Digitization 101

Many libraries are engaging in design thinking. The Interaction Design Foundation defines it as:

Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test. Involving five phases—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test—it is most useful to tackle problems that are ill-defined or unknown.

Design thinking is not mysterious, in fact, it is likely that you are already doing it (e.g., brainstorming). However, good design thinking requires structure. Here are a few resources to help you understand and use it, as well as links to several blog posts I've written on brainstorming. (BTW good brainstorming follows a few easy rules.)

Resources on design thinking:

• Stanford Univ. (2020) The d.school Starter Kit. This is a three-hour course which carries a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
• IDEO. (2014) The Design Thinking for Libraries You can download three documents CC BY-NC -SA 3.0): 
• Design Thinking for Libraries (121 pp)
• Design Thinking in a Day (17 pp)
• Activities Workbook (60 pp). 
• IDEO: Shopping Cart Design Process (Nightline), 22 minutes
  
• Clarke, Rachel. (2020) Design Thinking. ALA Neal-Schuman. [paid link]
• Digitization 101. (2012) #RSQ12: Josh Linkner.
• Digitization 101. (2012) #RSQ12: Tamara Kleinberg (and the Starbucks library).
• Digitization 101. (2012) Brainstorming the library of the future.
• Digitization 101. (2013) #CILDC : Sunrise Session - Enabling Innovation.
• Digitization 101. (2014) #CILDC : Enabling Innovation
• Digitization 101. (2015) LARC: Creating Sparks that Light Our Profession.

This is off-topic, but honestly something that does come up in conversations especially with new college students (of any age). 

When you were in high school, did your teachers teach you how to read academic materials? Mine didn't and I think it is the same for most students. Yet some guidance on how to read academic materials can make a huge difference. You might use your time better, cover more materials, and understand more about the topic. 

This is a topic where schools and others have produced good information, some of which is below (and you can find others). I encourage you to look at some of those resources and learn the techniques. My summary of the techniques is:

• Not every work should be read the same way. This is a truth that instinctive we might know, but do not put into practice.
  
• Understand why you are reading the work. What's the goal? This can help you determine how to read it.
• Pre-read the work by reading the title, introduction, headings, table/graphic captions, and conclusion. This can help you understand the arch of the work and determine where to focus your energy in it. Perhaps you need to focus on one section, for example, and not the entire thing.
• You might also read the first sentence  in every paragraph.
• Notice any words you don't and find out what they mean.
• Read. Don't underline.  
• If it is a book, look at the table of contents and the index. Both will give you a sense of what the entire book contains.
  
• Now read the entire work or the sections that contain new content or content that is important to the topic you are studying.
• Limit how much you underline. We tend to underline too much! Consider underlining only after you have read the work. In other words, go back and understand key words or phrases.
  
• Capture key points about the work. This could be notes that you create for each work. Perhaps it is notice written on the work (article) itself. This will help you remember what the work is about, especially if you will need to reference this work later.

This technique takes practice. You will need to be intentional about it, especially at first. However, once you understand it, I think you'll apply it to other words like long (non-academic) journal articles, the law, and other works. 

One final piece of advice. Just because you started reading a work doesn't mean that you need to finish it. True. If it isn't useful, move onto something else and don't feel guilty.

Okay, you've read (or skimmed) this far! What are your tips?

Resources

• How To Read an Academic Paper (2013) - 3 min.  This video introduces students to the techniques involved in reading scholarly literature. 
• How to read academic articles (2021)
  
• Reading academic articles (University of York)
• Let's Get Critical: Reading academic articles (slideshow) - This entire slideshow is good with reading strategies starting on slide 29.
• How to Read a Textbook (2018), 7:42 min.
• How to Read a Book a Week (2016) A Harvard Business Review article, which might by paywalled.  If you are with an academic institution, check to see if you have access to it there.
• I learned a system for remembering everything (2022), 11 min. (added 8/23/2022)
• How to Read a Book: The Ultimate Guide by Mortimer Adler (n.d.) (added 1/11/2023)
• Reading Better: Retaining and Applying What You Read (n.d.) (added 5/31/2023)

Addendum (08/11/2022): By the way, I wrote on this topic back in 2020. Be sure to read that post, too.

