#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Oct 15 2018 - 8:30pm ET

via mohamed_hassan on pixabay 

TOPIC

CVs : Grad school applications edition

It's the time of year where a lot of people are starting to think about applying for admission to MLIS programs for September 29th. So let's talk about something that a lot of MLIS program applications as for. A CV. Many MLIS applicants may never have written a CV before. So let's discuss how to go from resume to CV. Let's also talk about the difference between a masters application CV and a job hunting CV. Here are some resources:

Writing a CV from SJSU's School of Information
Resources and Sample CVs from SJSU's School of Information
5 steps for an awesome CV for your masters application from MastersPortal.com
How to prepare a resume for a masters program from the University of South Carolina
4 Successful Graduate School Resume and CV examples from PrepScholarGRE
Creating your academic CV from the University of Toronto

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 Did your program require a CV when you applied? Did you create it from scratch or did you convert your resume? If you converted, tell us how that went!

Q2 What resources and tips do you have for people looking to create their first CV?

Q3 What suggestions do you have for applicants who have been out working in the industry for a few years before applying to their masters program? Should they still highlight undergrad work? Should they try and do new research etc?

Q4 What do you think are the most important aspects of a CV designed for applying to grad school? How does this type of CV differ from a job application CV?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, OCTOBER 15 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Sep 24 2018 - 8:30pm ET

via matamoros on Pixabay

TOPIC

The catch-22 of "experience required" for entry-level library jobs

We're taking it back to job advice again this week, figured since it's the start of another academic year now was a good time to discuss getting experience in libraries in order to get an entry-level library job. As the Annoyed Librarian once pointed out, most MLIS programs don't actually give their students any library experience, or at least they didn't in 2011. I have seen a few programs since then offering optional practicums for their students. Interestingly this is in contrast to Canadian Library Technician college programs which all have a mandatory 105 hours of library practicum placements as graduation requirements.

My inspiration for today's chat is the article "When an entry-level job requires experience" from TheMuse.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 Did your library program require you to do any work experience in a library in order to graduate? Was there an option? If not, did you make your own options by working or volunteering?

Q2 How did you find volunteer and employment opportunities as a library school student?

Q3 Did the experience you got during school help you get into your first post-grad library role?

Q4 What more do you think library schools can do to support their students in getting library experience to improve their eligibility in hiring once they're post-grad?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Sep 17 2018 - 8:30pm ET #bannedbooksweek

via tracey r on Flikr

TOPIC

#BannedBooksWeek, Intellectual Freedom, and Libraries

It's banned books week from September 23-29 so let's have a chat about that and help each other brainstorm ideas!

Resources
ALA's Intellectual Freedom: Issues and Resources page
ALA's Banned & Challenged Books page
Celebrate Banned Books Year Round! from INALJ
Banned Books Week – our top 5 From INALJ
My Right to Read – Banned Books Week From INALJ

From Book Riot's Archive:

Quiz: Which Banned Book Should You Read Next

ALA Announces 2017's Top 10 Most-Challenged Books

In Support of Banned Books Week : Quotes on Censorship

Talking About Censorship : A Primer

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 What is your favorite banned or challenged book and why?

Q2 Have you done a program at your library for banned books? What was the program? If not, what would you do for a program?

Q3 What are your thoughts on how libraries should be handling censorship? What are some good resources regarding censorship?

Q4 How can we as librarians advocate for intellectual freedom at our library or in our community? What resources can we turn to make this happen?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Aug 27 2018 - 8:30pm ET

Digital Public Library of America planning meeting via wikicommons

TOPIC

Advocating for yourself: Tips for getting your voice and ideas heard at work and on committees

Continuing our discussions about communications in and about libraries. Let's discuss how to advocate for ourselves within our libraries. Let's share tips and strategies for getting ourselves seen and heard in our workplaces, the organizations we volunteer for and on the committees, we serve on. Here are some articles to get you thinking:

10 ways to get your boss to support your ideas
How Can I Get My Boss to Listen to My Ideas?
Four Times Your Boss Doesn’t Want Your Input (And How To Get Heard Anyway)
How to Get Your Ideas Heard at Work
6 Ways to Make Yourself Heard with Your Boss
How to Get Your Voice Heard in Meetings
How to Make Yourself Heard — in Meetings and in Life
9 Ways Introverts Can Get Heard in Meetings
How to Be Heard When You Aren’t the Loudest Voice in the Room
10 Ways To Make Sure You're Heard In Meetings

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 How do you build your confidence when you're thinking about presenting an idea to your boss/your committee?

