Neglected Networking:
Why (and How!) Not to Overlook the Internet
in Your Library Job Search

Rachel Singer

In the age of the Internet, "networking" takes on a whole new meaning as librarians who might never otherwise have had the opportunity to speak carry on extended e-mail correspondence, meet on listservs and web forums, and visit one another's Internet sites. The same skills that serve us well in locating listservs and engaging in e-mail can help us in our own job search, either in securing that perfect position for ourselves of finding just the right applicant for our own library.

We talk so much in our profession on how to use the Internet within libraries to help our patrons and to expand the options available to them. We talk less about how the Internet can also serve as a professional tool for librarians, both in allowing us to make new and exciting connections with one another and in the more mundane (yet essential!) area of professional job searching. Few articles in professional literature have addressed the topic of online job searching for librarians (for one exception, see "Job Opportunities Glitter for Librarians Who Surf the Net" in the September 1996 American Libraries¹

I saw my first professional position advertised online. I applied, interviewed and was accepted for the job, five days before the ad appeared in my graduate school's placement bulletin. Of course, one might think this says more about the particular school than about the Internet itself, but the point remains: Certain employment ads appear on the Internet in a timelier fashion and reach a broader range of potential applicants than those in any single print publication.

Additionally, we're still at the point where libraries and other employers of librarians see technological expertise as a somewhat rare, but eminently desirable skill in an era of shrinking job opportunities and library budgets. Those applicants who see a position advertised online, whether on a job database, a library listserv, or on an individual library's home page, are at an advantage at the outset, having demonstrated a certain set of computer skills precisely in their own job search.

These potential applicants range the gamut from fresh-out-of-school graduates to veterans of the profession. Libraries who post their open positions on the Internet (and a variety of free and low-cost arenas are available) are then able to choose their employees from a much larger pool of applicants and with more immediacy than if they had relied solely upon traditional print sources for their advertising.

Online job recruiting is becoming big business. The June 9, 1997, issue of Newsweek notes: "Forrester Research estimates that $30 million will be spent this year for online recruiting; by the year 2000, they predict that figure will shoot up to $218 million,"² May's Money magazine reports that 4.5 million Americans are currently using the Internet in their job search, accessing databases and pages that include 1.5 million position postings.³

Librarians, as usual, seem to have figured out how to proceed with minimal fuss and expense. The majority of job sites specifically aimed at librarians are still free or available at fairly low cost to both employers and job seekers. (And employers should note that many online databases compile announcements from each other, so it's not strictly necessary to submit the same information to each online resource.)

Not surprisingly, the Internet is filled with resources for the job-seeking librarian (and librarian-seeking employer). I'll discuss here mainly those specifically geared toward advertisements of library positions, leaving aside the plethora of pages geared toward resume evaluation, general job searching and so on, Resources also will be weighted toward online sites with an Illinois focus. All sites listed were active as of September 1997.

Remember also that examining a library's home page (and more and more libraries now have them!) before applying is often a good way for an applicant to get a feel for a particular institution and its people,

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prepare for a potential interview, and get help in making the decision as to whether an institution will be the right "match." A wonderfully thorough, searchable list of links to library homepages can be found at <http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/>.

Illinois Resources

As one might expect, many of the online job postings and databases in Illinois focus mainly on the Chicagoland area, although there are notable exceptions. Further, don't assume that a resource's physical location fully determines its contents. The UIUC page and the NSLS Blue Sheets (both discussed below), for example, often include downstate position information among their listings. One site non-Chicago area librarians might want to check specifically, however, is the Heritage Trail Library System. They post their monthly newsletter online at <http://www.htls.lib.il.us/news.htm>. Scroll down to the bottom of an issue to view position openings.

Of the MLS programs in Illinois, only one school currently posts its received job vacancies online. One of the best sources of librarian positions both in Illinois and nationwide, the UIUC GSLIS Job Page, is searchable by job type, experience level, date added, keywork or location. Because UlUC's page is the online resource that seems to be most familiar to those advertising open positions, they seem to receive the largest number of job advertisements in Illinois, or, indeed, nationwide. UIUC also takes position information from other resources, such as the NSLS Blue Sheets, although such information may appear several days after it is posted in the original resource.

A good listing of available library positions in Illinois is the NSLS Blue Sheets. The North Suburban Library System's Blue Sheets postings focus on (mostly public) libraries in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and are updated each Friday. Choose "positions only" from the drop-down menu to avoid having to page through the entire issue (although the casual surfer will miss the giveaways, grant and workshop information that way). A nice option is the ability to receive the weekly newsletter by e-mail, which might be an option worth considering, for those currently searching for a Chicago-area position.

Suburban Library System has a helpful career resource for librarians called "Career Central," at <http://www.sls.lib.il.us/consultmg/ccentraVmdex.html>. Their searchable job database includes not only open positions at system member libraries, but also received positions from institutions within other Chicago area library systems. Suburban Library System also accepts resumes from both in- and out-of-state job seekers, which it then distributes to the other participating library systems and individual libraries advertising job openings.

Some larger individual Chicagoland libraries also maintain Web pages that list current vacancies. When perusing these resources, however, the job-seeking librarian should be careful to check postings for dated-ness. That said, the North Suburban Library System again stands out, as the Park Ridge Public Library lists its job openings online. The Chicago Public Library, also lists its available positions online. Note, however, that the Chicago Public Library employs only Chicago Residents.

