"Librarians in the 21st Century: Designing a Career Strategy for Evolving Roles and Opportunities" Keynote Presentation at September 2015 KLA/KASL Kentucky Library Association Special Library Section in Louisville, Kentucky

1. Librarians in the 21st Century:
Designing a Career Strategy for
Evolving Roles and Opportunities
Lisa Chow
Partner, People Interact Consultancy
September 18, 2015
2015 KLA/KASL Joint Conference Special Library
Section

2. Environmental Scan

3. We surveyed 10 leaders in the library world...
Consultant
Digital resource librarian
Academic librarians
Outreach librarian
Legal librarian
Children’s librarian
Reference librarian
Research librarian
Instructional librarian

4. We reviewed professional literature...

5. We reviewed LIS curricula and
accreditation standards...

6. We attended events, presentations,
meetings, discussions and webinars...

7. We looked at job postings...

8. Trends
● Think micro-careers. The modern information career will be
made up of micro-careers.
● There is no box. Information professionals are doing work
outside of traditional spaces, titles, roles, and
responsibilities.
● Think tech. The profession and information is going
online/digital/electronic.
● Be a part of the team. The information professional works
collaboratively.

9. Designing A Career Strategy

10. Self Assessment
SWOT Goals - 1, 2, 5 year goals

11. Professional Brand and
Online Presence
Continuous
learning
Career Strategy
People

12. Find colleagues to share and bounce off ideas.
Have a partner-in-crime.
Get to know your fellow librarians/students.
Find a mentor or two.
Be a mentor.
CONNECT WITH PEOPLE

13. Find opportunities to
publish and present
GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE

14. HAVE AN ONLINE PRESENCE

15. Attend cheap/free events, unconferences,
trainings and meetups.
Attend national and local conferences.
Organize your own event.
GET OUT THERE

16. Apply to various library programs and initiatives.
Get involved with local and national
associations and groups.
GET INVOLVED

17. Keep up with library land (and the world).
Influencers, listservs, blogs, LinkedIn,
Google Alerts, Library Trends
KEEP UPDATED

18. KEEP LEARNING
● MOOCs (Massive open online
courses)
● Continuing education
● Volunteer/internships
● Informational interviews
● Ask colleagues to show you
what they know about a topic or
software/tool of interest
● Books, videos (YouTube,
Vimeo), webinars, workshops,
podcasts, the usual...

19. JOB BROWSE & JOB SEARCH

20. Be creative with your name tag
GO BEYOND YOUR JOB TITLE

21. CREATE BUSINESS CARDS
● Vistaprint
● Moo cards
● Local print shop
● Print your own on-demand

22. Update your resume/CV regularly.
Have your business card handy.
BE PREPARED
BE OPEN

23. Propose ideas, start projects, see what happens.
TAKE THE INITIATIVE

24. Write down 1 goal for each
career strategy area that you
are going to work on.
People:
Continuous learning:
Professional brand and online
presence:
Make it a SMART Goal

25. STEP OUT OF YOUR
COMFORT ZONE
Take 1 step towards 1 SMART goal

26. Resources

27. Publish & Present:
Chandos publishing - http://store.elsevier.com/Chandos-Publishing-/IMP_207
Information Today - http://books.infotoday.com
Libraries Unlimited - http://www.abc-clio.com/LibrariesUnlimited.aspx
Keep Updated:
ALA Mailing Lists - http://lists.ala.org/sympa
Library Link of the Day - http://www.tk421.net/librarylink
Library Trends - https://www.lis.illinois.edu/newsroom/publications/librarytrends
Slashdot - http://slashdot.org
Reddit Libraries - https://www.reddit.com/r/Libraries
LibGuides - http://libguides.com
Career:
LISCareer - http://www.liscareer.com
Library Job Postings - http://www.libraryjobpostings.org
I Need a Library Job - http://inalj.com
Alternative LIS Job Titles - http://www.infonista.com/2013/alternative-lis-job-titles-2
Free Courses - http://librarysciencelist.com/free-online-courses-for-librarians
IFLA New Librarians Webinars - http://npsig.wordpress.com/webinars
Online Resources

29. Presentation slides and resources:
http://peopleinteract.wordpress.com/blog
Email: peopleinteractconsulting@gmail.com
Questions?
_______________________________________________________________________
OUR SERVICES:
DESIGN THINKING AND IMPACT-BASED EVALUATION
UNCONFERENCES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
LEADERSHIP AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT