Sunday, August 25, 2013

Librarian's (LIS) career inside—or outside—jobs in the traditional library setting: Hype or Hope???

This blog is updated regularly, last updated 14 Oct, 2014

Ps. The billion dollar question: Is the LIS profession saturated? If they say, NOPE. Then see the frustration, shock and the rest in the stories below; compare with the responses / hopes / dreams in the next section (other side...):

One side of the story (i.e., the new graduates and those who have completed LIS, but have no leads), Library and information science (LIS) career:
Other side of the Story (i.e., the LIS Schools, policy makers, academics, proponents, etc. who are involved in the programs?):
On the same shelf:
  •  Assessment Skills and the Academic Library Job Market 
  • Most underpaid, overeducated occupations
  • 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job Offer You Don’t Love, By Heather Huhman    [Re: Wonder is this true in this age and time, of challenges that were never so many? I am not sarcastic. Aren't there applications in dozens for each post (are we still having the luxury of choosers, with malice towards none)? Aren't there shortage of opportunities? Aren't there highly specialized jobs that you need to be picking without love/hate formula?]
  • The Countries You May Like to Go with your American / Canadian MLIS - A literature survey
  •  Factors in success or failure of foreign-trained librarians in Canada
  • "The evaluation of international credentials and the hiring of internationally trained librarians in Canadian academic and public libraries, Keren Dali and Juris Dilevkoa, The International Information & Library Review Volume 41, Issue 3, September 2009, Pages 146-162:
    "This study examines the way in which libraries in Canada approach the issue of the evaluation of international credentials (ICs) held by internationally trained librarians (ITLs) and the eventual short-listing and hiring of such individuals. In the United States and Canada, librarianship, a non-regulated profession, is to a large degree governed by the American Library Association (ALA), but the ALA's statements regarding ICs and ITLs are often ambiguous. It is therefore frequently left to individual libraries to decide how best to deal with ICs and ITLs"

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Why it matters that you can't own an electronic copy of the Oxford English Dictionary

  @ Boing Boing  Aug 24, 2013
Extract:
In my latest Guardian column, I talk about the digital versions of the Oxford English Dictionary and the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, the two most important lexicographic references to the English language. As a writer, my print copies of the OED and HTOED are to me what an anvil is to a blacksmith; but I was disturbed to learn that the digital editions of these books are only available as monthly rentals, services that come with expansive data-collecting policies and which cannot be owned. It's especially ironic that these books are published by Oxford University, home of the Bodleian, a deposit archive and library founded in the 14th century, a symbol of the importance of enduring ownership of books... continue reading + + Oxford English Dictionary – the future, The Guardian 23 August 2013

On the same shelf: