Menu:

• Info Career Trends Home

• Subscription Info

• Current Issue

• Archives

• Upcoming Themes

• Contributor Guidelines

• Submit a Book for Review

• Rate Card

Beginning a new position, especially your first professional position, is exciting (the interviews are over!) and challenging (now what?). You are bursting with your success and librarian superpowers, but not sure how to jump in. Here are some steps to take that can ease you into and through your inaugural year.

Gain a Sense of Your Library Environment

After preparing for and completing your interview, you have a general sense of the environment. Once on the job, look closely at all the documentation you can get your hands on. Also, take time to observe the physical space and personal interactions around you.

• Review your library's web site, intranet, and publications. Find out how often and what types of content your library creates, see what various committees are working on, and gain confidence that you (at least) have the knowledge about your library that is publicly available.

• Read your library's goals, policies, and organizational chart closely, and write down any clarifying questions you have. Ideally, these documents are guiding the work at your library, making them critical for you to understand.

• Find your way through the physical building. See if there are floor plans you can have. For librarians working in large multi- floor libraries, like myself, this understanding is key to helping library users find their way.

• Observe how your colleagues communicate in daily routines and during meetings. These behaviors can give you a sense of the norms at your library. For example, when a meeting is scheduled for 9:00 AM, is everyone there? Do people take turns speaking, or interrupt? By what means is information communicated (e-mail, phone, memo)?

Learn from Your Colleagues

Set up individual meetings with your colleagues if these are not part of your formal orientation process. To get the most out of this time, develop a list of questions to guide the discussions. Some of the questions I asked, focused on areas of my position as an academic librarian, you could easily adapt to your position.

• Reference - What are the top 3+ reference resources for your subject area(s) that you think I should know, and what tips can you give me for using these resources?

• Research - What research projects are you currently working on? What research projects are you interested in working on?

• Instruction - How do you prepare for an instruction session? How do you solicit feedback after an instruction session?

• Professional Development - What is your favorite professional development tool/site/recommendation? How do you organize your time on the job?

These meetings gave me a sense of my colleagues' working styles, library-related interests, and favorite reference resources, as well as potential tools for keeping current. Organizational knowledge, often undocumented, eked out, too: no copy codes for the copiers, internal Yahoo! e-mail group, de-centralized campus e-mail and IT. I began to feel like part of the team as I spoke with my coworkers and they offered me assistance; one sent me his Bloglines feeds, another shared copies of her instruction handouts and scripts.

Map Your Moves

Plan, document, and organize. It's time to put into practice what you learned in library management and professional practice classes, as well as any administrative skills you have.

• Plan for your development as a professional. "It is definitely to your advantage to position yourself for long-term employability in the rapidly changing world of work," says EDUCAUSE's "Creating a Professional Development Plan." This planning document guides you through mapping out your skills, goals, and ideal job responsibilities.

• Document your work with detail to track tasks you need to complete, project timelines, accomplishments you've made, and where you are on your career development path. I was grateful for these records when my annual evaluation rolled around, and it makes keeping a resume up to date a breeze.

• Organize. Keep your computer documents, e-mail messages, and physical files as orderly as you can. Utilize your cataloging skills to label files for easy access, and your collection management skills to weed your files at the end of each year.

Reflect

Take time to reflect on your work. As you can see, understanding your environment, learning all you can from your colleagues, and planning your career require time for synthesis and iteration. Set aside thinking time (write it on your calendar), organize discussions or online communities with colleagues or friends, or keep a blog or journal. This is especially important your first year, when there is so much new information for you to process, and you are developing your work habits. It can help you move that which is immediate and pressing in your daily routine outward to gain a sense of the big picture in which you are working and moving.

Helpful Resources

There are a host of materials to guide you in acclimating and excelling in your first, or new, position. Here are a few I'd recommend:

DeCandido, G. (December 1996). "Ten Graces for New Librarians." American Libraries 27: 52-53.

EDUCAUSE (n.d.). "Creating a Professional Development Plan." EDUCAUSE Management Institute. Retrieved November 9, 2006, from the Mentoring Information Kit: http://www.educause.edu/10396

Landry, A. (2005). "Ten Must Reads for New Academic Librarians." Reference Services Review 33: 228-234.

Manion, K. (May 2005). "Taking Charge of Your Career." Information Outlook 9: 17-18.

Watkins, M. (2003). The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Kate Zoellner is the School of Education Librarian and Assessment Coordinator at The University of Montana-Missoula. She recently celebrated her first year anniversary on the job and relinquished her new librarian tag. After graduating with her MIS from The University of Michigan in 2005, Kate is enjoying librarianship and living in the West.