Tomorrow night, I’m presenting the President’s program at the New Jersey Library Association Conference. It’s a very interesting and troublesome time for New Jersey librarians. The State Library recently informed NJ libraries that they are ending the QandA NJ program. Peter Bromberg explains it well: http://blog.peterbromberg.com/2011/04/qandanj-my-three-and-half-cents.html On April 4, 2011 the New Jersey State Librarian announced thatQandANJ.org, New Jersey’s ground-breaking, award-winning 24/7 virtual reference service, would cease. I think this is a terrible decision for New Jersey libraries — “a huge step backward” is the phrase I keep hearing from others — and it would be a huge loss for the […]
Yearly Archives: 2011
251 posts
I’m presenting one of the lightning keynotes tomorrow afternoon at the National Library Unconference Day. Although I won’t be broadcasting these slides, I made them for my own use and to share. Hopefully I can do a version of this talk with the slides someday. Download the slides here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/239835/HeartUnconferenceStephens.pdf
Wow! More about Mr. Schu here. I am very interested to read the 2011 Technology Survey.
Last week, a patron came to me needing help with her resume. She’s looking for a job, and she’s desperate. She didn’t want just books on how to write a resume, she wanted someone to sit down with her and help her write it. I’m not good at writing resumes, so I didn’t offer my services and hinder her job search. I recommended another local public library because I’d heard that they had a resume service and I thought they might be able to help her. I was wrong. She came back to me and told me that the librarians […]
This is intriguing – comment by “B” at http://bit.ly/gYGL6k : Some of my former co-workers (who were also hiring managers) nixed applicants that responded “Because I love books” to the question “Why do you want to work in a library?” While such a black and white approach to hiring makes me a bit squeamish, I do strongly encourage job applicants to be a bit more creative in their response. Apparently “Because I like books” is such a common response (among the entry-level crowd, at least), that giving a different (thoughtful and honest) answer is a quick way to nail the […]
Just a few more talks before I have most of the summer off to work on some research projects and prepare for classes at SJSU SLIS: May 2, 2011: Library Unconference Day, Keynote Lightning Talk. May 2-4, 2011: New Jersey Library Association, President’s Program/Keynote & Tech Trends TTW Goes to Canada: May 12, 2011: Keynote, Association des bibliothécaires du Québec Library Association, Montreal, Québec. May 17, 2011: “Heretical Thoughts about LIS Education,” The Future of the Academic Library Symposium, Burlington, Ontario. (Registration is full, waitlisting is possible.) June 9, 2011: Finger Lakes Library System Technology Workshop, Ithaca, New York. June 17, 2011: […]
Thanks to Rich Allen, Technical Services Librarian at Winthrop Public Library in Massachusetts , for sending this link. The Boston Globe recently ran a story called “Checking Out the Future.” It highlights the Simmons program but also explores the increase in technology use and required skills for new grads. These lines echo some of the things I’ve written about in “Office Hours:” (emphasis mine) Library science used to be the realm of career changers. Bookish types, having put in some years in the work world, would enroll in a graduate program with dreams of one day making a living surrounded by the […]
I believe in the power of stories. I think everything we do in our libraries contributes to the story we tell – signage, customer service, the atmosphere of the building and how we interact with our users – both in person and online. At this moment in time, a library’s story is written everyday by what users find or don’t find inside, how the staff meets those users needs and what is said about the facility in line at the grocery store and online at Yelp or Google reviews. I’ve travelled a lot in the last few years, mostly for […]
Be sure to check out http://lisevents.com/ From the About page: About LISEvents LISEvents is a community-based site intended to aggregate listings of library-related events of all types, sizes, and locations. The site also helps speakers find gigs and event planners find speakers. The idea for the site has been kicking around in one form or another for quite a few years. Peter Murray did some work on a beta version around 2005. Community-Driven The LISEvents project leverages the entire library community. Anyone can post an event, and we encourage speakers and vendors to sign up for an accounts and build their […]
My new column is up at Library Journal: http://bit.ly/hmosLw “I like books.” This is one answer to the introductory question I ask when meeting a class for the first time: “What brings you to librarianship?” The answers vary just as LIS students do, whether they’re recent college graduates or those returning to school for a second career in libraries. The “books” answer begs the question, “Do you mean the content or the container?” Students starting graduate school who want to work in libraries with stacks filled with books may be aiming for the wrong profession. Archives and rare books collections will […]