Info Career Trends July 1, 2006 vol. 7, no. 4 ISSN 1532-0839 Published by LISjobs.com: http://www.lisjobs.com E-mail: editor@lisjobs.com Web: http://www.lisjobs.com/newsletter/ In This Issue (Facing Change): 1) Editor's Note 2) Career Q&A From the Library Career People (taking paraprofessional jobs as a new MLS) 3) Confessions of a Millennial Librarian 4) It's Not Personal, It's Business: Practical Advice on Dealing with Change in the Workplace 5) Creativity and Innovation for Information Professionals 6) What's Your Story? Knowing Yourself Is Key to Surviving Change 7) Creating Your Career: Minding the Gap 8) What's Online? Recommended Resources 9) But I Want To Hold It In My Hand! Reviews: On Sybil's Shoulders and Guide to Library and Information Agency Management 10) Administrivia, Copyright, Subscription and Removal Instructions ======== Editor's Note We've heard it so often it's become cliche: Librarianship is a changing profession. Library staff, though, face (or lead) change with varying degrees of success - and grace. Today's contributors offer several perspectives on landing firmly on the graceful side, on managing change, rather than letting it manage us. Looking to change the ways you contribute to the field? I'm looking for authors for the following issue: Jan. 2007 ("Getting Started"). Writing for ICT is a great way to jump into writing for the profession, and I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas. Send queries to editor@lisjobs.com. - Rachel (editor@lisjobs.com) ======== *** GenX? Millennial? Managing people of a different generation than yourself? Check out The NextGen Librarian's Survival Guide! http://www.lisjobs.com/nextgen/ ======== Career Q&A From the Library Career People (librarycareerpeople@lisjobs.com) Q: I recently got my MLS. I also have significant previous experience as a mainframe computer programmer, analyst and project leader. The job market is quite tight in my area, due to a library school in town and the economy. Is it ever a good idea to take a library job that doesn't use any of my new knowledge in hopes that something better will come along? I am concerned about appearing unsure of my professional abilities and appearing to be a job-hopper should that "perfect job" come along within the first few months of a non-professional position. I am also open to other positions that don't have the title of "librarian" especially if I can use some of my research skills. How do I find these types of jobs? I appreciate any suggestions that you have. Thank you. SM: By not taking a job in a library, or at least one that utilizes your librarian skills, you could hamper your future career. Many jobs require some kind of library experience (pre- or post-MLS, or a combination), and if you are not working in a library, or using any of your new skills, you will not be qualified - or even considered - for those jobs. Also, potential employers will wonder why you are not currently working in the field. Unless you can justify this in your cover letter and convince them that your skills are transferable, you are the right candidate for the job, and your enthusiasm for the profession has not been lost, you might find yourself struggling to break into librarianship. Many people are in similar situations, living in a community saturated with librarians and new grads, but without enough entry- level positions. New librarians will often move to take entry-level jobs in a different state (or even country), usually with the intention of acquiring necessary professional experience before coming home again. Sometimes they end up staying in their new locations (or move somewhere else), but some also make it back home after a few years and take a job in their ideal city. Call it sacrifice, or extreme motivation – it works well for some. Others, for a variety of reasons, are unable or unwilling to move. If this is you, then taking a job close to home that utilizes at least some of your skills would be the best thing to do. You need to make a living somehow. Broaden your job search by looking for jobs in your local newspaper or news site, or on a large job bank such as Monster ( http://www.monster.com ) or CareerBuilder.com ( http://www.careerbuilder.com ) and search for jobs using terms like "librarian," "library," or "research." You should get quite a variety of results. Some corporate positions actually prefer someone who has an MLS, although it might not be a librarian position or have "librarian" in the title. You might also want to look into a library staffing agency such as Library Associates ( http://www.libraryassociates.com ) for temporary or direct placement positions. Some people never intend to go into librarianship after getting their MLS (or equivalent) and find alternative careers in various disciplines. Your MLS might serve you well in the computing industry; however, it sounds like you do really want to be a librarian in a library. This means that yes, you should primarily be looking for librarian positions. If you do end up taking a non-library job, think about keeping involved in librarianship by volunteering. Contact your local libraries and offer your skills; they might have specific projects for you, and your computing background can be useful here. This is also a good way to make contacts and to keep an eye on job announcements. TA: Susanne makes some excellent points. Taking a job right out of library school that in no way uses your newly-minted degree could be somewhat damaging. However, we all need to pay the bills. I live in an area that has three ALA-accredited library schools within a 60- mile radius, so I hear this question a lot. Several things come to mind: In addition to volunteering, as mentioned above, explore the option of working as a temporary librarian. If you are in a situation that allows you to work for a defined duration (and often without benefits), filling in as a temp is a great way to get your foot in the door. You get real-life on-the-job experience, you can build a professional network, and, after proving your value, you may be headed in the direction of temp-to-perm. You can also do a lot with your resume and cover letter to explain your career choices and current employment to potential