Stephanie Watkins

AE1

I selected the public library setting as the basis of my search. I used the American Library
Associations Job List site to conduct my search. The URL to this website is www.joblist.ala.org.
I chose this website for its easy, accessible format. The website is set up to first search by a
keyword and it gives the option to narrow the search to state of preference. It also lists “Featured
Jobs” for various states. It also allows users to create an alert that provides the user with updates
about job listings. Once I specified a search, it listed “Preferred” and “Spotlight” listings first. I
appreciated the arrangement of the listings and found the website to meet my needs as a user. My
search began at the bold headings of “Featured Jobs” because it was the first jobs listed in an
easy location. It helped give me an idea of how I could search for job titles and it allowed me to
see what jobs were already available in other states. It allowed me to start brainstorming jobs
without having to be specific and have any parameters with my initial search.

I selected postings for a Children’s Librarian. Collection development and cataloging are
the two requirements that are most related to the organization of information and knowledge that
I saw repeatedly in listings. These two specific job requirements are what I personally would
have to know before I applied for the positions. Collection development is related to the
organization of resources in the library. When doing an analysis of the collection, I must be able
to look and find gaps in the library’s resources and information. Then, I would have to see if
there was space in that particular arrangement to further develop that aspect of the library.
Cataloging is a requirement that is also related to organization of resources because it directly
affects where a resource will go in the library’s arrangement. Jourdney and Mcginnis add to the
fact that learning to catalog does not mean you are prepared for all the duties and expectations
that come along with cataloging. They refer to this librarian duty as “[c]atalogers still catalog
books and serials, but they also may describe archival collections in finding aids, develop
controlled vocabularies or taxonomies for local use, and develop multifaceted metadata strategies
for digital initiatives, along with a host of other responsibilities” (Jourdey & Mcginnis, 2014,
508). I gauge my expertise as a beginner in both categories. I am in my first month as a librarian
at a school, and I have had to do both skills. I have cataloged only books. I have no experience
with cataloging digital resources. I also have no experience with deciding what digital resources
need updating or should be included in a collection I think that knowing both these requirements
are mandatory in becoming successful in creating a well organized library. I have learned
through the readings that there is more than I even thought of knowing when it comes to
cataloging and collection development. Cataloging is more in depth than I once thought it to be.

I learned from Buckland that there are many more items that can be catalogued in the
library that are deemed information. Buckland clarifies that information systems handle
“information as thing” solely (1991, 359). Buckland also emphasizes that everything could be
deemed as information (352). I learned that it is important to understand that information can be
three different concepts and to make sure I am intentional about all aspects of the definition.
Such as? Explain the three concepts and how they relate to the skills you identified. -.1

The organization of this website was very user friendly. I liked the white backdrop, the
location of the search bar, and the recommended jobs that were also displayed in a convenient
location. I could put in a keyword and it bring up several jobs. I also had the choice to add
specifications about the job I was looking for. Once I located a job, I was able to select the title
 Stephanie Watkins

and read addition information about the title. I did notice that if there were any misspellings in
the search engine, that it would not bring up any matches. The system was unable to generalize
any keywords, and I found that to be the website’s only pitfall to users. The search engine
required me to be very specific when looking for titles. I could not type in solely “librarian”
because I would find no matches. The title I was searching had to be exactly the same as the job
posted. This type of search engine would not be user friendly in regards to a user who has no
specific direction they are going in with their searches.

I think the two most important skills in becoming a librarian are collection development
and cataloguing. Those two skills go hand in hand. As a librarian, I will build on and improve
my library based on the collection that is already there. Then, it will be my job to catalogue those
resources.

The skills I chose as most important coincide with how this website facilitated my search
experience. The way the jobs were entered and how the database is set up to only search for
specific job titles instead of generalizing them, showed me how important it is to understand the
specifics of the database I have in my own school. It showed me the purposeful lessons that need
to be taught when explaining search engine parameters to students. Students or patrons need to
understand the search engine that includes the library’s collection. It is also most important that I
understand the system fully so that I can better teach others. It is also important I know the
system to be able to develop the collection as well. I need to understand how the search works
and have my own experiences with selecting and location information within the system. This
job search has showed me that the organization of information can look differently. Other job
sites were harder to locate information within. It also opened my mind in thinking if there is a
way to add search words for certain resources that are getting catalogued so that users will still
be able to pull up the resource without searching for exact matches. This search exercise made
me cognizant of the organization of the search engine in my own school’s library.
 Stephanie Watkins

References

Buckland, Michael. 1991, "Information as Thing." Preprint of article appearing in Journal of the
American Society of Information Science 42(5)): 351-360. Retrieved
September 10, 2016, from http://sims.berkeley.edu/~buckland/thing.html.

Joudrey, Daniel N., and Ryan McGinnis. 2014. "Graduate Education for Information
Organization, Cataloging, and Metadata." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 52(5): 506-
550.