Journey of a Wannabe

I guess I'll stop while I'm ahead

2004-10-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Not really, I've been kicking myself the past couple days and losing sleep over my harsh review of an "okay" book that now hundreds of librarians have read. Who knew so many people would want to come to my little site just because THE librarian got really upset over my sarcastic review of a book that I was disappointed in due to my overly high expectations.

I know not many people will read this because there's not a link pointing to it saying, "look read what this stupid NextGenner said about MY book!" So I had SO many hits of librarians because they wanted to read something to get upset about?

Anyway, I started this because as an RCG, everyone is always asking "Have you found a full-time job yet?" So I started this to simply say, "don't you read my blog?"

My bad, the book was OKAY! I was very harsh, I know, and I shouldn't have wrote it in that fashion. What to do now, I don't know. Thanks to the feedback from a couple of you who left feedback. My apologies to those of you whom I offended.
I can't take it back, but I can delete it (which I did). I almost got up in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep to rewrite a more fair review, but didn't.

Anyway, I'm stopping while I'm ahead (yes that's my sarcasm talking). It actually has nothing to do with the book incident, but more conflict related with my job it turns out. I will delete the whole thing this weekend.

Wow, people are actually reading this

2004-10-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, it took me pissing someone off to multiply the number of readers I get.

In all fairness, I re-read what I wrote last night and I suppose I was a little harsh. I did, however, mention what I liked about the book. There were indeed some great essays in Revolting Librarians Redux, as I said yesterday. Overall, however, I was a bit disappointed. I did have high expectations considering a.) I read (one of) the editor's weblog and really like it, b.) I thought the idea was great and c.) I read a lot of hype about it with creative advertisting slogans like "just when you thought it was safe to go to the library..." So, I had high expectations before reading the book, and was pretty disappointed.

As for the comments on the illustrations-I was disappointed in the illustrations because I know there are lots of "starving artists" out there. Surely, one would have been happy to create some illustrations (and yes, for free, I'm sure) but I just got the impression that instead they were created by an editor's sister. The whole "It's who you know, not what you know" thing-I am not a fan of that. I just saw it as an opportunity to help an art student/struggling artist to get his/her name out there, and the opportunity (in my opinion) was not seized.

Who knew someone would actually care what I thought? I'm flattered, but upset at the same time. Ah well, we are all entitled to our own opinions and can only hope we do not take everything personally.

Go Rachel, it's your birthday....

2004-10-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, thanks Rachel Singer Gordon for the awesome article in Library Journal. Another great writing about the struggles of us "younger" librarians.

Note to self: I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy!

Disclaimer: Ms. Gordon's birthday, (at least I don't think) is not today. The title where I say "Go Rachel, it's your birthday" is just an expression used by the younger generation meaning "well done" or "great job."

And thanks to Miss Eli for the link.

Thanks Marylaine!

2004-10-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, great article by Marylaine Block on the importance of hiring young librarians. I really like her list of why library administrators need to pay attention to young librarians:

because we don't want them to leave the profession in disgust -- the survey pointed out that only 57.9 percent agreed with the statement that libraries are an open and affirming place for new librarians. That's not a passing grade. The same survey found that only 50 percent of those under 30 expected to stay in public libraries. Retention is cheaper and easier than recruitment.

because one of the primary responsibilities of administration is encouraging and rewarding their staff's professional development

because we need their energy and enthusiasm

because new young librarians understand their own generation, our future taxpayers and, depending on our performance, library users or non-users.

because they're not intimidated by new technologies and not frustrated by the rate of technological change. They're part of the generation that grew up with the internet, IM, text messaging, cell phones, Blackberries, multi-user domain games, virtual reality, and their own personal web sites.

because they bring a whole different knowledge base to the table.

And how did I miss this article on new librarians?

Perhaps I'm not crazy. Maybe there is a bit of reluctunce among librarians about hiring someone a little "younger." I am so grateful that Ms. Block wrote about this. Us younger librarians who can't seem to land a position can talk all we want about this subject, but of course no one pays attention to that. I'm sure when I write rants like my last post questioning what's going on, many people think I'm just "playing the race card" or the age card, or whatever, or that I'm trying to blame others for my problems. But when someone as respectable as Marylaine Block writes that librarians need to be more open to younger librarians, hopefully someone will listen.

Some difficult aspects of the job hunt

2004-10-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest things to go through in job hunting is the fact that you just never know. You never know why the employer didn't hire you. You never know what you're doing wrong, or even if you are doing anything wrong. You never know if you chose the wrong degree/career path. You never know if you'll ever get a job. All you know is that the rejection letters keep coming in and you can't seem to land a position!

Is it my name? But this study doesn't take into account that the world is not just black and white.
Is it my age? I did have that one interviewer point out that all the librarians he had were middle aged, and that he wanted someone to "fit in" with the others and someone who had more "life experience."
Is it the way I look? I know I don't look like the typical librarian-the streotype is an old, middle aged white woman who dresses drabby. I'm not any of these things. (well, actually, I am a woman, so I guess I got one down) I remember one woman I met at an SLA conference who told me (and this is a quote from her, so please don't email me telling me I'm conceited) "In case you haven't noticed, you're petite and you're pretty." and that because of that I would encounter lots of job discrimination. She said that since she was "wide and white and plain looking" her boss was pushing her to management. People will have assumptions/prejudices/stereotypes, but unfortunately no one will ever admit it. It's not like a prospective employer will say " We regret to inform you that we decided not too hire you. You're pretty and petite, and that makes us think you're incapable."
Am I not experienced enough? Again, I know I only have a little experience-but surely someone must notice that it is probably the most experience I could have considering I've been working in libraries since I was 18 years old! I suppose I could have started at 16...darn would that really have made a difference? And my experience in 2 news libraries, I suppose that doesn't matter either? And besides, how do I get more experience if no one will hire me? Surely I'm not the only one who sees this conundrum.

Or am I not smart enough? Is it my ethnicity? Am I a total joke? Who am I kidding? Or maybe I should take this guy's advice and come to work in my undies to try and land a permanent full-time position since no one in any other library will hire me.

I don't know what's going on. And I probably never will. But this self doubt, criticism, and endless unanswered quesions is a real pain. Who wants to hire an eager beaver like me, excited to enter the profession, and still with 40+ good work years left? Well, no one.

Quick tidbits

2004-10-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

Get of the internet and vote-And you can win prizes!

If you use blogger and live near Mountain View, CA, you might be interested in becoming part of their (paid) study this Friday.

Also, Friday, October 8 is National Economic Boycott Day to demonstrate the importance of gays and lesbians to the economy. They are asking GLBT and straight allies to not spend any money on that day.

News bits

2004-10-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Too fun...anyone up for a pillow fight?

Also, you can vote for your favorite political blogs at the Washington Post. Free registration is required, of course.

And there's a poll at Google Blogoscoped asking what you would like to see next with Google.

Do you still read newspapers? The paper version, that is. Techdirt has a poll asking this.

Job Search Progress

2004-10-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

Another opening is available that appears to be a perfect match for me. I sent off my application last night. Plus, it's in a prime location-Chicago! Those who know me know that my favorite person in the world lives in Chicago. Wish me luck! Or in other words, let's hope this is when my preparation meets opportunity!

Answers to WHY?

2004-10-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

WHY? Why won't they hire me? Well, I'm not the only one asking this-especially around here in library land. Miss Eli posts interesting answers to this question from a library director. The answers are targeted toward academic librarians. His first answer made me google myself to see what came up (okay, okay, I'll admit it, I have done it before!). It was just my résumé, volunteer work, work-related documents (stories with credit lines, awards, etc.), and of course, my blog. I sincerely hope that my blog is not seen as "whining." I also wonder if he was exaggerating as far at the résumés he receives. Are there really applicants who have absolutely no library experience? Surely everyone has worked/volunteered/interned in a library, right?

There's also an article in Career Journal on MBA programs that is about programs recruiting and admitting younger students with less experience. I worry that these students will end up in the same situation as many of us MLS graduates.

