#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Dec 16 2019 - 8:30pm ET

via IDEO

TOPIC

The Social Responsibility of the Library Industry

Two years ago we had a chat about neutrality in the library industry. I wanted us to revisit that topic because it continues to be an ongoing debate, so I thought this time it would be interesting to look at neutrality through the broader scope of overall social responsibility in libraries and of library professionals.

The Social Responsibility of the Library and the Librarian in a Post-Factual World by R. David Lankes
Core Values of Librarianship according to the ALA
IFLA and Social Responsibility: A Core Value of Librarianship by Al Kagan
Social Responsibilities of Academic Libraries by P. V. Vijesh and Neethu Mohanan

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE CHANGING 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 Can libraries actually be truly neutral, and more importantly, should they try to be?

Q2 How can we balance the need to protect intellectual freedom with our social responsibility to create safe spaces for our communities?

Q3 What do you see as your social responsibility as an individual library professional?

Q4 What ideas/thoughts do you have about how we as a whole can do better at meeting our social responsibilities to our communities?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, DECEMBER 16 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Dec 2, 2019 - 8:30pm ET - #GivingTuesday #GivingTuesday2019

via Penn State on Flickr

TOPIC

#GivingTuesday and Libraries & Literacy

It's that time of year again! Time for our 3rd annual Giving Tuesday (which is the day after the chat!) chat! Aman (@akaur) will be in attendance as a guest to talk about SLA Philadephia Chapter's Community Outreach activities and her work with Spruce Foundation, a nonprofit org that provides grants that support arts, wellness, education, and LGBT programs and services for Philly youth.

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 are you planning to do for #GivingTuesday? What have you done in the past?

Q2 What creative ideas do you have for #GivingTuesday? Please share!

Q3 What resources do you turn to when trying to locate a library-related charity or non-profit to support?

Q4 What advice do you have for supporting charities/Non-Profits?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, DECEMBER 2 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Nov 18, 2019 #oers #openeducation #openaccessweek2019 #openaccess

via Giulia Forsythe

TOPIC

MOVED TO NOVEMBER 18: Libraries, LIS pros & the Open Movement

So it was open access week last week, and Leigh and I are both so busy that neither of us had the chance to develop a new topic, so we're reviving one we last did in April, 2017. Our inspiration article/source, therefore, is The Open Movement: What Libraries Can Do a 2015 conference presentation by Sheila Corrall. Another source you can check out is my Notes from #ONOERlibrarians day @ Ryerson University during the one-day conference I attended in March 2017. Also check out this free series of upcoming December and January webinars offered by CARL: http://www.carl-abrc.ca/news/upcoming-open-education-training-opportunities/

Please remember that Leigh and I are now in Daylight Savings Time so the chat will be at 8:30 EDT.

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 already know about the open movement? (e.g. Open Access, Creative Commons, Open Data, Open Source & OERs)

Q2. Is your library/are you specifically already involved with any part(s) of the open movement? Which parts? What are you doing?

Q3. What do you see being the role of libraries and library professionals being in the future of the open movement?

Q4. What suggestions/resources do you have for library pros looking to learn more about/get involved with the open movement?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET MONDAY,  NOVEMBER 4 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Oct 21 2019 - 8:30pm ET

by Manchester City Library via flickr

TOPIC

Dealing with difficult library patrons

Thanks to Annie from the last chat for suggesting this next topic!

Here are some reference articles:

How to Deal with the Grumpy Patron
Dealing With Difficult Patrons
Difficult Library patrons in academe: It’s all in the eye of the beholder
How to Deal with Difficult Customers Using These 7 Psychological Strategies
7 Steps For Dealing With Angry Customers

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE CHANGING 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 Tell us about a time where you had to deal with a patron who was being difficult, what were they doing? What did you do?

Q2 What suggestions do you have for those looking for advice on dealing with difficult patrons?

Q3 What do you think are the best way(s) to deal with a problem patron? Does your library have policies around this?

