Almost a librarian!

One project stands between me and full librarian status! (Unless you're one of those sticklers who thinks you have to have some number of years in the field, first. But my title, once I start work, will be both Assistant Professor of Library Science and Web Services Librarian--I hope I can put both on my business card :)--so I feel pretty good about going ahead and using the L word.) And I have enough of it done that I could probably turn it in now and graduate. At this point, I'm just trying for the "A."

I have a couple of posts planned--one requires me to steel myself and read the technophobic rantings of the anti-Kindle pro-death-of-trees fringe (I tell myself they're the fringe, but I honestly don't know), and the other is kind of a review of the Pitt library school experience. I'll try to stick to the positive and the constructive, because I see no point in discussing any problems to which I can't offer solutions. Apparently, each graduating student has the right to an exit interview with the Dean of the school; I'm tempted to take him up on that. I have a lot to say.

Anyway, I feel like being finished with classes and within sight of finishing all of my projects is a mile marker, something worth posting about in its own right. I wish I could say I feel jubilant and proud, but all I really feel is exhausted, in debt, and anxious to move on to the next thing. ... Not that that's so very bad a feeling, honestly, because I am so excited about the work I'll get to do, the library I'll work at, the coworkers I'll work with, and the town I'll live in! But there's an awful lot of logistics (and driving!) between me and the start of that job.

As promised...

I'm blogging the move to Alaska: http://movingtoalaska.wordpress.com

If you're more the RSS type, click here to go right to the feed. (You'll miss my cool map, though!)

Good news!

I have a job! (As in, I received and signed an official, printed, mailed job offer today, which I plan to photocopy and mail back tomorrow.) But it's not just any job—it's precisely the kind of job I wanted to be doing, at a dynamic library, in a beautiful city, with excellent coworkers.

I will be working at the University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University's Consortium Library, as a Web Services Librarian. Part of my job will be Web site stuff—making sure the library's home page is working and troubleshooting when electronic resources act up—part will be reference and liaison work, and part will be committee and working group activities. It sounds like there will be plenty of variety to the work, leaving room to fiddle with new and different technologies as time and interest allow. I like my coworkers—they're laid back and fun, but also pretty dedicated librarians, which is exactly the kind of people I want to be working with. And they know I'm not a total genius with all of the development languages in use on their site, yet, which is nice. (I still plan to get a lot closer to genius level before I start work, though.) Finally—and this might sound stupid—I will have a window office. That makes me so, so, so much happier in places like DC and Pennsylvania, so it'll be absolutely amazing in Alaska!

Now, when I tell people about this, I get one of two reactions: "Alaska? Awesome! (Can I come visit?)" or "Alaska? Really? (Bleh!)" Although I really am sad to leave friends and family so far behind, I'm still pretty excited about living in Anchorage: it's a a far sight warmer and lighter in winter than some other parts of the state, and it's a city in its own right—just a little smaller than Pittsburgh. Though moose are not an uncommon sight, even in town. :) And, seriously, I've never been anywhere prettier. There are mountains high enough to have glaciers even in summer, and there's water, and there are state and national parks and forests all around the city—so much to explore!

I've promised to blog the move. If you have a strong opinion about whether I should do that here or make a new blog for it, leave me a comment, but for now, I'm planning to make a new blog and just link it from here and the homepage—keep this blog about librarianship. I'll have some exciting things to write, this year! (You can reasonably expect another post or two about library school before I get to blogging about the new job.)

Chicago: There and back again

Instead of catching up with Google Reader (which is always the first social medium I let slide, particularly on my netbook, where it's annoying to navigate), I thought I'd write up a brief post about ALA. You know, to stuff up all of your Google Readers. ;)

I admit, I was a little less star-struck this year than last. Part of that might be the location—Chicago's more spread out, with a lot more noise and traffic, than Anaheim—and part might be that I had a miserable cold and therefore took it a lot slower than I normally would. (If I didn't have seven other people depending on me to show up to the Book Cart Drill Team championship, I would have bowed out. I was so very, very sick. I'm still not feeling great.) Alternately, it could be the fact that I am almost a librarian, myself, now, where last year I was a library assistant who hadn't begun the MLIS. Not to say library assistants don't have valid opinions! I was just, you know, unnecessarily timid.

At any rate, I did attend some sessions. The bright shining star out of the ones I attended was definitely LITA's Content Management Systems panel. I thought it was very educational and fairly practical. I wish I could have gone to more LITA events—I was too tired to make Friday's Open House and Happy Hour and too busy with prior commitments (mostly NMRT and Book Cart stuff) to make most of the others. I'll catch them virtually, though.

As far as other conference activities, I staffed the NMRT booth for an hour, which is definitely enjoyable! Upon further consideration, I should probably not have signed up for the morning after I arrived; I had to orient myself within the Exhibit Hall super fast, to help others get around. I definitely enjoyed it, though! How fun is that, staffing an information desk at a library conference?!

The NMRT Awards Ceremony and Networking Night went off without a hitch—though I was a little disappointed that so few Pitt students came. There were awards, there was networking, there were cute mini-fans and pinwheels—good times! In talking to the LITA rep (the fabulous Mike Bolam), I confirmed that, yes, I do need to join LITA, because it is both member-driven and welcoming. I'll get on that before studenthood and low prices fade away. And, finally, I made some new fun library friends and went out for a couple of drinks after the official festivities had died down—bad for the cold, good for the morale.

I also got to talk to a vendor for "real business" for the first time. Unfortunately, the Serials Solutions 360 preview—of the update that's coming out soon—coincided with our departure time from Chicago, but I got the rep's card, and they are apparently very good about hosting frequent webinars.

So, conference was good. I should have stayed home and visited Student Health (I'm calling them later today), but I definitely did learn and network and do all of those things that conference lets us do.

I'm pretty excited about my new committee appointments (NMRT switches around committees every year). I'll be either chairing or co-chairing NMRT's Student and Student Chapter Outreach (SASCO) committee, which, as a new grad, I guess I'm extra able to do. And I'll be on the NMRT Web committee, as well, which is pretty exciting!

I'll make another post, this week or next, with news!