Info Career Trends March 1, 2002 vol. 3, no. 2 ISSN 1532-0839 Published by Lisjobs.com - http://www.lisjobs.com E-mail: editor@lisjobs.com In This Issue: 1) Editor's Note 2) Charting a Path from Student to Professional 3) Lifelong Learning 4) Ahhhh, to be called "Dr." 5) Be the Expert! 6) An International Student's Guide To Making the Most of Graduate School 7) Medical Informatics: A Career for Librarians 8) What's Online? Recommended Resources 9) But I Want To Hold It In My Hand! Print Resources 10) Administrivia, Copyright, Subscription and Removal Instructions ======== Editor's Note Welcome back! Today's issue focuses on the broad topic of library education, from continuing education, to making the most of your time in library school, to pursuing the Ph.D. As we ponder the future of our changing profession, it behooves us to think carefully about the educational choices we make and about how we can shape our own learning environment to become effective 21st century librarians. If you'd like to contribute your own wisdom to help shape others' learning, consider contributing an article to a future issue of Info Career Trends. May's theme is "rejuvenating your career," and, if you have battled burnout or blahs, I'd love to hear your secret. Please send queries to editor@lisjobs.com. - Rachel (editor@lisjobs.com) ======== Charting a Path from Student to Professional by Karen Rasmussen (karenmrasmussen@hotmail.com) When I arrived at graduate school last semester to start working on my MLIS degree, my first goal was survival. I had to discover how to find the time to do the voluminous reading required by my classes, learn how to juggle the demands of work and school, and decide what kind of library setting I might like to work in after graduation. But I quickly realized that I also needed to figure out how to make the transition from student to professional -- while I was still in school. Other students in my program were in the same position, whether they were moving from undergraduate programs to graduate school, re- entering the professional world after taking time off, or -- like me -- changing career paths. Making this transition requires professional advice and professional development opportunities, both vital steps toward becoming professional librarians. Professional Advice The best way to find professional advice is fairly obvious: talk to professionals. Some students are reluctant to approach professors in their department, waiting instead for professors to offer help. Professors, though, are busy people, juggling departmental, professional, and personal demands on their time. Because there are more students than professors in graduate programs, it's impossible for them to reach out to every student. Take the initiative to approach your professors. Say hello to them in the hallway, ask them questions about their fields and about the program. If you are intimidated by their position, try thinking of them as your future colleagues. Most professors want to help the students in their program; you simply have to ask. After I decided that I wanted to follow a path that could train me to work in a special collections library, I stopped by a professor's office one day to introduce myself. I asked his advice about the classes I should take and the experiences I should try to pursue while in school. I ended up walking out with names of people I should talk to and classes I should look into -- and with his offer to serve as my advisor. Another great way for time-pressed students to learn about different career paths and meet library professionals is to conduct informational interviews. During our library school's orientation, we toured the information sciences library. One librarian talked about how she worked with a special collection of children's literature. At the end of the tour, I asked her if she would be able to go to lunch one day so I could ask her about her work, how she got her job, and what advice she had for me about classes to take. An unexpected bonus from our lunch was that, not only did I learn about her job, I made a friend. Another easy way to find out about the different jobs librarians do is to interview them for class assignments. When I was writing a policy for the preservation of maps, I contacted the university's map librarian. I got some good, practical advice from him for my paper, and our meeting gave me a chance to get out from behind my computer, visit the library, and see what a map librarian does. Professional Development Opportunities In addition to creating your own informal interactions with professors and librarians, take advantage of the student membership rates that most professional associations offer. Simply skimming the literature can give you a good idea of the issues librarians in your chosen field are concerned with. Some associations, like ALA, are so large that it's hard to know where to begin, but joining and becoming an officer in your school's student associations can be a good introduction to the national organizations. Such involvement can also help you develop and refine your leadership skills and meet your fellow students. Many professional organizations also have regional chapters that welcome student participation. Although I don't plan to work in a special library, the SLA chapter in my area is very active. Its members encourage students and the chapter sponsors events that touch on subjects that aren't always covered in coursework, such as how to negotiate a contract. Last, but not least, talk to your fellow students about what they are doing to learn about different fields and how they are becoming involved in professional activities. One of my classmates regularly applies for scholarships to attend professional conferences and has volunteered to start a mentoring program with the local SLA chapter. Watching her pursue such opportunities encourages me to carve out my own professional path. A well-known saying advises that, if you don't know where you are going, any road will do. By seeking professional advice and participating in professional development opportunities, all students can begin to chart their professional paths. Karen Rasmussen expects to