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The institution (“Brick & Mortar” as well as”Click & Mortar”), the practitioners (i.e. “Librarians”) and the profession of Library & Information Science (the commitment to the organization and retrieval of information, including the responsible safeguard of materials as well as the fair dissemination of it)

Careers for Info Utopia: The optimism of a new semester | Blatant Berry

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By on October 14, 2014 1 Comment

BerryWebB Careers for Info Utopia: The optimism of a new semester | Blatant BerryThe beginning of each semester always rejuvenates me. There is nothing more stimulating than those first few sessions with a class of expectant students, arriving with their high energy, curiosity, and desire to participate and impress. My new class at Pratt Institute’s SILS came to New York from all over America and the world. The students range in age from their 20s to their 60s, which has so often been typical of my LIS classes. It is a great privilege and honor to work with them to try to answer the accursed questions that continue to plague our profession.

In prior years I have worried for these new librarians about the shortage of jobs in our field, the low salaries, and the uncertainty in the outlook for libraries of all types.

This year, however, I feel much more positive about the opportunities available to these new information professionals and more optimistic about the potential for the future and the careers that they will find. I have no doubt now that they will move us nearer to the resolution of the many challenges we face. Read more…

 

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3 Reasons You Should Think Like A ‘Business-Of-One’ | CAREEREALISM

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3 Reasons You Should Think Like A ‘Business-Of-One’ | CAREEREALISM.

3 Reasons Why You Should Think Like A ‘Business-Of-One’

October 1, 2014 by 

Despite the doom and gloom of the current job market, you’ll find that a revolution is forming that’s quickly changing the world of work as we know it. Many Millennials have jumped ship in favor of being their own boss, while older generations are learning to build side businesses in tandem with their day jobs.

What do they know that most of us don’t? The economy has changed and we’re no longer handed a job upon graduating college. In fact, a college degree doesn’t do much to set you apart now, and you’re lucky if you can get a job at all. In 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released an alarming stat; the average American worker stays at a job less than four and a half years.

This is why being the CEO of yourself is so important now. You are responsible for creating your own job title and carving out a successful career. We can no longer rely on having a secure job for the next 40 years and applying for Social Security during retirement at age 70. Both of these ideals are completely dead.

Read more at http://www.careerealism.com/business-of-one-reasons/#krPGfjDKIKDA3UCV.99

Why do people who love libraries love libraries? by The Ubiquitous Librarian

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September 19, 2014, 2:15 pm

By Brian Mathews

Why do people who love libraries love libraries? This has been on my mind a lot lately. Whenever I find a patron who is passionate about their library I try to decode those tangible and intangible qualities that made the experience so powerful for them.

Our library’s feedback form a great source of insight. Each semester we have a handful of students point out customer service problems, confusing policies, or facilities issues. They are telling us these things because they care and want us to improve. We address matters when we can. For example, one student suggested a new software configuration in our scale-up classroom that we enacted and it greatly improved usability.

This week I had a student share an opinion about our bathrooms. She was frustrated because while we are renovating some parts of our library we are not upgrading the restrooms. Our original building is from the 1950’s so it is definitely long overdue for some infrastructure enhancements. I checked the maintenance logs and from January 2014 to July 2014 we had 224 items reported: 104 of those were related to leaks or clogs. There is only so much you can do about plumbing; it’s an issue that I think about daily.

Yet despite the facilities the building is as busy as ever. Like many academic libraries we often cannot accommodate the demand. This brings me back to the student and the bathrooms. During our correspondence I wondered why is she here? There are so many other places on campus: why the library? So I asked. This part of her response was very powerful:

 The other thing about the library:  There’s a group of regular library people who are always here. I’ve made some really wonderful friendships in the library. There’s just kind of a library community of library people doing library things… you get used to seeing specific people every day, and it’s really nice. Then sometimes there are little library surprises–like the dog-petting thing or the grilled cheeses, or even some of the programs and lectures. Those things happen and it’s like the library is telling you it loves you back.

I don’t want to ruin this by trying to analyze her thoughts, but it dovetails nicely with a theme I have been expressing: shifting our thinking from library commons to library communities.

When librarians talk about a commons it is almost always about “the stuff in the space” – whereas communities are about “people doing stuff together.” I’m trying to move away from a focus on serving “the user” and instead trying to appreciate that we engage and support a multitude of different people with diverse and different needs. Our libraries are different things to different people. We cannot be everything to everyone, but we can be very good at being some things to many people. Read more…

The 8 Best Questions to Ask a Job Interviewer Here’s what you should ask during an interview and how to interpret the responses.

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By Sept. 10, 2014 | 4:31 p.m. EDT

Employers aren’t the only ones who get to poke and pry during an interview.

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At some point, job candidates can make inquiries that flesh out everything from expectations to why their prospective boss enjoys working for the company. By asking thought-provoking questions, you can not only collect valuable information but also distinguish yourself from the pack. Here are some questions you can ask and tips for interpreting the responses from your interviewer.

Next: 1. How has this position evolved since it was created?

Google can’t compete with a skilled librarian steeped in information technology

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I think of my job as very much going to the root of librarianship, which is facilitating learning … and creating community. The main difference is that I (and my library) are moving well beyond just books, as are many other libraries.” — Mikael Jacobsen

By Erinn Hutkin, Tribune Content Agency, CareerBuilder

 

“I think of my job as very much going to the root of librarianship, which is facilitating learning … and creating community. The main difference is that I (and my library) are moving well beyond just books, as are many other libraries.” — Mikael Jacobsen

In the six months Mikael Jacobsen has worked as learning experiences manager at the Skokie Public Library, his days have come to include everything from teaching classes to producing movies and offering information about Microsoft Office products. He oversees the library’s digital media lab, coordinates its digital literacy offerings and introduces ideas in hands-on learning for non-traditional items, such as video cameras patrons can check out.

On top of that, Jacobsen oversees the library’s computer areas and study rooms and helps patrons find materials and research any given topic.

“I think of my job as very much going to the root of librarianship, which is facilitating learning,” said Jacobsen, 38, who earned a Masters of Library and Information Science from Dominican University in 2008. “We are facilitating learning and creating community. The main difference is that I (and my library) are moving well beyond just books, as are many other libraries.” Read more…