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May 14, 2007
How to Keep Up Professionally
I was excited today to the smiling point--and Sarah doesn't smile, so you know it's serious. I was reading Librarians Keeping Up and Making Time by Emily Clasper (author of the Library Revolution blog). She talks about the fact that she keeps up with her professional development by constantly reading and learning, while other coworkers don't (and show surprise and confusion about how she does it).
Sound familiar?
Emily makes four very good points in her article about why "keeping up" isn't optional. Go read the darn thing yourself to find out what they are. I will, though, entice you with a short quote from her post:
We need to keep informed. Sometimes librarians get so busy "doing our jobs" that we forget the responsibility we have to our profession.
found via Library Crunch
May 14, 2007 | Permalink
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Comments
Thanks for the mention!
It seems that this was a post that really hit home for a lot of people out there. I'm glad to see I'm not alone!
Posted by: Emily | May14, 2007
I agree with the article, it expresses just what I feel, but I don't know what to do Do I send copies to all those librarians who don't keep up and say they are too busy? Do I send copies to library administrators who don't see the need for staying on top of new developments? How do I change the situation?
Posted by: Sue | May15, 2007
It's slow change, but you can start by sending the stuff you find out to the librarians who aren't keeping up, either by e-mail or in print. Then you can start putting a list of "neat sites" in a staff newsletter or on the intranet. Then you can teach classes for the staff, to show them how easy and quick it is to keep up on their own--so they don't have to get "so many emails," or "bother looking at the intranet/newsletter." See--you gotta sell it to them as something that will SAVE them time, then they're off to the races. I've done it--this approach works.
Posted by: Sarah Houghton-Jan (LibrarianInBlack.net) | May15, 2007
Thanks for posting that link. I'm checking out Zoho this very moment.... Keep up the good work!
gz
Posted by: Gregory Z | May15, 2007
Great post from a great blog (and one I'd never encountered before today). I'll be adding Emily's blog to yours, Meredith's and Jessamyn's as my daily library blog reads.
Posted by: Clark | May16, 2007
