Library Technician Position at Inver Hills

Library Technician

Inver Hills Community College seeks a Library Technician for its
Library.

Application Deadline: December 7, 2007

Appointment: Unlimited, Full-time

Pay: $14.15 - $19.67, depending on qualifications

Work Schedule: Four weekdays

8:00 am - 4:30 pm

One weekday

12:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Occasional Saturdays (during school year
only)


Responsibilities:

* Catalogue library materials (books, serials, audiovisual,
etc);
* Assist users in locating materials;
* Process inter-library loans;
* Provide some supervision of student workers.

Minimum Qualifications:

* Working knowledge of library classification system(s) and
standard library reference tools sufficient to assist clients in
locating materials and conducting research.


Ability to:

* Apply and support detailed coding or cataloging systems
sufficient to create tracking for new print and non-print library
acquisitions and locate and replace existing materials.

* Operate personal computers, use various software and web-based
applications, and other office equipment sufficient to locate catalog
information, word-process documents, complete forms and prepare reports.

* Communicate effectively orally and in writing sufficient to
determine and respond to the informational needs of clients of varied
educational levels and backgrounds; to train, direct and evaluate work
of student clerical staff; and to assist the professional library staff
to maintain the library collection according to library policy and
procedures.


Preferred Qualifications:

* Working knowledge of MnPALS library catalog system, OCLC, and
CatMe/Connexion;

* Academic library experience preferred.

Application requirements: You must submit your resume through the online
Resume Builder at https://statejobs.doer.state.mn.us/ResumeBuilder
. Apply to Requisition # 07MNSC000890.

If you wish to apply with a paper copy, submit your resume AND a
completed State of Minnesota Employment Application form to: Minnesota
Department of Employee Relations (DOER), 200 Centennial Office Building,
658 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN 55155. Be sure to indicate the posting
number of this job on your application. The paper application is
available on the State Employment Web and DOER web sites, at any state
agency HR office, or by calling 651-296-2616 or, in greater Minnesota,
1-800-657-3974.

APPLICANTS WHO DO NOT SUBMIT A RESUME AT
https://statejobs.doer.state.mn.us/ResumeBuilder
OR A PAPER
APPLICATION TO THE MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS BY
DECEMBER 7, 2007 WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Questions may sent to:

Denise Hammer

Human Resources

Inver Hills Community College

2500 - 80th Street E

Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076-3224

651-450-8399 (fax)
HumanResources@inverhills.edu (email)
651-450-8369 (TTY)

Founded in 1970, Inver Hills is a comprehensive community college
offering 20 degree options including the Associate in Arts (A.A.), a
liberal education degree that leads to transfer to four-year colleges;
the new Associate in Fine Art (A.F.A.) degree in studio arts; and the
career-related Associate in Science (A.S.) and Associate in Applied
Science (A.A.S.) degrees in leading occupational areas such as nursing,
paralegal, computer networking, law enforcement, human services,
business, emergency health care, and more.

Located 10 minutes from downtown St. Paul, Inver Hills is an open door
community college. Nationally recognized in adult experiential
learning, Inver Hills is an Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP)
institution. The college is committed to reflecting a diversity of
perspectives and backgrounds among its administrators, faculty and
staff. It offers excellent benefits, including health and dental
insurance, and tuition waivers at two-year system colleges to employees
and their spouses and children after three years of service.

Inver Hills Community College is an equal opportunity educator/employer.

A member of the Minnesota State College and Universities System.

