Yankee in Canada.com

The SLA Toronto Student Group hosted a terrific “Marketing Your Skills” event this evening.

There were a few resources I mentioned that I wanted to make available here.

• Positioning Information Professionals for the Future (SLA Alignment Project)
• Competencies for Information Professionals of the 21st Century: Revised edition, June 2003 (SLA)
• What Color Is Your Parachute? 2009: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard Nelson Bolles
• Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz
• First Have Something to Say: Writing for the Library Profession, By Walt Crawford
• Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton

The Librarians is a hysterical 6-part comedy series from Australia about the most non-politically correct, more or less completely dysfunctional library on the planet – except for yours, right?

Enjoy the promo!

Posted on behalf of Bill Purdue.

Librarians invade the "Answer" sites

Monday, 9/10/07–All Day

Supporting Wiki: http://answerboards.wetpaint.com 

I’d
like to invite any and all interested librarians to be a little bold and have a little fun by going to online "Answer" sites, such as:

• Yahoo Answers
• Amazon’s Askville
• The WikiPedia Reference Desk

(see a list of others at http://answerboards.wetpaint.com/page/Registry+of+Answer+Boards?mail=1127)

…and then MARKET!

This means making it clear that this question was answered by a
librarian/library professional/etc. End each answer with the mention
your own library, your VR service, etc. Add the link. Mention that
readers should consider their own libraries, too. Promote it to local
media. Keep in mind how many people don’t even realize that libraries offer reference services. Let’s surprise and delight them with our quality.

I’d like hundreds of librarians to do this. Thousands? Why not?

Be
clear…you’ll almost certainly be helping patrons who aren’t yours,
but I see this as an opportunity to make the reference librarian
community more visible. I’d like to see a number of us remain engaged
in the answer services, on the chance that the users will have us in
the backs of their minds when they have questions they don’t want
everyone to see. As such, I’m not expecting to see a huge "blip" in our
reference/VR stats because of this. But who knows?

The point is to meet some folks where they otherwise wouldn’t expect us.

What to do next?

First of all, pass this message along to anyone who might remotely be interested.

Second,
this is a very informal "action," so you can just mark the date and
start answering, but you may also want to visit the Wiki and put your
name up as a participant: http://answerboards.wetpaint.com/page/Participating+Librarians. I’m very lonely there right now!

While you’re on the wiki, share. Think of good marketing "tags," signatures, etc. that we can use.

Most of all, visit the various answer sites, see if you need to set up an
account. Try answering a few questions. A couple of us have already
done this and we’ve already got a few "Best Answers" under our belts.
See the "Exemplary Answers" section of the Wiki. Post one if you’ve got
one!

Then, on September 10, get ready to "Slam the Boards!"

–Bill Pardue

Will Sherman over at degreetutor.com has posted his article, "Future of Librarians"  which he based on a number of interviews he conducted, via email, with librarians and information professionals.

Sherman has also posted a page where you can contribute your thoughts and ideas to support the discussion.

Will Sherman over at degreetutor.com has interviewed (via email) a number of librarians and info pros on the future of libraries and librarians.  My interview has been posted.

Thanks Will!

Embedded Library Services: An Initial Inquiry into Practices for Their Development, Management, and
Delivery [pdf]
A Contributed Paper for the Special Libraries Association Annual Conference

David Shumaker, Clinical Associate Professor
School of Library and Information Science, Catholic University of America
-and-
Laura Ann Tyler, Research Librarian
LMI Government Consulting

Shumaker and Tyler’s new paper, recently presented at the SLA conference in Denver, is a great read for any information professional, but it’s of particular importance to new information professionals and students as well as seasoned info pros looking for a change.  I only recently realized that I have never been anything but an embedded librarian my entire career.  Strangely, I always wondered why there was huge disconnect in what I was being told by other info pros, what I was reading in library literature and what I experienced at work.  Most of what I heard and read was about working in libraries with other librarians and info pros.  Even the SOLO environment didn’t quite fit because many of my colleagues who are solos work in a one-person library.  Realizing my embedded status has made me look at my career very differently, in terms of the skills I need to hone and the professional development opportunities I choose to learn from.  For me, Shumaker and Tyler’s work was a breathe of fresh air.

Librarians make the fashion section of the New York Times. Throwbacks to old stereotypes aside, I thought it was a pretty interesting piece.  My life isn’t quite like theirs, but good for them.  It has been YEARS since I was last profiled in the NYT!

Some folks don’t think it’s so awesome.

I have to wonder though if any of the fallout from this hullabaloo will actually reach the folks responsible for the piece.  Will all the criticism make a difference? Librarians talking to librarians is great, and we do that well, but at some point we are going to have to start taking our message to everyone else if we have any hope of changing their view of who we are as professionals.

A Hipper Crowd of Shushers (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/fashion/08librarian.html

Check out these temporary tattoos from Archie McPhee!

They are a MUST for your next library conference – or while sitting by the pool somewhere warm this winter.

This is an incredible article about the librarians at The Washington Post.  Fellow colleague, Derek Willis is given a full paragraph.  Way to go Derek!

The Post’s Unsung Sleuths
By Deborah Howell
Sunday, July 2, 2006; Page B06

"The reporting that appears in The Post is supported by an infrastructure of research that readers do not see, except as credited in the occasional tag line at the end of a story…"

Librarians are letting the world know about who they are as professionals. We are coming out. Out of the library building, out from behind the desk, out of our silos, and out of retirement.

Coming Out of the Library

Librarians are part of daily life. Every member of the community has their own personal librarian, someone they regularly consult, wherever and however they need, for assistance with their information needs. By stepping out of our buildings, and taking our skills and expertise to our communities, we have made ourselves an integral part of our cities, schools, and organizations.

Librarians are building communities by bringing people and information together. We are designing information literacy curriculum. We are taking ownership of the information technology tools we use. We are working with architects to develop collaborative learning spaces and consulting with local politicians to ensure that constituents’ information needs are being met.

We are constantly engaged in refining the services that we provide, ensuring that our services match information needs, user lifestyles, and user preferences for how they access information.

Coming Out From Behind the Desk

You won’t find librarians sitting behind their desks. We’re in virtual classrooms, teaching information literacy. We’re sitting at the bedsides of hospital patients, helping them make informed treatment decisions. We’re bringing families to the library for multilingual story times and contributing to the cultural life of our communities. Information literacy is the “new math,” a core subject in the curriculum at all levels, and is recognized as a necessary skill for daily life.

Coming Out of Our Silos

We are working across units within our libraries and collaborating on collections and services with librarians in other settings. Diversity and teamwork are key, and through cross-functional and interdisciplinary teams we have begun to recognize our complementary roles and strengths. Together we are working to solve the complex problems we face as information professionals. We rely on a growing body of quality research, and librarians in all settings are empowered to carry out research and share it via open source online publishing tools.

Coming Out of Retirement

Recently retired librarians have formed a movement. These librarians emeriti continue to contribute to the profession by lobbying on behalf of librarians and libraries. By exploiting their political connections and experience, they are influencing public policy on libraries and access to information. Some have even sought political office.

Whether out in our communities or inside the walls of our libraries, we continue to be committed to the success of others on their own terms.

Drafted at the 7th Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute, January 22-27, 2004 by the Visioning Committee:

• Deborah Hutchison (Vancouver Public Library)
• Daniel Lee (Navigator Ltd., Toronto)
• Gwendolyn MacNairn (Dalhousie University)
• Joanne Oud (Wilfred Laurier University)