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Information Overload and Stress: The Ailments of Modern Living
By Michael Gorman
This article has been adapted from The Enduring Library: Technology, Tradition, and the Quest for Balance, chapter 10: Information Overload and Stress: The Ailments of Modern Living, by Michael Gorman; © 2003 by the American Library Association. The Enduring Library is available from the ALA Store at www.alastore.ala.org.
It is 10 p.m.-do you know where your mind is tonight? Your day started when you rose early to check your e-mail at home, your cell phone for voice mail and text messages, your fax machine for overnights, and newspapers on the Web for news and other texts and pictures.
The blight from which we all suffer is called "information overload"-the result of a society in which the technologies have outstripped the ability of the human brain to deal with its results. Writing on a Web news site, Paul Krill tells us that information overload "results from having a rapid rate of growth in the amount of information available, while days remain 24 hours long and our brains remain in roughly the same state of development as they were when cavemen communicated by scrawling messages on stones." Information overload is more than an annoyance and worse than difficult to deal with. It can be dangerous to your mental and physical health.
What should we do, as librarians, to deal with the information overload (and concomitant knowledge deficit) that is our lot today?
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A Carousel of Progress: Revisiting Disneyland
By Jennifer S. Kutzik
San Diego welcomed sun-starved library workers for the American Library Association’s Midwinter meetings in January 2004. Having planned in advance for a special day of fun, my Library Support Staff Interests Round Table (LSSIRT) colleague, Jim Hill, and I motored north to reclaim our lost youth in Disneyland. It was Jim’s first visit and twenty-five years since my last trip to the self-proclaimed "happiest place on earth."
In the civic-minded culture of the 1950s (when Disneyland opened), Americans joined organizations at an astronomical rate. The so-called G.I. (Government Issue) generation (born between 1901–1926 and growing up during the Depression and World War I) believed banding together would insure the future success of the nation. Being a "card-carrying" member of most anything was proof enough of your support for that group. MORE
Demonstrating Your Value
By Amelia Kassel
This article is an adapted excerpt from “Practical Tips to Help You Prove Your Value” by Amelia Kassel, Marketing Library Service 16, no. 4 (May/June 2002), www.infotoday.com/mls/May02/kassel.htm.
During recent years, information professionals in many settings have had to learn new skills and competencies not taught in graduate school, yet nevertheless necessary for most productive relationships, and even for survival. Significantly, many librarians now ask and talk about strategic and proactive measures that both create and prove value for their organizations. MORE
Alternative Compensation Plans
By Paula Singer
This article has been adapted from Developing a Compensation Plan for Your Library, chapter 10: Trends, by Paula Singer, ©2002 by the American Library Association. Developing a Compensation Plan for Your Library is available from the ALA Store at www.alastore.ala.org. You may contact Paula Singer at pmsinger@singergrp.com.
In light of increased financial pressures, organizational redesign, a competitive labor market, an increasingly diverse workforce, and a design to focus on the top performers in your workforce, it may be time to consider altering your compensation program or perhaps adding options. Compensation strategies are going beyond market equity and internal fairness. Some recent innovations include noncash incentives, skill- and competency-based pay, gain sharing/success sharing, temporary or supplemental pay, broad-banding, and pay-for-performance plans. In this and the next two issues of Library Worklife, these alternative strategies will be explored. This month, noncash incentives are the focus, in preparation for National Library Workers Day. MORE
The Future of Certification through ALA-APA
By Barbara Stripling
ALA members owe a debt of gratitude to PLA, ASCLA, and LAMA who saw a problem, developed a solution, and provoked a major change in ALA structure to implement their solution. These three divisions recognized that specialized knowledge and skills beyond the Master’s degree were required for senior level public library management positions. They proposed a certification program for public library administrators (CPLA) to create a pathway for early career librarians to prepare themselves for library management. Unfortunately, their proposal hit a wall when they brought it forward ... MORE
Library Worklife Frequently Asked Questions
You may be wondering: What is ALA-APA anyway? Why am I receiving Library Worklife in my email? How long will I be receiving the newsletter? How much does it cost? These questions and more are answered here. MORE
National Library Workers Day Is Coming Soon!
The ALA-APA Web site is full of ideas to use for your library’s celebration of National Library Workers Day (NLWD) on April 20th, 2004. There are ideas for how you can show your appreciation for library staff. Get your local media involved by using the sample letters to the editor, radio announcements, and editorials and sending them out. Get your local government to recognize the day by using the sample proclamation. NLWD is being held on the Tuesday of National Library Week, April 18–24. MORE
Employee Rights: Political Speech
By Mary Minow and Tomas Lipinski
This article is an excerpt from The Library’s Legal Answer Book, chapter 8: Issues in Library Employment, by Mary Minow and Tomas Lipinski; © 2003 by the American Library Association. The Library’s Legal Answer Book is available from the ALA Store at www.alastore.ala.org.
In light of this election year, this article may help answer some of your questions about participation in the electoral process as an employee. This article applies primarily to public employees—library staff employed by federal, state, and local government libraries. MORE
Survey Results from Vol. 1, No. 2
Four hundred and twenty seven readers told Library Worklife whether their employer provide support for professional development, what continuing education activities engaged in, whether employer supported or not, and your primary motivation engaging in these activities.
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Good Conversations Can Change Your Life
By Gale S. Wood
Good conversations can improve worklife—as well as personal life. Do you dread those regular performance meetings and want to improve those conversations? Gale S. Wood, COMET Consulting & Coaching, in Havertown, PA (gswood@comcast.net), suggests these questions, based on the "powerful technique" of Appreciative Inquiry. MORE
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