Classic Blunder #2 – Assuming resistance is a bad thingassessment, classic blunders, instruction, librarianship, libraries, management, Work

by Meredith Farkas on 2/14/2012 with 7 comments

I remember when I was in library school, a lot of people talked about librarians who were resistant to change and would try to derail your exciting and innovative projects. Often, this discussion was couched in ageist “us” (young, innovative librarians) vs. “them” (old, set-in-their-ways librarians) terms, but even when it wasn’t, the assumption was …

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Invisible goalposts, support and having a planinstruction, librarianship, libraries, reference, speaking, tenure track, Work, writing

by Meredith Farkas on 10/17/2011 with 12 comments

This summer, I was engaged with quite a few projects (several of which I was in charge of), but was able to make time to focus on scholarship just about every Friday. Part of that, in my opinion, is this blog. This is how I engage with the profession, share my ideas, and have professional …

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Having a voicelibrarianship, libraries, management, Work

by Meredith Farkas on 6/29/2011 with 11 comments

At my previous place of work, we had weekly “council meetings” which was basically all of the professional librarians meeting to discuss issues, make big decisions about the library and manage the budget. It was a great experience to be involved in high-level discussions straight out of library school and really nice to feel in-the-loop …

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My new job (or why all of my Oregon Trail gaming as a child might finally come in handy)career, instruction, librarianship, libraries, management, Vermont, Work

by Meredith Farkas on 2/1/2011 with 52 comments

I’m one of those people who has a hard time waiting for people’s birthday to give them presents. Whenever I try to surprise my husband with something, I always end up telling him about it early. I can keep other people’s secrets, but I’m terrible at keeping my own. So I’ve felt like the cork …

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What do they really need?instruction, librarianship, libraries, our digital future, screencasting, tech trends, Work

by Meredith Farkas on 12/13/2010 with 15 comments

I’m not sure if I’ve become more cynical or just more observant, but lately I feel like I’ve been seeing things through new eyes. We make so many assumptions in this profession, often based on the idea that we know what students need and want. Time and again, research has shown that we’re usually wrong. …

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Inspiring stuff to read, Take 1Inspiring Stuff, librarianship, online education, our digital future, social software, tech trends, Work

by Meredith Farkas on 8/13/2010 with 6 comments

Between work, my son and the class I’m teaching at SJSU (which is about to start), I rarely have time these days to blog. It’s certainly not that I’m uninspired to do so, as I’m constantly reading things that inspire me, provoke me, or just plain interest me. But anyone who has read my blog …

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Tips for library job applicants in a tight marketamerican libraries, free the information!, job search, librarianship, libraries, library school, MPOW, Work

by Meredith Farkas on 5/18/2010 with 46 comments

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 have one when they do graduate. For so many of them, the job search is going to be a struggle. It wasn’t an easy job …

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Finding the work/family/fun balance and identity as a librarian/parentabout me, career, gender, librarianship, speaking, Work, writing

by Meredith Farkas on 2/22/2010 with 38 comments

This is a post mainly for those professionals who are passionate about their careers and are considering having children but wonder/worry what impact it might have on their life and their career. I’m going to talk about my own experience finding an identity as a working mother over the past year. Remember that your mileage …

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