By Emma Cummings

Earlier this month our current club president Sara Asad Syed, led a dynamic Q&A session with Annelise Sklar, a collections strategist at the UC San Diego Library. This virtual event was packed with great advice from a long term career librarian. These are our top insights we walked away with, and where you can follow up for more information.

What tools should I learn to use?

Gobi Library Solutions

Don’t stress about learning multiple platforms, as there will likely always need to be some on-the-job training. However, one platform mentioned by Sklar is Gobi, from EBSCO. The baseline function of Gobi is to acquire books and workflow services. Check out their website and review some of its core uses here.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets, among other tools for information organization, are prevalent across many industries today. One example is the need for collections management staff to make decisions about current items – either updates, canceling access, or other actions that need to be taken. This information will likely be kept in a spreadsheet accessible to your team and possibly others. With information potentially being accessed by multiple departments, it’s a good idea to polish up your familiarity with using Excel or Google Sheets. One example would be achieving basic proficiency with pivot tables or learning the nuances of sorting sheets.

AI Integration

One of the first topics we discussed is integrating AI into workflows. Sklar says that AI is, or should be, a tool for replacing drudgery, not work replacement. Some uses in libraries for this could be advanced reviewing of your final write ups, suggestions for descriptions, or generating basic outlines for emails or reports. A core tool mentioned was MCP (model context protocol) – which is an emerging standard that will allow AI tools to integrate with existing systems and applications. From MCP’s website, they state this open source standard “provides a standardized way to connect AI applications to external systems” (MCP Documentation). These kinds of AI tools are about connecting systems and getting basic tasks done quicker.

Career Advice

Keep Your Skillset Fresh

Keep your more recently attained skills up to date, especially if they give you an edge in the job market. Not sure which skills are relevant? Sklar suggests scheduling informational coffee chats or mock interviews with professionals in your network. Maintaining communication with others is a great way to stay immersed in your niche.

Another aspect of keeping your skillset up to date is simply using them practically in a work setting. Even if you have a (higher level) dream job you’re working towards, Sklar suggests applying for internships and general library positions, especially if you haven’t worked at a library before. This will expose you to the tools, people, and environment for the collections dream job that you’re working towards, one step at a time.

Item Management

One aspect of collections management will likely be weeding, or physically getting rid of items, such as outdated magazines or journals. Many institutions, like the University of California system, will retain and relegate a single copy of items accessed less often to remote storage, freeing up space in the campus library buildings for new purchases or purposes other than collections. Deciding what these items are, and when they will be leaving the library’s patron accessible collection will require communication and prioritization.

On the acquisitions side, many publishers have better pricing for larger versus small orders. Sklar mentioned the University of California’s California Digital Library and systemwide consortial purchases, where the UC libraries share the expenses together for access to a larger collection, enabling bulk order discounts. There’s always the possibility that new contracts or agreements will be made, involving talking with vendor reps and negotiating prices or reviewing items. These are more areas where communication, coordination and collaboration skills will come into play.

Keep Up On Current Issues

In addition to keeping your skillset up to date, Sklar suggests keeping up on current issues and topics, such as through attending Webinars. The ACRL Youtube Channel is a top recommendation to check out. For other virtual events, ASIS&T regularly hosts webinars which you can check out the main event calendar here (members have access to recordings of past webinars as well). Another example, for those interested in museums, is the Reels series from the Nairn Museum Instagram channel. During Christmas they’ve created a ‘Twelve Days’ series of items in their collection, harkening back to the old carol. This is just one example of showing off a collection in a way that is unique and engaging, as well as educational. Attending events and keeping up with organizational newsletters may be where you learn about a new trend in information science to incorporate into your workflow or outreach.

Strategies – Applying for Jobs

Cover Letters

Cover letters really do matter! One simple but overlooked technique is to write your CL like you want the job. It sounds obvious, but writing a cover letter like it’s a chore may come across in the tone of your writing.

It’s also important to state why you want this job. Not a job, this job. This is a place where you can be specific, and as Sklar humorously recommends that flattery is not off the table! Jokes aside, if you’re applying to an org that you admire, the cover letter is a great way to connect that admiration to your ability to continue great work into the future through this job. Someone should be able to read your cover letter and see you have done at least some research about the team and the library. The bottom line is that you CL should clearly state your (hopefully compelling) pitch on why you will be a great fit.

Personalize

In addition to showing off your attention to detail, it’s great to mention something in the job description that you’re excited about. This goes beyond just stating that you’re a good fit. There is some research demonstrating that excitement, albeit highly dependent on cultural context, may get you a job over a calmer candidate (Bencharit et al., 2019). Another tip if you need some direction is to research their strategic plan. This adds a little flair to your letter that sets you apart from just sticking to a template or writing out your interests like you’re filling out an admissions form.

Grammar & Spelling

Lastly, it practically goes without saying that spelling and grammar convey a lot in a cover letter or job application. A surprising tip from Sklar is that it’s more common than you would think for people to submit applications and letters with misspelled proper nouns, or even to the wrong but similarly named, organization. Make sure to read through for tone and repetition as well spelling errors, and triple check that you have spelled the organization’s name correctly!

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Thanks again to Annelise Sklar for being such a great guest for this virtual event. We hope some of this advice helps information science and MLIS students looking towards the job market or actively applying. We’d love to see you at our next event, so check out the SJSU ASIS&T club newsletter or virtual events calendar to keep up to date with what we’re working on. See you soon!