Tag Archives: librarian

Interview with Elizabeth Gatling, MLS ’11

Elizabeth at Miller-Motte

Elizabeth at Miller-Motte

1) Tell us your current position and job duties.

I am currently the acting Head Librarian at the Raleigh, NC campus of Miller-Motte College. As the librarian, I assist students with their research, editing, and citation issues, and conduct library orientation and “pathfinder’ classes for the faculty when their classes have projects. I also manage several work-study students, proctor entrance exams for college applicants, order, receive and catalogue materials for the library (and other programs). I also pinch hit for our IT department when our printer goes down or a student has computer issues.

Miller-Motte is a small, specialized library. Our collection is limited to books in the programs taught here but we have thousands of electronic books available. The students are generally focused hard on their goal: graduating and getting a better job. The more serious students don’t want a lot of fluff, but they need a lot of hands on care sometimes. Once they know you take them seriously and truly want to help them, they trust  you and seek you out. It’s great!

2) How did studying at NCCU SLIS help you prepare for your current work?

Everything I learned about the steps of internet research and citation was very helpful because the population of students I work with are often very unfamiliar with either. I’ve created research pathfinders and been able to explain the WHY of citation based directly notes from my classes.

3) What was your favorite thing about your time at NCCU SLIS?

Discovering that there was a profession almost tailor-made for me and the way I think about life—classifying and organizing—was a HUGE bright spot for me. All my classes simply emphasized the fact that librarianship encompassed all of that and more. It’s not just some old lady in sensible shoes and glasses shushing people, but a whole world of making information available for the use of people in the creation of a better world.

 4) What are your career goals?

As I learn more about the library as a part of the for-profit education arena, I see that there are not very many people who see the potential here. I am fascinated by the possibilities this sort of school can offer. I want to contribute more to the very limited conversation about for-profit schools and libraries.

 5) What advice would you give to students going through library school right now?

Associate. Associate. Associate. Be part of the ALA and NCLA. Find your niche and make your mark.

 6) What advice would you give library students about job hunting?

Never give up and don’t be afraid to move if you can. There are opportunities out there, lots of them. Some of them don’t look like “traditional” librarian jobs but you will find one that fits you perfectly.

Elizabeth and Chelsea

Elizabeth and Chelsea

 7) What advice would you give to people considering applying to library school?

Realize that librarianship is a huge area and getting bigger as different areas of information creation are released. Technological advances are not negating the need for libraries or librarians, but they are changing the field in which we play. Add some data administration and networking and programming to your resume, get to know the various sorts of e-readers out there. Participate in the social arena because this is where the magic is made and if you can handle it plugged in, you can handle it unplugged.

 8) What are you reading right now?

I’m in the middle of Lent right now (Orthodox Lent began a few weeks after Western Lent) so I am reading the Spiritual Biography of Saint Seraphim of Sarov by Archimandrite Lazarus Moore, along with The Companions by Sheri S. Tepper. On my Kindle I have begun a re-read of The Way of Kings  by Brandon Sanderson, and I am listening to Hammered: the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne and my son and I are listening to Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Interview with Max Eckard, MLS ’12

Max Eckard

Max Eckard

1) Tell us your current position and job duties.

I am the Metadata & Digital Curation Librarian at Grand Valley State University. Officially, that means I provide leadership and guidance in the development and implementation of data management strategies that will support discovery, access, management, and preservation of the University’s digital assets and resources, and I assess user needs in order to develop appropriate descriptive, structural and administrative metadata schemes for complex heterogeneous collections. In a nutshell: I’m the library’s metadata guru, and I try to ensure that our digital assets of all types and levels of complexity are preserved and accessible for as long as they are needed, which is harder than it sounds given the fragile nature of digital objects.

2) How did studying at NCCU SLIS help you prepare for your current work?

 Coursework in academic and digital librarianship obviously helped, as did meaningful practicums in those areas. I was also lucky enough to get a job as a Graduate Assistant in the NCCU SLIS Library, which gave me some much needed experience. I feel like the coursework, in general, gave me a good base understanding of librarianship as a profession, its history and philosophy.

3) What was your favorite thing about your time at NCCU SLIS?

 The people!

 4) What are your career goals?

 To keep growing and learning, and to keep a service and user-focused orientation. I enjoy working in the academic world, but I also enjoy working with the community. I think I might like teaching, so I wouldn’t mind doing a class or two as an Adjunct or “Professor of Practice” someday.

 5) What advice would you give to students going through library school right now?

 Learn some programming or scripting languages. Explore emerging topics in librarianship like scholarly communications, open access, data curation and digital preservation.

 6) What advice would you give library students about job hunting?

 Start applying early and, as others have stated, make sure it is obvious in your cover letter and resume that you are qualified for and want that particular job at that particular institution. If possible, be willing to move. When you do interviews, remember that in addition to trying to get a job, you are also trying to get a feel for the organization and whether or not you’re a good fit for it. It’s also important to let your enthusiasm and passion shine through during interviews.

