Welcome to My E-portfolio

This e-portfolio showcases much of the work I did while at San Jose State University pursuing my MLIS degree. The competencies and supplemental materials are listed in the left-hand column. Thank you for viewing my e-portfolio.

All of the names have been redacted in group projects.

Final Internship Post!

I have 4 hours to go on the internship; I am going to try to finish up today and tomorrow. I am nearly done with the report, also. There are just a few more questions that I have to answer.

This internship has been really great - I'm so glad I chose to do this in my last semester. I was a good way to end my time at SJSU. Thanks everyone for reading my exciting (ha!) blog posts this semester. I enjoyed keeping up with your internships also, and I hope you all do well in the rest of your time here.

20 Hours to Go

Twenty hours of internship work to go - the end is in sight! As much as I enjoyed this internship, I will be happy when the semester is over. I have just been adding content to my LibGuides about the Caldecott illustrators, poring over arts and crafts sites and blogs, looking for appropriate projects. I've also been writing mini-biographies about some of the more interesting illustrators. I have hardly communicated with my site supervisor at all in the last few weeks, but I think I'm doing okay - I'm sure she would let me know otherwise, since she can see everything I add to the LibGuides. It just seems weird; like I said in last week's discussion, I am more of a team player and I like a lot of input and feedback from co-workers. Doing so much work on my own has been really strange for me. I just have to trust that my supervisor will let me know if and when I screw up!

Done with E-port

Argh! I almost forgot about my blog post this week! I finished my e-portfolio on Tuesday, so I can now concentrate on just internship stuff. I had it worked out that if I continue doing 8 hours a week, I will finish right on time. But I am going to try to do more hours this week and next so I can finish sooner. I don't have much to say about the internship because I am just adding more and more content to the LibGuides about illustrators.

I have to admit, these last few weeks have been really difficult for my internship. I am pregnant, and my morning sickness was so bad - just looking at a computer screen with those tiny words swimming around the screen made me really sick. I had to force myself to do my work, using every trick and piece of advice I could find (Eat Saltines! Work lying down! etc.). But I got through it; my morning sickness has pretty much passed, thank goodness.

Slowing down

All of my internship hours now are pretty much focused on adding information about the Caldecott-winning illustrators, and I feel I am getting slower all the time. This is because I did all the interesting and prolific illustrators first, and now I am getting down to the more obscure ones. There is surprisingly little information available on some of these people, especially the older illustrators. But I am finding out some fun facts - one illustrator started out drawing pictures for Dungeons & Dragons books (Tony DiTerlizzi), while another one was married to Elliott Ness, from The Untouchables (Evaline Ness). Some of the women who won Caldecotts back in the day led really inspiring lives - children's book publishing seems like it was a rather accepting of women in a time when most everything was dominated by men. Anyway, these little historical tidbits I'm picking up are making up for the difficulties I'm having in finding good material. 

No e-book

For one of my SLO's, I was supposed to take the LibGuides I've been working on and assemble them into an e-book manuscript. But my site supervisor decided we do not have enough content and she wants to work on it for another semester before she does that. Personally, I think that's probably a good idea - I've added a LOT of content so far this semester, but it still would've been a short book! I am a little disappointed because I was looking forward to putting the book together; it seems like it would have been interesting and really good experience. Oh, well. Luckily, I have other SLO's to keep working on until the end of the semester.

Another week done

I was sick this past week, so I cut short my internship work by about an hour and a half. Luckily, since I went overboard at the beginning of the semester, I can spare an hour here and there! One of my tasks was to research e-book platforms and provide my supervisor with the best options, so I worked on that this week. Making an e-book looks a little more complicated than I thought it would be (with formatting and such), but luckily there seems to be quite a few good, free programs online to help with that. I think I will be doing some of the work of turning our LibGuides into an e-book resource, but it seems like there are several undergrad interns that will be doing some of it also. Anyway, this e-book thing is all weird, new territory for me that I'm sure will look really good on my resume when I am done!

E-portfolio....ugh

I am up to letter K in my e-portfolio...only a few left to go. But my brain cannot think about anything else. In my internship, I have just been updating my index of Caldecott books and doing some cursory research on e-book platforms for publishing. Nothing that is too mentally intensive. I am SO glad that I do not have a third class this semester. I'm pretty sure I would be dead if I did.

