Being a Librarian is Fun!

Now, after having had my foot in the proverbial "career door" for almost a year now, I can most definitely say, "being a librarian is fun!"

I have been the Computer Services/Reference Librarian at Angelina College, in Lufkin, TX, since July 2nd, 2007. And, I can honestly say it's been wonderful, not to mention positively-challenging.

More On-the-Job Continuing Education

The following is More On-the-Job Continuing Education that I have completed since 2/1/2007:

Proofread Like a Pro
Proofreading is more than just rereading what has been written. Good proofreaders can identify mistakes and improve the quality of their writing even under tight deadlines. By using in-class exercises, this workshop teaches you proven tips and techniques to improve your documents. Participants learn to use several successful proofreading strategies; proofread for overall coherence and organization; and spot and correct the most common mechanical errors.

Civility Works/Dealing with Difficult People
Learn how to promote civility at work and techniques to counteract rude behavior, examine some types of difficult people, and get some tips for dealing with them.

The Latest Edition...

The February issue of The University of Chicago Library's The Water Cooler is now in. (See page 2 to read my article).

My First Speaking Engagement...And Then Some

To my surprise, I was just sent the following e-mail:

Hello, Chris, Ray just told me that you have recently graduated from library school at Dominican. Congratulations! With your permission, Ray will write something up for the next (February 2007) Water Cooler (January 2007). As you may know, on Thursday we are having a lunchtime information session for Library staff who are interested in library school. Most of the people I've asked to participate are or were supported by the Library School Tuition Assistance program, which is available to staff with 3 or more years of full-time service. If you have the time and would like to join us, I am sure that the perspective of a recent Dominican grad would be helpful. This is on Thursday, 12.15-1.45 (not sure it will last that long) in A-11. Congratulations, again! Jane



I know this is a small event, as outlined here, but I am excited about being a guest speaker nonetheless:

Library School Information Session
Library staff who are in library school or have recently completed library school programs at UIUC and Dominican University will offer advice and commentary on their experiences, the application process, relating work and school, and how to manage work, school and the rest of life. This session is geared to library staff and students who are considering library science as a career.

After Completing My MLIS...

My MLIS commencement ceremony took place on January 6, 2007...It is time to pursue the beginnings of my librarianship career...I have decided to relocate to Texas in order to do so. (Note: I would upload my resume onto this blog, but I feel that it would be pointless due to the fact that I am not comfortable devulging my personal information on, or rather to, the World Wide Web.)

The University of Chicago ASRS Blog

The University of Chicago ASRS blog is representative of my attempt to implement some "learning organization" techniques into the ASRS project at the University of Chicago Regenstein Library. This undertaking is part of the LIS 716 01 course called "Communication for Leadership" that I am enrolled in at Dominican University...Please feel free to explore the ASRS blog in detail.

Coding the World Libraries Archives

An update on the Internet Publishing course that I am taking...We are currently working on bringing more archived issues of the World Libraries journal, sponsored by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University, to the online world.


We, and by this I mean my fellow classmates and I, have been scanning the printed journal pages and saving them as .rtf (rich-text file) formats, and then cutting and pasting/inserting the text of the .rtf files into our html page code...We're hoping to get at least two issues (four journals) archived within the next week or two.


Feel free to take a look, see for yourself how we're progressing: World Libraries