As I have hinted at in previous posts, I have been having a good deal of trouble settling on a career trajectory. It’s not that I want the perfect first job, but I want a good first job. I still have my “OMG, did I do the right thing?!?!” moments about withdrawing my name from the position I applied for. I have come to the conclusion that job hunting is a little like gambling- sometimes you have to go with your gut and hope for the best. It doesn’t help that I hate gambling.

I have a few ideas about what I might want to do re: job possibilities.

1. Find a local job, save up money and continue networking like crazy

photo credit: Photocapy

The advantage of finding a local job is that I would not have to waste much time with planning a move, deciding where to live, etc. Lincoln affords a good deal of leisure time, and Omaha is not bad either. If I stay in state, I can put away a lot of money and would have a good amount of free time I can devote to professional development (read: more school, but not the crazy pace I have been maintaining.)

Of course, this option is dependent on a job opening up in the right place at the right time. I have heard of a few possible opportunities opening up, but there’s a LOT of talented new library professionals out there that I would be up against. Staying in state would probably mean settling for less than a dream job, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t find something that makes me happy.

2. Try to get as many fellowships/internships as possible

The wanderlust part of me loves this idea. Basically, I would try to find some kind of flexible employment that would allow me to leave for a few months at a time to do internships here and there. Better yet would be to get some fellowships to pay my way. I was kind of hoping I might be able to use the new NEH Digital Humanities Fellowship as a springboard (that would, of course, be contingent on finding a center to sponsor me), but unfortunately, I won’t meet the eligibility requirements because I’ll still be in school. I have not started to search in earnest for other fellowship possibilities- the library field isn’t known for tons of fellowships, but there are a few.

I like this idea because it would allow me to try out some different locations and jobs and hopefully find something that fits. The downside, of course, is that it would be less stable and would probably mean being away from my husband for extended periods of time. It would also mean not saving as much.

3. Be patient, wait for the perfect job

Instead of taking something less than ideal because it is close, I could just wait and apply to the dream jobs I’m sure will pop up after I graduate. I like my job and wouldn’t mind staying on for a bit, but the pay isn’t great.

The problem with this plan is I have no idea where I want to live. Lincoln is OK, and I’d love to live in California again but I can’t imagine being able to afford it. (I have a few other dream locals, like Portland Oregon.) I started a google map where I plotted places I might like to live and recommendations based on a quick Twitter poll. I would love to live somewhere I could walk to work or take public transportation, somewhere with a moderate climate, and somewhere with lots of natural beauty. Of course a low cost of living is helpful too. I’m not too picky. ;) Suggestions are welcome.

The problem with the above approach is I don’t really know yet what the perfect job is.

Of course, I am oversimplifying my options – as William Turkel pointed out recently, career trajectories are never a linear or predictable as we would like.  For now, I’m taking a step back and keep watching, listening, and waiting. I’m looking at what others in my position are doing – a big crop of enormously talented Library school students are graduating this May. I’m keeping tabs on job descriptions and trying to figure out what would be right for me.

A big part of this is trying to figure out what kind of person I am- I have become quite the homebody in the last few years (that may just be a result of marriage, or maybe just a lack of money) but I’m starting to come out of that a bit. How adventurous do I want to be? How much risk am I willing to take? These are questions I ask over and over but I can only answer myself.

It’s not like I need to decide on a career path RIGHT NOW, but I am getting a lot more questions to the effect of “what are you going to do once you are out of library school?” and I don’t know how to answer. I feel like a bit of a failure not having a definite area of librarianship I want to go into. For the record, I know that’s so NOT true, but it’s just a feeling, gnawing away at me.

Add to that stuff school work and work work and committee work and school paperwork BS on TOP of the regular school work and you have an exhausted to the point of collapse Karin.

Which brings me to the real point of this post. I remember reading a while back about saying yes (was it on Kathryn’s Blog? Maybe…) and I sort of unconsciously took this advice to heart. I have been saying yes a LOT more than I would have a couple of years ago, when I protected my time rather zealously. The results have been good and bad. In addition to full time work and grad school, I have been to 5 conferences, presented several times, written some articles, I serve on the display committee at work, I’m secretary for the Nebraska Library Association NMRT, and I attend pretty much any professional development thing I can. I have also networked my butt off, and in the process made a lot of really cool acquaintances. I never feel like I am doing enough, though, because librarians are overachievers (at least a lot of them are) and plenty of them do tons more than I do. (For example: danah boyd posted recently about work/life balance.)

So I feel a little down when I realize I can’t do it all. Why not? What’s wrong with me? Where has all my energy gone? I kept expecting to get over this funk, to perk back up to the energy level I was at even last semester, but it is just not happening.

Saying yes all the time has led to some really great experiences though, and I wouldn’t trade any of it. All the conferences I have gone to have been a blast. I’ve met several people I now consider to be friends. I’ve been able to travel more in the last two years than in the 5 years previous to that. Best of all, I continually feel like I am doing something with meaning. I’m not just wandering around- I may be interested in too much, but it is all interesting to me. I’m not bored, just tired.

Unfortunately, there’s no break in sight for me- My semester ends May 2nd, and the following Monday I start my practicum. 90 house does not seem like a lot, but crammed into three months in which I’m traveling a lot (and still working another job), it will be a pretty large chunk of time. I’m also taking a class this summer and attending two conferences. I do, thankfully, have a vacation in there before the ALA conference in Anaheim, but travel for me is about packing in as much as possible into a trip, not so much relaxing. I will have about 3 weeks in August where I will only have full time work.

This turned into a rather long post to say this: I’m gonna blog more, I promise. :)

The other reason I have not posted about these feelings and thoughts is because it is hard to do so without naming names. Much of what I want in a job depends on where that job is, and that has to do with family, friends, and of course, my husband who is both my family and my best friend. (OK, trying not to sound too mushy, but he really is.) Also, the library community is small. It’s not hard to determine who I am talking about, even if I don’t name names. This has mede me super careful about what I post, especially lately.

So please forgive me if my posts come off sounding a little awkward and vague- it’s where my brain is right now.

I recently withdrew my name from a job that I really, really wanted. I think I had a good chance at getting the position, but it was just too far from home, in a place my husband would have had a hard time relocating. I knew this when I applied, of course. The plan was that I would spend the week in this other place and then come home on the weekends. It sounds OK on paper, and in planning, but when we actually sat down to figure out costs and logistics, it sort of fell apart. There were a lot of little things that, if taken alone, would have been fine, but all together would make the job unmanageable.

Then there was the fact that I am, after all, still in school- still carrying a full coarse load while working full time. Travel would mean cutting 5-6 hours out of my week when I have little time to spare. I can’t help but feel I should have considered all these aspects of the job before I applied, and I feel bad for not doing so. On the other hand, sometimes it takes a face to face confrontation with a possibility before it feels real. I am very grateful to the search committee of the school I applied to. It sounds like they are doing wonderful things and I am disappointed I will not be a part of it. They asked really great questions that really showed they are thinking about many of the same things I am, and it will be hard to come by a job that would allow me the opportunities this one would have.

The whole experience has made me cautious about job applications. For a while now I have been adding more and more to my to do pile- applying for a job seemed like the logical next step. I realize now that I need to take a step back and reassess. Full time work and school is hard- when I add to that presenting and writing and conferences and serving as secretary for the NMRT of the NLA, I’m pretty much filled up to capacity.

At the same time all this was happening, or maybe because of it, I have found myself drifting back to art as a pastime. I sort of stopped making art after I finished my Bachelors in Fine Art. The preparation for the final show and my final classes were overwhelming (I was working near full time then, too). I was constantly making art, and that art was constantly evaluated and critiqued, and it got exhausting. I not only had to create, but I had to think very carefully and pointedly about what I was creating, how to explain it, how to defend it, and how to present it. The thought of making a living at as an artist started to take on an ominous tone- a life full of creating for someone else, and to base my living off that… well, let’s just say I’m glad I found librarianship as another option.

So I’ve been painting again, and it feels good. It’s been a while since I’ve had a hobby completely outside of library stuff. Even the “fun” books I read last summer almost all had to do with some aspect of libraries- technology, management, etc. To get my artwork out there I’ve started a “free artwork” photoset in Flickr- I will occasionally put up small paintings there for free (and I usually announce on Twitter). There is something immensely gratifying about giving things away for free.

I realize that when I push myself too hard, I end up wanting to turn away from the things I am most passionate about, so I am on a quest to regain some balance in my life. I was so sparky last semester- my thoughts seemed to mesh up with what I was learning in class and the blogosphere supported it all. Now my feed reader constantly taunts me with the little “1000+” unread posts signal. I’ve taken a laissez faire approach to that- not gonna weed or do anything, just read when I can. I feel like I’m constantly running to catch up, not sprinting ahead of the pack. I hope that this spring break I can emerge with new enthusiasm and vigor, and more purpose about what I want to do and how I can accomplish it.

