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Cohen, Steven M. Keeping Current: Advanced Internet Strategies to Meet Librarian and Patron Needs. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2003. ISBN 0-8389-0864-0. $35.00. Purchase from Amazon.com.
Interested in discovering the best ways to keep up with the latest professional resources, both for your library and for your own career development? If your answer isn't "yes," it should be. According to Cohen, best known for the professional development weblog "Library Stuff," keeping current is a professional necessity. However, because it's easy to get overwhelmed by the deluge of online information, librarians need to develop strategies to help make sense of it all. Using a friendly, approachable tone, Cohen explains the best sites and tools librarians should consider using to keep up professionally. After delving into a brief history of current awareness tools, the author provides useful suggestions on how to track search engine developments, monitor web sites for new material, read and create weblogs, and read and process web sites via RSS feeds. Specific tools and sites such as Search Engine Watch, Research Buzz, and Blogger are explained and annotated. Pros and cons of each method are mentioned throughout. The price is a bit steep for such a slim volume (92p + index), but it's packed with information, and all librarians should be able to find some useful tips here.
Sarah L. Johnson, Reference Librarian at Eastern Illinois University's Booth Library, has written and spoken widely on career issues for librarians. She maintains Library Job Postings on the Internet and is the co-author of The Information Professional's Guide to Career Development Online.
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Kane, Laura Townsend. Straight from the Stacks: A Firsthand Guide to Careers in Library and Information Science. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2003. ISBN 0-8389-0865-9. $34.00. Purchase from Amazon.com.
Laura Kane does a good job of presenting many of the options that are available to LIS students today. I especially liked the sample job descriptions presented at the end of each chapter. The fact that the majority of the book is in the words of the jobholders is also a significant improvement over previous books on this topic.
However, the book still did not quite live up to my expectations. What I would rather have read was the descriptions of each job completely in the words of the individual in that position, not in the interview-like format used here. Additionally, most of the jobs described are "traditional" positions. There is a section on "nontraditional librarianship," but that only focuses on "corporate and freelance." What about jobs like library webmaster, LIS faculty, or those with library networks?
I recommend this book for those currently in LIS programs still wondering where they'd like to end up post-graduation and to those considering pursuing an LIS degree, as it will give them a good overview of the potentials of the field.
Reviewed by Michael Sauers. Michael has been the Internet Trainer for the Bibliographical Center for Research (BCR) for more than six years and is an adjunct faculty member of the University of Denver's LIS program. He has published six books on Web design and library Technology.