Making the Most of Your Library Career


Book Description

An MLIS can provide the skill set needed to get a library job, but building a library career means knowing how to maximize your potential every step of the way. Benefiting those fresh out of library school as well as experienced professionals, career librarians from every corner of the profession offer a personal, down-to-earth view of "what it's really like out there." Filled with valuable insights into how to better launch and manage a library career, this book addresses important topics like How to work and adapt at a new organization What management expects and how to view everyday activities from that point of view How to make suggestions for change Advice on navigating the cyclical nature of a librarian's work year The rewards and challenges of professional organizations Why a library degree is valuable outside a traditional library setting Those new to the field will find the contributors' seasoned advice both inspiring and practical, while veterans of the profession will find guidance on retuning their careers in librarianship's changing environment.




Taking Your Library Career to the Next Level


Book Description

Taking Your Library Career to the Next Level: Participating, Publishing, and Presenting helps librarians establish a brand and name recognition in their area of expertise, suggesting how to write winning proposals for both publication and presentation and places to publish. In addition, it covers how to conquer fears of public speaking and how to make presentations more dynamic. As professional development is important in most library settings to earn or maintain credentials, this book helps academic librarians look for opportunities to earn tenure, also helping special librarians look for ways to focus their training on a narrow subject area. Regardless of their reason for looking for professional development opportunities, librarians of all types will find satisfaction in contributing to the profession at a higher level. Participating in professional conversations and decision-making that impacts others in the field, and sharing knowledge through publishing and presenting are great ways to become better librarians. Helps librarians establish an area of specialty and generate name recognition in their sub-field Provides guidance on the writing process and publishing opportunities, also touching on places to present material Includes guidance on establishing a brand, writing successful proposals, and being a dynamic speaker




Rethinking Information Work


Book Description

A state-of-the-art guide to the world of library and information science that gives readers valuable insights into the field and practical tools to succeed in it. As the field of information science continues to evolve, professional-level opportunities in traditional librarianship—especially in school and public libraries—have stalled and contracted, while at the same time information-related opportunities in non-library settings continue to expand. These two coinciding trends are opening up many new job opportunities for LIS professionals, but the challenge lies in helping them (and LIS students) understand how to align their skills and mindsets with these new opportunities.The new edition of G. Kim Dority's Rethinking Information Work: A Career Guide for Librarians and Other Information Professionals gives readers helpful information on self-development, including learning to thrive on change, using key career skills like professional networking and brand-building, and how to make wise professional choices. Taking readers through a planning process that starts with self-examination and ends in creating an actionable career path, the book presents an expansive approach that considers all LIS career possibilities and introduces readers to new opportunities. This guide is appropriate for those embarking on careers in library and information science as well as those looking to make a change, providing career design strategies that can be used to build a lifetime of career opportunity.




Jump Start Your Career in Library and Information Science


Book Description

"Priscilla Shontz presents advice and anecdotes gathered from research and interviews with more than seventy information professionals in a variety of library-related careers. The modular format allows a reader to peruse any chapter on its own and to read the chapters in his or her preferred order. Seven broad topics are covered: career planning, job searching, gaining experience and education, developing interpersonal and leadership skills, networking, mentoring, and writing for publication. Related readings, as well as helpful Web sites, are included."--BOOK JACKET.




The Librarian's Skillbook


Book Description

Having the right skillset is essential for successful growth and advancement at every stage in your career. Regardless of your current level of experience and expertise, The Librarian's Skillbook, which reveals the 51 hottest, most sought after library/information skills in today's workplace, is your personal ticket to a new or enhanced career. Once you have selected the most important skills you need to advance your career, The Librarian's Skillbook unveils six surefire strategies for acquiring new skills or leveraging your existing skillset to obtain a promotion, find and procure your dream job or embark upon a whole new career. The Librarian's Skillbook also helps librarians, information professionals and other knowledge workers devise a customized plan to acquire the skills they need to move their careers to the next level and beyond. The skills presented in The Librarian's Skillbook are divided into six broad categories: Computer/Technical Skills Beyond Reference Skills Business and Management Skills Interpersonal Skills Attitude Skills Intangible Skills To help the reader follow through the process of developing new skills, The Librarian's Skillbook also includes a "Further Reading" section and a "Bibliography" which list additional resources where readers can learn more about each skill. The text also includes "This Skill in Action," presenting readers with a mini case study for most skills to help them visualize how that skill may be typically applied in the workplace. The Librarian's Skillbook is a road map for acquiring skills that make librarians and information professionals essential to their organizations. Readers may elect to pick and choose among the list of 51 skills to pursue those skills they deem most useful to advance their own careers. The Librarian's Skillbook is a must read for those students, librarians and information professionals who want to become more employable or improve their prospects for advancement.




Forever Employable


Book Description

After spending the first 10 years of his career climbing the corporate ladder, Jeff Gothelf decided to change his approach to staying employed. Instead of looking for jobs, they would find him. Jeff spent the next 15 years building his personal brand to become a recognized expert, consultant, author and public speaker. In this highly tactical, practical book, Jeff Gothelf shares the tips, tricks, techniques and learnings that helped him become Forever Employable. Using the timeline from his own career and anecdotes, stories and case studies from other successful recognized experts Jeff provides a step-by-step guide to building a foundation based on your current expertise ensuring that no matter what happens in your industry you'll remain Forever Employable. This handy guide to your career and professional development shows you how to create your own content, use it to build your expertise and credentials and then scale it to build a continuous stream of income, interaction and community. As organizations seek to reduce costs, automate tasks and increase efficiency, how do you ensure you don't end up outside of those plans? Forever Employable shows you how so that you're always ready for the next step in your career. Reduce your stress, build your community, monetize your platform -- that's being Forever Employable.




Guidance for Librarians Transitioning to a New Environment


Book Description

Guidance for Librarians Transitioning to a New Environment offers practical advice for those hoping to transition into a different type or size of institution. Written by librarians who have successfully navigated such changes, the book encourages consideration of unexplored opportunities. Drawing on the authors’ own experiences, as well as surveys and interviews conducted with those working in different types of libraries, the book will provide librarians with a fi eld guide for surviving and thriving in their new environment. It will do so by making suggestions for how librarians can orient themselves to their new library, add context to their CV or résumé, get started with presenting and publishing, and manage culture shock and emotions. Each chapter will also provide the opportunity for the librarian to refl ect on relevant aspects of their own situation and move forward with the help of action items. Guidance for Librarians Transitioning to a New Environment is essential reading for librarians who are considering or in the process of making a career move, as well as those working on career planning. The book will also be helpful for library science school faculty and career counselors who are advising current students and library managers who want to help their new hires transition in the most effective way.




Career Transitions for Librarians


Book Description

What if you were a public librarian and then you wanted to become an academic librarian? How different are those worlds and how would you know what kind of skills or experiences you need to get your foot into the academic door? Career Transitions for Librarians: How to Get a Job in Another Type of Library explores the multifaceted roles of the librarian profession from personal narratives of professional librarians who have successfully worked and transitioned from one type of library to another. Learn the successful strategies and stories of librarians who transitioned from public to academic libraries, school media to academic libraries, public to special libraries, print to digital worlds, among other ones. What kinds of skill sets and experiences were they able to transfer or draw on from their previous work experiences? How can you make these successful transitions as well? From interview tips to developing relevant and transferable skill sets, this unique guide offers testimonials with a targeted advice and job strategies for readers interested in making these successful transitions during a time when there is a huge difficulty in securing a library job.




Ace the Interview, Land a Librarian Job


Book Description

One of the most critical elements of achieving a successful career, interviewing with poise and tenacity, is a skill to be learned—and this practical guide leads readers through that process, step by step. In a competitive job market, all candidates need to prepare to succeed. This certainly applies to job seekers looking for professional librarian positions in public, academic, and/or special libraries—especially recent MLIS graduates and mid-career job-changers. Designed for today's competitive job market, this practical guidebook provides job applicants with practical tips and effective strategies for successful interview preparation and execution specific to seeking librarian positions. Unlike generic "how to interview" guides, this book recognizes that there is no "one-size-fits-all" interviewing method and teaches the techniques for excelling at the unique aspects of interviews for specific librarian positions such as reference librarian, electronic resources librarian, outreach librarian, youth services librarian, and adult programming librarian. The book opens with an overview of what is expected during today's librarian interview followed by descriptions by four experienced library directors of what makes an interview truly great. This guidebook includes 100 actual library interview questions to help readers best prepare for the specific position they seek and also contains a chapter that identifies mistakes all rookie librarians should avoid making.




Library Services for Career Planning, Job Searching, and Employment Opportunities


Book Description

Here is a valuable book filled with new ways to strengthen and utilize library career planning services and job-searching sources to better serve library patrons and career planners. Library Services for Career Planning, Job Searching and Employment Opportunities is the only resource available on the library's role in helping job searchers and career planners. An increase in the need for career and job information caused by a volatile labor market and current economic trends has created a need for both librarians and job counselors to help patrons take full advantage of library sources and services. Taking a broad approach from career counseling theory to recommendations of major sources of career and job information, this much-needed book covers subjects such as cooperative programs between librarians, career planning professionals, and job search counselors and the evaluation of career-related materials. This one-of-a-kind volume emphasizes the constant demand for career and job information regardless of economic conditions. Librarians will learn how to act as intermediaries to help patrons locate career and employment sources dispersed throughout the collection, demonstrate their proper use, and guide them to additional useful sources. Specific chapters explain how to expand career and job services with only a few new, low-cost resources, by networking with other community resources and developing a strong core collection of the best resources available. Other groundbreaking topics analyzed include employment and labor market trends for the 1990s, unemployment services in libraries, evaluation criteria for career resources, essential career planning and employment materials, specialized collections for relocation literature, and employment of persons with disabilities. This book is necessary reading for librarians who maintain career resources in their collections, career plannng and job counselors who need to learn how to take better advantage of library services, and adult education professionals involved in vocational education.