New York, NY (July 29, 2009) – Library and information science is a vast and growing field, and the sheer number of professional opportunities can make it a difficult landscape to navigate. Taking Charge of Your Career: A Guide for Library and Information Professionals, to be released by Neal-Schuman on September 20, 2009, guides current and aspiring LIS professionals to chart their career paths in order to achieve and optimize their professional and personal goals.

Organized in four parts, author Joanna Ptolomey first outlines the essential steps for setting measurable goals, defining career objectives, evaluating current skill levels, and managing uncertainties. The second part focuses on the everyday tools that are crucial for successful career management. Ptolomey offers tips for working outside of comfort zones, coping with change, balancing the work and personal life, and using project management skills as a way to gain career control.

The third part examines the different shapes and stages of an LIS career, from starting out, to managing and leading, and even to becoming an independent professional. There is also advice for dealing with unemployment and restarting a stalled career. Ptolomey concludes with a look at the big picture and a review of the framework for strategic career planning.

Through practical tools and easy-to-follow instruction, Taking Charge of Your Career: A Guide for Library and Information Professionals provides LIS professionals and students with the critical guidance to discover, quantify, and achieve their career goals.

Taking Charge of Your Career: A Guide for Library and Information Professionals
ISBN 978-1-84334-465-0.
Chandos Publishing 2009.
6 x 9. 250 pp. $95.00.

About the Author
Joanna Ptolomey is an independent library and information professional whose experience includes leading informational training workshops, consulting, plus writing and research projects.

About Neal-Schuman Publishers and Chandos Publishing
Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City with offices in London, UK. Neal-Schuman is a leading publisher of professional and academic titles in all areas of library and information studies. Since June 2009, Neal-Schuman has also been the exclusive North American distributor for titles from the United Kingdom’s Chandos Publishing, a division of Woodhead Publishing Limited. Chandos books are a leading, highly practical source of authoritative information for professionals and researchers worldwide.

For More Information and/or Cover Art
Contact Sarah Eisenberg
sarah.eisenberg@neal-schuman.com
100 William Street, Suite 2004
New York, NY 10038
212-925-8650
www.neal-schuman.com