I'm lost and need some direction forward

[crazycanuck]

Hey,

I'm feeling annoyed & lost at the moment with my present position and want career or a job with real meaning/use. I have a boring job and don't do anything important but work for a great company. I can't leave yet for varying reasons. At the moment I just want to rip my eyes out from boredom.

Yes, i have a degree however with the moves to different countries, i've been unable to get into the area I want. I've pretty much made my passion just a hobby.

I'm looking at returning to university part time next year and then full time the following. If anyone works in the following areas, can I pick your brains?
1-Health information management
2-Librarianship/Records-Archive management
3-BSC in Sustainable Development.

I'm getting older (ok i'm 35 ) and need to get myself on track.

Any ideas are wonderful.

[shootingstar]

Too bad we didn't meet.

I am a librarian..with a Master's in the discipline. Ah yea, lots of stories..where I've worked as a librarian, all specialized..law, engineering, health care in private and public sectors. I've never worked in a public library where you sign out novels.

I have met librarians from Aussieland..there are some cool fire protection engineering libraries there...

I never dreamt a career would mean to have client groups that included: judges, lawyers, physicians, physiotherapists, engineers, firefighters, ex-police officers, accountants...

It has been ..an incredible journey...like a bike ride. Methinks I shocked a fire chief in southeastern Ontario when we were bike touring and dropped in on the local fire department's BBQ fundraiser. Had a chat with him on the new firefighter competency standard for the province... and resource support.

You can no longer think of just librarians..our reach extends into knowledge management.

PM me anytime.

[crazycanuck]

Thanks S!

I'll pm you some more questions.

If anyone else works in a uni or corporate library please let give me a heads up. Email's preferred as i don't want to always log in at work.

Tanks

[KnottedYet]

Used to be a librarian. My best friend is a librarian. Gotta lot of family who are librarians. Literally grew up in libraries.

Sometimes I still miss it, and still think of going back when my knickers are in a twist in my new career.

But I'm just a little too high energy for libraries at this juncture.

(and CC, 35 is NOT old!!! That's how old I was when I went back to school.)

[littlegrasshopp]

+1 on not being old at 35! I to and 35 and thinking about going back for the second time! First time was at 30. I am glad I did it then, and I'm looking forward to it even more this time. You'll have lots of company!

[wannaduacentury]

Too bad we didn't meet.

I am a librarian..with a Master's in the discipline. Ah yea, lots of stories..where I've worked as a librarian, all specialized..law, engineering, health care in private and public sectors. I've never worked in a public library where you sign out novels.

I have met librarians from Aussieland..there are some cool fire protection engineering libraries there...

I never dreamt a career would mean to have client groups that included: judges, lawyers, physicians, physiotherapists, engineers, firefighters, ex-police officers, accountants...

It has been ..an incredible journey...like a bike ride. Methinks I shocked a fire chief in southeastern Ontario when we were bike touring and dropped in on the local fire department's BBQ fundraiser. Had a chat with him on the new firefighter competency standard for the province... and resource support.

You can no longer think of just librarians..our reach extends into knowledge management.

PM me anytime.

Ditto!! I work in a college library and public library in technical services. Made a career switch 2 yrs ago. Doing a degree in History(halfway there) and will get a Masters in Library Science after that. I like both types of libraries and do different things for each one. I like special collections and archives too. As Shooting star says, it's not just books anymore, there's a whole cool world of information. Do some research, definately an interesting career. You can most likely do a Masters online from an accredited school. Jenn

p.s. oh yea, my dh is acqusitions librarian for the college library we work at It's a family thing here too. (wink)

[blueskies]

There's a free online video workshop with Marcus Buckingham on the Oprah web site.

http://www.oprah.com/money/career/ma...rse_main.jhtml

"Are you stuck in a job you hate? Feel like you just don't have enough to give to your professional life and your personal life? You're not alone. Career coach Marcus Buckingham met with a group of women just like you to help them figure out how to reignite the passion in their careers. Now it's your turn! Take Marcus's step-by-step workshop and use his lessons to change your life."

Might help you to make the best of where you're at while you're still there & give some ideas for what would be important features for you in a new career.

[crazycanuck]

Hey, thanks for all the input.

My main concern is even if I do the Master of Information Management @ Curtin Uni, will i be able to attain a position? I know the course is is accredited by the Australian Society of Archivists and the Records Management Association of Australasia but is it hard to break into the sector?

I am unsure if the following makes sense or not but: I know what I want in terms of a career but I can't seem to get there.

I'm tired of being in the vicious circle of-I can't get the job because i don't have enough experience but can't get the experience because i can't get the education/job.etc..

