Educator Voice and Influence in Mississippi Education Policy

This thesis attempts to discover if there are barriers educators and government actors feel are in place that prevent educator advocacy and influence in the state of Mississippi, and consequently what importance their voices hold in the policymaking and implementation processes. The research questions that are addressed in this thesis include: a) Is there an absence of educators affecting policies and if so, why? b) What are the perceptions of educators’ advocacy and engagement in laws passed regarding education? c) What, if any, barriers prevent educators’ voices from influencing laws? Qualitative data from educators and those in the government sector is gathered through interviews and analyzed to uncover common themes regarding educator voice and advocacy. The research found several shared beliefs between interviewees, which offers solutions, discourse, and recommendations for addressing this perceived issue in Mississippi

Forget the desk job : current roles and responsibilities in entry-level reference job advertisements.

This study examines the evolving roles and responsibilities of entry-level academic reference positions, as stated in recent job advertisements posted on the American Library Association’s JobLIST Web site and other sources. Findings from a content analysis of these advertisements indicate that current entry-level reference positions in academic libraries incorporate a strikingly diverse and complex range of responsibilities. The study provides valuable insight into the expectations and priorities of hiring institutions in regard to entry-level reference work, offering a broad perspective on the reference job environment to library science students, first-time job seekers, and libraries seeking to recruit entrylevel candidates

Job Seeking in an Academic Environment: A Dual Perspective

Libraries, unfortunately, are not immune to the current economic climate, which translates not only into budget cuts, but also into fewer vacant positions being posted and filled. Library school graduates entering the profession not only are forced to compete for fewer jobs, but face stiff competition from other applicants with previous professional experience. In the current economy, many applicants in various stages of their careers are competing for the few entry-level positions available. Furthermore, applicants seeking tenure-track positions in college and university libraries often confront challenges that are unique to the academic environment. In this essay, the Chair of the Search Committee for a recent entry-level, tenure-track reference librarian position at the University of Louisville and the successful candidate for this position share their perspectives on the search process. The Chair provides insights into applicant selection and hiring procedures in academic libraries, while the candidate reflects on the experience of preparing for and negotiating the particular demands of an interview in this setting

So, You Want to Be a Southeastern Librarian? Entry-Level Academic Library Job Trends in the Southeast

While it is no secret that looking for one’s first job as a librarian can be difficult, especially in the current economic climate, the process can be even more challenging when one’s search must take place within a particular geographic area or region. For a variety of reasons, including financial constraints and family obligations, many entry-level candidates are not in a position to move to any part of the country and start their new lives as professional librarians. The need to focus a job search on a specific region, however, necessarily limits the number of available jobs. Developing a strong understanding of the job environment is vital to competing successfully for a small number of positions. When preparing to enter a highly competitive market, job seekers will find it advantageous to know more about what types of jobs are likely to be available, how lucrative the jobs might be, how much experience might be needed, and other concerns about the job market

Working information literacy : the instruction librarian specialty in job advertisements, 1973-2013.

As information literacy has developed into one of the library profession‟s most important guiding principles, library instruction programs have increased in complexity and academic librarian job duties have expanded. This paper broadly tracks the evolution of information literacy instruction through an examination of select literature, as well as teaching-related requirements listed in select professional job advertisements published in ten-year increments from 1973-2013. These advertisements reflect the growing diversity of teaching-oriented positions appearing over time and the increasingly specialized nature of the required qualifications for those positions. The advertisements also demonstrate how information literacy continues to provide a conceptual rationale by which academic librarians establish themselves as central to the educational missions of their institutions. In light of this ongoing process of situating librarians within campus communities as experts in pedagogy, the profession must consider not only how we are preparing new librarians for specialized teaching roles but also how we can meet the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities inherent in the adoption of such roles

An analysis of entry-level librarian ads published in American Libraries, 1982-2002.

