Making It REAL!

Where do you fit in the world of library professions?

Elizabeth — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:39:06 +0000

Coming back from a recent training, we learned that there are now 78 million older adults in the United States clamoring for information, yet few libraries have dedicated staff working to build services to this group of patrons. Working in this niche may be a very rewarding option in adult services. One library that excels in this area is in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Their web pages for Seniors are easy to read, full of information and activities for this population. In the experience of Assistant Director, Allan Kleiman, having a defined space is important. In this open floor plan building, a discrete space was carved out with its own color theme. Plenty of large-print and multimedia materials are on display, and materials located in near proximity to the seating. A comfortable home porch ambience created by round tables and a couple of rocking chairs makes the entryway very inviting. Several other libraries nationally have been recognized for their work with older adults. The Phoenix Public Library has a tab for “50 plus” patrons on the home page. Many of their programs are also presented in Spanish. Technology classes for Word Processing, English classes and bedtime songs and stories in Spanish and Spanglish comprise just a few of the offerings to embrace the needs of the local community. A wiki on this topic is available at: http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Services_for_Older_Adults

Where’s the Money! Scholarship Programs for Information Careers

Elizabeth — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:38:23 +0000

New York State’s Making It Real scholarship program began with an award from the Laura Bush IMLS program. This program has been extended through New York State to universities and colleges who are in turn administering graduate scholarship applications for future librarians in their career studies. If you have information on awards or scholarships that might interest others looking for support, we hope you will send a line or two to share this information with others.

The Librarian Lexicon

Elizabeth — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:05:22 +0000

Have you hear of the term “blended librarian?” Curious as to what this newer composite role may include? You may be filling the roles without knowing you have moved into a a new world of library and ctechnology collaboration. For a discussion of the field, several videoclips are available. Here’s one to get you thinking, yes I do that already, but I just have not recognized how allied the two facets of instructional design and libraru instruction can work together. http://blendedlibrarian.org/video.html#five

New resources added to the librarycareersny.org web site

Elizabeth — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 07:19:29 +0000

LibraryThing.com has become such a popular place to explore titles in any discipine Collection sharing and collection filtering for personal libraries has some definite benefits-so if you haven’t used it as a finding or tagging source, try it today for one of the titles we have noted or your own personal favorites
Blogs…There are so many sites for so many library functions: leadership, staff develoment, reference. libraries and librarians. What makes the work interesting is the continuous challenge to what we are doing–a re-examination to determine what changes we really need to make, and how, effectively, to do it.

The Ultimate challenge: Do librarians innovate?

Elizabeth — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 07:18:37 +0000

One of the concerns of the profession is how to cope. Technology, new services, static staff. We can ask the question of whether training for staff helps build a user driven community? We can ask whether the kinds of networking services that comprise users’ interests are the ones we are comfortable providing?

Career Tips: Getting the Job

Elizabeth — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 07:13:36 +0000

Can you think of your first job offer and how exciting success can be? Today a former intern called the office just at 9am to proudly announce she had landed a position as an information specialist. Just how to go about this daunting task is a constant question- One respected bloggger goes into some detail at http://gathernodust.blogspot.com/.

Are there ways to make the job search more productive in terms of self-development, knowlwedge of the working world and libraries? Give us your take on what has helped you.