Q4 Do you ever go through any type of reflection after a particularly tense patron interaction?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, OCTOBER 21 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Oct 7 2019 - 8:30pm ET ANNIVERSARY CHAT! #lisprochatis

5th birthday cake by Andy Eick via Flickr

TOPIC

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY TO #LISPROCHAT: Translating Skillsets- how to sell yourself to non-libraries & sell libraries on your non-lib skills

Leigh and I realised that we completely forgot to celebrate the chat's 5th anniversary! Which was actually back on March 8th of this year, oops! So we've actually been chatting for five-and-a-half years at this point! I've decided that to celebrate, we're going to go back to our roots, we're revisiting the first chat we ever ran (back when we were still #inaljchat), which funnily enough I was one of the co-hosts for!

The chat was originally based on this article: Translating Non-Library Skills to a Library-Directed Résumé. Interesting enough this is what we're discussing in my LIS foundations class at the University of Alberta this week too and I had no idea about that connection until I sat down to write this post!

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE CHANGING 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 most transferable LIS skills you learned in school or on the job? What industries do you think they apply to?

Q2 How do you showcase your transferrable skills on your resumes and in your cover letters?

Q3 What are some positions you think LIS skills translate really well too? Have you ever worked in any of these roles?

Q4 What do you think the future is for librarians in non-library roles?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, OCTOBER 7 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Sep 30 2019 - 8:30pm ET

Library Card by NadaZilch on Wikimedia Commons

TOPIC

Library Card Sign-up Month

Since September was library card sign-up month we thought we'd talk about that!

http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/library-card-sign-up-month-tools
http://www.ilovelibraries.org/library-card
https://www.ebscohost.com/novelist-the-latest/blog-article/webinar-promoting-library-card-sign-up-month
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/library-card-sign-month-20285.html

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE CHANGING 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 Why is signing up for a library card important?

Q2 What ways can you promote and market signing up for a library card?

Q3 Have you ever planned activities/programs for library card sign up month? Please share. If not, what would you do?

Q4 What resources do you turn to for Library card sign up month?

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

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Sep 9 2019 - 8:30pm ET with guest chatters Amanda & Katie

Everybody Present: Mindfulness in the Classroom by Giulia Forsythe via Flickr

TOPIC

Mindfulness in Academic & Public Libraries

Amanda M. Leftwich (@thelibmaven @mindfulinlis) is currently the Online Learning Librarian & Diversity Fellow at Montgomery County Community College. Leftwich has a Master of Science in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include intersectional librarian identity, diverse collection development, and mindful practices/strategies in librarianship. She is the founder of mindfulinlis, a virtual community dedicated to mindfulness in librarianship.

Katie Scherrer (@connectedkatie) is a library consultant, author, Registered Yoga Teacher, and the founder of Stories, Songs, and Stretches!® - a yoga-inspired and science-informed early learning program. Her work is dedicated to improving school readiness and blends together mindfulness, inclusion, library science, and early childhood education to advance this goal. She is currently writing Moment by Moment: Embedding Mindfulness in Library Service to Children, which will be published by ALA Editions in 2021.

Additional Resources:

1. Hanh, T. N. (2016). The miracle of mindfulness: An introduction to the practice of meditation. Beacon Press.
2. Beverage, S., DeLong, K., Herold, I. M., & Neufeld, K. (2014). "Mindful leadership defined and explained." In Advances in Librarianship (pp. 21-35). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. 
3. Moniz, Richard J., Joe Eshleman, Jo Henry, Howard Slutzky, and Lisa Moniz. (2016). The mindful librarian: connecting the practice of mindfulness to librarianship.
4. Charney, Madeleine, Jenny Colvin, and Richard Moniz. (2019). Recipes for mindfulness in your library: supporting resilience and community engagement.
5. Williams, J. Mark G., Danny Penman, and Jon Kabat-Zinn. (2012). Mindfulness: an eight-week plan for finding peace in a frantic world.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE CHANGING 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 mindfulness and how can it benefit library workers personally and professionally?