Also, I want a career where I have to think and utilize me brain cells! I'm tired of being bored.

Does this make sense to anyone?

[Mr. Bloom]

CC: I recall you were the one that forced me to look up "superannuation"

Functionally, how would what you seek be different from what you're currently doing?

Is Health Information Management what I might call Informatics?

[KnottedYet]

Job markets go up and down.

When I finally left the libraries I was in a position where I worked 39 3/4 hrs a week and no benes. (it was less than 40 hrs a week....) There were other folks in the same library who'd been doing that for 5-10 years and still had no benes. Jobs were tight.

Couple years ago I was *this* close to heading back to libraries. In my neck of the woods they were DESPERATE for science librarians (that's my "thing"). And there were full benefits!

If the market looks good now, it might be different later; if it looks bad now, it might be different later. Follow your passion! The jobs will be there one way or the other.

Oh, and being "older than average" counts as a bonus as a newbie in library jobs. Breadth of knowledge and experience in the real world is far more valuable than just years-in-the-library.

[shootingstar]

CC- Does the information sciences/knowledge management Australian job market which would includes libraries offer jobs like these roles?

http://www.fis.utoronto.ca/component.../limitstart,0/

There are no guarantees of job offer(s) after graduating with any advanced degree..even a Master's of Business Admin from top universities...doesn't still guarantee a decent job.

To apply that degree and to benchmark oneself in a career, here is a pie-in-the-sky standard for those working in specialized resource centres/roles: http://www.sla.org/content/learn/comp2003/index.cfm The spirit of the standard speaks very well to the professional members who are dynamic and refresh their skill set throughout their career. Becoming an information professional demands that a person constantly learns multiple resouces, technologies in terms of design, teaching, and secondary research. It is about understanding user behaviour and usability of information products in addition to broader political issues of information literacy, censorship/access, privacy, etc.

Sorry, I just got home..from work and had my supper..will continue dialogue offline. Have to shower..

[Flur]

I hope I'm not thread hijacking and I apologize if I am, but I'm absolutely fascinated. I love books... what does one study while working towards a Masters in Library Science? What is a day on the job like?

[shootingstar]

I hope I'm not thread hijacking and I apologize if I am, but I'm absolutely fascinated. I love books... what does one study while working towards a Masters in Library Science? What is a day on the job like?

From an accreditation manual for certifying acceptable library/information sciences university program: http://www.ala.org/ala/accreditation...dards_2008.pdf (p. 6-8) is of relevance.

In a nutshell, there would be compulsory courses on management, organization of information (which we can get into taxonomy/classification development, metadata standards= cataloguing standards) or information architecture (as the techies like to call it), etc.

A day on the job...depends on the type of role. Today included:
*discussing with one of my staff what needed to be done.
*preparing for an informal meeting-- ie. reviewing some best practices that I had written & cosigned with some other managers. This will be issued to our client.
*searches for an engineering manager and another chap on a particular facility building we were building...probably to clarify confusion about the contract terms
*checked in database backend to monitor growth, also if I have put in new user into the system to allow his access.
*indexing some documents with full-text conversion
*meeting with 2 engineers and quality assurance manager. Brainstorming for an upcoming meeting for client wants to understand high-level how all documentation is being organized. Plans to regroup again next wk.
*then HR manager wants to borrow that part-time staff member..next week..I said ok but we need her again
*search request for an obscure permit on watercourse that 1 government authority asked from another party..-found it
*more documents... of course many cover millions of dollars worth of contracts.
*explaining to another staff member how to save time from double/triple checking. Can't afford that...we are taking in 1,000 new documents monthly that must be integrated centrally. (& that's NOT including 70,000 accounting documents, 10,000 engineering drawings that our dept. will inherit in the end).

My present job is not typically a "librarian's" job but clearly it is information oriented, has a clear service and teaching role also.

[mimitabby]

CC, i have to give you my left-handed perspective. I'm a few years from retiring from a job where i don't utilize more than 5% of my talents. I have a job that is boring, pays well, is secure, good benefits. I figured out a long time that jobs earn you money, but they don't feed your soul. (for me) I spent so much time in the first 15 years of working trying to figure out what the "right" job was for me. Hmm, yes, the right job would be city of Seattle goat breeder?

Then i sat down and talked to my DH's 75 year old uncle.
he said "I never did figure out what i wanted to be when i grew up!" That's when i quit worrying about it.

200 years ago, no one worried about getting joy from jobs. you worked to stay alive. we kind of still do. I get my jollies from lots of stuff. my job keeps me flush.. life is good. i am happy, fulfilled, but my job is just a small part of my life.

good luck.

[kelownagirl]

PM Queen. I'm sure she works in a Uni library.