Category Archives: Librarianship

Career Related Articles Useful to MIS/MLIS Students

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On The Modern MLIS website there is the Resources page where I list a number of career-related information services links. I faced a number of challenges in my own job search including taking time off after finishing my MLIS and transitioning my career into a new direction. The easiest ways to ensure you have a job offer after graduating, or to at least increase your chances of being contacted for an interview, is to work in a library services role while you are completing your graduate education and to network by participating in library conferences. New graduates should anticipate their job search taking up to 6 months or even longer before finding employment.

How to Survive and Prevent a Bad Internship | Hack Library School
Many MLS/MLIS programs require, or at least strongly recommend, an internship or practicum before graduation. Internships are great ways to taste-test a type of librarianship, network, and get practical experience. The unfortunate reality is that we don’t always know what we’re walking into when we begin an internship. So, how do we survive or prevent a bad internship?

Congratulations! Now Get A Job. | Hack Library School
It’s time to get a job. In a discouraging economy. Of course, I saw this coming, but I kept my view hazy, even as I researched different career paths. So, now that reality has finally arrived, how does a freshly minted graduate go about finding her first LIS job?

You’re Interviewing them Too! Finding the Academic Library Job of Your Dreams | Backtalk  | LibraryJournal
This article shares a list of key considerations for academic library job-seekers.

The Simple Truth About Finding A Job | AOL Jobs
You’re looking for a job. Chances are it feels complicated, scary, overwhelming. My job-seeking clients have found the chart below comforting and helpful. It contains the essence of what you have to do.

How to be Awesome at Going to Library Conferences | PC Sweeney’s Blog
The author (a Branch Manager East Palo Alto Library in California) shares his experiences about what makes an awesome conference experience.

Big Idea: Post-Secondary Degrees with the Best Career Prospects | Avenue Calgary
There is a section discussing Information Specialists.

25 Vintage Photos of Librarians Being Awesome – Flavorwire

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25 Vintage Photos of Librarians Being Awesome – Flavorwire

I love in one photo the librarian is using a drawer in the bottom row of the card catalog as a step to reach all the way to the top. Also, in the last picture there is a robot with a Librarian 2.0 stencil…history repeating itself within a different context!

 

 

What Would It Be Like if Book Stores Died Out Completely? | Gizmodo

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This video, directed by Richard Dadd and Dan Fryer of British creative studio The Bakery, tells the story of a boy who stumbles upon the last remaining bookshop. via What Would It Be Like if Book Stores Died Out Completely? | Gizmodo.

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Future Of Print: ‘Fully Booked: Ink On Paper’ Showcases Amazing Innovations In Physical Books | Huffington Post Books

Author’s Corner: A Librarian’s Guide to an Uncertain Job Market | Hiring Librarians

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At some point in the near future, you hope to be sitting opposite a library administrator or search committee convincing them that you are the best applicant for the job. However, that meeting will undoubtedly be preceded by many, many small steps. The secret is preparation and that preparation must begin long before the interview.

via Author’s Corner: A Librarian’s Guide to an Uncertain Job Market | Hiring Librarians.

Digital Public Library Of America (DPLA) Launches To Public | Mashable

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“After two and a half years of planning, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), the U.S.’s first public online-only library, opened its doors today — or at least was made publicly available on the Internet.

The DPLA is a free, open-source resource that makes a number of digital collections and archives across the country available in one place. It launched as a series of partnerships with the Smithsonian, the National Archives, New York Public Library, the University of Virginia, Harvard, Digital Library of Georgia, Minnesota Digital Library, Mountain West Digital Library and others. All of the text, photos, videos and audio contained in the DPLA can be searched, or browsed by place or time on the DPLA website” via Digital Public Library Of America (DPLA) Launches To Public | Mashable.

DPLA

Vision of the DPLA Website:

The vision of a national digital library has been circulating among librarians, scholars, educators, and private industry representatives since the early 1990s. Efforts led by a range of organizations, including the Library of Congress, HathiTrust, and the Internet Archive, have successfully built resources that provide books, images, historic records, and audiovisual materials to anyone with Internet access. Many universities, public libraries, and other public-spirited organizations have digitized materials, but these digital collections often exist in silos. The DPLA  brings these different viewpoints, experiences, and collections together in a single platform and portal, providing open and coherent access to our society’s digitized cultural heritage.

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What is the DPLA? by John Palfrey | The Digital Shift

Quotable: “There are two key points about what the DPLA “is,” at least as of April 2013. First, the DPLA will be what we, the people, decide to make of it, as a shared, public-spirited resource. Second, the DPLA is the community of people who have devoted themselves (ourselves, in fact) to pursuing an ambitious, public-spirited vision of what the future might hold. On day one, we will present a radically open platform that will make a lot of exciting material available more broadly, as well as a lot of code and services with which technologists can do interesting things.”