The other day I heard about a fireman's carnival that used imaged of the different drink that could be ordered, so people could point at what they wanted. That was useful for those who are Deaf and, since the environment was quite noisy, it was useful for everyone else. It also meant the staff could cross out anything that was no longer available, which was helpful for those ordering drinks. That was an easy accommodation that benefitted everyone. It likely didn't take a lot of time to create and probably saved time and frustration during the carnival.

Today I was in a diner where two Deaf friends were ordering breakfast. The server was having a hard time understanding a detail about their order, which meant that ordering took a bit longer. That made me wonder if the menu could be formatted differently not only to help with communication, but also in understanding food options. How some restaurants changed their menus and food ordering during the COVID pandemic tells me that the answer is "yes." Some restaurants used the pandemic to narrow (focus) their menus. Others simplified options available. Still others added online ordering and payment - even if you're sitting in the restaurant - as a way of limiting exposure to COVID and deal with not having enough staff, while maintaining good customer service. Yes, some of these changes did increase accessibility depending on how they were implemented.

BTW the image above is from the Starbucks on H Street in Washington, DC which is known as the "signing Starbucks." Everyone who works there - both Deaf and hearing - are proficient in American Sign Language (ASL). There are also digital tablets available for anyone who needs to write their order rather than sign it. When you give your name to the server that is used to signal on a digital board that your order is ready. (I'm sure their ordering system will accommodate someone who is Deaf-blind, although I didn't see in action.) Everyone is welcome and everyone can have a Starbucks experience.

With all of that in mind...How has your organization - library, museum, archive, whatever - built accessibility into its daily operations? Not "we can be accessible if asked", but being accessible as a default.

• What did you learn about accessibility during the COVID pandemic when you perhaps moved programs online? 
• When you made adjustments in your physical space, how did those changes increase access for those who use assistive devices? Did you make signage easier for everyone to read? Is your layout more obvious?
• Have you implement captioning for your recorded videos and live video presentations? 
• Automatic captioning is useful, but it can produce errors. If you are using automatic captioning, please take time to go through and make corrections, including adding in some punctuation. (Having a 10-minute run-on sentence, for example, is not helpful.)
  
• How have you made your website more accessible, no matter the type of device being used to view it?
• Who tests your accessibility options so you know you are truly accessible?
• If accessibility isn't part of your daily operations, then why not?
• Where is accessibility on your list of priorities?
• How has your accessibility efforts made your organization a preferred place to work?

I have had blind students in my classes, have friends and family with mobility issues, and now have friends who are Deaf, so I perhaps think about accessibility a bit more than most people. If you have accessibility as something that is always part of your thinking, you will be surprised where you will see the need for changes, perhaps even in your own organization. I encourage you to makes changes, even small ones at first. Every change you make on the path of being full accessible will be worthwhile.

Clark Quinn starts this 2011 blog post by stating:

Have you ever been to a conference session, and realized that there was a mismatch between what you read, and what you experienced? On the other hand, how often have you written a conference submission that has been rejected? In the middle is a lesson about what a good conference submission is. 

Yes, writing a good conference description and proposal takes a bit of work, and it is worth it! It means that you know what you're going to present and the audience knows what they are going to hear. And as Clark notes, a well written proposal will get the conference committee's attention! 

I know this is an old post, but I also know some people could benefit from reading it, so... 

OCLC announced in January that Lorcan Dempsey was retiring at the end of April. For me, it has seemed like Lorcan had worked at OCLC forever, but that was not true. However, I've seen his impact on OCLC research and have been thrilled to use some of his work, especially Collection Directions: Some Reflections on the Future of Library Collections and Collecting which he wrote with Constance Malpas and Brian Lavoie. And I am thankful for Lorcan's willingness to share his work.

