Sunday, July 30, 2006

Coming and Going

It appears that my Alma mater at the McGill Graduate School of Library and Information Studies are looking for a Professional Associate to teach a graduate-level course ("Web Design and Management") and to maintain the School's IT lab.

I know the person who has held on to this position for the past couple of years, and I am pleased to hear that he is moving on. On a personal note, this person also helped me land my first LIS-related job at the McGill University Archives.

In other news--good news, thankfully--I almost fell out of my computer chair when I read that Ed Bilodeau will be moving to Ottawa, Ontario, with his wife-to-be Nathalie, to work as a Web Administrator at Carleton University. Congratulations, Ed! That's great news!

I know a few faithful readers out there may be wondering: "That is great news - but what about you, O Great DIGITAL Archive blogger? How are things on the job search front?"

Nothing much new to report.

But I will tell you the honest truth: The more positive news I read from fellow bloggers, the more clearer the path ahead looks to me in terms of career direction, relocation plans, and so on. The good news makes it no less easy in solving problems, of course, but somehow it gives a new perspective to resolving them.

In the meantime, I am almost finished with the hospital libraries' website re-design project. In a few weeks time, I hope to post a URL to them once they are placed on a production server.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Did you know: Adobe Acrobat a RSS reader

If you have Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0, follow these steps:

1. From the menu bar select Comments --> Tracker...

2. A Tracker window opens up. From the menu bar on the Tracker window select Services --> Subscribe

3. A new pop-window opens asking you to insert a RSS feed URL

4. Voila! RSS news feed in Adobe Acrobat. You can even convert a news items to PDF. Select Services --> Convert to PDF

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

GIS Junkies!

GIS (Geographical Information System) junkies listen up! (And all you Google Maps addicts out there lend an ear as well.)

Natural Resources Canada's Canadian Forest Service (CFS) has launched (in typical quiet low-brow Canadian fashion) an online service called Forest Fire in Canada.

It is a powerful information system that combines the power of geographical information-gathering and remote-sensing of ground activities to create a comprehensive picture of forest fires occurring across North America.

It's no longer just about fighting fires - it's about fire management. Knowing and understanding how forest fires will affect the socio-economical landscape of the country.

Check it out: Forest Fire in Canada.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Job Search: Preliminary Results

A few weeks ago (or perhaps a few months ago - I'm not so sure now), I wrote a post about my intentions of using this blog to establish a network of colleagues in order to find a job in the library / information management field. It was an experiment, of sorts, to test the power of the blog.

I gave a brief description of my background, and I also uploaded my resume to give people a chance to view my skills, knowledge and work experience.

While the experiment is still on-going, I have decided to examine some of the preliminary results:

One person, so far, has responded directly to my resume. This particular person, it should be noted, shares an interest in digitization and digital projects. I thank her for taking the time to respond and for providing me with further information.

This is worth reflecting on for a minute, for it demonstrates how a blog should be used in order to effectively network. Here are my thoughts:

1. Don't give up; keep blogging; have a topic in mind

Like our solar system, populated with its nine distinct planets, a blog can be filled with several different topics. But it is always a good idea to have one topic--one sun, if you will--around which everything else revolves.

Topic-specific or project-specific blogs (as this one, The DIGITAL Archive, used to be and still yearns to be) garner a fair share of attention because they focus on topics that are, professionally-speaking, of interest to people in the same field, in the same area of research. If one can use one's blog to contribute to the larger blogosphere discourse on a particular topic, chances are that blog networking opportunities will arise.

2. Building a blog network takes time.

Rome was not built in a day, nor will a blog's audience. It requires time and effort as well as patience.

3. Mention and cite blogosphere colleagues.

Frequently we come across a blog post that resonates with us. We consider and even savour the post's contents. Why not simply mention the post and the blogger's name the next time we make our own post? Let them know we read their post, and in turn they will know we are out there.

I think we all, from time to time, do a bit of "egosearching" (the act of searching for references to one's blog, as Gary McGath aptly put it), and in doing so we do indeed find more people with similar interests who have cited us in their blog. Our blog network grows.

4. Blogs are for sharing and communicating information.

This is worth repeating: Blogs are for sharing and communicating information. We are social creatures always seeking new ways to express ourselves. Blogs are a new and highly interconnected way of doing so.

Stick with the basics - blog about what stirs your enthusiasm - and amazing things will happen!

about the author

I am an information professional, researcher, and writer with over eight years experience in the information services field with experience in information and communication technology.

I have a B.A. in History and a Master's in Library and Information Studies and working on a Web and Multimedia Design certificate.

I believe that empowering people with information can enrich lives and transform the world.