Working in a university library, as with any type of library, means a dedicated service focus which supports the goals and directions of the parent company or institution. While each individual university will have their own priorities and strategic directions, there are some themes that seem to resonate across the board. One such area is the recognition of the need for universities to internationalise. Internationalisation benefits a university’s staff, students, research, and institutional profile and competitiveness, to just skim the surface of its influences. I work at Flinders University in South Australia, which has established a number of ways to […]
Categories Library Jobs & Careers
285 posts
Congrats to TTW Contributor Kyle Jones! http://thecorkboard.org/blog/time-for-change-im-off-to-darien-library Kyle writes: I’m very excited to announce that starting in January of 2010 I will be joining the award winning staff at Darien Library in Darien, CT as a Knowledge and Learning Services Librarian. To say that it is honor to be afforded this opportunity at this time in my career is a bit of an understatement. I look forward to getting to know the community of Darien. I just spent a full day with the folks at Darien Library, touring the new building, chatting with staff and learning all I could about […]
For a patron to learn that our library has just the resource they were looking for, followed by a helpful tutorial by a librarian, only to realize a day later that they can’t remember exactly how to access it worries me. Many patrons quickly forget the title of a recommended resource, let alone how to find it on a library’s website. This is very true when I am on the customer side of service desks. Perhaps they will recall the name of the resource and even how to find it, but will not be able to replicate the search. Worst […]
TTW Contributor and Dominican GSLIS student Kyle Jones writes this month’s NextGen column in LJ: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6630793.html With the dawn of Library 2.0, a philosophy based on user-centered services and change, new librarians—start-up librarians—are arriving at library directors’ doorsteps by the semester with the same kind of fervor and ability that built today’s great technology companies. Can librarians let go of some of their old, restrictive ways to give these new librarians the kind of environment and support that will drive the profession successfully in the 21st century? Library leaders would do well to observe some characteristics of successful Silicon Valley […]
Aaron reports on his new job: http://www.walkingpaper.org/1029 I’m super excited to let interested parties know that I’m now the Digital Initiatives Librarian for the District of Columbia Public Library. Not quite sure what a Digital Initiatives Librarian does? Well, it is vague on purpose but I can tell you that I’m going to be doing website visioning, usability testing, web presence development and planning all sorts of fun projects. Much of this stuff is going to fall under a subdivision of the DCPL Information Technology Services department that we’re calling DCPL Labs (still in beta so expect to find some lorem ipsum). I am especially interested […]
I had breakfast with Meg Canada last weekend, while finishing my teaching duties in St. Paul. She shared with me a post she wrote at her blog called “How Librarians can be the Ultimate Community Managers.” Meg writes: What is a Community Manager? My friend, Connie Bensen introduced me to the concept at my first social media gathering. I know she has collaborated on the wikipedia definition, and as a librarian herself, and I hope she agrees with my assertion. Community managers help shape online spaces by representing organizations through starting and/or contributing to discussions. They are social media mavens and power users. […]
2008.05.16.0014c, originally uploaded by Douglas County History Research Center. Caught these pictures today in Flickr and immediately emailed to get the okay to “Blog This.” I also asked about how these great photos came about. Cecily North, Assistant Archivist at the Douglas County Libraries wrote right back: Douglas County libraries holds a district-wide staff day every other year and on their off years each branch has a staff day. The branch the History Research Center is located in, in Castle Rock, decided to go with a theme of pirates this year. The center is a district-wide function even though we […]
Brian Mathews writes: Yes, it is CeLIBration time again. Our annual welcome event for freshmen the Saturday before the Fall semester starts. Past CeLIBrations I have to be honest– I wasn’t really feeling it this year. Don’t get be wrong, we’ve had some great events over the years, but with the wedding and book deadline in September, my heart wasn’t into it. But then I looked at the line up and we have a lot of cool games. This might actually be our best one yet. I am totally in now. Dodgeball Tournament Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament (there are actually leagues: video) […]
Kate Sheehan, originally uploaded by cindiann. Have you seen her incredible work? http://www.flickr.com/photos/trucolorsfly/sets/72157603940220341/
By Michael Casey & Michael Stephens Dear MLS grad (and others who may be looking for a new position), We’re glad you are ready for the first (or next) step in your career. We know that the job market can be tight and that most newly minted librarians are happy to get their foot in the door, recognizing that no one library will conform to your workplace ideal. Still, we’d like to offer some pointers for a good fit. First, look at “In Search of an Emotionally Healthy Library,” by Nancy Cunningham (now director of the Learning Resources Center at […]