graduate in August 2002 with an MLIS degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She has an MA in English and has worked as a writer, editor, and grants specialist. ======== *** ADVERTISEMENT *** Pattern Research provides training, consulting and facilitating for libraries, library boards and library organizations of all types and sizes, as well as school, academic, medical and nonprofit workplaces. Our specialties are leadership, management and personnel issues. Visit our web site at http://www.pattern.com for details. So far, we have worked in 27 states and with most major national library organizations. Current references available. Since 1975. Pat Wagner, Pattern Research, PO Box 9100, Denver CO 80209-0100; 303- 778-0880; pat@pattern.com. ======== Lifelong Learning by Denise Landry-Hyde (Denise.Landry@mail.tamucc.edu) Lifelong learning should today be a familiar concept to all of us. Commencement is not the end, but the beginning of a lifelong pursuit of knowledge and learning; a college degree simply lays the foundation for a person's education. Pundits tell us that young people today will change careers roughly seven times in a lifetime. In order to do that, we must learn how to learn. One thing that has always attracted me to the university setting is the constant interaction of teaching and learning. I can't think of a better environment in which to work and grow and develop. I will use my own university library to illustrate how rapidly change now occurs. We are a mid-sized library in a historically underserved area. Our library first brought an automated catalog online in 1995. Prior to that, we had a few stand-alone CD-ROM workstations -- and that was about it on the electronic front. Shortly after we went online, however, we brought up a LAN. After that, we soon moved almost exclusively to web-based databases, and now offer two ways to access our databases from remote locations. The university has recently adopted WebCT as its courseware delivery software and has contracted with Eduprise to help provide the 24/7 support required to sustain instruction in a digital environment. All of these developments occurred in the space of just a few short years. It is mind-boggling how rapidly change takes place. In order to be able to survive (and hopefully prosper!) in this new learning environment, we must be perpetual learners. One of the best ways I have found to keep technologically up-to-date is to regularly attend workshops and instruction sessions offered by our Center for Teaching Excellence here on campus. Most colleges and universities have some equivalent unit -- the name may be different, but the function is the same. The intent is to help faculty stay current in learning technologies that can be used in the classroom. These may include everything from Web authoring tools to presentation software to courseware delivery packages to digital cameras and scanning techniques. So, you don't necessarily need to travel vast distances in order to take advantage of training opportunities. There are likely to be many such opportunities right at your door. I have become a regular customer at our CTE and have become close friends with the educational technologists who work there. They are part of my support network. Library staff have also offered some of their workshops, such as "Creating Successful Library Research Assignments." Collaboration with the Center staff has been a real pleasure, and we have both benefited from the experience. Another base for networking and continuing education is the conference circuit and participation in professional associations. In my case, my state library association (Texas Library Association) is a tremendously active and productive one, so my heaviest conference participation is at the state level. For many librarians, travel dollars are limited, so travel to state annual conferences is often more feasible than travel to national or international conferences. Membership in association divisions, round tables, and interest groups provides opportunities to network and exchange ideas with people who are working in similar areas. In specialized fields, like Marine Science, tremendous support is available through specialized associations such as IAMSLIC (International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers). The Marine Science community, even on a worldwide scale, is a relatively small one, but this association is particularly strong in its accomplishments and being a member is a wonderful way to connect and to stay current in the field. E-mail discussion lists are another extremely valuable way to keep current. Moderated lists are often preferable as they keep extraneous postings to a minimum. Two of my favorites are LIBREF-L (Reference) and BI-L (Library Instruction). The Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters, and Academic Discussion Lists, compiled by Dru Mogge and Diane Kovacs and published by ARL, is a good starting point for helping individuals find meaningful and appropriate discussion lists. I think I would feel cut off from the world if I could not check my e-mail daily. How many times have librarians been saved by colleagues on a discussion list who responded, often in record time, to appeals for help? Whether they are answering an unusually difficult reference question or explaining how a particular library dealt with an issue that others are likely to face, I've often felt that I (literally!) have a world of expertise at my fingertips. I have found my own regional network's discussion list (Amigos-Now) to be helpful in keeping abreast of training opportunities, announcements, etc. Since our library is a heavy user of FirstSearch databases, FIRSTSEARCH-L is a useful tool for staying current with changing features of those databases, new journal lists, and so on. Monitoring these lists also helps us keep our users informed. Several e-publications that I find invaluable are The Chronicle of Higher Education, which can be accessed online if your library has a subscription, Library Journal's Academic Newswire, for very current news in the field, and the University of Wisconsin's The Scout Report, well known for its