Q2 What are some mindfulness skills that both academic and public library workers can practice?OR How can mindfulness be practiced in academic and public library settings, both among staff and users?

Q3 What are some mindful activities or events happening in academic and public libraries?

Q4 How can we keep the conversation of mindfulness going in librarianship?

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

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Aug 26 2019 - 8:30pm ET #weneeddiversebooks

Diversity by Nick Youngson, via Picpedia

TOPIC

Diversity and inclusion in libraries

I attended a webinar this week on the importance of considering equity, inclusivity and diversity in library hiring practices so I thought I'd bring the topic to #LISProchat.

Check out the ALA's page on equity, inclusivity, and diversity: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/diversity

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE CHANGING 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 does it mean when you hear the phrase "inclusive and diverse library"?

Q2 What thoughts do you have on things that libraries can do overall to be more inclusive and diverse in terms of staffing?

Q3 What thoughts do you have on things that libraries can do overall to be more inclusive and diverse in support of patrons?

Q4 What are some of your favourite diverse books? #weneeddiversebooks

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, AUGUST 26 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Aug 12 2019 - 8:30pm ET #libraries #summerreads2019 #summerreading #2019summerreads

via Katrina_S on Pixabay

TOPIC

Adult Summer Reading Programs

You know kids and teens get all the love from public libraries for summer reading. I know, at least around me NONE of the libraries be they public or academic are trying to get young adults and adults reading for pleasure during the summer, and that's a missed opportunity to me. Media outlets love to throw-out posts about summer reading, you've seen them things like top 25 beach reads or 30 Best Summer Reads; and there's even authors getting in on it, this summer I just finished a challenge run by a Canadian author, Melanie Summers (I won haha). I know that I love a challenge and a chance to win a prize, especially if all I have to do is read books I was already planning to read anyway - and I feel like any way we can encourage young adults and adults to read for pleasure is a good thing. And there are libraries that are starting to realise that!

Hamilton Public Library, Hamilton ON
Richmond Public Library, Richmond BC
West Bend Community Memorial Library, West Bend WI
Brampton Public Library, Brampton ON

Here are some other articles on the topic:

1. How to create your own summer reading syllabus
2. Library summer reading programs...for adults
3. 3 Things I learned from running my library's adult summer reading program

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE CHANGING 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 thoughts do you have about the idea of running a summer reading program for young adults and adults in an academic library? In a public library?

Q2 Has your library ever considered running/ran a summer library program for young adults or adults? Tell us about the process and the event itself!

Q3 If you could run a summer reading program for young adults or adults how would you do it? What kind of incentives would you offer?

Q4 What do you think needs to be done differently in running summer reading for young adults and adults vs. running it for kids and teens?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, AUGUST 12 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Jul 29 2019 - 8:30pm ET

via Flickr by Alan Levine

TOPIC

Imposter Syndrome in the Library Industry

We're revisiting a topic we first chatted about back in 2017. Imposter syndrome!

Leigh will be hosting the chat this time around and she's put together a list of a few articles to look into before the chat:

1. Measuring impostor phenomenon among health sciences librarians
2. 19 People With Impostor Syndrome Told Us What It Feels Like
3. 5 Different Types of Imposter Syndrome (and 5 Ways to Battle Each One) 
4. Is impostor syndrome holding you back at work?

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE CHANGING 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 Have you ever dealt with imposter syndrome? Please share your experience.

Q2 What external triggers do you think cause imposter syndrome? How about internal triggers?

Q3 What advice do you have for dealing with imposter syndrome?

Q4 What resources do you turn to help you cope with imposter syndrome?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, JULY 29 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

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

TOPIC

POST CONFERENCE CHAT!

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.

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 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  #SLA2019 or #ALAAC19 or other conferences and what did you enjoy the most?

