Rolling 2009 librarian/library assistant thread

hope Ned doesn't take offense at me starting this, despite not yet being a librarian or library worker of any kind

a question for those of you who have attended the big annual ALA meeting before: is it worth attending some of the conference as a library student? i just signed up for ALA student membership, so if i register this week, it'll cost about $100, and since the meeting's in chicago this year i won't have to pay for travel or hotel or anything. i'm leaning towards going but just want to make sure it won't be a total snore.

i actually snuck into the music librarian association's conference a week or so ago (not very hard, they weren't checking badges at all) to hear one of my classmates give a talk on the john cage collection at northwestern, it was pretty neat

Haha, no offense taken, I kept meaning to start this myself.

It's great for networking, especially if you'll be graduating any time soon. I would definitely go if I lived nearby.

I am going to acrl in Seattle, but ala is a little too big/all encompassing for me to want to attend.

i'm pretty bad at networking :/ but i think i'll probably end up going and just wandering around. if anyone is coming to chicago and wants to hang out, let me know

Hand out copies of that excellent new album you and I are on. (Show how it is a sign of being 'with it' with that Internet there.)

I would definitely go, especially since you don't have to travel. If nothing else, it'll be fun and you'll get lots of free books.

I've only ever been to the midwinter meeting, which was kind of a disappointment because it was pretty small. But apparently the annual is huge and great. I will definitely go this year if I can.

I forgot the free books! That is my favorite part.

also, apparently, if you go to the right events you can get free food and even booze.

i'm already really looking forward to this year's AMIA conference (november). st. louis!

Free books sounds nice but would be too great a temptation (I'm trying to winnow down what I have around in general).

The social events are easily the best bit of library conferences IMO. Go to the first timers event if they have one, always a good way to get talking to people.

good tips dudes, thanks

re: AMIA conference. I have been to this and r u serious.

One of the better 'on the frontline' stories re: librarians helping people get their bearings in this economy

also relevant:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/us/02library.html?emc=eta1

still haven't bought my ala conference ticket but did get my (student) membership card

Meanwhile, in the UK, public libraries are under threat of closure thanks to short-sighted government spending cuts:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/02/libraries-closures-recession

This is definitely true at the public I work at. Tons of people working on resumes and applying for jobs online. Our public computer are frequently filled up, which used to never happen. We're actually setting up two new computer station soon.

In fact, in the middle of writing this post someone asked me to help them print something out relating to getting COBRA. And then asked me about writing a cover letter.

still haven't bought my ala conference ticket but did get my (student) membership card

I was thinking of going for a day to look at the exhibits, it is way cheap.

In fact, in the middle of writing this post someone asked me to help them print something out relating to getting COBRA. And then asked me about writing a cover letter.

There is something perverse about saying this but I almost wonder if this is the upside of such a terrible time as now -- two years back on the 2007 version of this thread, starting around here, we had some talk about the necessity for this greater form of information literacy. Quoting myself:

...in the US, at least, we are inexorably shifting towards a situation where the Internet is a standard part of just about anything/everything out there. Arguably we've reached that point already and are just building it up from there. So *how* to use the Internet for one's work -- how to research, how to look up information, what databases there are, what to search for specific subjects -- is not simply crucial but intrinsic. It should, indeed, be a matter of civic responsibility, on a local level but as a good citizen as well, if you like. So teaching someone 'library skills' is now all the more clearly part of a larger effort to teach 'Internet skills' -- the searching for and the sorting of information in a small scale and in a broad scale, drawing together all sorts of possible parallels and connections.

At the time I meant it more in the sense of high school curricula but I think we now see both its wider applicability and the necessary ad hoc but practical solutions being offered.

definitely a big discussion topic in school right now

guys i just got into simmons GSLIS today!!!

to start in the fall!

library science seems interesting to me

it can be but getting kinda burned out on school right now tbh

Hey, I'm totally non-jaded about my library job at the moment! That's cool!

congrats to mark cl though

Echoing the congrats!

congrats mark! I visited Simmons when I was applying to lib school and it seemed cool.

thanks everybody! i'm super excited

are you in boston now or will you be moving?

i'm in northampton now (i work at one of the five colleges libraries), will be moving to boston

Contratulations! Almost everybody I work with went to Simmons.

Is it true that Simmons has a "stranglehold" on librarian jobs in New England? If this is true, it sucks because I would really like to move back there someday...

