The Librarian's Skillbook: 51 Essential Career Skills for Information Professionals

The Librarian's Skillbook: 51 Essential Career Skills for Information Professionals Authored by Deborah Hunt (MLS, ECMp), and David Grossman (MLS, MBA). Information Edge (2013) ISBN: 0989513319

“Having the right skills is a critical component for landing a new job or any type of career advancement. Librarians and information professionals possess many marketable and transferable skills that can easily equip them to pursue a wide range of information-based jobs or start a new career in one of many related fields within or beyond the library world, such as Archives Management, Digital Asset Management, Knowledge Management, Records Management or Web Site Design." [source: ATG Book of the Week]

The skills presented in The Librarian’s Skillbook are divided into six broad categories:

1. Computer/Technical Skills
2. Beyond Reference Skills
3. Business and Management Skills
4. Interpersonal Skills
5. Attitude Skills
6. Intangible Skills [source: createspace.com]

What others say:

“This book is a roadmap to your future as an information professional. The unspoken theme of this work is that transformational librarianship is the goal. What do we need to do so that we make ourselves essential, valuable, and hirable so that we can make the difference we want to see in the world? If you find yourself frustrated, confused or adrift at this point in your career, try the ideas outlined here. As part of a community of information professionals who are committed to making a difference with their lives, the wisdom and plan outlined in this book provide an excellent start.  Go. Engage. Develop.” — Stephen Abram

“A must read for those who want to be more employable whether as librarians or in outside jobs.” – Naomi House, Editor, Publisher and Founder, INALJ.com (I Need a Library Job blog)
“This should be a required text in any Library Science program and for seasoned professionals interested in greater job security or a change in pace.” – Chris Vestal, Government Consultant, LexisNexis

“Deb Hunt and David Grossman have contributed a very important work to the whole field of career management for all professional knowledge workers," says Guy St. Clair, President, SMR International and Knowledge Strategy Specialist, Columbia University.
AIIP President Jocelyn Sheppard concurs, adding, "More than half of the members of our association hold library and information science degrees. We applaud Deb Hunt and David Grossman for highlighting the potential benefits of an independent info pro career." ...Continue reading:  prweb.com

Library Web Sites : Practical Considerations and Research Completed

Library's have their own websites. Most libraries started a Web presence with a library catalog/catalogue.

How good is their look and feel, how value-added is their content and how nicely designed [re: World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)'s standards on usability] are these?  Are they as cool as Google and as tempting? One may find the answer in the following:

• Building an Academic Library Website: Experiences and challenges at IISER Mohali. By RAJESHWAR MISHRA and MALLIKARJUN ANGADI,  Journal of Indian Library Association 2011, 47(1) 5-10

Cited sources:

[1] R. W. Ongus, T. D. Kemparaju, and C.M. Nyamboga, “Evaluation of University Websites Targeting English Speaking Users: A Comparative Analysis Of Selected Sites In Developed And Developing Countries”, Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science, vol 11, 2, pp. 61-74, 2006.

[2] Mignon Adams, and Richard M. Dougherty, “How useful is your Homepage? A quick and practical approach to evaluating a library’s website”, College and Research Libraries News, vol 63, 8, pp. .590-92, 2002

[3] Charles Belangar, Joan Mount and Mathew Wilson, “Institutional image and retention”, Tertiary education and management, vol 8, 3, p. 217, 2002.

[4] L.A. Clyde, “The Library as Information Provider: The Home Page”, The Electronic Library, vol 14, 6, pp.549-558, 1996

[5] Sherry Piontek and Kristen Garlock, “Creating a World Wide Web Resource Collection”, Internet Research, vol 6, 4, pp. 20-26, 1996

[6] Pamela Harpel-Burke, “Library homepage design at medium-sized universities: A comparison to commercial homepages via Nielsen and Tahir”, OCLC Systems & Services, vol 21, 3, pp.193 – 208, 2005

[7] Rozic-Hristovski, Anamarija and Dimitar Hristovski Ljupco Todorovski, “Developing a medical library website at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia”, Program: electronic library and information systems, vol 33, 4, pp. 313-325, 1999

[8] R. Raward, “Academic library Website design principles: development of a checklist”, Australian Academic & Research Libraries, vol 32, 2, 2001 Available at http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/aarl/raward.html [inactive link]; see, the Checklist

[9] M. Stover, “Library Web sites: mission and function in the networked Organisation”, Computer in Libraries, vol 17, pp. 55-7, 1997 

[10]Mark Stove and Steven D. Zink, “World Wide Web Home Page Design: Patterns and Anomalies of  Higher Education Library Home Pages”, Reference Services Review, vol 24, pp. 7-20, 1996

On the same shelf:

