This site began when I was a student in the Library and Information Science program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). It was 1998 and I was starting to search for my first post-MLS job. I wanted a job that let me do a variety of things -- reference, instruction, Web design. I was told by several people that no such job existed. (Luckily, I didn't listen to them.) Today there are many, many jobs that offer a broad variety of duties and just as many job titles to describe them.

I created the "Job Title Generator" project completely on my own time without class credit or funding. I created it to play with some new Web design techniques and also to amuse my friends. Honestly, I didn't think anyone would look at it. And now almost six years later, the site's still here. Over the years I've made minimal changes to the site. In 2003, I moved it from the UIUC server to the one at Colorado State University and in 2005 I moved it to my personal site.

Job titles still fascinate me. I've learned that even though most people do not have control over their official job titles, they may modify them to suit their needs, personalities or circumstances. "Biology Librarian," "Reference Librarian," and "Assistant Professor" may actually be all the same person. Would you offer the same job title at a cocktail party, on an airplane, a job interview? Does it matter whether you are speaking to your next door neighbor or a colleague at ALA? Does your resume, telephone answering message, tax return, email signature file, and business card all proclaim the same job title?

Since I graduated from UIUC, my own job titles have included: assistant professor, reference librarian/web specialist, web librarian, digital projects librarian, interim coordinator of instruction, associate professor and currently web marketing coordinator. This is the job title I currently hold at a small publisher. I'm not working in a library and I do not have the world "librarian" in my title. Am I still a librarian? I think so--my librarian skills definitely helped me get (and keep) my current job--but there are many who disagree and have not been shy about telling me!

Please let me know if you have comments about the site, or new job titles for me to consider. The volume of email I receive means that I can't always send individual replies, but I do read each and every comment and try to reply as time allows.

Thanks for visiting and good luck with your job search.