**(um, congratulations)

any conservators/conservation workers in the area?

hey my girlfriend has an interview for a library assistant job tomorrow, any tips that we average joes wouldn't necessarily think of?

(in my job-searching times I applied for probably six or seven such jobs and was rewarded for my troubles with a single rejection letter. Therefore, everyone involved with libraries is a dick. Although don't let that stop you giving advice.)

don't say you like books is the one thing i've heard from librarians. just be enthusiastic about streamlining data systems and it should go o k. there's a nice summary of librarianism being ordering information and facilitating access to that information and, as a veteran of many unsuccessful librarian interviews, that seems to be what they're looking for.

lol I was just going to post that (it's probably me you heard it from..).
I'm not sure what to suggest really - I've had 5 library interviews in the past 3 years and the only one that was successful was the one for this job, and I was already temping in that. Does she have library experience already? Otherwise it's just general good interview skills like having examples for whatever you're saying you're good at.

xpost she is trying to work out how to point out how freakishly systematic and orderly she is without seeming crazy, so that's good! Less good is the books thing, although I don't imagine focussing on how much you love to read is going to make you stand out in a library.

no library experience, and IN THIS ECONOMIC CLIMATE there are probably a few dozen pretty similarly qualified candidates alongside those who have experience, but I have faith in her interview skills even if she doesn't.

No! Loads of applicants put down "I want to work in a library because I love books/reading/ 'I feel like Alice in Wonderland'"type stuff and it won't get you very far, basically.

An actual interview is a really good sign though - the last job we advertised here got 150 applicants, and two of the seven interviews candidates had no previous experience. What sort of library is it?

I mean, it should be obvious that you're not getting paid to try and read through the collection.

is it true that Simmons has a "stranglehold" on librarian jobs in New England? If this is true, it sucks because I would really like to move back there someday...

ha, there are definitely a ton of simmons grads up here and one thing they talked about at a GSLIS info session was the strength of the alumni network. but i've met quite a few people from other schools too

don't say you like books is the one thing i've heard from librarians.

Also: don't say you are struggling with an addiction to the internet. I had someone I was interviewing a while back tell me that and I am still wondering why in the world you would tell that to someone who is interviewing you for a job.

So you would appreciate their fearless honesty etc.

Maybe they heard library staff were somehow all internet addicts, and not struggling either, like really doing well with it.

^ha, that describes me well enough

I thought you would appreciate the enthusiasm for libraries in Boise:

http://www.boisepubliclibrary.org/About_BPL/images/bpl3.jpg

^^^Boise Public Library

That's cool! When I get back to work I'm gonna remake all our library materials with !'s on the end!

Overdue fines!

So I'm thinking about going for an MLIS next year, but there are no ALA accredited programs in Portland (except for the Emporia State mostly online thing, which does not appeal to me at all), are there any alternate degree paths to librarianship that I could take at another school, like, say, the spectacularly inexpensive Portland State University? They have a educational library masters program, but I suspect that's only helpful if you want to work in a K-12 setting, which isn't really my plan.

As of the end of this year I'll have a B.A. in Film & Video, so my dream library job would be overseeing and restoring a special collection of film/video/audio materials for a public library or university, maybe at a specialized film rental house like Canyon.

Advice?

There are a handful of LIS programs now where you can take all of your classes online...it might be worth looking into if you want an ALA accredited program.

How important is ALA accredidation?

I'm really turned off by online classes, half because I've sucked at them in the past, half because part of the reason I want to go back to school is to maybe make some friends who live in the same time zone.

I hate online classes as well.

At the academic libraries I've worked at, getting your degree from an accredited school is important but I don't know if it would be as important at other types of institutions.

Generally, getting an ALA-accredited degree is extremely important, if not essential. That said, special collections are weird and their requirements seem all over the place. I think, though, that library degrees are becoming more and more common in them.

Figured. Aww, but I don't wanna move to Seattle!

It's a great city! Go for it.

I've got nothing against Seattle (though to be honest it does feel to me like a slightly rainier, slightly bigger, slightly less cool PDX), but I just moved last year and was hoping to do a bit more settling down than I'm used to.

Oh well, I suppose it wouldn't be until next fall, assuming I could get in.