Q3 Tell us about someone who you’ve met at #SLA2019 or #ALAAC19 or other conferences and why are they awesome?

Q4 What did you like least/what you’d like to see change about #SLA2019 or #ALAAC19 or other conferences for next year?

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

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

via naeimasgary at Pixabay

TOPIC

Pride Month & Libraries

As you know, this month is pride month. So let's talk about Pride and Libraries:

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/programs-and-classes/featured/pride.jsp
https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/events/
https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=14620
https://sfpl.org/?pg=2000991201
https://www.wpl.ca/PRIDE-booklists
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/06/01/pride-month-2019-50th-anniversary-stonewall

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 Is your #library doing something specific/special to mark #pride2019 #pridemonth? If yes, what? If no, why not?

Q2  What does your #library (if anything) do throughout the rest of the year to support #LGBTQIA patrons?

Q3 What is your dream way to acknowledge #pridemonth in your #library in the future?

Q4 How does your #library support #LGBTQIA staff members?

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

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Jun 3 2018 - 8:30pm ET

via INFOSPACE

TOPIC

Non-traditional jobs for Library Professionals

We've discussed this topic before, but not in quite a while from what I can remember, and given that it's the time of year when many new grads are hunting jobs in the industry I thought now was a good time to revive the topic. I've always been a fan of reminding people to remove the "library blinders" and remember that the skills we've trained in and developed in libraries translate very well to a wide variety of "non-traditional" roles in other sectors. I first wrote about that topic for INALJ back in 2013. It's especially relevant these days with the funding cuts we're seeing to all areas of libraries in North America thanks to shifts in Governments. Here are some reference articles for the chat:

https://ischool.syr.edu/infospace/2018/05/24/45-more-non-librarian-jobs-for-mlis-grads/
http://www.ala.org/educationcareers/careers/paths/jobtypes/privatesector
https://medium.com/sjsuischool/5-ways-to-find-non-library-jobs-that-match-your-lis-skills-88562cbfe768

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 are the skillsets that trained library professionals possess that translate well to jobs that aren't in libraries specifically?

Q2  What sectors and job roles do you think suit library professionals outside of libraries?

Q3 What resources do you use when you're trying to find non-traditional jobs as a library professional?

Q4 Have you ever worked in a non-traditional role? Tell everyone about the non-traditional work that you've done as a library professional and how you feel it related to libraries?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, JUNE 3 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon May 20 2018 - 8:30pm ET

from geralt via pixabay

TOPIC

Measuring Success in Libraries

This week Leigh is going to lead a chat on measuring success in libraries. Here are some inspiration articles for that topic:

https://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/articles/using-key-performance-indicators-measure-library-performance
https://princh.com/5-elements-to-keep-in-mind-when-measuring-your-librarys-success/#.XN5IchNKgWo
http://www.ala.org/pla/initiatives/performancemeasurement
http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2015/11/21st-century-library-measuring-sticks/

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 Do you measure success in your library? Give an example of how you do this. If not, how would you do it?

Q2  How can libraries measure their success in this challenging time when their very existence is being questioned?  What makes a library successful?

Q3 What resources do you turn to measure success in your library?

Q4 What advice do you have for measuring success in your library?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, MAY 20 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon May 13 2018 - 8:30pm ET

via TheDigitalArtist at Pixabay

TOPIC

Project Management for Librarians and Info-Pros

Leigh will be running this Monday's chat on project management. Here are some inspiration articles for you all to check out before hand:

https://acrlog.org/2018/02/22/librarianship-and-project-management-skills/

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/ten-laws-project-management-literature-6968?fbclid=IwAR0deyHcegupsh1xhlByxoEuVgVBU9twl9EI-sE4Oz8f4cUsHwNmBVAhg3c

http://www.ala.org/alcts/library-project-management-101?fbclid=IwAR0NTrLcwi-p6TAhPVcLjXEHVoenQQEAdLCRjCxKNJ96M1_JyRPFx0P6q04

https://hacklibraryschool.com/2012/07/17/librarian-as-project-manager/

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 definition of project management and how it relates to librarianship?

