International Possibilities

Maybe working within an international library appeals to you. There are more international contacts than will be mentioned here. However, to name 3, there are the International Association of School Librarians (IASL), the International Association of Music Libraries (IAML), and the International Association of Law Libraries (IALL).

Maybe one of these is the type of work you have been dreaming about and your Masters could make those dreams come true. :-)

Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies

Once you begin your MLIS, you will want to take advantage of the student membership to ALA. Within ALA are a number of divisions. Exploring them will help you to understand the diversity of the library profession.

Here is a blurb about the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies:
"The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) enhances the effectiveness of library service by providing networking, enrichment and educational opportunities for its diverse members, who represent state library agencies, libraries serving special populations, multitype library organizations and independent librarians."

"Independent librarians are library service providers who work outside of traditional library settings."

Sounds interesting and may be just what you are looking for!

Scholarships

As I find or think of possible sources for scholarships, awards, or graduate study aid, I will post the links on this blog. (If you find some or something that you feel others hoping to begin the cohort in the fall would benefit from, please use this blog for posting. Let's get some interaction and conversation going.)
1. http://mlanet.org/awards/grants/ "MLA (Medical Library Association) offers a variety of scholarships and grants to assist qualified students in graduate library science programs and to enable practicing health sciences librarians to take advantage of opportunities for continuing professional development. "
2. http://www.gmsp.org/(pmnwfpimlslp3iryxqgl3145)/default.aspx Gates Millennium Scholarships
3. http://www.ala.org/ Click on Awards and Scholarships.

Career Potential and Opportunities

One of the professors at USC SLIS made a good point about exploring different opportunities as you work through the Masters program because through exploration, you see the variety of possibilities available once you earn your MLIS. That means that often what was thought to be a professional goal is supplanted by a new direction within the library and information science field.

Here are websites for such exploration and browsing.
1. ASIS&T (American Society for Information Science and Technology)
"The Information Society for the Information Age"
On the Task Bar, click "Careers."
Click "Jobline."
Click "View Jobs" "Access the newest and freshest jobs available to professionals seeking employment."
Notice the variety of positions!
http://asist.org/

2. SLA (Special Libraries Association)
"Connecting Peoople and Information"
On the Task Bar, click "Careers." There are 5 choices: Job Seekers, Articles and Resources, Virtual Advisor, Career Connections, and Career Disruption.
Also try "Inside SLA" for an explanation of the Information Professional's roles and responsibilities.
http://www.sla.org/

3. ALA (American Library Association)
http://www.ala.org/ala/education/educationcareers.htm
Some areas covered are Careers in Library, Recruitment, Library Employment Resources, Employment Opportunities.

4. AASL (American Association of School Libraries)
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslindex.htm
Under Education and Careers, some of the areas covered are Professional Learning Communities, School Library Media Education Programs, Recruitment to School Librarianship.

Academic Libraries

Since everyone entering the program for the MLIS will be looking at different kinds of jobs within the profession, I thought I would share from time to time information concerning various possibilities. The first is some information from the National Center for Education Statistics about Academic Libraries in 2004.
"NCES has just released, 'Academic Libraries: 2004.' The selected findings and tables in this report, based on the 2004 Academic Libraries Survey, summarize services, staff, collections, and expenditures of academic libraries in degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report includes a number of keyfindings: During fiscal year (FY) 2004, there were 155.1 million circulation transactions from academic libraries' general collection.During a typical week in the fall of 2004, 1.4 million academic library reference transactions were conducted, including computer searches. The nation's 3,700 academic libraries held 982.6 million books; serial backfiles; and other paper materials, including government documents at the end of FY 2004. Academic libraries spent $2.2 billion on information resources during FY 2004."
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007301

http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues1997/november6/careerdevelopment.htm
This URL is to ACRL (Association of Colleges and Research Libraries). It contains the following article: "Career Development," C&RL News, November 1997Vol. 58 No. 10by Cynthia Coccaro. Areas covered are General career guidance, Internship and summer employment, Occupational information, Company information, Electronic journals, and Relocation and salaries.

VLA (Virginia Library Association) Conference

VLA (Virginia Library Association) Conference was wonderful! I had so much interest in the MLIS online cohort for fall 2007. I was busy constantly and one of the fun things that happened is that some of the graduates from the first Virginia cohort stopped by at the same time. It was like having a group of cheerleaders. They had such enthusiasm and positive things to say about the program. I should have thought ahead to have some graduates spend time in the booth with me; they are wonderful sales persons.

Each time I attend a conference, I am reminded how needed this Masters program is in West Virginia and Virginia. Without an ALA-approved program in either state, the fact that USC SLIS can offer the Masters online is a tremendous boon for the job pool in both states. Especially in Virginia, there is a shortage of ALA-approved Masters candidates for jobs within the profession. Thus, public library systems and school systems have decided to grow their own.

It is timely that SLIS can begin class offerings in fall 2007 and that so many of you are ready and eager to enter the program.

The listserv is growing. If you have not subscribed, please do so! You will receive frequent updates from me. I can send one message and reach all of you.

School Library Journal Summit

I have just returned from Chicago where I attended a wonderful "think tank" meeting! We were divided into 3 groups to explore the present and the future of the targeted topics: (1) school library media centers as they are and where they are going (2) libraries and literacy and (3) School Library 2.0 (SL2.0).

It was enlightening to see the overriding message from all three groups: the school library and librarian are indispensible in curriculum development and therefore, must learn to incorporate 21st century technology tools into the vision and objectives of the profession.

I believe that the listserv messages I have sent recently have not been received. I have had massive computer problems with my operating system and hard drive. Tomorrow I hope to get the problems corrected!

I leave Wednesday for the VLA Conference in Williamsburg. I hope to meet with several of you at that time. Please stay tuned to WVVA online (this blog) for further updates and info re the fall 2007 online cohort.