Last year, Lorcan was asked if he "could talk about what  [he] valued or found essential for a library student to know." He turned that request into a long, well-written, and meaningful blog post, Advice to an LIS graduate student: reflecting life and career. Yes, the post contains advice as well as stories from his life and career. 

I very much appreciate Lorcan's honesty about attending college and his early work and life. He wrote:

I was a college dropout. For several years, I worked in temporary jobs, or, well, sometimes, I did not. This included a spell of over eight months working on a production line in Continental Gummiwerke in Korbach, Germany, as one of a group of Irish gastarbeiters [guest workers].

I think many of us have taken winding routes to this profession, including barriers that we dug under, jumped over, or ran around. Thank you, Lorcan, for putting yours in writing!

Yes, this piece is full of advice, although some of it is tucked in what he says about himself. For example:

I have learned to try never to take anything for granted, and I understand only too well from experience that I do not always have perfect or even very good judgement or intuition. I understand that my background affects how I behave or how I think and importantly how I can seem to others. I always have more to learn, whatever the situation, and it is dangerous to rush to quick judgement.

Learning doesn't stop when you finish a degree. Learning must continue! It happens as part of life, but it also must happen intentionally.

I encourage you to pour a cup of coffee or tea and read what Lorcan has written, even if you are already established in your career. I think you'll still find it useful. And do give it to current students, as well as recent graduates. This was written for them and they should read this advice by someone whose has impacted their work, even if they don't know it.

I encourage you to stop before your next event (gathering) and think about the purpose. Just that one step - out of many - could make the event more meaningful. Don't assume that what you did before is what you need to do now. And then be sure to communicate that purpose to everyone who is invited. Be blunt! Please do not assume that they will intuit the purpose or understand how the purpose has changed.

This has come up in several conversations recently, so I think it is worthy of a post. 

It is important that the images of people we use in presentations - and on our websites - show the diversity that exists in our communities and among those that we serve.  When I can, I rely on photographs that I've taken, which means I can use them as I want. However, that is a limited set of images. Thankfully, some groups are making diverse images available using various Creative Commons licenses.

I have bookmarked several image collections in Diigo and you are welcome to explore them. As I find more, I add them to Diigo. The image on the right is from Humaans. I was able to choose from several images in their gallery, customize, and then download the resultant image for my use. Voila! 

Among the links in Diigo, the Free Stock Photos with Authentic Diversity from TGW Studio contains links to several sites. From that list, I've gotten very good use out of the Women of Color in Tech (WOCinTech). I also like the Disability Inclusive Stock Photography.

It is likely that you'll find a subset of images which you really like. In addition, you might find new relevancy in a collection that you had overlooked. So do periodically challenge yourself to find new images. That is how I finally dug into Humaans.

Bonus!

Did you know that Zoom has a catalogue of virtual backgrounds? If you're tired of the same virtual background that you've been using, or just haven't found one that you like, check out this list. The links there go to a variety of different sites and was likely compiled in spring 2020 as we all began working virtually. I particularly like the ones from Behr Paint and AutoDesk. Be aware that some background have the organization's logo or name in them, which may not be what you want. Also check to be sure that any background you select works well for you and that you do not "melt" into the background. (For me, it can seem like my hair and ear sudden disappear depending in the image.)

Addendum (05/08/2022): Check out this LinkedIn post and comments for more resources!Truly a treasure trove of sources.

Last week I spoke with a group of doctoral students in the Syracuse iSchool about the intersection of theory and practice.  One of the questions asked was - as I remember - about the theories leaders used during the pandemic as they worked with their organizations. My response wasn't about theories, but about trust.

Especially during a disaster, conflict, or when there are problems, workers need to be able to trust each other and trust their leaders. They need to know that those around them are:

• Reliable
• Willing to show up when needed
  
• Truth speakers
  
• People who get things done
• Decision makers who make decisions with the best interest of everyone in mind 
• Willing to keep their word

When there is trust, a decision can be made quickly and everyone will get on-board with it. When there is a lack of trust, decisions can move slowly and will be second-guessed. When there is trust, people will follow the leader. When there is a lack of trust, people may follow no one.

Our organizations move at the pace of trust.  If people trust each other and their leader, the organization can move quickly. If there is a lack of trust, that organization will move, change, or evolve slowly.  It might even regress.

Trust does not happen automatically, rather it takes time to develop. The staff need to get to know the leader, how that person thinks, how they makes decisions, and what that person values. Staff need to both hear how the leader works and also see how the leader works. Does the person's actions match their words? 

A leader can also gain trust through association. A leader might gain some level of trust because that person worked at M-organization, knows Q-person, or went to V-school, for example. But that trust through association is only the beginning and will not go far. The leader needs to build upon it, so they trust is not about whom that person knows, but about the person themself.

I should note that our default might be that we trust people we meet, but that trust is tenuous. For some, I know their default is to trust no one. And before I continue, I should also note that trust can be broken easily and then be hard to rebuild.  In other words, the leader's actions must be consistent or staff will become less trusting.

So how does a leader build trust? This article lists 10 things and I agree with them:

1. Value long-term relationships
2. Be honest
3. Honor your commitments
4. Admit when you’re wrong
5. Communicate effectively
6. Be vulnerable
7. Be helpful
8. Show people that you care
9. Stand up for what’s right
10. Be transparent

Be sure to read the article for more information on those 10 items. 

Those 10 steps above are not hard and they do not require a lot of time. However, they need to be done. Yes, all of them and even when it is hard or not convenient.

So as you look back over the pandemic and what your organization or other organizations did, think about trust. 

• How did they move at the pace of trust? And what was that pace? 
• If there was a lack of trust, what is being done to rebuild it? 
• If you are not a leader, what can you do to reestablish trust or ensure that trust survives?

If you need to build trust, do it now because you will need it when the next crisis or problem occurs.

 A few weeks ago, I was interviewed for the TDNet Library Leaders Podcast. Paul Cuomo, the podcast host, is interviewing people in the library and information professions. To date, TDNet has published interviews with Eugene Giudice, Dr. Nabi Hasan, and Jan Boonzaier, with more interviews on the way. All of the episodes are through several podcasting platforms including Anchor.fm, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.  

Paul and I had a far ranging conversation which touched on my career, consuming content, being organized, communicating with others, brainstorming, and so much more! Feel free to it, and other episodes, a listen.

In 2018, I wrote a blog post that was really for my new student workers.  It was entitled "Building a Team." Honestly, putting something in writing to guide my new team in how to work with me was one of the smartest things I've done. And it is something that all teams should do, in some fashion.

Recently, Anthony Brooks-Williams wrote a post on Medium entitled "Want People to Understand How to Work With You? Write Them a Manual." If the idea of writing tips or a manual to help people understand how to best work with you is something you want to pursue, then the questions Brooks-Williams has in his article will help to guide you. Really, this could be the best thing you do, especially as your work transitions this year to whatever the "new normal" is.

Oh...let me say that in 2018 I gave that post to my student workers and it really did help guide us.  It also had us think about how to keep some conversations out of email. We adopted Slack for most of our communications and it worked really well. Besides in-between meeting communications, Slack was a great way of sending meeting reminders or sending a quick update when someone was running late.  Slack may not be the best tool for everyone, but it worked for us.

Finally, I've asked a few people some version of "how do you work" and it is a foreign question. However, if we really want to work together - and work together well - we need to be able to tell each other how we each work. Again, the questions Brooks-Williams asks can help all of us answer that.

I am on five different boards of directors/trustees and involved in other organizations, in ADDITION to my own consulting work. Yes, I'm busy and in many conversations. One group recently introduced me to the Chatham House Rule and I thought I'd share it here. According to Wikipedia:

Under the Chatham House Rule, anyone who comes to a meeting is free to use information from the discussion, but is not allowed to reveal who made any comment. It is designed to increase openness of discussion. The rule is a system for holding debates and discussion panels on controversial topics, named after the headquarters of the UK Royal Institute of International Affairs, based in Chatham House, London, where the rule originated in June 1927.