Q2 What tips do you have for getting more active in committee work and making impactful contributions on your committees?

Q3 How do you get your voice and ideas heard by those above you in your workplace and committee hierarchies?

Q4 What are your strategies for making sure your ideas are ready to be presented?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, AUGUST 27 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Aug 6 2018 - 8:30pm ET

justgrimes via Flickr

TOPIC

Strategies for effectively communicating the value of libraries and library services

Coming on the heels of our fantastic chat on marketing in July I am sure this sounds like it could be really similar, but I'm thinking we can take this in a different direction. I'm sure by now you all heard about the disastrous (and retracted) article about Amazon replacing public libraries written by the head of economics at Long Island University that Forbes published a few weeks ago. If you haven't here are a few great rebuttals:

Why a (now-deleted) op-ed about replacing libraries with Amazon blew up the internet from CNN
Forbes deleted a deeply misinformed op-ed arguing Amazon should replace libraries from QUARTZ
Forbes deleted its controversial article about Amazon replacing libraries from FastCompany
The Reddit thread
Replacing libraries with Amazon? from Tyson Adams
Articles by Librarians should replace opinion pieces by the uninformed from BookRiot

That last article title speaks to exactly the point I am trying to get at with this topic. There are still clearly a lot of misguided and un/misinformed people out there when it comes to information about libraries so let's talk strategies on how to tackle that problem.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 What do you think are the best ways we can/tools we have to explain the value of libraries to those who just don't get it (i.e. politicians)?

Q2 Have you ever reached out to a politician at any level about the importance/value of libraries? Why or why not? How did it go if you did?

Q3 Have you ever started a grassroots movement to bring library issues to the forefront during an election? If so share your tips - if not, would you ever do it?

Q4 Given that it's a mid-term election year in the US, and a municipal election year in my home province of Ontario, are you informed about the ways the candidates in your area feel about libraries?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, AUGUST 6 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Jul 232018 - 8:30pm ET

via Pixaby

TOPIC

Marketing library services

Marketing and outreach are mega important to a library in this day and age, and they can be hard things to do. So let's have a chat to talk about that. Good marketing and outreach can exponentially increase the impact of your services and programs. Here's an archived webinar to watch before the chat on 4 simple way to beef up your library marketing. Libraries are Essential has put together a list of marketing resources. Here's another piece called Tips for marketing the 21st-century library. And lastly, don't forget to check out the PLA's marketing strategies guide.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 Share one way you have creatively marketed library services. How did that work out?

Q2 What tools/resources do you turn to in order to market library services?

Q3 What challenges have you encountered when marketing library services?

Q4 What advice can you share on marketing library services?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, JULY 23 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Jul 19 2018 - 8:30pm ET

TOPIC

POST CONFERENCE CHAT!

Iiiiiiit's conference chat time!! That's right folks, it is indeed that time of year again. The time of year where we run our annual feature to help those of you who went to either SLA Annual or ALA Annual share what you learned with your colleagues who for whatever reason could not/did not attend. This way those of us who were #ALAleftbehind/#SLAleftbehind can still can some benefits from those sweet, sweet sessions, panels, and presentations. (I may or may not have been watching a lot of YouTube shows before writing this intro...I also may or may not have read the entire paragraph out loud as I was typing it...I admit nothing.)

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'VE CHANGED THE TIME TO 8:30PM ET!

While you're here please consider checking out our new feature for 2018: #LISPROCHAT Reads, our professional development book club. The next book club session will be running next Monday, August 27, at 8:30 pm ET.

QUESTIONS

We post the questions here in advance of the chat so you can decide whether or not this topic is of interest to you and/or prepare your answers in advance.

Q1 Did you go to a conference this year? If yes, what conference and what was your reason for attending?  If not, why not?

Q2 What are your takeaways from  #SLA2018 or #ALAAC18 or other conferences and what did you enjoy the most?

Q3 Tell us about someone who you’ve met at #SLA2018 or #ALAAC18or other conferences and why are they awesome?

Q4 What did you like least/what you’d like to see change about #SLA2018 or #ALAAC18 or other conferences for next year?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, JULY 9 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG.