One of the long-standing jokes of librarianship is that we all got into the profession because “we love to read”, the punchline of course being that we’re all too overworked to read for fun. While I don’t think anyone should enter professional librarianship with the expectation that reading is a requirement of the job (note: … Continue reading
Author Archives: Rebecca Halpern
On professionalism
A few weeks ago, Rory Litwin posted a bit of a treatise on professionalism in librarianship on the Library Juice Press blog. He addresses several trends he notices in the deprofessionalization of librarianship, and though the blogosphere was only one point of many, that’s the issue that got the most attention. Because I just can’t … Continue reading
Why I Learned To Love the Command Line
I’m sure you’ve all heard a million times by now that libraries are looking for young professionals with technology skills. And I’m sure you’ve all thought to yourself “But of course, I use technology all the time! I’m proficient in the Microsoft Office Suite, I conduct online research like a champ, I would medal in … Continue reading
To Write Or Not To Write: The Master’s Report
In my program, like many others, graduation is contingent on completing a culminating project. At the University of Texas, that is called a “Capstone experience.” The overwhelming majority of students choose an internship or semester-long project with a library, archive, or local business or nonprofit. At the end of the semester, the student creates a … Continue reading
Welcome New Writers!
In the spirit of new beginnings, the Hack Library School crew has inducted eight new contributing writers. We had a huge amount of interest and wanted to diversify the group as much as possible. We’re very excited for you to meet our new bunch, so here we go! Amy Frazier: H! I’m a first-year MLS … Continue reading
How to Spend Your Winter Vacation
Did everyone hear that? That was the sound of one giant sigh of relief. If your school runs on semesters, you are very likely finished or close to finished with your semester. Congratulations! Now is the time we should all relax and spend time with our neglected friends and family. Right? If you’re anything like … Continue reading