employers. Use your cover letter to explain any gaps in employment or to describe how that "non-librarian" position really is a lot like working in a library – using the same skill set or beefing up customer service skills. As we've often discussed, be sure to point out transferable skills from your current job (in a library or not) to the job for which you're applying. On your resume, be sure to list your primary job duties in relation to the duties you will have in the new position. For example, let's say you take a job as a project manager, since this is something you've done in the past - and then your "perfect job" as a cataloger comes along in your local public library. When you are crafting your resume and describing your duties, try to use words that will appeal to the supervisor of the cataloging position, such as: "managed complicated workflow;" "met deadlines for production in fast-paced environment;" "supervised staff and student interns." These phrases could apply to a project manager position as well as to many positions in cataloging. And finally, if you accept a position and have been in it for less than a year when you apply for another job, you will need to explain the short duration in your cover letter. It can be something as simple as: "I am excited to begin my professional career as a librarian..." which alludes to the reason you're leaving your non- library or paraprofessional job, while also expressing interest and enthusiasm for the new position. In light of everything we keep hearing about the impending "librarian shortage," having a library degree and not having a job can be extremely frustrating. Stick with it. Do what you need to do to pay the bills, but never lose sight of why you went to library school. Something in the curriculum drew you in, and it will be that vision, interest, and enthusiasm that will allow you to offer so much more in return. You just need your chance! See also: Geography 101: See the World, Get a Job by Richard A. Murray http://liscareer.com/murray_mobility.htm Librarians in the Information Age: Alternative Uses of MLS Degrees by Darwin McGuire http://www.liscareer.com/mcguire_alternativecareers.htm Relocating: the Beginning of a Great Adventure by Thad Dickinson http://liscareer.com/dickinson_relocation.htm Should You Take a Temp Job? by Amy York http://www.liscareer.com/york_temp.htm Volunteer Match http://www.volunteermatch.org/ *** Have a question for the Library Career People? E-mail it to librarycareerpeople@lisjobs.com, and you could see it answered in an upcoming column. Sorry, we cannot provide personal responses. About the Authors Tiffany Allen is currently serving as the Assistant Personnel Librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to her work in academic librarianship, Tiffany worked in a variety of libraries, including a small non-profit library and a large corporate research library. Susanne Markgren is the Systems/Electronic Resources Librarian at Purchase College, SUNY. Her career experience encompasses a variety of positions in different types of libraries, including public, special, and academic. ======== *** Wouldn't you like to see your ad here? http://www.lisjobs.com/ratecard.htm#newsletter ======== Confessions of a Millennial Librarian By Jamie M. Ligas (jligas@coastal.edu) The recent shifts in our student population have been astounding (or, so I'm told!). Today's students are so intrinsically linked to technology and to each other that academic librarians and faculty are forced to attend seminars on "Communicating with the Net Generation" and create profiles on Facebook, just to try and connect with their students. I hear educators (and... gasp...the occasional librarian) complain constantly about trying to keep up with these generational differences, so I am here to offer my humble insights as one of those challenging Millennials. I confess...I am a Millennial librarian. The next generation of librarian, ready to usher our noble profession into the net century. As one who vehemently admires the traditional ways, yet is excited to help bring in the new, I have some suggestions to both help ease the transition for librarians like myself and help navigate the changing terrain for the pioneers that came before us. For Newbies: * Get Your Feet Wet Seek out employment in a library setting. One of the biggest complaints I have heard is that most of us have the theory down, but have never put it into practice. Get a feel for conducting reference interviews or instruction, both in person and virtually. It will give you perspective on where we are heading and some of the challenges our mentors have faced. * Be Mentored This relationship is beneficial for both parties. You will gain invaluable access to a wealth of knowledge that only time on the job can teach you. In turn, you can act as a sounding board for ideas about new approaches to instruction, integrating and updating technology, and how to market library services to our ever-evolving student constituency. * Tame the Beast Understand the nature of change. Many of us are raring to get things started and make changes happen as quickly as possible (such as making our collections completely digital, or offering 24-hour online reference access). But, not everyone is used to being "plugged in" and connected all the time. The quicker things change, the less time there is to anticipate and troubleshoot obstacles. Learn how to tame the desire to change everything at once, and embrace the little changes at hand. * Offer Assistance We grew up with technology. Offer to hold a workshop on how to use Instant Messenger and highlight its practical, positive functions, or create a presentation for librarians and faculty on the efficiency of MySpace as a means of gathering student feedback. By taking some of the mystery out of these innovations and finding practical ways to apply them, we can help create function out of a form that many are still unsure of. For Veterans: * Create a Silver Lining Digitizing, going virtual, navigating the web, can all be challenging in ways we never thought of. However, you have access to a new crop of younger professionals who can bridge some of those communication/access/learning gaps. Use us as advocates. We