Monday evening four local librarians generously shared their experiences as bloggers in a Meetup meeting at the NYPL Mulberry Branch’s community room: Lisa von Drasek, EarlyWord Kids; Alexandra Crosier, Shelved @ NYC; Jenna Freedman, Lower East Side Librarian; and Jennifer Craft, Blogs @ NYPL−Mulberry Street Branch.
The blogs discussed range from professional to semi-personal, from collaborative to solo, from self- to system-initiated. In EarlyWord Kids, von Drasek reviews advance books for young children, providing a heads-up for librarians. Crosier’s unique New York City-based blog, Shelved @ NYC, combines an event calendar with her commentary on library-related issues. Freedman, who has other blogs, mixes personal and professional concerns−among them subject headings and zines−in Lower East Side Librarian. Craft and her staff contribute to the NYPL system-wide blog for their branch, Blogging @ NYPL−Mulberry Branch, featured in a recent NYPL newsletter. (To read Craft’s blogs only, see http://www.nypl.org/blogs/jennifer-craft.)
They did a fantastic job as speakers, touching upon meeting untapped needs, development of their respective blogs, snarky blogging, and finding a middle ground between caution and total frankness. Von Drasek, for instance, turns to colleagues (in the audience!) who serve as sounding boards for posts that might be over the top.
Other issues explored were rude feedback, posts that received lots of hits and why, and waning output. Attentiveness to design, commitment to open-source technology (Lower East Side Librarian utilizes Drupal), and use of tag clouds and Twitter were also discussed.
About twenty people attended this informal discussion, including Marion Lipshutz, a Meetup member. She started a library-related blog last month, Information Vistas. Afterward seven members went to a nearby restaurant on Lafayette Street.
Thanks so much to our fabulous guests and audience for their participation. And a big thank you as always to Jennifer Craft, Mulberry Branch Supervising Librarian, for use of the community room. - LT (rvsd. 11/6/09)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
New York County Lawyers Association Guided Library Tour
New York Librarians MeetUp October 27, 2009
New York County Lawyers Association
The New York County Lawyers Association, one of the largest bar associations in the country with 10,000 members, was founded in 1908 as a response to the restrictive membership rules of other state and local bar associations. Interested in legal and public policy questions, it is open to all members of the New York Bar. For a more detailed description of the Association, see its website: http://www.nycla.org/.
The NYCLA library, with about 230,000 volumes, expects to serve 12,750 patrons in 2009 both in the physical library and fee based services such as copying and legal research. About 45% of NYCLA’s budget is appropriated to the library. The library has 6 professional librarians on staff.
Dan Jordan, the Director of Library Services, provided a tour of the library which encompassed an introduction to legal bibliography and research. As he explained the development of legal bibliography and the basics of legal research, he showed us the physical books, not just the shelves, but what the books looked like inside. We also visited the basement where the superseded volumes required for research are stored. As in most libraries, legal materials are moving online and people (depending on when they graduated from law school) are using books less. So NYCLA deals with the question of what to keep in physical form and what to discard.
I had briefly worked at the NYCLA library when I worked for Cassidy Cataloguing in the early 1990’s. As a law librarian for more than 25 years, I was familiar with legal bibliography and research. Still, I enjoyed the tour very much. This meetup was an excellent introduction to legal bibliography, legal research and the workings of a subscription library.
New York County Lawyers Association
The New York County Lawyers Association, one of the largest bar associations in the country with 10,000 members, was founded in 1908 as a response to the restrictive membership rules of other state and local bar associations. Interested in legal and public policy questions, it is open to all members of the New York Bar. For a more detailed description of the Association, see its website: http://www.nycla.org/.
The NYCLA library, with about 230,000 volumes, expects to serve 12,750 patrons in 2009 both in the physical library and fee based services such as copying and legal research. About 45% of NYCLA’s budget is appropriated to the library. The library has 6 professional librarians on staff.
Dan Jordan, the Director of Library Services, provided a tour of the library which encompassed an introduction to legal bibliography and research. As he explained the development of legal bibliography and the basics of legal research, he showed us the physical books, not just the shelves, but what the books looked like inside. We also visited the basement where the superseded volumes required for research are stored. As in most libraries, legal materials are moving online and people (depending on when they graduated from law school) are using books less. So NYCLA deals with the question of what to keep in physical form and what to discard.
I had briefly worked at the NYCLA library when I worked for Cassidy Cataloguing in the early 1990’s. As a law librarian for more than 25 years, I was familiar with legal bibliography and research. Still, I enjoyed the tour very much. This meetup was an excellent introduction to legal bibliography, legal research and the workings of a subscription library.
Caren Rabinowitz, JD, MLS
Assistant Organizer, NY Librarians Meetup
Monday, November 2, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ Student Reception
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center is home to one of the world’s most extensive combination of circulating and non-circulating reference and research materials on music, dance, theatre, recorded sound, and other performing arts.1 It is an essential resource of information for a myriad of professionals and aspiring students in virtually all aspects of the performing arts: dancers, singers, actors, composers, choreographers, conductors, directors, set and costume designers, critics, and historians. Hence, whether you are a professional, an amateur or a member of the general public, the Library for the Performing Arts is an invaluable resource for everyone with an interest in the performing arts. 2At present, the Library for the Performing Arts contains over 350,000 published items, which includes books, periodicals, sheet music, audio cassettes, compact discs, videotapes and DVDs.3 All together, the Library’s collections come to a staggering nine million items. However, only 30 percent of the research holdings are actually books. The remaining 70 percent is comprised of historic recordings, videotapes, manuscripts, correspondence, sheet music, set, light, mechanical and costume designs, press clippings, programs, posters, and photographs-- and all these materials are freely available for borrowing.4
In addition to being a lending and research library, the Library for the Performing Arts functions, as a creative laboratory for performing artists; “artists draw inspiration and direction from the materials to create their work, and the documentation of their process becomes part of the collections.”5 It also serves “as a museum, a video production center, a valued consultant to the artistic community, and a performance venue, regularly presenting concerts and theatrical events as well as lectures and seminars. Through its collections the public programs, the Library attracts some 425,000 visitors a year.” 6
Kevin Winkler is the Library for the Performing Arts’ Assistant for Access Services. He leads the creation of community-driven, customer focused facilities and service plans and is responsible for the development and implementation of uniform public service policies in all LPA divisions. Winkler reports to the Executive Director regarding the management of fiscal operations such as budget preparation and control and is responsible for all aspects of public service including research and circulating collections. His day-to-day tasks include coordination of administrative support for all library units, and overseeing facility operations and security. Winkler is also responsible for content development of the Library’s website and long range planning of technology based service programs for on-site and remote users. Additionally, he oversees collaborations with Lincoln Center on facility and marketing projects.
Curator for the Library for the Performing Arts’ Music Division, Robert Kosovsky is responsible for the division’s collection of rare books and manuscripts. The Library for the Performing Arts’ Music Division is “one of the world's preeminent music collections”7 and serves the needs of an extensive professional constituency, “including singers and instrumentalists in search of unusual music, writers preparing program notes for concerts and recordings, lawyers searching copyrights, television producers and book publishers in need of illustrative material, and sociologists studying popular culture.”8 The Division contains many scores and manuscripts that are centuries old and documents the art of music in all its diversity: opera, spirituals, ragtime, jazz, musical theater, film, world, orchestral, rock, and pop music. The Division’s “curatorial mandate is one of activist, placing major emphasis on capturing the creative output of contemporary composers.” 9 Its acquisitions program spans the globe to bring the Division the latest published music from many nations. The Library for the Performing Arts’ Music Division provides a vital information center for music scholars and students alike. 10
On Tuesday, September 15, 2009, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts hosted its 2nd annual student reception. The evening invites students and faculty from the New York area to meet and reconnect over drinks, hors d’oeuvres and entertainment. The event also gives students and faculty the opportunity to learn about the unique collections, scholarly opportunities, programs, and services at New York’s world class performing arts library. In preparation for this year’s student reception, I interviewed the Library for the Performing Arts’ Kevin Winkler and Robert Kosovosky, to find out what to expect.Q: How did the idea for the student reception at the Library for the Performing Arts come about?
Kevin Winkler: Despite our having been in this location since 1965, I am always amazed when students tell me they didn’t know we existed. [The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is] a prime resource for performing arts students throughout the city, and we wanted to create an event specifically for students that would introduce our services and collections to them.
Robert Kosovsky: The idea of the reception had been brewing for a year; in part we were prevented because a similar [event] was held at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building… . Also, we noted a decline in the number of researchers and realized that many students, especially those new to New York, may be unfamiliar with the Library.
Q: How long has the Library for the Performing Arts been hosting this event?
KW: We started the reception just last year, so this will be our second [year hosting the event].
Q: What is the purpose of this event?
RK: The purpose of the event is to introduce people to the Library and establish what we hope will be a life-long relationship.
Q: Who attends this event?
KW: Students from high school, college, performing arts programs (i.e., music, theatre, dance, film), as well as library school students and students in museum studies—we have an active museum exhibition program.
RK: Undergraduate, graduate and post graduate students are invited as well as interested faculty.
Q: Is there typically a large turnout?
KW: Last year we welcomed 125 students. This year we’re expecting to top that number of attendees.
Q: What can participants expect at this year’s event?
RK: Participants can expect socialization. We hope that students from different schools and disciplines meet one another. There will also be some short presentations that include a guest speaker and glimpses of a few of the interesting items to be found at the Library for the Performing Arts.
KW: First, they’ll be welcomed by Jackie Davis, Library for the Performing Arts’ Executive Director. They will also hear remarks from Tituss Burgess (pictured left), about how important the Library for the Performing Arts is to his professional work. Burgess is a Broadway actor and singer who has appeared in “Guys and Dolls” and “Works Cited:
1. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. (2009). About the library. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/general/
2. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. (2009). History of Performing Arts Library. In Collections. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://www.nypl.org/press/2001/lpareopenhistory.cfm
3. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. (2009). History of Performing Arts Library. In Divisions of the Library for the Performing Arts: The circulating collections. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://www.nypl.org/press/2001/lpareopenhistory.cfm
4. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. (2009). History of Performing Arts Library. In Collections. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://www.nypl.org/press/2001/lpareopenhistory.cfm
5. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. (2009). History of Performing Arts Library. In Divisions of the Library for the Performing Arts: The circulating collections. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://www.nypl.org/press/2001/lpareopenhistory.cfm
6. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. (2009). History of Performing Arts Library. In Collections. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://www.nypl.org/press/2001/lpareopenhistory.cfm
7. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. (2009). About the music division. In Collections. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/mus/musabout.html
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Book Sale for Charity on Upper West Side
This year's Goddard Riverside New York Book Sale takes place on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 on Columbus Avenue at W. 88 Street. They may still need volunteers to sort or sell; see
Goddard Riverside Community Center for more information on this.
