Searching for that elusive job…

I am in the process of searching for a job. It has been a good experience so far; my resume and/or CV are ready to go, I’ve worked up a work experience timeline so that I have all the information from previous employers ready to access and I have some good places to look. I’ve applied for four jobs in the last month, and they are all pretty different. The good news is that I got my first interview. I am encouraged by this–it means I am applying for the right kinds of jobs for the level of experience I have. However, I was not expecting to get an interview this soon. I had to apply for a lot of different positions the last time I looked for jobs and it took me about four months to find something. I have this timeline in my head for finding my next job, and it involves a lot of looking, applying here and there, and then waiting for an interview. In the timeline in my head, this is going to take six months or maybe even a year. So when I got called to interview for one of the positions I applied for, I was excited and nervous, but fearful too because I do not feel ready to take the next step.

I currently have a great work environment, and I’m fearful that I will not be able to discern whether my next place will also be a positive place to work. I have had a job where I did not communicate well with my supervisor and I never want to repeat that experience again. It seems difficult to me to gauge whether a new work environment will be a positive place to work. I realize that there is always going to be one or two people that could be more difficult to work with, but even in those situations, the workplace can be a positive place to be. I’m really hoping that I’m able to discern this. At least I only have to make a decision if they want to hire me!

ALA – Tech Trends Panel

I thought it would be fun to go to the Tech Trends Panel sponsored by LITA at ALA based on the recommendation of my former professor, Meredith Farkas, who was on the panel. Some of the themes–er, trends–that came up included open access, the need for more technological space, accessibility for all, going greener, and better access for mobile devices.  I think these trends all spoke to the idea of better access to information.

I was surprised and amused that Meredith brought up a trend that I had been thinking about– finding ways to archive digital information. Earlier this month, I emailed Meredith a question about how libraries might be using technological tools to archive email and blogs, which are the technological versions of letters and diaries that archivists use to research and analyze the past. 

I was grateful that she was willing to post my question on her blog and there were several helpful responses from libraries and librarians that are addressing this issue, especially the National Library in Australia.

I have been revisiting this issue in my brain and it seems that these kinds of initiatives move so slowly in academic institutions. I work at a small academic institution, and we do not have the time or the money to invest heavily in a project like this. It seems like a project that requires a strategic plan for implementation, but I almost think that the creation of a plan would take so much time that the information we are trying to preserve will get lost or go missing.

There are so many issues and questions that need to be resolved–especially privacy, copyright, and who will have access to this information. Also, how do small institutions like mine utilize the resources that ARE available to attempt to preserve information short term until a long-term solution is found?

Another issue that I wanted to bring up is the kind of information that I know Iʻm missing in our archive. So many students these days are distance education students. Our faculty are also moving out and away from traditional teaching. I would love to find a way to document these experiences of our faculty and students in the qualitative way that would be accessible and helpful to historians. 

I care about this issue because Iʻm the only one working with our University Archives right now. We desperately need a full-time archivist, but until that happens, Iʻm it. I feel relatively inexperienced, and I want to find ways to build this archive effectively with the time that I have. I have to figure out how to do this efficiently. It seems to me that there has got to be a better or more efficient means of preserving this kind of digital information. Just like with other physical archival items, not everything needs to be collected.

Figuring out how to preserve blogs and emails, the diaries and correspondence of our time, is definitely an area ripe for collaboration. Preserving emails and blogs will be especially difficult for small libraries like mine because we do not have as many resources as big or national institutions.

So thanks, Meredith, for bringing up this topic at tech trends. Iʻm curious to see where this conversation will go. Oh, and thanks to everyone who commented on her post…I found all your comments helpful!

Comments on Mentoring from ACL 2008

I was asked to share my response to a talk by Dr. Em Claire Knowles on a panel at the Association of Christian Librarians Conference in Quincy, MA last week. It was a wonderful experience, and I felt honored to be asked to be a part of it.