Photos: splorp BugMan50 capturingJenn (last one mine)

All in all, a nice alternative engine. I much prefer it to similar engines like Clusty, KartOO and Grokker.

I think this is great… but.

But like all copyright mechanisms, CC licences are only a means to an end, and that end is to restrict the rights of the consumer and purchaser. Some CC licenses are unarguably vastly better than most commercial licenses. But CC is not public domain.

Every time I see a government or a library getting “into” CC, I have to ask: as opposed to what?

If the alternative is Public Domain, then moving to CC is a giant leap backwards. If you are going to spend money promoting a rights mechanism, and preserving works released under that mechanism, and putting your weight and support behind that mechanism, then let that mechanism be the Public Domain, not some “watered-down Copyright that is still undeniably Copyright”.

I can’t speak as a government or library, but I can say why I myself post my work under creative commons and not public domain.

I have been trained as an artist. In school, I heard a LOT about not giving yourself away, about protecting your copyright, your “brand,” even about legal ramifications both of using others work and others using your work. I remember that the whole thing seemed weird. There was no way then, at least not that I knew, to release my work under a license that said “please use this, please share it” and allowed me to find other artists whose work was remixable. Artists have a tenuous relationship with copyright. Those that make art by remixing know, or at least should know, the copyright law as it applies to derivative works and fair use. Most artists, rather then spend a lot of time wrestling with legal definitions, will either use public domain source material, or try to use nothing at all (which can be stifling for many people.)

In general, if you release something into the public domain, that means anyone can do anything they want with it. There are limitations of course, but you wouldn’t have a legal leg to stand on if you released something in the public domain and then someone else put it in a gallery show without attribution. Of course, there is nothing to stop someone from putting a CC:By work in an art show either, but if they are following the terms of the license, at least you’ll have your name attached. It may not seem like a big deal – after all, you aren’t making money off your work either way, right? But in the art world, as most other circles, name recognition is *really* important. So if you give enough away under CC:By that people know your name, that’s social capital.

In an ideal world, Creative Commons wouldn’t be necessary- people would be polite and cite their sources. CC is a way of reminding people that yes, you can use this, but don’t pretend you made it, ok? Attribute back.

What creative commons license you use will depend on your purpose: I attribute almost everything CC:By because the important thing to me right now is name recognition. I’m building my brand, so to speak. Even if I was selling artwork, though, I’d probably stick with the CC:By SA license, because I don’t mind people making money off the work, as long as they help the cause by releasing their work into the commons as well. The brilliance of CC:By SA is that it is self perpetuating- you are free to use my content, but you have to let other people use your content. I personally don’t believe in, and will never use the Noncommercial version of the license, because it stifles other’s ability to make money as an artist (if they so choose) and is too incompatible with the other licenses. I don’t begrudge others decision to put that restriction on their content, however, I try not to use noncommercial licenses in case I want to sell something based on another work* later on. (* I added “based on another work” to try to clarify what I was saying re: Mark’s comment below. My full reply to his comment is in the comments)

As a creator, I don’t believe it is wrong to assert some rights over my work. I believe in intellectual property- I just think that as a society, we need to be able to build upon things or we will stagnate. The only problem I see with creative commons as it is is the time span- my work goes into the public domain following the same schedule as copyright law which would be 70 years after I die – that is, unless I go back and manually change the licenses of older content. Ideally, I could set a limit of my CC license, after which point it passes into the public domain. I think 10 years is reasonable. As it is now, I’ll just have to do a reevaluation of old work and release it into public domain where appropriate.

The reason I think 10 years is a reasonable term is that artists don’t live by resting on our laurels. We don’t make one really great painting or book and go “well, guess I can retire now!” – We create, we keep creating, and we keep changing. What I made 10 years ago doesn’t matter near as much as what I will create tomorrow. I think 10 years is a reasonable term for me to monetize what I can. That may be just me. I think terms up to 30ish years or until death (whichever comes first) are reasonable- but not this 70 years after death stuff.

Things are busy around here- which is great – but it also means I’m having a hard time fitting everything in. I have more blog post ideas than I know what to do with, but I’m having trouble bringing things into a cohesive form.

This semester has been a little weird for me. My first semester of library school, I tool Library Administration- and since I knew nothing about libraries, I soaked everything up like a sponge and most of my blogging had to do with what I was learning in class. Now, though, I have different interests, and not all of them match up with my classes. My attention is more fragmented than ever- because I want to read all about what I’m learning in class, but I also want to read more about other topics, and there’s not enough time to do everything.

I’m also realizing that my attention is becoming more and more fragmented- I find it hard to sit down and just do homework at home because of all the distractions. I can think of two ways to solve this- either work at work (that is, either come in early or stay late and do homework at the library) or create a dedicated study space at home. May have to go with the library for the short term since I can’t think of anywhere to put a study place at home.

New Blog 

I have also found I’ve missed being able to blog about anything and everything that is on my mind. Here is not the place for that- I want to keep this space for library issues. So my solution is to start a new blog. You can find me over at os-agnostic.com, where I will ramble on about non library related tech stuff, talk about my art, and just generally be off topic. Feel free to subscribe, or just stop in and check up on me. OS Agnostic is probably more of interest to techno-geeks and my friends and family than the library crowd. :)

When I started library school a yearish ago, I knew no one in the library world. I had never heard of Stephen Abram or Walt Crawford, let along Meredith Farkas or Karen Schneider. I had only started working in a library a few months before, and despite the fact that my first job was as a page in a library, my knowledge about libraries was limited.

I found that I really liked my first library class (Library Administration) and it spurred a lot of thoughts in my existing blog. As time went on, my blog became more and more about library stuff. At the same time, I sought out other library blogs and subscribed to them. At one point I was subscribing to hundreds of library blogs- I have cut back since then. Reading blogs did several things- it gave me glimpses into the different types of careers I might have, it clued me into what librarians were talking and thinking about now (something reading the professional literature just didn’t do) and also let me experience what a conference was about before I went. By selectively delving into the archives of some of the more long running blogs, I was able to gain an appreciation of where the profession has been in the last few years.

After reading blogs and writing for a while, I started commenting. I tried to keep up with my comments- looking for responses so I could respond back if needed, but I found the whole process unwieldy. Now, there’s a Firefox plug in called “cocomment” that watches my comments for me. I also started to examine my other web presences. I had a MySpace profile, which, luckily, had no embarrassing pictures or anything- I cleaned it up a bit so it looked presentable for potential employers and colleagues to find. I started actively seeking out librarians on social networks – looking through friends of friends for names I recognized, mostly. I did the same on Flickr, signed up for a Facebook account, etc. I joined the Ning network “Library 2.0” and was active there for a while. I created a library student Ning network, and though it is pretty dormant now I met a lot of great people through it and continue to find new blogs to read when new people sign up.

Somewhere along the way I redesigned my site and migrated to WordPress from Movable Type. I created a second site at karin.dalziel.org to serve as my C.V. I tried for a professional looking design. I started treating everything online as part of my professional identity- this may not always be important, but I believe it makes a difference, especially in the year or two before job hunting. That said, I tried not to totally stifle myself, either- much of my life is online, after all, and I don’t want to completely cut that off. Another big change was to start using my real name for nearly everything – commenting, site logons, etc. I still have a few places where I use an alternate logon, but there aren’t many. I check my name in several search engines to make sure my site comes up first, and that the results are indicative of what I want people to see.

A bit before I attended my first ALA conference in Washington D.C., I joined Twitter and started friending library people (later I extended friending to local people, educators, and computer geeks.) When I went to the conference, I brought my PDA- while I wasn’t always connected, I had internet often enough that I could see what people were doing on Twitter. I found it very useful, and would definitely recommend it.

Now I am in the maintenance phase of my online life- I take a look at new applications occasionally, but mostly stick with what I have. My MySpace and Facebook use has dropped off, but I’m active in blogging on my website, Flickr, del.icio.us and Twitter, among other places. I carefully tag photos to make them more findable, and CC license my work so it can be re-used with credit.

A few specific examples of what online networking has done for me:

I created an “Open Access for Librarians” presentation for a class. I was very happy with the slides and the talk. This was the first thing I put on my “Publications, Presentations and Projects” part of my professional website. I quoted Dorothea Salo’s blog, Caveat Lector in my presentation, so I sent a quick email with a link to the presentation on my own site so she would know. (At the time, I considered this more of a professional courtesy than anything- I’d like to know if I was being quoted.) Dorothea linked to my presentation (and complemented my on my website!!) and it was also picked up by Peter Suber and American Libraries Direct, an email that goes out to American Library Association members. It was also featured on the home page to my own library’s website.