can seek out user feedback in an unobtrusive manner. Many have an edge (the student appearance factor) in decreasing student anxiety in tapping librarians as a resource, and, yes, even to convince some that there are better resources than Google Scholar. * Attitude Counts What we lack in experience, we make up for in enthusiasm. Many of us are born problem solvers; we just need a problem to tackle. Allow us to assist in an area where you would like us to develop, or give us a pilot project and see what inventive solutions evolve. Millennials were born multitaskers, and we can hone that skill to increase productivity on the job. * Skin the Cat "There is more than one way to skin a cat," the saying goes, and libraries are a prime example of that. Be flexible, and allow us to justify our method of doing something a slightly different way. Seeking the rationale behind a particular method might inspire improvements in unexpected ways. Use our signature informal technical background and creativity as an asset. * Embrace the Elephant Change is coming, but you have help! Even better than boasting a tech savvy, inventive, student-like librarian, you have a born team member - and, if you're lucky, a leader. We can offer current insights and a unique connection to the incoming student shift. The new librarian knows the value of the library, and can help translate its goals into this net generation. Yes, librarianship is changing. The tools we have are evolving, the librarian's role as gatekeeper is diminishing, and our students are unlike any that came before. But take heart: the core values of our noble profession are still intact. The people doing the job define our profession, not the place or way in which we do it. Jamie Ligas is the Assistant Library Instruction Coordinator and member of the Reference department at Coastal Carolina University's Kimbel Library in Myrtle Beach, SC. She completed her MLS from the University at Buffalo in 2005. Helping to pioneer the changing landscape of Reference and Instructional Services is one of her most revered tasks. Email: jligas@coastal.edu. ======== *** Need some encouragement on writing for publication? http://www.lisjobs.com/pub4lib/ ======== It's Not Personal, It's Business: Practical Advice on Dealing with Change in the Workplace by Veronica L. C. Stevenson-Moudamane (vstevens@danburylibrary.org) and Austin O. Ekeinde, Sr. "Change is the Law of Life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future" - John F. Kennedy The old adage that "nothing remains constant but change itself" has never been truer than in libraries today. Even the very possibility of change, though, instills fear in most people. What is it about workplace change that causes our palms to go moist, or our capacity for adjustment to shut down? All librarians have faced change. We changed (some more smoothly than others) from undergraduate to graduate status. We might have changed from entry level to middle- or top-level management. Some of us may even have changed specialties. In fact, without change, most of us would never have considered attending library school, or opted to be trained or re-trained to advance professionally - or even considered new challenges at all. We have all faced - and continue to face - change in our professional lives, so what makes it so difficult to accept? From our combined 37 years as corporate and library professionals, we've devised a list of our ultimate top-five fear-inducing contenders regarding change in the workplace: * Change can happen at any time, and to anyone * Change is rarely followed with adequate instructions and/or guidance * Change produces stress * Change challenges us and moves us (sometimes forcefully) out of our comfort zones * Change tends to imply a "with or without you" scenario Library professionals are definitely working in changing environments. With ever-increasing budgetary concerns, many of us face organizational restructuring and loss of personnel and/or personnel reclassifications. Subsequently, we're asked to produce more with less funding, often with fewer staff, and to assume greater responsibilities with fewer opportunities for adequate training. For others, the stress catalyst might be to work longer hours or to abdicate long-held professional values for the benefit of the institution. So, now what? Since change is here to stay, what tidbits of wisdom can help library professionals weather the sea of perpetual change? The answer boils down to attitude. Adopting A Different Attitude on Change "How did I get here? Somebody pushed me. Somebody must have set me off in this direction and clusters of other hands must have touched themselves to the controls at various times, for I would not have picked this way at all." - Joseph Heller We can't manage workplace change by approaching it unwillingly - or proceeding mindlessly into the stormy seas. As television revolutionized radio, and word processing applications have reduced typewriters to fondly-remembered gadgets, it's clear that change can also bring positive improvements. When you step back and look at change from a non-judgmental and non- threatening perspective, you'll be able to embrace the concept rationally, rather than emotionally. Change is an integral part of our profession (and of our lives!), and the sooner you adapt your perspective and attitude, the better armed you will be for weathering its cycles. Whether your organization's change is slow and gradual or a major deluge that occurs all at once, here's a checklist to help you re- focus and re-adjust your perspective on dealing with change: * Remember that the change is not a personal attack on your professional ethics, nor is it a reflection on what you've been doing for X number of years. It's merely business, part and parcel of the game of organizational survival. * Attempt to identify and understand the reasons for the imposed change. Is it a management-, system- or customer-driven change? * Will the proposed change affect your current responsibilities? If so, what do you need to secure or ensure from management in order for the change to be successful? If the imposed change is not life- threatening or illegal, it is your professional responsibility to be supportive. * Will