Off the Shelf: The Dogs of Babel

2004-10-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Carolyn Parkhurst writes about a man, who is a linguist, and the death of his wife. In The Dogs of Babel, Paul Iverson returns home one day and his wife has died from a freak accident-at least that is as it seems. His dog was the only witness, and Iverson decides to try and teach his dog to talk to find out what happened. Sounds silly, I know, but this book is really more about love, loss, sorrow, desperation, and other emotions that make us all human. It is very creative-the author even makes up fictitious stories of people in history who have attempted (with some success) at teaching dogs to talk. It's a nice, quick read.

Happy VGLDSW Day!

2004-09-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from my fave aunt wishing me a happy VGLDSW Day. What is this? Very Good Looking Damn Smart Woman! So, I wish all of you a happy VGLDSW day, because if you're reading this, you're obviously very smart! And if you're a man, you're off the charts! Much love to all of you who take the time to read my blog!

Correct pronunciation of Muslim?

2004-09-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

I listened to the debate last night, Both of them pronounced it 'muh-slim,' when I always thought it was pronounced 'moo-slim.' I looked it up and the more modern dictionaries have it both ways, but the consistent pronounciation is 'moo-slim.' I remember in an interview with Muhammed Ali, he said he is 'moo-slim' and that 'muh-slim' is a cloth. I suppose with so many people pronouncing it 'muh-slim' the modern dictionaries decided to add it as an acceptable pronunciation. Any comments on the correct pronumciation?

News Bits

2004-09-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

It is confirmed that the letter from a journalist detailing what is going on in Iraq is indeed authentic. If you haven't read the letter, I encourage you to do so.
Link via Boing Boing.

Clusty, a meta search engine by Vivisimo, is now available. Be sure to check it out. Read more about it at Search Engine Watch and in the New York Times.

I heard this last night on my way home from work, and thought it was great: Connie Rice's 10 things they don't want you to know about Political Debates.

Voter's Quiz (& other related links)

2004-09-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

The Christian Science Monitor has a neat little quiz for voters to see which candidate they agree with most. Be sure to check it out! Thanks to Lori for the link.

Or you can just not vote, like Landsburg talks about in this column Not that I necessarily agree with this, but it's an intersting point of view. Reminds me of the 7th grade when we were learning about the electoral college and the process of voting.

Also, David S. Bennahum ranked how much your vote is worth for each state based on the electoral college.

And by the way, has anyone else heard about this tag (you know the ones on your clothing with washing instructions)? Apparently, there are some out there with the last two lines in French saying "We are sorry that our President is an idiot, we did not vote for him." I just read that on We Make Money Not Art

make that 357...

2004-09-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

Not that I was keeping track, but indeed I did get yet another rejection notification today. I try to tell myself that it's not me, that it's the dwindling number of jobs and the increasing number of people who are getting MLS degrees. And the struggling economy. For the 23rd time (again, not that I'm counting) I was told that they decided to hire someone who was already in the area. (Yet, most people advise me to be open to moving-Like I usually say while playing basketball: I'm OPEN, I'm OPEN!)

Let's look at the advice I've been given from other news librarians as far as landing a full-time position:
1. Be open to move anywhere
Semi-Check. I've been applying virtually everywhere, though admittedly I have not been applying to positions in New York due to the high cost of living. So I'm open to moving everywhere, except NYC, although that might change if another opening appears in NYC.
2. Get an internship
Check. I did a summer internship at one newspaper nearby, then another internship at a second newspaper in my area. I'm out of newspapers now! At least I got a part-time job out of it though! (And of course, valuable experience, wonderful mentors, etc.)
3. Become up-to-date with technology
Semi-Check. I am familiar with several applications, but at times I do feel overwhelmed with what I don't know since it is constantly changing. (For example, it seemed that as soon as I learned HTML, then there was XML). I am learning SQL right now. I'm trying but I suppose I could try harder.
4. Blog
Check-for obvious reasons.
5. Get involved in professional organizations
Semi-check. I've been in the news division for a couple years, and I have been seeking opportunities for involvement. I contacted several people not too long ago about possibly helping with the newsletter-hopefully that will work out. But I suppose I could do more also. And as far as the plural in "organizations" well, I can't really afford to join another organization right now. Sorry, ALA. Had to drop that membership a while back.

I suppose this little list was more for me than my imaginary audience. It helps to see what areas I could work on. Any other advice is more than welcome.

And just for the record, I am indeed applying for other areas of librarianship. However, the response I usually get is something like "But your experience is in news libraries-why not stay in that area?" I try to hold in my SIGH.

More from the stash (calculators)

2004-09-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

Here's some neat calculators from my "stash" of web resources:

Blood Alcohol Level Calculator
First, I'm definitely not recommending one rely on this for his/her blood-alcohol level (as if a drunk person will think: hmmm...let me calculate this before I think about driving home) but I think it's pretty unique. It might come in handy, say when educating on drunk driving ("just two wine coolers consumed by a 120 pound person can result in a .12% alchohol level, which in "MOST and probably ALL states you would be considered intoxicated and arrested for DUI or DWI".")

Calorie Calculator
Estimate how many calories you burn in your average day. Neat, I burn over 2000 calories a day, I think that's good, right?

College Cost Calculator
How much will it cost to put your kids through college? Find out with this calculator. Just enter how much it costs now, an estimated inflation rate, and how many years until they will enter college and it gives you an estimate.

Mega Converter
This is an easy way to convert length, distance, etc.

Currency Converter
Convert dollar amounts from different countries. I have so much foreign money my dad gave me when I was a kid and they are for insane amounts. I think I have some $10,000 bills from Zimbabwe. That's less than 2 bucks in American dollars!

Calculate days between...
There's only 92 days until Christmas! How do I know, I used this calculator of course.

Perpetual Calendar
I was born on a Thursday. Find out what day of the week any particular date fell on.

Martindale's
I can't post calculators without mentioning Martindale's. They have a HUGE directory of calculators for just about everything. If you haven't looked through them, I encourage you to do so.

Percent Change
If you're really bad at math, you can find the percent increase or decrease here.

Pace Calculator
Don't you hate it that when you go to run/walk on the treadmill, it only tells you your pace at miles per hour? I do, since when I was younger and ran track/cross country I got used to the pace per mile. Now I can convert it without having to think with this calculator.

(Quick) Social Security Calculator
This will estimate your social security benefits based on your age and income. You might want to sit down for this.

Timecard Calculator
If you're a supervisor who has to calculate your workers' timecards, here's a good tool for you. Now you don't have to add up all the minutes yourself.

Wow, I think I'll stop now. Hopefully some of these will be useful.

Warren Edward Buffet-kid genius?

2004-09-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

I never heard of this guy before I checked out Forbe's 400 richest people (link via ResourceShelf). I found this so neat: "Newspaper delivery boy filed first 1040 at age 13; claimed $35 deduction for bicycle" How genius is that? A 13-year old kid claiming a deduction for his bike because he needed it to do his work. I love it.

Yes, I have many interests (Jill of all trades, master of none) and I actually enjoy doing my taxes-I like dealing with the numbers and looking for ways to get more money back. (Hmmm...can I claim my dog as a dependent?) When I was an undergrad and I took that career test, accountant and librarian were among the top careers. I thought becoming an accountant would be neat-math was always one of my favorite subjects. But then I was drawn to the librarian career-I would rather be constantly learning new things in a variety of subject areas. Plus, I thought that accounting would be a competitive field and I might have a hard time finding a job after graduating, or if I did, I might have a hard time moving up in the business world. Oh, little did I know! Here I am years later with my well-thought out degrees still looking for work! Ah well, what can I do now. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"

Slight clarifications from yesterday

2004-09-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I posted on the Rocky Mountain News Library closing. The librarian there (whose last day was today) called me today to talk to me and answer some questions. (So nice to take the time to talk to little 'ol me!) Turns out, the library is not officially closed, and they just hired a new "digital librarian" to be the sole librarian. So this is kind of good news, in that it's good to know that it's not completely gone. More like "And then there was one..."

But it's still scary to me. People just don't seem to appreciate or even understand the role of librarians. And sometimes I think librarians themselves have a hard time defining their role (and I include myself of course in that).

Here where I work, there was a huge opportunity (IMHO) to market and add to the library services several years ago, that unfortunately was not seized by the librarian. The current director we have now is great, and this opportunity occured before she or I arrived.

