In My Librarian Mind

To answer my own question...

2006-07-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

Why an MLIS?
It's who I am, who I always was, and who I yearn to be each and everyday. It's an infinite and ever-changing world of opportunity and aside from this recent bump I really do love librarianship. Today I was told to by my "boss" to "take my librarian head off" I'm not even sure what that means. If I were to take my librarian head off whom would I be? Librarianship does not merely dwell within my head; it's in the depths of my core and affects everything I do. I assess, weed, collect, and organize my closet. I make resourceful websites and bibliographies in my spare time.
I am librarian, hear me roar!

Still looking

2006-07-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

So far I haven't ever truly felt the need to blog, but as of late I've grown quite frustrated and when I'm frustrated I vent through writing.
I'm sick of searching for a job--sick, sick, sick!!! I worked ultra-hard throughout my academic career ending with a 3.9725 gpa. I accomplished this in a little over a years time while working 3 jobs. I held an internship at Northwestern University as well as completed a praciticum at the University of Chicago (2 of the nations most prestigious universities). Also, I have been working in libraries ever since I started undergrad. So why is it that I'm still looking for work? Better yet, why is my current "boss" (I'm temping) the V.P. of library services not even an MLIS?
I'm beginning to regret it all and that seriously makes me (you guessed it) SICK! Why did I spend the last year of my life and $26,000 getting this degree? Can someone please, please clarify this for me? Everyday I look at job postings, I apply, and either hear nothing or hear rejection.
I've been applying for jobs for the past 7 months--sent out roughly 100 resumes.
I'm burnt out, I'm sad, and I'm really feeling hopeless.

The Search

2006-04-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

I'm currently researching various topics within the library world:

Virtual Worlds

Educational gaming
Publishing models
Where does a virtual library fit within a virtual world?

So far I've looked at Second Life

Library Websites

What it the connection between user instruction and the library's Website?
Usability
Information Architecture

Digital Libraries/Collections

Where are the librarians?

My research has shown that there is an increasing need for tech-savvy librarians

Where are the digital libraries/collections?

I've found that accessing/finding these often open access collections is quite difficult

How can we make these collections more "findable"?

I've also been sending out lots of resumes, interviewing, and waiting for responses. Who knew graduating would make life so much more difficult?

2006-03-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

North Carolina State University is doing this with their catalog:

All I can say is WOW, keyword searching can work!

The browsing, narrowing, and expanding capabilities are endless, go check it out for yourself here.

It's been...

2006-02-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

too long!

Oh my I really didn't realize how busy I was going to be this semester. Taking 4 classes and working 3 jobs is more than overwhelming!!! Nonetheless, I did make the time to go to the Follet Lecture "Googlization of Libraries: Debunking the Internet Godzilla Myth" (The Shifted Librarian sums it up well here) held by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University. As busy as I may be making time for this lecture was truly worth it. Ed Valaskaus (the Follet Chair) spoke of the dire future that may be if we (librarians) don't learn and grow along with others in the information industry such as Google. He then moved on to paint a much prettier picture of how we (librarians) could be if we are to incorporate some of the information distribution methods that say Google has incorporated.

Simply, I agree! We (librarians) need to embrace the digital age within which we live--it's not going away. Our patrons want their information needs met "yesterday" and thus, easily searchable, digital collections need to be made available and accessible. Google has taken many hits--especially in the copyright debate--for libraries. Why not let them? They have the money and the power to do so, right? They'll fight our battles while creating highly efficient search engines for us (Google Scholar is slowly, but surely getting there) and we'll continue to provide our value-added service with a smile--oh the world could be perfect, couldn't it!?

Web 2.0

2006-01-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

The recent (Feb. 2006) article in PC World entitled New, Improved Web discusses 50 Web 2.0 sites. So, if you're unfamiliar with Web 2.0--the "read and write" web--this article may help you wrap your head around various sites and concepts.

Practicum

2006-01-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

I've recently begun my practicum at the University of Chicago. I'll be working on the Chopin Early Editions, which is a digital library archive. So far, I've been working on creating some comprehensive documentation. This documentation is to be used as a reference point for similar digitization projects.

Time...

2005-12-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

The last stretch of my fall semester kept me quite busy. I finished with great success--hooray!

Next semester is going to be even more intense, I can't wait. I'll be taking Library User Instruction, Collection Management, and Internet Publishing all while completing both my Reference Internship at Northwestern and my Practicum at the University of Chicago. I'm feeling pretty great about the Practicum. I'll be working with the Chopin Early Editions, doing some documentation and metadata stuff.