the change eventually lead to an improved organization; e.g., through an improved OPAC interface, streamlined billing processes, or more effective customer service? * Be observant of career trends and evolutions. Prepare for impending changes by keeping your skills current and maintaining a receptive attitude. Everyone deals with change differently, and many library professionals are experiencing tremendous changes in their organizational structures, the way work ultimately gets done, or how people are expected to work together. The above checklist is a tool to help you maintain emotional distance from change, while providing practical strategies for positively dealing with challenges without becoming overwhelmed. Even Change Changes "It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new, but there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power" - Alan Cohen The concept of change is cyclical; changes embraced today will catalyze new changes tomorrow. Whether you're seeking guidance on how you can deal with changes in the workplace, or assistance in helping your staff negotiate change, we must accept the reality that change is always just around the corner. Workplace satisfaction, though, will only come to those who can master change by continuously adapting to new ideas, who are willing to learn new technologies, and who ultimately understand that change is not personal, it's business. Veronica L. C. Stevenson-Moudamane is the Junior Services Librarian for the City of Danbury [CT] and has served as a professional librarian for nearly 17 years specializing in academic, public, children's and adult librarianship. Austin O. Ekeinde, Sr. is Director of Engineering and Operations Manager for Multiplier Industries in Mount Kisco, New York and Change Agent Consultant for over 20 years. ======== *** Love the newsletter? Make a PayPal donation to its upkeep: https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=rachel%40lisjobs.com ======== Creativity and Innovation for Information Professionals by Dennie Heye (Dennie.Heye@shell.com) Creativity and innovation are two important and closely linked "soft skill" topics for information professionals. Creativity involves the production of new ideas (or combining old ideas in a new way); it is also the main driver for innovation. Innovation involves the transformation of a new idea into a new product or service, or an improvement in organization or process. Creativity and innovation are a bit magical: it is very hard to be creative on the spot, but, by creating the right atmosphere and keeping an open mind, the magic can appear. As Tom Kelly, author of The Art of Innovation, once said: "The spark of innovation is not in what we do, but in how we do it." Information Professionals and Innovation As information professionals, we live in exciting times. With information management now more important than ever, new tools and creative ideas to help people manage information are being introduced almost weekly. Consider the developments in information organization and retrieval over the last ten years, such as Internet search engines, wikis, peer-to-peer file sharing, and blogs. As an example, take a look at the development of Internet search engines over the past ten years. In 1996, the Internet was starting to catch on as the new information platform, and we saw the start of full-text search engines like Yahoo! Looking back, the capabilities of those early search engines were limited: they had an index of only one or two million web pages, could only index HTML and text files, and ranking was based on word frequency. In 1996, however, this was a major tool for information retrieval: for the world at large, this was unprecedented access to a wide range of information, using a straightforward search engine. Now, in 2006, search engines add features and versatility every few months. They now index billions of web pages (including all common document formats), and offer more intelligent rankings, with engines such as Vivisimo offering categorization on the fly. The launch of Google Earth has shown us yet another innovative look at information, and this is just the tip of the iceberg for innovative information management tools. This illustrates the high rate of innovation in information management, and that innovation and creativity can lead to new and exciting tools and services. But, it is not just about us creating new tools and services. As information professionals, we can also help our organizations support innovation by: * Disseminating information: We can find internal and external information relevant to innovation for our organizations. We should not just send information as we find it, but extract the main messages related to our organization, putting them into context and delivering them to key groups involved in the innovation process. * Providing resources: These include books, journals and electronic resources related to innovation and creativity. * Acting as a linking pin: As information professionals, we have networks both inside and outside our organizations. We can recognize opportunities for innovation and pass them on to the right people. (Ideally, we can support these by documentation such as a patent search or links to press clippings.) Creativity and Innovation Tips Even if you would not describe yourself as very creative, you can develop your creative skills or facilitate sessions where creativity is needed. Take a Risk There is no innovation without risk. When you propose something different and new, which has not been proven or accepted, you risk that your idea will not work, be criticized, lack support, or even fail. But, if you do not dare to risk all of this, your innovation will just remain an idea. Recognize the type of risk involved with your idea. Is it financial or ethical? Will it be accepted in the culture you work in? Is your organization, your customer or the world ready for your innovation? When you have a good feeling about what the risk of your innovation entails, you can estimate the chances of that risk happening. In the end, it comes down to the question whether the risk outweighs the opportunity of your innovation. I Wish... When you were a kid, you used to close