by infonista | Dec 5, 2018 | LIS Career Strategy, LIS Students, Professional Development
Ask the right questions if you’re going to find the right answers.
– Vanessa Redgrave
I love the end of the year. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the fact that I’ve weathered yet another 12 months of life’s challenges. Some days I’ve handled things brilliantly, other days not so much. But it’s a great time to reflect on where you’ve been, and where you’d like to head next. I do that by asking myself a series of questions and noting the answers in my career journal. Here’s how I approach these questions: (more…)
by infonista | Nov 28, 2018 | Job Hunting, LIS Students
Our snapshot shows placements are resurging in traditional library settings,
as well as continuing to gain strength in nontraditional areas that
benefit from classic LIS skill sets.
– Dr. Suzie Allard, Library Journal’s Placements & Salaries 2018 report
Library Journal has released its annual Placements & Salaries report, and as always, the findings are pretty fascinating regardless of what LIS career path you’re considering. The depth and breadth of research completed by author Dr. Suzie Allard (University of Tennessee-Knoxville) is, as always, amazing and insightful. Some key points: (more…)
by infonista | Mar 6, 2018 | LIS Students
Recently, at the end of a Dominican SOIS virtual workshop for the students/alumni Career Day, a student asked a great question. In fact, it’s one that most of us who’ve been through grad school have grappled with: how do you juggle grad school, parenting, and a job? Or to take it a bit further, how do you do it without dropping any balls? Without disappointing any family members? Without blowing an assignment? Basically, without going to pieces?
My answer: let balls drop when you need to. (more…)
by infonistaadmin | Sep 12, 2017 | Job Hunting, LIS Career Options, LIS Students
One of the downsides of giving LIS students and professionals career advice is that you’ve pretty much got to follow your own advice if you want to have any credibility at all (translation from my students: “do as I say, not as I do” isn’t going to fly!).
So with that in mind, I’m following one of my key career mantras, which is to never stop learning new stuff. I decided to teach myself how to create e-books so I could share more of the webinar information I provide for students at LIS grad schools. (more…)
by infonistaadmin | Sep 7, 2017 | Job Hunting, LIS Career Strategy, LIS Students, Professional Development
Or, why you should consider that job in Smalltown, USA
Recently I had an opportunity to work with a young woman who had just graduated from an MLIS program. She was unsure of how to proceed with her job search given the precarious job market for librarians (and everybody else).
This young woman had never worked in a library before, and, like many of us when we complete our degrees, wanted to get a job in the same town where her university was located. But the reality is that with little or no library experience and facing the stiff competition that comes in an area flooded with fellow MLIS graduates, this young woman’s job prospects would be dim at best.
In fact, probably her best opportunities lie in a direction often avoided if not dismissed by recent grads: working for a library in Smalltown, USA.
(more…)
by infonistaadmin | Sep 4, 2017 | LIS Skills, LIS Students, Professional Development, Research Resources, Reviews
In his excellent guide Harnessing the Power of Google: What Every Researcher Should Know (Libraries Unlimited, 2017), author Christopher C. Brown asserts that:
Librarians often hear from students that their instructor said not to use Google in their research. I believe that what is meant in most cases is that students shouldn’t only use resources that they just found with simple Google searches. Too many times students cite Wikipedia as an authority for their research. But what this book is arguing is that there is a proper place for Google in academic research.
Not only does the author argue his point successfully, he does every academic librarian and serious researcher the favor of showing them how to use Google so that it truly can become a credible component of rigorous scholarly and business research. (more…)
