Ask a Special Librarian – March Edition Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Spring cleaning time is almost upon us. It’s a good way to clear out some cobwebs, air some things out and just prepare for a new season of your life. Yes, I’m…
by Courtney Baron, former Head Editor, INALJ Georgia previously published 3/18/14 10 Ways Waking up Earlier Will Help You Become a Successful LIS Professional Time management is a geeky interest of mine. I love reading books and articles on the subject and I’m inspired by the way successful people fit it all in simply by…
Librarian in a Box! by Kate Kosturski, Volunteer Coordinator and Senior Editor, INALJ Ontario and INALJ Quebec Today, you can just about get anything in a subscription box, delivered to your door on set intervals – from makeup (Birchbox) to clothes (Stitch Fix) to intimates (Wantable – and yes you read that right, there is a subscription box for…
What to do when you are #ALAleftbehind by Leigh Milligan, Senior Editor Unfortunately, I rarely get to go to ALA conferences, unless it’s local in or near Philadelphia. I currently don’t work in a library so my employer will not pay for it and I have yet to receive funding from different conference sponsorship…
Speed Mentoring: Why all the Rush? by Kate Kosturski, Senior Editor and Volunteer Coordinator The 2015 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting was quite an adventure – and this is outside of travel woes leaving Chicago, the Super Bowl, and the inevitable post-conference crud. One adventure I participated in for the second time of late was…
Why do you want to be a librarian? by Cassidy Charles, Senior Assistant, INALJ NYC The question comes up in graduate school orientation, conference happy hours, professional development workshops, and job interviews: Why do you want to be a librarian? The answer can be as simple or complex as you want to make it.…
Ask a Special Librarian Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Lucky for you, the special librarian saw a shadow and now we have at least six more weeks of the “Ask a Special Librarian” column! I was thrilled to see the great response from my inaugural installment of…
6 Career Journaling Techniques: Get Started Today! by Valarie Swayze, Senior Editor Have you ever kept a travel diary, fitness log, or a personal journal? Each helps us reflect on activities and can serve as a source of motivation in the future. A career journal is simply a record of your professional experiences kept on…
by Kate Kosturski previously published 1/31/14 Don’t Get Chopped in Your Job Search My partner and I are big fans of the Food Network show Chopped. If you’re not familiar with the program, it is a cooking competition featuring four chefs who have to prepare three meals (appetizer, entree, and dessert) with mystery ingredients –…
8 tips to pay your way to ALA by Angie Solis, Senior Editor Each year librarians all across the world are invited to attend ALA’s Annual and Mid-Winter Conferences. But at $255.00 (super early bird special) for the ALA Annual Conference plus hotel and airfare we’re looking at a nice chunk of change to…
A great beginning to 2015! What a great month! Another year, and getting better! Why? Because in 2015 INALJ has a fantastic new Leadership Team, lead by Rachael Altman and Jennifer Devine, with Kate Kosturski, Ashley Mancill, Claire Schmieder and Stephanie Sendaula! Here are the top 25 INALJ articles and top 10 interviews in 2014!…
by Naomi House, MLIS Top 25 INALJ Articles of 2014 We are very lucky at INALJ to have some amazing bloggers and guest bloggers. In 2014 these were the most widely read articles/blog posts. At the very end of this posting you will find the top 125 blog posts for 2014 along with their page…
Rima Makari-Saliba, former Head Editor, INALJ Saskatchewan previously published 2/18/14 Lifelong Learning within our Fast Paced Lives Every day is a learning experience. We wake up and get ready to tackle the day’s events. What we choose to do with our day is solely our choice and the requirements that encompass our daily lives. We…
by Tracy Wasserman, Senior Assistant, INALJ Florida Working With Your Friends Libraries have Friends. Very valuable Friends – in the form of Friends groups, run by volunteers who spend many hours raising money to support library programming, and booking and coordinating events that draw people to their libraries. They run library book clubs, contract and…
by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor New Year of Professional Development: 7 Great Sites to Use Each year we have new opportunities to improve and grow as information professionals. Free resources to engage and further our knowledge skillsets are available in several different online formats. There are some set to the standard classroom and module…
by Amy Steinbauer, Senior Assistant, INALJ California One Year Done: Lessons from my first year of work! By the time this is published, I will have my first year of professional library experience under my belt! It has been a really crazy and mixed up year. My personal life has been full of grief and…
by Holly Boyer, former INALJ Senior Editor Your Unofficial Guide to Socializing at ALA Midwinter Meeting 2015 Going to Chicago later this month? Great! I bet you’ve got a pretty good idea which sessions you’ll be attending. You’re going to learn so much and bring all that Midwinter energy and enthusiasm back to work with you.…
By Kate Kosturski, MLSIS, Canada and International INALJ Volunteer Coordinator Fun for all that librarians call their favorite time of year! (Now you have the song from A Charlie Brown Christmas stuck in your head. Sorry about that. Okay, maybe not ) Much like the Golden Globes kick off the film awards season, January…
by Caitlin Moen, former Head Editor, INALJ Louisiana previously published 2/13/14 Is Honesty Really the Best Policy in Interviews? I’ve been thinking a lot about HOW honest to be in a job interview or in a conversation with someone who is a possible contact for an opportunity. This came up recently for me as I…
by Aimee Graham, former Head Editor, INALJ New York State previously published 3/24/14 Debunking 10 Librarian Misconceptions Whether I have physically been in a library, running errands, talking to family and friends, or during social events I have been presented with a similar series of questions when I inform others that I am a librarian.…
by Alexis Rohlfing, former Head Editor, INALJ New Hampshire previously published 2/19/14 Making Peace with the 24 hour day – taking the good, the bad, and the haggis I don’t know about you, but from time to time, I find myself suddenly faced with a time deficit. The 24 hours a day that used to do…
by Kristen Jaques, former Head Editor, INALJ Maine previously published 1/16/14 The Art of Finding Room to Grow in Your Current Job While those of us who currently have jobs in or related to our field are fortunate, many underemployed librarians and information professionals will tell you that this can be a mixed blessing. Harsh…
by Scottie Kapel, former head editor, INALJ Oregon previously published 1/24/14 New Year’s Resolutions in the Library I typically forgo making New Year’s Resolutions simply because I don’t want to set myself up for failure. However, now that I’m finally in my career and have a few months in the job under my belt, I…
by Paula Pergament, Volunteer for ALA’s NMRT Resume Review Committee Resume Review Service We hear this job-seeking advice all the time: it’s important to make the most of professional conferences by networking, and to have your resume and cover letter reviewed by an experienced professional in your field. However, finding the right professional to look over your resume…
by Cassidy Charles, Senior Assistant, INALJ NYC Associating with State and Regional Associations Last Spring, Mary-Michelle Moore wrote a series about Professional Organizations. She highlighted the different division in ALA, diverse professional LIS associations, and additional professional LIS associations. When looking down the long list of professional organizations to connect with you may want to consider reaching out…