your eyes weeks before Christmas or your birthday and wish for the best present you could imagine. In your mind you could see, almost touch that awesome present you wanted most of all. As an adult, you can use the same wishing process to start a creative concept. Start with a wish that would help you in your life or work. This could be: "I wish I could finish this large project on time, but still have time to enjoy my gourmet cooking class." This wish can then be translated into a deeper wish, which in this case could be "I wish I could learn how to prioritize in my life and maintain a good work-life balance." This can then lead into a creative thought process about how to achieve this much-desired goal. Visualizing Related to the wishing concept is visualization. Try to visualize in your mind what your want to achieve, for example, a redesign of your library. Think of all the details that let you picture how that redesigned library would look. What color is the floor? What feeling do you get in the new library? Where is the front desk located? How do you walk from the entrance to the reading table? By building a very clear picture in your head, your motivation to achieve your vision will increase, and you will also know exactly what you want and how you want it to be. Be Curious In order to become and stay creative, you need to encourage your brain to embrace creativity. You can do this by regularly learning about new things, which keeps your mind fresh and makes it easier to make connections between different topics. Make it a habit to study something new every once in a while, be it a new language, a new hobby, or a topic that just seems interesting. What can you learn about it? How does this new topic relate to what you already know? Learn From Your Mistakes When you do something new or different, there is always a chance of making a mistake. Don't let this scare you away from new and creative paths, but learn from them. Mistakes show you what did not work, and what should be analyzed so you can do better next time. If Michelangelo had thrown away his paintbrushes after his first concept sketches of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, we would never have seen this miraculous painting. This article is a condensed version of a chapter of the author's book, Characteristics Of The Successful 21st Century Information Professional (ISBN 184334145X). More information can be found on his web site: http://www.dennie.heye.nl ======== *** Have technology responsibilities in your library? Check out The Accidental Systems Librarian! http://www.lisjobs.com/tasl/ . ======== What's Your Story? Knowing Yourself Is Key to Surviving Change by Shelley Hourston (hourston@shaw.ca) Lynn Baird recently wrote that: "Librarians are change agents, working in an environment that requires us to be both leading and chasing change." I've been researching change and resilience among librarians, and, while few would argue that change is a central theme across our profession, many librarians I talked to admit to feeling ambivalent about "leading" or "chasing" change. Undoubtedly, some of us feel more comfortable with change than others. Julie Renee Moore, a catalogue librarian at California State University in Fresno, is a librarian who both leads and chases change. She says: "Change happens in our profession, and it happens in ways that you often cannot predict. It is important to take the attitude that change is good. Embrace change. Change can make your job exciting and fun, and take you places you'd never imagined possible!" For others, though, change is less welcome. Events such as job loss, personal crises such as illness or loss of a partner or child, or even the stress associated with day-to-day activities in our personal or professional lives can demand extraordinary energy and resilience. The American Psychological Association defines resilience as "the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress - such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. It means 'bouncing back' from difficult experiences." But what makes some of us better at "bouncing back" than others? How can we develop the resilience that enables us to feel comfortable as the change agents described by Baird? Perspective: The Glass Half Empty Is Also Half Full My research and conversations with librarians from around the world reveal that perspective is key to resilience and navigating change. Sometimes, maintaining a positive perspective simply means hanging on - believing that you will get through the challenge you're facing. Resilience, however, seems to result from specific characteristics and traits that can be learned and developed. Knowing Your Story Recognizing that we are the authors of our own stories can help us build resilience and a degree of comfort with change. By the time we embark on our careers as librarians, most of us have experienced some negative effects of change: loss; fear and anxiety; anger; loneliness and isolation; loss of confidence; and, sometimes, resentment. It is true that many of the events that precipitate change are beyond our control, but we can control how we respond. In fact, often, this is the only thing we can control. Framing change as a new chapter in our "life story" is powerful. Our lives are our stories. We share stories about our experiences every day, and we seek the stories of others' lives through biography and autobiography, movies, and the media. The increasingly popular use of narrative or storytelling as a communication tool in organizations attests to the power of story. I propose that, by adopting story as a tool to explore our own strengths, experiences, and resources, we can recognize and appreciate our resilience. Psychiatrist Frederic Flach, author of Resilience: Discovering a New Strength at Times of Stress, has developed a profile of interpersonal and inner strengths which contribute to resilience. Interpersonal strengths include independent thought and action combined with a willingness to work with others; an ability to give and take in relationships; a strong support network of family, friends and colleagues; a forgiving attitude toward yourself and others; an ability to set limits; generosity; and an ability to give