Ann Seidl has a nice web site up for her upcoming film The Hollywood Librarian. I saw her present clips that she was assembling for this at the Vermont Library Association conference a few years ago and I think it’s going to be great.
Category: librarians
wikipedia for librarians
Jenny had a frustrating time recently trying to figure out why edits she made to the “anyone can edit it!” Wikipedia were speedily deleted. Since I had been around the Wikipedia block a bit, I understood both sides to the problem: community sites don’t behave like vendor/reference sites, and Wikipedia doesn’t have the most robust feedback loops for explaining their processes. If anyone has been following this specific issue [which was resolved later] or this issue generally, you might be interested in a Wikipedia Project which includes, Introduction to Wikipedia Culture for Librarians. It’s still very much in process, but note the focus on inclusivity and appeal over brute “this is how it is” FAQs.
Main point: we can’t expect anyone to be impressed by an approach that boils down to “stand back, I’m a librarian, I’m trained to handle this”. Our success will depend on our power to persuade, to come up with better ideas and to defend them.
[thanks sammy]
librarian shortage, some hard facts from Library Journal
Meredith points to a Library Journal article with actual facts about the job market for new librarians. Upshot? While there is still a need for librarians in some geographical and skill areas, these authors do not believe in the “librarian shortage” that has been getting so much press over the last five years.
While there is an intense, ongoing campaign to recruit new MLS students, there is no concerted effort to hire them once they’ve graduated. It is unreasonable to invite an influx of new colleagues into the profession without making room for them. It is unfortunate that those entering the profession are being told that there is a current shortage of library workers, since this is not entirely true.
They also discuss some of the expectations of the profession that can make it difficult for less-experienced job seekers to prove their worthiness.
To paraphrase one new professional, librarianship is a profession that focuses obsessively on past accomplishments and not on future potential…. New professionals have a lot to offer: we are eager, full of new ideas, have yet to be poisoned by burnout, and—through our newly earned education—are up-to-date on the latest technologies and trends. Our potential is exactly what should be sought out by employers. The profession needs us as much as we need it.
what to do with old library cards
Catalog card post cards, by Amanda. Lovely.
tattooed libarians survey
One of the first little bits of original content I put online was a tiny tattooed librarians page. Gails’ modified librarians page remains the standard online reference. Now the Curmudgeony Librarian has done a survey of tattooed librarians, sadly without photos, asking whether we are tatooed, and where.