Alternative Careers & Personal Development

• Alternative Careers for Librarians
  A presentation by Vicki Casey, SLA Toronto meeting, February 9, 1999

• Alternative Careers Workshop
  In 1998, the students at the School of Library and Information Science of the Catholic University of America in Washington DC invited 5 panelists, all of whom hold M.L.I.S. degrees and work in fields outside of libraries, to give presentations addressing the nature of their current work, how and why they entered their current profession, positives and negatives of their career choice, relevance of their library degree to their work. Panelists include an information broker, a library systems integrator, a library association professional, a systems analyst and a business consultant

• Be your own boss!
  Thinking of setting up shop? These questions, as presented by Ulla de Stricker and Ron Davies at a recent professional development meeting, may help you decide. The sixteen questions focus on your motivations and circumstances, as well as on marketing, setting fees, recordkeeping and prioritizing conflicting jobs.

• Feature interview with Michelle McGinnis
  New Breed Librarian, April 2002
  This one belongs in the "I am so jealous I could scream department": Michelle is the "personal librarian" to cyberguru Kevin Kelly, cofounder of Wired Magazine. Among her more entertaining assignments was "a piece he (Kelly) was writing on the music industry for the New York Times. My assignment was to download and evaluate music swapping services like Morpheus and Limewire. I spent days finding and listening to music. Cool." (If at this point, you want to scream, please feel free). The New Breed Librarian is a bimonthly publication intended to foster a sense of community for those new to librarianship, whether in school or just out. Every two months, there is a feature article and an interview with someone - not necessarily a librarian.

• Jump in, the Water's Fine: Altenative Choices for Librarians
  Article by Maureen Johnson in Feliciter, Vol. 46 No. 5 (2000), 260-262.
  The author explains her jump to private industry. "Private industry has also changed during the past 10 years…Organizational skills are considered essential, but so is the ability to assess the information within the mandate of the needs of the company and so is the ability to communicate solutions and possibilities… This requires a staff person capable of liaison with systems, sales, customers, marketing and operations. And this is what librarians do every day and have studied hard to learn to do well."

• Looking for Work
  (Quill & Quire, November 1997, pg. 11)
  "Information resources consultant Françoise Hébert, who teaches Information Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto, offers ... guidelines to new graduates and experienced librarians seeking work in non-traditional fields."

• The New Information Pros
  by Lisa Peryman
  (Quill & Quire, November 1997, pp. 10-12)
  "As public library jobs dry up, librarians are pitching their skills to the private sector, or setting up shop for themselves"

• New Jobs Emerging In and Around Libraries and Librarianship
  by Donna R. Dolan and John Schumacher
  (Online, November/December 1997, p. 68-76)
  "A comprehensive investigation of want ads and interviews with librarians and librarians-in-training reveals newly re-defined jobs and new positions requiring traditional librarian skills. "

• Non-traditional jobs for special librarians
  A chapter from the "Special Libraries Management Handbook: The Basics", a website written by students in CLIS 724 (Special Libraries and Information Centers) at the University of South Carolina College of Library and Information Science during the Spring 1999 and 2000 semesters. Provides an analysis of the variety of jobs available for special librarians

• Sex Toys? You Bet! Librarians in Non-Traditional Positions
  Article by Megan Butcher in Feliciter Vol. 47 No. 6 (2001) . Megan, who has an MLIS degree, runs a sex shop. She does marketing, "catalogues" the sex toys, does "user education"... Never mind, you'll just have to read the article