and receive love. Inner strengths include strong self-esteem; a sense of discipline and responsibility; recognition and development of special talents; a broad range of interests; high tolerance for distress; focus and commitment; a spiritual or philosophical framework to provide meaning for experiences; a sense of humor; and creativity. Flach acknowledges that there is no single recipe for resilience, and that resilient people possess many (not all) of these strengths in varying degrees. At first glance, identifying evidence of these strengths in our lives can seem challenging. Using story to review times in your life when you were resilient will help to map your strengths and resources. In discussing the power of story, Stephen Denning notes that "some scientists believe that storytelling is hard-wired into our brains." He also cites psychologist Jerome Bruner’s work with young children, who at an early age "start to tell stories to themselves as part of their first efforts to make sense of their lives (Seely Brown et al p126)." Capturing Your Story Record your stories in a journal, either by writing directly or recording your spoken stories and transcribing them. It may be easier to tell your stories to a family member or trusted colleague. Use the opportunity to share memories and stories of adversity and resilience. If you need prompts, think about major changes in your life - adolescence, university, your first position as a librarian, or places you've lived and people you knew. Then, review your stories, reading between the lines and noting the strengths reflected in your actions, responses and decisions. What did you learn from these experiences? Don't expect your strengths to always be clearly labeled. For example, creativity is a critical trait among resilient people, but you may not consider yourself creative. In a recent article exploring creativity and resilience among health librarians, I discovered that librarians are extremely creative, by virtue of their professional training. Often though, people don't recognize their own creativity. Be aware that using story to uncover resilience can't be done in an afternoon. It takes a lifetime to create your story - give yourself some time to appreciate the character development. Like all good stories, your story includes drama and humor, high points and low points. Remember that you are the storyteller and ultimately, the meaning of your story is up to you. Change is inevitable, but you can decide whether you are leading change - embracing it - or following in its wake. Remember, you are the author of your story, and change is the energy that drives the plot. References American Psychological Association. "The Road to Resilience." (Washington, DC: APA, 2004). http://www.apahelpcenter.org/featuredtopics/feature.php?id=6 (accessed May 21, 2006). Baird, Lynn. "Change and Connections: Passion and Organizational Change." Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship 6, no.1-2 (Summer 2005), http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v06n01/baird_l01.htm (accessed May 20, 2006). Denning, Steve. The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, 2005. Flach, Frederic. Resilience: Discovering a New Strength at Times of Stress. New York: Hatherleigh Press, 2004. Hourston, Shelley. "Creativity and the Resilient Health Librarian." Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association Vol 27 (2005): 35-37. (In press) Seely Brown, John and others. Storytelling in Organizations: Why Storytelling is Transforming 21st Century Organizations and Management. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005. Shelley Hourston is a community development librarian who also offers coaching and workshops to help information professionals recognize and maximize their skills, creativity and resilience. Contact her at http://www.shourstonandassociates.com . ======== *** Visit The Liminal Librarian: http://www.lisjobs.com/liminal/ ======== Creating Your Career: Minding the Gap by Dr. J. Michael Pemberton, Peter Fritzler, and Anne E. Pemberton (pembertona@uncw.edu) "Mind the Gap" The phrase "Mind the Gap" is "an announcement that you'll hear [at] the London Underground subway system when a train arrives at a station. Much more than just a warning about the 'gap' between a carriage and the platform, it's a phrase that has entered popular culture and become synonymous with London. People who have visited England's capital city say 'Mind the Gap' to each other - often accompanied by knowing glances and subtle nods - while the rest of the world wonders what they are [talking] about" ( http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/4761/90349 ). "Mind the gap" can also apply to the gap between your current experience and skills and those you'll need in the next position you aspire to in your library career. Creating A Strategic Plan (Dr. J. Michael Pemberton) A job and a career are quite different. A career spans several years - often one's entire working life - and implies management or planning. A job is merely what we're doing today, and little more. Make your choice, then: drift or mastery. Choose drift, and employment turns into one chance, random job after another. Choose mastery, and take charge of - and responsibility for - your career destiny, bringing order to chaos. How do successful companies make sense of their domain and stay successful? They create and follow strategic plans, so that the company is run by plan, rather than by the idiosyncratic personalities of boards of directors. Begin to think of yourself as chief of strategic planning for "You, Inc.," and act accordingly. To become your own CEO, you must understand where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. This becomes the foundation of your strategic plan, a blueprint covering the next four to five years. If you are in your first professional position as, say, a reference librarian at a liberal arts college (where you are), your mission may be "to become head of reference at a liberal arts college" (where you want to be in four to five years). What remains is the gap - what you need to get there. Minding - and closing - the gap is met primarily through your goals and objectives. To determine what you need to do to meet your career mission, you should develop a gap analysis to make your plan specific. Identify five to eight current job postings for library reference heads at liberal arts colleges - the type of position that satisfies your mission (to become a head of reference). Make a table showing each required and preferred competency or accomplishment listed in these ads. Make note of which you have and which you do not. The sample exercise below illustrates one way to identify your gaps, and to map out what you need to do (including goals, objectives, and target dates) to get to your desired level. Mission My mission is to become the library director at a liberal arts college within five years. Goals 1. Gain long-range planning experience Objectives 1. Develop action plan to carry out existing long-range plans at present place of employment. 