SLA Maryland Chapter Blog

Job Search Career Workshop

The 2nd Annual Job Search Career Workshop offered by SLA Maryland was a great success!  Despite the rainy day, there were 36 program attendees at the Shady Grove site along with some Maryland Chapter members on hand to help with registration, signage, and program organization.

The TRAK Records and Library speakers were engaging and helpful to program participants.  The first presenters from TRAK were Raechel Clark-Welch and Maura Barnes.  Raechel and Maura spoke a little bit about TRAK and then asked participants what they would like to get out of the presentation.  Some participants were recent grads starting out, some were changing careers, some were moving from one type of librarianship to another, some retirees were looking to get back into the library workforce, and others wanted to have their resume ready in case of an emergency.

Raechel and Maura spoke about resumes and cover letters.  They emphasized that the resume should generally not be more than two pages, not contain an overwhelming amount of detail, and that the cover letter would be a place to address more specific skills not mentioned in a resume.  They offered other suggestions about what type of information should appear in a resume and stressed the importance of including position information relevant to the industry.

Additionally, Raechel and Maura spoke a bit about having an online presence.  They stressed the importance of checking your personal online information (such as a profile photo), as more and more employers are checking prospective hires’ Facebook, LinkedIn, and similar pages.  They discussed Facebook and LinkedIn and concluded that LinkedIn is the more professional of the two websites.

Raechel and Maura also addressed job searching, including tips with how to begin your search, where to search, and what to do after you apply.  They also talked about how to prepare for an interview, including information about preparing 30 second “elevator speech,” in which you address all the important points about yourself.

The second set of presenters, Stephanie Callaway and Jennifer Cute, spoke about the top ten mistakes that you can make during an interview.  They talked about the importance of being early for your interview, turning off your cell phone, offering a firm handshake, watching the signals that your body language might be giving the interview, proper posture, and other helpful tips.  In addition to addressing “red flag” issues with interviews, they offered additional information to assist participants in preparing for the interview.  They talked about expanding upon a question that is relevant to work you have done in the past and knowing more about the library that you are interviewing with so that you can align your interview discussion with the library’s goals.  Stephanie and Jennifer also stressed the importance of sending your potential employer a thank you note to let them know that you appreciated the time that they took out to interview you.  They stressed that this is a good opportunity to reiterate your interest in the position and remind the employer of something that you may have forgotten during the interview.

Overall, the workshop participants were very engaged with the TRAK presenters. They did a great job in addressing participants’ questions, offering live examples a and giving a better general sense of how to approach a library job search.  The workshop was a success overall.

                                                                                                           ~ Annette Haldeman

UMD iSchool Chat

The Chat held at UMD’s iSchool on April 11, 2011 was on the subject of special collections in academic libraries.  The three Chatters who participated from the University of Maryland Libraries were: Lauren Brown, Jennie Levine Knies and Vincent Novara.  Lauren Brown is the Curator of Archives and Manuscripts and has oversight for holdings pertaining to the history of Maryland, University Archives, literary manuscripts, labor history and broadcasting history.  Jennie Levine Knies is the Manager of Digital Collections and developed the Libraries’ portal to EAD-encoded archival finding aids.  Vincent Novara is the Curator for Special Collections in Performing Arts with a specialization in music.  He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in music.

We had a large attendance of 30 students and faculty including Dr. Trudi Hahn’s class which covers this subject matter.  They spent the first hour of class at the Chat and then resumed class downstairs.There was a good discussion of what is involved in running  an archive, developing exhibits for the library and the process for taking them on the road. The Chatters talked about how their careers were different from what they had initially planned after school and the route each had taken to Maryland.  They all liked being in an academic setting and preferred the flexibility to a job in a museum or corporate setting.  It was a very interesting Chat with a great turnout.  It was the last Chat at the iSchool for the 2010-2011 school year.  See you in the fall.   

Photos are available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30762689@N05/sets/72157626407237385/ .

Judy T.

March Chats

During the month of March, the MD Chapter sponsored two Chats.  The first Chat took place on March 24^th and was held at SLIS at Catholic University.  The topic was law/legal librarianship and we had three chatters from three different types of  libraries.

Chatters were: Annette Haldeman, Legislative Librarian for the Maryland General Assembly in  Annapolis; Susan Herrick, Research Librarian at Thurgood Marshall Law  Library at the University of Maryland Law School in Baltimore; and Sara Witman, Research Librarian at Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander, LLC in Baltimore.

They all spoke about their workplaces and what their jobs entailed, their customer base, and the varied types of research they did each day. Questions from the students were on    the value of a JD in these environments, the future of the law library, the impact of electronic resources on their jobs, the value of teaching and training capabilities of libarians and opportunities for librarians in today’s legal arena.

It was a very well-attended chat and there were many questions from the floor.  The Chat was taped and the Chapter will receive a copy for lending out to members.

