May 2008 LIScareer Articles

• Eddington, Sam. "Out in the Country: Making Rural Librarianship Your First Career Step."
• Morrissey, Beth. "'But You Don’t Look Like A Librarian': Bringing Back Marian the Librarian."

TLA Conference Program

Priscilla will be speaking at the Texas Library Association Conference in Dallas on April 18, along with Beverley Geer, Michelle Millet, Delene de la Rose, and Dawn Vogler. Here's the program description: The Librarian Chronicles: Career Options for Librarians. Ever wondered about transferring to a different type of library? Is the grass really greener? A panel of professionals will share the joys, sorrows, and humorous challenges they face in their unique library environments.

Google Book Search

Limited previews of A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science and The Librarian's Career Guidebook are now available on Google Book Search!

March 2008 LIScareer Articles

• Burchfield, Amy. "Benefiting From Your Academic Library Job."
• Dority, G. Kim. "Ask Not What Your Network Can Do For You…"

Feb 2008 LIScareer Articles

• Baggett, Kevin. "The Accidental Academic Health Sciences Librarian."
• Martin, Nora. "The Challenges of a Newly Created Library Position."

ACRL New Member Discussion Group meeting at ALA Midwinter

Going to ALA Midwinter? Join us for the ACRL New Member Discussion Group on Saturday, January 12, 2008, 10:30 am - noon, The Marriott Philadelphia — Room 405

We'll be talking about the things you wish you had learned in library school including marketing, teaching skills and whatever else you've encountered as a new librarian. Share your ideas and experiences with others while brainstorming ways to get more experience. The ACRL New Member Discussion group is for new (and aspiring) academic librarians. We meet twice a year--at both ALA conferences--to chat about whatever is on our minds. It's an opportunity for networking and a friendly place to ask any questions you have about succeeding in ACRL.

Questions? Interested in getting involved? Contact Merinda Hensley, Convener, ACRL New Member Discussion Group, mhensle1@uiuc.edu

Lisjobs launches discussion forums

Just got this press release from Rachel Singer Gordon over at Lisjobs.com:

LISjobs.com Launches Online Community
New discussion forums now open

LISjobs.com, the largest free library career portal on the Internet, is pleased to announce the launch of its new online community for librarians. Devoted entirely to career development and job hunting, these forums provide a space for librarians, LIS students, library workers, and information professionals to discuss professional development issues: http://lisjobs.com/forum/.

“I’m excited to be able to offer this space for collaboration and discussion,” says Rachel Singer Gordon, webmaster, LISjobs.com. “As librarians, we know that we work and learn best in community -- I look forward to watching the forums grow.” Current forum moderators include:

Michael Stephens, LIS schools
Jess Bruckner, Jumpstart your career
Meredith Farkas, Professional development and participation
Susanne Markgren, Talking tenure
Kim Dority, Professional writing
Sophie Brookover, Work/life balance

In recent related developments, Info Career Trends, LISjobs.com’s professional development newsletter, has moved to the Wordpress platform to better serve its subscribers. Its long-time career Q&A columnists, Tiffany Allen and Susanne Markgren, have moved to their own blog, and author/entrepreneur Kim Dority joins in with her new monthly column on “Rethinking Information Careers.”

Info Career Trends continues to fill an underserved niche, devoted entirely to career and professional development issues for librarians and information professionals. The newsletter and column content are accessible at: http://www.lisjobs.com/career_trends/. Rachel Singer Gordon shares: “I’m so pleased to bring Kim on board, and to watch the Library Career People column evolve in its new blog format. I look forward to hearing others’ opinions across the LISjobs.com online community.”

LISjobs.com, launched in 1996, provides free library-related job listings to both employers and job seekers, as well as related services from resume postings to career development blogs.

Informed Librarian article: What You Wish You'd Learned in Library School

You may remember back in the summer we told you that we wanted to write an article called "What Do You Wish You'd Learned In Library School?" Many of you responded to that question, and for that, thanks! The article that resulted from that question has just been published as the guest column in this month's issue of Informed Librarian Online. We included many of your comments (anonymously), so you may find yourself quoted in our article. We had fun reading your responses and writing the article, and we hope you enjoy reading it. You can view it at the Informed Librarian Online site (link to Guest Forum on the left side of page). We've also posted a brief summary of responses on our site.

Thanks again for your help!

Rich