highlighting of new, quality Web sites. Trusted print titles, especially ones that come with professional memberships, are always a source for ideas and shared scholarship. In a recent survey of its members, ALA's ACRL found that, overwhelmingly, they look to its publications to help them stay viable in the profession. The joy of personally receiving publications such as College and Research Libraries, College and Research Libraries News, American Libraries, and Reference & User Services Quarterly is that one can highlight articles of interest, write in the margins, and do other things that help make these materials one's own. All of the above are positive ways to learn throughout one's professional life. An information professional's work is never done, and it is work that is constantly changing. But these are characteristics that make what we do exciting and always new! Denise Landry-Hyde is currently Reference Coordinator at Bell Library, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. She began her professional life as a teacher and has been a librarian since 1982. Denise has worked primarily in university/research libraries, and along the way she has served as a one-person library at a Marine Science facility and as a newspaper librarian. ======== Post your resume online at Lisjobs.com -- see http://www.lisjobs.com/resumes.htm ======== Ahhhh, to be called "Dr.": Is Pursuing the Ph.D. Worth It? by Gail M. Staines (gstaines@wnylrc.org) The MLS is the terminal degree in our profession. However, have you ever wondered what it would be like to take the next step and pursue a Ph.D. in the field? Following, find one person's perspective and experience (mine!) on pursuing a doctoral degree in the United States. Included is advice I have been given along the way, and perspectives from acquaintances and colleagues who I know who have pursued a Ph.D. -- some successfully, and some not. Is It Worth It? In many ways, it is worth it to persevere through a doctoral program. You get to work with international experts in your field of study. You get to spend hours searching the literature, reading, thinking, discussing (...and searching the literature, reading, thinking, and discussing!). Like your classmates in library school, your counterparts in a Ph.D. program usually become lifelong colleagues, no matter where they end up in the world. And, if you are fortunate, your dissertation advisor will be your mentor. My experience at the University at Buffalo's doctoral program was this and much more! Because of the international student body at the University, I had a very rich experience learning about libraries and education, learning first hand from individuals who had been raised and had worked in different cultural environments. Since my Ph.D. program was a cooperative program with the Dept. of Organization, Administration, and Policy, I took extra coursework in higher education administration (a total of 90 credit hours versus the traditional 64 credit hours). This has given me great insight into working with academic libraries at all levels of higher education as well as giving me career flexibility. It also gave me the opportunity to educate non-librarians -- future academic deans, for example -- about libraries and their role in higher education. What to Expect? When I first decided to pursue the advanced degree, one of my colleagues said, "I'll send you a sympathy card." "Grueling" describes in one word what you should expect. There is demanding coursework, of course. Once the coursework is completed, there are comprehensive exams, an exercise in which you express in writing, or orally, everything you have learned. This requires a full understanding of the literature in various and related fields of study, with the expectation that you are able to recite authors, dates, study results, alternative points of view, and conclusions. Successfully passing the "comps" means that you are now expected to select individuals (faculty and others) to serve on your dissertation committee, and select someone in the profession, but outside the university, to serve as an outside reader. Usually you then write and orally present a dissertation proposal to your dissertation committee. The proposal outlines the research you intend to pursue, including: the question(s) to be researched, the methods you are going to research them by (e.g.: survey, interviews, experiments -- multiple research methods are highly recommended since this strengths your research results), and the anticipated outcomes of your research. After reading, writing, researching, reading, writing, and researching some more, keeping your dissertation committee informed of your progress, re-writing, re- writing, and thinking, thinking, thinking, you finally defend your dissertation in front of your committee along with anyone who wants to attend your doctoral defense. Once this is over, you step outside the room and wait for the committee to sign-off on your dissertation -- formally signifying your success in the completion of the degree. Some Sage Advice All sounds cut and dried, doesn't it? But that would be too easy. Along the doctoral journey, I picked up a few tips for success: 1. You will be way ahead of the game if you go in knowing the area of library and information science you want to do your dissertation in. Whether it be management, information literacy, digitizing, copyright, etc., if you have a strong understanding of a specific area, you can research different aspects of your topic in the papers you are required to write throughout your coursework. If you do this, it will become the basis of your literature review -- a large chapter of your final dissertation. 2. Know that, as someone with an MLS, you are far ahead of the game because you know how to do a literature review. You know the best sources to look in for information and how to effectively access that information. It was surprising to me the number of non-MLS's who did not have information literacy skills at the doctoral level. 