{"id":85148,"date":"2014-12-02T08:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=85148"},"modified":"2019-01-01T19:19:13","modified_gmt":"2019-01-02T01:19:13","slug":"interview-with-dr-candace-aiani-library-director-at-taipei-american-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=85148","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Candace Aiani: Library Director at Taipei American School"},"content":{"rendered":"

This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee\/interviewees’ positions<\/span><\/h2>\n

by Whitney Zahar, Senior Assistant, INALJ Pennsylvania<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Interview with Dr. Candace Aiani: Library Director at Taipei American School<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>Have you ever imagined working as a librarian in another country? Several\u00a0colleagues on the INALJ blog have posted several articles about library work around\u00a0the world. I have the honor of volunteering as the archivist at Taipei American\u00a0School<\/a>, in Taipei, Taiwan. Of course, I also spent some time helping out in the Upper\u00a0School (High School) library, where I met Dr. Candace Aiani, the library director of\u00a0the Upper School Information Commons. Candace and I talked about how she got her\u00a0job at Taipei American School, what challenges she faces working and living in\u00a0another country, and advice she would give to anyone who wants to leave their\u00a0country and comfort zone, and spend some time as an international librarian.<\/p>\n

1. How did you get your current job?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through an International Schools Services<\/a> (ISS) job fair.<\/p>\n

2. What are some of the highlights of your job? What are some of the challenges?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The highlights include the ongoing learning need and opportunity, the constant\u00a0change, and the diverse work and interactions across technical, supervisory, and\u00a0educational fields. The challenges are navigating international restrictions for access\u00a0to information products, especially digital content when outside the USA.<\/p>\n

3. What do you like about working in another country? What is something you\u00a0find challenging about working in Taiwan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like the cross-cultural experience and the greater opportunity to travel given that I\u00a0am already in Asia. Taiwan is easy in terms of living in a foreign country. Learning\u00a0Mandarin is challenging, but that is not the fault of Taiwan!<\/p>\n

4. Favorite library?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My library (Taipei American School Upper School Information Commons) is my\u00a0favorite because it shows what can be made available to secondary students when\u00a0there is strong administrative support and adequate resources.<\/p>\n

5. Favorite book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hmmmm….. Siddhartha<\/em> by Hermann Hesse.<\/p>\n

6. Any blogs or technology tips we should be following?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m all over the place with these, changing every couple of months, but I am currently\u00a0plugged into more systems and IT information as well as college and university level\u00a0services since our secondary library delivers more services and resources similar to a\u00a0college or university.<\/p>\n

7. What job-hunting advice would you offer, especially to anyone who wants to\u00a0be an international librarian?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Just jump in. The water is fine!<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Having said that, I subscribed to The International Educator<\/a> (T.I.E.)\u00a0for a couple of years before leaping off. I also purchased an ISS Directory of\u00a0Overseas Schools which provides basic data on schools around the world. I\u00a0found both of these resources helpful.\"Whitney<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00b7 Start early! Complete your resume package by September, so you\u00a0can register with a recruiting organization (Search Associates<\/a>; International\u00a0Schools Association<\/a>, etc.) in early fall and participate in recruiting fairs mid-year (Jan\/Feb) for a job for the following year. Direct contact is possible too,\u00a0and some folks are using private head-hunters. Although I haven\u2019t done it\u00a0lately, I understand more hiring is being done before the fair dates, so earlier\u00a0is better than later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee\/interviewees’ positions by Whitney Zahar, Senior Assistant, INALJ Pennsylvania Interview with Dr. Candace Aiani: Library Director at Taipei American School Have you ever imagined working as a librarian in another country? Several\u00a0colleagues on the INALJ blog have…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":85152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[69,3592,6688,3654,4409,5567,4410,5343,13,6589,6458],"class_list":["post-85148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-six","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-dr-candace-aiani","tag-inalj-pennsylvania","tag-international","tag-international-jobs","tag-international-librarianship","tag-international-libraries","tag-interview","tag-whitney-zahar","tag-working-abroad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Dr.-Candace-Aiani.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-m9m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}