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NEWLIB-L
by Susan Scheiberg
"OK," I thought on my first day of work in the graduate research library at the University of Southern California. "This is it -- time to be a librarian!" After years of graduate school and a previous career as a folklorist, I'd decided on a career change, gone to library school, and here I was, a librarian. I survived that first day -- and the first weeks -- but a curious phenomenon occurred.
Although I was, in theory at least, a "baby" librarian, I had worked in libraries for several years as a high-level paraprofessional, and had a good deal of academic experience as a graduate student and an instructor. As a new librarian, I was in the precarious position of being treated as an experienced colleague, with all the attendant expectations, even though I still had an enormous amount to learn about my job and librarianship.
I had the good fortune to have excellent colleagues and mentors, but I felt the need to maintain the "professional aura" I seemed to convey. So, to whom could I address the "dumb" questions I had? To whom could I turn for support? And, more importantly, if I felt this way, might there be others who felt similarly? I was frustrated, but bit the bullet and buckled down to work.
After eleven months in the Reference Center, I took a promotion as head of serials acquisitions. This was a drastic change, and I felt even more at sea. I began to look for avenues to discuss growing concerns about tenure requirements, the trends in librarianship that were affecting me, and my own fears and doubts. Surprisingly, I found no forums that seemed adequate.
The Birth of NEWLIB-L
This void seemed troublesome, and I thought that perhaps an electronic discussion list might be the way to bring new librarians together in a "support" group -- a safe harbor to ask questions, solicit advice, and share experiences. To make the list really interesting, I thought I'd invite experienced librarians as well, to act as online mentors. Thus NEWLIB-L was born.
I advertised it on a number of other electronic mailing lists where I suspected other "newbies" might be, for bibliographic instruction, traditional and digital reference, acquisitions, serials, ALA's New Members' Round Table, etc. To my amazement, within less than 24 hours I had 88 subscribers; within a week there were over 1000. Today, NEWLIB-L has between 1000-1100 subscribers at any one time.
Now I felt I had a "safe" place to ask my questions, share my (and hear others') tales of woe and intrigue, help others when I could, and form a lively community of colleagues. What I did not realize at the time was that NEWLIB-L would prove to be an invaluable tool in building my career.
Professional Accomplishment
The first surprise came as I readied myself to participate in my second annual review. USC librarians are faculty members and thus must attain "continuing appointment" (equivalent to tenure for teaching faculty) within the prescribed number of years or risk losing their jobs. Annual reviews are a critical part of the process -- not only are one's ratings considered in the continuing appointment decision; one must show progress towards the requirements for continuing appointment to assure a good rating in the annual review process.
To aid the junior librarians in preparing review and tenure dossiers, the library had formed the Personnel Steering Committee (PSC), made up of senior librarians. During my semi-annual meeting with the PSC, we went over my work and external professional activities, and I was deemed ready to put forth my dossier. As an afterthought I told the committee about NEWLIB-L, although I hardly thought it was significant. The list took me all of three minutes to set up, and took very little daily work to maintain.
The information within NEWLIB-L was important to me, and, I fervently hoped, to others. I honestly didn't see the list as an "accomplishment," however, but rather as a personal way to help me come into my own professionalism and provide opportunities for others do the same. This was decidedly not the way that the PSC viewed the list.
One of the criteria in achieving continuing appointment is the extent to which one enhances the reputation of USC through excellence in one's academic and professional activities. Because USC's name (as the institutional host of the list) appeared in NEWLIB-L messages that were sent to over 1000 individuals worldwide, the PSC considered NEWLIB-L to be my most significant contribution that year. This was, of course, in addition to the professional service of hosting such a list, no matter how little actual work it took on a daily basis.
Professional Recognition
After this meeting, I began to search the web for references to NEWLIB-L to include as an appendix in my dossier. I was surprised to see the amount of press NEWLIB-L received -- mention of the new discussion list had appeared in American, Canadian, and English library newsletters, on other lists, in Internet alerts, and library web sites, all complete with references to USC. I included these in my dossier, and was reviewed very highly for this activity.
While you can only use something like that once in a review, NEWLIB- L has continued to be an important tool for my own professional development. First, it has given me a surprising amount of recognizability. At conferences, in association work, meetings, and on other lists, I often hear, "You're the NEWLIB-L person!" This has led to many opportunities for networking; because I am assumed to be an expert in issues relating to new librarians, the development and increasing popularity of NEWLIB-L has resulted in articles, presentations, and mentoring opportunities.
These opportunities, in turn, have led to an enhanced professional reputation, and, perhaps more importantly, to the chance to meet and collaborate with new colleagues and keep in touch with former colleagues and professors (indeed, when announcements for NEWLIB-L came out, I got a regretfully congratulatory note from a librarian whose library had turned me down for a job!), as well as the opportunity to share what I've learned along the way with the newest generations of librarians.
This, I believe, is the most important duty we have as professionals; to ensure the health and growth of the profession through the mentoring of our more junior colleagues. NEWLIB-L, to my great pleasure, has given me the opportunity to engage in this activity -- to me, the most rewarding aspect of librarianship.
Susan Scheiberg is Head of Acquisitions and Serials and is the Coordinator for Outreach Services at RAND in Santa Monica, California, and is the owner/manager of NEWLIB-L. She can be reached at susanls@rand.org.