•  The Mission and Role of the Library Web Site, Mark Stover
• Linda Main. Building Websites for a Multinational Audience. Scarecrow Press, 2002. Information Processing and Management, 40, 2004, 583-585. [reviewed by Dr. Mohamed Taher]
• Content and Workflow Management for Library Websites: Case Studies, Holly Yu (Ed.), Idea Group Inc, Hershey, PA, 2005 (259pp.) International Journal of Information Management, Volume 27, Issue 1, February 2007, Pages 59-60 [reviewed by Dr. Mohamed Taher]
• Melody Y. Ivory. Automated Web Site Evaluation: Researchers' and Practitioners' Perspectives. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.Information Processing and Management, Jan2007, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p. 288-290 [reviewed by Dr. Mohamed Taher]
• UContent: The Information Professional's Guide to User-Generated Content, By Nicholas G. Tomaiuolo, Information Today, Inc. (2012), ISBN-13: 978-1573874250.
• Hock, R. (2002, September/October). A new era of search engines: Not just web pages anymore. Online, 26(5), 31.
• Janowski, A. (2005). Instant web sites! (Just add content). School Library Journal, 51(1), 50-52.
• Sauers, M. P. (2006). Blogging and RSS:  A librarian’s guide.  Medford, NJ:  Information Today
• 
  
  Vesey, K. ( 2004). Building a better clicks-and-mortar library. Library Media Connection, 22(7). 
• Young, T. (2002). The weakest link: Library catalogs. Book Report, 20(4), 6-14.

One for the Books, by Joe Queenan

This is not a book to rhyme with 'one for my master...' It is also not just a  book about the author's taste-buds. It is much more and quite different from the other existing histories of reading, histories of books, and histories of bibliophiles. However, this is also not a book that will be on the desk of every researcher of the history of books, historians of bookstores and book-shelf. Why will it not be? Because among other reasons it is from the pen of a journalis, and this is true with many who report in the media (with malice towards none), probably they don't feel the importance of  citing or referencing. In short, the entire book simply lacks citations and bibliographic sources relating to facts, figures, etc. Read more here: Fareed Zakaria says many journalists don't attribute quotations ...

Just one example from the first opening sentence of CHAPTER ONE (to feel the pulse):  "The average American reads four books a year, and the average American finds this more than sufficient." [page 1].  And a reviewer says both about the facts and figures, in a best manner:

"Cultural critic and writer Joe Queenan’s book, One for the Books, begins with a dispiriting fact: “The average American reads four books a year, and the average American finds this more than sufficient.”
Of course the actual number of books that Americans read is much lower than that. The law of averages (proper statisticians call this concept the mean) pushes up the figure.
Queenan, who reads up to 200 books a year, has the nastiest things to say about book clubs. And to make sure no one is in two minds about what he really thinks, he points his machine gun directly at those who belong to them." [source]

 One for the Books Joe Queenan

 What others say:
"Joe Queenan's One for the Books is an attempt to impose order of his otherwise disorderly reading life. Unlike Murray's book-collecting mania, Queenan has a lunacy for remembering and listing almost every book he's read." [Lowery, Robert G. "Joe Queenan: One for the Books." Irish Literary Supplement 32.2 (2013): 27]

And another reviewer's last sentence: "Most will agree that "reading is intensely personal," and the author splatters his personality over every page. An amusing homage to reading that contains something to offend even (especially?) the most ardent book lover." ["Queenan, Joe: ONE FOR THE BOOKS." Kirkus Reviews 1 Sept. 2012.]

Ideal role of public libraries... 1851

"Public Libraries will supply the whole people with ample sources for im- portant practical information. . . . Where they are provided every farmer will have access to the best books on agriculture, every mechanic to the best books on the arts, every merchant ... to the best exposition of the laws of trade and the sources of wealth. Would not this be a great advantage? Is it not important to practical men? Would it not much promote their success, to become ac- quainted with what is already  known on the subjects which occupy their atten- tion? And is it not undeserving of remark, that, even in the most simple and uni- form operations of labor, it has been found that . . . more is accomplished, and the work better done, by intelligent and weH-informed individuals? " John B. Wight, "Public Libraries," Common School Journal, XIII (1851), 260.[source],  John B. Wight, "A Lecture on Public Libraries Delivered in Boston in the Hall of the House of Representatives, 1854, and in Several Other Places" (unpub- lished MS in the possession of Mrs. John B. Wight of Wayland, Mass.).
Also quoted in Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations   Edited by Mohamed Taher and L S S R Valluri Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423 (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) (p. 385).

