Re: Employer Research Guide for Penn Law Students

EMPLOYERS

The place to begin researching an employer is the employer’s website. From the website, you may want to look for information on the organization’s mission and philosophy, history and background, management style, attorneys, areas of specialization, size and growth pattern, personnel policies, and clients. Often, this information may be contained in an Annual Report.

Note: If you are unable to locate information from the website, you may want to directly contact the organization’s human resources department.

OFFICE OF CAREER PLANNING & PLACEMENT

For resources and information on programs for planning and meeting your career goals, visit the Career Planning & Placement Office, or the CP&P Office website at http://www.law.upenn.edu/cpp/. One notable title available in the CP&P Office is The Insider’s Guide to Law Firms.

The CP&P Office produces a comprehensive Career Manual, which, under Section 8, provides instruction on learning about organizations; review the Table of Contents at http://www.law.upenn.edu/cpp/prospective/resources/cppmanualtoc.pdf.

PRINT & ONLINE RESOURCES

Law Firms

The American Bar Association website includes information on employers at http://www.abanet.org/careercounsel/.

The Findlaw website includes listings of lawyers, firms by practice area and state, and other directories at http://www.findlaw.com/.

The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory provides access to a wide range of biographical information on private, corporate and government lawyers; the site also provides information about law firms and government organizations at http://www.martindale.com/.

The NALP Directory allows students to search for information on firms associated with the National Association of Law Placement at http://www.nalpdirectory.com/.

The Vault website provides information on various opportunities in law and other businesses at http://www.vault.com/index.jsp.

Westlaw provides access to an extensive collection of legal resources, news, business, and public records information. After logging onto Westlaw, you may access the Career Resources web page through http://lawschool.westlaw.com/.

Nonprofits

The Idealist.org website provides information on nonprofit organizations around the world at http://www.idealist.org/.

The Trial Lawyers for Public Justice website contains a searchable database of public interest organizations across the country at http://www.tlpj.org/.

Government

FirstGov is the official website of the United States government, and provides links to every federal government agency at http://www.usa.gov/.

The U.S. Government Manual provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual/index.html.

The National State Attorney General Program is a portal established by the Columbia University School of Law that provides useful information about state attorneys general at http://www.law.columbia.edu/center_program/ag/Links.

FURTHER RESEARCH

Professional Organizations: If you are interested in a particular area of specialization, look for information on related professional organizations (e.g., The American Immigration Lawyers Association at http://www.aila.org/).

Trade Publications & Journals: If you are interested in a particular field or organization, you may find useful information by looking at relevant trade publications and journals.

Articles: Magazine and newspaper articles are a great source of information on an organization. Articles may be located in a variety of ways; for example, you may conduct a general search using Google or a more refined search using the LexisNexis News & Business tab.

Legal Directories: There are several varieties of national, state, and local legal directories which provide information on law firms, lawyers, and local government agencies. The most prominent example is Martindale-Hubbell. However, there is usually a directory for every jurisdiction and area of practice; for example, the Philadelphia Bar Association publishes a legal directory, and LexisNexis maintains a searchable Directory on Corporate Counsel.

Associates: Remember that alumni and classmates are often a good source for providing anecdotal information on an organization. To find the names of potential sources, contact the CP&P Office.

Lisa's FW Outline

I have attempted to cobble together below an Outline on the themes presented in this blog (and in Info652), as they relate to the content and style of my final website.

1. Why this topic / Intended audience

The goal of my final website will be to provide information for those considering a career as a reference librarian. Visitors to this website will hopefully learn a thing or two about classes, professors, gaining work experience, and even on how to search for a job.

I am in my second quarter at the iSchool at Drexel. I am currently a full-time student, with three classes, including this Info652. I also have three part time jobs, which means I work up to 70 hours per week. As a consequence, I don't have much time for creativity in my homework. Thus, I chose a topic related to my professional and educational library experiences.