Basically, our newsroom intranet should be the responsibility of the library. However, several years ago a reporter created the intranet. He did a great job, but it just seems like he took on something that was really the responsibility of the library. I wonder, where was the library? Why weren't they involved in this? I arrived in January, and was shocked that the library didn't even have a presence much less any involvement in the newsroom intranet. So my project was to create a presence, and I have. Now we are thinking of taking on more responsibilities for the intranet-updating the current databases, etc.

Anyway, I bring this up because I often wonder what difference it would have made if several years ago, the library took on this intranet. Often people see us as just a repository of old newspapers. But really, we are here to provide information. We only have 1 FT librarian (the director) and me (the night librarian). Then we have of course a couple processors, and then (this is surprising to me, maybe it's normal) we have two workers who came from other areas of the paper (billing, secretarial positions, etc.) who do research and archive the photos (in other words, they are not "certified librarians"-not that I think an MLS is necessary to do these things, but for the paper to just bring in random people from irrelavent departments-is this normal in a news library? To me it's like saying "Working at the library doesn't require any special knowledge/experience-let's just bring in thtat lady that was Bob's secretary"). If only the opportunity were seized before, maybe our library would be valued more and we could have (ahem) another FT librarian to be in charge of the intranet content.

Again, the reporter that created the intranet did an AWESOME job. It's really great. But, I just find it so disappointing since reporters already have enough work to do with interviewing, finding stories, etc. AND it's the library that is there to provide information services.

This ended up being pretty long, and I thank you if you got this far. Just as Jessica said on her blog, it's very, very important for librarians to market our profession. This includes anticipating the needs of our patrons, and seizing new opportunities with the developing technology. Otherwise, who knows what might happen to the library!??

I think I chose the wrong career

2004-09-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Rocky Mountain News, I'm sure you have heard of it-they only have a circulation of nearly 400,000! Well, apparently their library has closed-as in kapoot, it no longer exists. The last librarian is leaving this coming Monday. Just 2 years ago there were 7 librarians.

I don't think I mentioned this here before, but a couple months ago there was an opening posted for the Rocky Mountain News Library. I (of course) applied for it. After weeks of hearing no response, I contacted the contact person and still heard nothing. So I tracked down the email of a news librarian (I had no idea that she was the only one at the time), and she informed me that the position had been closed-they no longer want to fill the opening. Turns out this was when the next-to-last librarian left-after she left, they posted her position as open, then later changed their mind. Now the last librarian is leaving as well.

All I know is that the library merged with the tech department, and apparently the library services are no longer seen as important? How can this be?

I of course am very concerned, and have been since I have not been able to land a full-time position. Are news librarians soon to be obsolete? Did I enter the wrong profession? And if so, what am I supposed to do about it now-this is information that would have really helped BEFORE I attended library school, BEFORE I got a journalism degree, BEFORE I did internships in news libraries...

I've been looking into academic library positions (for those non-librarians reading this, an academic librarian is one that works in a college/university) since after all, universities should always have libraries (right?). But unfortunately, these always (okay, 99% of the time) require a second master's degree. Now, I would LOVE (really, I would) to get a second master's degree, but I kind of wanted to work with the 2 degrees I already have! Plus, the pay is not reflective of the education. Seriously, one day read through some academic librarian positions-it will read something like "3-5 years experience, master's in library science, second master's in subject area, etc." with a whopping salary of $33,000 a year. Sure, let me spend tens of thousands of dollars into my education so I can make less than the average teacher (I only say teacher because there's always so much hoopla on teachers' "low salaries").

I have so much more to say on this, but this has gotten long enough already. I'm sure I'll continue later.

Off the Shelf: Fact Checker's Bible

2004-09-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

The Fact Checker's Bible by Sarah Harrison Smith is a great overview of a career too often overlooked and taken for granted.

Although fact-checkers are somewhat similar to librarians in that they are there to assure the news publication publishes accurate information, they are also much different. While news librarians are there to assist reporters and editors with finding the facts during the process, fact checkers have to check everything in the story after the story is written.

Before reading this book, I did not know anything about the role of fact-checkers. I was very surprised at how detail-oriented and often tedious it can be. For example, not only do they have to verify factual information similar to what a news librarian might verify (ex: Is it true that 56% of Hispanics in Colorado are uninsured?) but also, fact checkers have to verify every detail. Details such as descriptions in the story (was the waiter holding a round tray?), the accuracy of quotations (they actually have to contact every source and verify that the quote was indeed correct) and pretty much everything that is verifiable, is checked by fact checkers.

This is a great book for those interested in learning more on the role of fact checkers, as well as reporters, news researchers, and those interested in becoming a fact checker. Interestingly, many journalism professors urge their students to take a job as fact checkers to learn more about writing with accuracy.

She also briefly discusses the importance of news librarians at the end, since of course newspapers don't have the time to have someone double check every story (fact checkers are usually found in magazines). I also liked how she listed subject-specific resources that are reliable for finding information at the end.

This is a good book for anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes process that goes on in newsrooms.

Don't worry, you're on the right blog....

2004-09-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

I just decided to change it. I was getting tired of the pink.

The EEOC says...

2004-09-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that religious organizations are exempt. In title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, under Exemptions (section 702)it says:

This subchapter shall not apply to an employer with respect
to the employment of aliens outside any State, or to a religious Corporation, association, educational institution, or society with respect to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association, educational institution, or society of its activities.

And this is referring to section 703 where it says that one cannot discriminate on the basis of religion, etc.
So, yup, they're exempt. I went ahead and looked it up being the librarian that I am. Wow. I just find this so amazing. Learning something new every day...

Um, is this legal?

2004-09-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

So I applied for a position as a university librarian a couple weeks ago, and this just happens to be for a Baptist University. The librarian there seemed pretty interested in my application. He emailed me when he received it and contacted me to let me know that he got it and to look for a form in the mail that he was sending to me. Pretty great, considering it's always me calling the potential employer ("did you receive my resumé?" "What's the status on this position?...")

I got the form in the mail yesterday. At first it seemed pretty routine-name, address, phone, education,experience, etc. Then there's a page called "Christian commitment" where it asks the applicant to describe his/her personal Christian faith and commitment. Okay, I thought, I can answer this and just be honest. I grew up going to church a handful of times and half of those were spent coloring. My "religion" is very personal to me. I refer to myself as a believer in that I believe in a higher spirit, but I don't attend a formal church. I just haven't found one that suits me because I'm also very liberal and am a strong believer in equal rights. (most churches I've found have been too conservative-like anti-gay, or they're just too segregated) I had a teacher that once said that 11:00 on a Sunday is the most segregated time-SO TRUE! Anyway, I won't get into all this right now.

Then the application asks for the name of my minister. But not only that, you know the little disclaimer on the bottom of applications-the one that says "we do not discriminate on the basis of ...." Well, on this application it says "federal regulations prohibit discrimination in employment with regard to age, race, color, national origin, sex, or handicapped condition." Hmmm...they seemed to have left out a couple things there-intentionally perhaps? Notice it didn't mention sexual orientation or religious affiliation.

So I'm writing this because I'm wondering, is this legal? My naive liberal mind is in disarray. I was (kind of) fine with the essay part-I was planning on just being honest with my religious beliefs. But to ask for the name of my minister, to leave out the "isms" at the end- That kind of went over the line for me, and I'm not sure if I will even turn this in after all. Can religious-affiliated institutions really ask these questions, and can they use them when considering potential employees?

PLEASE, I'm really looking for responses here.

Wait, there's more. I just noticed the Preamble. It says:

"...all those who become associated with ______ University as a trustee, officer, member of the faculty or staff......must believe in the divine inpiration of the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, that man was directly created by God, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ....etc."

Now, don't get me wrong here-I have a deep respect for religion. It just makes me rather uncomfortable that an institution can turn away a potential employer based on his/her religious affiliation. If I was Jewish/Muslim/Aethiast, etc. could they legally turn me down? This is really blowing my mind-can someone help me out here? I would greatly appreciate any and all responses. So is it because it's a privately funded institution, this is "okay" to do?

A few reasons why I love being a news librarian:

2004-09-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

In no particular order, of course

I am always learning something new at work.
I get interesting research requests every day! And the range is very broad-one day I can be looking up the history of the city hall, another I can be looking for incidents of people who threw objects out of anger. So fun!
I always remain up to date with the news.
It's on all day in the background, it's available to read on breaks, and it's so exciting to be a part of the process in producing news stories! Plus, I always have something to talk about at the end of the day. "How was work?" "It was great-did you hear about...?"
News organizations always have great perks.
They "got the hookup." There's always contests to win great prizes, chances to make extra money, and depending on the size and location, there is the occasional celebrity to meet. (I met Ty Pennington when I was at the Morning News!)
Diversity is great.
News organizations are diverse in age, ethnicity, gender, etc. I love working in a diverse atmosphere! Diversity is essential to any organization, but it seems (this is just my experience) that news organizations are just a bit more diverse than most "traditional" library work places.
Deadlines rock.
Call me crazy, but I love those adrenaline rushes I get when working on a deadline. "There's a breaking news story, can you find me information on...?" Absolutely! It's exciting, and it makes me feel so vital to the organization and process of getting the news to the readers.

Well, that's just for starters anyway. I could probably go on and on. I've been so happy to work more hours-I've been getting so much more work done! Like updating the department site, developing the collection, etc. SIGH, now all I need is 10 more hours and I'll have even more time to work AND I'll get much needed health benefits. Someday, let's keep hoping!

Off the Shelf

2004-09-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

I just checked out Nicci French's Secret Smile a couple days ago from the public library, and I am already finished. I honestly couldn't put it down! I stayed up late last night-with sleepy straining eyes, unable to go to sleep because I had to find out what happened in this book! And I don't usually read "thrillers"-in fact I haven't since I was 10 and was really into Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine.

Miranda, the main character in this book, briefly dates a man and ends the relationship. He turns out to be a psychotic stalker, yet he charms all of her friends and family into thinking that she is the crazy one and that she is actually stalking him! My favorite passage is at the beginning of the book:

"Within families, you're stuck with the character they think you are, whatever you do...You can end up moving to Australia just to get away from the person your family thinks you are-or who you think they think you are..."

-This is definitely true in my experience.

It is a fun read-one of those books where I found myself thinking about the characters during the day, as if they were real people. It definitely is a book one can escape to and relax at the end of a day.

Great news!

2004-09-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

I was just approved to work 10 more hours a week! Wooo-hoooo! Adios, Ramen*!

*Note: For those of you fortunate enough to not know what I'm referring to, Ramen noodles are packages of noodles and seasoning that sell for about 5 for a dollar. They make a great meal for those of us who are, uh, economically disadvantaged.

Robert Robb's opinion on libraries

2004-09-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Travelin' Librarian for sharing this article. It's yet another claim that libraries want to be "peep show galleries" and that having access to information is not a "right." CIPA just is so full of flaws, and contrary to what Robb says, it really is not about pornography. It's about free access to information. Everyone should be able to find information on Dick Cheney, breast cancer, chicken breasts, STDs, and tons of other topics. But you know this already, after all, you are an intelligent person reading my blog :) It just amazes me that there are still people who seriously think libraries want to show porn to kids-OH RIGHT, THAT would explain the opposition. Yet, according to the Library Research Center (as posted on the ALA):

Libraries report few complaints about Internet content from their users. A survey of approximately 1,000 public libraries found that while 50 percent of libraries had received informal complaints about Internet access, only about 7 percent of these were content-related (although not necessarily focused on pornography). Most were about faulty equipment or a slow response time.
Library Research Center of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, July 2000

If only they really knew the issues libraries deal with-like shrinking budgets! But no, heaven forbid a library provide its users access to information. SIGH.

Off the Shelf

2004-09-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

I just finished a book lent to me by a friend. Diet for a New America by John Robbins is not a book on dieting (I'm very anti-diet). Rather, it is an in-depth look at what our food production industry has become. It is divided into three sections: the first focuses on the unnecessary cruelty to animals, the second deals with the nutritional aspects of vegetarianism, and the third part overviews the effects on society regarding modern factory farming. It's not "cult-like" telling the reader not to eat meat. It presents the facts in an organized manner, allowing the reader to take the facts as he or she chooses. Robbins conducted interviews with factory farmers and workers and cited research studies to back up his claims. His research into this topic is very impressive.

The first part, dealing with animal cruelty, was a provacative look into the unknown. I felt better being informed about what really happens, rather than living in ignorance. Too many people just don't want to know unfortunately.
The second part on the nutritional aspects brought me anger and resentment toward the lies fed to society by the meat industry-especially since cancer runs in my family.

It really is a great book. Again, the Robbins does not try to force his personal beliefs on his reader. But if you want to learn how most animal products get to the grocery store, I encourage you to read this book. There's dozens of reasons in this work on why you should be aware-for your own health and safety.

My only criticism of this book is that it was published in 1987. At times it made me question if the figures were still accurate, if the situation has gotten any worse/better. But it is a great introduction to become informed on the subject. And I hope to find up-to-date resources for future readings.

We are professionals!

2004-09-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

I was working on a project last night with the TV on in the background. Frasier came on and they had a reference to librarians that I didn't appreciate too much. I don't watch Frasier, and don't know if it's still on the air or if it's just reruns now (it just came on after a rerun of Will & Grace and I didn't bother to change the channel).

But last night, Frasier's brother (Niles?) was looking into joining a professional dating referral service. It was a service especially for working professionals who are too busy to find a partner. Anyway, Frasier warned him that these were going to be "gold digging" women who aren't really professionals, but just looking for someone with money. Frasier said he'd probably get a "buck toothed librarian" instead of a real professional. SIGH, librarians are professionals!

I know it's redundant among librarians that we need to gain more respect for our profession, but in case anyone out there reading this is not a librarian: here's some undercover, secret info. just for you! Librarians are smart, organized, useful people. They have been up-to-date with technology, and can find virtually anything! Next time you are looking for a random fact, a statistic, or even a good novel to read-ASK YOUR LIBRARIAN! That's what they are for! AND it's FREE- at your local public, school, college/university library! Perhaps even at your work (if you work for a large company) you have a librarian at your service! Here, read this poem, couresy of Jerry Whiting at JetCityOrange.

Oh, and by the way, on Frasier, the "professional dating service" turned out to be an escort service.

Tuesday fun

2004-09-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend! Here's some "fun" library links. The first is courtesy of Google Blogoscoped, it's the Image Quiz. See if you can guess what search terms were entered just by looking at the images. Just a warning: you have to put the exact query (for example, it the query was "flowers" and you enter "flower" it will count it wrong).
The next two links are just links I found while surfing the web one day. They are already under my links on the blog, but in case you haven't seen them yet: Job Title Generator-see what your job title could be next! And if you're really into librarian trivia, try playing Library Science Jeapardy. Enjoy!

Just when I thought no one was listening...

2004-09-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

I got responses from my previous questions about my résumé! Thanks Jessica and Phil!

Ah, so good to know I'm not just talking to myself on here.

Are you kidding me?

2004-09-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the RNC last night, and there was this young man who said, during his promotion to keep Bush in office, something along the lines of: We want to be able to go to college and get a four-year degree and come out and make a 6-figure salary. He was talking about how (in his opinion) the economy under the Bush administration would provide this, if given a second term since 9/11 affected the economy with how it is now. He stated that making such a salary was commonplace after getting a bachelor's degree-and should remain so.

My mouth dropped open and I couldn't help but laugh and say out loud "WHAT?" on my drive home, (although yes I was alone). Of course, this is rarely the case-for one to get a bachelor's degree and leave school to a 6-figure salary job. Statistics show that the median salary in the U.S. is around $42,000. But it got me thinking-in this man's social circle, is this commonplace? And if so, I suspect their salary has nothing to do with their degrees...Anyone out there know of an RCG who went to a 6-figure job after graduation?

Also of note, there was an excellent article in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram by Dave Lieber. Some lucky couples in the area bid and won tickets to go see Oprah (I am a huge Oprah fan). Lieber creatively wrote the article as if the couple were on the Oprah Show, combining fictional dialogue from what Oprah would say (and from an avid Oprah viewer, I can tell you he did a great job) and actual quotes from interviewing the couples. Unfortunately, the article is not available free on the site, but I encourage you to read it by other means if you can.

