Gordon, Rachel Singer 1970-

PERSONAL:

Born April 16, 1970, in Spokane, WA; daughter of Gary (a business owner) and Mary (a homemaker) Singer; married Todd Gordon (a principal), June 1, 1997; children: Jacob. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Carleton College, Northfield, MN, B.A., 1992; Northwestern University, M.A., 1994; Rosary College (now Dominican University), M.L.I.S., 1996. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Jewish. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, visiting garage sales, yoga.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Lombard, IL. Office—LISjobs.com, P.O. Box 6931, Villa Park, IL 60181. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Franklin Park Public Library, Franklin Park, IL, reference librarian, 1996-99, computer services librarian, 1998-99, head of computer services, 1996-2002, part-time reference librarian, 2002-05; Information Today, Inc., Medford, NJ, consulting editor, 2005—. LISjobs.com, Villa Park, IL, Web master, 1996—.

MEMBER:

American Library Association, Library Administration and Management Association, Beta Phi Mu.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Named to Movers and Shakers list, Library Journal, 2002.

WRITINGS:

Teaching the Internet in Libraries, American Library Association (Chicago, IL), 2001.

(With Sarah Nesbeitt) The Information Professional's Guide to Career Development Online, Information Today (Medford, NJ), 2002.

The Accidental Systems Librarian, Information Today (Medford, NJ), 2003.

(With Anne Wolfinger) Best Career and Education Web Sites, 4th edition, JIST (Indianapolis, IN), 2004.

The Librarian's Guide to Writing for Publication, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 2004.

The Accidental Library Manager, Information Today (Medford, NJ), 2005.

The NextGen Librarian's Survival Guide, Information Today (Medford, NJ), 2006.

(Editor) Information Tomorrow: Reflections on the Future of Academic and Public Libraries, Information Today (Medford, NJ), 2007.

Columnist, Library Journal, 2002—, Computers in Libraries, 2006—, and Emerald Library Link, 2004—. Editor and publisher, Info Career Trends, 2000—. Author of the blog Liminal Librarian, 2006—.

SIDELIGHTS:

Rachel Singer Gordon told CA: "I started writing because I saw a gap in the library literature. (Back in 1999, there was little available on teaching the Internet to library patrons.) I kept writing because I believe the bigger gap is in the lack of attention that we librarians pay to ourselves and to our own professional development. We're busy thinking about how to run our libraries and how to promote our libraries when we need also to focus on developing our own careers and promoting ourselves. Most of what I've written in the past few years, therefore, in one way or another focuses on career development issues for librarians and library workers. The ‘accidental’ books are very practical and focused on what we need to do to use our existing skills in new ways, while my newsletter and columns focus on what it means to participate in a twenty-first-century profession.

"My other main focus, library technology, stems from the need for smaller and less affluent libraries to find cost-effective yet powerful ways to implement technological solutions. The department I coauthor in Computers in Libraries magazine, especially, allows us to explore some of these avenues.

"There's so much to think and write about in this field, and writing is my way of participating in the ongoing conversation that helps define who we are and where we're going."