Minnesota Opportunities for Reference Excellence

This would be a nice compliment to our program classes, for continuing education and networking, as a resume-builder.

~~~~~

MINITEX is pleased to announce a four-part series regarding core competencies of Minnesota Opportunities for Reference Excellence (MORE). Sessions will be offered over a four-week period. This series is HIGHLY interactive and will involve pre-work and post-work (1 hour) for each session. Participants are required to attend each session to receive a certificate of completion.

The MORE program and these training sessions are geared towards paraprofessionals and/or library staff new to the reference desk. Experienced library staff members are welcome to attend. Something new will be learned, and collective knowledge will be shared.

This series is limited to 8 participants; sign up today!

Thursdays, 10am-12pm, November 29- December 20, 2007

Tuesdays, 10am-12pm, January 29- February 19, 2008

WEEK 1: MORE: The Reference Interview (2 hours)

This webinar will cover what reference is and why it is important. Model reference behaviors (welcoming, paraphrasing, open questions, real information need, follow-up question) and the six pieces of evidence (purpose, deadline, type & amount, who, where, the basic question) will be
discussed, examined, and practiced. Legal and ethical issues involving librarianship, along with looking at libraries' communities, will be examined. Minnesota Volunteer Library Certification competencies for Public Services: Administrative 6 and 7, Direct User Services 3 and 4, Philosophy 2, 7 and 12 will be covered.

WEEK 2: MORE: Evaluating and Examining Electronic Reference Sources (2hours)

This webinar will cover searching in an electronic environment as well as tips for becoming a better information provider by evaluating and examining electronic reference sources and web sites. Different types of electronic sources will be covered including indexes, directories, full-text resources, the Internet, and virtual reference including e-mail and chat. Minnesota Volunteer Library Certification competencies for Public Services: Administrative 8, Direct User Services 5 will be covered.

WEEK 3: MORE: Evaluating and Examining Print Reference Sources (2 hours)

This webinar will focus on tips and tools for evaluating and examining print reference sources available in your library in order to become a better information provider. It will cover what makes a good print reference source as well as the importance of understanding how these resources are organized. This session covers almanacs, atlases, encyclopedias, ready reference tools, statistical sources, the MN Legislative Manual, and the U.S. Government Manual. Minnesota Volunteer Library Certification competencies for Public Services: Direct User Services 5 will be covered.

WEEK 4: MORE: Readers' Advisory (2 hours)

This webinar focuses on important aspects of Readers' Advisory Services. It will cover the basics of readers' advisory, including goals and skills of the service, the appeal of books including plot, character, and genre, and performing a readers' advisory interview. It will also cover ongoing places for professional development on the readers' advisory service using print materials, databases, blogs, and other available resources for librarians. Minnesota Volunteer Library Certification competencies for Public Services: Administrative 7, Direct User Services 6 will be covered.

***This series is approved for MN Voluntary Certification for 8 contact hours. ***

Kristen Mastel, Reference Librarian
MINITEX, 15 Andersen Library
222 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Direct: 612-626-9843
WATS:800-462-5348
Fax: 612-625-3569
meye0539@umn.edu
http://www.minitex.umn.edu
http://blogs.minitex.umn.edu/reference/


~~~~~

For more information on Minnesota's Voluntary Certification Program, see:

http://www.arrowhead.lib.mn.us/certification/

MLA Thursday night - Awards Banquet

Okay, so this is going a little bit backward, but I wanted to be sure I posted a big kudos to MCTC program student, Brandi Bauer, who interned last spring at the University of St. Thomas' Ireland Library. While at the reception prior to the awards banquet, I ran into several people from St. Thomas. Completely unsolicited, several people thanked me/us for sending Brandi to them, and how great it was to have her do her practicum there. As the person coordinating internships for our program, it always warms my heart to hear positive feedback about our students. And, St. Thomas is asking for more interns, for circulation at their Minneapolis library, and for other projects they have. So, if you're a current program student thinking about your internship, think about doing one at St. Thomas.

While waiting for the bus to take us to the Minnesota State University - Mankato campus, which was where the awards banquet was being held, I found myself standing next to Regina Harris, administrator of the Urban Library Program, a 12-credit certificate program offered through the College of St. Catherine and St. Paul Public Library, and Minneapolis Public Library is involved too. We had a great conversation about our two programs, and how we could help students who complete their certificate continue on in our program to finish their A.S. degree or our certificates.

Part of the point of all this blogging is to demonstrate the tremendous value of attending a professional conference, both for professional development and for networking. You never know who you're going to end up standing next to in a line, or seated with at a meal. Mary Ann Van Cura, Library Development and Continuing Education Coordinator for the Minnesota State Library Services office in the Department of Education was seated at my table. She used to be the head of technical services at Hamline Law Library. Later, I had the opportunity to talk with Joan Roca, the Dean of Library Services at MSU-Mankato. I had lunch on Friday with Orrin Ausen, Director of Library Services at Bethany Lutheran College. All the mailed resumes in the world can't substitute for sitting down and having a conversation with folks who are active professionals in their libraries.

In 2008, the Minnesota Library Association conference will be held in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Planning has already begun. Join the association and tell them you'd like to help. Work on local arrangements, help with the silent auction, or volunteer to help with registration. Get involved now, and make the most of the networking opportunities that a professional conference provides. Your professional association needs you.

MLA Friday morning - Library 2.0

This morning, I went to the session, "Library 2.0: Connecting with Your Patrons on a New Level," presented by Carla Steinberg Pfahl. The idea behind Library 2.0 is developing library websites and services that involve more interactive resources and tools. Some of these tools involve "social networking," but not always social, per se. Clearly, these tools are being used for non-social purposes as well (which, as an aside, makes me raise my eyebrows - when Microsoft buys Facebook for $15 BILLION dollars, they aren't doing it to make "friends.").

Pfahl discussed using her MySpace account to connect to other libraries, essentially using this network as a web-based set of bookmarks, based on being "friends" with other libraries and their MySpace accounts. She related an anecdote of planning a trip to Denver, and using her link on MySpace to the Denver library to find out what was happening there. My thought - she could have done the same thing through a web browser bookmark or by a simple Google search for that library; MySpace was just a convenient way for her to do it, that fit with her model of doing "business." So, food for thought - how many of your library's patrons are in those spaces and do you want to connect to them there?