Dr. Knowles talked about how students in Library School communicate differently than previous generations and how things are changing in library education. She (obviously) felt that mentoring was an important part of the education process and beyond.

As a panelist, I was asked to read Dr. Knowles comments in advance and prepare to give a three minute response to her comments. I thought she had some good ideas and insights.

Here is my three-minute response to Dr. Knowles:

As I look to finish my coursework for my Masters in Library Science in December, many of Dr. Knowles’ comments felt true for me. I may be slightly older than the demographic she spoke about, but I, too, want my work to have value and purpose. I need to work in an environment where my ideas are valued. It is my goal to find a professional librarian position in an academic library. As a result of my experience working at a Christian university, the Christian University environment appeals to me. I see it as a place where I can build positive relationships.

My decision to become a librarian was not made lightly. One of the major influences on my decision was the positive work environment I have experienced at Point Loma. All the librarians there have been an immense encouragement and support to me through my program. Because my degree was earned online and my program is so large, I have turned to my coworkers many times for advice about which classes to take and what skills I need to develop so that I can do the best job that I can as a librarian. I would call these librarians my unofficial mentors and I am so thankful that they have been willing to help steer me in the right direction.

When I think about a formal mentoring relationship, I would expect that a mentor (for me) would be someone that I could go to for advice about how I can be more successful at my job. It would be someone I respected and wanted to learn from. I should be able to go to this person with questions without feeling stupid or dumb for asking. Ideally, it should be someone outside of where I work, so that if sensitive issues arise, I would be able to talk with someone about the situation (without being gossipy) to help me figure out the best course for action (or inaction as the case may be). It also helps to have someone to talk over ideas for solving problems as well as implementing really cool new ideas. The wisdom of experience can offer a pragmatic reality check. Definitely handy for countering potential problems.

It seems like mentoring relationships sort of grow organically out of pre-existing relationships. Mentor relationships cannot be forced. Both parties should equally desire the relationship. The relationship should be one that both supports and challenges a person.

In thinking about my experiences, I’ve realized that I have several people that I go to for advice and I’m lucky that I have many people like this in my life. All my relationships are more informal, but I know that no matter where I work, I would be able to go to these people for advice and wisdom on a variety of topics.

Archives and Blog Collection

I just finished reading Varsity Letters : Documenting Colleges and Univerisities and I realized that at my institution, we have done a poor job of collecting documents show evidence of the teaching, learning, and campus culture that takes place here. No one is really using paper to write anymore, so the level of correspondence and journal collecting has decreased. I do know that many of our faculty and students are keeping blogs, the newer Web 2.0 version of a journal. I believe that these blogs will become an important artifact for future researchers and the history of the institution.

I’m just starting to think about ways to collect and preserve this information, and there are many issues to consider. Permission from the authors is needed and then there’s the issues of long-term electronic storage and preservation, which will also impact access to this information.

I emailed a professor of mine to see what she thought and she decided to post my question on her blog! There’s already some really good responses.

I’m not ready to link there yet because I’m not sure I’m ready to jump into the discussion. I’m still testing the waters here.

Music Update

I got to play the Prelude from Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suite #2 at a talent show two weeks ago. I really think I need to be warmed up when I try to play Bach. It went okay. I felt it was a very mediocre performance. I have definitely played it better.

What I realized is that it was only the second time I have played solo in front of a large crowd of people (I think there were probably 200).

There’s this part in the piece where there is a grand pause… it is the only place in the piece where there is a rest, and it is for two whole beats. After I played the first beat, which was a chord, I was able to listen to the crowd and there was hardly a sound. It was so quiet that I actually heard one person say (under their breath) “wow!” I nailed that section and it felt really good!

I recently requested (through interlibrary loan) this bibliography of  compositions for the cello after 1960. I am fascinated.  There was (apparently) an explosion of pieces written in the 1900’s. I was looking for some good melodic solos to play. I’m working on the Appalachian Suite by Marc O’Conner for solo cello. It is a great piece, but slightly over my head. I can *almost* get all the notes. It still needs a lot of work though.