3. There is no "right" time to pursue this degree. Many degrees require you to have at least one or two years of full-time professional experience before applying. The bulk of the students in my program had almost a decade of experience in their profession, were working full- or part-time (or were lucky enough to have a sabbatical), and were over 40. I was the youngest in my group at the time, which was an advantage in two ways -- I could share my "youthful" perspective, and, more importantly, was able to absorb the experience of all that had "been there, done that" in the world of work. 4. As I was pondering applying to a program, one of my friends said, "If you do not pursue the degree now, in five years you will be a person without a Ph.D. Why not be a person with one?" 5. Be prepared to spend significant time, effort, energy, and money to complete the degree. In the five years I was in the program, tuition doubled. Be prepared to spend literally hours reading. Knowing this, make sure you have a support system since you will be reading every waking moment -- from dusk 'til dawn, including the weekends. 6. There may be times you will need motivation. I put a sign on my office wall that simply said "Ph.D.," in my direct line of sight, so that I saw it every day. Know that at the end of the road, you have achieved a significant accomplishment, one that few people successfully pursue and complete. In the end, it is not that people will call you "Dr.," or that you know you will never be ABD, or that people will bow in your presence and hang on your every word. It is that you were able, over 5 to 7 years of working diligently, to become an expert in a particular field of study -- that you were challenged intellectually, that you expanded previously known knowledge, and that you can share your knowledge with others. Gail M. Staines, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Western NY Library Resources Council and adjunct faculty at the Univ. at Buffalo School of Informatics. Her areas of expertise are management and information literacy and she can be reached at gstaines@wnylrc.org ======== The Information Professional's Guide To Career Development Online contains information and advice for librarians at any stage of their career. Find out more about the book at http://www.lisjobs.com/careerdev/ ======== Be the Expert! Continuing Preservation Education For the Information Professional by Karen E.K. Brown (kebrown@csc.albany.edu) A wide array of organizations and personnel acquire, organize, provide access to, and preserve cultural collections with long-term value. A public library may be charged with the care of a valuable local history collection. Historians and archivists may bring together objects, letters, or oral histories that document their community. College and university libraries gather scholarly materials, including electronic resources. There are many different formats and media types found in libraries and archives, including paper, books, photographs, maps, magnetic recordings, film, and optical disks. Some are more permanent than others, but all are prone to deterioration over time. Without attention to the physical safety of collections, there is a serious risk of premature damage or loss. Who Are the Experts? Larger institutions may have a distinct preservation department responsible for collections care. One or more preservation administrators normally manage the preservation department. They possess at least a graduate degree in information studies, usually with a specialization in preservation administration. It takes many years of experience to effectively manage a multi-faceted preservation program. The preservation administrator will need to be knowledgeable in collections management; fundraising; safe lighting, exhibition and display; security and emergency response; environmental monitoring and control; pest and mold management; reformatting technologies; and proper storage and handling techniques. Those who are already expert in the field may seek mid-career education or re-education in areas that are more recently important to the field, such as preservation of digital resources, or even business administration. Expected by summer 2002 is the 8th edition of ALA/ALCTS' Preservation Education Directory. It will list preservation courses available at library schools in the United States, which should prove useful for advanced learners. Bookbinders, book and paper conservators, or experts in caring for audio-visual collections may complement the administrator. Those whose main occupation is treatment or reformatting must be knowledgeable in materials manufacture and history, and have practiced skills to ensure sympathetic care. Some will have a graduate degree (for example, in art conservation); while others may come from apprenticeship programs. Collections conservators should have a strong background in science and/or art. According to a recent survey of members of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) on continuing education, written materials are the most popular method of study, followed by attendance at hands-on workshops. The Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education (SMCRE) offers a range of advanced preservation and conservation courses. Even after completing graduate work in conservation, it takes many years of study and practice to become expert in treatment. The AIC web site has two documents that describe selecting and becoming a conservator. Preservation On a Shoestring Smaller institutions often cannot afford preservation specialists on staff, and hiring one (even part-time) may not be feasible. Staff might notice when their collections are damaged or deteriorating and desire to improve the situation, but may not know where to get started. The "Selected Resources," below, include a few core print and online suggestions. In particular, the Regional Alliance for Preservation web site will lead to many excellent and current educational tools. Regional centers may be able to provide basic advice, information about workshops, leaflets on a range of related topics, treatment services, consulting services, and even emergency assistance. Attendance at local or regional workshops is highly recommended. The person taking charge of collections should focus on preventive care activities. Basic programs