She went on to discuss blogs and their applications in libraries. This is one Web 2.0 concept that I'm much more agreeable to. I do think that blogs add real value and provide a nice communication tool for a library. Pfahl talked about adding widgets to Flickr, LibraryThing, Shelfari, Twitter, Amazon, MeeboMe Chat Window...

Wikis were discussed as a tool for groupwork, which I believe can be very helpful, particularly for policies, procedures, etc. However, using externally hosted wikis (and other content) can be of some concern, particularly regarding intellecutal property rights. Be sure to read the terms of service so that you are making an informed decision on how those impact what you're doing.

Pfahl introduced the idea of going to the Learning 2.0 Project at:

http://plcmcl2-about.blogspot.com/

which is a site that encourages the exploration of Web 2.0 and new technologies. Patricia Post of CMLE mentioned that in their multitype region, they'll be rolling out one of these types of projects, and will be offering some incentives. If you're interested in being involved in this, watch for more information at CMLE's web site at:

http://www.cmle.org/

Glenn Peterson of Hennepin County Library developed EngagedPatrons.org:

http://www.engagedpatrons.org/

This pulls together the programming tools to create and add many of these kinds of tools for public libraries to use. It is free to public libraries with budgets of under $1 million dollars, and prorated for larger libraries.

Pfahl started talking about podcasting, and presented the example of mnstories.com, a Minnesota-focued blog with video aand audio:

http://www.mnstories.com/

Pfahl demonstrated use of a portable recording device to record content for a podcast, and discussed the process of actually creating the podcast. She talked about some of the ways libraries were creating podcasts: storytimes, speeches, music, discussions, lectures, reviews, tours, services for visually impaired users... Clearly the list can go on, limited only by your imagination. (Dating myself, "back in the day...," podcasts were just called "audio files.") She completed her demonstration of recording a podcast by uploading the audio file to the MINITEX reference blog.

FYI, all MINITEX blogs can be found at:

http://www.minitex.umn.edu/publications/blogs/

The last technology tool Pfahl described was using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) as a way to find out about new content from other sources, and using it on your library web site to easily show users what's new on yours.

MLA Thursday afternoon

After the keynote, I went to Becoming a Servant-Leader in the Library Setting, presented by Paul Elliott Dahl, the library director of the Minnesota Department of Health library. I don't know anything about this, so I'm here completely to learn. JoAnn Toussaint, from the University of St. Thomas, just sat down next to me.

The main point, I'm gathering, is to think of leadership as a service role. One of the questions Dahl presents is to ask yourself, "who do you serve?" Dahl comments that many leaders expect others to serve them; according to Dahl, in the servant-leader model, leaders should think of who they serve.

Attributes of a servant-leader that Dahl mentions include:

1. Listening
   Ask questions to build understanding
2. Empathy
   Judge performance, not personality; Show concern for the whole life of the employee
3. Healing
   Toxic situations/institutions do contaminate; Model your own healing; Take care of yourself
4. Awareness
   "The unexamined life is not worth living"; make your words consistent with your actions; be emotionally observant
5. Persuasion
   Don't rely on coercion or force; convince and seek consensus; share success
6. Conceptualization
   Long-range thinking; do a little dreaming; "see things whole" - E. B. White
7. Foresight
   Take advantage of intuition; link the past, present, and future
8. Stewardship
   More than simply profit-making; take into account the needs of others.
9. Commitment to the growth of others
   All employees have an intrinsic value beyond their work contribution; support their growth to build the team; support the decisions of others
10. Building communities
    Use your gifts to better social institutions; we are diminished when we limit our liability to the group; generate an exportable surplus of love

Dahl drew from analogies from Abraham Lincoln's presidency, including how Lincoln named many of his opponents in the presidential race to his cabinet. A reading of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was an example of foresight.

Dahl compared circle models of leadership to the pyramid style, and the idea of the ripple effect of modeling servant-leader behavior. In the question/answer period, Dahl revealed he had been a pastor previously, which leads one to believe that he comes to this concept somewhat naturally. A participant suggested that humility is a part of all of this, and he agreed; another participant reflected that it also required confidence - confidence in yourself as well as confidence in your colleagues. It highlighted a connection to me that successful work environments I've been in have been more collegial, where the staff trust each other. Like at MCTC.

MLA Thursday afternoon - Keynote presentation

I attended Thursday's keynote presentation, "The Saving Grace of Stories," presented by Sandra Benitez, author of "The Weight of All Things," the book chosen for MLA's one book, one conference program. She was humorous, and called library workers, "The Keeper of the Stories." She talked of her lifetime relationship with stories and how libraries influenced her through access to materials, and included anecdotes of her res"earch experiences. One question she called a library with was, "How long does it take for rigor mortis to subside?" They suggested she call the police department. She realized that she hadn't introduced herself as an author first...

"All of you are beloved; all of you are important to what we [authors] do."