step into the future with new career choices dr. sandra hirsh, professor and director san jose state...
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Step into the Future with New Career Choices
Dr. Sandra Hirsh, Professor and DirectorSan Jose State University School of Library and Information ScienceFebruary 4, 2011February 4, 2011
Changing Times
“I’ve come to think that managing our uncertain future is about achieving fitness: adapting to change, staying relevant.” - Stephen J. Bell
Agenda
Current job situation
New opportunities for information professionals
Strategies for pursuing new career paths
LIS Jobs: Average Growth
Librarians (“Best career 2009”), Archivists, Conservators and Curators
Job growth is project to be average through 2018: US: 8% Canada: 6%
The retirement level is expected to rise over the next decade.
So why is it difficult to find a job?
Geographic location
Economic conditions for different library settings, especially in state and local governments
Experience/Skill Levels required
New opportunities
LIS Skills are in demand…
Opportunities outside of libraries
U.S. News & World Report listed these as top 30 careers in 2009: Usability/User Experience Specialist Systems Analyst
Opportunities outside of libraries
Database development
Reference tool development
Information systems
Publishing
Internet coordination
Marketing
Web content management and design
Training of database users
- Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011
Emerging Job Titles
Emerging Technologies Librarian
Web Content Manager
Information Architect
Usability Analyst
Information Specialist
Digital Collections Metadata Librarian
Virtual Services Manager
Digital Assets LibrarianEscobosa, C. (2010). Library and information careers: emerging trends and titles.
Highly requested skills
Teaching/instruction
Web design and maintenance
Knowledge of metadata standards for digital content
Knowledge of integrated library systems
Ability to create online tutorials
Escobosa, C. (2010). Library and information careers: emerging trends and titles.
Think broadly about LIS skills
“LIS skills are good currency in this world – but only for those with the flexibility and insight to exploit the opportunities.” - Stephen Abrams
Case Studies
Case Study: Head of New Center for Digital Learning and Research
Founding director of the CDLR at Occidental College in 2009, which focuses on enabling student and faculty success in the rapidly changing world of digital scholarship.
Assembled a group of technology, library science, and media experts who could help the faculty use technology in their teaching… Learn how to podcast Publish on a digital scholarship platform Master the intricacies of Moodle, an open
source learning management system.
Case Study: Learning Resource Exchange
European Schoolnet Work as a semantic interoperability expert for the European
Schoolnet to manage their Learning Resource Exchange (LRE) for schools, a portal of open educational resources. research and writing in the field of metadata standards and
semantic interoperability. develop and document the LRE metadata application profile liaison with the LRE development team to improve tools and
develop new ones manage controlled vocabularies administer different semantic interoperability tools, such as LRE
metadata application profile registry and vocabulary bank for education
Case Study: Digital ArchivistStanford University
Stanford's First Digital Archivist to develop best practices for acquiring, capturing, processing, and describing born-digital materials. making backup copies of a collection that had some born digital
files in a personal computer. lobbied to expand the scope of his job to do further processing
of the digital files, such as migrating ones in obsolete formats to long-term preservation formats and separating files with restricted information.
merging the metadata of a map collection and processing a born digital collection with 200,000 files in a full-text search format to facilitate finding the program listing and correspondence related to the computer game “Adventure.”
Case Study: Senior AnalystAdobe Systems
Senior Analyst, Information Resources/Research Portal Manager, Adobe Systems Develop and maintain company-wide research and
information portal. Drive the technology roadmap for the portal, manage
vendors and consultants, conduct user research and surveys, and maintain extensive taxonomy structure.
Regularly write for the group’s Markets and Research blog, Manage collaboration tools including blogs, wikis, eRooms,
and shared servers. Create marketing materials and provide trainings in person
and via web conference. Perform custom research and inquiry work for employees
worldwide.
My Career Path
Moving into industry – untraditional library position
Scenario Professor at University
of Arizona
Need to leave job for family move
No academic jobs available in the Bay Area
Strategies Leveraged network
Created opportunity
Took a chance
Moving into industry non-library position
Scenario Decided it was time to
diversify
Strategies Explored different
industry job titles to find best fit – chose User Experience
Attended local professional events- networked
Identified transferrable skills
Moving from industry back into academia
Scenario Ready for a job change
Planned to come back to academia, but…when?
Strategies Continue scholarly
activities
Maintain LIS professional involvement
Take on advocacy for public libraries
Maintain connection to LIS education
Strategies
How can you extend your career beyond libraries?
Bridging Terminology
Transferrable Skills
Develop/Build Key Skills
Get Experience Take a course (See LIS Career Resources) Find a mentor Perform “informational interviews” Read books, articles, blogs Read broadly for trends (in libraries, business,
general)
Networking!