on care and handling, preservation planning, controlling the environment, emergency planning and the nature of materials are a good place to start. You may wish merely to take a course in repair, but remember that fixing items in the collection, then returning them to an inhospitable environment, may not be the best way of using limited resources for solving the problem. You might also consider participation in a more intensive preservation management course, such as those offered biennially by Rutgers University School of Communication, Information and Library Studies or the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Massachusetts. If you lack the ability or confidence to begin, a general needs assessment survey should be conducted of the building and collections. Funding for these types of surveys is supported by a number of states, regional centers, and national programs. The follow-up report should identify hazards to the collection and the corrective actions required, and prioritize steps necessary to achieve preservation goals. The expert conducting the survey, or the institutions they represent, can prove long-term allies to assist with problems and questions implementing a preservation program. Whether you are assigned the preservation function as part of your job, or take a personal interest and want to do more, the multi- faceted nature of the field can be a challenge. The best advice is to start by learning about those activities that will have the most impact on improving the condition of your collection, using resources that are readily available. Other, more difficult (but worthy!) activities can be planned for later on. In the meantime, be sure to show others the positive side of making a few small changes, and don't give up. Take another class, read an article, and be the preservation expert! Selected Resources Banks, Paul N. and Roberta Pilette, eds. Preservation: Issues and Planning. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 2000. A comprehensive planning textbook authored by leading experts in the field, this book presents an analysis of key preservation management issues facing libraries and archives. Conservation OnLine. CoOL is a full text library of conservation information, covering a wide spectrum of topics of interest to those involved with the conservation of library, archives and museum materials. It includes links conservation related organizations and subscription information for over a dozen e-mail lists. The Conservation DistList will provide timely notification of upcoming programs and event, and the archives is fully searchable. http://palimpsest.stanford.edu Lord, Allyn, Carolyn Reno, and Marie Demeroukas. Steal This Handbook! Jackson, MS: Southeastern Registrars Association, 1994. Reprint 2001. This handbook covers all aspects of emergency preparedness, response and recovery and includes both major disasters and everyday, potentially dangerous situations. http://www.seregistrars.org Ogden, Sherelyn, ed. Preservation of Library and Archival Materials: A Manual. 3rd rev. ed. Andover, MA: NEDCC, 1999. An authoritative publication covering topics such as planning, disaster management, reformatting, environmental monitoring, and collections care. An online version and order forms for a hardcover edition are available at the NEDCC web site. http://www.nedcc.org/pubs.htm Regional Alliance for Preservation. The mission of the Regional Alliance for Preservation (RAP) is to provide comprehensive preservation information to cultural institutions and the public throughout the United States. Links to regional centers will help to identify sources of services, workshops and preservation information. http://www.rap-arcc.org Ritzenthaler, Mary Lynn. Preserving Archives and Manuscripts. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 1995. This introductory textbook includes both management and hands-on processing information and can be purchased, along with a broad selection of related publications through SAA. http://www.archivists.org Wilson, William K. Environmental Guidelines for the Storage of Paper Records. NISO Technical Report (NISO-TR01-1995). Bethesda, MD: NISO Press, 1995. NISO standards can be ordered from NISO Press Fulfillment, P.O. Box 451, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701-0451. For further information or to place an order, call toll free at 877-736- 6476 or 301-362-6904. Free copies of this article have been made available from NISO (National Information Standards Organization) as .pdf files at http://www.techstreet.com/list_niso_stds.tmpl . Karen E.K. Brown is the Preservation Librarian at the University at Albany. Ms. Brown has conducted many workshops and surveys on behalf of NEDCC and others, and is an active member of ALCTS/PARS. ======== Enjoying this issue? Find free online archives at http://www.lisjobs.com/newsletter/archives.htm and contributor guidelines at http://www.lisjobs.com/newsletter/theme.htm#contrib . ======== An International Student's Guide To Making the Most of Graduate School by Hui Hua Chua (chua@gwm.sc.edu) "So you're going to library school in India?" was the question from a slightly bewildered friend when I announced plans to enroll in the MLS program at Indiana University. I didn't really blame her for the confusion. It was a long, and at times, perplexing, process before I arrived in Bloomington to begin my studies (as a New Zealander who had never before visited the United States!). I decided to study library and information science in the U.S. on the recommendation of a (librarian) family friend. The variety of programs in the U.S. offered far more opportunities than the one program in New Zealand. I was interested in academic or special libraries and working with technology and/or public services or reference, but wanted a program with sufficient breadth and flexibility to allow a change in direction if necessary. With this in mind, I started research about 18 months before I arrived in Bloomington. Starting the research and application process as soon as possible was very important as application deadlines for international students are often earlier than for U.S. students,. Getting the necessary