Getting traction for mentoring online is always difficult, but what
about starting that mentorship at code4libcon?

Maybe almost like a buddy system, so that the first meeting between a
mentor and mentee is at a code4libcon (national, regional, or
otherwise) if possible.

This might simply be a good idea for first timers who are not going
with colleagues too.

Just throwing out some ideas here...

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 7:49 PM, Nick Ruest <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Matt McCollow proposed something like this a while back. We have a page up
> and everything! But, it never got much traction.
>
> [log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]
> http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/Mentorship
>
> -nruest
>
> On 12-11-27 07:30 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
>>
>> +1 to this idea. I have benefited tremendously over the years from kind
>> people taking me under their wings. Many of us try to do this one-on-one,
>> but some kind of introduction service would be a huge benefit for the
>> community, I would think.
>>
>> Mentorship is a great example of a robust solution - a solution that
>> addresses more than one problem at once. I suspect that this would not only
>> improve our diversity as a community, it might also solve some tech
>> leadership / succession planning problems and maybe expose some training
>> needs.
>>
>> Bess
>>
>> On Nov 27, 2012, at 4:20 PM, Nathan Tallman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> This is a slightly different topic, but relates to Kelley's post: Does
>>> code4lib have a mentor program where more inexperienced geeks can pair up
>>> with someone to guide their development? I don't have anyone like that in
>>> my network, but would really like to. I don't mean to discount the
>>> existing
>>> resources on code4lib or this list, which both have been very useful. I'm
>>> sure I could just start by attending some of the conferences, but for
>>> more
>>> inexperienced people they can be a bit intimidating, albeit inspiring.
>>>
>>> It would also be a way to directly engage minorities.
>>>
>>> Just a thought.
>>>
>>> Nathan
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 6:20 PM, Kelley McGrath <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'll second the idea of approaching people individually and explicitly
>>>> asking them to participate. It worked on me. I never would have written
>>>> my
>>>> first article for the Code4Lib Journal or become a member of the
>>>> editorial
>>>> committee if someone hadn't encouraged me individually (Thanks
>>>> Jonathan!).
>>>>
>>>> It would also be good to find a way to somehow target the pool of
>>>> lurkers
>>>> who maybe aren't already connected to someone and get them more
>>>> involved.
>>>>
>>>> As far as anonymous proposals go, we recently had a very good workshop
>>>> on
>>>> implicit bias here. Someone brought up that found significant changes in
>>>> the gender proportions in symphony orchestras after candidates started
>>>> auditioning behind screens. There are also lots of studies about the
>>>> different responses to the same resume/application depending on whether
>>>> a
>>>> stereotypically male/female or white/black name was used. Probably it's
>>>> impossible to make proposals completely anonymous, but it would be an
>>>> interesting experiment to leave off the names.
>>>>
>>>> Kelley
>>>>
>>>> PS Interestingly, I wouldn't instinctively self-identify as a member of
>>>> the Code4Lib community, although my first thought is that that has more
>>>> to
>>>> do with not being a coder than with being a woman.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> **************************
>>>> Kelley McGrath
>>>> Metadata Management Librarian
>>>> University of Oregon Libraries
>>>> 1299 University of Oregon
>>>> Eugene, OR 97403
>>>>
>>>> 541-346-8232
>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>>
>
> --
> -nruest