I must say that I really disagree with a recent post by Meredith Frakas. (I know…how dare I disagree with one of those movers and shakers in Libraryland!)

Now there is a debate raging about the value of speakers/presenters at conferences/workshops/whatever. By nature I’m really not a cranky or annoyed person, but some of the whining going on in the comments just made me want to say “Get it over it!” I’ve spent probably close to $2000 in the past month to speak/present at conferences and while money isn’t growing on the trees around my house, from the reactions I received from attendees of my presentations, it was money well-spent.

I will admit that I’m not entirely altruistic and am not presenting for the pure joy of it. And any person who is getting paid to present can’t entirely claim altruism either. I just don’t believe it…and you people know who you are. I present because I do have requirements for tenure as an academic librarian who wants to keep my job.

The thing I really disagree with it that whole thing about by presenting for free we are devaluing ourselves and our profession. This might be true if we’re doing this at non-library conferences. But when we share information with other librarians about innovations, new ideas, interesting ways of looking at problems, etc. we are actually adding value to the profession and helping others. I’m glad that people are willing to do so and still pay their way into a conference. The whole thing about getting everyone together to say no to not having expenses covered is frankly rather immature and selfish. How does this help anyone in the end and how does it add value to what we do when we cripple our state and regional organizations with demands for hotel, travel, food, drinks, massages, and fancy chocolates? (Hyperbole to prove the point here people.)

Okay, I will concede that maybe the registration fees could be waived or even drastically reduced. Early bird fees honestly are not that low for most conferences. An early bird fee that still runs in the $300 is still pretty expensive and it would be nice if there was some flexibility. However, for many organizations the other stuff is really not possible. It’s up to people putting in proposals to consider if they can really manage the expense of going. I hope that they can, because I know that I’ve heard some great presentations recently and am glad that these people were willing to pony up.

And it was rather glossed over that the committees that plan these things don’t get paid anything. Some of them do far more work than the presenters…particularly those presenters who do the circuit with the exact same content. (I groan when I see those names on programs because I’m easily bored…and some of those people are getting honorariums for being there and they really aren’t saying anything new.) These committees must have some belief that sharing and contributing and networking keeps the profession alive. And I doubt that presenters and attendees are really being thankful to them. Want to put money on the thought that most of what they get are complaints? The rooms are too cold/hot/moist/tropical/arctic. There weren’t enough vegetarian options at the reception/lunch/dinner/luau. Why couldn’t we have bottled water? Why are we polluting the environment with bottled water? The bathrooms were too far away. I’m sure you get the idea.

So let’s just heap one more huge complaint on top of everything else that people trying to organize good, useful, informative, exciting conferences are already getting. And if you think things are really being badly done, get on the next conference planning committee.

Sure, it would be nice to get some sort of “thank you”. At MPLA/ULA, the presenters got nice bags full of goodies and a thank you letter. I only did a poster presentation and got nothing except the entertainment of watching hotel staff drop plates all over the floor in the hallway where our posters were. (And that’s not a complaint because I got enough compliments and questions to keep me quite content.) The previous week, as an actual presenter of a session, I got nothing.

Maybe someday, I’ll be important enough to actually get honorariums. (Probably not. At least, I’m not holding my breath.) And I hate presenting because I get butterflies the size of elephants. However, I’ll keep on doing it because I strongly believe that it is important to share new ideas, blah, blah with other librarians and even those few outside the profession who decide to attend our conferences.

And to those who having to pay their own way to present still find the whole thing sticking in their craws, you have other ways to share you information. There are wikis, blogs, online conferences that don’t require travel, etc. The physical conference is not your only option these days and I encourage you to find other avenues. In fact, please do. Chances are some of us interested in what you have to say aren’t going to be in California or Florida or Australia.

Probably since I got my library degree I’ve been debating the value of a second masters. I rather envy those people who did the library thing second, but until I worked in a library I had no idea that I wanted to be a librarian. All I did know was that I wasn’t cut out to be a caseworker any longer and no amount of money was going to make me go back for an advanced degree in psychology or social work.

So, the debate continues. I actually started work on a MA in English. Really original considering all the librarians I know who have done that or an advanced degree in history. It occurs to me that this is not going to mean much if there are 20,000 other people out there with the same degrees. Which also really made me start thinking about how much value does a second degree have? And the answer to that is “it depends”.