The networking topic for this week's discussion is an interesting one. I wonder how effective some of these techniques are. I went to an event sponsored by the SLA a few months ago, and tried to do some networking - but all the people I talked to were also looking for work, so none of us could really help each other! (In fact, 3 of the 5 people I tried to network with were SJSU SLIS students like us!) I did make some business cards, and I belong to LinkedIn and check it fairly frequently...we'll see if it starts to pay off.

I feel really phony when I try to do the "elevator pitch" thing. Also, I like nearly all aspects of library and information science work - I don't have a particular focus (although my classes were more info. science related). But it sounds stupid when someone asks me what I want to do with my degree and I say, "Anything!" It's true, though! So I never know what to say that sounds good...

Week 7 complete

Still working on the LibGuides. I am starting to run out of creative ideas for art projects that go with the Caldecott illustrators, so I'm going a little bit slower. A lot of the illustrators from the '30s, '40s, and '50s have similar (generic) styles, so it is kind of hard to find arts and crafts projects that go with those styles. I already made LibGuides for all the illustrators who have very distinctive styles and subjects. But I think that what I have so far is good. Here's the link if anyone's interested: http://iue.libguides.com/content.php?pid=455089

I think I'm going to start working on my next task this week, in addition to the LibGuides; I am going to research platforms for e-book publication. One of my upcoming tasks is to "prepare manuscript for publication" - I'm a little fuzzy on how that is going to work. I guess I will figure it out as I go!

Week 6 complete

I was just working on more of the same this week on the LibGuides, so I don't really have much of interest to report. So instead I'll talk about how wonderful some of the Caldecott-winning books are. There are two in particular that I remember from when I was a child:

Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott

A Chair for my Mother by Vera B. Williams

It's funny that after seeing the covers from these books - which I hadn't seen in about 25 years or more, are so clear in my mind. Obviously, these books are very influential and important to young kids! 

Two current illustrators whose books I've found to be particularly wonderful are Uri Shulevitz and Peter Sis. Their drawings are so colorful and evocative. 

 

Does anybody have any favorite Caldecott-winning books or illustrators? Or any illustrated books they remember really well from childhood?

Week 5 complete

I just realized that I had been putting in more hours per week than I needed, since I am only enrolled for 3 credits rather than 4. So my output will probably slow a little bit since I don't have to do as many hours as I thought! Oh well - better too many hours than too few, and have to catch up.

I keep plugging away at these LibGuides. Right now I am concentrating on guides for the popular or unique Caldecott illustrators. I am writing short bios with links to their social media, adding in any good interviews or documentaries about them from YouTube, and finally putting in links and guides to interesting art projects related to their works. For example, illustrator Denise Fleming makes paper and uses it to make collages for her books, so I found a bunch of different links to really cool paper-making projects. Or Brian Selznick, who won the Caldecott for The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which is about automatons; I found some neat projects about building your own automaton. I'm trying to include projects for children and adults, although most of what I find is geared toward kids. I am getting to be a lot more creative with this LibGuide project than I thought I would.

Week 4 complete

I don't have much to report this week that is different from last week. I'm still working on the LibGuides; I am slowly but surely adding content to the pages about the Caldecott-winning authors. Finding biographical information, interviews, etc. is fairly easy. Trying to find art projects that relate to the illustrator's work is a little harder, but I like a research challenge. Oh, and I mentioned a book that would help in my research - just in passing - to my supervisor, and she bought it and mailed it to me! All in all, the internship is a nice break from the e-portfolio, which is kicking me in the backside. (Comps A-E done; only a million more to go!)

I like the topic of time management this week. It is a topic I have been interested in for many years, and I feel I am at the point where I am very efficient and don't waste time or procrastinate very often. The calendar and task tools in Outlook Express get 95% of the credit for that - I know everyone likes different productivity tools, and the Outlook tools are definitely my favorite. I hate seeing the overdue tasks turn red!

Comp G: Cataloging

Demonstrate understanding of basic principles and standards involved in organizing information, including classification, cataloging, metadata, or other systems.