While focusing on Chicago and its suburbs, don't forget the Chicago Tribune, cut down on paging through the Sunday paper by searching its job ads online by title or keyword.

For librarians wishing to turn their job search over to an agency, the place to go in the Chicagoland area is C. Berger & Company, which is now online and lists some of its highlighted temporary and permanent library-related job opportunities at <http://www.cberger.com/jobs.htm>.

GSLIS Job Databases:

Job listings maintained by graduate schools of library science contain much more than merely entry level positions. The wise job searcher will keep an eye on such listings, especially at those schools in the geographic region in which she hopes to work. Some such databases in the Midwest include the following:

The UM Placement Bulletin emphasizes positions in Michigan and the Midwest but also includes listings for some jobs nationwide. Jobs are broken down by category and library type.

Indiana University's SLIS maintains a page of job postings in library and information science. Their page is broken down into categories by geographical region or by library specialty.

Additional GSLIS job pages from other regions of the United States, Canada and worldwide can be found through Internet guides discussed in a later section.

Trade Journals:

These Internet sites are especially handy for those of us who wait in vain for the latest issue of Library Journal to wind its way down through the ranks at our respective institutions.

The job listings from the past couple of months of American Libraries can be found online at

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<http://www.ala.org/education/>. American Libraries also includes job hunting tips on its page. Library Journal at <http://www.ljdigital.com/job.htm> is also now online and posts its position announcements on the Web.

Guides:

Job seekers might want to start their quest with one of the several very thorough guides to library job hunting online. The two most extensive are "Ann's Place" and Sarah Nesbeitt's "Library Job Postings on the Internet". Sarah Nesbeitt's site contains links to regional databases, employment resources for specific types of libraries and individual job postings. "Ann's Place" contains many of the same resources, as well as a section on general job hunting information (resume writing, relocation information, etc.).

Another guide job seekers may find useful is Jeffery Lee's "Library Job Hunting on the Internet" at <http://www.zoots.com/libjob/jefflee.htm>. He provides not only links to library specific and general job resources, but an extensive section on how to go about searching for library positions online, which includes suggested keywords for Internet search engines.

Additional online job resources, such as listservs and gopher databases, can be found by perusing the above guides. Many more such resources are available ban can be listed here, and the options are constantly expanding. Because of job duplication and the sheer extensiveness of the resources available, job seekers are advised to find the most helpful sites in their location or specialty rather than trying to exhaust all online possibilities.

Wherever a librarian begins her job search, online resources can complement print publications in opening up opportunities. Librarians of all experience levels and professional specialty are learning to use the internet as one more tool in their search for professional positions. Both individuals and institutions can benefit from knowing about and using the variety of resources available to them online in this area.

References:

1. A. Paula Azar, "Job Opportunities Glitter for Librarians Who Surf the Net," American Libraries, September 1996, 66-68.

2. N'Gai Croal, et al., "Want a Job? Get Online," Newsweek, June 1997, 81.

3. Malcolm Fitch, "Cruise the Web to Land the Job of Your Dreams," Money, May 1997, 29,

"Who Uses the Internet to Job Hunt?"

From April through August 1997, I conducted an admittedly unscientific survey at may own Web-based guide for job-seeking librarians: "The Librarian's Job Search Source" . Keeping in mind the limited sample and self-selected nature of the respondents, the results were still somewhat surprising.

Over a period of four and a half months, 61 separate individuals responded to the survey. Of those, 28 indicated they had "been in the field a while now," while 29 were either students or recent graduates (two were considering attending library school and two were employers).

The results displayed an almost even split between new entrants to and veterans of the library field. Although one might have expected students and recent graduates to have dominated the responses, 47 percent of the job-seeking respondents had already spent some time in the library field. Only 20 percent were currently attending library school, while 29 percent said they had recently graduated, and almost 3 percent were thinking of attending (all percentages have been rounded so numbers will not add exactly to 100 percent).

Most respondents appreciated the immediacy and convenience of online job searching. Those relying on online advertisements, however, noted some of the same problems that plague not only print publications but the profession itself, namely that: "...everybody expects you to work like God for ridiculously low pay." Others noted the tendency of online databases to duplicate each other's material, which can prove frustrating for the thorough job seeker.

The difficulties some of the job seeking surfers experienced, however, were directly related to the medium. Those unused to traversing the Internet obviously experienced some difficulty in bringing up the appropriate resources for their own job search. Many respondents complained about the slow access times of some of the sites, as well as the outdated nature of many of the postings. There also are few advertisements for Library Technical Assistants or other non-Master of Library Science degree positions listed on the Web or elsewhere online. Most survey respondents agreed, however, that the convenience and usual timeliness of online information outweighed the occasional difficulties.

The consensus, unsurprisingly, seems to be that online resources complement rather than replace traditional print publications for the job-seeking librarian. Internet postings were especially useful for out-of-state (or out-of-country) applicants who were able to respond with more immediacy and have a greater selection of resources available to them than did those relying strictly

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on print. The Internet also proved helpful for those who needed a certain amount of privacy in their search. Several respondents indicated that they appreciated being able to check job resources from home, on personal time, without the fear of associates or supervisors finding out about their activities.

Librarians who take the time to expand their job search to include online resources seem to find benefit in such databases and guides. The plethora of internet resources affords something for nearly everytime, as librarians begin to learn to profit from one of the areas in which the Internet can function well.

*Rachel Singer, Reference Librarian, Franklin Park Public Library

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