Q2  Give an example of when you needed to use project management on the job? What did you learn and were you successful?

Q3 What are some do and don’t when it comes to project management in libraries?

Q4 What are some necessary skills when it comes to project management as a librarian or info pro? 

Q5 What are some good project management resources?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, MAY 13 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Apr 29 2018 - 8:30pm ET with special guest chatter(s) from the Harry Potter Alliance for #acciobooks

via the Harry Potter Alliance

TOPIC

Fan Activism and Library Advocacy: Accio Books 2019 - what it is and how to get involved

You may remember me mentioning from time to time that I am the Library Advocacy Research for the Harry Potter Alliance. Every year the HPA does an annual literacy based fundraising campaign called Accio Books! which supports literacy organisations and libraries. This year marks the 10th anniversary so I thought I'd invite them to come and talk about the event with a group of engaged library professionals. Katie Bowers and the Social Media team were thrilled with the idea, so they'll be joining us on Monday to talk about the campaign specifically and fan activism more broadly!

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 Fan activism utilizes pop culture to get fans active in being real-world heroes. Have you ever used stories to inspire real-world acts of charity or activism? Or do you have ideas you'd like to try? Tell us about it!

Q2  The HPA believes that great stories inspire kids to dream big. What's a book, film, or other piece(s) of media that has inspired you to dream?

Q3 For #AccioBooks, @TheHPAlliance has partnered with @diversebooks to help libraries and fans do diversity audits of their collections. What does your library do to make sure your collections have a diverse range of characters and authors represented?

Q4 During #AccioBooks, @TheHPAlliance likes to celebrate the magic of libraries! What is one thing you wish more people knew about libraries?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, APRIL 29 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Apr 8 2018 - 8:30pm ET with special guest chatter Danielle from LinkedIn

via Wikimedia Commons

TOPIC

LinkedIn for Library Professionals - how to make the most of it

What does your LinkedIn Profile say about you? What should it say? Come see a live demo and hear some tips to improve your profile and learn how to “get viewed”. LinkedIn is a platform for connecting, networking, learning, and developing your personal brand. I am excited to share some knowledge with you and to offer a 6-month subscription to LinkedIn Pro to one participant (via a raffle). Danielle is currently a Customer Success Manager with LinkedIn Learning, working with large companies who value learning for their employees/organizations. She earned her MSLIS from Long Island University and has worked in many types of libraries including public, legal, corporate, The American Museum of Natural History (her favorite), and a high school (her most challenging). To learn more check out her LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellerfrancis/ and ask questions on the chat April 8th.

Danielle is going to run the chat on two fronts, as standard you'll be able to participate on Twitter, but she has also set up a web conference through Webex. Here's the access information for joining the Webex meeting:

Join Webex meeting   Meeting number (access code): 924 689 269 
Meeting password: LinkedIn   Join by phone  8662055379 United States Toll Free  +1 3148881153 United States Toll  Global call-in numbers  |  Toll-free calling restrictions  

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 the purpose of LinkedIn? Why do you use it?

Q2  How important is your LinkedIn Profile? For networking, job hunting, personal branding, publishing?

Q3 What is your favorite LinkedIn Group? Any suggestions for other librarians/information professionals?

Q4 You ask the questions. What do you want to know about LinkedIn?

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

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Mar 25 2018 - 8:30pm ET

Mini-Conference via Wikimedia Commons

TOPIC

Planning in-house mini-conferences at your library 

This week's topic is once again inspired by my own current experience, I'm in the process of planning a one-day mini showcase/professional development day/conference on accessibility in my library. So I thought it would be fun and informative to talk about it in chat so we can all share our experiences with one another. After all the library industry does love conferences be they big or small, we run and attend a lot of them!

