Tips from Barbara Pilek

Update October 1: some of you might have an opportunity to make good use of these tips, as the Library of Parliament is currently advertising for a research librarian 

As promised here are some tips from Barbara Pilek:

In terms of preparing for future positions:

• Develop your search and research skills

• Get some experience in a library on a co-op, intern or volunteer basis

• Ensure that your résumé covers all of the requirements listed in the job poster and indicates whether you are bilingual

• Study for competitions to show that you are interested in the position and willing to make an effort to prepare for the competition.

• Study for the knowledge requirements listed in the poster.  For example, for our reference positions, develop your knowledge of parliamentary and current affairs, and of databases and reference sources in political science or legislative affairs

• For each requirement on a job poster poster, try to imagine 2-3 questions that might be asked to determine whether you have that particular knowledge, experience or skill.  You may be able to find job help websites that provide questions and/or answers to common interview questions.

• If you have trouble coming up with examples from your experiences in an interview setting, prepare in advance by coming up with examples from your experience that illustrate the skills and experience listed in the poster

• Find a fellow student who is willing to practice asking and answering questions that relate the posted requirements and your background

• If the employer mentions the possibility of a follow-up after the interview/exam, take them up on it, and learn from the feedback.

Reference Databases for Parliamentary and Political Affairs

EBSCO / Academic Search
PAIS
Political Science Abstracts or Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (WPSA)
Proquest Political Science

Canadian Business and Current Affairs (CBCA)
Canadian Periodical Index (CPI)

Index to Canadian Legal Literature or Legal Periodicals

Some responses to open government consultation

The BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association's response may be of interest especially if your term paper might be on access to information or open government http://fipa.bc.ca/library/Reports_and_Submissions/FIPA_Submission--%20OGP%20commitments--Aug%202013.pdf

Democracy Watch response

The British Columbia Library Association's statement is linked from http://tinyurl.com/n5q64f9

The Centre for Law and Democracy's statement is available via http://www.law-democracy.org/live/cld-contributes-to-canadas-ogp-consultation/

Individual submissions are posted at http://tinyurl.com/mkkq29l (haven't checked the link)

Of further interest, Vincent Gogolek's editorial on the consultation process in the Huffington Post Canada: "Stephen Harper's Secret Open Data Survey" http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/vincent-gogolek/secret-federal-survey_b_3869401.html

(from the Open Government list)

Canadian Library Association Government Information Network

The CLA Government Information Network maintains a blog. Recent activity includes participating in the preparation of the CLA response to the open government consultation (another awesome example of an advocacy brief!). Thanks to network Moderator Caron Rollins.

Canadian government information private LOCKSS network

A new initiative worth looking at - possibly a term paper topic or emerging topic for the last class? http://plnwiki.lockss.org/wiki/index.php/CGI_network

(thanks to our astute Director Lynne Bowker for the tip)

CanLII hackathon videos now available

The CanLII hackathon is a great fit with the topic for next Monday's class, on laws and regulations. For those unable to attend the hackathon, note that the videos are now available on the CanLII website.

Suzanne Legault's presentation (see the first video) is worth watching for anyone interested in Access to Information.

There will be a brief period for discussing the hackathon at Monday's class, so if anyone who would like to share their perspectives whether you've attended in-person, virtually, or watched presentation,  there will be time.

Advocacy brief assignment for September 30: examples

Following are just a few examples of advocacy briefs to consider for your September 30 assignment - remember yours only needs to be one page long!

The Canadian Library Associations' Pre-Budget Consultation 2013 submission:
http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=14400&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm

Joint Statement on Qualities of a Successful Librarian and Archivist of Canada
http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=14209

British Columbia Library Association (BCLA)  Letter re: New Librarian and Archivist of Canada
http://www.bcla.bc.ca/News/BCLA_LAC-Letter.pdf

BCLA response to consultation on Canada's Action Plan on Open Government
http://www.bcla.bc.ca/page/news/ezlist_item_b38a3e36-3869-42cd-a3c4-f5007d6c09f3.aspx?_s=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bcla.bc.ca%2fpage%2fnews.aspx#.UjdJ1rwfnoA

Open access submission to Canada's Digital Economy consultation
http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.ca/2010/06/open-access-submission-to-canadas.html

CanLII registration - let me know if you'd like me to register you.

Registration for the CanLII conference and hackathon requires either LinkedIn or Facebook. If you prefer not to use these tools to register (for privacy reasons?), but would like to attend, please let me know and I'll register you.