Libraries are always the first to go when government budgets get tight.  Anyhow I think it really helps get rid of a lot of dead weight and the ones who think it is just a cushy job.   Even if everything is digitized they need catalogers to organize it and make it accessible.  Of course who needs catalogers or librarians when we have Google.   Fortunately Google searches are turning into crap since most of the top links are mostly there because of search engine optimization techniques and paid advertising.

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Moku

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Here are two WordPress themes that I like and am currently using.

1. Swifthemes http://swiftthemes.com/
This theme is very simple to use and offers many fancy features. I don’t believe it’s extremely fast, but it’s probably fast enough for most people as the name claims itself to be swift. It has an easy to use theme option selection where you can customize colors visually and insert advertisements or adsense code in the most common advertisement placement areas of a webpage. There also is the option to have the blog frontpage be in magazine or traditional blog format. Customized menus can be created above or below the title along with inserting a background image. This theme is highly recommended for beginners who don’t know how to customize themes manually.

2. Thematic http://themeshaper.com/thematic/
This second theme is also highly customizable, but only for those who know how to use css and html. It also has child themes created by other users, which are easily downloaded and loaded into WordPress just like any other theme, but the original Thematic theme must be installed for them to work. The author encourages users to create their own child themes using CSS and their is a forum dedicated to assisting users customize Thematic for their own purposes. Right now it is primarily a 2 column theme with a 3 column version in the works.

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It’s pretty interesting to see 3 Virginia libraries on the list. Williamsburg and Fredericksburg regional libraries are places where there isn’t really a whole lot to do so the library is a good destination. Fredericksburg has a lot of new housing developments, with a lot of young families with kids, since people move there to commute to Richmond or the D.C. metro area. Falls Church is right in the middle of a ethnically diverse area in a very populous and rich county.

Sometimes I tend to hate rankings and lists because there are probably hundreds of better libraries out there that do things right that really matter. Every library is different and every community or regional library has different resources and needs.

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Indeed.com – Indeed is a meta-search engine of most of the major job search engine sites.  It generally brings up the best listing of jobs that I am looking for fast and conveniently.

SimplyHired.com – Simply Hired is another good meta-search engine job site.  It seems to have maybe a few different sources than Indeed, but it is very similar.

Careerbuilder.com – Careerbuilder has been a very reliable job search engine for a long time.  The search interface is very good and you can narrow searches down by category, company, city, and state. 

Hotjobs.com – Hotjobs is Yahoo’s job search engine and has always been quite popular. 

Craigslist.com – This is a good place to search for local jobs in the area you are living at or searching for jobs in specific states or metro areas.

Jobcentral.com – This is a decent search engine.  I do not think it is licensing any other major search engines so you won’t be seeing the exact same thing.

Monster.com – Monster is a another good search engine, although I hardly ever go there.  You can also search for their jobs using Jobs.com, since it’s part of Monster.

Dice.com – This is a good place to look for tech related jobs.

Oodle.com – This is another meta-search engine site with probably a couple different sources than Indeed and Simply Hired.  It is a classified site and an alternative to Craigslist. 

USAJobs.com – If you are looking for a Federal Government job this is the place to go.  

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-10-26-kindle-school-library_N.htm

Basically a private boarding school is eliminating most of their book collection and going all electronic with an ebook collection using Kindle. The old collection was barely being used so they believe this is better. I don’t really think it’s necessarily bad or good. I just think if the students were not using the library, the collection wasn’t being updated very well and the school curriculum and teachers didn’t make their students use it to learn how to do normal offline research.  Not all libraries can be substituted for ebooks. Not everyone has a computer or kindle or ever will have one. Reading text on screens is not for everyone either. Do they seriously think Ivy league schools will eliminate their huge collection of books in which students actually use for research? That’s one dumb prep school.

I don’t see why they couldn’t of just kept the collection or go through and thoroughly weed it to create some extra space for the new amenities. I can see why it may be beneficial for leisure reading and required readings, since they can order and read the latest bestsellers or classics. It sounds like the library got popular because of all the other changes besides the switch to ebooks. They aren’t there for the ebooks so it doesn’t make any difference if it was an ebook or regular book.

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Below is a list of library school programs listed as being able to complete 100% online or fully online without having to attend any physical face to face classes. You can search for this list at the ALA website.

Several library science programs have turned to becoming fully online in order to reach a larger audience and provide access to working students.

1. Clarion University of Pennsylvania
2. Drexel University
3. Florida State University
4. North Carolina Central University
5. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
6. San Jose State University
7. Southern Connecticut State University
8. Texas Woman’s University (conditional)
9. University at Buffalo, State Univ. of New York (conditional)
10. University of Alabama
11. University of Puerto Rico
12. University of Southern Mississippi
13. University of Tennessee
14. University of Washington
15. University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
16. Wayne State University

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A cataloging course should probably cover the basics of AACR2 rules, MARC, and the Library of Congress classification system. Dewey should also be briefly covered, but sadly it is published in a 4 set volume that only crazy catalogers or organizations using Dewey would own. There also is WebDewey from OCLC which may be accessible. It is a very useful tool but most library school instructors probably would not know how to fully use it correctly, unless they’ve been using it a lot currently as a Dewey cataloger. Most library science students interested in libraries would have experience using their public library systems and know the general Dewey number categories. OCLC seems to have a monopoly on cataloging which isn’t a good thing. If your instructor is hands on, they would go through OCLC copy cataloging and using OCLC’s Connexion software (online and desktop versions) to create and edit records.

The next part of your journey is to gain practical experience, either through an internship or volunteering. This is probably the best option. Find somewhere needing a collection or something cataloged. If any cataloging tech jobs open up you should apply for it and be enthusiastic about it.

If you are unable to get any sort of cataloging experience you sadly will have to rely on LUCK. Either an organization is willing to hire you as an entry level cataloger (lets face it.. very few do), or you just take on any cataloging opportunities that open up at the library you work at or inquire about doing projects on the side with the cataloging section or catalogers.

There are also courses provided by Solinet and Palinet which has combined into one company called Lyrasis. I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets taken over by OCLC. That’s what I call consolidation…. “We will own you and train you.”

There also is The MARC of Quality which isn’t that bad, I attended a Book Blitz II session. Very MARC intensive training. More library science programs should schedule training seminars for their students. Unfortunately they’re much to interested in anything meta data related when the most robust and useful meta data standard in the world is already in existence if maintained and used properly.

If you land a cataloging gig you probably should do it for at least 2 years or more. Thats the popular number it seems in all the cataloger or cataloging librarian job ads. Don’t hesitate to take the unpaid cataloging opportunities or technician jobs if you know this is what you want to do. You have to start somewhere and most libraries now realize they need a good technical services staff before they can start playing around with the fancy projects and crap being dreamed about out there.

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I can not recommend anyone going to a costly library science program. It’s difficult to obtain a librarian position and the pay is usually not very high. New public school teachers in many areas make more than new librarians. If you want to make a difference and help people learn while making a decent living, there are many other better options out there.

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