Well chances are that I won't get that feeling, but I have started to do a little following myself and I liked it! As Thing 2 of the CDP 23 Things I have prowled the web and tracked down a few of my fellow 23ers to subscribe to. Admittedly I am unsure as to when I will be able to dedicate the time to more virtual librarian stalking, this session came about by a (?)happy coincidence of a couple of sick-days off from work. Which is one of the reasons why I selected my first blog, Aude Sapere. I am always in awe when I find librarians who seem to be so involved with the profession, Michael being one such body. Where do they get the time? Also what attracted me to this blog was the issue of professional isolation which I can somewhat relate to, being in a small team, in a small institution, within a small branch of librarianship ; however, not even nearly as isolated as Michael, so henceforth I shall man-up.
Tom Roper is another of these staggering individuals who live and breath the profession. Although, as he states in his blog (he does, I'm not being rude), in career terms he is no spring chicken, he is more committed to professional development than many new graduates I know. Speaking of which, the third blog I selected, World's Deadliest Librarian, is contrasting to Tom in that she is just starting library school, but comparably, she has a wonderful attitude towards librarianship and seems to be going into it for the right reasons.
Being a brand-spanking new blogger I decided to follow an old hand in the shape of Library Wanderer, to see how it should be done. The fourth was a blog from which I feel I have already learnt something. I have been struggling with keeping on top of, and consolidating, my virtual professional reading. Odd Librarian Out has suggested that commenting on various posts would mean we then have an active interest and help our reading to be consistent (I hasten to add that this is personal interpretation of the post!). I'm willing to try anything that might help, so in the future should you come across any comment of an inconsequential nature after something really interesting, that is probably me.
And last but not least I am following The Trumpet Major, because he has managed to start following himself. Ha!
Umm, saying that I have just utterly failed to insert an image into this post, so I think that is quite enough from me for now...
Rare books are amazing, and I'm interested in finding out how you began working with them. I specialized in rare books librarianship in my MLS course, but I'm in the U.S. so things could be much different.
ReplyDeleteSounds like they are. I did a Library and Info. MSc and got my job after that, my first degree was in English Lit. I think it was very much a case of right place, right time, it was a position explicitly created to get graduate librarians into rare books, funded by a lovely philanthropist type, I count my lucky stars! My next step is swot up on pre-1800s printed books and manuscripts, and learn some Latin, as sadly (from what I can gather) the UK has less to offer in the rare book world in terms of modern collections. What kind of job are you in now?
ReplyDeleteHi fellow old book type person!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog thanks to delicious tagging us both as rare/special, which is rather nice : )
I'm a UK archivist working with both archives and rare books. Good luck with CPD23!
Hello Lou,
ReplyDeleteI'm always on the lookout for people in our area who have good judgement and good opinions, so just crack on!
Morning Louise, it's always nice to see familiar old faces popping up.
ReplyDeleteI mean old as in seen before not old as in haggard....but you knew that anyway.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI'm another rare books/special collections type, doing the rounds checking out the other similar cpd23 bloggers!
@dorkavec... I managed to get spec colls jobs by getting as much experience as I could even when it wasn't directly relevant to my current position - by attending training, trying to be invovled in anything vaguely rare or old wherever I was, by going to seminars (I'm lucky to be in a major University town), and just by reading up. Then it's a case of selling that experience and interest well in job applications.
Katie
I do think that's a fair interpretation of my post! By taking a few moments to craft a comment, I hope it will help solidify the information I've read, or at least the points I felt compelled to comment on. Basically, I think maybe I read too much, and should learn to write and converse more in order to be more comfortable articulating my own thoughts.
ReplyDelete