1. Go where it is
   
2. Corollary: Who Cares?
3. The answer depends on the question
   
4. Research is a multi-stage process
   
5. Ask a Librarian
   
6. Information is meaningless until queried by human intelligence
7. Information can be true and still wrong
8. Pay attention to the jokes

1. Tara Calishain
2. Jenny Levine, part I
3. Jenny Levine, Part II
4. Reva Basch
5. Sue Feldman
6. Jessamyn West
7. Debbie Abilock
8. Kathy Schrock
9. Greg Notess
10. William Hann
11. Chris Sherman
12. Gary Price
13. Barbara Quint
14. Rory Litwin
15. John Guscott
16. Brian Smith
17. Darlene Fichter
18. Brenda Bailey-Hainer
19. Walt Crawford
20. Molly Williams
21. Genie Tyburski
22. Patrice McDermott
23. Carrie Bickner
24. Karen G. Schneider
25. Roddy MacLeod, Part I
26. Roddy MacLeod, Part II
27. John Hubbard
28. Micki McIntyre
29. Péter Jacsó
30. the "It's All Good" bloggers
31. the "It's All Good" bloggers, part 2

Personal Update: I finished my book, an exhaustively researched study of how flourishing libraries go about making themselves beloved by their communities. I've studied the libraries' strategic plans, annual reports, building programs, PR materials, programming, and web sites, scoured the professional literature, done a survey of directors, and interviewed leading practitioners of the key strategies I identified - which I figure makes me the current leading authority on nifty things being done by libraries. I had to turn down invitations to speak at conferences while I was busy writing, so I just want to announce that I'm now ready and willing to tell librarians some things I've learned about how libraries thrive.

REVIEW: THE NEXTGEN LIBRARIAN'S SURVIVAL GUIDE

Rachel Singer Gordon. The NextGen Librarian's Survival Guide. Information Today, 2006. 1-57387-256-3. $29.50. Reviewed by Marylaine Block

Many of our newly minted young librarians have been sadly disappointed with both the difficulties in getting a job and the way their ideas have been received once they got one. This book is designed to help them with both of these problems.

There are clearly a lot of stereotypes and hurt feelings between nextgens ("cocky," "too lazy to assume the mantle of responsibility, "more interested in machines than public service") and older, established librarians ("dinosaurs," "set in their ways," not "open to new ideas"). Gordon gives these voice in frequent quotes from two online surveys of librarians, library workers and MLS students: one for those under 40 and one for those over 40. It's not the real meat of this book, but these preconceptions need to be met head on. Gordon says that people on each side of the generational divide need to get over their defensiveness and think about "where they may spring from and how to get to their root" so that they can improve their ability to work together effectively.

For aspiring librarians, the real heart of this book is the survival part:

• how to choose the right library school for you, and make it through (including info on scholarships)
• how to survive the job hunt (including a section on writing a cover letter I wish had been read by every job candidate I ever dealt with)
• how to prove your worth in entry-level positions
• how to rethink your skills and professional options as you move forward
• how to build connections, both intergenerational and with fellow NextGens, through professional participation and discussion groups
• how to find a mentor and be a mentor
• interviews with several young librarians who talk about their experiences.

  While the book will be particularly useful for NextGens, I would also strongly recommend it to the library administrators who will hire them, train them, and groom them for leadership positions.

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  COOL QUOTE:

  Can people be disruptive technologies? Christensen suggests as much when he identifies nurse practitioners as disruptive technologies (physicians were the established technologies). I find the notion of librarians and information professionals being disruptive technologies extremely appealing. What a wonderful role to assume! I'm not just a librarian. I don't just work in an information department. I don't just perform research using online tools. I'm a disruptive technology. If information professionals are disruptive technologies, and we are, I suggest we enjoy this pivotal role, relish our power, rethink our priorities, and assert our distinctiveness.

  Marydee Ojala. "Disruptive? Who You Calling Disruptive?" Online, July-August, 2004, http://www.infotoday.com/online/jul04/homepage.shtml

  * * *

  You are welcome to copy and forward any of my own articles (but not those by my guest writers) for noncommercial purposes as long as you credit ExLibris and cite the permanent URL for the article. Please do NOT copy and post my articles to your own web sites, however. Instead, please copy a brief excerpt and link to the URL for the remainder of the article.

  Ex Libris: an E-Zine for Librarians and Other Information Junkies.
  http://marylaine.com/exlibris/
  Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2006.

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