Collection of Links: MOOCs

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Got MOOC?: Massive open online courses are poised to change the face of education | The Digital Shift
Although it’s clear that there’s a flurry of interest in MOOCs among universities, higher-ed students, the tech industry, and pundits, these free online courses are also likely to have a significant impact on K–12 librarians and other educators. 

From the EDUCAUSE Library on MOOCs, the report What Campus Leaders Need to Know About MOOCs and many more additional resources.

California Universities Aggressively Expand Online Courses, Finds Failure Rates Drop | TechCrunch
The largest university system in America is aggressively expanding its experimental foray into Massive Online Open Learning (MOOCs), based on an unusually promising pilot course. 

The iSchool’s First MOOC: Lessons Learned | Information Space
There is much that still needs to be figured out about MOOCs. 

For Libraries, MOOCs Bring Uncertainty and Opportunity | Wired Campus
A lot of the discussion about massive open online courses has revolved around students and professors. What role can academic librarians play in the phenomenon, and what extra responsibilities do MOOCs create for them?

What Do Librarians Need to Know About MOOCs? | Stephen’s Lighthouse
“The following article appears in the March/April 2013 issue of D-Lib Magazine.”

Chronicle of Higher Education Blog Highlights Key Points from MOOCs and Libraries Event  | Stephen’s Lighthouse
“The “MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?” event, hosted by OCLC Research and the University of Pennsylvania on 18-19 March, featured thoughtful and provocative presentations about ways libraries are getting involved with massive open online courses (MOOCs), including the challenges and strategic opportunities they are facing.”

MOOCs and Libraries Event | The OCLC Research Channel (YouTube)
Playlist includes videos of the sessions from the “MOOCs and Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?” event that took place 18-19 March 2013 in which OCLC Research and the University of Pennsylvania Libraries presented thoughtful and provocative presentations about how libraries are already getting involved with MOOCs.  Also see this SlideShare presentation from OCLC: MOOCs & Libraries: Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge.

10,000 Free Courses Listed in a Massive Open Courses Directory | iLibrarian
The OEDb has just launched a massive Free Online Open Courses Directory organizing nearly 10,000 free courses in the liberal arts and sciences. The courses are available in a variety of formats including full courses, video lectures, audio lectures, text articles, and mixed media.

10 Incredibly Interesting Free Online Courses I’d Like to Take for Fun | iLibrarian
It’s amazing just how many colleges and universities are offering free open education courses that people can take from the convenience of their own computers. I’ve been investigating the offerings at many of these including MIT, University of Notre Dame, UC San Diego and others, and there are many classes that I’d enjoy taking just for fun. Here are ten of my choices, but click into the programs for listings of hundreds more!

Dewey-It-Yourself: How to supplement your library school education | Hack Library School
No matter how great a MLS/MLIS program is there just isn’t enough time and courses to learn everything.

Lynda.com, NYPL Explore New Library-wide Access Model | The Digital Shift
Patrons visiting the New York Public Library’s Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) now have free access to the entire catalog of more than 1,500 instructional online training videos offered by Lynda.com.

Emerging Student Patterns in MOOCs: A (Revised) Graphical View | e-Literate
Describes four student patterns emerging from Coursera-style MOOCs.

Massive Open Online Courses: Legal and Policy Issues for Research Libraries | ARL [Brief]
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) raise significant legal and policy questions for research libraries, which are often asked to support the development of MOOC courses.

Every Library Should Come With This Built-In Slide | Gizmodo

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Every Library Should Come With This Built-In Slide | Gizmodo

Every Library Should Come With This Built-In Slide

 

Women, Mobility, and Libraries | American Libraries Magazine

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“Long before there were such devices as smartphones and tablets—or personal computing, for that matter—women in librarianship were bringing reading material to people beyond the four walls of a physical library” via Women, Mobility, and Libraries | American Libraries Magazine.

Seven Shipping Containers Make Up This Colorful Library | Gizmodo

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“These seven colorful shipping containers traveled the world before settling down in Batu, Indonesia as the Amin Library. Home to 6,000 books, it’s a story in and of itself” via Seven Shipping Containers Make Up This Colorful Library | Gizmodo.

Batu Library

10 Stellar Presentations from Computers in Libraries 2013 – iLibrarian

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10 Stellar Presentations from Computers in Libraries 2013 – iLibrarian

1.) Augmented Reality & Next-Gen Libraries

2.) Enabling Innovation

3.) UX & Accessibility Pecha Kucha

4.) Metrics That Work

5.) Becoming TechCentral

6.) LibGuides: Sustaining & Embedding Strategies

7.) Mobile Discovery & Search

8.) Top Tips From Top Searchers

9.) Mobilizing the User Experience: Mobile First and Responsive Design

10.) The Future of Libraries: Uncertainty & Imagination:Evolving Libraries Through Technology