Baby Face in the Workplace by Veronica Leigh Milliner, Senior Editor “Oh, I thought you would be older! But you have work experience, right?” This is a greeting from a coworker I was once met with on the first day of a job. As abrupt as it sounds, I would have been more taken aback…
5 tips for telecommuting (and how to find a library job that will let you do it) by Brad McNally, Senior Editor Some positions require that a person be physically on site, and librarianship is one career field that typically is seen as an in-person job choice. With new technology, however, and positions such as…
Open thank you note to past search participants by Mary-Michelle Moore, Senior Editor It takes many people in the library to successfully hire a new librarian. While the head of the search committee (and sometimes the whole committee) gets a thank you note, many people involved in the interview day do not get much recognition.…
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…
Crowdsourcing, Digital Volunteering and Science by Gabrielle Spiers, Senior Editor One of the great things about the internet is that it brings people together from all over the world and allows them to collaborate on projects. Many people have heard of the Citizen Archivist Dashboard, which is part of the National Archives. It allows people…
Not Feelin’ It: Tips for Improving Your Internship Experience by Josh Rimmer, Senior Editor We’ve all been there. When a job, an internship opportunity, or volunteer experience transpires to be something completely different than what we thought. Rather than developing negative thoughts, it’s best to turn the experience into a learning opportunity. It’s okay…
Six Tech Teaching Tips for Public Librarians by Alphild Dick, Senior Editor Before I joined the library world, I honestly didn’t spend much time thinking about technology. My father taught my brother and I how to use computers and type when we were in grade school. I have had a cell phone since I…
Rise Like a Phoenix: The Story of the Glasgow School of Art by Kate Kosturski, Volunteer Coordinator and Senior Editor, INALJ Ontario and INALJ Quebec While we in the States were settling in for the Memorial Day weekend 2014, our friends across the pond in Glasgow, Scotland, were watching one of the most historic educational buildings, a beautiful example…
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…
Prepping for ALA Annual 2015: A Job Seeker’s Perspective by Oscar Giurcovich, Senior Editor About 2 weeks before I wrote this blog post, I received an email from ALA asking me to confirm my hotel reservation for Annual in June. “Why are they sending this out so early?” I thought to myself. I then glanced…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions Interview with Marissa Lieberman about Tosho-con and Planning a Comic Con at your Library by Leigh Milligan, Senior Editor My great librarian friend Marissa Lieberman is holding an anime and comic convention at her library…
Title Awareness in the 21st Century by Lisa Iannucci, Senior Editor As a public librarian working part-time hours, I am constantly up against time constraints. Because one of my many responsibilities is collection development, it’s essential for me not only to remain current as far as what’s happening in the book industry but to stay abreast…
Tips for Boosting Your Presence in the LIS Community by Angie Solis, Senior Editor Being a part of the INALJ team means that I’m surrounded by many amazing people who rock my world every day with their knowledge and ability to be superstars in the LIS community. Seriously, it’s like I know celebrities. I find…
Addressing Diversity in the Job Search Process by Oscar Giurcovich, Senior Editor As an LIS job seeker, I come across something along the lines of the following quite frequently when looking at the requirements of a position: interest or ability to work in a multicultural environment. What does this mean? What are they looking for?…
Why Running Makes Me A Better Librarian by Alphild Dick, Senior Editor I’m not fast. I don’t wear a GPS watch. I don’t track my mileage on MapMyRun and I usually wear my old winter reading sweatshirts on cold runs rather than the high tech gear my family buys me for the holidays. But I…
Creative Ideas for Selling at Comic Cons by Leigh Milligan, Senior Editor Creativity is one of my strongest skills. I just never really knew how to use it in my everyday life. And then I met my fiancé. He’s really into old school video games and making things, I love pop culture and making things.…
5 Ways to Take Control of Your Job Search by Brad McNally, Senior Editor A job search is an extremely large undertaking. It is easy to let it get out of control and become overwhelming. Recently, a friend of mine was in a show (The Art of Acting Out) about a young man that…
I can do that! Volunteering in Library Land by Mary-Michelle Moore, Senior Editor One of the tried and true pieces of library job hunting advice is to get experience in a library – any experience. If you can’t find a job, volunteer. The problem with just going to volunteer in a library is the types…
In order to better reflect how LIS folk currently feel I am removing all interviews that are more than 1 year old. This interview may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions, so it has been harvested to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine (see link below) and removed from INALJ. All…
You Are Not an Imposter! By Lisa Iannucci, Senior Editor I recently assumed increased hours and responsibilities at one of my part-time jobs–reason to celebrate, right? But after sitting down at my desk on day one of my new schedule, I felt nothing but dread. Reading through my email and daily schedule, I immediately felt my…
The Importance of Being Blue by Stephanie Noell, Senior Editor The information professions tend to be very people-oriented. Even the technical side is focused on making information accessible to the end user. To be in such a people-focused profession (and work closely with others to reach mutual goals), we must be able to consider each…
And Now For Something Completely Different by Josh Rimmer, Senior Editor For my first blog post of the year, I decided to change things up a bit. Instead of writing the obligatory advice piece; maybe create a list of web resources or grind my gears to rehash an older topic and attempt a new…
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…
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…
5 Tips for Handling Bad News at Work by Brad McNally, Senior Editor It’s a difficult topic to deal with, but bad news does sometimes come out in the workplace. In any job, this is a possibility. Many in the library world have felt the effects of budget cuts, for example. While no one…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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 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 Stephanie Noell, Senior Editor Comics You May Have Missed in 2014 I love lists. Whether it’s in Mental Floss Magazine, the Lambda Literary Awards, or grocery lists, I enjoy reading them. While many choose to write end-of-year lists on the best comics out there, I thought it might be prudent to create a…
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 Angie Solis, Senior Editor Why I Love INALJ One year ago I began volunteering for an amazing organization – INALJ. My time at INALJ has been not only a fulfilling one, but an educational one. I never thought that I would volunteer for an organization that would allow me to help other professionals in…
By Brad McNally, Senior Editor 5 ways to de-stress during a long job search Searching for a job takes a huge amount of effort. When the job search is unexpected, or goes longer than you originally thought it would, you can definitely begin feeling the stress. Some people even feel like finding a new job…
This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions By Mary-Michelle Moore, Senior Editor Ta-Shire Tribbett… Knowledge Solutions Analyst & INALJ DC Assistant Long time INALJ DC assistant editor, Ta-Shire Tribbett recently started a new position as a Knowledge Solutions Analyst for a prestigious…
By Valarie Swayze, Senior Editor “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.” -Stephen Covey Optimizing Your Time: 8…
Marian Mays, Senior Editor, INALJ How to Survive Your MLS Distance Program: 6 Tips from a Recent Grad The transition to full-time online classes can be extremely tough, especially for new students. Online classes can make you feel isolated, require more personal diligence, and can be a time management nightmare. Plus, MLS programs don’t always offer students…