Question YOU should be asking THEM during the interview: Cataloging Job

Here are interesting ideas and thoughts to ASK THEM, why you get an opportunity!!!

Extract:
Interviewing for a Cataloguing Position: The Two-Way Street, by Laurel Tarulli

Questions:

1. What type of person are you looking for to fill this position? For example, personality (sense of humour, easy-going, goal-oriented)? Work ethic?

2. How would you describe a typical work week?

3. Will my time be a mixture of working along and with people? Will it include projects?

4. How many people work in the department? Has there been a lot of turnover?

5. Can you describe the environment of your department? Its strengths and weaknesses?

6. Can you think of an employee/cataloguer who really stands out in your mind as exceptional? Tell me about him/her and their qualities.

7. In the past 5 years, tell me about a project or innovative idea that you’re proud of, or that has been a success within the department.

8. What is your management style? And, how will I know if you are under a lot of stress?

9. If I am working on a project and you feel there is a better way to do it, how will you approach me to offer suggestions?

10. Is this a new position? If not, what did the previous cataloguer go on to do?

11. What is your own professional mission statement?

12. Would you mind telling me how your career got to this point?

13. What is your biggest source of job satisfaction? What would you change?

14. Where do you see the cataloguing department in 5 years? 10 years? Expanding? Heading in new directions?

15. Can you tell me about the cataloguing department at the library now? What are you most proud of? What are its limitations?

16. Are there any projects or plans set for the near future that will impact cataloguing?

Reading now:

A Librarian's Guide to an Uncertain Job Market
Jeannette Woodward, Kindle Store

A Librarian's Guide to an Uncertain Job Market (Ala Editions Special Reports)
Jeannette A. Woodward

The Frugal Librarian, Carol Smallwood

Enhance Your Chances: How to Shine Brightly in a Tough Job Market!

Crowdsourcing and practical interview tasks (and YAY!)

Cataloguing Cheat Sheets

Some Cataloging Or Real Cataloging !? / Hesham Tolaib

Six tools to simplify cataloging

How to avoid original cataloging

Database Searching -- Information Literacy for Library Technicians

Finding "something quickly," in each case, proved to be seriously misleading to their overall comprehension of the subject.

In a very similar way, Google searching leaves remote scholars, outside the research library, in just the situation of the Blind Men of India: it hides the existence and the extent of relevant sources on most topics (by overlooking many relevant sources to begin with, and also by burying the good sources that it does find within massive and incomprehensible retrievals). It also does nothing to show the interconnections of the important parts (assuming that the important can be distinguished, to begin with, from the unimportant). six blind men and an elephant, by ben vershbow ideas from the famous Librarian, Thomas Mann: The Oxford Guide to Library Research. (see also) (Six blind men) is a parable that has crossed between many religious traditions and is part of Jain, Buddhist, Sufi and Hindu lore. Read more

See holy stages and See Also holy rules of Database Searching, in "Inside a searcher's mind: the seven stages of an online search," by Barbara Quint, Online 15.3 (May 1991): p13

Library and Information Science Search Engine (over 208 sites now have been included, including the latest Blogs and Open Access eJournals); Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts™ (LISTA) is available FREE to any library.

Database Searching in Library environ is not the same as Googling. It is not any ways close to a Google search and hence, not the same as Google results.

Database Searching requires some understanding of fundamental concepts (e.g, information seeking behavior or information needs), essential resources (e.g., primary, secondary), search techniques (what to search, where to search, how to search), etc. In short, it is going beyond Google (in order to find relevant, accurate, current, reliable, dependable, and verified content).

Textbooks:

Computers in Libraries (2006), Chapter 8 (OPAC) pages:109-110, 116-110; Chapter 10 (Information Searching) pages: 137-143

Cases in Online Search Strategy by Bruce A. Shuman

Searching Skills Toolkit by Caroline De Brún

The Information Specialist's Guide to Searching and Researching on the Internet and the World Wide Web, by Ernest C. Ackermann

Finding it Online (2004), 'Framing Your Search Strategy,' 73-77

Guide to Becoming Library Technician (2005) 'Developing Search Strategies' 158.

Librarian's Guide to Online Searching, Suzanne S. Bell

The Library Instruction Cookbook, Ryan L. Sittler - see chapter on "The Art of Database Searching by Dawn Eckenrode"

Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century: An Introduction,
by Kay Ann Cassell & Uma Hiremath. Chapter on "Finding the Answer: Basic Search Techniques"

Search Patterns: Design for Discovery, by Peter Morville [Summary: This book explores design patterns that apply across the categories of web, e-commerce, enterprise, desktop, mobile, social, and realtime search and discovery. The authors cover topics such as relevance ranking, faceted navigation, multi-touch, and augmented reality together with a practical guide to help us make search better today--Derived from p. [4] of cover.
Contents: Pattern recognition -- The anatomy of a search -- Behavior -- Design patterns -- Engines of discovery -- Tangible futures.]

