sides of the argument, we discuss our versatility. After all, information is everywhere. Being versatile professionals, there are exciting new…
Articles
Alaska Resources Library & Information Services (ARLIS)
by Ryan Nitz, Head Editor, INALJ Alaska Alaska Resources Library & Information Services (ARLIS) Hi there. My name is Ryan and I’m the INALJ Head Editor for Alaska. As you may know if you’ve checked out the INALJ Alaska page, I am a Library Administrator for the Bureau of Land Management in Anchorage. In this…
Interviews
Mary Kuipers …Adult Services Librarian
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Sara Dixon, Head Editor, INALJ Kansas An Interview with Mary Kuipers …Adult Services Librarian Mary is the kind of librarian I want to be: helpful, always cheerful, and in love with her job. She…
Interviews
Peter Szabo …Music Librarian
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Dawn Thompson, Head Editor, INALJ Ohio Peter Szabo …Music Librarian Dawn: How did you find your job at the Music Librarian at Ohio Wesleyan University? Peter: The Music Library Association’s web site (http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/). They have…
Articles
LinkedUp to LinkedIn
by Amanda Marie Yetter, Head Editor, INALJ Maryland LinkedUp to LinkedIn Welcome to 2013 where networking is important, but you have to break down the hidden wall of the Internet to get a job interview, deal with Web crawlers before you can be hired, and have to use keywords in context (KWIC) to have your…
Articles
Why You Should Attend Conferences
by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Oklahoma Why You Should Attend Conferences As a job searcher and library student, one of the most valuable resources I’ve managed to gain and utilize is conferences. While they can be overwhelming, I think they have helped build my confidence in my job skills and have taught me the…
Articles
New Mexico State Librarian Certification
by Mychal Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico New Mexico State Librarian Certification updated 6/25/13 18-2-8 Certification of librarians. The state librarian is hereby authorized to issue certificates to librarians. He shall have authority to prescribe and hold examinations, or require submission of credentials to establish the qualifications of those seeking certificates as librarians, and…
Articles
How I Organize My Job Search
by Marlena Barber, Head Editor, INALJ Tennessee How I Organize My Job Search As a new graduate, I have been applying for fellowships and academic positions. These positions go through what can be a long review process with the institutions’ hiring committees. An interview can come at any time, whether sooner or later, so I…
Articles
Phasing Out Formats
by Courtney Butler, Head Editor, INALJ Idaho Phasing Out Formats For my first entry I’d like to talk about books. In particular, I’d like to talk about the idea that printed materials are becoming outdated and should be phased out in the face of burgeoning technology. I’ll start out by saying that e-books and all…
Articles
5 Ways to Get Library Job Experience (When You Don’t Have a Library Job)
by Sean O’Brien, Head Editor, INALJ Colorado 5 Ways to Get Library Job Experience (When You Don’t Have a Library Job) So, you want to be a librarian! You’re acing all of your classes, networking with your classmates and professors, and browsing job listings in order to get a feel for what’s out there. You’re…
Articles
How to Embrace Being an Emerging Professional
by Claire Schmieder, Head Editor, INALJ New Jersey How to Embrace Being an Emerging Professional So, you’ve got that brand-new degree. Hooray! Except…how are you going to use it? I know, because I am one, that being an emerging professional can be just a little scary and frustrating. That old catch-22 kicks in: you can’t…
Articles
New York, the state
by Pam Ameigh, former Head Editor, INALJ New York State New York, the state Several weeks has flown by! I’m delighted that Naomi shared the opportunity with me to be a state page editor, and I’m thankful to all the volunteers and visitors helping me improve every day. New York is a pretty…
Articles
Work Style Preferences
by Nicole Usiondek, Head Editor, INALJ Michigan Work Style Preferences I recently attended a seminar that focused on work style preferences. This was the first session of a leadership series. The premise of the seminar was to teach leadership skills by being able to identify the different work style preferences people have and how to…
Articles
Learn From My Mistakes
by Diana La Femina, Head Editor, INALJ South Carolina Learn From My Mistakes I figured this first blog post was a good time to introduce myself and my employment journey so far. I realized, however, that a lot of what I had to say was cautionary, so I’ve decided to tell you about myself while…
Articles
HR and Honesty
by Sarah Porter, Head Editor, INALJ California HR and Honesty I just finished listening to the irreverently funny chapter about working in Human Resources in the audiobook “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” by the Bloggess, Jenny Lawson. While I do not share the same sort of interesting stories that Jenny gathered from working over a…
Interviews
Meet Tiwanna Nevels: INALJ Alabama Assistant Editor
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 Tiwanna Nevels: INALJ Alabama Assistant Editor and Acquisitions, Collections & Assessment Manager at the Levi Watkins Learning Center at Alabama State University Searching for jobs is an…
Articles
Looking for Jobs On the Go
by Matthew Tansek, Head Editor, INALJ Rhode Island Looking for Jobs On the Go For this blog post I thought that it would be helpful to get to know a few job seeker applications for your smartphone. I took a look at four that I had not heard of, and I purposefully avoided apps that…
Articles
Shift Happens
by Christina Wilson, Head Editor, INALJ Alberta Shift Happens Recently I attended a student-run conference at the School of Library Science (SLIS), University of Alberta (Friday, February 8th), motivated by the opportunity to re-connect with colleagues and network for my next job, given that I’ve just re-located to the community. It was useful to meet…
Articles
Soft Skills = Success
by Julie Watson, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania Soft Skills = Success This is the first of a series of articles on soft skills. Part One: What are Soft Skills? To land a job, you need a solid knowledge base in your area of expertise, but that’s not all. Employers are also looking for soft skills.…
Articles
Keeping Current: Resource Description and Access (RDA) Cataloging
by Adrith Bedore Bicchieri, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada Keeping Current: Resource Description and Access (RDA) Cataloging If you’ve been out of library school awhile, you may or may not be thinking about how far out of date the concepts and coursework you worked so hard on have become in the intervening months. Many things may…
Articles
Why Lifelong Learning is Important
by Aingeal Stone, Head Editor, INALJ Northwest Territories Why Lifelong Learning is Important We all have different reasons for pursuing, or not pursuing, continuing education in our fields. In my post today I want to tell you about my personal educational journey and I have a few relevant links in support of personal development to…
Articles
Follow-up Emails for Novice Networkers
by Veda Darby Soberman, Head Editor, INALJ Hawaii Follow-up Emails for Novice Networkers So, you have submitted a number of resumes to potential employees, and now you just need to sit back and wait for the phone calls to begin pouring in, right? Yes…no…maybe? What do you do once your resume is submitted? Is a…