 7) What advice would you give to people considering applying to library school?

 Do it! I love that librarianship is an interdisciplinary field, and that it is constantly changing, but somehow always staying the same. This is an exciting time to become a librarian! Librarians are taking on new roles and responsibilities, and the possibilities are endless.

 8) What are you reading right now?

There’s a few on my bookshelf: God is Not One, Speaking Christian, VALIS, Silence, Bloodchild and Other Stories, Progressive Muslims, Minaret and, as always, a couple karate books.

Ciara Healy: Librarian and Carolina Rollergirl

This post begins our new brand series of interviews with professional librarians who inspire, in and out of the library. Thanks to Ciara Healy, Librarian for Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University, for agreeing to be first! 

Tell us about yourself!

I am the librarian for Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University though I have had a varied library career, working mostly at public universities and community college libraries in the Midwest and in the South. I have been a cataloger, a school library media specialist (uncertified), a media librarian and an instruction librarian, to name a few. I would also love to live and work abroad.

How did you become a librarian?

I went to library school to become a librarian. I never worked a day in my life in a library before I went to library school and only in my last semester did I volunteer at a library as a practicum project.  I was a philosopher before I went to library school at the University of Illinois through their LEEP program. When I was in grad school to be a philosopher a professor came into our offices and said, “The philosophy librarian has some money left over and so if you have any purchase recommendations for the collection, let me know.” I was deeply moved by the utterance “philosophy librarian” and even though it was years before I went to library school, I felt the deep conviction to become a librarian for the first time that day. It also helped my library career that I didn’t finish my dissertation in philosophy.

What do you like best about your work as a librarian?

I like best working with researchers. I find the subject fascinating and the work rewarding. For instance, I was recently asked by a researcher to help find videos on You Tube showing marijuana use by groups and also videos of paraphernalia. The videos would serve as cues for subjects in experiments on addiction.  I spent a very productive afternoon doing searches on You Tube for the following: “bongs OR vaporizers”, “smoking dope in an alley”, “high and video games” and “sticky buds”.

How did you get involved in roller derby?

I saw a poster for try-outs in a Durham cafe. My sister was with me and we decided to both go to the skills bootcamp and practice our skating skills until the day of try outs. We both did – I made it but my sister did not. That was in July 2011.  I have just passed my one year “derbeyversary” and am finally good enough to start skating in bouts for the Carolina Rollergirls’ B team, the Bootleggers. I train three or four days a week either at a league practice or speed skating and the team is very competitive, so getting to skate in a bout against another league is a big deal. I cross train with yoga. It is a full contact sport with a lot of strategy and skating skill involved. It is also super fun to play! It looks really fast and crazy and dangerous – which it definitely is –  but learning to play is a lot about safety and learning to take hits and falls and keep on skating. Here is my skater profile: http://www.carolinarollergirls.com/?skater=scaristotle

What do you like best about being involved in roller derby and the Carolina Rollergirls?

I like the fitness aspect. I have to say, as one of the older players on the team, I am in the best shape of my adult life thanks to derby. I also like the competitive aspect – I love to win, and that really motivates me to practice. I have a hard time sticking with other kinds of work outs without the competitive aspect. I like to win at yoga, too. I also appreciate having such an engaging group of women to socialize with. Check out our site and come to a bout! We also need and appreciate volunteers :-) www.carolinarollergirls.com

Do you have any other hobbies?

Unsurprisingly, I like to read. Also I like audio books and I like to knit, though I am not a very accomplished knitter. I also meditate, but that is for sanity, not for fun. And meditating is way harder than derby.

What advice would you give to current library students?

When I was graduating from library school, I was told this:  “You can have the job you want. You can have the salary you want.  You can live in the place you want… And you get to pick only two of those three when accepting a library job.”  I have been a librarian for less than 10 years and have had at least 4 library jobs in different cities and states and my job descriptions have been different every time. I have moved cities, I have moved jobs within a library, I have moved from state to state and I am willing to do it again. I know not everyone is in the position to do this, but with three library schools in a two-hour proximity, I’d encourage new librarians in the Triangle to think broadly and be bold in their librarianship to get the jobs that they want. Maybe you think you can’t do it. Try.

Currently reading:

I am currently reading Stephen Fry’s autobiography The Fry Chronicles. I am currently listening to Neal Stephenson’s novel Odalisque. I am currently watching The Good Wife on DVD. I am also currently streaming You Tube videos about knitting short rows. At work, I am listening to Last.fm’s online radio station polarlicht.  I am downloading some images from Flickr’s Creative Commons.  Later, my iPad will serve as a remote and mirror to my TV so I can watch derby bouts online on a bigger screen. I am also chatting online with three people – one library colleague (talking about alt metrics and citation managers for an upcoming presentation), one teammate (about the upcoming bout – what wheels to bring to skate on concrete) and a friend from Wisconsin (should I go to Sweden with her over break?)