FAFLRT President

Careers in Federal Libraries

ALA 2009 Annual Conference

Chicago, IL

July 9, 2009

At ALA Annual in Chicago, IL, FAFLRT hosted a Careers in Federal Libraries pre-conference session at the Harold Washington Library Center (Chicago Public Library).  The first part of this session was on how to find a federal position as an information professional while the second part of the session dealt more with issues that a current or potential library school student might be more familiar with. The first of these two presentations came from Blane Dessey of the Department of Justice.  Mr. Dessey talked about internships, practica, career fairs and networking and prefaced his remarks by stating that “anyone can be a Federal Librarian”.  He reminded the audience that there are librarian positions in series other than the 1400 series; they are just under different names.  He also reminded the audience that the many agencies have many differences.  He talked about the different types of entry methods into federal librarianship: traditional, internships, SCEP, and other options. 

Mr. Dessey also suggested that the prospective federal librarian do research to see what you can find out about the options available to him or her, and that one should not immediately exclude entering the federal government through a contracting job.  The most important thing to ask yourself is “if I want to work in the Federal Government, will I only be happy if I am a ‘librarian’” – where do you want to go?  He also suggested that the participants ask themselves a variety of questions to decide what type of career or what agency is best for them.

The final segment of his presentation was how to get an internship or practicum.  The easiest way is to figure out where you are.  If you are in Washington, DC, it is easiest, but living elsewhere only means that it may be harder, not impossible.  If you are in or near a major metropolitan area many agencies have offices where you may be able to visit.  You should be proactive, and show them the benefit of having you work with them while selling your skill set as well as your degree.  If you are still a student you will need to know your school’s policies on internships and practica.  You should also attend career fairs and network, while giving yourself plenty of time, since government processing can take quite a bit of time

The day wrapped up with a presentation from current Florida State University student Michelle Demeter on how to host a mini-career event.  Many schools have career fairs to introduce students to potential employers, but federal agencies are often missing from these events, so perhaps you should host a smaller event.  In order to start one use your contacts – the school librarian, nearby federal agencies, or even contact local schools or your alma mater if you are already a federal librarian.  The ALA student chapter at Florida State University used previous contacts to gain permission to adapt a previous presentation and contacted Nancy Faget to gain introduction to a speaker from the Air Academy.

Once the students had the speaker lined up, they publicized the event heavily using the listserv, Facebook, Blackboard, posters and word of mouth.  The event was held live with snacks, but also recorded and webcast for those who were unable to make the actual event.  The event went well and the student chapter is now looking to broaden the topics addressed and create a mini series of career presentations.  If you are interested in holding your own event, you can contact Nancy Faget, Michelle or work with the Careers in Federal Libraries Google group.  The top five tips from the students at Florida State were: advertise heavily, webcast the event with accessible links, get a really good presenter, provide handouts and a link to material, and lastly keep connected with FAFLRT.

Careers in Federal Libraries

ALA 2009 Annual Conference

Chicago, IL

July 9, 2009

The Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table along with the Chicago Public Library, FLICC/FEDLINK, Library Associates, and the LSU and Dominican Library Schools sponsored the Careers in Federal Libraries Event on Friday, July 9, 2009 at the Harold Washington Library Center (Chicago Public Library). The day began with a welcome from Roberta Shaffer of FLICC/FEDLINK and quickly moved on to a presentation by Helen Sherman of DTIC.  Ms. Sherman’s presentation looked at the application process from both the employers’ side of the process as well as what the applicant can expect.  She also reminded everyone that there are many different and diverse roles for librarians and information professionals within the federal government and includes positions in all four main library types.  Once she talked about how to navigate and understand all of the job postings on USAJOBS, she moved on to addressing Knowledge, Skills and Abilities statements (KSAs).  When writing your KSA, you should address the context, challenge, your action and the results with concrete action verbs and be specific.  If possible you should also try to reuse relevant terms from the job announcement.

More pointers on applying for federal jobs: once you have completed your KSAs, which you can upload to USAJOBS with an account, you should alter your resume to fit each job.  Also you should check the status of the job – this will tell you if you are eligible to apply for the job.  You should also check to see if the job is posting under two different announcements with different status eligibilities.   If you are eligible to apply for a job under more than one status, you should!  Once the applications have made their way through the Human Resources department of the agency, some individuals will be contacted for individuals – usually only the top candidates. 

After Ms. Sherman’s presentation we were treated to a diverse and experience panel of federal librarians and information professionals, including: Sally Boskin of the US Naval Observatory Library, Mary Chute of IMLS, Kathel Dunn of the National Library of Medicine, Steven Kerchoff of the State Department (India), Deb Schwarz the founder of Library Associates, and Lydia Tkachuk of the Veterans Administration hospital system.  The panel answered many questions from the audience on a variety of topics, such as security clearance, telecommuting, diversity issues, age limits and volunteering.  These questions were answered in detail by the panelists as well as Roberta Shaffer and Nancy Faget, both of whom are also federal librarians.

After the lunch break, the audience was treated to a resume writing and interviewing quick start session by Robert Newlan of the Congressional Research Service.  He spoke about the different types of resumes: chronological, functional and the combination resume.  He advocates a seven step approach to writing a resume that requires looking carefully at everything that you have done as well as matching it to the job announcement.  He also reminded everyone that it is a good idea to examine how the resume looks visually and to get a friend or coworker to look it over later as well.

When Mr. Newlan talked about interviewing he reminded everyone that it is very important to conduct research on the potential employer and the interviewers so that you can answer their questions and demonstrate that you have done your homework.  He also suggests that you should write down questions that you anticipate being asked so that you can come up with possible answers as well as practicing delivering the answers.  Some other tips to help during the interview: bring your own water, write down the questions as they are asked – this will give you some time as well as allow you to refer back to a difficult question later in the interview, and to give a strong closing statement that you have prepared in advance.  This closing statement should state why you are the best qualified for the job and always, mail a thank you letter to each of your interviewers.

One final reminder, many of the FAFLRT presentations can be found online at the FAFLRT website and are available to those who were not able to attend these sessions.

Full Article here: http://www.faflrt.ala.org/president/?attachment_id=298

Introduction:
The Homeland Security Department has created a moderated social network designed to spur informed debate and discussion about topics related to the United States’ Southwestern border.

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Introduction:

Federal agencies increased their spending on student loan repayments for employees by 22 percent in 2008, and the incentives were widely used for recruiting and retaining information technology workers, according to a new report by the Office of Personnel Management.

Full article here

Here’s some interesting work by recent MLIS graduate Kenneth Kozel on Federal Libraries: Changing the Future of Information.

Abstract:
Digital and virtual libraries are being built in the Department of State, the Department of Defense, various International Organizations, and many other government organizations. The urgent need to deliver the most current information, the diversity in patron populations requiring bilingual and translation services, and the requirement to deliver access to information twenty-four hours a day across continents has created an impetus for Federal digital libraries and new library services. The roles of both librarians and libraries change dramatically when emerging technologies are incorporated into library services and operations. In the literature, terms such as virtual library, digital library, and electronic library are often used synonymously. A virtual librarian, online reference librarian, digital resource specialist, embedded librarian, and informationist may provide similar services. Defining these terms provides clarification for libraries seeking to transform their workforce and job descriptions. The purpose of this paper is to define some of the terms utilized when referring to library 2.0 technologies and online federal collections and services. The intent of the author is to describe trends in federal digital/virtual libraries, provide insight and exploration into issues facing federal librarians, and highlight some of the innovative projects that propel us into the future.

Visit this website to see frequently asked questions about Text-a-Librarian.

See full article here.

Description:

While the Marine Corps banned the use of social networking sites on Tuesday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a budding Tweeter, strongly backed the use of the social networking site in a message he posted on Twitter.

Click here for entire article (opens in Word):Careers in Federal Libraries by Robert Compton

Excerpt:

              The 2009 ALA pre-conference called Careers in Federal Libraries held in Chicago was rather an enlightening experience.  Federal Librarians and Information professionals shared their knowledge about federal librarianship with over 300+ library students and job seekers.  Presenters talked about what they do as federal librarians and gave excellent tips about such things as mentoring, resumes, interviews, scholarships, awards, internships, practicums, and fellowships to help the attendees pursue and to help achieve their goal of becoming federal librarians. 

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