A conference of our own: Creating an in-house professional development opportunity by Shellie Jeffries and Christina Radisauskas
Event Planning 101: Running a One Day Conference Well via Life & Urbanism
The Time-Crunched Marketer’s Guide to Planning a Successful User Conference in 8 Weeks by Abby Nieten
Considerations and Tips for Planning a Successful Workshop or Mini-Conference 

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 Have you ever planned or attended a conference at your place of work? Tell us about it.

Q2  Have you ever planned a larger conference? Tell us about your experience.

Q3 What are some practical tips for organizing and running an in-house conference?

Q4 What resources can you suggest for someone planning this type of event for the first time?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, MARCH 25 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Mar 11 2018 - 8:30pm ET w/Special Guest chatter!

via Media Mike Hazard on flickr

TOPIC

Residencies & Fellowships 

Our next chat will be on residences and fellowships led by a guest host, Amanda M. Leftwich. Amanda (@thelibmaven) is the Online Learning Librarian & Diversity Fellow at Montgomery County Community College. Leftwich has a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Arcadia University and a Master of Science in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include intersectional librarian identity, diverse collection development, and mindful practices/strategies in librarianship. She is the creator of @mindfulinlis - a Twitter account dedicated to mindfulness in librarianship.

Amanda has compiled a great list of additional resources on the topic for us all:

ACRL Residency Interest Group https://acrl.ala.org/residency/ 

Alston, J. K. (2015). Interns or professionals? A common misnomer applied to diversity resident librarians can potentially degrade and divide. In R. Hankins & M. Juárez (Eds.), Where are all the librarians of color? The experiences of people of color in academia. Sacramento, Calif.: Library Juice Press.

Alston, J. K. (2017). Causes Of Satisfaction And Dissatisfaction For Diversity Resident Librarians – A Mixed Methods Study Using Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/4080

Barrientos, Q. (2018). Finishing up a library residency: My final thoughts [Blog]. Retrieved May 15, 2018, from https://acrlog.org/2018/05/11/finishing-up-a-library-residency-my-final-thoughts/ 

Boyd, A., Blue, Y., & Im, S. (2017). Evaluation of academic library residency programs in the United States for librarians of color. College & Research Libraries, 78(4), 472–511.

Donaldson, K.S. (2018) Recruiting diverse librarians: Residency programs as an entry point to the academic librarian profession in the United States. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2018 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Transform Libraries, Transform Societies in Session 218 - Women, Information and Libraries SIG.http://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/2223 

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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 a library residency or fellowship? What are your views on residencies and/or fellowships in libraries?

Q2  What strategies should one use when applying?

Q3 What are some practical tips for setting goals during the residency/fellowships?

Q4 What resources or advice do you have for future residents and fellows?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, MARCH 11 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Feb 25 2018 - 8:30pm ET

Tumisu via Pixabay

TOPIC

Mentors and mentoring

Having mentors can be a big part of your career, whether they're official or unofficial mentors they help us grow and change as we move through our jobs. Being a mentor is also a big part of moving up as you get more experience/ So let's talk about having mentors and being mentors. I became a Supervisor in 2017, so I've been trying since then to become a better mentor to my student assistants. Last year I read a really good book on the subject: Mentoring and Managing Students in the Academic Library by Michelle Reale

https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/05/31/mentoring-from-both-sides-now/?fbclid=IwAR32P29PHxNtMrWR-WMmHXBH9p34Leg4F7EiuABVdKfRrYAKTZR0XNL-SME
http://ala-apa.org/newsletter/2008/03/15/mentoring-a-valuable-step-in-developing-library-leaders/?fbclid=IwAR1alBI6sIE0JfGvKldisv6XhO1xmWPWxMjxH58ZHEt34mvz_8n15mfTR1w

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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 Have you ever been a mentor or had a good mentor. Please share your experience. 

Q2  For those who had mentors, what were some good qualities of your mentor. Where could improvement be made?

Q3 For those who were mentors, what did you learn from your experience and where did you see areas of improvement for yourself?

