work – librarian.net

the work I got

So it’s funny, I spent a lot of time “working my network” to try to find the right thing for me. I applied for a few jobs, had a few good interviews but no actual bites, put feelers out on social media. And, at the end of the day, the thing that wound up working for me was a random “Hey I’d really like to work here at the point at which you wind up having people working here” email.

You can read the announcement about my new (part-time, contract) gig working for Flickr Commons as their Community Manager. I’m beyond stoked about this. First week went well, here’s to many more.

the work I want

Posted on 09Feb23 by jessamyn

Reproduction of mural in Library of Congress showing two men removing tree stump.

I am looking for work.

During most of last year and some of the previous year, selling my mother’s house was my part-time job. That project is done and I’m ready to go more formally on to the job market. I’m looking for something fairly specific but I honestly believe there’s a good fit for me somewhere. Please feel free to connect me with people or placements you think might be a good fit. I am looking for a part-time, work-from-home job doing various kinds of knowledge management. Specifics and finicky requirements below.

I’m at my happiest when I am researching and writing Wikipedia articles, cleaning or creating metadata, helping people learn technology, answering reference questions, dropping links into a live chat (or after the fact in podcast notes), or writing clearly about complex topics. I work decently well with a team but am also fine working alone. I have a good eye for detail and accessibility and am comfortable and capable in most online environments. I am very organized. I don’t mind repetitive work and often enjoy working a queue of tickets/emails/tasks if the workload is manageable. I am an excellent troubleshooter and diplomatic communicator.

Because of my other commitments–I have some local part-time library work and other civic tasks–I’m looking for 20 hours a week maximum with 15 being ideal. I’m available to work 11 am EST or afterwards. I don’t mind working evenings and could work some weekends.

More specifics about my background can be found on my resumé or my LinkedIn profile. Got something in mind? Get in touch.

2016 in work and money

Posted on 04Jan1714Jan17 by jessamyn

This post leaves me dissatisfied with pie chart makers and is as much a note to myself as anyone else who will read it. Last year was a weird year for work. I picked up a bunch of odd consulting projects, I left my job at Open Library, and I started teaching graduate school on an adjunct basis (and they’re having me back this year!). That big pink chunk is the part I’ll be looking to replace this year. I’m looking for a part-time, mostly telecommute job doing outreach/community work with a library or library organization, or possibly a regular writing job since I liked my last one. I’m interested in doing more teaching. I have a good solid resume which I’ll be sprucing up.

I’ll continue to write for Computers in Libraries, staff drop-in time in Vermont, do public speaking and consulting, and pick up the odd consulting gig. I’ll write my labor of love newsletter which is one of the best things I started doing last year. It’s a little weird to not have One Big Job, but it’s preferable to having One Bad Job. Wish me luck and if I can help you get where you are going on some random way, do let me know.

my world of work and money 2016 edition

Posted on 15Feb1615Feb16 by jessamyn

I did a similar post about this on my personal blog in 2010. For someone who says “I am a librarian” I think it’s useful sometimes to discuss how and when I get paid and by whom. I know people are curious, they often ask. The work news in my life is that I’m upping my hours at the Internet Archive so that I’m now officially half-time. I am pleased about this and I hope it lasts. Since my father died I’ve had a buffer of cash available to me (and my sister) as a back-up which means I’ve been able to do a few “riskier” things that weren’t necessarily lucrative but were otherwise fulfilling. Working at the Archive and Open Library was one of these. Doing some consulting was another. My income covers my bills which, through sheer luck, doesn’t include student loans and, through some attention on my end, doesn’t include any consumer debt. Here’s a chart.

pie chart of the amount of $ I've made writing, consulting, librarianing

The interesting thing to me is how many governments I got paid by. The W-2 money is basically three governments (two different checks from my town, for working at the school and the library, one from my state for teaching at the tech college) plus the Internet Archive. The 1099 money is mostly consulting and talks. I got paid by two state library associations, one state library (twice) and one city library system. The consulting was for two town libraries, a high school and one private company. My writing gigs included royalties for both of my books ($128 total), one lucrative article for the Mozilla Foundation, my column for Computers in Libraries and a lot of crazy start-up money from Medium who laid off nearly their entire slate of writers for The Message and replaced us with younger cheaper writers. It was good while it lasted. I made some random money AirBnBing out my house and doing one Justice of the Peace gig.

All in all it was a mid five-figures year that did slightly better than paying for itself which is my nominal goal.

a day in the life of a library/librarian

Posted on 27Jul09 by jessamyn

http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianbyday/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I didn’t work in a library today, so I didn’t think I’d be good for the Day in the Life project that many librarians were doing today. However, I did enjoy reading people’s tweets and now I’m going back and checking out some blog posts and Flickr photos.