Introduction

This competency delves deeper into the short section on organization from competency F. In order for users to find information in a large collection of items, they must be organized and entered in a systematic, standardized way. To make it easy for the user to find an item, though, takes quite a bit of behind-the-scenes work by LIS professionals who organize, classify, and catalog physical and digital materials. Each item in a collection is given a surrogate, or a record, that lists information about it (for a book, this would be the title, author, year published, etc.). These records are then kept in one place – in the “old days”, the card catalog, but now is most likely a computerized database. There, a user can access the records through access points, which would point the way to the actual item. For example, in a public library, a user can look up the title of a book on the OPAC (Open Public Access Catalog) as an access point, which would give the call number for where the user could find the item on the shelves. If the users were searching for a digital item, there may be a link to the full item right in the record.

·         Subject analysis

Cataloging is not just a matter of entering in the information on the title page of the book. Each work must be indexed and classified under a subject heading. A cataloger must determine the “aboutness” of an item, and it is highly subjective work. In formal systems such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), a controlled vocabulary lessens some of the ambiguity in the language. This controlled vocabulary contains precisely defined terms for the cataloger to choose from; each concept is described by one term. All the terms in a controlled vocabulary, as well as their relationships to similar ideas and terms, are listed in a thesaurus. Pre-coordination and post-coordination are important concepts in subject analysis. Pre-coordination is combining subjects into one sequence by a cataloger (i.e., Law-Political aspects-United States-History-20^thCentury). Post-coordination is combining keywords at the time of a search by a user. Both have their place: pre-coordinate terms are valuable for browsing, while post-coordinate terms are more flexible.

Another type of organizing and cataloguing digital items online by subject is tagging. This is usually a very informal method wherein the users create subject headings for objects based on their own impressions. This method can make natural language searching easier. Maness (2006) uses the example of the LCSH term “cookery” for “cookbook”. Cookery is a word which virtually no one uses anymore; users could tag the items “cooking” or “cookbooks” instead, making these items much easier for a patron to find. Because of this benefit, some libraries have added a tagging feature to their OPACs. This act of collaboratively tagging items is also called folksonomy, a portmanteau of “folk” and “taxonomy.”

·         Classification

Most libraries have their collections arranged in a hierarchical classification structure. The subjects, or classes, are arranged in a tree-like structure, with more specific sub-classes branching off each one. The Dewey Decimal System (DDC) and the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) are the most common hierarchical classification schemes. In DDC, all knowledge is divided into ten categories, each with ten subclasses, and each of those with another ten sub-subclasses. This results in 1,000 categories, with a three-digit number representing each. It can become even more specific with additional numbers following a decimal point. These extra numbers can bring out particular parts of a topic, like the time period the work covers or the form of the document. The LCC divides knowledge into categories by the letters of the alphabet. The notation is one or two letters followed by one to four numbers. Other codes may be added after a decimal point. It differs from DDC in that each class has its own structure and is not consistent with other classes. DDC notation reflects the hierarchical structure, whereas LCC classes are basically numbered in order.

Records are generally created for library use using MARC (Machine-Readable Cataloging) format. Each MARC record has three-digit codes signifying fields for information such as author, title, date, and language. To determine what to record and how to do it, catalogers used AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2^ndedition) until about 2010. Since then, RDA (Resource Description and Access) has superseded AACR2 as the cataloging standard in most English language libraries.

·         Metadata

Digital items have associated metadata. Metadata is structured information that describes a resource. Many people use the term only for electronic resources, but old-fashioned card catalogs were a type of metadata, also. In fact, metadata serves many of the same functions as a card catalog did, such as identifying resources by criteria, aggregating or distinguishing resources, and giving resource locations. But metadata goes beyond just the basic bibliographic information; it can be used for technical, structural, and preservation information, and rights management. Most metadata standards have interoperability, so they can be used across platforms.

I took LIBR 281 – Seminar in Contemporary Issues: Metadata just so I could learn more about this important and wide-ranging topic. We studied some of the most common metadata schemes used by LIS professionals. Dublin Core is a widely-used scheme based on MARC that was originally intended to describe web documents, but has been expanded to include many kinds of items. For example, the EPUB e-book format uses Dublin Core. It is made up of 15 optional repeatable core elements (i.e., Creator, Publisher, Format, and Language), which makes it very flexible. Dublin Core can be encoded in XML (Extensible Markup Language) or RDF (Resource Description Framework), two very common languages. In LIBR 281, we also learned about more specialized metadata schemes. There is a scheme for every type of item that needs to be organized. Here are just a few examples:

o   TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) is used for marking up texts.

o   METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard) is used for digital library objects.

o   MODS (Metadata Object Description Schema) is an XML-based bibliographic scheme developed by the Library of Congress.

o   EAD (Encoded Archival Description) is for archival finding aids.