Q4 What resources and advice can you share on being a good mentor?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Feb 11 2018 - 8:30pm ET

via Wikimedia Commons

TOPIC

Post-conference chat: Ontario Library Associate Superconference, ALA Midwinter, and SLA Leadership Symposium Edition

January is an incredibly busy month for library conferences. Canada's biggest library conference happened in Toronto, ALA Midwinter was in Seattle, and SLA took over New Orleans. Three conferences, three associations, three different sizes. Let's talk about the many different experiences you all had at those conferences. If you didn't get the chance to attend this year come and see what you missed, and here are the websites to check out in advance:

https://www.olasuperconference.ca/
https://2019.alamidwinter.org/
https://www.slamediaplanner.com/leadership-symposium-1/

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 you go to #SLAleads, #ALAMW19 or #OLASC this year? If yes, what conference and what was your reason for attending?  If not, why not?

Q2  What are your takeaways from  #SLALeads, #OLASC or #ALAMW19 or other conferences and what did you enjoy the most?

Q3 Tell us about someone who you’ve met at #OLASC, #SLAleads or  #ALAMW19 or other conferences and why are they awesome?

Q4 What did you like least/what you’d like to see change about #SLAleads, #OLASC or #ALAMW19 or other conferences for next year?  What were your thoughts on the controversy at #ALAMW19?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Feb 4 2018 - 8:30pm ET

crossroads by Carsten Tolkmit via Flikr

TOPIC

Transitioning jobs in the Library and Information Industry

Apologies for the lateness of this post everyone. It was an incredibly hectic month for me at work. Thanks to a suggestion from one of our chatters this week we're going to be discussing transitioning between jobs in the library and information industry, a topic near and dear to my heart as someone who bounced around between areas before finding my niche. Our industry and the work we're capable of doing is so incredibly broad that it makes sense to think about how we can move between realms within it. Here are a whole bunch of interesting articles on the topic:

https://www.libgig.com/librarians-changing-jobs-2018/
http://ala-apa.org/newsletter/2005/04/17/attention-new-librarians-and-career-changers/
http://inalj.com/?p=103224
https://acrlog.org/2014/11/20/transition-making-it-as-a-librarian/
http://www.ala.org/rt/nmrt/news/footnotes/february2014/adaptable-applicants-preparing-change-your-library-path

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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 Let's talk about skills first. What are some of the most transferable skills that a library and information professional has in their arsenal?

Q2  How do you articulate in resumes/cover letters and interviewers how you're going to be able to transfer those skills to a new environment and position?

Q3 What advice do you have for people who are transitioning into a new type of library or information work environment? Have you ever done that? How did it go for you?

Q4 Lastly, let's talk about transitioning into libraries and information work from outside the industry. Tell us about any experience you have doing that.

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG. 

#LISprochat lead-in - topic & questions for Mon Jan 14 2018 - 8:30pm ET

via WikiMedia

TOPIC

Libraries, and the US Government Shutdown

Welcome to the first chat of 2019! We're tackling a big topic to get the year started. How is the US Government shutdown affecting libraries? Well, the Library of Congress remains closed. Here are some more resource links:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-what-closed-open-affected-explained-post-office-irs-national-parks-2019-01-05/

http://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/Shutdown

https://libguides.northwestern.edu/shutdown

https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-presidential-libraries-open-during-shutdown-20190103-story.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/01/10/government-shutdown-freebies-deals-and-help-furloughed-workers/2523404002/

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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 Are you or anyone you know affected by the government shutdown? Please share.

Q2  Is your library doing anything to help with the government shutdown? Please share.

Q3 What resources can you provide relating to the government shutdown?

Q4 How can we as librarians and info pros advocate for issues related to the government at our jobs and in our community?

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING IN ON TWITTER AT 8:30 PM ET NEXT MONDAY, JANUARY 14 USING THE #LISPROCHAT HASHTAG.