What do I do?
What got me started on this post was this article from INALJ (I need a library job) called 5 Things That People Don’t Realize Their Librarians Do.
This is my year for public speaking. I’m sitting on a panel of library technicians at the 2014 Manitoba Libraries Conference called “What can you do with a Library Technician Diploma?” There are five other panelists for a 75 minute session, so I don’t have a lot of time. I’ve been thinking about how I can best describe what I do and how what I learned through my library technician diploma made the difference to performing this job.
When I think about what I do, I realize that the most important part of my job is building relationships. I connect with my lawyers to reinforce how I can help them, I network with my colleagues at other law libraries to support me when I don’t know what to do or where to start, and I connect with legal publishing vendors to ensure I get the best resources for my firm for the best price. Of course I also do the “library” stuff too, like reviewing and entering data into the library catalogue, making sure invoices are paid, suggesting which resources to use, training on database use, and performing legal research.
I’ve tried to get my role down to one line: I help my lawyers win cases for their clients, and help them find new clients. I’ll be spending the next couple of weeks figuring out how to put that all together into a 5-10 minute presentation that’s both educational and entertaining.
Wish me luck!
~ Karen
Filed under: Career portfolio, Marketing, Professional Development | 1 Comment
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Brenda Wong
Karen Sawatzky
Library technician dialog 
Relationship building is so important and, as librarians, I’d like to think we have a head start in that area. I have already met librarians in schools and public libraries as well as teachers that influence my work.