paperwork and visas required for internationals increased the time required. Selecting a Program My research began with the ALA's list of ALA-accredited programs and US News and World Report's ranking of library science programs. Graduation from the first was a requirement for most jobs in the U.S. and the second seemed to offer some indication of quality. While there are many excellent unranked programs, using the US News list reduced the research required and meant the school would (I hoped) be better known outside the U.S. -- an important consideration, as I was uncertain where I would work after graduation. Another valuable resource is Library Journal's annual survey of salaries and new graduate placement in its October issue. My next step was to research individual schools, focusing primarily on number of credits required to complete the course, cost, and the strengths and specializations of each school. International students pay out-of-state tuition fees at state universities and usually full tuition at private colleges so cost was a major consideration. Minimizing time spent in a program increased the importance of scheduling classes to be able to complete all core programs and desired optional courses. Some courses are only taught during the Fall or Spring semester or even once every two years, so knowing the schedule was important in determining if core or desired courses can be taken in the time required. This was probably the most time-consuming step -- understanding the course requirements for each program, matching courses or tracks to my interests and finally carefully scrutinizing class schedules. Most university or program web sites provided all the necessary information. Schools will also send out information and application forms by mail. Some programs have all forms available on their web sites, but some do not and seem to use the cheapest possible rate to send materials overseas. Factor in extra time if requesting AND returning materials by snail mail. Web sites and print materials are probably the best for gathering general background information and for specific program and course details, but they were generally not good sources for information on financing and work. I wanted to work to gain more experience, so a school in a university with a large library willing to hire students was a necessity. International students are usually allowed to work up to 20 hours during terma and 40 hours during summer vacation at on campus jobs. Good experience can also be gained in non-library positions, such as in the campus IT department. Colleges differ in the scholarships or other aid available to international students. However Graduate Assistant positions can provide significant tuition remission. All schools should have an admissions and/or student services coordinator or director. Titles may vary but they are usually very friendly and excellent sources of information on these and other topics such as department services for international students, the number of international students in the program, and types of jobs and libraries recent graduates are working in. Another important aspect for me, and probably many, was the "feel" of the school. Were faculty approachable? Was teamwork and team projects encouraged? What opportunities were there to develop mentor relationships? How supportive of each other were students? Most schools will provide e-mail addresses of students willing to discuss their experiences with prospective students. Another source of information is the NEWLIB-L e-mail list for library science students and recent graduates. List members are very helpful and often discuss or offer advice on individual programs. There may also be alumni of that school in your home country to provide another perspective; the program's admissions or alumni director should be able to provide details. Finally you will want information about the university and town in which the school is situated. The university web site is generally good for the first and should also provide links and contact details for international student clubs. Members of these clubs are usually extremely helpful. The Singapore student club members at Indiana University provided information on Bloomington such as the quality and number of Chinese restaurants, finances and budgets from a student perspective and housing. The town in which a university is located can be important for individual and professional reasons. Is it a small college town or large city? Which are you used to living in? If it is a small town, how accessible are larger cities for recreation and job-seeking? If you need to get home in an emergency, how easy is it? Will it be easy and inexpensive to travel to conferences or to job interviews? Are there employment opportunities in the area after you graduate? Does this matter to you or are you willing to relocate again? Applying I selected and applied to four schools. After this it was a matter of studying and taking the GRE, locating required documents and completing applications (including the unfamiliar personal statement!). Guides for all these were available at online bookstores or in my local book store or public library. All non-English documents such as transcripts will usually need to be translated. International students will also need to provide evidence (usually in the form of a letter from their bank and/or family member) of the ability to cover tuition and living expenses. This figure is supplied by the university -- you may in actuality be able to live on less than the stated sum, but you will still have to prove the ability to cover the entire sum. Before You Get There Once accepted, planning the big move was my next step. At this stage international students groups can be very useful. Many will provide advice on housing and what to pack, and on things from home that are unavailable or expensive in the U.S. In my case this was mainly food and chocolate. Some groups may also offer transportation from the airport to campus, temporary housing and orientation on arrival. They also usually plan activities at holiday times. At this point, you can also contact the admissions or student services