SCLA Part 5 - Job Search Products on Discus

I had already been through one job-search-related session, but I figured another one couldn't hurt.  Also, my only other reasonable choice was the one on selecting Christian fiction for children.  Well, first of all, I don't purchase books and, secondly, I'm not a Christian, so I'm unlikely to do any programming using this genre.  Also, what passes for Christian lit for one group doesn't necessarily work for another group.  For example, there's the Left Behind series which is eaten up by one segment of the Christian population and derided vociferously by another segment.  In the past we've solved this problem in our area by putting "Christian" stickers on books from the various publishing houses, such as Bethany, and then hiding under the desk.

This was an excellent presentation, and also just in time for my Homeschooler program!   I couldn't believe my little eyeballs!  The presenter went over the products that we have available on our library's Discus* links that I was totally unaware of.

Ferguson's Career Guidance Center is a Facts On File product.  This seems to be mostly useful for those incredibly boring school assignments on careers, which they used to make kids do all the time but I haven't had a request for recently.  There is a cool "Career Interest Assessment" test that I'm dying to take.  It's 180 questions to determine where your interests lie: are you artistic? nurturing? etc.  I can't wait to find out that I should have been an Investment Banker.  I'll have to wait until I get to the library because I can't seem to access this from home - it's requiring a username and password.  Rats.  There is also advice on job hunting skills.

LearningExpress Library requires you to set up an account, but that's so it can save information for you and where you stopped on the practice tests.  It was suggested that you could use your library card number for setting up an account if doing this from outside the library - but, dang!, that's a really long number.  There is a resume creator and mini-courses on all those things you might be tested on, like math, the GED, ASVAB, SAT, ACT, all those acronyms, and some courses in Spanish to serve that demographic.

The last bit was about the NetLibrary Career e-Book Collection which also requires signing up.  Each title only has eight spaces for readers ... so if eight people are trying to read the same book at the same time, the ninth person is out of luck and has to ask for a notice to be sent when a space is available.  That might seem to be an unlikely event, but I imagine that those eight spaces are available to the whole state.  We used to subscribe to NetLibrary and I had a username, but it got too expensive and the state later provided Overdrive.  Anyway, I imagine that username, whatever it was, isn't any good anymore.  It would be nice if these things were more dependable.

I think the Homeschoolers group will be very interested in LearningExpress Library and its courses and tests.  Okay, maybe the parents will be interested.

*Now with the exciting new SmartSearch which searches all the websites in Discus at once!

SCLA Part 3 - Anatomy of a Library Job Center

If you're from a small library system like me, you can get pretty darned annoyed by what's going on at the Richland County Library.  Just when you think you have a brand-spanking-new library to be proud of, you see another over-the-top presentation and slink from the session dragging your tail between your legs.
Well, they're at it again.
They decided they needed to help job seekers and so they went about it with the relentless planning and enthusiasm we have come to know and envy.  They plan, they partner, they collaborate, they write grants, they totally redesign their reference area, they hire.  Then they make you sit through a mind-boggling power-point presentation and sit and wonder at what on earth you could possibly adapt to your 834 square foot branch in the middle of a massive job shortage.
Well, let's look at some of the easy stuff, such as the self-paced stations.  You put out a desk, a chair, and a telephone book with a little tip sheet telling them to look up companies or with a sample work portfolio.  You make tip-sheets specific for area companies on filling out on-line applications, which are apparently all the rage.
No money?  Partner with area technical colleges, public and private agencies.  Have speakers come visit.  Hold weekly job club meetings for mutual support.
They have three dedicated job specialists who can sit down one-on-one with a person and help them: create an e-mail account, fill out an online application, create a résumé, practice their interview techniques.
In the end, we were each handed the power point presentation ... on a 2G flashdrive, the same flashdrives they apparently provide to their customers with a completed résumé (and one hard copy on résumé quality paper).  
They have job-search dedicated computers, they don't ask to see library cards.  And for some reason it was thought necessary to say that the job staff don't answer the phone (but the reference staff helps with job search).  They aren't trained.  
There was more (and the power point presentation is available on request - but I want the flashdrive back), but - it was just too much to take in.