Thing 8: Infographics

Reflections and infographic

This is the second infographic I have ever created (the first being a summary sheet in front of my annual report). The creation process was delightfully painless.

The Rudaí 23 blog post hinted that Piktochart provides a more modular experience than Canva. Using LibGuides at work makes me appreciate modularity. Another selling point was the opportunity to make progress beyond my initial exposure to the service, which came in the form of a much too fast and overly detailed live webinar. (Before immersing yourself in the recording, note that the presenter assumes viewers have access to either a dual monitor arrangement or a large screen monitor. If you use a standard size single monitor and you're not already familiar with Piktochart, you'll probably need to pause the video frequently or even replay parts to keep up with the "hands-on" that works better as a demonstration.)

I drew inspiration from two sources. We are in the process of hiring a librarian and our starting salary attracts (or at least doesn't drive off) brand-new graduates to interviews. I also follow a student on Twitter who attends my former graduate program. Both experiences are a good reminder that what is unsurprising after a few years in the same workplace is not at all routine for a newcomer. The infographic is about that ever-present aspect of a librarian's work: "other duties as assigned."

What has surprised me along the "other duties" path? By doing grunt work (sometimes delegation is impossible) I learned that catering services for business clients (i.e., catering refreshments at staff meetings) are breathtakingly expensive. (This also explains, in part, the costs of professional conferences--which in turn explains why our professional organizations seek sponsorship from commercial publishers for conferences.) As an academic librarian, I didn't expect to work with middle and high school students, but have done so many times to support various community outreach activities.

For the purely visual aspects of the infographic, once again I used a color scheme from my institutional branding toolbox. (If you're searching for a similar guide, also try looking for the "graphic identity" or "visual identity" of the organization.) This time I opted for Cabin font rather than Arial. I've since read a blog post noting that "Cabin is tight in the vertical," and I have to agree--any text block longer than three lines would have looked cramped.

For accessibility, infographics can be marked up for screen readers, posted as accessible PDFs, linked to a text alternative (transcript, "longdesc" file, etc.), or presented with a text alternative (see How to Make Digital Assets Accessible: Infographics and How to create an accessible infographic). I've opted for the last of those options, the text alternative below.

Click graphic to enlarge (separate window)

Text alternative for "Other Duties as Assigned" infographic

"Other Duties as Assigned": Librarians Off-Desk

If you’re a library school student, you’re looking for a job.

You’ve probably seen advertisements or position descriptions that mention “other duties as assigned.”

But what ARE those other duties? Here’s a sample from the University of Notmaine.

1) Book Reviews. We publish reviews of popular and scholarly books to support other librarians selecting titles for their collections.

2) Campus Badging Initiatives. We designed and oversee a 3-step pathway encouraging students to learn more about information literacy.

3) Cultural Activities. We facilitate student book groups and host a film series, bringing students together to learn more about topics that interest them.

4) K-12 Student Workshops. We collaborate with other departments, presenting library resource workshops to primary and secondary students visiting from all over the state.

5) Research Support Workshops. We teach employee and student researchers about finding grants, increasing scholarly impact, and publishing open access works.

Want to know more about what librarians do?

Talk to us. You might transform a conversation into an internship!

Nancy R. Curtis. October 2017.