Evidence

Evidence 1 is an exercise called Metadata Crosswalk from my metadata seminar, LIBR 281. In this assignment, we were to make a record in one metadata scheme and transfer the information to another, a process known as crosswalking. I wrote the record first in plain text, then in Dublin Core, and crosswalked it to MODS. In doing so, I was able to practice entering records in both schemes, learning about the variations in terminology and how each is encoded differently. Learning the vocabulary in each was the most difficult part of the assignment; the documentation for each scheme is not always very clear or straightforward when defining terms. But after doing several metadata exercises which culminated in this crosswalk assignment, I was beginning to see the patterns in the language of the schemes. For example, both Dublin Core and MODS use the term “extent” for the file size of a digital book, while using the “format” element for the dimensions of a physical book. This evidence proves I understand how to compare different metadata schemes and how they can be used for cataloging digital items.

Evidence 2 is a research paper called Metadata Scheme Darwin Core, also from LIBR 281, about the metadata scheme Darwin Core. We were to choose on scheme and research its history, documentation, terminology, and uses. I chose Darwin Core because I was very interested in how metadata was being used to catalog biological materials, rather than bibliographic items. This scheme is used by many natural history museums and biological research institutes. It can be encoded with RDF, XML, JavaScript, and more, making it interoperable and fairly simple to use. Through this research, I learned how one metadata scheme can be applied in many different ways to organize collections of information. Darwin Core is being used to make interactive maps of local wildlife, to digitize old museum specimen labels, and to assist marine biologists who are unfamiliar with data management to enter and maintain their specimen data. With this research paper, I show that I understand the importance of metadata to organization of information and how it can be so useful even outside of the information science field.

Evidence 3 consists of two pieces and comes from LIBR 202. It is Assignment 3 Datastructure Entries and Assignment 3 User Guide. This was part of a project in which I had to take 15 of the journal articles from the semester’s reading list and index them in an InMagic database. Part of the assignment was learning about subject analysis, so I used controlled vocabulary where necessary, as well as coming up with pre- and post-coordinate terms for each article. This assignment really required me to think critically about classification and subject analysis. I had to really consider each term I used, to make sure it was the correct one to apply in this situation. For instance, should I use “folk taxonomy” or “folksonomy”? To begin, I came up with some broad topics first, then broke each topic down into sub-classes until I felt I had captured the “aboutness” of each article. Post-coordinate terms were easier to come up with; each article had one or more keywords that seemed to fit the subject matter. The assignments show these pre- and post-coordinate terms, as well as other rules I had for entering records in my database. It proves I understand the principles of subject analysis, as well as the challenges of using pre-coordination to make the articles accessible to anyone who may search for them.

Conclusion

Knowledge of metadata, as well as other information organization principles, will be incredibly helpful to me in my career. It is one of my favorite topics, as well as being important to the future of information science as more and more data is available online. When data is properly organized and classified, users have a much easier time finding what they are looking for. I have taken the information gained through these classes and applied it at home already; I catalogued my entire home library by LCC standards and I have “cleaned up” all the metadata on my digital music collection. My hope is to be able to employ these skills and knowledge beyond my home, in a library setting.

  

References

Maness, J. M. (2006). Library 2.0 theory: Web 2.0 and its implications for libraries. Webology 3(2). Retrieved from http://www.webology.org/2006/v3n2/a25.html. 

Comp D: Management

Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy.

Introduction

I have been a manager in retail environments for over ten years. I was even named “Manager of the Quarter” by my company. So I came into LIBR 204 thinking I already knew all there is to know about this subject, but I was very wrong! I still had so much more to learn. Some of what I knew could apply in a library environment, but there are quite a few differences also. Similarities include the importance of communication, budgeting, and motivation. The major difference is the goal: in retail management, the goal is always focused on improving the bottom line. In LIS – although it may vary somewhat – management goals are usually not profit-oriented, but user-oriented. This means different management, planning, and marketing techniques are necessary in a library environment.