My liaison departments are only loosely tied to my two BA’s in music and psychology. In fact, I’ll admit that selecting for art really does stretch me because I’ve got no background in that area, other than the fact that I enjoy going to museums and looking at pictures. I do select for psychology, but I don’t for music. Go figure! Basically what this tells me is that I can still select for areas that I may not necessarily have a great deal of expertise in. And how can I do that? By reading the professional journals in those areas, following up on reviews on materials, and consulting with the department faculty. Done, done, and done!

Of course, as a reference librarian I get all sorts of questions thrown at me from every discipline. And my job is to know how to find the best info. I can do that. However, I am at a university that mostly has undergraduates. If I were in a place that had something like advanced engineering degrees or something like that, I’d be completely out of my element. That’s when that specialized advanced degree would come in handy. And if I didn’t have it, I’d certainly be sending those students along to the librarian who did.

So, this brings me back to my initial problem. Do I need a second degree and if I do pursue it, what should I focus on? A few weeks ago, I came up with an answer to the question. English was not it. While I’ve enjoyed the classes and actually had a few ideas for my theses, in the end it doesn’t really add much to my job. I started thinking seriously about Instructional Design Technology (which is what we call the program in these parts). Hmmm. I’m writing tutorials. I hope to get us into podcasting. I like dealing with 2.0 technologies. In fact, I like what technology has to offer for libraries and I want to do more with it. And so on.

I found a degree that will be worthwhile and useful in my job now and hopefully wherever I end up in the future. I like reference and instruction and plan to keep on doing this for a long time. So, there you go. My process of figuring out more about what I’m doing as I grow up.

I’ve run across this question on listservs, message boards, blogs, etc. My advice is to really think about your future goals, look at the job market, and consider how much time you want and have to invest in more education.

I’ll be blogging for the rest of the week from the Off-Campus Services Library Conference in Salt Lake City. As we talk about things that are interesting and perhaps useful to others, I will share with those of you who read the NLB.

The first discussion I went to really got into what different people are doing as embedded librarians. This is something that I’m really interested in because my university has a few programs that either entirely online or are in remote locations. Honestly, we are not doing much for the most part at this point to really address the needs of this group of students and the instructors in these programs. But it looks like I’m going to get to learn quite a bit about what people are doing.

One things that I discovered is that librarians are involved in various levels of embeddment (is that a word? Well, it is now!) In general, this is not something that is occurring in every online or distance course. Partly because faculty/instructors don’t understand or need it. Also, the amount of time commitment over the semester varies depending on what type of services the embedded librarians is providing.

So, my thoughts are that this is definitely something most places can do. It will depend on the level of involvement that the librarian has. I think that we can have a library section and be a designer in the courses. This is a way to push particular resources that are specific to the classes and would be most helpful to the students. With the wealth of electronic and online resources, librarians should take an active role in distance education to let students know that they don’t have to actually go to a library to use what we have.

Of course, marketing this can be difficult. One things that can make things more enticing is show faculty what stuff is really valuable to them when they teach classes. The university does provide training on using Blackboard and it might be good to explore partnerships with the IT people in being part of the training to introduce what the library can offer through Blackboard.

I’m interested in hearing more about what people are doing in regards to embedded librarianship.

I just got in to Salt Lake City as part of this month’s circuit. You’d think the first thing I’d do would be find a taxi and head to the hotel or go grab some lunch.

Nope! While it’s still fresh in my mind, I wanted to talk a bit about customer service.

Okay, you might be groaning already because this is a topic that is really like the proverbial dead horse. I don’t know if I’ll put a different spin on it. But maybe I can remind you of a few principles.

I flew Southwest this time. Usually I avoid Southwest because my past experience has been that it’s rather like going Greyhound…just in the air. Previous experience pretty much steered me away, but cheap fares brought me back.

And the customer service will inspire me to use them again.

What was so great about what they did? Nothing really out of the ordinary. It was just the whole atmosphere that the flight crew created that made my two legs quite pleasant.

First of, these people used humor. Flying is stressful and a shot of laughter can make things much easier. Second, they showed a personal interest in the passengers. Not necessarily an easy thing to do in a cramped plane, for about an hour or so, with 90 some people to tend to. Third, they smiled. Seems like such an easy thing, but it’s amazing how many people I run into on a daily basis in service jobs that never crack a smile. It’s too bad that life is so serious for them.

See, these are pretty simple things. They remind a bit of the FISH philosophy. Play, make their day, be there, and choose your attitude. I don’t know if these people have ever even heard of FISH, but that’s what they were doing.

And we can do that too. Academic libraries can become such serious places. What would happen if we all showed how much we enjoy our work. (And if you don’t, you probably should be looking for another job.) Personally, part of why I’m a librarian is because I love the hunt. And I get excited. I’m sure some of the students I’ve worked with have thought I’m nuts. But nobody has ever complained about the fact that I do show enthusiasm about what I do.

And get your face out of the computer screen when you are at the reference desk. I know we all multi-task and are trying to cram 80 hours of work into 40 hour work weeks (like I ever only work 40 hours!), but that wrinkled brow with the look of intense concentration is not particularly approachable. Would you want to ask a question of someone who looks like they have better things to do? I’m not saying that we need to perch anxiously waiting for that next question. But making eye contact and offering a smile never killed anyone…at least not that I’m aware of.

Now let’s talk about what we don’t have to do. Customer service does not mean the customer is always write. We don’t have to let people run through the library screaming, look at child porn on our computers, or anything else that is just blatantly inappropriate. Just like the flight crew would not have let me start climbing over the seats because it wasn’t safe and good for the whole place, we can approach things the same way. And libraries also do not have to be all things to all people. Sure, I would love to get a massage on the plane (and I’m sure other people would as well), but I don’t expect a company that provides transportation to do my nails, walk my dog, and entertain me with a live concert. Libraries can set limits based on our overall mission. And believe it or not, focusing what we do and doing it well actually is good customer service.

Hopefully this was a bit different than the usual. Or you were reminded of something. How do you serve your customers?

For some reason, conferences are really on mind lately. Probably because I’m doing the circuit this month.

Conferences can be overwhelming to first time attendees. Actually they can even be overwhelming to those of us who are not novices. How can you make the best use of your time when you are there?

First, I’d recommend reviewing the final program before you get there. Yes, you’ll get a copy when you register, but it’s hard to actually sit down and look at the 100 pages of sessions in between networking, meals, actually going to sessions, finding the perfect crab cake, and whatever else you try to squeeze into a few days. So, before you think about what to pack (don’t forget your toothbrush!), hit the conference website and do some preliminary planning. It’s a good idea to make two choices for the time slots in case someone cancels a session due to poor travel weather, illness, etc. (Or you get to the room and find you actually have to sit on someone shoulders because there isn’t enough space.) You’ll have a back up. I find this always helps me stay relatively organized. (I will admit that sometimes I’m doing this step on the plane to whatever conference I’m traveling to. The point is that I do it before I actually get there.)

Second, once you actually get there, get a map of the facility to figure out where things are. Make sure to figure out where the bathrooms and water fountains are also. May sound silly, but when you’ve got fifteen minutes and there are 400 women lined up for 2 stalls, it helps to know where there might be another not so packed place. And it helps to have an idea how long you have to do that in-the-hall networking. (Although if the discussion is really good, don’t feel too bad about missing a session…unless it’s one you’re presenting at!) As someone who has no sense of direction in unfamiliar surroundings, a map is essential.

Third, check out what meetings are being held. Depending on who is hosting the conference, there will likely be committee meetings. This is a great time to find your library land niche and provide service to the profession. Seriously! Or if that’s not what you want, meetings just provide a different opportunity to hear about what people are doing and what’s going on.

Fourth, consider volunteering to help out in some way. Most conferences welcome volunteers to help out at the registration table, introduce speakers, etc. If the call goes out, consider helping out. It’s usually not a big time commitment (maybe an hour or two), but is a great way to meet people and get yourself known.

Fifth, don’t forget eating and sleeping. Make time to eat while you are conferencing. If you can, find other librarians to eat with. It’s another opportunity to meet people and talk about stuff. You don’t even half to talk about library stuff. Lots of conferences feature people with like interests getting together to hang out for an evening. As to the sleeping, it’s important to stay well-rested because conferences can be tiring. Let’s fact it, they are not generally mini-vacations for anyone who is sincere about learning and networking. It’s hard work and can be exhausting. So, make time for rest!

Hopefully you are now ready to get out there and confer with your fellow library folk.

One of the things that people will tell you to do when you are looking for a job is to network. Actually they’ll tell you to go to conferences and network.

But what if you don’t have the money, time, super-powers, etc. to actually get to a conference. If you are a new or soon-to-be graduate with student loans looming and only a crust of stale bread in the fridge, you may not be able to afford even the relatively cheap local conferences.

So what’s a person in need of good contacts to do?!

You don’t actually have to climb out of your sweats and pull yourself out of the recliner to network. These days with all the social networking stuff out there, you can network from the bathtub (just be careful about the whole electricity and water thing…and please don’t share your location!)

Personally I love Twitter, as I’ve mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago. I’ve got loads of “friends” who have actually been helpful to me in making suggestions about articles, websites to check out, and the best place to get margaritas in Anaheim. (In fact, this post is being written because of a suggestion from a Twitter friend.) Some of these people I’ve actually met in person and some of them I may never meet. But I’ve got this large, valuable network of chatty people who help me do my job better.

Ning is one of those places where you can go in a create your network. Or join a network. I found one on there for college librarians. Although I’ve not done much with it yet, I know that there is some great potential to share things and get ideas from other people doing the same thing I am. We all face many of the same issues on a daily basis and it’s great to have a place where people will help you figure things out.

Of course there is MySpace and Facebook. I’m a Facebook addict (or was until I became a Twitter addict) and actually talk with people through there quite a bit. Some of it’s entirely fun, like when someone sends me a drink or throws a snowball at me. But I’ve also had the opportunity to provide an aspiring librarian with some info about job searches and what it’s like to work in an academic library.

You can also comment on blogs, join listservs, start your own blog…get your name out there. Like anything on the interwebs, I will caution you to be careful about what you say and how you say it. But don’t be afraid to ask questions, make comments, and generally make a mark. If you do it right, people will want to meet you and you’ll have something else to talk about at those nerve-wracking lunches during your interview day.

There are so many reasons people go to conferences. For me, the reason depends on what the conference is about, who is hosting it, and my level of participation.

When I pick a conference based on the overall content, I’m usually going with the hope and goal of learning something I can use in my job. And I’ve been pretty successful so far in picking good ones for this purpose. For example, despite a great collection development course in my MLS program, when I started me current job, I wanted to make sure that I was current with the trends and issues. So, I jetted off to South Carolina for the Charleston Conference. (By the way, this is an excellent conference that I’d highly recommend you try to attend at some point if you do anything relating to collection development in your job.) In a few months, I’ll be going to Reference Renaissance in Denver because this is a huge aspect of my job and I know that I can always improve.

Sometimes, I go to conferences knowing that the content may not be exactly what I’m looking for, but knowing that the opportunity for networking will be ideal. Networking is important at all stages of your career, not just when you are looking for a job. (And you never know when your dream job might come your way because of someone you met while out and about.) I agree completely with people who say that sometimes the most important stuff you learn happens around the dinner table, while out for drinks, or hanging out in the hallway of some hotel’s convention center. The networking is particularly great at those smaller conferences hosted by the state or regional library associations. There aren’t as many people to be overwhelmed with and chances are, you’ll see and recognize the same faces every time you turn around. Not that you can’t do great networking at large conferences, but I prefer a more intimate environment.

And then there are those conferences where I’ve get to play an active role whether it is presenting or volunteering (and sometimes both). Being an active participant is more important for me currently because I’m on tenure track, which means I’m expected to do a certain amount of presenting each year. When I volunteer to help with various aspects, I also fulfill some of the requirements for service to the profession. Although, I’m likely to help out even without that just because I’m that sort of person.

In general, it’s nice to attend conferences where I get to do all three of these things. It’s sort of a more bang for the buck thing. No matter what your reasons are for attending conferences, I’d recommend that you find time and money and hit the road. Ask around if you’re not sure which ones would be best. Go local (or as close as you can) if time and money aren’t in large supply. There are lots of options and it will be worth it.

(By the way, there were no posts last week because I was finishing presentations and attending our state’s conference.)

Here are some upcoming library-related conferences for May. Great chances to network and learn some new stuff.

39th Annual Interlibrary Loan Conference - All Aboard the Wagon Train: Collaborations in Resource Sharing

MLA ‘08 - Connections: Bridging the Gaps

SAMM 08 - The Transformed Library

SLMSSENY

WLA Support Staff Conference - Initiate and Innovate in 2008

2008 SLMS Conference - Literacy & School Libraries: It All Adds Up

PSLA - SCORE!!! With Information Literacy and Reading @ your library

metadata for you & me (online)

Engaging Teens Conference

The Modern Role of the Library in Adult Education

The Information Professional as Educator (online)

Renaissance 2.0 - Imagine, Create, Transform

Annual Symposium on Intellectual Property

Empires of the Mind: Inventing the Future of Scholarly Publishing

April is National Poetry Month. Great time to showcase your library’s poetry collection. If you need ideas on ways to celebrate, check out Poets.org.

This might actually be something that other libraries are doing and it’s just finally hitting the news. As a student who has had to invest in course packs, I think this is a great idea. What took so long?