Preparing to Present

This is one of those days where I am glad that presentation deadlines are not like school assignment deadlines. Part of presenting (for the conference where I am presenting) is creating a handout for the attendees to reference. This particular conference offers presenters the opportunity to submit up to a four-page handout to be included in the conference notebook. This is a good idea for a number of reasons:

1. Presenters do not have to worry about taking copies (or making copies) to hand out.
2. Attendees have a better chance to gauge whether or not they will get something out of a particular presentation.
3. For those who have to decide between attending two sessions that are being offered at the same time, the information provided can still be referenced when the conference has ended.
4. All the handouts go into the conference binder rather than being handed out as loose-leaf pages; this is better for organizational purposes because people will have all the supplementary materials for all the sessions in one location.

Well, the handouts are also due before the conference starts so that the organizers have time to print them all up and stick them in the conference notebook.

So far, this summer for me has been busy. I have been training two new student workers, and I have had to pick up the slack due to their inexperience. Not that I mind. But this has limited some of my ability to work on things such as my conference handout. I had been thinking about it, but had not put anything together. Well, the deadline for turning in the handout was yesterday, and yup, I’m a slacker. Because of all the other things I had to do yesterday, I was not going to be able to finish a handout, so I had decided not to worry about it and maybe just bring some copies of something with me to the conference.

This morning in my email at just after 7am, there was a note from the presentations coordinator RE: Last call for handouts!

The deadline was extended until 5pm this evening. Because a grace period was extended, I quickly did some research and managed to create a bibliography for my presentation; complete with examples, articles, and web resources.

As I turned in my handouts, I sent a note of thanks to the coordinator for extending the deadline. Now my attendees will have some extra resources to reference if they feel so inclined.

I do wish this conference would consider having people post these kinds of things to the conference website, and maybe they will and I just do not know it yet.

Paneling

I was honored to be asked to be on a panel about mentoring at a small library conference I’m attending this summer. One of the keynote speakers will be presenting a paper about mentoring, and after the paper, I will have four minutes to speak about my experiences. I am new to the library profession so I’m probably going to be speaking more about being mentored since I have not really mentored anyone.

Without having really looked at any of the research, I would say that a mentor is someone who offers their experience and advice to those who are still learning. Mentors/those being mentored can be any age, but usually the mentors have more experience.

When I think about a formal mentoring relationship, I would expect that a mentor (for me) would be someone that I could go to for advice about how I can be more successful at my job. It would be someone I respected and wanted to learn from. I should be able to go to this person with questions without feeling stupid or dumb for asking. Ideally, it should be someone outside of where I work, so that if sensitive issues arise, I would be able to talk with someone about the situation (without being gossipy) to help me figure out the best course for action (or inaction as the case may be).

In thinking about my experiences, I’ve realized that I have several people that I go to for advice and I’m lucky that I have many people like this in my life. All my relationships are more informal, but I know that no matter where I work, I would be able to go to these people for advise and wisdom on a variety of topics. It also helps to have someone to talk over ideas for solving problems as well as implementing really cool new ideas. The wisdom of experience can offer a pragmatic reality check. Definitely handy for countering potential problems.

I’m curious… how many people would say that they have a mentor or that they have mentored someone? Was it a positive experience?

I would hazard to guess that the experience is almost always positive, but I’m guessing also that some people have had some bad experiences as well.

Considering publication…

My paper about community in YouTube got a good grade, and the prof thinks I should think about publishing it. So I’ve been thinking about it. I would need to revise it at least one more time I think, because although the content is great, I think there are still some sentences that could be better and ideas that could be expanded. The problem is I have no idea where to even submit this paper because the topic is somewhat out of the scope of my studies. I am studying to get a Master’s in Library and Information Science, and this paper has nothing to do with libraries or education. It falls more into the category of popular culture, analysis, media, communication, society, and community. Those are the key words I would use to describe my paper. I basically analyzed the community formation process in YouTube by applying concepts in the literature about how virtual community forms. So the other issue is that my paper is more of a discussion rather than a case study or empirical study, and it therefore falls out of the scope of some of the more serious “hard-core” academic journals.

