Awake here at 3:44 am, since around 2:30. Trying to make it useful by typing up talking points for the non-speech at tomorrow's (today's!) work bon voyage party. Definitely not something I learned in library school.
Tone is so important. I still need a reference! There are issues around why I am leaving that I cannot mention at all, not even here :( So I am painting a rather rosy picture. Mostly, I need to thank lots of people, my staff, my friends, my mentors. (There are people I will not be thanking, but not too pointedly.)
I will take lots of pix and post them on Flickr. Party pix and beautiful old building pix. You can guess what my Flickr username is.
Meanwhile, I had another phone interview tonight. Cross your toes, as the cost of that COBRA health coverage is truly breathtaking. This spring, when it was still a big secret, I took lots of heart reading Caveat Lector, Information Wants to Be Free, and Random Access Mazur (see the blogroll for links). Now, Dorothea, Meredith and Rochelle are all ensconced in their new homes and positions. Color me pea green with envy.
They are all recent LIS graduates. I keep thinking that there needs to be job search for the over-forty librarian somewhere. People whose resumes are maybe a little too deep. Like, should I have put that my BA was awarded in 1980, before some LIS grads were born? I have been applying for such a gamut of positions. Though I drew the line at entry level. One interviewer actually suggested I consider a Librarian I position. Could not do it.
Then there's the over-forty blogger. I read the statistical study Walt Crawford did at this month's Cites & Insights. It was fairly interesting, though I am terrified of looking at the blogs I don't know, since I will end up adding them to my ever-burgeoning Bloglines subscriptions. I recently discovered Library Dust. Consider this is a recommendation. Also look for Michael's essay on "Homeless in Paradise" on WebJunction. Michael is indeed over forty. As is Walt. And Karen Schneider. I wish Walt could somehow have done a breakdown by blogger age, though I know it would be fairly impossible. There are days when I feel like Methuselah in biblioblogland. I know that the age should skew higher as the technology is embraced more widely. Meanwhile, I cringe a bit thinking of being a voice of the over-forty blogger. I am not unhappy at all to be middle-aged. I am thankful for the wisdom I have earned, some of it the hard way. But just as the next-gen librarians have issues around the "lack of experience" Catch-22, us geezers may have too much experience, and are not that thrilled to be up against folks who have been wired since, like junior high.
I used to like telling people that I first touched a computer in 1974, if you consider feeding in a card stack "touch." Now, although I am still proud of that Snoopy calendar on that green bar paper, I am not looking to regale newbies or new employers with that information. I guess the DEC workstation in 1981 is off limits, as well as the absolutely fabulous Xerox workstation in 1989. Ah, computers, I have known ye. But I can't market those long-ago skills! Even much more recent ones are kind of embarassing, residing as I have in something of a technology wasteland. Mind you, I still consider it fortunate that most of my colleagues and supervisors are unaware that blogs are updated frequently. Most of them, if they came here, came here once. Sweet, huh? Oh right, maybe that was a comment on the content, as it were.
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11 comments:
"fairly impossible" sounds just about right--but you're not the only one who would find a breakdown by age fascinating. Somehow, though, I just don't see myself sending out a couple hundred (or even 60) emails saying "How old are you?" I'm foolish, but maybe not that foolish.
I'm 59, by the way, but only for another 29 days.(And although my wife and I don't do anything other than dinner for birthdays, we're making an exception for the Big Six Oh.) And I'd never consider myself a voice of middle-aged blogging...(until a couple of years ago, I steadfastly maintained that "middle-aged is 10 years younger than my father." Which would put it at 86 right now.)
That is an interesting question Lisle. If I have time, I'm going to create a survey of library bloggers where we can get an idea about demographics like age, where they are in their career, how long they've been blogging (which I know Walt did in his study), etc. Just have to find the time...
If you didn't mention your daughter and your age in your blog, I would have never guessed that you were any older than I was. Well... maybe the Patti Smith references, but I like her too!
