My Typical Academic Desktop

As some of you may know I am currently on the American Library Association’s New Member Round Table’s Mentoring Committee.  Every year this committee tries to expand and improve mentoring services for new librarians.

Maybe you’re looking for some good advice, or perhaps you want to give back because of the people who supported you as a new librarian. Please at take a look at the call’s for participation below and consider being a mentor or a mentee.

Call for Mentors

Dear Colleagues,

Have you been a librarian for 5 years or more?

Do you like to help others and want to give back to your profession?

The New Members Round Table (NMRT) Career Mentoring Program offers you the chance to meet a new librarian and guide them as they learn the ins and outs of librarianship!

The Career Mentoring Program focuses on long term mentoring. We will pair up “newbie librarians” with “seasoned vets” as part of a year-long mentoring program that will last from  February 2012 to July 2012. Conference attendance is not required. Membership in ALA is required, and NMRT membership is encouraged.

Applications are due January 27, 2012 with the goal of notifying the matching pairs by the middle of February.

For more information and to apply, visit:

http://www.ala.org/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm/mentor/mentoringcommittee

Application: http://www.ala.org/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm/mentor/careerMentorApp

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions after visiting the site.

Sincerely,

The New Member Round Table Mentoring Committee

Call for Mentees

Dear Colleagues,

Have you been a librarian for 5 years or less?

Do you sometimes feel that you have professional questions to ask and no one to direct them to?

Through the New Members Round Table’s Mentoring Committee, help has arrived! Here’s your chance to meet an experienced librarian who can offer you valuable professional guidance.

The NMRT Mentoring Committee will pair up “newbie librarians” with “seasoned vets” as part of our Career Mentoring program. The program will last from February 2012 to July 2012. Conference attendance is not required. Membership in ALA is required, and NMRT membership is encouraged.

Applications are due January 27,2012 with the goal of notifying the matching pairs by the middle middle of February.

For further information and to apply, visit: 

http://www.ala.org/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm/mentor/mentoringcommittee

Application: http://www.ala.org/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm/mentor/careerMentorApp

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions after visiting the site.

Sincerely,

The New Member Round Table Mentoring Committee

Jo Alcock (judge)w/Battle Decks judges/participants CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 The Shifted Librarian (link below)

To learn more about Jo please read her short interview.

ALA conferences are truly like no other library conference (not any I’ve experienced anyway!). I’m a UK resident and our ‘large’ library conferences have maybe 300 delegates – that’s not even 2% of the typical numbers attending ALA Annual so there’s quite a difference in size!

I was really fortunate to have been able to secure funding from the John Campbell Trust and support from my employer to attend my first ALA Annual conference last year, and absolutely loved every minute of it. I thought I’d write some tips for first-time attendees (this is from an international perspective but many will be applicable to anyone).

1. Find out more about the host city to make the most of your visit – I found some great restaurants to try and also managed to fit in visits to local attractions before and after the conference.
2. Use the online conference schedule before you leave – I didn’t get chance to spend time scheduling whilst I was there so was really grateful that I’d picked a few sessions that I definitely wanted to attend (and some extras that I’d quite like to attend) before I left.
3. Consider travel time between sessions – I hadn’t really realised just how far apart the sessions were and missed most of a session I really wanted to attend because I messed up my scheduling and travel plans. Some hotels are over the other side of the city, and even those in the main conference venue might be a good 10-15 minute walk (the convention centre at New Orleans is over a mile long!). Use the conference shuttle bus to get between venues (this is a great way to meet new people too), but make sure you know the shuttle timetable so you know where to be and when to leave to get to your session on time.
4. Vote with your feet – don’t be afraid to switch sessions if something isn’t what you had hoped, or leave early if there’s another session you want to attend. It’s always polite to sit near the back if you think you might leave early, but there’s so much going on that people really do understand and won’t take it personally.
5. Don’t try to do the whole exhibition in one go – it’s a large exhibition so I found it best to split it up and view certain sections at a time between sessions.
6. Don’t be afraid to schedule in down-time – you really will need it!
7. Take advantage of the free food/drink – I didn’t manage to maximise this and it was definitely a mistake. Vendors often have sponsored breakfasts or drinks receptions (sometimes with buffets), this can really save some money!
8. Carry snack food with you – it can be difficult to schedule in eating, especially if you have to find somewhere to get food and queue up too. Sometimes you will want to hook up with friends to eat, but other days you just might not have time, so carry some cereal bars or crisps (potato chips) to keep you going. A water bottle comes in handy too – I was constantly refilling mine throughout the day.
9. Be comfortable – you’ll be walking lots during the conference, and you’ll be in a variety of different environments and temperatures. Wear layers, and comfortable shoes; I wore Fitflops in New Orleans and they were perfect during the day (though probably wouldn’t be suitable for the more formal dinners if you choose to attend those).
10. Be flexible with your plans – both for the sessions and in your freetime. There will be loads of great opportunities so grab them whilst you can. Chat to everyone you meet; librarians are such friendly people – and the ribbons on people’s badges (which show which groups people are members of) can be a useful way of knowing a little about them or a potential conversation starter. Most of all – ENJOY IT!