Hey for those of you who have been to the ALA conference before, what is the attire? Like "business casual"? Also why is the conference website so retarded? There is no easy way to browse everything that's happening, as far as I can tell.

I have not attended ALA, but at the other library conferences I have attended it has been business casual.

I was really hoping to attend, but I am so short staffed at work that there's just no way I could go. :(

I'm not registering for the conference but I'll be around.

I'm going but I don't really know what I'm going to.

If this hadn't been shared (read from the bottom up):

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/librarian/12twitter.html

library school is boring.

I finally got in, starting in this fall.

Ha, I've jacked my course in after 3 weeks. One day I'll read a course description properly before enrolling.

greeeeeeeeeeat

http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2009/10/placements.html

the survey itself: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6699218.html

bleh. that sucks.

hey n/a do you still wanna work in an academic library? just curious. where do you see yourself working?

uh wherever is hiring pretty much. would prefer to avoid public libraries unless i can get a position where i'm not dealing with the general public all day, though reference might be the best bet for me given my professional background (ie i think i can spin my current job as "reference"). academic would be awesome. but i don't know how much choice i'm going to have given my lack of practical library experience.

cool. fingers crossed for you.

thanks bro. going to start keeping an eye on the job boards in november, we'll see what turns up.

I'm sort of glad that I "waited" (not really my choice, but so be it) to get into my MLS program. When it's all said and done, I'll have ten years experience as a staffer in an Acquisitions department and the degree. I will be "marketable." At least, that's what my bosses say.

found a job for you ned:

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
Grateful Dead Archivist
The University Library of the University of California, Santa Cruz, seeks an enterprising, creative, and service-oriented archivist to join the staff of Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) as Archivist for the Grateful Dead Archive. This is a potential career status position. The Archivist will be part of a dynamic, collegial, and highly motivated department dedicated to building, preserving, promoting, and providing maximum access both physically and virtually to one of the Library's most exciting and unique collections, The Grateful Dead Archive (GDA). The UCSC University Library utilizes innovative approaches to allow the discovery, use, management, and sharing of information in support of research, teaching, and learning.
Under the general direction of the Head of Special Collections and Archives, the GDA Archivist will provide managerial and curatorial oversight of the Grateful Dead Archive, plan for and oversee the physical and digital processing of Archives related material, and promote the GDA to the public and facilitate its use by scholars, fans, and students.

Lord. I know a couple of people who would actually be perfect for it, though.

This is just...no.

i dig it

Enjoy!

http://library2.ucsc.edu/speccoll/GD_archive.html

I can't remember if the old hippie librarian that looked and dressed like Garcia at ACRL was from UC Berkeley or UC Santa Cruz.

Humboldt State would be the runner-up there.

i kind of love this stuff though

http://library2.ucsc.edu/speccoll/Grateful_Dead/GD_archive-latvala.html

"one would expect the show to be over at this point, but for some reason they go on another 30 min."

He should have had that printed on the bottom of each page to save time.

simmons alum!

david ferriero confirmed as 10th Archivist of the US

ha the grateful dead job thing caught on fast, covered in the daily show last night

oh i also learned from the ALA magazine that penelope houston of the avengers is a librarian now

!!!!!!!!

Tons of punk rockers became librarians. It's a fine thing.

trying to get a job as a librarian lately but failing. shame really as its something id be really interested in doing, preferably with a view to moving into archiving and that sort of thing.

hi. i'm done with grad school. i get my MLS (or MLIS?) on dec. 21. someone get me a library job.

wtg man. hopefully i will be doin that 1 yr from now.

Congratulations and good luck with the search!

congratulations, "congratulations"

Congrats, dude!

thanks brahs

Hey librarians, the Viceroy and I are trying to become one of your kind. How competitive are MLS programs? I don't really have the most illustrious or sexy CV, tho I've done lots of other interesting stuff extracurricularly that I think might compensate + good GRE scores. Reckon I have a chance at it?

A new thread for a new year is needed! Thank you for the prompt!

Thus:

Rolling 2010 librarian/library assistant thread

probably, my undergrad grades were not amazing and my resume was not particularly impressive either and i got into both of the accredited programs in illinois. i think i was actually waitlisted for the program i ended up joining, but they turned around and let me in pretty quickly after waitlisting me. i did get good GRE scores. so it sounds like you're in a similar boat to the one that i was in at the time that i applied to programs.

It's definitely worth a shot, I say go for it.