Goddard Riverside Community Center for more information on this.
- LT
Friday, August 28, 2009
The banks must rediscover Victorian values | William Rees-Mogg - Times Online
The banks must rediscover Victorian values | William Rees-Mogg - Times Online
(Shared via AddThis)
Some discussion please: What lesson(s) can be drawn from Paragraph 8 concerning the gap in generations, experience, etc.? Both ACRL-NY and LACUNY are planning Fall symposiums to address this issue. Watch this space for more information or Google for exact details.
(Shared via AddThis)
Some discussion please: What lesson(s) can be drawn from Paragraph 8 concerning the gap in generations, experience, etc.? Both ACRL-NY and LACUNY are planning Fall symposiums to address this issue. Watch this space for more information or Google for exact details.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Slideshow : Future of the Library User Experience 2009 Urban Libraries Council Webinar Keynote
Is there a future for libraries? Please view, study and comment on this on-the-mark presentation. What steps, if any, will you take to insure that literacy, democracy and civilization will be preserved?
Stephanie Gross,
Organizer
NY Librarians Meetup
Stephanie Gross,
Organizer
NY Librarians Meetup
Monday, August 17, 2009
The Library Of Taybas Western Academy By: Nilda Pilar S. Montecillo
The school is an 80-year old institution located about 112 kms south of Manila in the town of Candelaria, Quezon Province. The enrollment is about 1,900 from elementary to college. More than 1,600 are high school students. Classroom size is 40 to 45 students. Enrollees are mostly from middle to lower middle class families and in the context of less developed country, maybe 30% of the gross family income goes into education.
The library itself is the size of four classrooms equipped with two computers with internet connection and a xerox machine. Not much to go with in terms of hardware but by Philippine standards, sufficient for real basic education. Two library custodians man the fort along with a library helper. The range of our library collection is mostly geared on the subjects offered in the school which is pretty normal. The advent of internet research helped those more adventurous students to explore beyond the walls of the library but we do lack off-the-shelf DVD and CD educational programs.
There is not much to crow about our library. But this corner of the school is a mute witness to the thousands of students who began dreaming about their future lives in some hallowed nook of this library.
The Filipino Librarian By: Nilda Pilar S. Montecillo
We do not know of any place in the world except in the Philippines where librarians are licensed like doctors, engineers and lawyers. Either a place of honor is reserved for librarians in the country or the science part of library discipline was interpreted as the equivalent of quantum physics or the geography of the Himalayas. Anyway, it is only very recently that our librarians are given the recognition and salary levels that most of us richly deserve.
It is however still a long upward struggle for our profession to be financially rewarding in the Philippines and I would suppose in any less developed country. With the economy of scarcity as a backdrop, librarians in the country had learned to be persevering and make do with what they are paid not out of meekness but because of the realization that in the field of education, idealism is more valuable than materialism. Very intellectual but disconcerting nevertheless.
In some top of the line schools where fees are beyond the reach of ordinary working Filipinos, librarians occupy the equivalent of middle echelon management positions with better pay than teachers. Ensconced in their air conditioned libraries and surrounded by top of the line computers with internet access faster than the speed of light, our modern day librarians are in another plane where warmth human interaction is missing. Somehow the romance of actually handling collections and the smell of leather bound books are no longer part of these high-end libraries.
For most of us in the Philippines, we manage libraries the traditional way; manually and with tender loving care. In the Philippines, advance technology is largely expensive to acquire and subsequently maintain. Talk of licensing and cost of hardware. To put everything in perspective, a high school student in our school, a private provincial institution, will annually pay between Pesos: 10,600.00 to 12,000.00 (US$220.00 to US$250.00) in total school fees. On average, a teacher or even a librarian will gross about Pesos: 11,000.00 a month or around US$230.00. The costs to do things manually even if inefficiently still make better economic sense than computerizing the library system or the whole school system for that matter. However, with the advent of less expensive hardware and free softwares, we are moving towards modernization in our own careful and well-planned phases.
The top tier high schools in the Philippines will cost anywhere from Pesos: 100,000.00 to 120,000.00 annually or about US$2,100.00 to US$2,500.00. The chief librarians at these schools earn about Pesos: 50,000.00 a month or about US$1,050.00; the same pay scale at large corporations particularly law firms with extensive library collections. These schools are mostly catholic schools catering to the educational needs of wealthy families and located in Metro Manila. Public schools cost practically nothing but they are very crowded with lower standards. Public librarians should be grossing about Pesos: 11,000.00 (US$224.00) a month but there is now a law that will increase the pay scale of the teachers and of course public school librarians to Pesos: 15,000.00 (US$312.00) a month in the next four years. Again, as a perspective, the minimum wage in the country is about Pesos: 375.00 or less than US$8.00 daily. At this level of family income, education for the children will be at best up to the elementary grades.