So I started looking at academic journals today, to see whether my paper would fit in anywhere. I found a few in the directory of open access journals (DOAJ). Publishing in one of these journals appeals to me because this means that anyone can read my paper without worrying having to pay a fee, or finding the article in a subscription database. Many of the journals in DOAJ are peer reviewed. However, I only found two or three journals where my paper might fit, and they were all thematic in nature.

This means they put out a call for papers about certain topics. My paper does not fit their themes, and I don’t think I could rewrite my paper enough to make it fit. I could wait around for a topic that fits my paper, but it could be awhile.

So I turned to my next strategy for trying to get published– finding a journal available through popular subscription databases. I did a search for journals that contained the words “media” or “communication” somewhere in the publication description, and came up with a list of about 80 journals. Most of them looked peer-reviewed. So I worked my way through the list. Some were really easy to rule out and I wrote down the names of the journals that looked like they might consider my topic. I narrowed down my list to five potential journals and began to look at their requirements for submissions.

I was a little surprised at how these publishers have all kinds of disclaimers about the rules for submissions and how they would actually retain the copyright on any articles that I submit. I am not sure that I like this very much. If my article was accepted for one of these journals, it would get more respect from the academic community. However, even I (as the author) would have to access my article through a subscription. Also, if I published it through one of these better known publishers, then it would be searchable in all kinds of subscription databases, and perhaps a tad more accessible this way. I’m not sure how many people use DOAJ.

My preference would be to publish this paper in a journal that is in the DOAJ, and this means it might be awhile before I publish this paper. Plus, it might not even get accepted. All I know is that I had trouble finding good research on my topic, and YouTube has very little treatment as of yet from the academic community in terms of analyzing the culture and community within.

If anyone has a good idea about an appropriate journal for this topic, let me know. Of course, I could always publish it via blog, but then it isn’t peer reviewed.

Relationships and Craigslist

Recently, I wrote a paper on how community forms in YouTube.  I probably should have written it on how Craigslist influences community formation.  I have several recent examples:

1. The pastor of my church posted an ad for an internship.  We had one guy apply, and he turned out to be a great asset to our team.  He and I now work together with the youth at my church
2. I responded to an ad for a cellist.  I am now recording in the studio with the guy who posted the ad. I have met so many of his friends and family that I feel like I really am a part of a new community. Music really does bring people together.
3. My student worker awhile back posted an ad in the “missed connections.” Who knew that actually worked?  She was reconnected with a guy she saw only briefly in a coffee shop, and they dated for about six months.
4. A friend of mine recently posted a personal ad, and a different friend of mine responded to it.  Turns out I had actually introduced them at one point in time already.  Still not sure what’s going to happen there, but I am really amused.

I am fascinated by how many of my own personal relationships right now have been influenced by Craigslist.  I am intrigued by whether people are experiencing longer-term interactions within Craigslist or not.  I do not have time to look into it at the moment, but maybe I’ll come back to this later as a potential research topic.

Virtual Community Collide

Yesterday, I had two friends contact me independently. One of them had posted a personal ad on Craigslist and the other one responded to it. They each separately figured out that I knew the other, and were asking me questions about each other. They also both asked me not tell the other one that they had talked to me. I am really amused by this situation.

I am in the process of writing a paper about how community is formed in virtual environments. The premise of dating sites or even sites like Craigslist is that the virtual community and physical community are not very far removed. I’m beginning to see how this works. My two friends have at least seen each other before, they were both at a wedding, and I may have even introduced them at that point in time. They have some commonalities and know a few people in common. I really think that there’s a possibility that they might have met each other in the physical world (and they may already have!) but it was really the technology that helped them to meet each other. Craigslist focused their ability to find those commonalities in each other which are an important foundation for any relationship.