books on demand

Caught this over on Slashdot this morning. I think it sounds awesome! It is now on my Christmas list. Anyone still looking for a gift for me with a spare $50,000 on hand?

employed!

What a month! Since the beginning of December I have graduated from SLIS, moved across the country and landed my first professional librarian gig! I recently accepted the position of Internet Services Librarian for the Washoe County Library in Reno, NV. I am so excited about this opportunity! This is exactly the position that I have been hoping for – I will be in charge of the library’s web site and its database collections. I can’t believe that I was able to find it as my first job. While I do think that this position will require me to adjust to a steep learning curve, I am so excited to put my previous experience to work in developing a whole knew set of amazing skills.

how to put the fire out?

A good friend of mine recently fell victim to a vicious flame war at the hands of librarians. By using her blog to illustrate the disconnect that often occurs during chat reference interactions, she was misinterpreted and mishandled by hundreds of librarians. What’s worse, it appears that a large portion of these vitriolic comments came from folks who had not even read the initial post or even considered coming to their own conclusion/interpretation of the post – they simply jumped on the bandwagon of bitterness and anger and wrote some horribly dispicable things. As a result of this verbal assault (over 500 comments in approximately 24 hours), my friend (who is a librarian herself) was forced to take her blog off line.

Having once experienced this type of online deluge of harrassment, negativity, and bitterness myself (although on a much, much smaller scale), I am really interested to know what on earth sparks this kind of reaction? How do librarians think that it is okay to conduct themselves in this manner? Isn’t it our job to listen to people expressing themselves and attempt to understand where they are coming from and offer appropriate responses (which can be clarifying questions)? Instead of reading something we perceive to be offensive and then become equally (or more) offensive in response?

In my personal experience, I responded to a message on a listserv from someone lamenting the fact that they were ‘underwhelmed’ by library school. My response was that in order to become engaged in graduate school it is the responsibility of the student to get involved and challenge themselves either through research, participation in student/professional organizations, internships, etc. I also indicated that I was ‘unimpressed’ with someone would complain about being ‘underwhelmed’ rather than finding something to spark their interests within the field. My point was that this is graduate school not grammar school and that it is not the place for the department to hold your hand and make sure that you are entertained and kept busy. It is their responsibility to provide you with resources and opportunities that you may take advantage of as a student. This last point apparently discredited my constructive suggestions in the eyes of some readers (only two people but they were inexplicably ANGRY) and they responded with venomous attacks. Of course, I was also defended steadily by many folks who saw my point and realized that I was not issuing a personal attack. However, those who felt as if I were personally attacking them by not agreeing with their initial complaint (because after all it was simply a complaint and not a request for suggestions) began to personally attack me. It was extremely hurtful. After beginning to get these responses, I realized that the word ‘unimpressed’ was poorly chosen and unnecessary. I then attempted to explain the intent behind my message to these folks who responded with more venom. Needless to say, I unsubscribed from the list.

In my experience of keeping my eye on several librarian listservs and blogs, negativity happens all too often and when it does, the tempers tend to flare out of control quickly and the bandwagon of bitterness and anger overflows with jumpers. I don’t mean to say that all librarians are guilty of expressing anger online. In fact I don’t believe that at all! I think that most of the time librarians provide a really positive and supporting online community. However, given the recent experience of my friend I just want to gently remind any folks in the online community that may read this to try to think before they feel incited to respond with anger and vitriol. If you do find yourself feeling offended and attacked by a blog post or a listserv message, try to consider whether you really believe that the person, quite likely colleague or even a library user, is trying to personally attack you by posting their thoughts online? And if you do believe this, wouldn’t it be more productive, responsible, and professional to attempt to engage in a dialogue about the topic in contention rather than respond with an attack of your own?

after class

Yesterday I attended my final SLIS class at Indiana University. Pending the processing of required paperwork, I have earned my MLS. I have two more shifts on the reference desk this week followed by a weekend of social engagements (goodbye gatherings) and as of Monday morning, when I begin driving my car westward, I am ready to move on to the next stage of my life.

I am in the late stages of the selection process for three jobs. *fingers are crossed* I have completed written exams and phone interviews and I have on-site interviews scheduled for each when I arrive on the west coast. I hope that one of these works out. I don’t want to jinx anything by writing too much now, but I’ll offer lots more details when I have more (hopefully positive) news.