Much discussion has taken place in the literature over the difficulty finding qualified candidates to fill vacancies within libraries. Emphasis has been placed on recruitment, internships, scholarships, and other partnerships by library science schools and libraries to attract new people to the profession. Even so, applicant pools are dwindling [Simmons-Welburn and McNeil, 2004] and many institutions have been forced to rewrite job ads after initial postings to locate a qualified candidate. Factors hindering vacancy searches include: Graying of the profession, “Thousands of librarians will be retiring in the next ten years” [Simmons-Welburn and McNeil, 2004] Budget constraints/less positions [Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004] Low pay in comparison to other professions [Congress on Professional Education, 1999] Less people entering the profession [Kaufman, 2002] Since more and more experienced candidates are retiring, frequently recruitment must turn towards entry-level candidates. This paper takes a look at the minimum requirements acceptable to employers to hire a candidate with no professional experience. A review of the literature reveals no specific focus on entry-level position requirements. There have been several studies analyzing position announcements for content. These studies focused on different specializations within the library field or a thorough examination of a particular year. Although some studies have included entry-level librarians, none examined these trends for changes in entry-level requirements over time

Permanent Electronic Access to Government Information: A Study of Federal, State, and Local Documents

[First two paragraphs] Even before the conception of electronic-only documents, providing permanent public access to government information was challenging. Since 1813, federal depository libraries have acquired and maintained tangible items to ensure continued access for the public. Fugitive documents, or government-produced information which escapes distribution through the Federal Depository Library System (FDLP), have always been a major concern. In our current environment, where the vast majority of government information is distributed electronic-only, this problem has only worsened. That, coupled with the ability to completely destroy electronic documents with the click of a mouse, has made the task of finding and ensuring permanent public access to this information even more daunting. Agencies remove information for a variety of reasons—fear of the release of sensitive material, web site restructuring, or a lack of understanding of the historical significance of some materials. In 1998, an audit of the National Institute of Health found that 78% of material suitable for inclusion in the FDLP was not submitted by government agencies. Former Public Printer Bruce James noted that agency self-publication which bypasses standard government distribution “deprives future generations from having an accurate record of the work of our government.” In this day and age, how permanent is electronic government information? This paper will explore the permanency of selected electronic government information over a twelve-month period to determine its stability and accessibility

Permanent electronic access to government information: A study of federal, state, and local documents.

Even before the conception of electronic-only documents, providing permanent public access to government information was challenging. Since 1813, federal depository libraries have acquired and maintained tangible items to ensure continued access for the public. Fugitive documents, or government-produced information which escapes distribution through the Federal Depository Library System (FDLP), have always been a major concern. In our current environment, where the vast majority of government information is distributed electronic-only, this problem has only worsened. That, coupled with the ability to completely destroy electronic documents with the click of a mouse, has made the task of finding and ensuring permanent public access to this information even more daunting. Agencies remove information for a variety of reasons—fear of the release of sensitive material, web site restructuring, or a lack of understanding of the historical significance of some materials. In 1998, an audit of the National Institute of Health found that 78% of material suitable for inclusion in the FDLP was not submitted by government agencies. Former Public Printer Bruce James noted that agency self-publication which bypasses standard government distribution “deprives future generations from having an accurate record of the work of our government.” In this day and age, how permanent is electronic government information? This paper will explore the permanency of selected electronic government information over a twelve-month period to determine its stability and accessibility

HiRel: Hybrid Automated Reliability Predictor (HARP) integrated reliability tool system, (version 7.0). Volume 4: HARP Output (HARPO) graphics display user's guide

The Hybrid Automated Reliability Predictor (HARP) integrated Reliability (HiRel) tool system for reliability/availability prediction offers a toolbox of integrated reliability/availability programs that can be used to customize the user's application in a workstation or nonworkstation environment. HiRel consists of interactive graphical input/output programs and four reliability/availability modeling engines that provide analytical and simulative solutions to a wide host of highly reliable fault-tolerant system architectures and is also applicable to electronic systems in general. The tool system was designed at the outset to be compatible with most computing platforms and operating systems and some programs have been beta tested within the aerospace community for over 8 years. This document is a user's guide for the HiRel graphical postprocessor program HARPO (HARP Output). HARPO reads ASCII files generated by HARP. It provides an interactive plotting capability that can be used to display alternate model data for trade-off analyses. File data can also be imported to other commercial software programs