Job posting: Librarian I position at ARLIS

Alaska Resources Library & Information Services (ARLIS) will be hiring a Librarian I via the State of Alaska for a temporary one-year term. This position will be working on a specific project.  Duties will mainly be split between cataloging project materials and website enhancement of project reports.

This will be an opportunity to learn MARC cataloging one-on-one with one of the best catalogers in Alaska! We expect to provide on-the-job training for a library school graduate who has a strong interest in cataloging as a career. In addition, we are looking for an incumbent who is familiar with website design and has the skills to enhance an existing website for project reports.

ARLIS is a special library with federal, state, and University partners. The collection is mainly technical materials and agency reports. This opportunity to learn cataloging with especially challenging materials will provide the incumbent with a great head-start for a career in cataloging.

All state benefits, except for retirement benefits, will be provided, including health insurance, for the term of the appointment. The per-hour rate is $23.93.

To apply, please visit the job posting at the Workplace Alaska website.

The last day to apply is 12/12/11, open to Alaska residents only. Anyone who is graduating by December 30, 2011 is eligible to apply.

For more information, contact:
Celia Rozen
Alaska Resources Library & Information Services (ARLIS)
(907) 786-7676
celia@arlis.org

Nov. 11 meeting recap: Ebooks

We had a better than average turn out for the meeting today. Thanks to everyone who attended – we had a really great conversation and the hour seemed to fly by. For those who could not be there, I thought I’d point out some of the things we discussed in case you’re interested in having a look.

The general topic of discussion for the meeting was ebooks. A couple of us brought in items to share:

“We Don’t Read That Way“ from ACRLog, the blog for the Association of College and Research Libraries. This is a brief but interesting post about how faculty use ebooks versus print materials and how they access items based on their need. The article poses a lot of good questions for academic libraries and, as is usually the case, the reader comments are interesting too.

“It’s one thing, they tell us, to read for pleasure on a screen – but it’s quite another to read for understanding, for critique, for engaging in the scholarly conversation. And this isn’t a generational matter – some of the faculty I know who seem most committed to print are younger than forty.”

“Dramatic Growth“ from Library Journal, 10/15/2011, Vol. 136 Issue 17, p32-34. This article reports on the “2011 Ebook Penetration & Use in U.S. Libraries Survey,” which indicated that electronic books (ebooks) had become widely popular in American libraries as of October 2011. Over 80% of public libraries were offering ebooks to their patrons, and the percentage was even higher for academic libraries. Several other statistics from the survey are also analyzed.

“…despite the ebook hype, and fear about the demise of libraries, the library experience is enriched by ebooks as another popular addition to collections already rich with various formats that keep users coming back.”

Finally, Christie introduced us to a website called Blurb, that allows users to create their own books including an option to make ebooks for iPhones and iPads.

Next FLIP meeting: Friday, Dec. 16. We hope to see you there!

How do you FLIP?

For the June 10 meeting, our topic of discussion will be FLIP itself and how it is so far benefited all those involved. We feel that this is a rather unique type of group and are looking into the possibility of writing an article to submit to C&RL News for publication. But we need your input and would love for you to come to this meeting to join the conversation. Please consider the following questions and let us know your answers. If you can’t attend the meeting in person, feel free to reply in comments on this post. Your feedback is very much appreciated:

1. How has FLIP benefited you?

2. How do you think FLIP has benefited the Consortium Library?

We would like to hear multiple perspectives  – from library faculty, staff, current and past library school students, and/or folks considering library school in the future. Please let us know if and how participating in FLIP has made a difference for you.

Planning Miscellaneousness

We are trying again! At the next FLIP meeting, we will discuss the book “Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder” by David Weinberger (2007). We actually tried this early in the year but the discussion meeting never came to fruition (note: don’t plan this type of thing in the weeks approaching the AkLA Conference). But we are determined to follow through because 1) it really is an interesting and relevant read and 2) the author himself actually commented on the post where our discussion of his book was first announced (you can find that here, second comment below the post).

Anyway, our new approach is to break the discussion into smaller and (hopefully easier to keep up with) portions of the book. So when we meet again (on Friday, Dec. 17), we’ll talk about the first three chapters of the book which amount to just over 60 pages.

In case you’re wondering what “Everything is Miscellaneous” is all about, here is a blurb from the Amazon.com Review: “Human beings are information omnivores: we are constantly collecting, labeling, and organizing data. But today, the shift from the physical to the digital is mixing, burning, and ripping our lives apart. In the past, everything had its one place–the physical world demanded it–but now everything has its places: multiple categories, multiple shelves. Simply put, everything is suddenly miscellaneous.”

Want even more information? Weinberger also maintains a blog (of the same title) that discusses the topics covered in the book. The author also has his own website, Evident, which includes his full biography.

So back to the discussion of the next FLIP meeting: the first three chapter titles are listed below to pique your interest and/or get you motivated to start reading. You have 30 days to read about 60 pages, that’s not impossible, is it??

Chapter 1: The New Order of Order
Chapter 2: Alphabetization and Its Discontents
Chapter 3: The Geography of Knowledge

ALA Scholarships

The American Library Association (ALA) has more than $300,000 for students who are studying library science or school librarianship at the master’s degree level. Scholarships typically range from $1,500 to $7,000 per student per year. The application and instructions are available on-line at www.ala.org/scholarships. The application deadline is March 8, 2011.

There are many types of scholarships available for the study of librarianship. These include scholarships for students who are interested in children’s librarianship, youth librarianship, federal librarianship, new media and library automation. In addition, there are also scholarships available for minorities, persons with disabilities and for people who are already employed in libraries but do not have an MLS.

To be considered for one of these scholarships, applicants must attend a masters program in library and information science that has been accredited by the ALA. Applicants interested in school librarianship must attend a program that meets ALA curriculum guidelines for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Complete guidelines and instructions are available on the website.

The scholarship process is open annually from October through March. For more information, visit www.ala.org/scholarships or call the ALA Scholarship Clearinghouse at (800) 545-2433, ext. 4279.

Need additional financial assistance? The 2011 Financial Assistance for Library and Information Studies Directory is an annual directory of awards from state library agencies, national and state library associations, local libraries, academic institutions and foundations that give some form of financial assistance for undergraduate and/or graduate education programs in library and information studies. The directory is available online at www.ala.org/falis. (Copied from Washington State Library’s October 28, 2010 Update e-newsletter)

Internship/portfolio/resume alert!

ARLIS, the Alaska Resources Library & Information Services, has been offered some short-term funding to hire students this summer.

If you (or anyone you know) would like some paid work experience in a library between now and September 30, and you are 16 or older, enrolled as a student at least 1/2 time for fall 2010, and have a GPA of 2.0 or higher, please contact Leslie Champeny at 786-7663 or email your resume to leslie@arlis.org by this Friday, June 18.

Library Student Journal

I’m not sure why I didn’t know about Library Student Journal before last week –  produced by and for library students and practitioners!  At this point it is only published once a year but since it is an open access journal all articles (since 2006) are available on the website. Also, it looks like a recruitment is currently under way for the editorial staff. Any interested contributors to the journal can check out the various position descriptions on the LSJ Editor’s Blog.