More news tidbits

2004-09-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I'm a news librarian and love reading about what's going on in the world!

I found this so interesting: in New York there is still an apartment complex just for women! And it's cheap too, plus from what I understand they get a free breakfast and dinner! And a maid service! The Wall Street Journal did a story on it. I absolutely love this idea-I know it's old fashioned and a bit outdated (no men allowed anywhere except the "guest room"!) but hey, I did get 2 degrees from a woman's college. I found it extremely safe and inviting. I could never live in these apartments now since I'm married, but (hypothetically) if I weren't married, this is where I would live and I'd be filling out applications to New York like crazy (which I currently am not doing since living expenses are so high in NY-although there have beeen several positions I've been interested in). Wow, apartments in NY for less than $1,000 a month with maid service, free meals, security. SIGH. Ah well..if I could only find affordable housing in NY for married couples that was pet-friendly....

Totally different topic: I know we have all heard about how technology is going to end so many things: books, libraries, the post office! I read an article today about the "possible end" of the post office. I was actually really surprised since I seriously thought ebay tremendously has helped the U.S.P.S. It didn't mention ebay at all though. Sorry, I can' remember where I read it now-I know I should have clipped it, but just remembered it right now since I just recently sold some stuff on ebay. But SatireWire had a funny little article about the Post office and its "new paper technology." And I found a blog that is dedicated to Post Office news. It seems like all these claims of "the end" are out of fear. I say this: don't be scared of technology-see how it can help you do your job better! Libraries, post offices, books, I really don't see these ending in my lifetime-and I have a whole life ahead of me!

Although even Freddie seems to get more traffic on his blog, I still seem to ramble on. Thanks for reading-all two of you! :)

News bits

2004-08-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

I was reading Utne today and saw an interesting story from New International about feminists in India who are raising money to build a mosque especially for women. And after completion, they plan to appoint a woman prayer leader. It got me interested, so I looked for more articles and found one in BBC News.
I also found these (free-I'm at home and of course would not look in Nexis for my personal interests) articles online 1.)
Indolink and 2.)Rediff

Also on the topic of women praying in mosques, I also found a story on women students in a women's college who were praying in a mosque-and this caused some contraversy. I know it's old news, but I just read about it today.

In library news, Michael Sauers is writing a book targeted towards librarians about blogging. Smart. Also, a library in California apparently got really sick of cell phones going off in libraries and are now fining patrons for using their cell phones in the library. Ouch. Cell phones irritate me too, but geez that seems rather harsh. But then again, I'm not there and I can imagine it could get really bad-I'm sure they tried posting signs, politely asking people to go outside to carry their phone conversations, etc. Hey, there's my book idea-I could write one on cell phone etiquette! I'll post later on cell phone etiquette 101 :)

Good luck great news librarians!

2004-08-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable-two news librarians in Florida announced today that they will be leaving. One is retiring and the other is leaving to be the director at another paper. I don't even know what to say! Hopefully that means a couple openings. I used to get really excited when there were openings in Florida, but now (after quite a few rejections) I just don't get my hopes up.

Liz is great. She's active in the division, knowledgeable of the profession, and she also was the only news librarian to post a comment on my blog! I'm sure she will be greatly missed at the Miami Herald. I wish you the best, Liz!

And Mike, I don't really know, but I've seen his name pretty often, especially on the newslib discussion list. He seems very knowledgeable as well, and I'm sure is an excellent librarian since he is soon going to be a director!

Best of luck to both of them!

Hello?

2004-08-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got no responses on my question about whether I should include all my library experience or just the most relevant when applying for jobs. Would it look better to show I've been interested and working in libraries for the past 6 years, or is that just superfluous to include everything? *Crickets* One more blow to my idea of interactivity with this blog. But anyways...I suppose I'll keep using my own judgement for what's appropriate. (It's been doing me so well so far! *wink*)

I did a first today. I actually applied to a job on the east coast-with really high living expenses. I figured why not since 1.) chances are I probably won't get the job and 2.) If by chance I did, I could always live outside the city and commute to work. I drive an hour to work now, and the good thing about living in a bigger area is that I could have more of a chance at carpooling or taking public transportation.

Professional Opinions Requested

2004-08-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

I posted my résumé online and there's now a link here on my blog (under "about me"). I just have a few questions that I would really appreciate any and all responses too.

The résumé online is basically the same (just a different format) as the résumé I send when applying for news librarian positions. When I apply to different positions (such as in an academic or law library) I send my "extended résumé," which goes back four more years to include my experience working in libraries when I was an undergraduate (I worked at a campus law library and a campus main library, and also a children's library that was also on campus).

My question about this is: Should I always send my "extended" résumé? I do when applying for the other types of libraries to show that I've been working in libraries for the past 6 years. But when applying to news libraries, I keep it with the most recent, since my recent employment focuses on news libraries. (Plus, I kind of want to keep it one page since I am just a recent graduate just entering the profession.)

Basically, do news librarians care that I've been working in libraries for the past six years? Or should I continue just sending what's relevant: my experience with reference/news research?

Feel free to post a comment or post to the tagboard, or shoot me an email. Thanks!

One more rejection

2004-08-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

I just got another rejection letter in the mail.

Dear Ms. Cortez:

Thank you for your application for the position of _____ Librarian at the _______. The Search Committee has carefully reviewed your résumé and we regret to inform you that you are no longer among those candidates under active consideration.

We appreciate your interest in the _______ and thank you for considering a position with us.

Sincerely,

_____________

They all sound the same, just fill in the blanks. But why do they always say "we regret to inform you..." Wouldn't it make more sense to say "sorry, but" or "unfortunately,..." Hey, I'm just saying!

But I need not be more optimistic and look on the bright side. With all these rejection letters, I could:

Wallpaper my dining room and bath room
Create my own funky wrapping paper for this Christmas
Make cards along with the wrapping paper
Make some killer paper airplanes and spend hours playing with my dog
Keep it in my car and purse for those emergency gum wads that need to be properly disposed
Make a cup out of it, it gets hot here in TX and it's important to always get enough water!

The options are endless!

You scratch my back...

2004-08-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

I changed up my links a little and added a list of links to those who have mentioned my blog on their site/blog. You know you want to be on my list of links! All you have to do is put a link to my blog on your site! (Yes, I am well aware that less people visit my blog than the number of people who actually watched the movie "Gigli", but humor me a little. Help a sista out!)

On Salaries

2004-08-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

Last night as I was drifting to sleep, a thought came to me that awoke me in panic. I just sent off an application, and when it asked for desired salary, I did the unthinkable, the forbidden: I actually entered a number! Doh!

I know I've been told to never enter a salary, to always be vague, and say flexible, negotiable, or will discuss in interview. I don't even know why or how I did it! I guess answering all those questions put me in to an answer mode. And what's worse is that the job is in an area with higher living expenses, so I put a higher salary! Oh, I hope I didn't (once again) ruin my chances at a great opportunity.

So, now it's ingrained in my memory: never put salary information! When they ask how much I expect to make, of course they don't actually want an answer-what was I thinking??!! Oh, I am terrible at this game of obtaining a job!

Nice job, if you can get it

2004-08-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

I used to want to be a book reviewer/editor, until I realized how tough it is to become one. I thought that becoming a librarian would be much more realistic (turns out, that too seems to be a tough one to get into). But there's one book reviewer who wrote about how he hated his job of reviewing books!

Well, I still think reviewing books would be a great job. If the Boston Globe needs a new book reviewer, I'm available!

Off the shelf

2004-08-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

I decided I would share my reading here, since after all, librarians read all day long, right? ;)

The last book I read was Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the monkey house. It's a collection of short stories that I very much enjoyed. It made for great airplane reading-this is what I read on my flight to and from Delaware.

My favorite story was "Thomas Edison's Shaggy Dog," in which, of course dogs are much smarter that humans give them credit for and actually invented the light bulb, not Thomas Edison. There's lots of humor, and things that made me think. Is it possible to all be equal? That topic is explored in "Harrison Bergeron". And it's all about perception in "More Stately Mansions," where a woman sees what she wants to see.

By the way, the book was passed on to me from a friend, and if anyone is interested, I'm willing to pass it on to someone else!