2. Possible topics for 4-5 subpages

a. Home

b. Links: Annotated hyperlinks to external sources

c. About: Info on purpose and creator of site – for authority and authorship

d. Library Coursework

Likely, I will have a page dedicated to highlighting my coursework. For example, I want to discuss my process for preparing an imaginary grant proposal. I am seeking funding for a legal research training program for pro se litigants. Perhaps I can include links to some of the more useful sights on funding opportunities and grant writing guides.

e. Library Internships

I would also want to include a page about my current library reference experience. I work at both the Penn and Drexel law school libraries – and have been keeping a journal highlighting some of my more memorable moments (I call these moments, “Growing up with Grit: Becoming a Reference Librarian is Hard”)

f. How to Network and Find a Job

So much of my focus these days is on developing myself professionally – so as to be fully marketable in the fall. I am currently attempting to write an article for publication in the Law Library Journal. In addition, I have applied for various scholarships; I am told that getting applications out there is a great marketing tool.

g. In-Between Time

I would want to talk about my involvement in library associations, including the American Library Association (ALA), the American Association of Law Librarians (AALL), and the Greater Philadelphia Law Library Association (GPLLA). I have plenty to say here; for example, I can talk all about how I totally rocked out at the Bibliodiscotheque Librarian Dance Party organized b the Desk Set Crew, and led by DJ Marc Records (a colleague from the Drexel law library)

3. Links to Resources (Examples of potential links)

a. Library school programs, including Drexel
b. Drexel’s courses and course descriptions
c. Related course links (including library social networking software like Library Thing)
d. Drexel and Penn law libraries
e. Important Libraries (like the LOC)
f. Professional Blogs
g. Library Associations

4. Ideas for Colors

Likely, the website will be dominated by yellows and blues. First, yellow is my favorite color – and blue is a nice complement to yellow. Also, these are not only Drexel's colors, but the colors of my undergraduate university, the George Washington University.

In addition, I will provide different colors for the navigation system and hyperlinks to help highlight clickable links and to show where the visitor has been.

5. Navigation/Design

I hope to include an internal navigation for long pages and a navigation bar at the top. Aside: I believe the top or right-hand navigation system is the most intuitive.

6. Links to Good Examples of Similar Sites (two indexes)

a. http://librariansindex.blogspot.com/
b. http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/

7. Possible Original Text

My original text will mostly involve descriptions, description about why I want to be a reference librarian, how I found an internship in a library, what associations I have joined, what I learned at the ALA Midwinter conference, why I chose to attend Drexel, and (even more specifically) what I am doing in my courses. Of course, all this narrative will tie into the annotated links – links to, for example, the ALA, the iSchool at Drexel, and the Drexel and Penn law libraries (where I work).

And, well, I spend a lot of time crafting witty postings to class discussions in Blackboard – I could edit some of that content for use in the website. I have gone on at times about librarian issues, especially where they intersect with the law. For example, I seem to get quite excited when talking about topics like Copyright, free speech, and the Patriot Act.

I will also provide sort of anecdotal and witty insight about my time as an actual reference librarian, as these are the experiences that are most interesting, rewarding, frustrating and funny – and might be what those considering such a career might find most relevant.

8. Possible Graphics (with tags)

I will likely want to provide my own pictures of where I work (said reference desk(s)) and of the iSchool and even of my desk at home, where I spend a great many hours. Likely, too, I will include a picture of my bike, which gets me to work and class – and pictures of loved ones who have been supporting me during this hectic year. I mean, who doesn't really love looking at other's personal photos (smile)!

Other graphics I might consider include:

a. Cool "icon" or logo to really represent my metamorphosis from lawyer to reference librarian
b. Web page snapshots of the professional blogs I read daily
c. Professional images of libraries (with proper citation of course)
d. The Drexel Dragon

I might also consider adding video content. Perhaps I could make a simple video about how to avoid buying any books for class. So far, Castro's is the only book I have purchased – I have otherwise borrowed from colleagues and from the library's shelves and reserves. I can talk about the reserve desk and the best time to get books, etc. Or, I could make a video about bad reference interviews. Yes, likely I will reenact some terrible moments at the reference desk.

9. Challenges

The first problem is that I am not very creative, and I have no eye for color and style. Thus, I fear the final look will be unimaginative, or, worse, tacky. I know we are supposed to respect certain parameters – and I figure boring is safe. I can't even imagine what my "icon" will be – perhaps in the upper-left hand corner.

