Category: jobs

Job Resources for Library School Students & Librarians

As promised, here are my picks for library job listings. Please note that this list is geared toward corporate and academic librarianship, although, some public and school library jobs are also posted to these lists. This list of job sources is by no means comprehensive; you should also subscribe to mailing list in your field of interest, search local library association websites, and search for websites dedicated to jobs in the area you are interested in. Topics of job websites range from USA government employee, Higher Education, School (k-12), Information Specialist/Services, to International Jobs.

Things you should keep in mind:

  1. Preferred is not the same as Required, if you meet the Required qualifications and have some of the Preferred go ahead and apply. The more skills that are asked for in the Preferred section the less likely it is that someone has all of them, be willing to learn the ones you don’t have and you could land yourself a job.
  2. I realize that some people have obligations which do not allow them to move, however, being willing to move for a new job gives you a much larger job pool to draw from. Think about what is more important to you, having a job you could love long term or staying within a specific geographic area.
  3. If you are willing to move for a job start going through your possessions now. You own more stuff than you think you do, and time may be limited when it’s time to move. The more you have sorted, donated, and given away the easier it will be when the time comes.
  4. If you follow all of these job feeds you will see a few duplicates and triplicates from time to time. This is to be expected, the majority of the jobs are not double posted.
  5. Do not ever do the final proof of your cover letter yourself. Find a professor, or someone who has been in the profession for a while who has experience hiring, to do the final read through. Not only will this improve your letter significantly, but you will learn things from their corrections that you can apply to the next letter that you write.

Job Lists
http://twitter.com/ALA_JobLIST

Combined Library Jobs – RSS Feed
http://www.lisjobs.com/rss.asp
(Provided by Library Job Posting on the Internet – http://www.libraryjobpostings.org/
And LISjobs.com http://www.lisjobs.com/)

GetLibraryJobs – Twitter
http://twitter.com/GetLibraryJobs

libassociates – Twitter
http://twitter.com/libassociates

Libgig_Jobs – Twitter
http://twitter.com/Libgig_Jobs

Libraryjobonline – Twitter
http://twitter.com/libraryjobline

LibInfoSciJobs – Twitter
http://twitter.com/LibInfoSciJobs

tmj_usa_library – Twitter
http://twitter.com/tmj_usa_library

Lastly I’d like to mention ACRL’s Residency Interest Group (RIG) webpage. RIG not only posts news about current and former residents, we also post residency position openings. There is no other place where residency information is compiled on the web. Check us out and consider a library residency.

http://acrl.ala.org/residency/

Keeping Up Professionally: For Library School Students

By this point one or more professors will have impressed upon you the need to keep up with professional news reports and articles. For those without a prior background in libraries, like myself, this can be overwhelming. You don’t know much about librarianship, and this lack of knowledge if further complicated by the fact that librarianship has entered a time of competing evolutionary models of what librarianship is and should be, and pedagogical differences.

How do you start keeping up with all this?

  • Breath. No one expects you to know all of this information overnight. Start keeping up with the profession now and you won’t have to cram right before you graduate and are looking for a job. The longer you keep up with current events the easier it becomes as you pick up on the terminology and identify points of major concern within the profession.
  • Acquire an RSS feed reader, if you do not already use one. It does not matter which one you use so long as you check it on a regular basis. I try and check mine a couple times a day but the world won’t end if you can only check it a couple times a week. RSS feed readers allow you to check multiple sites at once, instead of? having to check them individually.

Some Popular Online RSS Feed Readers:

http://www.bloglines.com/

http://friendfeed.com/

http://reader.google.com

Desktop Mac Application:

http://www.NewsGator.com/NetNewsWire

What to read?

I’m sure you’ve seen at least one list titled something like 100 Best Blogs for Librarians. Websites and Twitter feeds found on lists like this tend to be high quality but who has time to keep up with 100 of anything?

Below is a list of RSS feeds that I use to keep up with major topics the library profession; it does not include the feeds I subscribe to about specialized library topics (academic, cataloging, education, history, research, science, technology, etc.).

Blogs:

The Embedded Librarian

http://embeddedlibrarian.wordpress.com/

http://embeddedlibrarian.wordpress.com/feed/

A unique take on librarianship, complete with practical examples and recommendations, from a faculty member of the School of Library and Information Science at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.

In the Library with the Lead Pipe http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/
RSS Feed Link http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/feed/
RSS Comments Feed Link http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/comments/feed/

One of the most thought provoking library blogs around, this group blog provides thoughtful advice, comments, and discussion on issues and topics important to librarians. I have included a link to their comments feed as well as their post feed because you can learn almost as much from reading people’s thoughtful responses as from the original posts.

Library Man (Michael Porter) http://www.libraryman.com/
RSS Feed Link http://www.libraryman.com/blog/feed/

Always interesting, presenter, video maker, technology and PEZ fan, he is actively engaged in activities to promote and enrich libraries; Michael should be one everyone?s watch list.

Library Scenester (Erin Dorney) http://libraryscenester.wordpress.com/
RSS Feed Link http://libraryscenester.wordpress.com/feed/

Erin is in her second year as the Outreach Librarian at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Witty, connected, and active in both professional organizations and independent projects Erin is an example of what you can accomplish. Erin’s blog covers a variety of topics and often includes tips and insights for new or aspiring librarians.

LISNEWS http://lisnews.org/
RSS Feed Link http://lisnews.org/rss.xml

This very popular blog posts summaries and links to news articles impacting librarians. It is not uncommon to see items posted here reposted elsewhere with commentary and will give you a general overview of what issues and innovations librarians are talking about.

From Twitter:

Library Associates Companies (LAC)

    http://twitter.com/libassociates

      http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/20789580.rss

      This company hires and recruits librarians for their company, and library industry jobs across the country. Following them will make your more aware of what types of jobs are out there and what skills are in demand. In addition, they regularly post news items of interest to the profession, and job seekers.

      LIBGIG_Jobs http://libgig.com/
      RSS Feed Link http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/16810581.rss

      This company posts jobs across the information industry, not just in a traditional library setting. Although most of the jobs listed are in the US they do occasionally post international jobs and, like LAC, they regularly post news items of interest to the profession, and job seekers.

      Things to keep in mind:

      • There are blogs by librarians for librarians on every topic and issue, I follow 30+ relevant librarians, associations, and companies using Google Reader. This sounds like a lot, but, as you get more specialized posts are published less frequently, and there are more duplicate postings.
      • Life happens and the world will not end if you miss a couple of news items. Do your best and with repetition it’ll become second nature to check your news feeds.
      • RSS feeds provide you with additional material for your class discussions and papers.

      Good luck, and happy reading!