But we are sturdy people who put premium on education. The popularity of Filipinos as educated workers in foreign countries is a testament to our latent talents as a people. With minimal encouragement, we can excel even in the world stage. But this is altogether another interesting topic.
In our country, libraries are where you can still look directly into the eyes of your clients and instinctively know part of their personalities by the kind of books they read. Libraries are where books are stored in open shelves and not in some hard discs. Where titles are handwritten in rectangular index cards. Where library cards are examined not swiped. Where voices are kept low out of respect for the sanctity of the place and not because those are the rules.
Librarians are a respected lot in our country but the type that are easily forgotten. They work tirelessly and unobtrusively for their fulfillment is the perfection of their craft and in making their libraries useful to their public. Oh! I love to be a librarian!
It is however still a long upward struggle for our profession to be financially rewarding in the Philippines and I would suppose in any less developed country. With the economy of scarcity as a backdrop, librarians in the country had learned to be persevering and make do with what they are paid not out of meekness but because of the realization that in the field of education, idealism is more valuable than materialism. Very intellectual but disconcerting nevertheless.
In some top of the line schools where fees are beyond the reach of ordinary working Filipinos, librarians occupy the equivalent of middle echelon management positions with better pay than teachers. Ensconced in their air conditioned libraries and surrounded by top of the line computers with internet access faster than the speed of light, our modern day librarians are in another plane where warmth human interaction is missing. Somehow the romance of actually handling collections and the smell of leather bound books are no longer part of these high-end libraries.
For most of us in the Philippines, we manage libraries the traditional way; manually and with tender loving care. In the Philippines, advance technology is largely expensive to acquire and subsequently maintain. Talk of licensing and cost of hardware. To put everything in perspective, a high school student in our school, a private provincial institution, will annually pay between Pesos: 10,600.00 to 12,000.00 (US$220.00 to US$250.00) in total school fees. On average, a teacher or even a librarian will gross about Pesos: 11,000.00 a month or around US$230.00. The costs to do things manually even if inefficiently still make better economic sense than computerizing the library system or the whole school system for that matter. However, with the advent of less expensive hardware and free softwares, we are moving towards modernization in our own careful and well-planned phases.
The top tier high schools in the Philippines will cost anywhere from Pesos: 100,000.00 to 120,000.00 annually or about US$2,100.00 to US$2,500.00. The chief librarians at these schools earn about Pesos: 50,000.00 a month or about US$1,050.00; the same pay scale at large corporations particularly law firms with extensive library collections. These schools are mostly catholic schools catering to the educational needs of wealthy families and located in Metro Manila. Public schools cost practically nothing but they are very crowded with lower standards. Public librarians should be grossing about Pesos: 11,000.00 (US$224.00) a month but there is now a law that will increase the pay scale of the teachers and of course public school librarians to Pesos: 15,000.00 (US$312.00) a month in the next four years. Again, as a perspective, the minimum wage in the country is about Pesos: 375.00 or less than US$8.00 daily. At this level of family income, education for the children will be at best up to the elementary grades.
But we are sturdy people who put premium on education. The popularity of Filipinos as educated workers in foreign countries is a testament to our latent talents as a people. With minimal encouragement, we can excel even in the world stage. But this is altogether another interesting topic.
In our country, libraries are where you can still look directly into the eyes of your clients and instinctively know part of their personalities by the kind of books they read. Libraries are where books are stored in open shelves and not in some hard discs. Where titles are handwritten in rectangular index cards. Where library cards are examined not swiped. Where voices are kept low out of respect for the sanctity of the place and not because those are the rules.
Librarians are a respected lot in our country but the type that are easily forgotten. They work tirelessly and unobtrusively for their fulfillment is the perfection of their craft and in making their libraries useful to their public. Oh! I love to be a librarian!
Nilda Pilar S. Montecillo is a member of the NY Librarians Meetup and resides in the Philippines.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Networking at Cosi
Following the group's tour of the Strand Bookstore, meetup group members gathered inside the eatery Cosi on the corner of 13th Street and Broadway for a networking session. Cosi Restaurant is a wonderfully sophisticated sandwich bar with delicious food at reasonable prices. The restaurant's cozy atmosphere lent itself well to the initiation of fun and intelligent conversation between meetup group members. As group members participated in friendly exchange with one another, their nodding heads and bright smiles gave clear indication that they were enjoying themselves.Organizer, Stephanie L. Gross was warm, welcoming and provided group members with an abundance of information relating to library and information services. For example, she spoke about various library organizations, associations and clubs like ALA, SLA, The New York Library Club, Inc. and Beta Phi Mu. Additionally, Stephanie spoke about the importance of library advocacy, developments in information technology, and online job networking sites like LinkedIn.
Ardleapat, Member NYLM
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Strand Book Store
Yesterday evening several of us met at the legendary Strand Book Store for in-depth tour. Understandably librarian associations are drawn to this independent store. It’s an alluring magnet for book lovers.Our group visited many areas, among them Receiving, Art Books, and Rare Books. We spoke with staff, including Fred Bass, the president and son of the original owner (see photo above). He readily admits the selling of books is hard work. The acquisition of the Espresso Book Machine by a downtown bookstore underscores challenges that consumers, bookstores, libraries, and publishers face today.
Christina Foxley, our cohost, outlined the store’s history and recent changes in its interior and operations. These include the closing of the annex, elimination of a check-in area, and advent of a successful events program. We learned about the Strand’s creation of libraries for movie sets and individuals, once frowned-upon practice of selling review copies, “dollar” bins, and ability to keep prices low. Because of their unusual affordability, photo books from the store are truly coveted items. The store retains staff with specialized knowledge; in Art Books, for instance, salespeople have a background in art.
Many of us were unaware the Strand works extensively with libraries. John Banister, our other cohost, is Libraries Manager, and distributed material on services. The store's review copies are especially popular among librarians. Graduate students enrolled in library and information science programs should note the Strand offers academic internships with stipends.
Since the Strand needs to restrict the size of visiting groups, New York Librarians Meetup Group hopes to schedule another tour to accommodate members’ enthusiastic interest in this iconic, vital institution. We thank everyone there for their generosity in hosting this event.
- LT
Photograph is used with permission of the Strand Book Store.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Save the Buttenwieser Library of the 92Y
It seems like only yesterday that the NY Librarians Meetup met on a cold Sunday to tour the Buttenwieser Library. Unfortunately, without a soul knowing it, the board of directors have scheduled the library as it is currently known to close this Friday, July 31st. Please do everything you can to make your feelings known about this venerable outreach facility. As you recall, the collection is open to the public, available evenings and weekends, and is free-of-charge.
There is a petition going. Please sign it: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/92ylibrary?e.
Shelved at NYC has been following the story: http://shelvedatnyc.blogspot.com/.
Listen to an interview with protestors at last night's protest: http://www.last.fm/music/NYLibrariansMeetup/Library+Advocacy+NYLM+2009
Read a description of our Spring Meetup at the Buttenwieser Library: http://www.meetup.com/NYLibrarians/calendar/9376868/?from=list&offset=0
Lastly, come this evening to The Creek and join Urban Librarians Unite (see Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=106282167970).
Stephanie Gross,
Organizer NYLM
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Meet-Up helps New Resident and Librarian "Link-In" to New York Librarian Community
On Saturday, I put a deposit down on my first NYC apartment, and two days later I attended my first NY Librarians Meet-Up Group!
It’s been a whirlwind of activity since I arrived less than five days ago from my beloved hometown of Fresno, California. While I have contended with the usual culture and sticker shocks of most new residents, I felt quite at home at this meet-up. This is no surprise since I love meeting new people, and new librarians especially.
The meet-up was in a hidden gem of SOHO, the NYPL Mulberry Street Branch, which I later learned was once the Hawley & Hoops chocolate factory. The Jersey Street entrance was a little obscured by scaffolding—and I think a few of us got lost—but the branch quickly surmounted the difficulties. Patrons are treated to an almost Alice-in-Wonderland effect as the branch drops two stories underground. Restored brick walls are showcased throughout, and it even smells nice due to the parfumerie next door.
Kate Dietrick, a staffing specialist at InfoCurrent, presented various uses and benefits of the social networking site LinkedIn, which she described as a “Professional Facebook.” Fifteen librarians and students attended. Most of us had LinkedIn accounts, but did not deploy it strategically. While Dietrick had many useful topics, a few stood out in particular:
1) Recruiters use of LinkedIn
Even more surprising to me was that if Dietrick knows of someone who might be a good fit for a job opening, but that person is not looking for a job, she will SEARCH THIS PERSON’S CONTACTS. This is under the assumption that this person is likely to have other contacts with similar skills or interests. Often as librarians or professionals, we know people through associations or committees. This makes perfect sense, but I had never considered it before.
TIP: Dietrick suggested that users include specialized skills in their “Summary” section or other parts of their account to ensure that they come up in recruiters’ search results. For instance if you know a certain database or standard, but it is not in your job descriptions, put this somewhere in your account so that you will be retrieved for those queries. (As information professionals, I'm sure we are all aware of the power of search retrieval.)
2) Use LinkedIn to research companies or people
I also enjoyed Dietrick’s tip to research future employers through LinkedIn. If you are interviewing at a company or library, LinkedIn can provide useful information on company hierarchy, size and job descriptions. You can also discover information about the person that is interviewing you for the job. This might make it easier to connect or make an impression with that person.
As a career tactic, Dietrick also suggested that we research the backgrounds of other information professionals that we respect or admire. This will give us an idea of how to recreate that path to success.
3) Using LinkedIn to promote yourself professionally
She also recommended that librarians view LinkedIn as a way to “promote your brand as a librarian.” Implicit in this suggestion was that this could be a way to market services to your users— especially since many information positions are vulnerable, misunderstood and/or underutilized.
She suggested, for instance, that if you provide a service to a new lawyer and then later connect to this lawyer on Linked-In, that lawyer will then be able to see your many other services and accomplishments. He or she might then contact you for other information needs.
4) Nuts and Bolts of Linked-In as a tool
The Meet-Up also included a discussion of the nuts and bolts of LinkedIn, such as requesting recommendations from former co-workers or employers, posting pictures, and how to connect with others. It also including general guidelines for what to post.
Unlike a paper resume, LinkedIn does not have to be limited to one or two pages, nor does it have contain library-only experience. Many of us come to librarianship after other careers, and Dietrick recommended that this other experience could be included on LinkedIn to form a full picture of your career. In fact, Dietrick suggested that many degrees and types of professional development should be listed on our LinkedIn accounts—such as chairing a project, attending a conference, or learning a new database.