2. Initiate long range-planning for needed areas at present place of employment (2006-2007). 3. Read at least two books or other materials pertaining to long-range planning in libraries (2006-2008). 2. Gain experience in facility building/ renovation Objectives 1. Become actively involved in planning and managing, to the extent possible, the two renovation/building projects (a three-room renovation and a proposed 5000 square foot building addition) slated for the next year at my current place of employment (2006-2007). 2. Consult with librarians who have recent experience in planning and building or renovating facilities (2006-2008). 3. Gain more experience in development and fundraising efforts Objectives 1. Work with current supervisor to find experience in development efforts in my current position. (2006- ) 2. Work with the development officers at the institution where I currently work to gain advice and experience in development and fundraising. (2006- ) Relevant associations (or subdivisions) can also be valuable. You may belong to ALA already, but its Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) might have the best focus for your specific needs. Library directors do fundraising, so LAMA's Fund Raising and Financial Development Section also makes sense. Also make a habit of reading one or more journals or newsletters supporting your direction would be. Within LAMA, a good e-mail discussion list would be LIBADMIN-L. Mentors who have reached the level to which you aspire could prove indispensable. Next, develop a personalized plan for future education. A relevant master's or doctoral degree program or continuing education (such as regional management seminars) could help close the gap as well. Also think about beginning writing program - in which you might begin modestly with book reviews, then conference presentations, followed by co-authoring articles with well-established practitioners, and then branching out on your own to develop manuscripts for professional journals. Unique Transitions: Minding the Gap When New Doors Open Often in librarianship, unforeseen and unplanned career opportunities arise. This presents a unique challenge in "minding the gap." Two librarians who were hired into new positions that were not part of their strategic plan discuss how they "minded the gap" and made successful transitions into positions that unexpectedly came along. Generalist to Subject Specialist (Peter Fritzler) I was presented with an unexpected opportunity to serve as the newly-created position of sciences librarian while serving as an outreach librarian at my university. While excited to serve in this new capacity, I was also apprehensive, as I lacked the relevant educational and professional competencies. Clearly, to be successful I would need to begin closing the gap. I began this process by surveying the library literature and profession for support. Several resources were immediately beneficial in aiding my transition. First, I joined the Science and Technology Section (STS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). In addition to monitoring the STS journal, Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, and the section's e-mail list (STS-L), I began following another key science librarianship journal, Science and Technology Libraries. These resources let me begin developing an understanding of the issues and trends currently being discussed among science librarians. While developing a sense of the current scope of the field and its resources, I also wanted to begin learning about resources that are considered classics within the field. Here, I found the Guide to Reference and Information Sources in the Zoological Sciences (2003), Using the Biological Literature: A Practical Guide (2002), and Chemistry Resources in the Electronic Age (2003), among others, to be extremely useful. Besides these resources I also examine position announcements for science librarians and attend conferences that will enable me to network and develop mentoring relationships with fellow professionals. While developing an understanding of the field of science librarianship has been important, it has been equally important to develop a basic understanding of science and scientists, because academic science librarianship is founded on the premise of supporting the needs of this community. To cultivate my understanding of the scientific process, I have begun taking science classes and following the scientific literature. Utilizing table-of- contents alert services such as Ingenta and RSS technologies, I have been able to stay abreast of the latest in scientific research being published in leading journals like Nature, Science, and narrower topical journals like Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. The chance to serve as a sciences librarian has changed my professional track considerably, and I hope to continue developing this opportunity into a long-term career path. While many gaps remain to be filled, I am hopeful that the methods above will help me to continue my growth in this field. Entry-Level Librarian to Coordinator (Anne Pemberton) Moving from an entry-level public services position into the role of coordinating a program, in this case instructional services, required that I "mind the gap." I came into the position with plenty of experience in instruction - but no experience