I like this idea of having an open discussion, exchanging information, and allowing people to use what they heard without revealing who said it. This allows for a freer flow of information in and outside of the meeting. Given some of the conversations we all need to be having in our society, the Chatham House Rule could be very useful.

Have you used this rule? How did you get people comfortable with it? What benefits have you seen?  Please leave a comment and let me (and others) know. Thanks.

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Higgins and Kram have written about reconceptualizing mentoring.  Generally, we think of a mentee as having 1-2 mentors. In some organizations, those mentors are assigned.  Often - if a person is cognizant of it - they will recognize other people who are informal mentors.  However, the word "mentor" doesn't define what that person is supposed to do.  Out of the research by Higgins and Kram has emerged four roles: navigator, sponsor, coach, and confidant. Briefly they are:

• Navigator: Advises on organizational dynamics and expectations.
  
• Sponsor: Promotes your interests within the organizational structure.
  
• Coach: Listens to help you develop the skills needed to negotiate your duties.
  
• Confidant: Listens to your challenges and triumphs. Cheers you on.

Notice that the last two roles do not need to be people within your organization.  Also...you need all four roles! One person cannot do all of these things.  In addition, some people are better at certain roles than others.

This is an unprecedented year with more change and turmoil than most of us could ever imagine. This is a year where you may need someone who is formally or informally your navigator, sponsor, coach, or confidant. It could be that you need someone to help you understand the changing dynamics in your organization. Maybe you need someone to help you develop new skills. Or perhaps you need someone who can listen to your challenges and cheer you on, even if that person cannot help to solve them. If you need people in these roles, look within your organization and at other people in your broader network. The right person may be hundreds of miles away and in an organization that is different from yours. 

With any mentoring relationship, you may want to tell that person what you need from them. Do you need someone who will just listen (as if listening is easy) or someone who help you increase your visibility? Do you need someone to help you short-term or are you interested in developing a long-term relationship?  Be honest...at least with yourself.

And do keep in mind that relationships change. That person who is an awesome mentor now may not be the person you need next year. That's okay.

 Resources

• Monica Higgins and Kathy E. Kram. (2001). "Reconceptualizing Mentoring at Work: A Developmental Network Perspective." Academy of Management Review. 26. 264-288. 10.5465/AMR.2001.4378023.
• Kathy E. Kram and Monica C. Higgins. (2008) "A New Approach to Mentoring." Wall Street Journal.
• Shoshana R.Dobrow, Dawn E.Chandler,Wendy M. Murphy and Kathy E. Kram. (2012) "A review of developmental networks: incorporating a mutuality perspective." Journal of Management, 38 (1). pp. 210-242. ISSN 1557-1211 DOI: 10.1177/0149206311415858 Preprint.

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How can you read faster? This topic has come up a few times recently in conversations. If you're a student - especially at the masters or doctoral level - you have a lot of reading to do each week and it may be overwhelming.  Are there tips or techniques you can use? Yes, there are!

First, you should know that we are not taught how to read faster in school.  (If you were taught that, congratulations.) Generally, we're just given more to read and somehow we figure out some way of getting through it all. But we may not have figured out a real method. So if you feel like you're the only person who can't read faster, you're not.

Second, it is important to know that any technique requires time to learn and time to apply it consistently. And not every technique works all the time. There will be texts that you will have to read carefully and slowly, while there are others that you will be able to read quickly using a technique from the resources below.

Finally, a real ah-ha for me is that it is okay to not finish an article or book.  Yup, sometimes what you need to do is to read portions of a work and not the entire thing. Knowing that "not finishing" is okay, I am able to release whatever guilt I had (which often made me push through a text that I didn't want to finish).

If you have different techniques to add, which are easy to apply, please leave a comment.
Resources

• Thomas Frank. ( 5 Ways to Read Faster That ACTUALLY Work (from about the 2-minute mark to about 3:30). 
• StudyFast. (n.d.) How to read a book a day.
• UBCiSchool. (2013) How To Read an Academic Paper, (3 min.)
• RomanRoams. (2019) 5 Easy Steps to Read a Book in 1 Hour: Ultimate Speed Reading.
• Thorin Klosowski.  (2019) What You Need to Know About Speed Reading.

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Addendum

• Eva Keiffenheim. (2020) These 3 Practices by Bill Gates Will Change How You Read. [Added 9/23/2020]
  

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When I look at websites, presentations, etc., which are supposed to appeal to a broad group of people, I look to see who is represented in the photos and illustrations. Often times those illustrations do not show any diversity...still. That needs to change.  Here are three sites to help you obtain more diverse images.

• Black Illustration Packs from Black Illustrations (free and fee).  These do not have a Creative Commons license, so pay attention to the license details. (9/9/2020. 10 p.m. ET link fixed)
  
  
• The Gender Spectrum Collection: Stock Photos Beyond the Binary from Vice.  These have a Creative  Creative Commons license with the terms that you may not create derivative work from the images or use the images for commercial purposes.
  
  
• Disability Inclusive Stock Photography from Disability:IN.These carry Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.  "This license allows others to reuse this stock photography for any purpose, including commercially; however, it cannot be shared with others in adapted form, and credit must be provided to Disability:IN."

With the fall academic semester beginning, many students are faced with reading academic papers unlike they have experienced before. They are likely asking:

• How can I read this?
• How can I read this quickly?
• How can I make sense of this?

Honestly, most of us aren't taught how to read academic papers. We're told to read them and hopefully we learn "how to" through that process. In reality, there  are many resources on how to read academic papers, with some resources available for specific subject areas. Here are two short videos that are more generic and I think will help anyone, no matter your age, major, or school. Please note that these methods take discipline to stick with them and use them consistently. Once you understand these methods and use them for a while, I think they will become easier.

I also want to say that a real ah-ha moment for me was learning that I didn't have to read everything.  Yes, sometimes I do need to read something word for word, but sometimes skimming is enough. Maybe I just need to focus on what a specific article is saying that is different. At any rate, I no longer feel guilty if I don't read everything word for word.

How To Read an Academic Paper (3 minutes) from the UBC iSchool (2013)

 

5 Ways to Read Faster That ACTUALLY Work from Thomas Frank (2015). Watch the sections on pre-reading, skimming, and pseudo-skimming beginning at minute 1:59.

"...work hard, hustle, grind it out, busy-ness..." - Matt D'Avella

I started this blog post a year ago. I recognized that I was tired of saying that I'm "busy" and that being involved in so many things was impacting my ability to learn new things (some of which I really needed to learn). Lots has changed since I began this post; so much that I've deleted what I originally wrote.

In 2019, we were all busy! No matter who we were, there was something we needed to do: work, find work, volunteer, engage in specific social activities, etc.  As 2019 came to an end, we looked forward to what we knew about 2020. By March, we realized that what we knew was wrong and what we might have hoped to do wasn't going to happen. Our busy-ness changed and some of it changed into worry.

While we - as people - found our lives shift in March, we watched our organizations shift as well. Many people were told to work from home and many students had to learn from home. Most libraries closed and services shifted to what they could do online. Fortunately, libraries were able to increase their online offerings during this time, which was good for the communities. Sadly, some libraries had to furlough staff because of their budgets. This also caused the remaining staff to be busier.  Yes, during this time we all became busier. More online meetings with work colleagues, family members, and friends. Everyone wanted to connect in some way. And there were many online events being offered, as people tried to keep each other busy. Can we really attend that many virtual meetings and events in one day or one week?

It's now August.  Many businesses and libraries have reopened in some manner. Schools - K-12 and colleges/universities - are reopening for either online, hybrid, or in-person instruction.  We are all now busy preparing for what's next. We might even be thinking about the next shutdown and preparing for that, too.