The best piece of advice I can give anyone considering attending an ALA conference is to #makeithappen! Grab any opportunity you can to get yourself there, it really is worth the investment. I loved it so much that I’m going back again next year – I was encouraged by many people I met at ALA Annual to apply for ALA Emerging Leaders and I was delighted to be offered a place on the 2012 class (now I just need to source funding). I hope to see some of you at ALA Midwinter in Dallas and ALA Annual in Anaheim!

Image Credit:

2011 Battledecks contestants, judges, emcee, Vanna, and timekeeper

CC BY-NC-SA 2.0  via The Shifted Librarian

Cedar Point Biological Station

Monday 7/25/11

Get up to take 7:15 am bus to center city area.

7:45 am get off bus at 11th and N.

Start 2 mile walk to Transportation Services (which is not located near any campus or city bus routes) to pick up a university car for our 5.5 hour trip to service the Cedar Point Research Station’s library.

I decided to pick up some books from Dr. Griep Vice, Chair of Chemistry since it and the library were on my way.  When I arrived I assure Dr. Griep’s secretary that I was not really there, just passing through, and then dropped off the books at the library.

Lake McConaughy

During the remaining 1.3 miles of the walk I discovered that the walking path takes you along a sewer route.*

I finally arrive at Transportation Services around 8:30 am drenched in sweat (did I mention it was super hot!) and receive my keys and a gas card

after signing my life away.  I walked out and discover they’ve put me in a huge Chevy Malibu O_o.**  After a moment to freak out about the monster car I’ve been assigned I got in the car, readjust mirrors, figure out how the darn thing works.  I couldn’t find the release for the parking break at all, and it wasn’t set, so I didn’t use it.  After successfully starting the car I drove to my apartment to pick up my luggage and a borrowed work computer before heading out to pick up my coworker who was accompanying me on the adventure and head out toward Cedar Point which is located next to Lake McConaughy.

Around 12:30pm we stop in a random town for lunch and find a great inexpensive Chinese Buffet, hurray!  An hour later we are back on the road.

ALA New Orleans

Greetings!  If you will be attending ALA 2011 here are some places you might find me. I only guarantee to be there if I’m speaking since plans can easily change on a dime at conference time

Thursday 6/23

7:30-9:30pm Spectrum Professional Options Fair (ACRL RIG Table) 300 Bourbon St, Grand Ballroom

Friday 6/24

9am Breakfast w/Jennifer Waller

8am-12pm ALA Town Hall on Diversity RM 265 Convention Center

4pm – 5pm Sci/Tech Librarians & Friends at PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans, Near Lafayette Square.
~0.5 miles/10 minutes from the convention Center
If you want  to attend let me know, so far it’s a small group 4-5 people, but I want to make sure we don’t outgrow the venue.
PJ’s Coffee, 644 Camp St, New Orleans, LA 70130-3424

5:30pm Exhibits Open

5:30pm – 8:00pm LITA Happy Hour Howlin’ Wolf Den Tbl 1, 907 S. Peters St. (Cash Bar)

6:30pm Dinner W/Jen Lanzing & Friends

7:30pm-8:30pm NMRT Mentoring Social, DOUB Rosedown A

10 pm – Midnight ALA Dance Party, Oz New Orleans, 800 Bourbon St

Saturday 6/25

10:30am – 12pm Sociology Librarians Discussion Group (ACRL ANSS) - Marriot- Mardi Gras f-g, Panelist – Promoting Your Institutional Repository to Faculty

3pm-5pm Diversity and Outreach Fair Room 260-262 Convention Center

5pm-6pm Former Diversity Scholars Meetup

5:30pm-7pm ACRL University Libraries Section Netowking Reception Pirates Alley, 1622 Pirates Alley

7pm-9pm Tweetup Bar Uncommon http://baruncommon.com

7:45pm-10pm JCLC Fundraiser, Hilton Riverside, 2 Poydras, River Room

9pm-2am  Facebook After Hours Social Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop 941 Bourbon St. (This is a great place to meet people, esp around midnight when other things are shutting down, it makes a good last stop before bed.)

Sunday 6/26

7am Breakfast w/Bohyun Kim

8am – 10am ACRL RIG Meeting

8am – 10am LITA Emerging Tech
Lost in Translation: the Emerging Technology Librarian and the New Technology, Convention Center Rm 274
Speakers: Bohyun Kim, Florida International University, Jacquelyn Erdman, U.S. Green Building Council

10:30am-12pm Data Panel Sheraton Borgne Room

(Lunch w/Placement Center)

1:30pm-3pm ALA Placement Center Networking in a Tough Economy:  Using Social Media to Build Your Personal Brand and Improve Your Chances of Getting Hired.  Speaker: Pt 3 Putting it together: being professionally consistent online and in person.

7pm-10pm Creole Queen STS/HSIG Dinner Cruise

Monday 6/27

8am-10am LITA Emerging Technologies Interest Group Convention Center RM 341