Tag: Careers

Library Routes Project gathers OUR stories!

If you are a librarian, chances are two things are true about you.  First, you love your job.  You don’t just like it, you LOVE it.  Second, you are constantly being asked either why or how it is you ended up becoming a librarian.  Chances are good that you have already gotten tired of answering those questions.  Yet, they seem almost compulsory for any of us in this venerable and exciting career.  Truth be told, we librarians tend to tell our stories with pride.  Now there is an awesome wiki that is gathering those stories for posterity.  Special thanks goes out to reader Sara Batts in the UK (@Batty_Towers on Twitter) for recommending today’s site – The Library Routes Project.

The Library Routes Project is wiki that documents and links to the personal stories of library and information professionals from all over.  Started in October of 2009, it invites both bloggers and non-bloggers to write about their library roots (what got them into the profession) and their library routes (how their careers have been shaped).  It is a brilliant concept and an excellent resource for anyone contemplating a library or information career.  Heck, it’s a great place for even us seasoned library-types to reaffirm our committment to the field or simply find a quick pick-me-up!

Getting your story onto The Library Routes Project is easy.  If you are a blogger, just post it to your own blog and then link it to their online list.  If you are not blogger, they offer the chance for you to create a page for your story right on their wiki.  Full instructions are provided.  Reading the stories others have left is as simple as clicking the links on the main page.  By our last count, The Library Routes Project was already home to over 120 personal accounts of librarianship and info-pro careers!

So what are you waiting for?  You have probably already told your own story hundreds of times.  Why not put it down one more time for all to see.  Check out The Library Routes Project and share your roots and routes today!

LRG + LAC = Library Works’ awesome new Career Center!

It's a great day to be a librarian!  Then again, isn't every day?  But days like today are special.  When library service providers come together and collaborate, it's almost like the planets themselves are aligning.  It usually means great things for librarians and info-pros everywhere.  Thanks to the good folks at Library Resources Group (LRG) and Library Associates Companies (LAC), today is one of those days!
 
It was announced today that LAC will be powering the new Career Center offered by LRG on its excellent Library Works site.  If you have not been to Library Works, it is actually a portal to some of LRG's most valued content.  This site provides searchable access to the full text of The Librarian's Yellow Pages and its well-loved directory of vendor profiles, demos, product information, and special offers.  It also provides access to LRG's monthly newsletter of library product news, best practices, and advice, INFOcus.
 
Library Works' new Career Center, powered by our friends at LAC, features a listing of open library positions around the United States.  The list features hyperlinks to job descriptions and can be browsed as a whole or by category.  Simple, yet efficient and comprehensive.  We dare say, that with the current economic and jobs pictures, that its arrival could not be more timely!  Whether you are looking to get into a position or make a change of positions, this is one resource that should be part of your plan of action.  It will also be a welcome new resource to our colleagues in library and information science schools as they anxiously prepare to enter the job the market.  Kudos to LRG and LAC for putting this together!
 
The LRG is no stranger to the needs of the library community.  Library Resources Group's mission is to help you make informed, cost-efficient decisions about products and services for your library. The LRG family of resources, provided free of charge, is designed and delivered to enable you to identify best practices, discover special offers and discounts, and learn of new technologies and services in a timely manner.  Anyone who has ever used The Librarian's Yellow Pages knows how valuable a partnership our industry enjoys with the folks at LRG.
 
LAC was a natural fit for LRG in bringing the Career Center to life.  Though we have featured them on iBraryGuy before, it is worth singing their praises yet one more time.  Library Associates Companies (LAC) is a premier provider of consulting, executive search, recruiting, staffing, and project management services within the information, knowledge, intelligence, library and research fields. Their clients range from government agencies and public institutions to Fortune 500 corporations, law firms, pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, media organizations, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations. For 23 years, it it has been going strong, growing, and doing our industry proud.