Busy.

The draft post and  9-minutes video by Matt D'Avella reminded me that sometimes we need to do less. We can be so busy that we're really not getting things completed, or getting the correct things done. We need to stop and discern where we actually need to spend our energy.  Where can we have the greatest impact? Yes, write down your ideas and then sort through them. Talk with friends and colleagues. We have all spent a lot of time as well as mental, emotional, and physical energy so far this year.  We've been busy.  Now is the time to figure out what we really need to pursue. Focus on those things. Yes...and perhaps do less.

If you're in a library, museum or archive, the remainder of this year may look challenging. In fact, your budget for next year may also looking challenging. Slow down. Focus. Understand the impact you want your institution to have. You will not be able to do it all. Just like you (the person), your institution needs to come through this crisis ready for the future. Being too busy now may drain your organization's ability to do that work when it is needed.

For a moment, try to pursuit less. Your body and institution may thank you.

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Thinking

In 2017, I wrote a series on upping your library intelligence. The first post began with this text:

Late in the spring, I had a short conversation with Rachel Clarke about MSLIS students and in which areas we thought they (the generic "they") needed to grow.  A number of people are attracted to M.S. in Library and Information Science programs who do not have deep library experience.  For them, their lack of library experience may inhibit these students from learning and applying new concepts quickly. Rachel and I realized that these students would be helped by engaging in activities that would allow them to increase ("up") their library intelligence. While we promised to continue the conversation later, I've decided to develop a series of blog posts as a way for me to explore the topic and - hopefully - create content which will help current and future MSLIS students, and LIS professionals.

This is still an need for those considering entering the library profession. You will gain more from your education - the MSLIS degree - if you have some background knowledge.  Even now, with the world seeming a bit precarious, you can build that background knowledge. If you decide to work in a library for a while, before obtaining your MSLIS degree, this knowledge will serve you well because you will not be starting from ground zero, which your boss will appreciate.  Finally, if you are finishing your MSLIS degree and waiting to land your first position, now is a great time to continue learning.  Besides what is below, consider thinking about the reopening of libraries and COVID-19. Again, your thoughts, questions, and knowledge will be appreciated by your future employer.

By the way, I know people are worried about job hunting in the wake of COVID-19. Yes, jobs are still available. Organizations are still hiring. You, though, may need to be a bit more flexible, including a willingness to move geographically. You may need to take a position for 1-2 years that is not your ideal, but will help you gain in experience. Remember that you are developing a career, which is more than just your first position.

The Series

• Upping Your Library Intelligence: An Area You Need To Focus On
• Upping Your Library Intelligence: Words Matter
• Upping Your Library Intelligence: Reading, Listening, and Watching
• Upping Your Library Intelligence: Expanding and Tapping into the LIS Network
• Upping Your Library Intelligence: Get Digital
• Upping Your Library Intelligence: Put in the Time
• Upping Your Library Intelligence: An Ongoing Need
• Upping Your Library Intelligence: Vacuum and Use

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On May14, I did a webinar on productivity for the South Central Research Library Council (SCRLC).  Originally this was to be a three-hour in-person workshop, but due to the pandemic it became a 1.5 hour webinar that ran a little long.

If you are interested in time management, managing your email, saying "no", and delegating tasks, then this webinar will be of interest. Most of the time was spent in getting oneself organized, i.e., that blasted to-do list.  (You'll hear when I realize how much time isn't left!) There were a number of questions raised and I enjoyed the interaction.  I do wish I could have passed around materials, etc., which could occur if I am every able to do this as an in-person event.





Addendum, May 21: Here is the handout from this webinar.

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This training was supposed to be an in-person event. Due to the current events, it is now a webinar that is open to members of the South Central Regional Library Council (SCRLC) and the Empire State Library Network (ESLN).  If you are in NYS and would like to be better organized and more productivity, consider attending.  You can register on the SCLRC website.

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