Our new home

Hello again, gentle readers. The new home of the Re:Generations blog is http://clatoolbox.ca/regen. Thank you for updating your bookmarks and feed readers.

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Re:Generations is moving!

Dear Re:Generations readers: we are in the process of migrating our blog to a new platform, so disruptions and a bit of messiness are inevitable. Please bear with us, and watch this space for the announcement of our new location!

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Reminder: CACUL Research Support Grants

CACUL members...

Do you have an academic library research question burning a hole in your pocket? Are you looking for financial support to help take your research to the next stage? Then a CACUL Research Support Grant could be just right for you!

CACUL has available up to two $1,000 one-time grants to support your research. For more information in submitting a proposal by our May 1st 2010 deadline, visit http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Research_Support_Grants.

Grants can be submitted electronically to the attention of:

CACUL Director Grants
Carol Shepstone
cshepstone @ mtroyal.ca

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Introducing RSS readers to Faculty & Grads

Another “in” to getting to know a faculty member is to introduce them to social media and other “new” tools and products on the web. Introducing them to RSS readers could be very helpful to faculty and grad students who may not have had the time to learn how to use them.

I had a meeting with a grad student last week and with a faculty member this past week to show them how to set up an RSS feed and reader so that they’ll start receiving RSS directly into their Reader.

But not in all instances would a Reader be suitable. After an hour and a half in to a session with a professor, explaining and helping him set up accounts and passwords, etc,. I came to a realization that the types of feeds this particular professor was trying to set up could easily be directed to his email account; instead of an external RSS Reader. For him, and perhaps other professors who are strapped for time, having an effective email system with custom filters and rules could be more useful than yet another account he must remember to check.

Knowing what’s out there and its benefits and draw-backs allow us to best advise our users according to their needs and preferences; and RSS Readers could help our users and colleagues save time. I personally find RSS Readers helpful when there is no email option on a website to email me its’ updates; now having said this, I haven’t found myself checking my Reader enough to say that I actually use it.

Do you use RSS Readers and find yourself using it on a “regular” basis? Have you introduced RSS Readers to users in your library and colleagues? Did it meet their needs?

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Career development discussions

In anticipation of the Re:Generations committee's sessions at the upcoming CLA conference, we'd like to ramp-up our blog discussions on the theme preparing for the profession. Building on Deborah's helpful post on "interviewing from the other side," I'd like to share a little résumé epiphany that I had recently.

Several weeks ago, I attended an excellent workshop on career development led by the incomparable Ulla de Stricker (Sponsored by the CLA McGill Student Chapter, the CLA-CASLIS Government Section, and the McGill School of Information Studies. See the event announcement here). [Aside: if you ever have a chance to go to one of Ulla's workshops...go!]

*Update! I should also have linked to Ulla's blog, a great source of advice and discussion of issues relevant to information professionals: http://destrickerblog.typepad.com/.

Primarily attended by LIS students along with a few fellow current professionals, the full-day workshop was arranged into four segments:

• Résumés: Let’s tackle the monster
• Where do you “fit”? Understanding your “career type”
• Self-promotion without cringing: Gaining visibility through giving
• Positive politics: Building a healthy workplace

I emerged from the day with with mountains advice and insights that will be useful to me at all stages of my career. I'm sure that some of it will be making its way into future posts, but for now, here's a résumé tidbit:

I had never really thought about it this way before, but résumés are documents that are written for other people to read. They're not for your own record-keeping. Even if in comprehensive c.v.s, the purpose is not to list every minute detail of every job; it is NOT a passive list of job responsibilities. As Ulla put it, employers aren’t interested in what you were supposed to do. They want to know what you achieved. It's much more effective to describe “what was different when I left” instead of saying “I did X function.” When selecting details to include in the c.v., it's essential to anticipate what the potential employer will want to know. In other words, look at your résumé from the reader's perspective. When you read it, can you easily see what "the candidate" would bring to the job? Does the description of their past experience prove their value?

Just to put the pressure on a little more, Ulla reminded us that "your skill in designing the résumé is a harbinger of the skill you’ll bring to the job." It is indeed an important document, worthy of careful work!

And now to broaden the discussion, I'd like to humbly ask for some feedback to serve as fodder for future posts and for our "unconference"-ish session at the CLA conference. Here are some open questions begging for comments:

1. Employed librarians: what do you think were the most important factors in landing your current position?

2. Librarians with at least a year of experience under your belt: what do you wish you knew before you started your current position?

3. Students: what is your most burning question about getting a professional position?

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