Break is going to be dedicated to purging, organizing, reading, and getting out resumes.

Finishing up

2005-12-05T17:54:00.000-08:00

The semester is coming to a close--I've learned a great deal.

If you're interested, I made this website. It's all raw HTML and XHTML code.

The search has begun

2005-11-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

The holiday was a blur and now I have approximately one million projects to finish by Dec. 15--then comes break sweet break.

I've started my job search and let me say it's overwhelming. I've been del.icio.us(ing) various librarian positions that I think/hope I'm qualfied for. I've been warned this will be a 6 month process and I'm getting myself geared up. Winter break is going to 100% dedicated to getting job applications out there. I fear that with 3 courses, a practicum, and my internship , I'll have trouble sending out resumes as often as (in a perfect world) I'd like.

So we shall see where this journey will take me, I'm trying to leave room for every option--no barriers.
Here I go...

My Trading Card

2005-11-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

Originally uploaded by Nahnsee.

Yes, we librarians are so hip we even have our own trading card series.

Where does the library fit?

2005-11-18T20:52:00.000-08:00

Upon reading U.S. college drop-out rate sparks concern: Educators turn attention to getting students all the way to graduation, I thought to myself; "Where does the library fit?" Academic libraries are often that one place on campus in which every student is somewhat familiar. The library is often open when other buildings are closed. The library is full of individuals (librarians) acting as mentors to the student population everyday (or should be). I deeply believe that this is the library's role. We need to open our doors and proclaim we are here to help you--no catch, come in, ask questions, find answers, gain access, and become an integral and valued piece of our community.

Among Beauty

2005-11-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

Dominican
Originally uploaded by Nahnsee.

This is Dominican University where I'm currently enrolled in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

Google Base & Small Libraries

2005-11-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

It has been reported today that Google has officially joined Web 2.0 with the launch of Google Base (still in beta phase). Google Base has been billed as free online, searchable database.

Here's what Google Base says about itself:

Google Base is a place where you can easily submit all types of online and offline content that we'll host and make searchable online. You can describe any item you post with attributes, which will help people find it when they search Google Base. In fact, based on the relevance of your items, they may also be included in the main Google search index and other Google products like Froogle, Google Base and Google Local.

Could this be good for libraries? Could a library's presence by furthered by using Google Base as a supplemental database? Could small libraries (with little or no budget) use Google Base in order to track their collection?

I suppose we'll see...

Are Academic Libraries Doing Enough?

2005-11-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

I'd say no! Two days ago a friend of mine asked me about what I do as a librarian. I told him I was a reference librarian and he looked at me blankly (this is someone, mind you, who went to a major university in Illinois and earned a degree) I then proceeded to give him my job description in the form of example research questions I've assisted patrons on. In the end my friend said, "I had no idea that I could just go up to a librarian and ask them for help on a research question." Can you believe this? I can! It's sad, but we librarians aren't doing enough to make ourselves visible and necessary on college campuses. Today, The Kept-Up Academic Librarian relayed the article Libraries lure students with lattes, which discusses some attempts academic libraries have made to expose and integrate themselves more fully into campus life. There was one passage I found of particular interest concerning a survey that was taken at the University of Minnesota...

Most students surveyed even said they should be required--yes, forced--to learn how to use the library.

I agree fully, as an undergraduate student I too was overwhelmed with the massive library at my university. It wasn't until my senior year (I know...too late!) that a professor of mine took our class on a library tour. If not for that class, I may not be where I'm at today (library school). Rather, I may be more like my friend--in the dark about libraries and librarianship.

Web 2.0, etc

2005-11-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

I discovered through the Library Stuff blog an interesting site called the PubSub Community List, which rates blogs. Looks pretty good and is thus far split into: The P.R. List, The Law List, The Library List, and The Fashion List. Steven explains it best here.

Also, this weekend was spent discussing Web 2.0 and all of the sharing it encompasses.I've come to believe that Web 2.0 really puts it all out there-the information just keeps on exploding and it seems to me that in a certain way Web 2.0 is attempting to classify it from within itself. By this I mean that the web is now being classified and "tagged" by its users. What does this mean to libraries and librarians (especially those within the cataloging field)? I believe there's a lot to be learned by such classification and tagging-what is "our" public saying about how they want to find things. What classification measures are they using and are they working?