I'll share on my future readings. I'm in the middle of another book right now and will share when I finish.
Also, I started 100 Years of Solitude, but shamefully did not finish and had to return it since I left town without renewing it and owed a good amount of late fees. (Oh, I'm a disgrace to all librarians!) Despite all of the good things I've heard about this book, I wasn't a fan. I thought there were way too many characters and not enough depth into who they were. But that's just my opinion, I hardly start a book and not finish it, but I think this will be one.

On to the next book!

Go figure

2004-08-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

I was reading the latest issue of News Library News and saw a little tidbit in the Business Meeting Minutes about how there are fewer and fewer jobs for news librarians. Not really surprised, but here's a quote from the newsletter:

“The number of job postings on the NewsLib listserv
and/or on the NewsLib Web site continues to
decline. Thirty-three jobs were posted between June 10,
2003, and June 5, 2004, as compared to 36 postings
last year. The postings five years ago (1999-2000)
totaled 76, more than twice the number of this year’s.
There were 40 postings for the period June 2001-June
2002 and 63 for June 2000 - June 2001

Yet, this year's student award went to a paper on how to recruit new news librarians?! Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was a bad paper or shouldn't have received the award. But I just don't understand why there's so much talk about recruiting new librarians, when there really aren't that many jobs to go around in the first place!

I think we all know that librarians have awesome jobs, and that's why so many people want to become one. And becoming a news librarian, well, what's more fun than that? But please, let's stop fooling ourselves by talking about the need to recruit. 33 jobs in the past year. That's not much! And that's including part-time and internships! Across the country!!!

Nurses, now that's a profession that should be concerned about recruiting. Teaching as well. But news librarians? Is anyone benefitting by recruiting even more people to the profession when there just aren't many opportunities?

I'm back!

2004-08-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

I had a great time in Florida, at least until hurricane Charley hit, but we had a few good days at least.

And on the way to Corpus, I had a phone interview with the paper in Florida! Yay! I thought it went well, I'm really hoping for that position. *Crossing fingers and toes, please do the same!*

By the way, big congratulations to mis amigas, sylence and friday, who both landed great jobs! Hopefully I will have good news soon as well! At least I'm happy for you guys and it is possible for us "RCGs" to get hired!

Off to Florida!

2004-08-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't get the job in Florida! I wish! I did get an email from them and talked to the director today. I casually mentioned in my email that I just happened to be in Florida next week. I'm going to Florida for my honeymoon-after my wedding this weekend. She (the director) asked if I could stop by since I'll be in FL next week. The conversation kind of went like this:

HER: Do you think you could drop the library by since you will be in Florida next week?
ME: Absolutely! ...I am very interested in this position, and would definitely take a day to stop by if I am a serious candidate...
HER: (Pause) er...I'll call you tomorrow to talk to more about the position and learn more about you.

Hmmm....sounds like I'm not really a serious candidate then, eh? I thought it was a good response on my part. It is my honeymoon, after all, and the place is a 3-hour drive from where I'll be! I wouldn't go out of my way unless there was a good chance I'd get a job out of it! Oh, and she doesn't know that I'm there for my honeymoon, just that I'll be in Florida.

Maybe I shouldn't even have mentioned it, but I did want her to know that I would be out of town for a while in case she tried to get a hold of me, and just said, it just happens to be Florida that I'm going! If it means getting a job, sure I'd take a day out of my vacation to drive to Palm Beach! But not to be turned down once again.

Anyway, I'll be gone for a couple weeks. I'll be back and keep you updated on my long journey to become a news librarian.

News bits

2004-08-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

Career journal had an intersting article on "inflating experience." Seems obvious, but it still seems difficult to balance "selling yourself" and not "overselling yourself." I know to never lie, but instead I always state the facts (ex: Yes, I have worked in 2 news libraries where I created and maintained the intranet sites and provided reference assistance). Hopefully, that would be the right approach, rather than saying something like "I am the best web designer and can answer any reference request that comes my way!" That would be an overstatement, right? But there's just one problem here: I caught on to the fact that they (the ones who oversold themselves) were the ones who got the jobs! Meanwhile, what about the ones who were honest in the interview (ex: I'm great at this, so-so at this, still learning this, etc.)? Hmmm...see what I mean about balance! You have to "sell yourself" to make the employer want to hire you, but at the same time, not so much that you can't live up to the expectations you set for yourself. And not so little that they don't want to hire you! Ay chihuahua! Maybe I'm over thinking this through. I'm always honest with my abilities, and I think that's what this article was trying to say. Comments?

On an entirely different subject, on someone else's blog, there were instructions for using Google to find credit card numbers! how scary is that? I wonder if these were nonsecure sites that turned up in the results-must have been because the search was for a huge range of numbers and only a few credit card numbers came up. Never forget to make sure the site is secure (look for the https!) I'm not putting the link to what the search was, but trust me, it was kind of obvious if you know how to used advanced search in Google. Comments/resources on online credit fraud/security, etc.?

More from the stash (business)

2004-08-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

I meant to do this more often, but here's more from my database of web sites. The second category is business. (Remember, I'm not saying these are new, they are just some sites I keep handy because I find them useful!)

The Ivory Project offers a searchable database (be sure to go to advanced search to search by year, form of ad, etc.) of print ads for Ivory and other brands of soap. I was disappointed that there were no ads from the year I was born, but it's still interesting to look and see the different advertisements. It goes back to the 1800s!

And for those "information professionals," "competitive intelligence officers" or whatever name you so choose to go by (a.k.a. "special librarian") there's a dictionary of competitive intelligence terms. Good for beginners to the field (wait, beginners to the field aren't the ones hired in special libraries...er good for anyone who wants to know the lingo?)

EH.net has a handy tool for searching business/economic articles or just browse by topic. It is a database of articles so it's not ideal for quickly finding information. But, if for example, you're interested in learning about the "poor law" that was instituted in England, go for it! They also have a great tool for figuring the value of a dollar in past dates, inflation rates, etc.

CEO Express is a gateway to business information. Kind of cluttered, but some good resources in there.

That's all for today, hopefully there's at least one in there someone finds helpful!

Seeking good free image host

2004-08-03T16:59:00.000-07:00

So, once again, I was let down by a free image host! Apparently, I was supposed to log in to my free account before today, but I know I've logged in to it within the past month. Bleh, so I switched again. This time I'm using imgspot Any suggestions for a good free image host? I've tried vibrahost, but then it just suddenly changed to 5gigs (without notifying me) and they were down a lot. Then I changed to miami host, and I apparently didn't log in enough, according to their rules. I know, I know, "you get what you pay for!"

Registration?

2004-07-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

I went to the All Music Guide and now they require registration. When did this happen? And why? I just wanted to check on the correct title for a song. Geez, thank goodness for BugMeNot

No respect!

2004-07-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

The Pheonix New Times did a story today on Toni Garvey. Who knows what took them so long-wasn't it back in January when she was named Librarian of the Year? The New Times did a horrible job with the inteview! Asking questions like "where are your bun and horn-rims?" "Hey, is there a course in Library School where librarians are taught how not to smile?" and "So, how did you win "Librarian of the Year"? Was there some kind of competition? Did you have to jump over piles of books? Was there a shushing contest?" Yeah, sure, I know I am constantly jumping over piles of books myself. I think the reporter was trying to be funny, but I wasn't a fan of his humor. In the words of Rodney Dangerfield, "No respect!"

In case you haven't read about Toni Garvey and her accomplishment, of course the Library Journal did a great job of covering the story. Also, the Arizona Republic did a good job as well.

Much respect, Toni Garvey!

Maybe it's not just me...

2004-07-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

I ran into a former peer last night. I found out that another wannabe librarian who graduated this past May from TWU is also still looking for work. Actually, now that I think about it, the only ones I know who graduated in May who have jobs are the ones who are at the same jobs they had when they were in school. Such as I, still working at the same part-time job I had while I was a student.

And by the way, this was very conflicting with me while in school. So many "students" already had "librarian" positions. Why go for the professional degree when so many people land positions without it? At times, I felt like "why am I here?"

The other student I found out about last night is going for another area-health/medical librarianship. She is in the same predicament as me, had a few interviews but no one has actually hired her yet.