The second problem is that I am totally inept with computers. I mean, I am trying to remain confident that I will eventually be able to create a web page with pretty pictures and navigation tools and tags and such. There is a good chance I will have five totally boring web pages (note the minimum) that have the minimum graphic content. (Did I mention that I don't take pictures – and have never "uploaded" digital pictures to a computer?)

Castro, Chapter 18 Inspired Me

Quickly, I was just thinking about Chapter 18 in Castro and how perhaps I could include video content on my website. (I was also inspired by a webinar I watched on how to make Table of Contents and Table of Authorities in Word -- for legal briefs.)

By the way, this is totally late night ambition talking. Likely I will wake up tomorrow and think: What have I said; of course, I can't make and include a "movie" or podcast on my website. I mean, what would it even be about, where would it go stylistically, how would I ever figure out how to include it (in Dreamweaver). Yes, I can't imagine what it would be.

Perhaps I could make a simple video about how to avoid buying any books for class. So far, Castro's is the only book I have purchased -- I have otherwise borrowed from colleagues and from the library's shelves and reserves. I can talk about the reserve desk and the best time to get books, etc. Or, I could make a video about bad reference interviews. Yes, likely I will reenact some terrible moments at the reference desk. Of course, with that settled, I now am worried about what I will wear for the podcast/movie/video thing (smile).

Any thoughts?

Thank you.

Links to Good Examples of Similar Sites

Hellos from Oscar night. Wow, writing a blog is quite challenging -- it's so demanding to always need to come up with new and important things to discuss -- even where we have a guide of topics.

With that said, prompted by the "Links to Good Examples of Similar Sites" bullet, I went in search of other blogs about, by and for reference librarians. In my head, of course, I was like, "No one is going to have ever conceived of writing about their professional and educational experiences in the library profession" (note sarcasm). So, I was terribly surprised to find out that there are so many sites out there on topic. Some of them even look interesting. More important than the wealth of "similar sites," there are several indexes. See for example,

http://librariansindex.blogspot.com/

or

http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Weblogs/

I took a tour of various sites. Although many of the indexed links are dead or quite dated, I did find some interesting sites in terms of style and content.

I can't help but think that all this blogging is sort of silly. Links to other links in this circular world of everyone as a talking head. Blah, blah, blah. I can't believe this is the true future of academia. I should be more excited by the democratization of all this "journalism."

Wow, that last paragraph actually is what I am railing against. Oh, the irony . . . .

Thank you!

Possible Original Text

First, despite the titles of my entries, my ideas seem to be spilled all over the place. I wonder if this suggests I am not really as organized as I feel.

Putting that thought aside for the moment, I feel confident that my original text will mostly involve descriptions, description about why I want to be a reference librarian, how I found an internship in a library, what associations I have joined, what I learned at the ALA Midwinter conference, why I chose to attend Drexel, and (even more specifically) what I am doing in my courses. Of course, all this narrative will tie into the annotated links -- links to, for example, the the ALA, the iSchool at Drexel, and the Drexel and Penn law libraries (where I work).

And, well, I spend a lot of time crafting witty postings to class discussions in Blackboard -- I could edit some of that content for use in the website. I have gone on at times about librarian issues, especially where they intersect with the law. For example, I seem to get quite excited when talking about topics like Copyright, free speech, and the Patriot Act.

[My original idea for a web page was: Why the United States Constitution is Cool! -- but, alas, I did not want to expose myself for the human and civil rights freak that I am.]

As is made evident by this blog, I have no problems making "original text." And, although I will include personal tales and interesting anecdotes, the idea will be to provide information to those considering a career as a reference librarian.

Thank you.

Possible Graphics or Source of Graphics

Okay, so more and more I am starting to think that my choice of topic will work and that, even if somewhat tedious, will not be totally without value. I mean, likely individuals interested in becoming a reference librarian -- and in pursuing an MLS at Drexel may actually learn a thing or two about classes, professors, gaining work experience, and even on how to search for a job. (Note: Searching for a job is now potentially one of my sub-pages; other sub-pages may include: Work; Class; In-Between Time.) (Also, and I know this is for a separate blog entry, but I am thinking to include anecdotes about my time at the reference desk -- as these are the experiences that are most interesting, rewarding, frustrating and funny!)

