At the Finish Line

Well, I know that I was AWOL on here for awhile, but I did it. I finished my e-portfolio, and before my personal deadline of April 1. It has been accepted by my department, so I am officially done with all of my Master's work. No more classes, no more discussions, and best of all no more writing. My mom suggested that I print everything in my e-portfolio out and have it bound, and I'm considering the idea. Here's what the final numbers look like:

Competencies completed: 15
Competencies graded satisfactory: 15
Competencies in progress: 0
Competencies yet to address: 0
Revisions required: 2
Pages written: 86
Days remaining until advisor's deadline: 10 days
Days remaining until department's deadline: 24 days

It's a bit surreal. I feel myself waiting for the next assignment to emerge and I have to keep reminding myself that I'm done. My graduation ceremony is still over a month and half away, and I don't think I'll really feel like I'm done until I get to be hooded. Even when I go to the campus bookstore next week to order my graduation gear.

Two things that I needed to talk about in the "extra" parts of my e-portfolio were my professional goals and my professional growth plan. My goals are "to (1) work in an environment where I interact with and assist patrons on a daily basis both at the reference desk and in other capacities within and outside of the library; (2) focus on providing reference assistance and supporting and expanding the library’s online services; (3) develop and present library instruction workshops; and (4) work in either a public or academic library" (taken directly from my e-portfolio). Part of my professional growth plan is to keep learning. One thing that I've come to understand is that there is so much that we can learn from each other. Librarians are often a gregarious bunch (you should see us at our conferences) and are very willing to share their experiences and knowledge on pretty much every topic one could imagine has anything to do with libraries. And some topics that have nothing to do with libraries. Many librarians write on blogs in order to share this experience and insight with a larger crowd. I'm listing here a few blogs that I follow (some more loosely than others) so that I can share some of those I turn to for information and inspiration.

Librarian in Black: This librarian shares a lot of my views, and I appreciate her willingness to be very vocal about them (as sometimes I find myself unable to do the same). The author helps me to stay up-to-date with issues in the profession since she tends to be really on top of them. She's actually in the same region where I am, so it's nice to read about a "local" librarian's experiences.

In the Library with the Lead Pipe: What initially drew me to this blog was the name (used to play Clue a lot when I was young). What kept me returning back to the blog were the articles. It's a great blog which posts on a wide variety of topics. It's actually won some awards and is indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals and EBSCO (where it's noted as peer-reviewed). I guess really it should be termed an online journal.

Librarian by Day: This is another great blog with topics that span nearly every library-related subject. I like Bobbi Newman's posts because they goes beyond the surface of a topic and dig a little. I appreciate her insight and experience.

The Library Loon: This is a rather witty blog and one that almost always gets a chuckle out of me. The authoress, whoever she is, tackles issues and shares her experiences with her audience by writing in a manner that Emily Post would most heartily applaud. And yet, she manages to inject much humor among the quite proper language. Perhaps this blog isn't for everyone, but I do enjoy it.

YALSA's The Hub: This is a must-read for anyone in YA services (and those folks probably are already reading it), but it's also a fun read for any librarians or even (YA) book enthusiasts. There is a LOT of discussion about up-and-coming and popular YA books and many book lists. With my growing interest in books for the YA audience, I am often browsing posts looking for potential titles to read. It's been a great help to figure out what I want to read next!

Librarian Problems: This one is purely for fun. Check it out, laugh, enjoy. No further explanation is needed.

So that's my short list. There are a few other blogs that I have bookmarked and go back to every so often, but these ones I follow more regularly and really enjoy. Feel free to note any other library blogs you enjoy in the comments section.

I hope to post a new recipe next week.