From Informational Interview to Reference Interview
I recently started taking people out to coffee like it’s my job. About a month ago, in the middle of my first quarter of library school, I moved to a […]
Hack Your Worldview: How to Build a Diverse Network of Allies and Mentors
As future information science professionals, each of us has a responsibility to promote diversity in our profession, the collections we manage, and the services we offer our patrons. This notion […]
Connect the Dots: Developing Professional Relationships with LIS Students and Faculty
Because many LIS programs are online-based, it can be difficult to meet people in your program. Yes, there may be required group assignments in certain classes, but that doesn’t guarantee […]
LinkedIn For Library School
Many of us have probably heard a similar line before: “You NEED a LinkedIn page if you’re job hunting.” While LinkedIn is not a one-size-fits-all platform for job hunters, it […]
How to Succeed in Life by Just Showing Up
I’m a fan of advice columns (current faves are Ask a Manager and Captain Awkward) and a topic that comes up regularly is how to make friends as an adult. […]
What to Do with Your Summer Now That Your Internship’s Cancelled
The semester is winding down. Some of us are graduating and will be waiting out hiring freezes, and others of us are facing a summer with radically changed plans or […]
Playing Tourist in Libraries
If you read my last post, you know I went on a study abroad trip to the Netherlands with my MLIS program. I also traveled on my own for fun; […]
What Your Local History Conference Can Do for You
It’s conference season here at Hack Library School, and this weekend I dipped my toes in the conference pool for the first time. Well, almost the first time—20+ years ago […]
Networking: Tips, Tricks, and Lessons Learned
Networking. It’s a word that’s thrown around a lot and is an inevitable part of professional life. Some previous HLS writers have given their thoughts on the topic. One wrote […]
Be the Face of Your Student Organization
Does your program have an ALA Student Chapter? At University of Iowa, our student chapter is called the Library and Information Science Student Organization (LISSO, for short) and I had […]
Connecting with the Incoming Class
It’s officially August, which means summer is coming to an end, and the first day of classes is right around the corner. This time last year marked a move to […]
Meeting the Women in the Boxes: Reflections on Events in the Archives
Have you ever seen the stacks of an archives? In most cases, they are rows and rows of standard sized archival boxes. The only indication of the exciting content within […]
Tips for Attending Big Conferences
I just got back from attending the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) annual conference. It was the biggest professional conference that I’ve ever attended and going into it I was […]
Just one more thing…
(Well ok, it’s actually going to be five more things but the Columbo picture wouldn’t have made sense if I’d given it that as a title). So here we are, […]
Hack Your Faculty: Building Relationships with Professors
Networking can be one of the most daunting tasks for new library professionals, so much so that we’ve discussed it here at Hack Library School several times before. If you’re […]
Conference Planning 101
On November 11 and 12, Hawai’i Library Association held its annual conference in Hilo (on the “Big” Island). As a state-wide conference (in a small state), it’s obviously a much […]
Speed Mentoring- Can it Work for You?
The importance of mentoring has been addressed often by Hack Library School contributors (here, here, and here). In an effort to learn more about how to obtain a mentor, I […]
An Interview With Jan Kamiya, YA Librarian Extraordinaire
I first became acquainted with Jan’s electric enthusiasm when I attended her presentation at last year’s Hawai’i Library Association conference, entitled “Making Connections for Network and Outreach.” I took frantic […]
Owning Your Professional Engagement
Until this summer, I never struggled with feeling disconnected as a student or a professional. I chose an in-person LIS program for precisely this reason, and my public library job […]
Staying Sharp During the Summer
One of the most important aspects of library school and, in the future as we pursue work in the information profession, is staying up-to-date on what’s going on in the […]
Grounding Academic Librarianship and Elitism
Less than four months into my MLIS, I have already become immersed in the library world within academia. Not only do I wish to be an academic librarian after I […]
Comic-Con Librarianship
Librarians love a conference – there’s nothing quite like getting together with a hall full of your like-minded peers to discuss library life. However, dedicated librarian conferences like ALA Annual […]
3 Lessons learned at my first library conference
At the beginning of this month, Computers in Libraries descended upon the Washington DC area, taking up residence at the Washington Hilton hotel for the better part of a week. […]
Let’s talk about CVs
Places flashlight under chin. I’m going to tell y’all a story. So once there was a library student just like you, sitting at this computer that was very much like […]
Hacking the networking game as a student
One of the most perplexing facets of working in the professional world -for me, anyway – is figuring out how to network, especially while you’re still in school. I come from a […]
How to Nail Any Informational Interview
Do you know what’s scary? Networking. It is just this monolith of an idea and often it evokes images of large events with sticker name tags, tiny plastic plates of […]
Five Tips for Finding a Part-Time Library Job
In library school you will learn the theory behind many important library functions. Practical experience, then, becomes really important for your future career. A part-time job, for those who do […]
Getting to Know the Archival Profession From Within
My relationship with the Library of Congress starts in January, in Wisconsin, where I am beginning my second semester of library school. A beloved teacher of archival studies, who has […]
LIS Advice: the Greatest Hits
I’ve been thinking a lot about this post – how to sum up my time in library school, how to sum up my time with HLS, and what kind of […]
Let’s Talk Listservs
You’re a savvy library student. You read HLS, you may be active on Twitter, you’re learning to network with other library students and librarians—you’re doing it all right. There are […]
ALA Annual Meetup!
