To Read Tues: Recommended Reading Twitter Question

We got a question on Twitter over the weekend about reading material for LIS: 

RT @brandontlocke: Any recommended reads for aspiring/future MLIS students?

It is difficult to respond to such a question in 140 characters or less. I made the attempt by suggesting reputable blogs and e-news sources for LIS information and fiction for mind expansion (and fun!). Feeling that a little more was needed I have expanded with advice, links and resources.

[Series] Hack ALA: Our ALA ’11 Recommended Sessions

Editors Note: Welcome to Hack ALA Week! We’ve been planning this for quite some time now, and although we’re titling this a “Week” you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll continue writing about ALA generally beyond this week. As the preeminent professional organization in our profession, whose mandates and bylaws permeate our classrooms as well as our future workplaces, the American Library Association deserves a critical eye as much as any other part of professional librarianship. Our goal herein is to examine this organization from the students’ perspective, weighing pros and cons and assessing the value of membership for the library school student. There are myriad opinions on ALA and we encourage readers to explore them all, and hope that our subsequent posts on the topic offer an insight to how the organization works, and particularly this week, on how to survive ALAs Annual Conference. Enjoy and as always, we welcome you to think critically about, challenge and respond to our writings.
*******************************************

ALA Annual is lauded as “The Worlds Largest and Most Dynamic Library Conference and Exhibition,” and arguably it can be seen as a rite of passage for new LIS professionals. There is no easy way to say this – the conference is a gigundo-crazy-overwhelming-ridicoulo-book/people/knowledge fest. I’m pretty sure even the seasoned ALAer veteran is still like a kid in a candy shop when the conference kicks off. That said, I, your friendly neighborhood HackLibSchool blogger, took to the web and through some major investigative efforts (made supremely easy by ALA Connect’s Conference Scheduler) have compiled a list of the sessions and yes, even some informal meetups that LIS students might find interesting. Below is a short list; I deliberately avoided any career/interest sessions as I’d encourage you to investigate those options on your own. Check out the New ALA Members tag for a good overview of some other sessions to consider.

Best of Semester One

Hi,

Since we are all still students, or very VERY early career LIS pros, this time of year is especially full of things to do. That said, you’ll see new content slow down here, for at least the next week or two. We’ll be planning the summer semester’s worth of writing, recruiting new Editors/contributors, and generally resting after an amazing kick-off semester this Spring.

To keep you busy we’ve compiled some reading lists you can return to over the next few weeks and get caught up on. Think of it as HackLibSchool 101.

Our Top 10 Posts (by hits):

• Job Tips for Future/Recent Grads
• Speak up! Advocating for the UW iSchool
• Non-Traditional Roles in LIS
• Volunteering in LIS – not what you expect
• Redefining Information Literacy for the Networked World
• How I Hacked Library School – WEB APPS!
• Twitter in Library School
• Peer Review in Library School: Helpful or Headache?
• [non]LIS Blogs to Follow
• The Road to ALA ’11: LIS Student Tips and Tricks

Top Post per Editor:

• Diversity in LIS – From My Perspective – Micah Vandegrift
• So, Why Do You Want a PhD? – Julia Skinner
• Someone To Look Up To – Finding Your Library Hero – Zack Frasier
• Non-Traditional Roles in LIS – Nicole Fonsh
• The Name Game – Heidi Kittleson
• From Print to Digital – The Future of the Book – Annie Pho
• Don’t Like Your Curriculum? Change it! – Britt Foster
• So You Want to Be a Special Librarian? – Lauren Dodd

Best Comment Conversations:

• What is there to argue about in Library Science? Well, how about everything!
• Online Presence, a.k.a. You 2.0
• Big Tent Library School

Catch Up on Our Series’:

Experiencing LIS – Posts about getting experience and/or what the experience of Library School is like.

LIS Blogs to Follow – Self explanatory.

To-Read Tuesday – Our (and your) picks for things to read, that we’re reading, or would like to read someday!

