Comments on: Exposing Yourself

By: Elena1980

Elena1980 — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:36:49 +0000

Everything in moderation folks.
And Elena1980 is not my real name.

By: will manley

will manley — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:48:17 +0000

Thanks, Kim. I will check them out.

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:27:14 +0000

Sorry, wrong name. It’s called Dances with Books. http://danceswithbooks.livejournal.com/

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:11:16 +0000

Too bad. There really aren’t too many good general library blogs out there written about life in the library world. Dancing with Books has one about a dysfunctional workplace at some equally dysfunctional college in the south. I haven’t read it in some time, but it’s good gallows humor. There’s another one by Monster Librarian (still going?) who didn’t find a library job and is running a farm I think. Don’t know if there are others that are general in nature. It’s a lot of work to keep up a blog.

By: will manley

will manley — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:52:26 +0000

Sorry, Kim, but it looks to me like Effing has stopped his/her blog.

By: will manley

will manley — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:49:24 +0000

Thanks, Kim. I wasn’t aware of Effing, but I will check out his blog. I’m intrigued.

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 01:15:53 +0000

Will, you really can self promote: demonstrate that technical know-how (built two multimedia websites), networking skills (on a number of committees and maintain relationships with others in the field), social skills (responsible for public relations within my community and run three community based outreach programs)… All this can be done without having to put your belief system online. It’s really up to the individual. If you’re comfortable with it fine, but not everyone wants to put their personal lives online. That’s fine too as long as you can demonstrate ease in working in fast paced, computer based world.

As far as starting a blog is concerned, it depends: not everyone is Will Manley or AL or Effinglibrarian (who is pretty funny if you haven’t read his blog). It’s a cliche, but it’s true that not everyone who writes well has something to say and not everyone who has something to say writes well.

By: will manley

will manley — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:55:13 +0000

SR…if you are directing your question at me, the answer is it depends. If you are going after a job in a library that prides itself in being very tech savvy, getting your name out there in cyberspace can be a big help. Conversely, if you are going for a job in a library that isn’t tech savvy and wants to be, it’s helpful to have established a track record on the internet that shows that you can be an asset to that library. In most cases, however, jobs go to people with excellent interviewing skills, relevant experience, and an up to date set of library skills. Networking is very important for any library job. You cannot network enough. Is networking a form of self promotion? Absolutely. You have to be aggressive in networking in a really bad economy to get the inside track on jobs before they open up. Otherwise, you’ll end up at the University of Baffin Islands in the middle of well, January.

By: Spekkio

Spekkio — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:01:02 +0000

AL gets an A+ for this one. I agree with many of the commenters in this way: it *shouldn’t be this way.* You shouldn’t have to censor yourself in your day-to-day life in order to preserve your ability to get and keep work. Sadly, that’s the reality. Hell, there’s a new term in the Urban Dictionary: “Facebook fired,” to indicate getting fired because of something you posted. Google “Facebook fired” and you’ll run into all sorts of horror stories.

It wouldn’t be so bad, but this is really nothing new – inside libraries or out. People have been fired based on political affiliation, what they have done in their free time, etc. I’ve even heard of jobs where you have to open up your social networking to your prospective employer just to be considered. (That kills the whole point of having privacy settings, doesn’t it?)

New article in WSJ today on this very topic:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954004576089850685724570.html

Another valuable resource:
http://cantheydothatbook.com/

By: SR

SR — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:34:04 +0000

So, do you think that it is necessary for a librarian to create a Blog and self-promote in order to get a job or change jobs in the field of librarianship (especially academic librarianship?
Thanks