Hey there Hackers! Are you attending ALA this year? If so, join HLS writers and alumni for a drink! Where? Tempest, 431 Natoma St., San Francisco. When? Saturday, June 27 from […]
Things I Miss about Library School–and What I’m Doing About It!
Since I graduated from North Carolina Central University with a Masters in Library Science last December, I’ve had about five months (where does the time go?) to catch up some […]
Top Mistakes I Made at my First Conference
Last month I had the opportunity to attend ALA Midwinter, my first multi-day conference. I was stoked, but totally unprepared. Here are some of the things I did wrong and […]
A Farewell to On-Campus Days
This March I will make the trek to Urbana-Champaign for the on-campus portion of my program for the last time. Up until recently, online students in the LEEP program were […]
Networking for Introverts
Networking. If you’re anything like me, the idea doesn’t exactly thrill you. I’m a friendly, chatty person (pity the people in my office, they cannot escape), and I genuinely love […]
A Multitude of You 2.0’s
Way back in 2011, this blog featured a pair of posts about personal branding, the idea of designing and manging your professional, digital self. In Online Presence, a.k.a. You 2.0, Annie reminded us of the importance of being ‘Googleable’ and of our abilities to control the information that employers can […]
Prepping for Post-Conference Opportunities
Conferences, big or small, tend to be overwhelming, especially as a student. There is tons of information to absorb, there are lots of people to meet, and there are many events/sessions to scurry to. In my limited conference experiences I’ve found that it’s best to go in with a handful of […]
New Professionals and the Power of Asking
Asking is more than professional networking, salary negotiating, or relationship building, though any of these can motivate or arise from asking. Neither are we talking about currying favor. For me, asking falls into three general categories: seeking information, requesting roles or resources, and interrogating assumptions. Asking empowers new professionals to gain […]
Top Twitter Hashtags for Librarians
Are you ready to become a tweetbrarian? Twitter is a fantastic tool for engaging with other librarians, monitoring LIS trends and debates in real time, and gathering unfiltered insights and inspiration from peers and seasoned professionals. The challenge for new tweeters is to know where to start among the 5,000 librarylanders on Twitter! So […]
Recruiting New LIS Students
I was excited to read recently that ALA is sponsoring a series of informational workshops with the hopes of recruiting a wider pool of students interested in library & information science. The workshops, which are an IMLS-funded partnership between the ALA Office for Diversity & Spectrum Scholarship Program and LIS graduate programs in […]
Top 8 Reasons to go to an International Library Conference
I recently traveled to Barcelona, Spain for BOBCATSSS, a library conference organized by European library science students. Upon returning I realized that many of my peers were unaware of the variety of international library conference opportunities that students can take advantage of. As LIS students, we are frequently encouraged to […]
Hack Your First Professional Conference
I have never met a conference I did not like. In the last four years, I have attended twelve academic conferences ranging in size from under 150 to over 5,000 participants. I have presented papers, sat on panels, moderated debate, lead workshops, and worked logistics. In my experience, all conferences […]
Creating and Curating Your Digital Professional Learning Network
Hello, hackers! Do you have a digital PLN? If not, this post will explain the concept and share some tips for success. I discovered the concept of the digital PLN (a web-based personal or professional learning network) through an information literacy instruction class I took in Fall 2013. One of […]
Service Learning: Friend or Foe?
