by R.C. Miessler, former Head Editor, INALJ Indiana previously published 8/16/13 & 9/25/14 Highly Desired: Straightforward Library Job Ads When searching for jobs, sometimes the requirements seem ridiculous. Some job listings appear to be a list of all the library buzzwords and trends over the past 10 years, which can be a bit discouraging when trying…
by R.C. Miessler, former Head Editor, INALJ Indiana republished from 12/4/13 & 11/24/14 A Thank You Post to the Rejection Phone Call It might be that my favorite season is upon us, that I’m just feeling the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, or maybe the cynic in me is getting soft, but I feel…
Bringing Humanity into Libraries by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor Libraries function as a common ground to nurture knowledge and foster community. The idea of the library being a brick and mortar storage house for books has shifted in the new digital age. What more can we do as a profession other than to provide answers…
Knowledge is power: an Ideal Library Community Center by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor Libraries often expand programming to best serve the community. Libraries have to be receptive to the needs of patrons and adapt accordingly to maintain relevancy within the community. During difficult times, such as a recession, the unemployment rate goes up causing many…
5 Resources to Produce Great Library Displays by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor I love searching through Pinterest for ideas on little known holidays and events to really boost our circulation numbers. Displays in general are a great way to introduce new ideas to your patrons. I think finding a way to creatively present an…
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 R.C. Miessler, former Head Editor, INALJ Indiana previously published 2/13/14 7 Great Sites for Academic Librarians Whether you are currently employed by an academic library or are looking for a career in one, keeping up to date on the fun, exciting, and soul-crushing world of higher education is of vital import. It’s pretty easy…
by Emma Pinault, Senior Editor, INALJ Florida, INALJ Idaho, INALJ Indiana, INALJ Iowa, INALJ Kansas, INALJ Georgia, INALJ Hawaii Connecting with potential library users A long-standing and frustrating question for libraries everywhere is how to draw in potential library users. Often, many of the people in a community who would benefit greatly from library services are…
by R.C. Miessler, former Head Editor, INALJ Indiana previously published 6/4/13 Ego Tripping at the Gates of the Library Job Hunt It’s been said a thousand ways in a myriad of contexts, but finding a library job right now is tough. This isn’t new news to any of us looking right now. What’s tough to…
by Emma Pinault, Senior Editor, INALJ Florida, INALJ Idaho, INALJ Indiana, INALJ Iowa, INALJ Kansas, INALJ Georgia, INALJ Hawaii Consider the Public Library Many of us, in college and in library school, fell in love with the academic library. It might have been a little intimidating to an undergraduate freshman, at first, but a good university…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana previously published 7/8/13 A Rejection Letter to the Rejection Letter Dear HR Departments, I regret to inform you that getting four job rejection letters last week was a bit of a downer. My applications weren’t really close to each other timewise, but I figure that since the new…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana Recovering from the Job Search I never thought I would say this, but I’m kind of sad the job search is over. Well, sad isn’t the best word, perhaps. It’s more of a void, almost a depression. Now that I’ve been offered, and accepted, a librarian job, I’m not…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana previously published 3/5/13 Applying for jobs isn’t fun Applying for jobs isn’t fun. Everyone has advice to give that supersedes what everyone else has to say about finding a job. And there’s the stress of filling out applications and waiting. And then, even worse than the “We’re Sorry”…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana Low-Cost Emerging Tech Tools for Librarians Emerging technologies are inseparable from librarianship, especially when it comes to instruction and reference in an academic library. Sometimes acquiring certain tools can be difficult due to their expense; thankfully, there are lots of free and low-cost tools that librarians can use to…
by R.C.Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana A Year in Review: my own So, 2013 wasn’t the year I was hoping it would be. A year after graduating, I didn’t score a professional library gig (although I was able to turn my volunteer work into a part time job in a library). However, I had plenty…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana Support Open Access Week (All Year ‘Round)! Open Access Week was October 21-27 this year, but it’s not too late to get involved. If you’re new to the idea of OA, there are numerous open access resources available for librarians; the Open Education Database has a two-part list of resources,…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana Celebrate Theological Libraries Month! When people ask me, “What do you want to do with your library degree?” laying out my vocational path of theological librarianship can be difficult to explain. After advising that I’m not going to be working in a church library or shelving Bibles all…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana Musings on Vocational Anxiety As I sit at the computer, the patio door open, sipping bourbon, listening to the polyglot cries of insects and animals at dusk, and trying to deal with a looming deadline and job application fatigue, I think about the future. I think about my…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana My On-campus Interview Various things running through my head on the week of an all-day, on-campus librarian interview: Is this real? While I have experience being interviewed (as well as interviewing), this will be my first full-blown on-campus interview for a job. It’s kind of nerve-wracking. I kind…
by R.C. Miessler, Head Editor, INALJ Indiana The Pope and Open Access The recent election of Pope Francis may not seem to have much to do with libraries, but in fact, it may play a major role in determining the future of open access to Vatican Library documents. But first, a bit of context. EMC…