Questions to be pondered...

How to get it out there?

2005-11-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

I was recently talking with some non-library friends about new library services such as blogs, instant messaging, podcasts, etc. One of my friends aptly said, "I had no idea libraries were doing all of this." This, I feel, is an all to common reaction to library services. My friend went on to say..."how are libraries getting this information out to people." At that I stammered a bit and basicly said that I really don't feel like they're doing much. This was a sad conversation and one that I think needs to be more directly addressed by libraries. There are library marketing resources, but I'm unsure how often they are truly being implemented.
We need to work on capturing the attention of non-library users.

Kenosha Day Trip

2005-10-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today I hopped on the Metra and went up to Kenosha, Wisconsin. The day was without plan and led to one great adventure. Of course, I stopped by the public library. It was fairly small, but seemed to have pretty decent programming (there were quite a few fliers posted).

Upon my return I checked their website and was shocked by the lack of integrated technology, but at least they had a website. With all of the techno-driven library literature I've been reading and the fact that I live in a major metropolitan area-Chicago, I've started to take integrated technology within libraries for granted. Though, upon reviewing the Kenosha Public Library website, I was hit with what I believe to be the technology divide. There is still much work to be done in order to breach this divide. Many libraries, in all genres, are behind in the area of technology for a multitude of reasons and their services may be suffering. It seems to me that all of the "newish" technologies (blogs, IM, podcasts, etc) are being used in libraries in order to increase exposure and create presence.

I think we tech-savvy librarians need to create a presence within libraries similar to the Kenosha Public Library...

Feeling Better

2005-10-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

So right off I'd like to say that I'm feeling better about blogs today. Bloglines has literally saved my blogging life. I'm starting to feel more at home within the vast biblioblogosphere. I also feel like I'm gaining a great amount of knowledge especially in the area of library technology each day.

This week I read Steven Bell's Where the Readers Are article which appeared in the Fall 2005 Supplement of Library Journal. (Steven Bell blogs at the Kept-up Academic Librarian.) The article lays out practical marketing advice for academic library blogs. He suggests integrating the library blog with courseware software, such as blackboard for better visability. Bell also compiled a quite useful list of "Tips for Successful Blogging."

The other thing I'm interested in and will blog about later is podcasting, etc... I've yet to bought an I-Pod, but am starting to see a real need.

getting blogged out

2005-10-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

So today I looked through what seemed like millions of blogs and links and links and blogs--it's overwhelming. I started thinking about this biblioblogosphere and frankly I got confused and disappointed. There is so much out there--too much! I don't know who is what or what is who. What information is credible? All the links turn me in circles, I can barely stand it! Plain and simple, I have gotten blogged out... Though here I am one in the same blogging away and desperately trying to make it worth it.

Today I decided to see what, if anything, Walter Mossberg (Wall Street Journal) had to say about blogs and other related technologies. The brief reviews he gives on various technologies proved to be quite interesting to click through.

I also registered with bloglines and filled my feeder up with, what I hope to be, interesting blogs. I like the simple interface that a feeder provides--I was yearning for such simplicity. Feeders make reading blogs more efficient because only content is provided if it's new. That and all the blogs you want to read are in one convenient place.

I suppose I got overwhelmed because I have the desire to absorb it all. I see a link, I click--I need to make better more informed choices on which blogs I'm going to spend time reading and which ones I'm not. I need to think more critically about the biblioblogosphere and only spend time reading the information that is directly related to my needs--at least for now. Once that is accomplished I think I'll slowly delve out into the true depths of the biblioblogosphere more fully.

Interesting Links related to Libs & Tech

2005-10-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

This week I came across some quite interesting information through various avenues. I was introduced to this new basic interface metasearch engine called gada.be now in beta testing. Its premise is that it is easily loadable for various web devices and is RSS compatible. You can sift through the specifics here.

I also went to the ALA (American Library Association) website and did a simple search on technology in which I was directed to the LITA (Library and Information Technology Association) website. Within this website exists a wealth of information concerning libraries and technology and I would greatly urge anyone interested in this field to check it out. There was a section about blogs that I found to be of particular interest. One blog that was highlighted within this section was "blog without a library" which, is self described as "a blog about what libraries are doing with blogs, rss, & other little technologies."

Another interesting website that I ran across is the Awesome Library. There is a technology link which is divided into various topics the ones on blogs and web page design are both full of quite interesting links.