One of my courses this semester (Community Informatics) required a sizable amount of “service learning” (for those who don’t know, service learning is basically community service/volunteering activities that are incorporated into a course). When I mentioned the extensive, unpaid time commitment that the service learning represented to a friend of […]
Your Very First Library Student Business Cards
At the beginning of this summer I was faced with a pretty lengthy list of long-range-to-do’s, one of which was “business cards(?)” (yes, I put question marks on my to-do lists…). After seeing business cards encouraged in many Hack Library School posts, and after realizing I’d probably want some for ALA, I decided […]
ALA Student to Staff Program
This weekend I’ll be travelling to Chicago and attending ALA Annual as part of the Student to Staff (S2S) program. S2S is an opportunity provided by ALA wherein individual student representatives from 40 of the ALA-accredited library schools are selected by their institutions and then sent to ALA Annual. S2S provides […]
Informational Interviews for LIS Students
Last week I found myself suddenly teary-eyed during a meeting with a librarian. No, I wasn’t sad or upset. The librarian’s obvious love for his work had just inspired and moved me so much that I couldn’t keep my eyes from filling. I’m only a little bit embarrassed to admit […]
Library School Resolutions
Happy New Year, hackers! I hope that everyone had a nice, relaxing holiday break, and that you’re all refreshed and ready for a new semester. With classes starting next week for me, I thought I would take some time to come up with a few resolutions to guide me through […]
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Media
I’d like to start my tenure here at Hack Library School with a dose of brutal honesty: I’m not a huge fan of people. Ok, to be fair, it’s not that I don’t LIKE people. It’s just that, as an introvert, I find them exhausting, and the prospect of seemingly […]
Emerging Leaders and Professional Involvement
Editor’s Note: This is a Guest Post by Anita R. Dryden This past year I had the pleasure of participating in the American Library Association’s Emerging Leaders program, which is designed to help new librarians get involved in ALA. Throughout the course of the program you attend leadership training, meet […]
[Series] Hack ALA: Annual Party!
Today we’ve got a special guest post from JP Porcaro with lots of advice and fun events to check out this year at ALA. He’s a 2012 Mover and Shaker, head guy at 8-bit library, and tweets at @8bitlibrary. Hey hacklibschool team, JP here (you know, #partyhard #makeithappen guy). If […]
[Series] Hack ALA: Professional Preparations
Editor’s Note: This follows in a series of posts in our annual Hack ALA Week dedicated to all things conference-y and professional. As students, it’s important to get your feet wet in the LIS professional world early, and as often as your budget allows. While these posts are ALA Annual-themed, much […]
[Series] Hack ALA: Our Recommended Sessions
Editor’s Note: We are happy to kick off our second annual Hack ALA week! We’ll be dedicating posts this week to all things conference-y and professional. As students, it’s important to get your feet wet in the LIS professional world early, and as often as your budget allows. While these […]
HackLibSchool Conversation Starter
I am pleased to say that HackLibSchool will be holding two events at this years ALA Annual conference. Awhile back, I wrote about trying to bring HLS and the issues we care about to the conference level. Well, I’m happy to say that our Conversation Starter was accepted! To be […]
Presenting at Conferences while in Library School
There have been some terrific posts about conferences on HackLibSchool in the past: Chris recently wrote about unconferences and Joanna wrote a post earlier this year encouraging students to attend conferences as a library student. Today I want to take these posts a step further and encourage other future librarians and […]
Why you should register for a conference ASAP
Here we are in the second month of the semester and if you are new to your LIS program, you’re probably just trying to get your feet under you (as I was a year ago). Old hands are re-acclimating to the familiar not-enough-hours-in-the-day feeling and we are all looking at […]
Hack Your Program: Indiana University-Bloomington School of Library & Information Science
Disclaimer: This post is a product of my experiences as an IU-B SLIS student. Please know that my opinions are not intended to be representative of the opinions of any other student, faculty/staff member, or librarian. All criticism is meant to be constructive. So, first things first: My name is […]
ALA Midwinter – Quick Preview
In case you haven’t yet had the opportunity to be introduced to the idea of professional networking, here’s a quick intro: librarians near and far, from all varieties of the field, twice a year attend gigantic conferences hosted by our preeminent organization, the American Library Association. There are constant debates […]
Making the most of mentorships
Earlier this week, Ashley discussed some of the ways to hack your advisor–but what if you get stuck with someone you don’t like? Or doesn’t know much about your field of study? Or just plain stinks? Lucky for you there is an oft-neglected source of sage wisdom and comforting words: […]
Unpacking the Conference: Planning, Execution, and Afterthoughts
This post is a shared effort between HLS editor Julia Skinner and Katie DeVries Hassman, Sam Bouwers, and Gwen Persons, who were part of the conference planning team for Unpacking the “Library”: Exploring Works in Progress Across the Field of LIS. Other planners included Melody Dworak, Christine Mastalio, and Julie […]
SLA 2011 + HackLibSchool
Just a quick reminder for any of our readers who might be attending the Special Libraries Association conference in Philadelphia this coming week – Our friend and contributing writer Lauren Bradley has organized a get together for LIS students and n00brarians. See the details below and RSVP to the Facebook […]
[Series] Hack ALA: Get Your Network On!
ALA is the largest library conference in the nation. It brings together different librarians from across the country, all in one place. It gives everyone the opportunity to meet new people and network. This is pretty fantastic if you think about it, but for a newbie student or librarian who […]
Twitter in Library School
Last semester I took the class, User Instruction, as an elective. For our final assignment we had to create a 15 minute tutorial on anything library-related for any type of audience. Since over the last 6 months or so I have had a love affair with Twitter, especially since it […]
