Fredag

Fredagsmys: Horoskop

OK, det är långfredag i morgon så det kan vara lämpligt med lite fredagsmys.

Bloggen Hack Library School presenterar Words of Wisdom: Hack Library School Horoscopes

Råd t ex till oss födda i Jungfruns tecken:

Virgo (August 20-September 21)
Key concepts: relax, breathe, personal happiness, prepare, expansion, inner peace

If you have a specific passion or interest in the field, follow it and take the courses that fulfill this. Listen to yourself and trust yourself.
Work experience is always more impressive than the MLIS degree. Make sure you’re taking every internship, practicum, or volunteer opportunity that you can. Be a sponge! Ask lots of questions!

If you are feeling overwhelmed in school, remember it’s okay to say “no” to some opportunities; better things often come around again, at a time that may be more convenient to you.

For academics or those who may be interested, turn class projects into research opportunities. If your school offers a research methods class, take it. This will be the foundation for your work. If your school doesn’t offer one, make the suggestion for the future and take methods in another graduate program like Education or Sociology. Every large-scale project you do for course credit has the potential to be research. You can talk to your instructors about how to go about doing that. Partner up with someone if you are not comfortable going it alone. Research is one feature that tends to separate candidates from their peers in the job search process.

Try to take out the least amount of loans possible.  Everyone’s situation is different, but many schools have a flat rate for credits above a certain limit.  If you can even do one semester making the most of that flat rate, it could save you thousands of dollars.  Use your school’s writing center at least once. Try to get teaching experience of any kind, as well as course/workshop design and leadership.  Take a research course in quantitative & qualitative methods. Think about how you can turn your course work (i.e. papers/projects) into potential articles for publication.  Computer literacy skills (data manipulation, programming, data visualization, etc.) are useful. People skills are useful. When it comes time to interview:

  • Restate question to make sure you understand it/buy yourself some quick thinking time;
  • Make your points using transition/sign-posting words such as first, second, next, finally; and end with a brief summation of main points or takeaways.  This pattern is useful because it makes it easy on your interviewers to capture your important points, it makes you sound put together, and it indicates when you are done speaking.
  • Have more questions prepared than you think you need.
  • Remember, you are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you.

 

Stickning vs läsning

Ja, vad handlar folkbibliotek om? Tar folkbibliotekens sociala aktiviteter över fokuset från det som genom tiderna varit en av de viktigaste aktiviteterna på biblioiteket – läsningen av böcker i jakten på kunskap?

Elisabetta Gasparioni skriver i ett inlägg i engelska The Future Cities Project om bibliotek, läsning och just stickning. (The Future Cities Project är en tankesmedja (?) kring stadsutveckling med ingångar från olika perspektiv.) Hon har noterat att engelska Canegie Trusts broschyr om bibliotek och välbefinnande ”Speaking Volumes: the impact of public libraries on wellbeing” lyfter en rad exempel på det hon menar inte har med bibliotek att göra. Speciellt är hennes uppfattning är tydlig när det gäller bibliotekens roll som social mötesplats och i synnerhet aktiviteter som ”Knit and Natter” (typ stick-caféer).

”But the real issue here is that society finds it difficult to take the authority of knowledge seriously. It cannot find any justification for quiet spaces and rows of bookshelves. The trust’s emphasis on extracurricular activities undermines the purpose of libraries – that is, to foster independence and self-realisation.

It seems the Carnegie Trust no longer wants us to read books – it would rather we drank tea and ate biscuits instead.”

Nu får hon mothugg av den amerikanska bloggaren The Annoyed Librarian som säger att amerikanska bibliotek erbjudit program för allmänheten som inte nödvändigtvis enbart handlat om läsning och böcker i decennier utan att de inneburit att bokhyllor tagits bort för att göra plats för stickande på biblioteken. Hon avslutar med att säga att även om böcker alltid är och varit prioriterade på biblioteken, så har de samexisterat på under långa tider med andra aktiviteter och att de andra aktiviteterna inte hotar böckernas existens på biblioteken.