On the flip side, she cautioned that LinkedIn should be treated similarly to a resume. It should be easy to read, with bullet points, and it should not include too much personal information that would be inappropriate for a resume.
While moving to a new city, and finding my first post-MLIS job during the Great Recession are not ideal, I am happy to have found an active, welcoming (and free) library group so quickly upon arrival. I look forward to joining and sharing in this local library community.
Diwata Fonte, MLIS Drexel University ‘09
Related slideshows:
Thank you Kate!!!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tour of the Brooklyn Public Library by Larissa Kyzer, Assistant Organizer NYLM
On June 3, 2009, following the LibCamp ‘unconference’ at Brooklyn College, a dozen intrepid NYMeetup members attended a tour of the Youth Services Division and Multilingual Center in the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch. This was the first Meetup event that I have been responsible for arranging, and perhaps surprisingly, only one of the first events that I have attended as a member. Stephanie has asked me to share my experiences planning this event and a little about the tours itself, and I am happy to do so.
My first NYLibrarians Meetup Event was an extensive tour of several divisions and services within the Center for Jewish History. I was delighted at the opportunity to get a ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of such a vibrant and specialized library--one which I may not have ever found myself visiting had I not been for the tour. Afterwards, Stephanie asked the group for feedback on future events that she was interested in scheduling—in particular, she wanted to know if there was any interest in scheduling events in Brooklyn, such as a tour of the children’s library at the Brooklyn Public Library.
As a fervent Brooklynite and a library school student who has been considering the merits of young adult librarianship, I found both prospects appealing. I contacted Stephanie, who generously offered to allow me to make arrangements for a Brooklyn tour myself. The prospect was initially a bit intimidating, but I was exceptionally pleased with how straight forward the planning process was, and the opportunities that scheduling this tour afforded. For one, I was able to schedule a tour which appealed to my own personal interests—young adult librarianship and multilingual services in a public library setting. Secondly, it compelled me to reach out to active and talented librarians who, as we found during our tour, were exceptionally willing and excited to share their experiences and diverse collections with other librarians and MLIS students.
Our tour started in the youth services wing with David Mowery, the head of Youth Services. The Youth Services Division is composed of both a large children’s library and a recently-renovated Young Adult section. At 6:00 PM, the library was an active, energetic place, with children and parents perusing the stacks, making use of the computers in the youth-dedicated ‘Tech Loft,’ and studying. Highlights included viewing the rotating artwork that is on display in the section, a discussion about limited funding and its effects on youth programming, and information about how to best utilize the most popular, but least resilient items in the YA section—Manga (Japanese comics).
Following our tour of the Youth Division, we met with Frank Xu, the head librarian of BPL’s Multilingual Center. Though operating on a tight budget in a somewhat cramped corner of the adult fiction wing, the Multilingual Center manages to serve an incredibly large and diverse population of recent immigrants and Brooklyn residents for whom English is not a primary language. The center specializes in assisting individuals find practical resources (such as job-finding aids), collects current fiction and literature extensively in five languages (and somewhat less extensively in eight additional languages), and provides ‘conversation-roundtables’ in a variety of languages including English, Spanish, and any other language they can find volunteer teachers for. The staff—a small group of librarians who are exceptionally gifted linguists (one librarian, we were told, speaks over five languages; most speak at least three)—works together to ensure that the largest possible group of patrons is reached. For instance, the staff ensures that all information on the website is translated into as many languages as possible, organizes a popular reading series with international authors, and travels to public libraries and book fairs throughout the world to purchase popular contemporary materials that are being read in their home countries.
As a whole, the tour reinforced for me many of the wonderful qualities of public libraries, and especially of the Brooklyn Public Library. Upon leaving, however, a few things in particular struck me. For one, that the public library system reaches such an incredible variety of patrons—children, teens, recent immigrants, scholars, students. And as such, no vein of librarianship, even within the public library system, is quite the same. Secondly, that at this time, when we need our public libraries more than ever, they are making small miracles with the limited resources at their disposal.
Larissa Kyzer
My first NYLibrarians Meetup Event was an extensive tour of several divisions and services within the Center for Jewish History. I was delighted at the opportunity to get a ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of such a vibrant and specialized library--one which I may not have ever found myself visiting had I not been for the tour. Afterwards, Stephanie asked the group for feedback on future events that she was interested in scheduling—in particular, she wanted to know if there was any interest in scheduling events in Brooklyn, such as a tour of the children’s library at the Brooklyn Public Library.
As a fervent Brooklynite and a library school student who has been considering the merits of young adult librarianship, I found both prospects appealing. I contacted Stephanie, who generously offered to allow me to make arrangements for a Brooklyn tour myself. The prospect was initially a bit intimidating, but I was exceptionally pleased with how straight forward the planning process was, and the opportunities that scheduling this tour afforded. For one, I was able to schedule a tour which appealed to my own personal interests—young adult librarianship and multilingual services in a public library setting. Secondly, it compelled me to reach out to active and talented librarians who, as we found during our tour, were exceptionally willing and excited to share their experiences and diverse collections with other librarians and MLIS students.