Declassified – Comparing curriculum and courses between two schools

TMI – (Two Minute Insights). Shortcasts where we post one question to a leader in the field and they have two minutes to respond.

Most Tweeted Article:

You’re Invited to #libchat

Weirdest Search Terms That Led Someone to Our Blog:

• “Fun things to mod or hack”
• “how to hack in to a university library computer”
• “katie long island library science masters -crook”
• “middle aged white man needs to change careers”
• “everything was better back when everything was worse cartoon”
• “hack librayr school”
• “what is a library”

Recommended by Your Humble Editors:

Micah

• Cohen, Dan. (March 1, 2011). What Scholars Want From a Digital Public Library of America
• Watters, Audrey. (February 28, 2011). Do E-book Users Need a Bill of Rights? (Librarians Think So.)
• Howard, Alex. (April 1, 2011). Congress Weighs Deep Cuts to Funding for Federal Open Government Platforms
• Reside, Doug. (April 4, 2011). What is a Digital Curator? (NYPL’s first digital curator)
• Holmes, Linda. (April 11, 2011). The Library Card as a Pop Culture Fiend’s Ticket to Geek Paradise
• Oswalt, Patton. (December 27, 2010). Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die.
• Serrota, Maggie. (February 16, 2011). Academia, Girl-Style Now: NYU’s riot grrrl archives finally opens.

Zack

Barbakoff, Audrey , and Ferrari, Ahniwa (March 25th, 2011) – Filter This!

Annie

• Goodman, Amanda. (April 13, 2011). How I Job Search
• Potter, Ned. (Oct. 06, 2010). You want to work in libraries? Essential Careers Advice for New Professionals
• Rasmus, Daniel W. (March 31, 2011). 10 Lessons from Angry Birds That Can Make You a Better CIO
• Stephens, Michael. (Feb 15, 2011). Seek a Challenge | Office Hours
• Woodworth, Andy. (Feb. 10, 2011). Open Thread Thursday: Library School

Julia

• Dworak, Melody (Mar. 5, 2011) Diversity in LIS.
• In the Library with the Lead Pipe (Sept. 15, 2010) On Upward Mobility in Librarianship.
• Litwin, Rory (Feb. 26, 2011). Some Objections to Our Use of Library Statistics.
• Sellie, Alycia. (Mar. 5, 2011) Librarians Against DRM and This Post Will Self-Destruct After 26 Views.
• Smalter Hall, Rachel (Mar. 23, 2011) Librarians Taking Charge.

Nicole

• Abrams, Ingrid. (Apr. 9, 2011) The Agony and the Advocacy/The Advocacy and the Apathy.
• Kaszynski, Steven V. (Apr. 07, 2011) Exit the Echo Chamber.
• King, David Lee (Feb. 4, 2011) 10 Tips to Do Presentations Like Me.
• Newman, Bobbie (Apr. 18, 2011) My Favorite Tools in 10 Installments.
• West, Jessamyn (Mar. 22, 2011) Offline America.

Britt

• Abram, Steven (January 5, 2011) Innovation Questions
• Garbor, Marjorie, and David L. Ulin (April 6, 2011) The Use and Abuse of Literature
• Lankes, Dave (March 29, 2011) Journalism and Librarianship, AKA, The participatory, assertive, subversive, radically positive librarian via The Unquiet Librarian
• Pullman, Philip (January 28, 2011) Market Fanatics Will Kill What Makes Our Libraries Precious
• Woodworth, Andy (March 27, 2011) SunSpec: The Lending Culture

Lauren

• Dority, Kim (April 10, 2011) What Else Can You Do With Your LIS Skills? Identifying Job Possibilities.
• Deards, Kiyomi (April 14, 2011) Tales from the Tenure Track: Vol. I.I.
• Hardenbrook, Joe (April 20, 2011) Cover Letters, Resumes, and Interviews, Oh My!
• Kaddell, Marie, Ed. (June 3, 2010) Best Practices for Government Libraries 2010: The New Face of Value.