The second Chat took place at the iSchool of the University of Maryland on March 30.  This Chat celebrated the return of three 2009 iSchool graduates in what was originally called “1-Year Out” when it was first scheduled last fall.  It became “almost two years out” when it was finally held a few weeks ago. 

The three Chatters were: Chris Belter, Public Services Librarian at NOAA in Silver Spring; Rachel Sutcliffe, an Archivist at National Archives and Records Administration and adjunct assistant professor at UMUC teaching information literacy; and Yani Yancey, currently in the National Library of Medicine’s Associate Fellowship Program at UMD’s HSHSL in Baltimore.

They talked about life after school and the transition to the workplace; how unexpected things had happened that led them away from their career “plan.”  They gave advice to the students to be flexible, to “think outside the box,” to go after every opportunity and to volunteer for things that had not been in the “job description.”

This Chat was also well attended with good questions from those present.  This Chat was also taped and the Chapter will receive a copy in due course.

The last Chat of this school year will take place on Monday, April 11 at the iSchool.  The topic will be “Special Collections in an Academic Library.”

 

Job Search Workshop

 

2nd Annual Job Search Workshop

Presented by the SLA Maryland Chapter

 

When: Saturday April 16th, 9am – 12pm

 

Where: The Universities at Shady Grove, Building II, 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville MD (Map & Directions http://units.sla.org/chapter/cmd/pdfs/jobworkshopdirections.pdf . Use yellow garage. Parking is free.)

 

Tickets:
$25.00 SLA members (rate is extended to members of any SLA Chapter) $15.00 Library students, unemployed librarians & retirees $30.00 Non-SLA members

 

Please join us for the second annual job search workshop offered by the SLA Maryland Chapter and conducted by TRAK Records and Library. With sessions focused on how to succeed on paper and in person during the job search, this workshop is designed for students seeking their first or entry-level jobs, out-of-work librarians looking to retool a resume, information professionals wishing to change jobs, retirees wanting to get back in there and anyone preparing for a job search.

 

Registration & details at: http://units.sla.org/chapter/cmd/jobworkshop11.htm 

Registration is limited to 50 and is filling up fast, so sign up soon!

The registration deadline is Tuesday April 12th.

Health Sciences Librarian Position

Health Sciences Librarian
Job Code
11-039
Location
Bethesda, MD
 
 

Description:
We are currently looking for an experienced Health Sciences Librarian to join our team for a new project focused on health information resources for disaster preparedness, response and recovery. This person will provide contract support for promoting and implementing the disaster health information goals of the Disaster Information Management Research Center (Specialized Information Services Division) at the National Library of Medicine and for the Bethesda Hospitals' Emergency Preparedness Partnership

The successful candidate will bring strong communication and networking skills to both internal and external contacts and support the activities of several partnerships and communities of practice focused on disaster health information. The librarian will perform a variety of activities as described below. This is an unusual opportunity to be on the cutting edge of developing new programs and Internet resources to support expanding roles for librarians in providing disaster health information. This position will be based in Bethesda, MD.
Required Skills:
Applicants should have strong library and information skills including:

. Medical or public health-related reference, research and bibliographic skills. Experience as an informationist, clinical librarian or similar role is a plus.

. Experience fostering networks and collaboration among libraries and librarians.

. Web and database content management skills and experience. Experience with developing new Web sites is a plus.

. Ability to create, compose and edit written materials such as project reports, budgets, and proposals. Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. Writing samples will be required.

. Ability to compose and develop new Web content for upload to existing Web sites.

. Ability to develop and follow standards for selecting and organizing health information, including health news and grey literature.

. Ability to communicate via listserv, blog, wiki, SharePoint, Twitter and other Internet tools.

. Ability to provide classroom instruction on information topics.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrated interest or experience in disaster/emergency preparedness and response. Some examples include:

. Professional or volunteer experience in emergency preparedness and response.

. Knowledge of emergency, disaster, catastrophe, and continuity of operations terminology, acronyms, concepts, NIMS and ICS.

. Knowledge of emergency and disaster health concepts and vocabulary.

. Content knowledge of information resources (all media) useful in emergencies and disasters for preparedness, response and recovery.

. Knowledge or experience working with first responders and health professionals.
Education/Certifications:
. Master's degree in library science or library and information studies from an ALA-accredited school.

. Background (education or experience) in health information services, disaster information services, public health, or life sciences.

. At least 2-5 years of experience that is directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified. Recent library school graduates with previous, relevant background experience will also be considered.

Please apply to our job postings using Internet Explorer (IE)
Health Sciences Librarian
 
http://www2.aquilent.com/careers/Careers.aspx?adata=ClH7SKUVdN1eX9J7b%2bKSyEEsr0ebs9rEjdO%2b%2bjgXSz9tYYWAUz6JwUcIdIrkFfYmYMrYuE%2bx5ujGBWqpr%2b%2bUFg%3d%3d