Our tour started in the youth services wing with David Mowery, the head of Youth Services. The Youth Services Division is composed of both a large children’s library and a recently-renovated Young Adult section. At 6:00 PM, the library was an active, energetic place, with children and parents perusing the stacks, making use of the computers in the youth-dedicated ‘Tech Loft,’ and studying. Highlights included viewing the rotating artwork that is on display in the section, a discussion about limited funding and its effects on youth programming, and information about how to best utilize the most popular, but least resilient items in the YA section—Manga (Japanese comics).
Following our tour of the Youth Division, we met with Frank Xu, the head librarian of BPL’s Multilingual Center. Though operating on a tight budget in a somewhat cramped corner of the adult fiction wing, the Multilingual Center manages to serve an incredibly large and diverse population of recent immigrants and Brooklyn residents for whom English is not a primary language. The center specializes in assisting individuals find practical resources (such as job-finding aids), collects current fiction and literature extensively in five languages (and somewhat less extensively in eight additional languages), and provides ‘conversation-roundtables’ in a variety of languages including English, Spanish, and any other language they can find volunteer teachers for. The staff—a small group of librarians who are exceptionally gifted linguists (one librarian, we were told, speaks over five languages; most speak at least three)—works together to ensure that the largest possible group of patrons is reached. For instance, the staff ensures that all information on the website is translated into as many languages as possible, organizes a popular reading series with international authors, and travels to public libraries and book fairs throughout the world to purchase popular contemporary materials that are being read in their home countries.
As a whole, the tour reinforced for me many of the wonderful qualities of public libraries, and especially of the Brooklyn Public Library. Upon leaving, however, a few things in particular struck me. For one, that the public library system reaches such an incredible variety of patrons—children, teens, recent immigrants, scholars, students. And as such, no vein of librarianship, even within the public library system, is quite the same. Secondly, that at this time, when we need our public libraries more than ever, they are making small miracles with the limited resources at their disposal.
Larissa Kyzer
Finding an internship through NY Librarians Meetup by Marc E. Shelton
In the discourse of a slow recovering economy, and as an ever-present
Library School Student attending Queens College Graduate School of
Library and Information Science program in Flushing, New York I found
the NY Librarian’s Meetup Group. This particular Meetup has been very
beneficial in providing a social networking space for the needs of
Librarian’s and Library Students alike in areas such as museum and
archive visits, library tours, resume workshops, and library skills of
various sorts. Social outings have included coffee shop sit downs, a
walk and tour through the Botanical Gardens.
Just recently I have been privileged to accept a volunteer internship
at a Brooklyn based organization called Children of Promise. Children
of Promise, NYC (CPNYC) is a Brooklyn based organization committed to
embracing and empowering children of incarcerated parents to break the
cycle of intergenerational involvement in the criminal system. CPNYC’s
mission is to provide children of prisoners with the guidance, support
and the opportunities necessary to effectively develop leadership
skills, form positive social relationships and enhance academic
performance. Implementing the principles and best practices of youth
development, this innovative after-school program infuses a mental
health model. Mental health based intervention allows CPNYC to acknowledge the
traumas children of prisoners experience and to address the problems
and challenges at the root, allowing young people to create new
behaviors, new habits and new reactions. It also allows staff to
understand the sources of negative and inappropriate conduct and model
appropriate behaviors and reactions.
Through my volunteer internship, I will be among 3-4 other library
school students who will help to develop their afterschool and summer
day camp library. They are in need of new/used children and teen
books. If you think you can help, please contact me at Librarianmarc[at]gmail.com. We will be organizing and cataloging their new library and helping to set up and
implementation plan for running the library smoothly. This is a great
chance for me to help others, especially children in special
situations. The NY Librarian’s Meetup Group has been the force behind
the inspiration to getting me out and looking for career-related
experiences, internships and a job.
Through my membership, I have attended a few of these events. Joining is free and the
social networking you experience is a lifetime experience that builds
on everything you already know. Stephanie is a hard-working organizer, dedicated to pleasing a wide range of professionals, library students, and individuals considering librarianship. So get involved, come to a few
groups, share what interests you and make a few suggestions as to things you would like to see happen. That’s all in the spirit of Meetups.
Best of Luck,
Marc E. Shelton
Librarianmarc[at]gmail.com
Library School Student attending Queens College Graduate School of
Library and Information Science program in Flushing, New York I found
the NY Librarian’s Meetup Group. This particular Meetup has been very
beneficial in providing a social networking space for the needs of
Librarian’s and Library Students alike in areas such as museum and
archive visits, library tours, resume workshops, and library skills of
various sorts. Social outings have included coffee shop sit downs, a
walk and tour through the Botanical Gardens.
Just recently I have been privileged to accept a volunteer internship
at a Brooklyn based organization called Children of Promise. Children
of Promise, NYC (CPNYC) is a Brooklyn based organization committed to
embracing and empowering children of incarcerated parents to break the
cycle of intergenerational involvement in the criminal system. CPNYC’s
mission is to provide children of prisoners with the guidance, support
and the opportunities necessary to effectively develop leadership
skills, form positive social relationships and enhance academic
performance. Implementing the principles and best practices of youth
development, this innovative after-school program infuses a mental
health model. Mental health based intervention allows CPNYC to acknowledge the
traumas children of prisoners experience and to address the problems
and challenges at the root, allowing young people to create new
behaviors, new habits and new reactions. It also allows staff to
understand the sources of negative and inappropriate conduct and model
appropriate behaviors and reactions.