B&N Says Book Sample Downloads Don't Infringe Copyright, Law360

Extract:

Law360, Los Angeles (November 01, 2013, 8:32 PM ET) -- Barnesandnoble.com LLC asked a New York federal court Thursday to toss out an e-book author’s copyright infringement suit, arguing it cannot be held responsible for readers downloading digital samples of a book to their e-reader or computer after it was removed from the bookseller’s website. continue reading Law360

On the same shelf:

• My book was purchase(d) but all i see is the sample downloads - Askville
• Copyright extension opponents ready for new fight
• Google triumphs over Authors Guild in book scanning lawsuit
• Google wins against authors in book scanning case
• 8 Years Later, Google’s Book Scanning Crusade Ruled ‘Fair Use’
• The PA Joins European Commitment To Enable Text And Data Mining
• Going Out of Business, Nigerian Spam-Scam Style

Five sighted sites teens flock to instead of Facebook

Where America’s youth go online to avoid Mom and Dad

marketwatch.com 

If your kids aren’t on Facebook, where are they? Try 

• Snapchat. (This app’s files self-destruct. The service is designed for savvy teenagers who don’t want to leave an Internet footprint)  www.snapchat.com

Twenty-six percent of 18- to 29-year-olds with cellphones use Snapchat, according to Pew Research Center, compared with 5% of 30- to 49-year-olds and 3% of 50- to 64-year-olds. Parents might want to monitor and check in on their kids’ social media activity from time to time, says Kelli Krafsky, coauthor of the book “Facebook and Your Marriage,” but “Snapchat is impossible to check.” —By Quentin Fottrell ((source)

• Pheed (mobile app allows users to create and share videos) www.pheed.com
• PicsArt www.picsart.com
• Tumblr www.tumblr.com
• Vine (Twitter launched Vine — a video-sharing app) www.vine.co

On the same shelf: 

• On Facebook, a growing teenage wasteland CNN 
• Video - 3 Sites Teens Flock to Instead of Facebook - WSJ.com  

Posting Frequency of Different Types of Bloggers -- Are there any patterns?

This post is inspired by: Ideal Posting Frequency For Different Types Of Bloggers, Posted by Sarbajit Saha

Here is a quick sample from different bloggers (bearing in mind many corporate blogs don't show the Archive/past post/history button).

Samples here are from Real Estate, Knowledge Management and two from religious and spiritual care.


In this age of self-publishing, many have blogs. But, "Blogging frequency is fairly infrequent, on average." (source). While there is some truth in the statement: "I believe people are looking for higher value, more useful information... (source)." Nevertheless, the fact remains to be seen: How often and what is the pattern in the blogging map???

Do the following numbers show any posting pattern (may be by most and / or least productive periods/years)? The answer is for you to compare similar blogs and judge. Is there a similar tool or measure (like  Blood pressure monitor) to know the frequency? Please let me know if there is a tool. Your comments and suggestions to improve this blogging map is going to be very valuable to many in the cyberspace!!! 

A. The following is one example of a real estate agent, Samina Vakil's blog: The summary is 13 (Jan-Oct 2013); 8 (2012); 18 (2011); 50 (2010).

The question of religious identity in a global village - Readings

• Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World Brian D. McLaren
• College & University Chaplaincy in the 21st Century: A Multifaith Look at the Practice of Ministry on Campuses across America Edited by The Rev. Dr. Lucy Forster-Smith
• Bold as Love: What Can Happen When We See People the Way God Does Bob Roberts Jr.
• Interculturalism: The New Era of Cohesion and Diversity Ted Cantle
• One Earth Many Religions: Multifaith Dialogue and Global Responsibility Paul F. Knitter
• Babel is Everywhere! Migrant Readings from Africa, Europe and Asia (Studien zur Interkulturellen Geschichte des Christentums/Etudes d'Histoire ... in the Intercultural History of Christianity) J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu
• Eastern Orthodox Encounters of Identity and Otherness: Values, Self-Reflection, Dialogue
  Andrii Krawchuk  
• Rescripting Religion in the City: Migration and Religious Identity in the Modern Metropolis
  Jane Garnett 
• Social Identities Between the Sacred and the Secular (Ashgate Ahrc/Esrc Religion and Society)
  Abby Day
• Modest Fashion: Styling Bodies, Mediating Faith (Dress Cultures) Reina Lewis
• Religion in Consumer Society: Brands, Consumers and Markets (Ashgate Ahrc / Esrc Religion and Society Series) Fran‡ois Gauthier
• Negotiating Identity: Exploring Tensions between Being Hakka and Being Christian in Northwestern Taiwan (American Society of Missiology) Ethan J. Christofferson
• Living West, Facing East: The (De)Construction of Muslim Youth Sexual Identities (Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education) Fida Sanjakdar
• History and the Making of a Modern Hindu Self Aparna Devare
• Critical Muslim 3: Fear and Loathing Ziauddin Sardar
• Restoring Life's Missing Pieces: The Spiritual Power of Remembering & Reuniting with People, Places, Things & Self Caren Goldman and Dr. Nancy Copeland-Payton