I wish the job market were better, or that librarians were more open to hiring recent graduates, etc. But it did feel good to know that I'm not the only one who can't seem to land a position.

I got a link!

2004-07-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks, librariangear for adding me to your links! Yay, I made it!

And yet another down

2004-07-24T12:24:00.000-07:00

One more application is on its way to the sunny state of Florida.
Maybe I am crazy to think I'll actually get in to a news library someday. I thought that was why I spent so many years in school. That is after all what I (and am sure most of us) was told: go to college, work hard, and it will eventually pay off. College is about opportunity, right? It gets so confusing, I put so much effort toward my education, work hard to get professional experience, yet here I am still looking for a full-time job. Didn't I do everything right? The plan is not going too smoothly. So often, I think I chose the wrong career path. If I would have studied nursing, I'm sure I would have a job by now. Or would I? But again, I thought that was what college was for: to begin a career that you choose not one that you just get stuck with. Reality really does bite. It was so much easier thinking I could be anything I wanted with hard work. Hopefully it will pay off, eventually. If not, what a waste of 6 years of my life.

News bits

2004-07-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

I wish more women here in America were secure enough with themselves as the ones in Germany. (It is okay to be single!)
And I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one who's ever wanted to take off my glasses and use them to eat my dinner!
Oh, and it's official, kids are smarter than their parents! Okay, not smarter, but they usually have a better memory.
Also, here's a story on kids using computers at an earlier age. I started at 2, and I remember back before Microsoft when I had to type in RUN and C: on a blank screen.

Much love to Deleware

2004-07-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

I got the call yesterday from a library director at Deleware. He called to let me know that he filled the position (with another candidate). But really, that's fine. And the experience of being flown in to an interview-that was great.

I honestly didn't expect to get it-I really did feel like I screwed up the interview. I remember fumbling over my words, and I paused when I was asked what I have to offer! I really have to work on my confidence level (contrary to popular belief-I do not think I know everything).

This experience did make me a little more confident in myself though. I was one of the few chosen to actually fly in for an interview! That's gotta mean I'm worth something! Besides, everyone knows (I think even the search committee) that what I really want is to be a news libarian.

The staff at Deleware was extremely nice. No hard feelings, much love to Deleware. I'll continue pursuing my dream of becoming a news librarian!

Study on online news sites

2004-07-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

UT Austin did a study on how frequently newspapers update their online news content. Not surprisingly, the study found that the smaller newspapers had fewer updates on their sites. Go Newsday for leading the pack with over 200 updates per day!

Dream: anything is possible?

2004-07-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

I had this dream last night, and I've had this dream several times. Just thought I'd share.

Background: I used to help a peer who has a severe case of cerebral palsy. He is wheelchair bound and has little control over his motor functions. I would go with him to his classes, take notes for him, tutor him, and help with anything else needed. His name is Arthur and his mom was honestly one of the kindest people I've ever known.

The dream: I have this recurring dream where Arthur is walking. Miraculously, he no longer has cerebral palsy. Usually, when I see him, I get really excited and scream "Arthur, you're walking!" or something along those lines. But in my dream last night, I casually said, "hey, now you can join me at the park anytime!" (I often walk my dog at the park).

I'm not quite sure why I have these dreams. Those who know me know that I constantly dream and often have dreams that stick with me all day. Perhaps these particular dreams mean anything is possible? And last night I was less surprised and excited because I've always known anything is possible. Any other interpretations, please feel free to share.

Robots in Libraries

2004-07-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

Anyone else heard of this? Robots being put to work in libraries. Where does one begin to even comment on this? And can they please not call it the "robot librarian" when all it does is fetch books. Petition, anyone?

Clarifications

2004-07-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I had this comment from a reader in my email:
"Just in case you're head gets too big and you
start thinking you're so smart, remember that you
misspelled Delaware twice in your blog."

To clarify, I am looking in Webster's New World College Dictionary, 3rd college edition, and the definition of smart is: intelligent, alert, clever, witty, etc.. It does not mean "I know everything" or "I am smarter than everyone." Why is it that we are not allowed to ever say anything positive about ourselves? Ever wonder why women are always saying they're fat, ugly, etc.? This is a problem in our society-we get so defensive and always try to bring others down.

If you learn anything from this, please know that it is okay to say positive things about yourself. You shouldn't have to wait for others to validate you in any way.

In case you misunderstood my posting from yesterday:
1. I was not putting down LexisNexis and claiming I already know everything about searching. On the contrary, I do know some, and yes, more than others. I included that experience because it really was a flashback of grad school. I won't go into my school experience but will say that I am well aware that I have much to learn that was not taught to me in grad school. And although I may not have multiple years of experience, that does not mean I don't know anything.
2. I do not think I know everything. Period. Again, smart does not mean "I know everything bow down to me..."
3. I wrote the posting because I do feel like because of whatever reason I am treated like I know nothing. Dozens of rejection letters will do that to you.

Just had to share...

2004-07-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

What other professional publication would have the Guerilla Girls on the first page of a publication? Is there someone out there who attended ALA in Orlando that can tell me more about this? I love the guerrilla girls!!

Also, I saw on librarian.net that there is an album out there entitled Public Library. Haven't gotten a chance to download any of the songs yet, but any album with songs like "Smart Girl" and "Librarian" I will definitely check out. Thanks for sharing, Jessamyn, and special thanks to Jonathan Rundman!

Update: I just looked at the lyrics, check out the lyrics to smart girl, that's my favorite. I wish there were more songs out there like that. Here's a snippet:
"listen to me boys and learn important things
benefit from wisdom that experience brings
I will be specific, I will be direct
when you look for love, look for intellect"

Woo-hoo!

2004-07-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

There's an opening in Florida! In a news library! Everyone cross your fingers for me! Any last minute advice/pointers (especially if you are a news librarian lurking around my blog to check on updates-now's the time to speak up!)?

"When I find myself fading, I close my eyes and realize my friends are my energy."

2004-07-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

That's an anonymous quote I found on quoteland. For those of you who are not using an RSS aggregator, and actually come to my site, those are my wonderful friends on the tagboard. Much love to the COL! (if you don't know what that means, don't worry about it, it is an inside thing)
And I know there are several news librarians out there who read my blog silently, just lurking. Don't be shy! Post comments or use the tag board! I know I've said it before, but blogs can be interactive too!

So, I'm not a total loser

2004-07-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

And I'm not just saying that because I have great friends who would actually visit my new librarian blog-even though none of them are librarians. They just care-aww, you guys are the best!

But also because I had an interview this week. That's right, no rejection letters this week, and I was flown in for an interview for a residency position at a very nice university in Deleware. For those of you not familiar with residency programs, these are created to increase diversity among librarians (translation: they are positions created for people like me who apparently no one else will give a chance)

It's a very competitive program and I am actually very happy to even be one of three final candidates to be flown in for the interview. Anyone out there from Deleware? It seems like a nice area, and everyone was friendly.

A brief recap of the interview:
1.) Dress: Like I said in a recent post, suits don't fit me. I wore a short sleeved cardigan and a knee-length black skirt with hose and these black mary-jane type flats that I got from a friend when we were getting ready for a garage sale (they were her old shoes). The shoes had a few imperfections, but oh well, I bought the sweater new and the skirt was fairly new also-geez what am I, Rockefeller?
2.) Travel: They flew me in (I felt so special!) Unfortunately, the flight was delayed, I got airsick from the bumpy landing, and since the flight was late, I missed my connecting train to Newark and then hitched a ride with a girl I met on the first train. I then had to hitch a cab from the nearby town where the girl from the train lived. I therefore missed the first part of the interview (the dinner). (Doh, free food without having to be bald, and I missed it!) But I made it okay, I'm a survivor. And after the cab ride I was just so glad to finally be at my hotel I forgot to get a receipt, so that was 40 bucks out of my pocket-can't get reimbursed without a receipt!
3.) The interview: Anyone out there ever been to an interview with a university? They are very long and intense. I knew this already, which honestly is a reason why academic libraries are my second choice. The interview lasted from 8 in the morning to past 3 in the afternoon. I met with every department in the library and by the end of the day I know I was stumbling over my words from answering the same questions over and over.

Well, it was a good experience anyway. I will keep you updated!