managing an instruction program. The main tools I used to help me mind the gap were literature and other professionals. Articles and books on managing instructional programs were of great help. They provided wonderful tips, suggestions, and resources that helped me transition into a coordinator role. (I'm currently reading the book Learning to Lead and Manage Information Literacy Instruction, by Grassian and Kaplowitz.) Literature such as this has helped me develop my leadership skills within my library's instruction program, learn about ways to promote and market the instruction program, and learn how to foster a creative environment for the members of the library's instruction team. I have also relied heavily on other professionals to help with the transition. I joined instruction-specific lists (such as ILI-L) and ACRL's Instruction Section to learn about other what other professionals are doing in their instruction programs. I make a habit of looking at other libraries' instructional services web sites and contacting the coordinators of those services for ideas and information. When I attend conferences, I look for sessions that discuss leadership or other relevant topics. I also spend a great deal of time talking to the librarians who provide instruction at my library. They have wonderful ideas about instruction. Using the literature and seeking input from other librarians has helped me make a successful transition into the position of Instructional Services Coordinator. Helpful Resources Blair, Gary Ryan. "Creating a Personal Strategic Plan!" http://www.successreview.com/GRBarticle01.htm (accessed May 22, 2006) Bridges, William. Creating You & Co: Learn to Think Like the CEO of Your Own Career. London: Nicholas Brealey, 1997. Lockwood, Gary. "Your Personal Strategic Plan." http://www.bizsuccess.com/articles/persplan.htm (accessed May 22, 2006) Morrisey, George L. Creating Your Future: Personal Strategic Planning for Professionals. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1992. Dr. J. Michael Pemberton, Professor, School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Peter Fritzler, Sciences Librarian, Randall Library, University of North Carolina Wilmington. Anne E. Pemberton, Instructional Services Coordinator, Randall Library, University of North Carolina Wilmington. ======== *** Find yourself with management responsibilities? Check out The Accidental Library Manager! http://www.lisjobs.com/talm/ ======== What's Online? Recommended Resources On Facing Change Coping With Change in the Workplace http://www.sla.org/content/Shop/Information/infoonline/2002/oct02/mo senkis.cfm OR http://digbig.com/4kqwr Does the non-Dynamic Library Have a Future? http://scanblog.blogspot.com/2005/04/does-non-dynamic-library-have- future.html OR http://digbig.com/4kqws Five Phrases I Hope I Never Hear in Libraries Again (based on a true story) http://tametheweb.com/2006/04/ten_phrases_i_hope_i_never_hea.html Library Crunch http://www.librarycrunch.com On Change, Library 2.0, and ALA http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2006/02/on-change-library-20-and- ala.html OR http://digbig.com/4kqwt The 21st Century Library http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/02/the_21st_century_library.php ======== Brockmeyer, Donna. On Sybil's Shoulders: Seeking Soul in Library Leadership. Scarecrow, 2005. ISBN 0810851202. $35.00. Purchase from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0810851202/librarisjobsearc/ The real crisis in librarianship today is in leadership. Library schools churn out new graduates with no idea what it means to be a manager or library leader. Library associations are just beginning to address this issue with workshops, courses, and programs. Donna Brockmeyer's On Sybil's Shoulders takes a varied and dynamic look at library leadership, based on the author's own experiences as a library leader and her involvement in the Northern Exposure to Leadership (Canada) and the American Snowbird Leadership Institute. She begins with a discussion of soul in leadership before moving on to examine a variety of leadership theories and models, both ancient and modern. The bulk of the work, however, focuses on the leadership institutes and a follow-up survey. Also included are comments from nine library leaders who have touched the author's life. This is a highly recommended book for all librarians. Lisa A. Ennis is the Reference Librarian at UAB Lister Hill Library in Birmingham, AL. She received her M.S. in Information Sciences from the University of Tennessee in 1997 and her M.A. in history from Georgia College & State University in 1994. --- Curran, Charles and Lewis Miller. Guide to Library and Information Agency Management. Scarecrow, 2005. ISBN 0-8108-5115-6. $45.00. Purchase from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0810851156/librarisjobsearc/ Curran and Miller describe this book as a field guide to "information places." Like a natural history guidebook, it provides a descriptive overview of what one is likely to encounter in a particular place - in this case, libraries and information agencies - warning of hazards, and pointing out interesting opportunities. Broad in scope and written in an easy-to-read style, this guide can most appropriately be used as an introduction to management for library and information science students. Each chapter includes one or more exercises, labeled "Your Turn," that are intended to stimulate thoughts and discussions about issues that arise in the information workplace. These exercises appear to be designed for a classroom or continuing education setting. While experienced managers will find most of this book's content to be familiar, it may still be useful for those in larger organizations who need to conduct in-house management training sessions. Jan Hutchins is Manager of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) Library, located at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. ======== Info Career Trends is copyright Lisjobs.com and Rachel Singer Gordon. Permission is granted to forward this newsletter in its entirety as long as the contents remain unchanged and this copyright message is included. 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