What was I saying? Oh, yes, I wanted to talk about graphics. First, to frame the discussion of each of the aforementioned sub-pages, I will likely want to provide my own pictures of where I work (said reference desk(s)) and of the iSchool and even of my desk at home, where I spend a great many hours. Likely, too, I will include a picture of my bike, which gets me to work and class -- and pictures of loved ones who have been supporting me during this hectic year. I mean, who doesn't really love looking at other's personal photos (smile)!

Other graphics I might consider include: (1) web page snapshots of the professional blogs I read daily, (2) professional images of libraries (with proper citation of course), and (3) perhaps some of my own (scanned) doodles -- doodles I have carefully drawn in some of my less inspiring classes. (Okay, there must be something more interesting to show -- in terms of graphics -- like, for example, the Drexel Dragon -- man, I really enjoy that dragon. Or, perhaps I could come up with a cool "icon" to really represent my metamorphosis from lawyer to reference librarian -- to use an over-used metaphor.

Anyway, this entry has really been about forcing me to consider some more about what the lay out and content of this final project. I see that I contribute little insight in this blog. However, be assured that I do reflect on each topic profoundly -- since I will spend countless hours developing this public space.

Thank you.

Potential Challenges

Okay, so this blog (although chronological) is not terribly linear. Today, I feel like discussing potential challenges to my creating a final website.

The first problem is that I am not very creative, and I have no eye for color and style. Thus, I fear the final look will be unimaginative, or, worse, tacky. I know we are supposed to respect certain parameters -- and I figure boring is safe. However, I can't even imagine where to put my blues and yellows (per the earlier post). Relatedly, I am can't even imagine what my "icon" will be.

The second problem is that I am totally inept with computers. I mean, I am trying to remain confident that I will eventually be able to create a web page with pretty pictures and navigation tools and tags and such -- I mean, I will try. But there is a good chance that I will have five totally boring web pages (note the minimum) that have the minimum graphic content. (Did I mention that I don't take pictures -- and have never "uploaded" digital pictures to a computer?)

The final problem (for now) is that I don't know how long I can keep talking about myself -- because eventually -- the topic of my quest to become a reference librarian -- is really a quest to talk nonstop about myself!

Thank you.

What colors to use!

So, it's Sunday and I am on my way to work, running late, but still needing to cross this blog post off my list. I believe I promised to discuss more in depth about how I should design the look of my website. However, here, pre-coffee and late, I decided to mention my choice of "color palettes."

Well, I am completely uncreative and have somewhat ignored our lessons on how to chose colors for websites. I have definitely ruled out anything pastel or too red. In fact, I am definitely leaning toward a yellow and blue combination. First, yellow is my favorite color -- and blue is a nice complement to yellow. Also, these are not only Drexel's colors -- but the color of my undergraduate university.

Anyway, that is all I have to say about that. I believe I will present separate colors for my links -- you know, to let the visitor to my website know what pages she has visited and such. These colors will likely be the standard blues or orange.

And, perhaps next time I will talk more about potential topics for my pages -- and ignore the larger more complicated discussions for much later!

Thank you.

Topics & Links?!

I am taking a break from a larger project to submit my second entry.

I look forward to formally documenting -- or webpaging -- my library experiences. Likely, I will have a page dedicated to highlighting my coursework. For example, I want to discuss my process for preparing an imaginary grant proposal. I am seeking funding for a legal research training program for pro se litigants. Perhaps I can include links to some of the more useful sights on funding opportunities and grant writing guides.

Now that I am thinking about it, the first thing to do is plan the website's look. Argh. Next time . . . .

Lisa's Likely Final Web Project: How to Become a Reference Librarian

Well, I am in my second quarter at the iSchool at Drexel. I am currently a full-time student, with three classes, including this one. I also have three part time jobs, which means I work up to 70 hours per week. As a consequence, I don't have much time for creativity in my homework.

Thus, I will likely make my final website topic related to my professional and educational library experiences.

And, although this topic is rather uninteresting, I plan to jazz up the site with lot's of witty commentary on how much fun it is to be up at 2 a.m. drafting a Grant Proposal proposal.