More recently, I gave a brown bag talk on Zotero, a open source citation management program I have been using for over a year. I worked hard to create some amusing, attractive slides. I added the talk to my website (as I always do) and told people about it in Twitter and on my blog. I also responded to a request for slogans on the Zotero forum, pointing to the research LOLcats I made for the presentation on Flickr. I got a nice email thanking me, and got a free Zotero Tshirt and stickers. I was also recommended to do another presentation on Zotero.

Can it work for you?

I don’t necessarily think the online social networking approach will work for everyone, but for me, it has been amazing. I can’t afford to go to that many conferences (at this point, I pay out of my pocket for them) but online I can take part in conversations I wouldn’t otherwise be able to. It’s not a replacement for traditional, face to face networking, publishing, and conferences, but it is a great supplement. Another huge advantage for me is that I am a little shy when meeting people for the first time, but if it is someone I know from online, I at least have a way to start up a conversation.

Tomorrow I’ll post some do’s and do not’s for professional social networking.

I added a step 4 to go with step three, so that I could use use a Creative Commons licensed photo. The previous directions just pulled from Flickr’s “interesting” page, of which very few are CC licensed.

1. The first article title on the Wikipedia Random Articles page is the name of your band.
2. The last four words of the very last quotation on the Random Quotations page is the title of your album.
3. Use the random word generator to generate a word.
4. Use the word to search FlickrStorm (creative commons licensed photos) and the third picture will be your album cover. Or just choose any image.
5. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result.

Article Title: The World Famous Pontani Sisters
Random Quotation: The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. – Bertrand Russell
Random word: Tread
Image: Tired Cone by Travis Gray

Software & Hardware: Wacom Bamboo Tablet, ArtRage 2 (Through Wine), Gimp, Inkscape, Ubuntu 7.10

If you wanna do it, consider yourself tagged. Be sure to let me know in comments!

I was reading reviews on the book “Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss” and found this comment:

“Fuhrman does cite many scientific journal articles, but most people will not be able to access those articles to see if they truly support his statements.”

On one hand, I feel like the reviewer is naive to expect all researchers to use publicly available data, and on the other hand, I can totally see where he/she is coming from. Not many local libraries carry the expensive databases needed to verify the research, and not everyone has access to a university library. Isn’t it reasonable for people to expect that they can check to make sure an author is doing the research? Isn’t it great that people are even interested in critically analyzing works?

Will we see the tides turn, when information locked behind a pay wall is not cited by popular writers because it lacks credibility with the general population? Would this be a good or bad thing?

Photo of the “Pay Wall” here: http://flickr.com/photos/cgc/1200935/

OLPC’s for Lincoln Schools

The Cooper Foundation, a local grant giving institution, has given a grant to buy XO laptops in Lincoln Schools.

“President Art Thompson said the final grant approved for the year was $8,000 to the One Laptop Per Child Foundation for 40 laptops. Under their Give One Get One Program, 20 of the laptops will be sent to a developing nation and 20 more to Lincoln.

The One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s mission is to stimulate initiatives designed to enhance and sustain the effectiveness of laptops as learning tools for children living in lesser-developed countries. The laptops coming to Lincoln will serve that same goal for children here.

The Cooper Foundation is working with the Foundation for the Lincoln Public Schools to develop plans to distribute the laptops.”

From “Cooper Foundation grants more than $1 million in 2007” in the Lincoln Journal Star.

I’ve heard tell of people in other locations whose schools have not even heard to the OLPC program, so the fact that LPS has taken the initiative to pilot the program is great.

Blogging Police Chief

As Michael Stephens recently pointed out, Lincoln’s police chief, Tom Casady, has his own blog. He’s a great blogger, and amazingly frank. A great example of engagement is this post, where one of the people he wrote about responded in the comments. Oh, and you can also learn the chief’s stand on zombie attacks.

It’s like geocaching for people without a GPS

Lincoln has a new initiative called “Lincoln Safari” where you use a map to go visit some out of the way places in Lincoln, take a rubbing of the signpost, and for some locations you’ll get a trinket. From the website:

“Lincoln Safari will get families and other groups of people off the couch and into unstructured corners and hidden places within Lincoln thus encouraging a sense of exploration and discovery. It will provide opportunities throughout the year to experience the natural environments in the Lincoln community.”

People can get the kits at any local library. Sounds fun! And, it’s free. I’m going to go pick up my kit today.