By the way

the interview went fine. I was SOOOO nervous beforehand, and I'm not really sure why. I had trouble sleeping the night before, and woke up all a bundle of nerves. I could barely eat anything. I hadn't been through a committee-style interview in awhile, and maybe that is part of it. And although I have very good person-to-person or small group communication skills, walking into unknown situations where I'm the centre of attention is still a little daunting. An interview is basically an oral quiz, and those have always been difficult for me; I can write about almost anything in a coherent and smooth fashion, but I have to work at speaking. In normal professional interaction, it's not a problem--a patron comes to me with a need and I know enough about information resources and how to find what's needed that I'm operating within a comfortable frame of reference, even if I'm dealing with a complete stranger. But selling myself or trying to express myself orally is a challenge and causes a lot of anxiet. But, every time I have to go through something like this it does get better. Overall I enjoyed our discussion; I'm just not sure I adequately displayed my strengths.

And I did some second guessing afterwards. There were a couple of questions that if I had just gotten out of school, the titles of general references would have just rolled trippingly off the tongue. However, the references I use largely now are medical, primarily paediatric or orthopaedic, so I don't really need general texts. I was still able to describe the types of texts and databases, but couldn't give titles right off the top of my head. I'm hoping the seven years' worth of experience counts a little more in the long run and shows that I'm competent to do the job.

In terms of genealogy/local history resources--the primary focus of the position--I think I did much better. I think I would fit in very well, and my enthusiasm surely came across. But I'm not sure I adequately explained why I want to work for a public library. The simple answer, of course is, that I need a job, any job. :) But at this point if given the choice to work in the public arena or an academic position, I really would prefer the public. I truly believe that public libraries are one of the greatest resources we have in our community, and they are absolutely vital to assure that every person has a chance to pursue life in a democracy, no matter what his or her material worth may be.

Which is something I'll address in my thank you letter. :) They're interviewing again tomorrow and then some days next week, but hope to fill the position within the month, so I should hear back (yea or nay) within a couple of weeks. Keep your fingers crossed. :)