A Midsemester Night's Dream

Technically midsemester passed a few weeks ago. This means I'm a bit late to the party. My intention was to write this post last week while I was at the Electronic Resources & Library (ERL) conference in Austin. However, that week was a whirlwind. The ERL conference was a great experience. I met lots of very smart people. I got to play with Google Glass. I got to handle 3D printed objects. I met librarians who were struggling with new technology as well as those who were embracing it wholeheartedly. I met librarians from Australia, the UK, Canada, and far flung points of the United States. I met librarians from the Library of Congress, MIT, and scads of other small public or academic libraries from all over.  I learned a lot about what employers want out of new MLIS graduates (its all about e-resources!).

Over the past few months I've been thinking about my future. My current situation with my own job is unstable but workable. I love it, so I'm hanging on. The two posts I did on possible jobs (here and here) left me with a sense of maybe that's not really what I want to do when I finish my degree. I've always wanted my PhD and so I started the process of locating a program that speaks to me. The University of Texas at Austin's School of Information was on my short list. While I was in Texas I met with several of the professors in the program. I have some good ideas about what I'd like to do for a doctoral thesis and the professors I met seemed enthusiastic and encouraged me to apply. At first I was enthusiastic too. The school is modern. The professors are personable and interesting. The doctoral students are well adjusted and don't look underfed. Even so, there was something nagging at me saying "Is this really where you want to be in two years?" By the time I was on the road home, the answer had turned from "maybe" to "probably not."

A third experience while in Texas has added to this thought process. One of our projects for the Intro to the Profession class (The one that spawned this blog!) was to visit two libraries and to compare and contrast the two. I chose my local library, the Englewood Public Library and the Casey Memorial Library at Fort Hood, Texas. The Casey Memorial Library is a public library located on the grounds of one of the largest military bases in the world. It is open to everyone, but it caters mostly to soldiers and their families stationed there. While there, I sort of fell in love. When I worked in a public library, the thing I loved the most was the people I served. I spoke before about my desire to work in the defense industry or something related and I think that a military library might be *it.* It combines two of my great loves: Libraries and supporting our soldiers. The director has been employed there since 1974. The second longest serving librarian would not tell me how many years she had in the military library system but a quick tally of the years she said she was in various places brings it to more than 25 years. Any time one finds a place where people are willing to stay for decades at a time, it is worth looking closer at that employer. There are pros and cons to finding a job in a military library. The first would be that one would need to get her foot in the door first, relocate to wherever that opening was, and then later wait for an opening in a geographical area she wanted to be. Something tells me that I want to be in the military library system.

What other thoughts do I have about this semester? Well, for one, after the ER&L conference I'm going to be gearing my education more towards e-resources because of the emphasis librarians placed on being able to hire people qualified to deal with databases and electronic resource licensing. I still love my scripting class. I'm ready to take the summer off. I'm ok with taking three years to complete this degree. I've also decided I'm going to keep this blog. I've canned my other library themed blog and I will continue this one after the semester is over. It's grown on me.

The Job Search (Part 2)

Back in The Job Search (Part 1) I laid out two of my "dream jobs." Now, I'd like to take a little time to muse on what I need to get where I'd like to go. The job with the Air Force would take the most work. In addition to my MLIS studies I would need to focus heavily on computer programming and security. I already have an understanding of database systems and how they work. I have a natural inclination towards programming and information structures. In order to be truly qualified I would likely need to look outside of my MLIS program in order to obtain the proper background in computer security. I still believe the MLIS degree would provide a helpful background for this position insofar as I continue to focus on digital content and information management.

The second of the two jobs, the one with Haynes and Boone, would be the easy path. I'm already quite proficient with Microsoft Excel. I love manipulating data and pulling insights out of seemingly unrelated bits of information. I'm already an experienced researcher. Much of what would be required from me at a position like this is what I already do. The difference is Haynes and Boone requires an MLIS degree.

So if this is the line of work I want to do am I on the path that I need to be on?

Well sort of. The Airforce job would require me to do far more in the computer programming side. I would absolutely enjoy it, but its a little outside of the realm of my MLIS studies. The Haynes and Boone position is very similar to the sort of work I already do and have done in the past. Rather than a question of "Am I on the right path?" I'm running into a "Is this what I really want?" The answer to the second questions is a tentative "Not really . . . " It seems a third path may be calling my name. I think I'll address the appearance of this third path in my next post when I take a look at my first semester from the vantage point of the halfway mark.