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…
Writing Resources for LIS Job Seekers and MLIS Applicants by Oscar Giurcovich, Senior Editor Error-free resumes and cover letters are paramount in the job hunt. I think this is more important than ever in our everyday world of texting and social media where acronyms and shorthand rule. Unfortunately, the spelling and grammar checkers in…
References Available Upon Request by Deeba Rehman, Senior Assistant INALJ Mississippi Have you seen that line at the end of a resume “References available upon request”? There are a lot of negative implications with that line – you are trying to fill up space to make up for lack of experience, you didn’t take time…
Ask and (Hopefully) You Shall Receive: Advocating for Yourself at Work by Alphild Dick, Senior Editor Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are our careers. Both in the cases of empires and professional credibility, you often have to construct from the ground up. That means that no matter how insightful, innovative, or just…
by Ruth Kitchin Tillman previously published 2/11/14 Fixing What’s Broken: the Importance of Feedback As I bid farewell to library school, I’ve been reflecting on aspects of my experience which were sub-optimal and what might be done to fix them. While the plural of anecdote isn’t data, I was able to glean certain similarities, through…
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 –…
by Rebecca Tischler previously published 3/20/14 The 8 Best Reader’s Advisory Websites As librarians, we’re supposed to be familiar with all of the books so that we can make recommendations, share new books and introduce our patrons to all these new and spectacular stories. The only problem with that is that there is no time to read…
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…
Library Makerspaces: libraries are places to learn and create by Erin Kinney, Senior Assistant, INALJ Wyoming Makerspaces, also known as hackerspaces, hackspaces, or fablabs, are DIY creative spaces where people gather to invent, create, and learn. As David Lankes said “imagine libraries are places to learn and create, not consume and check out.” Library makerspaces have been…
Life as a Librarian aboard the Training Ship ‘Empire State VI’ By Laurel Angrist If you’ve ever felt like putting your MLS degree to good use towards an unusual opportunity, now may be your chance. State University of New York’s Maritime College is now accepting applicants for the position of Ship’s Librarian, a unique chance to…
by Sean O’Brien, former Head Editor, INALJ Colorado previously published 3/20/13 & 3/25/14 6 Tips to Beef Up Your Resumé So, you’ve beefed up your work history, found a great resource for job listings, and now you’re itching to get out there and start applying for jobs. However, sending out applications can be one of…
My #PositiveVibes Campaign By Leigh Milligan, Senior Editor Why #PositiveVibes? This all started during an #INALJchat on positivity on the job search. My good buddy Claire Schmieder then fellow senior editor now volunteer coordinator, tweeted at me during the chat #PositiveVibes. I got a really good feeling from that, and then it hit me, why…
5 Songs to Get You Moving By Naomi Gonzales, Senior Assistant, INALJ Virginia Okay, admit it. Even though you LOVE what you do, there are some days you just can’t get yourself out of bed or in the right mindset for the job. Sometimes you wake up and the will to work just isn’t there. So…
Librarians and Mass Media – Where are the Role Models? By Lisa Iannucci, Senior Editor I would like to think that we librarians lead fairly interesting lives. But apparently the powers that be in the entertainment industry seem to think we are capable of much more. A recent keyword search of the estimable Imdb.com yielded…
By Sarah Morrison, Senior Assistant, INALJ Alberta and INALJ Manitoba Show Our Value When I first started at library school, I really didn’t know if my previous experiences would be useful – how relevant will a Master’s degree in a bunch of dead languages and a 3 year stint in retail management (albeit in a…
by Oscar Giurcovich, Senior Editor How I Survived Library School For my first blog post, I thought I’d talk about something that has recently happened in my life: finishing library school. Before I continue, let’s set the scene: I live in a state that does not have a MLIS-type program, so I had to…
by Gabrielle Spiers, Senior Editor Large Job Boards and Recruitment Agencies: Some Thoughts When searching for jobs I have always looked for jobs and applied for them. I know that some industries have headhunters and I have certainly used temp agencies in my pre-library life for temporary work mostly in the non-profit world . In…
by Natalie Browning, Senior Assistant, INALJ DC Innovations in Information Literacy Instruction I graduated with my MLS in August 2014, and have been filling out job applications (mostly academic librarian positions) ever since. Most of the positions I have applied to have an instruction aspect. A recent application I submitted required that I write…
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 Clare Sobotka, former Head Editor, now Senior Assistant previously published 2/25/14 Know Your Job Search Organizational Style There is a lot to keep track of when applying for jobs, such as due dates and application materials, so it’s important to develop a system of organization that works for you. Several INALJ editors have shared their excellent…
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 Alphild Dick, Senior Editor Please Remain Seated: 5 Tips for Dealing With Coworker Turbulence When we train to be librarians, we talk a lot about how to work with patrons. Libraries are people places, and it’s easy to get jazzed up about a career spent helping people. However, libraries are people places beyond patrons;…
by Emily Woodcock, Senior Assistant, INALJ Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island 8 must haves for going to a Library Conference In the near future, I am going to be attending my first library conference. I am going to the OLA Super Conference in Toronto, Ontario at the end of this month. I haven’t been to…