I'm 43 and a soon-to-graduate MLS student. I was pretty good with a keypunch machine at one time, but I won't put that on my resume....
Wow, three comments, that might be a high! I never meant to imply anyone besides myself was middle-aged. I have only come to that description of self since 45, when I started feeling "testy" and crochety. Will I be a mean old lady librarian next? Doubtful.
I have lots of other skills that stay off the resume, as well. I am quite mechanical, and can fix most any stapler, gravity coin drop, reader-printer, printer, copier, fax, etc. People don't believe it until they have worked with me for over a year, and then they just start bringing all their maimed simple engines to me. I am credited as a cut-up, once described in writing to my organization's president as the "Lenny Bruce of librarians." I swear I didn't say anything in that orientation. Agh. Definitely not on the resume.
I am 42 and just graduated a couple weeks ago. I am applying for entry-level librarian positions, but fear that I will be perceived as not hotshotty enough. I am perennially trapped in the techie limbo of being "an expert among novices, a novice among experts."
I don't blog yet, mainly because I adhere strongly to Walt's precept: "First, have something to say."
Lisle, with your 15 years in the field, why-why-WHY do you suppose that interviewer suggested you accept a Librarian I position?!
Oh, and I enjoyed your mentioning stapler repair as one of your off-the-resume skills. Unjamming staplers is one of my specialties at the circ desk, and one I've had to get more and more creative with, since the day crew decided to hide the real tools. I can work wonders with a pair of scissors and a letter opener! I try to remember to always record each stapler rescue incident as "Machine Assistance" on the Circ Desk Activity Log.
Congratulations on graduating! I do know what an accomplishment it is to get an MLS after thirty while working!. You have my total respect. I hope you will consider posting more on your journal at LISNews. Librarianship REALLY needs many voices.
I think the person suggesting the entry-level position was trying to be nice. It was an HR person, telling me I should be on as many civil service lists as possible. That is the bureaucrat's usual advice. I was not offended, just a bit depressed. Meanwhile, looks like Meredith is moving ahead with her survey. Be sure to fill is out--Joy, too! Us bottom-of-the-boomers (post to come eventually) need to be represented!
I'd guess that at least 15 of the first 100 bloggers listed on Walt's spreadsheet are over 40. Including myself. The question I'm interested in right now is: How many bloggers on Walt's list have blogged about Walt's list?
Walt must be tracking the number of people blogging about the biblioblog stats, since I refuse to believe he subscribes to my blather. I am a bit suspicious about you and Joy finding my post as well, Brian.
I am happy to hear from so many of my fellow last-geners. I am not sure if my feeling so old as a blogger/job applicant was a product of my rampant neuroses, reading the wrong blogs, or the dominant culture of youth uber alles.
At lunch time at the bank, I started thinking I should retitle this blog "Une belle dame d'une certain age, sans merci," by which I can massacre French and Keats with one blow.
I heard on NPR news this morning that Madonna fell off her horse and suffered multiple fractures yesterday, her 47th birthday. The class of 1958 post keeps simmering...
I didn't make it on Walt's study (except as an apology for not including me), but I'm 43!
Rochelle, you are never 43! I've met you--you are at least ten years younger than me...as for not being on Walt's list, I think it's a badge of honor. Of course, I do say that about my gray hair!
Wanted to mention that I finally realized Meredith's link was driving this unheard of traffic here. Duh. So apologies to Walt, Joy, and Brian, lovely "seeing" you, and thanks to Meredith. It's been exciting to get all these comments. I've gotten email off-site as well. I will try not to let it go to my head, and/or engage in dramatic attention-seeking behavior (ahem, says Offspring).
"Une belle dame d'une certain age, sans merci,"?
This might do you well on your beach strolls. It’s from Americablog.
http://www.cafepress.com/americablog.27128701
Je blog Women's Tank Top
"Je blog, donc je suis."
- I blog, therefore I am
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