Issues in Online Database Searching (Database Searching Series), by Carol Tenopir

The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know by Mary W. George

Understanding Information Retrieval Systems: Management, Types, and Standards, by Marcia J. Bates [see chapter on "Information Searching and Search Models by Iris Xie;" sections are on: MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS, TYPES OF INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS and STANDARDS FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS]

Humor and Information Literacy: Practical Techniques for Library Instruction, by
Joshua Vossler, Scott Sheidlower

Magic Search: Getting the Best Results from Your Catalog and Beyond by Rebecca S. Kornegay [showcases how to increase the power of Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) subdivisions to produce astonishing results from your searches.]

The Medical Library Association Essential Guide to Becoming an Expert Searcher (Medical Library Association Guides), Terry Ann Jankowski

Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog, by William Badke

Online Retrieval: A Dialogue of Theory and Practice, by Geraldene Walker

Techniques and Tools, How-To, What-to:

Compare Databases - Academic Database Assessment Tool (ADAT)  (includes: Bibliographic Databases and Fulltext Databases)

Planning a Search Strategy

Seneca's Guidelines on how to find an article

Research Success Tutorial

SELECTING & EVALUATING YOUR SOURCES , (includes: Recognizing a Scholarly Article) Dawson College

Basic and Advanced Operators (Boolean, Truncation, WildCard Chart)

Develop own information literacy skills

Information Literacy and the Contributions of Library Technicians in the Academic Library Dorothy Gagnon and Cyndi Smith, Reference Library Technicians, Georgian College.

Video Tutorial: Evaluating Websites

From the same shelf (Blog):

Podcast of information literacy information from Curtin University of Technology Library and Information Service

Information Literacy (for all) - A useful gateway

Information Literacy Tutorial - Kognito

Finding a journal article is like hunting for a needle in a haystack

What the Information Professionals Read to Keep Up to Date, A list by Professor Karen M. Drabenstott, @ University of Michigan

Evaluating Selected Full-text Databases for Collection Development, by Karen Whisler, Marlene Slough, Nackil Sung and Barbara Cressman, Illinois Periodicals Online, 1998.

Doing Social Media So It Matters, Laura Solomon

PS. This book inspired me to start the marathon...
This book is a good motivator. But, I wish it had statistics or case studies of what-works and what-doesn't-work in libraries.

Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian's Guide, by Laura Solomon (American Library Association, 2011; ALA Editions-Special Reports). ISBN: 083891067X.
Check out a sample of the book now!
About the book:
Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn: it's difficult enough to keep abreast of social media Web sites, let alone understand how they fit into today's library. This practical resource brings together current information on the topic in a concise format that's easy to digest.
* Provides context on the social media phenomenon
* Offers practical advice on how libraries can choose, use, and monitor these tools effectively
* Identifies additional resources and best practices

Table of Contents:
Introduction;
1 Getting a (Better) Grip on Social Media;
2 Getting Started;
3 Understanding Social Media;
4 Strategies for Social Media Success;
5 What Can We Count?
6 Is It Worth It?
7 A Few Final Words



Here are select "bottom line" quotes from this title, [info courtesy,
Darren Heiber | Watzek Library Research & Instruction Librarian]:

* Social media sites will change. Concepts will not. Be flexible.
* Interact with people in social media, or risk becoming irrelevant.
* Each time your library directly engages with someone online in a positive way, especially one that benefits the other person, it gains social capital. Social capital takes time to earn and trust to build.
* Participate in conversations. Remember that the recipients of any of your library’s messages have expectations of reciprocity.
* Every time your library promotes something or asks for a favor, it is making a withdrawal. If your withdrawals exceed deposits, your library effectively becomes a community leech...and in some cases, a pariah. Spend social capital wisely.
* Be human and talk like a human in your social media interactions. Be authentic and honest, and connections and conversations will follow.
* Social media, in many cases, is happening in close to real time. Failure to respond promptly to a conversation, either positive or negative, can result in a great deal of harm to your library’s reputation.
* Connect to people who want to connect to you, unless you have a very good reason not to.
* Extremely large numbers of social connections don’t usually scale into viable online communities. Focus on connecting with people who will share your content, not on acquiring large numbers of fans or followers.

Meghan E. Gates (Cooperstown, NY United States), a Librarian, says, and says it all: "If you are a librarian (or library) who is new to the social media game, this book is the most valuable item you can read. Solomon covers how to start (and possibly end) your presence in social media from every possible angle. The good, the bad, and the ugly are all contained in this slim volume. Solomon even thinks to cover such things as how to win over colleagues, social capital, and return on investment. "
On the same shelf:

Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian’s Guide by Laura Solomon, Book Review by Susan M. Boland

Fair Use by Social Media, Revisted

Copying an Entire Article Without Permission - OK in Some Cases?