Through my volunteer internship, I will be among 3-4 other library
school students who will help to develop their afterschool and summer
day camp library. They are in need of new/used children and teen
books. If you think you can help, please contact me at Librarianmarc[at]gmail.com. We will be organizing and cataloging their new library and helping to set up and
implementation plan for running the library smoothly. This is a great
chance for me to help others, especially children in special
situations. The NY Librarian’s Meetup Group has been the force behind
the inspiration to getting me out and looking for career-related
experiences, internships and a job.
Through my membership, I have attended a few of these events. Joining is free and the
social networking you experience is a lifetime experience that builds
on everything you already know. Stephanie is a hard-working organizer, dedicated to pleasing a wide range of professionals, library students, and individuals considering librarianship. So get involved, come to a few
groups, share what interests you and make a few suggestions as to things you would like to see happen. That’s all in the spirit of Meetups.
Best of Luck,
Marc E. Shelton
Librarianmarc[at]gmail.com
Monday, May 4, 2009
Hanami/Sakura Matsuri Meetup at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens
Saturday was a beautiful day. The sun shone, the ticket lines stretched down the block. Unfortunately, our Meetup event was scheduled for Sunday, a cold rainy day that kept half our invites away. I regret Murphy's Law, but have learned to be accepting and flexible when it comes to outdoors events. After all, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens was prepared with a rain plan filled with indoor activities for both days. To be exact, there were some members who decided to go on Saturday. I met two of them on their way at closing time. They were thrilled to know of this venue and even became members. That was encouraging news as the BBG truly needs every dollar that it gets. I'm certain that the Gardens lost money on Sunday, but that's life with outdoor events.Our Meetup had approximately 25 Yes RSVP's. About 5 people including myself showed up. We headed first for the Gardner's Resource Center (aka Library) in the Visitor's Center. The Library was built in 1917 and has that early 20th-Century academic charm to it. Luckily there was ample room for the handful of us to enter the facility and take a good look around. It's a small room with a mezzanine, the bulk of the stacks having been relocated several years ago when the building was overtaken by various administrative offices. The current GRC is primarily a Help Desk of sorts for gardeners and their questions. I asked whether or not victory gardens are back in fashion and whether or not inquiries regarding green living were popular. (Of course, they were.) Our guide, Allan Kramer (Pratt '78) entertained our impromptu Q&A with info tidbits as well as anecdotes from his days in library school. Moreover, he was delighted to learn of our Meetup, and was readily encouraged by all members present to join NYLM. We expressed our to hope to revisit the GRC during the summer, but that will depend, of course, on its hours.
We proceeded to the exhibits in the Steinhardt Conservatory. There were Bonsai exhibits and talks, as well as open entry to the various climate collections (e.g. Desert and Tropical). Each member went their own way for an hour. At the end, we met under the Sakura Matsuri great tent to enjoy refreshment and music by the Japanese performers. I would have liked to have been able to hear the flute concert that was available Saturday, but it was way too rainy for that. Instead, after a quick lunch taken while sitting on our jackets on the cold, wet lawn, we opted to head on to the nearby Brooklyn Museum of Arts on Eastern Parkway.
The Brooklyn Museum of Art is a resource of which all New Yorkers should be aware. I renewed my membership after a few years hiatus because I couldn't stand the thought of such an important educational institution floundering in today's financial downturn. The first stop at the Museum was Hernan Bas exhibit with his mesmerizing "Mermaid" video installation. We sat and watched the movement under water and just "mellowed". Most of the group are currently looking for employment, and therefore enjoyed the opportunity to simply sit and meditate in front of the restful aquarium-like artwork. Since most Meetup members wanted to view the Caillebot Impressionist exhibit as well, we proceeded to the 5th floor. It was my second time viewing the exhibit, but many others had never heard of this artist. The style is typically Impressionist, with vibrant scenes from French turn-of-the-century vie quotidienne. There were French landscapes, Paris scenes and the inimitable manner in which Caillebotte captured human character and activity. As an aside, we did attempt to visit the museum library, but discovered that it is only open to the public Wednesdays through Fridays.
This concludes the posting for the Cherry Festival NYLM event. For photos, please check our group folder on Flickr: NY Librarians Meetup. For the general Hanami and Sakura Matsuri photos taken by visitors, please see Flickr. I've also posted some photos on FB and of course on our Meetup website under Photos. If any of you visited the Gardens and have photos you'd like to share, pleasure consider sharing them with others. I've already been contacted by a few NYLM members with Flickr accounts and see that we've got many fotogs amongst us!
Oh, I forgot to mention that Meetup Support sent me promotionals, such as T-shirts, buttons, pens and name-tags. I thanked them in the name of the group and hope to distribute more at future events. Wearing the Meetup badges at such a well-attended event helped promote Meetup to the general public. I was personally asked on several occasions what Meetup was. Many had never heard of this effective offline Google group and its potential to draw individuals with similar interests together from afar. Personally, I think it is a premier venue for social networking. For librarians and library students proficient in online skills, their offline experience can be maximized. As mentioned in recent postings, NYLM currently has groups in Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, mySpace, Twitter and counting. Time will tell, but I believe that when the benefits of social networking become acknowledged in academia, it will transform the professional landscape of librarianship and information science.
View our slideshow to see who braved the rain :
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