Non-Traditional Library Settings and Job Hunting Strategies SLA Illinois Webinar January 17, 2012 Laura Fu Digital Asset Specialist, SHC Studio Services Sears Holdings Corporation

A Little Bit About Me! Experience Director/Photographer/Editor/Producer and Video Tape Librarian for local and national TV news, Sinclair Broadcast Group Usher, telemarketer, sales person, film extra, library assistant at Northwestern Video Asset Manager, AnswerMedia, LLC Forever Digital Asset Specialist, Sears Holdings Corporation Education BA Video/TV Production and German Studies, Hofstra University MLIS University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Non-Traditional Library Settings Almost all corporations have some sort of information center, archive and/or special collection. There are information specialists at most large companies: ◦ McDonald’s Corporation ◦ George Lucas Films ◦ Microsoft ◦ PBS ◦ Motorola ◦ The Chicago Tribune

How to Find Non-Traditional Library Jobs Network! I have had numerous tours and benchmark meetings with people I’ve met through professional organizations. Most people are absolutely open to visitors. Google your dream job! See if there are any professional organizations or groups of individuals interested in your intended industry. Visit corporate homepages for places where you’d like to work; browse their career page. They may have different titles for the jobs you’re seeking.

Rules of Networking Reach out and introduce yourself but make sure you keep some rules in mind. Explain how you got the person’s contact information. Do you have a mutual friend? Ask to arrange a benchmark meeting or to interview the person to learn about their job and career path. Do not ask for a job on the first or say that you’re “looking for anything”. Keep it short! Your first should be quick and too the point.

Companies want you, they just don’t know it yet Many companies don’t have IS staff…yet. They don’t realize the need They don’t want to spend the money They don’t see the importance of investing time and money in managing company assets Most companies have assets of some sort, so all companies should have some information specialist managing them. That person could be you!

Recommended Non-Traditional Professional Organizations Association of Moving Image Archivists Henry Stewart DAM Conference American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) Also try Groups on LinkedIn and Facebook

Digital Asset Management DAMs are libraries, just not your traditional kind. They still require a skilled information specialist behind the wheel. More and more corporations are investing in corporate DAMs. Keywords include digital asset, media asset, taxonomy, metadata.

Questions? Comments? Feel free to contact me to talk about DAMs searsholdings.com/careers