Technology & Academia

2005-10-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

Recently, The Chronicle of Higher Education has published several articles concerning the changing relationship between technology and academia. The ever-changing presence of technology creates the need for an ever-changing view of academia. In the area of academic librarianship a multitude of changes are occurring regularly due to technological advances. During these times it is important for librarians to be pro-active. We need to use technology in new ways and we need to be creative so as to not become obsolete. Due to the sheer volume of information available through the Internet, subscription based databases, and library catalogs library user instruction sessions are becoming increasingly important. The incorporation of non-traditional teaching elements has become essential. Richard T. Sweeney, university librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, believes that incorporating blogs, iPods, and video games into to standard teaching practices to be of utmost importance in the teaching of the "Net Generation" or "the Millennials". He goes on to say that this, "divided attention span", new generation of students learn differently and may not want to hear an hour long lecture.

Michael Gorman, President of the American Library Association, among others believe that catering to a generation's needs is ridiculous. I disagree; times change, the world changes, technology changes, and consequently so do we (as a species) change. The ways in which we process the world directly depends upon the time and place of our existence. In The Net Generation in the Classroom Gorman is quoted saying that he belives "the idea that we have reached a watershed and we have to throw everything aside and come in with new approaches" to be absurd. Here too I disagree, who ever said that we have to throw everything aside? I believe it is our job to be technological savvy librarians by bringing together our collective pasts while simultaneously preparing for our future roles. We, as librarians, need to learn, grow, and incorporate all of our levels of knowledge into the norms and expectations present generation by generation.

Elizabeth Breakstone recently published the article Librarians Can Look Forward to an exhilarating Future. The first sentence says it all, "I expect my fellow librarians to be excited by changes that make information more accessible." That's right! Why then are so many librarians in all walks of life (often) fighting technological advances within librarianship with such a vengeance? Again I come to Gorman and his highly negative views on blogs and bloggers.

As Anthony J. D'Angelo said, "Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant." The life of a librarian, in my opinion, is one of constant learning. We as librarians come to this profession, I assume, due to some inherent love of the access of data, information, knowledge and wisdom. Many within our profession agree and great strides are being made in the field of librarianship. If the incorporation of technology based tools assists our patrons within their pursuits of higher learning, than I must say it is our duty to facilitate this need.

References:
Carlson, Scott. The Net Generation in the Classroom. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 10/7/05 vol. 52, no. 7.
Breakstone, Elizabeth. Librarians Can Look Forward to an Exhilarating Future. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 9/30/05, vol. 51, no. 6.

Review: 4 blogs

2005-09-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a review of four other library-related blogs I took a look at...

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog
Bailey, Charles W. Jr.
http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepw.htm

This is a great blog for those in academia. However, Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog differs from many other blogs in that it is a one-way exchange. Every two weeks the blog is updated by the author with various bibliographic reference to open access publications concerning the many facets of scholarly electronic publishing. There are no commenting options or categories available, but the information provided is all highly relevant.

The Kept-Up Academic Librarian
Bell, Steven J.
http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/

This is a well organized blog including an in-depth catagories list, archives, recent posts and comments quick links, a list of selected blogs, and a what’s to come section. Quite relevant to librarians and others interested in current trends within academia. Readers have the option to suscribe to the blog and make comments. The blog title speaks well of the subject matter in that this blog is all about ‘keeping up’ with academia.

Neat New Stuff on the Net - Weekly Reviews of New Sites
Block, Marylaine
http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html

This blog is similar to the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog in that it acts much more like a bibliography than an open-discussion blog. It is however, less scholarly in nature. The thing that I find the most destracting about this blog is the various links to the author’s accomplishments. I feel that the site would look more professional if there were but one link (more about Marylaine) pointing to the authors accomplishments, resume, etc… The graphic elements of this blog alone immediately had me questioning its authoritative validity.

TechnoBiblio
Wright, Stephanie
http://www.technobiblio.com/

Extremely informative and well organized open-forum blog concerning libraries and technology. The list of catagories is both extensive and pertinent, as are the lists of other library blogs and resources. The topics being discussed are “hot” within the library world and the linking within blog entries promotes seemless research.

This is my first post...

2005-09-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm Nancy and yep that's right I'm a hip librarian blogger!
Currently I'm working on my MLS at Dominican University.
I'll be out and into the real world this Spring, HOORAY!!

In this blog, I will be publishing highly interesting writings about libraries, the web, and technology.

~nancy