So, obviously I don't have this blogging thing down as a regular part of my routine yet. I'll get there though. I really will because this blog now has a purpose. It is destined to be a record of my journey to becoming an independent information professional. I've been thinking about almost nothing else for the past week and a half. It started because I stumbled on Mary Ellen Bates's website where I read her essay "A Typical Day in the Life of an Info Broker." Something just clicked. Her "typical day," even with all of the negative stuff that she points out, sounded like a dream come true to me. It's all the things I love doing and only negatives that I am perfectly capable and willing to deal with. My next step was to go to the AIIP website and browse through their member directory, looking at the websites of those who might someday be my colleagues and mentors. Then I went to the library and checked out every book I'd seen mentioned in my brief online research (at least the ones that were actually in my public library). I've finished The Information Broker's Handbook by Sue Rugge, and am now reading Secrets of the Super Net Searchers by Reva Basch and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. There are more in my stack, but I'll list them as I get to them.
Now my big question is - what niche should I go into? I love doing any kind of research, but I would love it even more if it was in a field I could get really excited about. So that's what I'll be pondering between now and my next post.