On applications

2004-07-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

So I've been looking for employment for about 6 months now. I started looking when I was still in graduate school and at first only applied to news library positions. A few weeks after I graduated, I was rejected several times, including my ultimate dream job (besides Oprah), and then went on an application frenzy. I applied to every posting I was eligible for-public libraries, academic libraries, even secretarial positions. I'm now getting back to my original gameplan of applying only for those I really want. After all, I got two college degrees so I could get a job I enjoy, right? Maybe I'm just crazy-chasing a dream like a kid chasing a butterfly. Running after it when obviously it doesn't want me chasing it in the first place. "Thank you for your application, BUT..." "Thank you for your sincere interest in working for our organization, BUT..."
Well, thank you for your rejections, but I'm still trying. Quitting is not my style.

On interviewing (part 1)

2004-07-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

Ah, interviewing. What's better than subjecting ourselves to critism, scrutiny, and undoubtedly a room full of people talking about us and our competencies? Strangely, we actually want this-or rather, what we really want is to land the position so we can be then treated as human beings rather than science experiments under intense observation.

I suppose I should change to the first-person here since really I am talking about my personal feelings of going through interviews. Although getting to the interview is the first goal from sending out my resumes, once it arrives, it is a mild torture. It starts with "what do I wear?" Suits do not fit my petite frame, and besides it is summer and plus, I don't see any sense in spending a couple weeks' worth of groceries on an outfit I will likely wear once or twice. (Any librarians out there wear suits to work?) Are my clothes good enough? Will they notice the scuff marks/tears in my shoes?

The actual interview itself: proving my worth. Selling myself. Not my specialty. Sitting in the hot chair-answering questions of why the employer should hire me. It's like being a self-consience 14 year-old again, worrying if I say the right things, if my body language conveys the right message, if I'm dressed appropriately. Does the employer really think he/she will be able to get a sense of who I am in an interview? So much is riding on saying the right things, doing everything right for this short amount of time to convince these people that I am indeed the one to fill the position AUGGGHHHH!!!!! Pressure builds, palms sweat, words stumble out, how do I master the interview? Is acting the answer? So many books say what to say, but I don't want to be a walking puppet. Besides, if an actor is what they want, why post an ad for a librarian?

Every question I wonder should I be honest or answer what I know they want to hear. How do I answer about my accomplishments without repeating what they already know from my resume? When I come prepared with questions to ask them, what do I do when they already answered them?

I don't wear suits. I don't wear makeup. I don't style my hair. I don't put on a fake smile to get other people to like me. I sometimes say things like "yeah" and "like". I have a great sense of humor. I take a while to warm up to people. I am who I am. But I suppose I am seriously expected to act like someone I'm not (complete with rehearsed answers, clothes I would normally not wear, and be ready to be monitered! Don't forget that firm handshake!) so that I can get a job I want and the people who hire me can hire someone they want, but are they getting someone they want? Or someone they think they want? Or whoever plays the game the best? The best actor, rather than the best librarian. Or the best conversationalist, or the best dressed, etc. Basically it comes down to the best performance.

*sigh* Whatever happened to just being yourself? I hate the games we are expected to play in order to something as fundamentally basic as obtain a job.

One more down. . .

2004-07-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

I completed one more application to a news librarian position today. This time I burned some of my work samples to a CD and included it with my resume/cover letter in a folder. Costs a little more than just emailing or even mailing just the resume/cover letter, but hey, I figured it's been a few months now-time to spice it up a little.

I almost printed out several work products and put it in a presentation binder, but I am looking for work for a reason (meaning, if I had the money to splurge in Office Max, I wouldn't be so hung up on finding a job).

A few more links

2004-07-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

So I have this database of links I refer to often, and I just thought I would share some of them with you all. I arranged them in subject categories. The first category is Arts/Entertainment.

Well, we all know about the IMDB, but did you know there's also the Internet Broadway Database ? It's very useful for information on Broadway showings, including what's currently showing (and when it's scheduled to close, how many times it's been performed, etc.). I've never seen an actual Broadway show, but again, someday I will no longer be in this broke college student phase (though of course I thought that phase would end after I actually graduated...)

Another good one is Public Domain Music. Though I'm still waiting for the birtday song to be public domain. Is that song really copyrighted or not? There's an interesting other side to that issue.

And if you're tired of hearing the same 5 songs on the radio, check out what's playing in other countries at Charts All Over the World. Last, if you are lucky enough to have a vacation this year, see Theme Park City for ideas on where to go.

So that's a few from my stash. Enjoy!

Free food

2004-07-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

...if you're bald... hmm...I could go for the shaved head look . . .

-broke college graduate (twice) who still gets excited about free food. (I still can't pass those free samples! Someday, someday, I'll have a full-time job . . .)

Vibrahost gone

2004-07-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

Just an FYI, if you were using vibrahost for uploading your images, they have changed to 5gigs

If you can't get them to talk, give them links

2004-07-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the blog is still a bit lonely, although I was hoping for some interactivity. Perhaps if it were a more contraversial topic like the Whiskey Bar I would get more people talking.
So, here's a few links (geez, my readers just want to take, take, take)
Never again will you have to register with a site!
And there's a new search engine coming out "The world's first artificial intelligence business search engine"
Are you a librarian wanting to get Bush out of office?
Did you find love in the library ?

Those are just a few sites I came across today.

I could get paid to do this!

2004-07-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, I could actually get paid to do this. What a novel idea, writing about one's job search experience...(just for the record, I thought of it before I even heard about the Chronicle doing a column, but hey who's keeping track) Well, academic libraries are my second choice after corporate...

I'm still here

2004-07-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while, I've been sick in bed the past couple days. I know it's redundant but I really hate being sick.

I was really glad to see some comments though! The tag board is still lonely, but that's okay. I'll leave it up for a little bit just in case.

When I created this, I was thinking that since reality tv shows are popular these days, why not a reality blog? You know, I could have people curious as to what happens to the wannabe news librarian, checking for updates and rooting her on as her journey goes on. I've been on a lot of cold medicine lately, so sorry if this isn't making any sense.

I'll post more later.

Thus far. . .

2004-06-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

To get everyone updated-here's my status so far on this journey.
I've been looking for employment since my last semester of grad school (I just graduated this past spring). So virtually every posting that has gone across newslib this year-I've applied for (and trust me, one was my ABSOLUTE DREAM JOB-aside from working for Oprah, of course). Unfortunately, I was not chosen for any of the positions...and that's all I have to say about that.

In all honesty, it can be quite discouraging to be rejected so many times-especially since I thought I had prepared myself professionally through education and experience. (journalism degree + library science degree + experience working at 2 large newspaper libraries=no job?) And I'm very mobile-willing and ready to travel anywhere. So here's a couple questions for today:
1.) Am I being unrealistic to want to work in a news library being an "RCG" (recent college graduate) as I once remember it being described on newslib (it was a rather unfavorable term, I might add)?
2.) How did you (news librarians that are hopefully reading this) get your position? (how long did it take you? what was your prior experience, etc.)

I am really hoping this blog can be interactive, otherwise I'm just talking to myself, and I can't always answer my own questions! Please answer my questions for the day either on the tag board ---> on the right, or below, in the comments. Thanks! Hope to hear some voices here!

Everybody's doing it!

2004-06-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

Who knew these things would become so popular? Several years ago when some of my friends started creating blogs, I never thought they'd become such a hit among librarians. Since Nike is doing their own blog as well, I figured what the heck, "just do it."

So why am I doing this? I'm hoping this will help "get my name out." Also perhaps I can get some support, and of course to just share my thoughts with others. I'm trying to keep it "professional" and relevant. So keep checking for updates on my progress in my "journey" and other musings as I post. And always feel free to post comments (below) or use the tag board (on the right). Blogs can be interactive too!

Welcome

2004-06-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hello, and welcome to my new blog! You may have seen my profile on the News Division web site, or you may have even met me at last year's conference or through other professional means. I'm a recent graduate of Texas Woman's University's School of Library and Information Studies looking for full-time employment in a news organization. I have interned at the Dallas Morning News library, and currently work part-time at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Although I love my job at the Star-Telegram, full-time employment is just not available. I've been looking for full-time employment this summer and it has been a journey-so welcome to my journey!