director about on-campus library jobs. I waited until arriving before looking for a job. An advisor is usually assigned on acceptance. I contacted my advisor by e-mail and we discussed first semester courses and course load. International students are sometimes advised to take a lighter load than other students or not to work during the first semester. This depends on individual circumstances. I found a 16 credit/4 course load compatible with working 12-15 hours a week. At School On arrival, things can seem very unfamiliar. There is usually a new student orientation, and attending this is a good way to meet other students who are equally new to the area and program, and is an important first step in creating a personal and professional network. Student chapters of associations such as ALA, SLA, ASIST are useful for meeting other students with similar interests, resume-building and job-hunting. Talk to your professors and advisor as much as possible. I was very fortunate to find both a mentor and job through a government documents reference class. I spoke to the instructor and let her know of my interest in documents librarianship. When a student position in her department opened, she offered me the job. This was the start of an interesting and valuable experience which directly led to my current professional position. Keep in touch with student services and those in the administrative office as they are invaluable in negotiating timetables, schedules, course drops and additions, tuition payments. The university international student services office is also an important part of life as an international student as they provide information on maintaining legal status, working on campus, travel overseas, paying taxes and applying for work authorization in the U.S. after graduation. Studying and working in the U.S. as an international student has been a long but rewarding journey. May the journey continue... Hui Hua Chua graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN in May 2000 and is currently the Electronic Government Information Librarian at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. ======== Find a library job! http://www.lisjobs.com ======== Medical Informatics: A Career for Librarians by William Hersh (hersh@ohsu.edu) Librarians have always played a significant role in health care. The plight of librarians in health care has recently attracted renewed attention with a debate over a new health care professional dubbed the "informationist." (See the January, 2002 Journal of the Medical Library Association, http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/tocrender.fcgi?journal=93 .) As in many fields, the growth of end-user searching tools has allowed relatively inexperienced users to obtain access to essentially all the clinical information previously available only to those who worked in libraries. As it becomes clear that clinicians have frequent information needs (on the order of two questions per three patients), economics alone dictate that librarians will be unable to take part in most clinical information- seeking. However, there are still many opportunities for librarians in health care. One way for librarians to broaden their knowledge and skills is to seek training in medical informatics. What Is Medical Informatics? The field of medical informatics is concerned with the acquisition, storage, and utilization of information in health care, usually (but not always) involving the application of information technology. It is a broad, multidisciplinary field, covering electronic medical records, access to knowledge-based information and digital libraries, digital imaging systems, telemedicine, clinical decision support, and more. A good resource to start learning about the field is the web site of the American Medical Informatics Association at http://www.amia.org . The boundaries of medical informatics are fuzzy. Because of this, there is no common medical informatics curriculum, nor any common job that anyone with training in the field could hold. The lack of a common skill set and curriculum is different from librarianship or medicine, where there are basic skills that all individuals who have a library science or medical degree can be expected to have. Where Does Training Occur? Most training in medical informatics is provided by the dozen programs funded by the National Library of Medicine (NLM, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ep/curr_inst_grantees.html ). A majority of trainees in these programs are postdoctoral, often but not always having M.D. degrees. A growing number of programs also offer academic degrees, either at the master's or doctoral level. A few of these programs, including ours at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), offer fellowships for librarians, designed to serve as mid- career sabbaticals providing new perspectives and hopefully leading to new career accomplishments. There are additional routes for medical informatics training that do not require residence at an NLM-funded program, as well as a growing number of institutions without NLM funding that offer degree programs in medical informatics. Another pathway to training in medical informatics is the short course, with the offerings by NLM and Stanford University best-known. A more recent phenomenon is the development of distance learning programs in medical informatics, such as the Graduate Certificate Program offered by OHSU ( http://www.ohsu.edu/bicc-informatics/distance ). What Is Covered In a Program? The OHSU Master of Science program gives a guide. Our program has courses in four major areas: medical informatics, health and medicine, computer science, and quantitative methods. The medical informatics courses cover the core of the field. An introductory survey course broadly covers the main areas of information and information technology applications in health care. A follow-on course, Clinical Systems, covers the issues surrounding patient- based information in health care, with particular focus on the electronic medical record. A third core course, Information Retrieval, focuses on knowledge-based information, including the use of resources likely to