{"id":74689,"date":"2014-06-16T07:30:31","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T12:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=74689"},"modified":"2014-06-16T15:07:46","modified_gmt":"2014-06-16T20:07:46","slug":"part-2-closing-the-digital-educational-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=74689","title":{"rendered":"Closing the Digital Educational Divide"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Josh Rimmer, Head Editor, INALJ West Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Closing the Digital Educational Divide
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"JoshRimmer_INALJWV\"<\/a>Whether your degree is obtained through online schooling, or acquired the traditional route in person\u00a0is irrelevant in the end after you graduate \u2013academic pitchforks up. What matters is being active in\u00a0the professional librarian conversation.<\/strong> What do I mean by being active? Local conferences, national\u00a0meetings, webinars, discussion boards, maybe continuing education classes sponsored by ALA, or a\u00a0professional development website like Library Juice Academy<\/a>-free pens for a plug? If you are still looking\u00a0on the job market, the absolute worst possible thing to do would be to remain sedentary. Einstein\u00a0defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Still have yet\u00a0to hear back about an employment opportunity after four months? Unless it is a civil service librarian\u00a0post, it may be time to move one.<\/p>\n

As someone who is still currently searching, it definitively stinks waiting for an opportunity for starters,\u00a0I like; secondly, an opportunity that can match my skillset. Sorry folks, I have no desire to perform\u00a0reference work and teach information literacy courses while students look at food porn on instagram\u00a0#yum Just kidding, everyone knows instagram is the about the selfies.<\/p>\n

However, to be serious, even when things are bleak; you are out of school, not currently volunteering\u00a0or working in a library. Resources on the internet still provide a viable opportunity to remain engaged\u00a0with trends, professional skills, and current events within the profession. Better to do something than\u00a0nothing at all, right?<\/p>\n

For those of us looking to get your foot in the door \u2013raises hand-, there are a plethora of resources\u00a0available online to build upon your skillset. At this point in time, adding new skills to differentiate your\u00a0resume from other candidates, can be one of the easiest tasks you can do to improve your chances. This\u00a0was suggested to me in a rejection letter \u2013finally, a meaningful rejection letter. For example, I made it\u00a0a goal of mine over the fall to build my Technical Services skills. Where did I turn to read\/learn more\u00a0about metadata for cataloging? Coursera<\/a>! How can I freshen up on collection development, to make sure\u00a0I am able to recall the basics?<\/p>\n