Develop your personal brand
Manage your online reputation
“According to a Microsoft survey of more than 1200 hiring managers in December 2009, 79% of companies and recruiters reviewed online information about job applicants and 70% had actually rejected candidates based on what they found.” - Information Today, Nov. 2010, p.1
Takeways LIS skills are marketable and can be applied in
many settings!
Think broadly about your own skills and how you could use them in different contexts
You own your career – chart it out
Build and nurture your professional network
Keep current and fill in gaps in your skill set
LIS Career Resources
Books
Professional organizations
Job sites
LIS Blogs
Listservs and Forums
Continuing education
Books
Doucet, E. (2010). What they don’t teach you in library school. Chicago: ALA Editions.
Haycock, K. and Sheldon, B., eds. (2008). The portable MLIS: insights from the experts. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Lawson, J., Kroll, J. and Kowatch, K. (2010). The new information professional: your guide to careers in the digital age. New York: Neal-Schuman.
Murray, R. and Shontz, P. K. (2007). A day in the life: career options in library and information science. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Professional Organizations
ALA – American Library Association (includes Canada) http://www.ala.org/
ALA Divisions Listings http://www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/divisions/divisions.htm
ALISE - Association of Library and Information Science Education http://www.alise.org/index.html
ASIST -American Society for Information Science and Technology http://www.asis.org/index.html
IFLAI – International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions http://www.ifla.org/
List of Professional Associations in the Information Sciences http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/resources/orgs.htm
Job Sites
American Library Association Job List http://joblist.ala.org/
Career Direction Research – http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/resources/career_development/careerdirection_research.htm
Combined LIS Job Postings List http://www.lisjobs.com/jobs/index.asp
LibJobs.com http://www.libjobs.com/
Library and Technology Association Jobs http://www.lita.org/ala/lita/litaresources/litajobsite/newthisweek/newweek.cfm
Library Journal Job Zone http://jobs.libraryjournal.com/
LISCareer.com – Career Strategies for Librarians http://liscareer.com/index.htm
LIS Blogs ACRLog - http://acrlog.org/
News and professional issues for academic librarians
Library of Congress Blog - http://www.loc.gov/blog/ Written by Matt Raymond, Jennifer Gavin, and Erin Allen
Librarian in Black-http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/ Current news and updates for “tech-savvy librarians”
LISNews - http://www.lisnews.org/ Articles, links, reviews and interviews on the latest LIS happenings
Annoyed Librarian - http://blog.libraryjournal.com/annoyedlibrarian A librarian weighs in on controversial LIS issues in a thought-provoking manner.
Blogwithoutalibrary.net - http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net A continually updated look at what libraries are doing with blogs.
The Young Librarian - http://younglibrarian.blogspot.com/atom.xml Chronicles of a recent MLIS graduate seeking employment.
LIS Blogs Infomancy - http://www.schoolof.info/infomancy/
A weblog about information, libraries, and technology by a school library system director from New York State.
Information Wants to be Free - http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/ Meredith Farkas’s blog, specializing in using social networking tools in an LIS setting
Librarian.net - http://www.librarian.net/ Links to pertinent alternative web sites of interest, presented by Jessamyn West.
The Shifted Librarian - http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/ Library weblog intent on "making librarians more portable" from Jenny Levine
Threnody for the Public Domain - http://pdthrenody.blogspot.com/ Tracking the current state of copyright and related issues.
Listservs and Forums ALA Discussion Lists http://lists.ala.org/wws
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions LIBJOBS http://infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/info/libjobs
Info Career Trends - LISjobs.com's Professional Development Newsletter http://www.lisjobs.com/newsletter/
iProJobs Information School Professional Jobs List http://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/iprojobs
LIS Career Options – http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=3126663
NextGen Librarians – Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=7f4beb04efc2e5aaf439abf80951b415&gid=2240728154&ref=search
Continuing Education
ALA – Education and Careers – Continuing Education http://www.ala.org/ala/education/ce/continuingeducation.htm (Includes searchable database of ALA sponsored continuing education opportunities)‐
CLA (Canadian Library Association) – Continuing Professional Development http://www.cla.ca/conference/continued.htm
ALA – State and Regional Chapters – List of Professional Associations http://www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/chapters/stateandregional/stateregional.htm
Infopeople – Federally funded grant project providing a wide variety of training to LIS workers http://www.infopeople.org/
IS/Continuing Education (ACRL) – A wiki listing online continuing education opportunities for academic librarians http://wikis.ala.org/acrl/index.php/IS/Continuing_Education
Simmons College GSLIS Continuing Education – On-site continuing education courses for LIS professionals http://alanis.simmons.edu/ceweb/teach.php
Trendy Topics (T2) – Online conferences on hot topics in the LIS field http://www.trendytopics.info/