be of great use by librarians, such as MEDLINE and evidence-based compendia. The OHSU program might be somewhat anomalous in having an entire course on Information Retrieval, but most programs cover at least the basics in this area. There are additional required courses in the medical informatics area. Courses in Organizational Behavior & Management and Project Management teach students how to function in organizations and work as teams. A scientific writing course insures that students are capable of written communication. There are also electives in the medical informatics area, such as security and confidentiality, implementation of clinical systems, and individual research or practicum experiences arranged by the student. The health and medicine area of the curriculum covers clinical medicine topics for those without clinical backgrounds. This area of the curriculum also includes a course in ethical, legal, and social issues in informatics required of all students. As with most medical informatics training programs, computer science is a required element of the curriculum. We believe that while few of our graduates will become programmers (unless they had programming skills prior to entering the program), all of them should have a fundamental understanding of the computer science issues most relevant to medical informatics. They should also be able to converse as colleagues with programmers and other technicians who work with information technology. A recent survey of our graduates, few of whom do significant computer programming, validated the value of this portion of their education. The final area of the curriculum is quantitative methods. The goal of this portion of the curriculum is to provide skills and understanding in carrying out research and analyzing clinical data. After a first course in biostatistics, a second course covers the fundamentals of research design. A third course is devoted to outcomes research, surveying the variety of ways that the outcomes of clinical care are analyzed and compared. The full Master of Science degree is not necessary for entry into the field. OHSU offers an eight-course subset of the master's program, the Graduate Certificate program, which includes many of the above courses (omitting clinical medicine, computer science, and statistics). This program can serve as a distance-learning entry path for those who wish to enter the field and not relocated, and courses taken via this route can be applied for the master's degree program. The on-campus library fellowship program is another pathway into the field, providing the ability to take an individualized set of courses and work on a project of appropriate scope and interest. Many librarians have become contributors and leaders in the field of medical informatics. Some have pursued faculty positions, particularly if they already have doctoral training. Others have become leaders in health science library settings. Some have even succeeded in the commercial sector. The librarians who have graduated from our program have certainly done well in finding new and challenging employment. William Hersh, M.D. is Professor and Head, Division of Medical Informatics & Outcomes Research, Oregon Health & Science University. ======== Are you a systems librarian? Take a moment to fill out a brief survey for use in an upcoming book! http://www.lisjobs.com/syslibsurvey.htm ======== What's Online? Recommended Resources ALA's Library Education page http://www.ala.org/education/ Directory of accredited MLS programs, information from the Congress on Professional Education, scholarship info, and link to the ALA Accreditation Office. Librarians in the 21st Century: Continuing Education http://istweb.syr.edu/21stcenlib/becoming/cont_ed.html Places to find continuing education opportunities and why you need them. Also check your state library association and system web sites for local opportunities. Ask Susu: Selecting a Library School (from NewBreed Librarian) http://www.newbreedlibrarian.org/archives/01.03.jun2001/asksusu.html "The Modern MLS" Degree (from US News) http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/beyond/grad/gbmls.htm Includes link to their rankings of "the best" grad schools. Changes In LIS Education: A Bibliography http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~b-sloan/edbib.html From UIC Urbana's Bernie Sloan. If you can't find enough reading material here... you're not trying! ======== But I Want To Hold It In My Hand! Print Resources Fadiman, Anne. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. ISBN 0-374-14860-0. $16.00. Purchase from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374148600/librarisjobsearc/ This slim volume, a simple compilation of essays from Anne Fadiman's "Common Reader" column in Civilization magazine, comes complete with its own, blank, built-in bookplate just waiting for the imprint of its new owner. Fortunately, there is little "common" about Fadiman's writing, as her own love of books, words and writing shines through on nearly every page. Topics range from the wry "Marrying Libraries," dealing with the decision to combine her own with her husband's book collections, to "Insert a Caret," a description of her family's compulsive proofreading habit. True bibliophiles will set down this volume with a sense of regret at its brevity, balanced with a deep sense of contentment at encountering a kindred spirit. Take some time out to remember one of the reasons you got into the library profession, and meet a fellow lover of the written word. ======== 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. For permission to reprint articles in this newsletter, contact the individual authors. If no author is listed, contact editor@lisjobs.com. If you find this newsletter useful, please consider becoming a voluntary subscriber for a mere $10/year. Payment is accepted via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=rachel%40lisjobs.com Or, send a check or money order made out to Rachel Gordon to: PO Box 6931, Villa Park, IL 60181. To subscribe to Info Career Trends, send an e-mail message to imailsrv@lisjobs.com. 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