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“Devaluing” the MLS vs. respect for all library workers
Posted inALA librarianship libraries library school management Work

“Devaluing” the MLS vs. respect for all library workers

I'm sure some of you remember the big push last year and early this year to require the MLS for the Executive Director of the American Library Association (ALA) --…
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Should the horrible first job search be seen as a rite-of-passage?
Posted inabout me career free the information! job search librarianship libraries library school management Work

Should the horrible first job search be seen as a rite-of-passage?

I felt really sad when I read Kyle Shockey's post on the Librarian Burnout blog about feeling burnout after library school and being in the midst of the job hunt.…
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Are online MLIS degree-holders “less than?”
Posted inlibrary school online education our digital future tech trends

Are online MLIS degree-holders “less than?”

When I graduated from library school, I worried about anti-online-degree bias. I worried that people would think my degree was somehow "less than" because I'd done it fully online. I…
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Posted ininstruction librarianship libraries library school our digital future tech trends

Inspiring stuff to read, Take 2

I was thinking about writing a post reflecting on recent posts about the myth of the graying of the profession (and the coming librarian shortage) and Peter Brantley's post about…
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Posted inlibrary school online education our digital future social software

Rethinking online learning

This was another amazing semester teaching at San Jose State University. I had significantly more students in my class this semester than in the past (more than double), which at…
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Posted inamerican libraries free the information! job search librarianship libraries library school MPOW Work

Tips for library job applicants in a tight market

Another semester of teaching at San Jose State's SLIS program has ended. Many of my students are graduating and others are starting to think about applying for jobs so they'll…
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Posted infree the information! librarianship library school our digital future social software tech trends

Coming to terms with Twitter

I've been teaching a class on Web 2.0 since 2007, and this semester is the first time that I've actually had a full week on Twitter (well, microblogging and lifestreaming…
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Posted infree the information! librarianship library school online education social software tech trends

Teaching Web 2.0 with Web 2.0

After a year off from teaching to take care of baby Reed, I'm getting back up on the horse. I'll be teaching a class on Web 2.0 and Social Networking…
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Posted inamerican libraries instruction librarianship libraries library school open source our digital future social software

Technology education and the “real world”

I just love that feeling of serendipity when I find that people are thinking about the same things I am at the same time. Karin Dalziel made an impassioned case…
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Posted inblogging free the information! instruction library school online education social software

Validation of my crackpot teaching ideas

Last week, my students in the Web 2.0 and Social Networking class I teach (at San Jose State) presented their fantastic proposals (via web conference) for implementing a specific social…
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Posted infree the information! librarianship library school our digital future social software speaking

Fomenting revolt in Iceland

I got back from Iceland this weekend just in time for a storm to knocked our power out at home. It's back on and I'm slowly recovering from the travel,…
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Posted infree the information! hi libraries library school speaking

The Abbreviated Fall Speaking Tour

With the pregnancy, I tried to keep my speaking schedule light for Fall. However, all three of the talks I'm giving fall within a two-week period, so it's made me…
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Posted inlibrarianship library school

Teaching the “soft skills” in library school

From the library school survey, looking at the list of skills and competencies people think are important for librarians to have , there are a lot of "soft skills" on…
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Posted infree the information! instruction librarianship library school

Library school survey results

A few weeks ago, I posted a survey to Survey Monkey to get people's views about their library school education and what they think should be taught in library school…
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Posted inabout me blogging job search library school social software writing

How I got started blogging

A student in the class I'm teaching for San Jose State University asked me the following the other day: How did people first learn about your blog? Do you have…
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Posted inlibraries library school speaking

Future of LIS education?

In October, I'm speaking at a conference in Reykjavik, Iceland entitled The Future is here: Are we prepared? New thinking in education for public librarians. (PDF). My talk is entitled…
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Posted infree the information! librarianship library school online education social software

Teaching online with Drupal

In the Spring, I taught a class for San Jose State University on social software in libraries. Last week, I received both the student review of my teaching (which is…
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Posted ininstruction librarianship library school management our digital future reference social software tech trends

Building 21st century librarians AND libraries

There were three recent posts that got me thinking a lot about the growing necessity to have tech-savvy people in public services positions. The first was Dorothea Salo's post about…
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Posted inlibrary school social software

When you wish upon a blog

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote that I really wanted to be an online adjunct instructor at a library school so I could teach social software to LIS…
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Posted inlibrary school social software

Library school 0.5?

How can a library school teach their students to be user-focused if they model the exact opposite behaviors? Check out the assertive (and admirable) way that Jennifer tried to confront…
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Meredith Farkas, Author, Information Wants to be Free

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