It’s been a while since the last update. Just in case anyone’s wondering, I am still living. Life threw a truckload of tart fruit at me, and I’ve been busy throwing them back or making juice from them for consumption during my break from throwing fruit at life. Needless to say, I have some catching up to do.
On a different note, I noticed that WP decided to change the admin interface, so that’s another thing I have to figure out…
From a recent post from Off the Mark-
But if I cannot even upgrade a goddamn Level 8 prepub record then what good is cooperative cataloging? Can anyone answer that?
What am I supposed to be able to contribute to any discussion on the future of bibliographic control when I am not able to contribute to the daily work that is needed now?
That’s pretty much how I feel too at the moment.
The glass is half empty, and slowly evaporating…
MLIS won’t find job
I understand that some can’t find a job with their degree, but won’t is another issue all together.
library support staff hierarchy
If yar title ain’t “lieberian,” you ain’t nuthin’.
etymology of dust bunnies
You know, I should do a post about that sometime. Update- dust bunnies in library have now procreated enough to get back to pre-Summer population levels
too much intellectual freedom
Blasphamy!
(/sarcasm)
pimp librarian
Why I am pretty pimp… 
Another semester passes by, and another few months older and $10K more in debt. Not really smarter, just older and poorer.
This semester I watched the new library students run around, getting adjusted to their new environment. The general conclusion about this semester’s students is that they don’t have a clue. They have a clue what they want librarianship to be and what library school should be. But, when it comes to reality, they’re pretty much clueless. Now, one could say that the majority of students are clueless when starting out and through time they will know what they need to know. While I do agree with the previous statement for certain things, like what specialization or track one should take, it really doesn’t stand up to when students are clueless of what is actually happening in their chosen field. Like what happens in public libraries everyday. What do you mean I have to deal with homeless people? Screaming children that were left alone in the library? Bodily fluids on various places? It just seems natural to me that if you are going to devote a good part of your life in one setting, you should at least know what’s going on.
One reason for this lack of knowledge is lack of experience. I met many new library students that have no library experience. None. No experience in other positions that might be applicable, like teaching, researcher, etc. Most of these students entered library school straight from the completion of their undergraduate degree, so not only you’re dealing with no related work experience, you’re dealing with very little “school-free”* life experience as well. If you are more inclined to mathematical thinking, the equation of the above situation looks like this:
(No library experience + little “school-free”* life experience) + library school degree = qualified for professional library/information specialist position
To think that one could get a professional position without experience is troublesome. Library school does not have a lot of opportunities for practical application in the field. Practicums and field projects exist, but if a student wants to have more time at field projects beyond the requirement, there is not much room in the program itself. And since most librarians are not of the Type A stock, most will complete the minimum requirements and leave it at that. They’ll complain about the classes on how they aren’t practical, but they won’t do anything more than that.
I mentioned in an earlier entry about the possibility of requiring experience in a library or information environment before entering library school. Students who go in without experience and don’t make the effort to get experience are doing a disservice to themselves and the other students who have to listen to them whine and moan about not being able to get a professional job. Instead they have to take a (Higher Powers forbid) paraprofessional position that is below them since they have a professional degree, etc. etc. etc. These people have no clue that a degree does not automatically get you one of those plentiful jobs out in the booming librarian job market (thank ALA for that one). You have to work for it, and not just showing up at Annual with a resume and a sign that says “hire me”- actually working in the field, paid or not. Who knows- maybe, just maybe, that experience might help you land that professional position.
Enough soapboxing for now. I could go on about how the new students see ALA, but that’s a whole other post.
*I hesitate to say real life at this point because not all college experiences are not the same. Needless to say, after spending time with undergrads for the past year, I would conclude that many could not find their way out of a wet paper bag.
Clueless girl #1: I really don’t know why we have to learn cataloging.
Clueless girl #2: Yeah, it’s not like we’re going to be cataloging when we graduate.
Clueless girl #1: I mean, it isn’t really useful.
I kept quiet and walked away from earshot of this winning conversation.
Holy crap, this blog is old. I’ll spare everyone the reflection of looking back the past year and being philosophical about certain topics and posts. Instead, I give you…
In honor of one of my first posts… I will give you a more “insightful” post later. Possibly. If my cats allow it.
All of you may be wondering why I do not update the blog as frequently as many other bloggers do. Well, I have a confession to make-
Hmmm, I may have to photoshop a better graphic, but since I’m very busy with the AL blog, I don’t have that much free time…
When I first saw the ALA Recruitment Wiki in all its link-ish glory, I laughed, and then guessed that ALA would catch on, edit it, and move on. A month later, it’s still painted with links, links, and more links. And it looks like someone took the time and effort to say to ALA “Umm…this is so not the way to manage a wiki.”
Hmmm… since the wiki seems to be either abandoned or not on the top priority list of the (only) person managing ALA wikis, should we pretty it up a bit more? > 
EDIT 11/21/07- They finally fixed it.
Gacked from the Laughing Librarian:
We had a revelation of sorts: Annoyed Librarian’s twopointopian cultists would be well represented by the pink and blue unicorns harassing Charlie (if someone else can see the cartoon as a warning against liberalism, then we get to read it as a Library 2.0 parable) - “You silly sleepyhead, wake up!” “You have to come with us to Candy Mountain!” “Shun the non-believer! Shu-u-u-u-u-u-nuh!” “But you have to enter the Candy Mountain magic cave, Charlie!”
That made my day.
School has now officially taken over life. Neither I or the cats are happy about that.
In other news-
