In Brief: In this editorial, In the Library with the Lead Pipe Editorial Board members Erin Dorney, Emily Ford, Kim Leeder, and Micah Vandegrift discuss their upcoming panel presentation that will take place at the ACRL 2013 National Conference in Indianapolis. The panel, with the same title as this editorial, will address what we believe [...]

This week, In the Library with Lead Pipe fields professional development and career questions from library school students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The questions they asked ranged from committee work to composing cover letters to conference attendance. Here is the complete list (so you can jump around if you like): [...]

As library travel budgets are increasingly slashed around the country, it’s a tough time for conference-going. In this group post, we compare notes about the conferences we’ve attended, which have been our favorites, and why. We hope this will generate creative ideas on good conferences (online or in-person) to look forward to, and maybe offer [...]

Déformation professionnelle is a French phrase, meaning a tendency to look at things from the point of view of one’s own profession and forget a broader perspective. It is a pun on the expression “formation professionnelle,” meaning “professional training.” The implication is that all (or most) professional training results to some extent in a distortion [...]

Earlier this month, I presented at a one-day conference. Everything happened ordinarily. My submission of an abstract was accepted and I was scheduled in a session with two other presenters. Preparing for the presentation, I worked up my outline, gathered images, and put my slides together. The night before, I practiced my session by making [...]

“…i [sic] only renew [my ALA membership] out of a sense of professional obligation, and also because of the fear that i’ll [sic] put it on my resume and get busted as not being a member.” –c-dog Membership in the American Library Association means professionals are bound together by the tenets of librarianship. Technically, this [...]