• Management

The four major resources that an LIS manager handles are employees, budgets, technology, and facilities. To successfully manage those resources, they must have knowledge in areas such as decision-making, authority, responsibility, change, delegation, employee performance, motivation, and communication. In the past, it was thought that just having authority over others was all a manager needed. Now, after years of study of management concepts, experts know that skills in the areas listed above can be learned and applied effectively. There have been many different fads in management styles over the decades – scientific, behavioral, administrative, and others – but no one approach will work with every situation and employee. Evans and Ward emphasize that “circumstance/environments change and flexibility is the cornerstone to successful managing” (2007, p. 36). Contemporary management experts use a composite approach that draws from every discipline and is flexible enough to respond to unique situations.

• Planning

To reach any goal, we must have a plan. “Without a plan, the chances that random activity will achieve a desired organizational goal are extremely low,” say Evans and Ward (p. 146). Most organizations have both long-term and short-term plans. As a retail manager, we had daily, weekly, and monthly goals (i.e., sales, cleaning, and maintenance), and yearly goals (i.e., budget, employee retention). At the company level, there were long-term five- or ten-year plans, which we were privy to but not involved in creating at the store level. Library and information center managers can be more involved in the long-term planning process. The short, day-to-day plans are called operational plans. Tactical plans are mid-length plans and help move an organization to their strategic goals. Strategic plans are long-term, usually lasting several years. This strategic planning was the focus of much of my work in LIBR 204 and LIBR 282.

There are many parts to a successful strategic plan: an environmental scan helps management assess the parameters in which they are operating; mission, vision, and value statements boil down the organization’s ultimate strategy; and the plan goals and objectives allow management to break out tasks and timelines for employees. Sometimes a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is included in a strategic plan. This is an effective exercise, according to Evans and Ward, because it can “facilitate thinking through the implications of environmental data and the capabilities of your organization” (p. 153). They caution, though, that we should not become too attached to one style of long-term planning, to keep local settings in mind, and adjust our planning approach to fit the circumstances.

• Marketing/Advocacy

Library and information centers in the past did not feel the need to market materials and services to patrons. Since the 1980s, this has changed. Now, we can see that marketing helps us increase effectiveness and tailor our programs and services to the needs of the people in the community. Evans and Ward list a few (of many) excellent reasons why a library may need to market their wares: people don’t know about the product; people cannot find the product or do not know when it is available; people do not understand what the product can do; people have difficulty using the product (p. 85-86). Once library management decide to make marketing part of the library’s plan, there are many areas this can be applied. Promotion is the most obvious way of marketing – this means techniques that inform and persuade the community to use the available services. Techniques include advertising, publicity, and using social media. Other areas of marketing include branding, internal marketing (making sure staff are well-informed of services), and public relations.

Advocacy is closely tied in to marketing, but library management does not just have to advocate to the community. They must advocate and lobby to politicians, executives, and other decision-makers about the usefulness of their programs and services. “A manager has to ensure that the service is recognized as being essential and adds value to the organization and the community it serves,” explain Evans and Ward (p. 187). This is especially important at times when the budget of the information center is under fire. Being a good advocate and having the backing of the community can go a long way to keeping a budget reasonably intact.

Evidence

The first artifact I am presenting as evidence is part one of a group project for LIBR 204, called Team 3 Strategic Plan- Part 1. This section of our project includes a literature review; mission, vision, and value statements; an environmental scan; and a SWOT analysis. I was the group leader for this project and the library we assessed is where I volunteer, the Rohnert Park-Cotati Public Library. My contributions to this part of the project include the second half of the literature review (about social media in libraries); statistics, census data, and first-hand knowledge for the environmental scan; and articulating examples, quotations, and statistics for the SWOT analysis.

I demonstrate that I understand how long-term planning is applied in a library setting. The environmental scan and SWOT analysis really taught me that the situation of the organization can have a large impact on the goals of an organization. For instance, the Rohnert Park-Cotati Public Library has a built-in used bookstore run by the Friends of the Library; there are no other bookstores in the immediate area. This means that the Friends bookstore is able to raise over $1,000 a week in additional funds for the library, something no other library in the Sonoma County system is able to do. The branch manager is able to use these funds for extra high-demand book titles and any special projects she chooses. Every library has its own unique features such as this, and an environmental scan and SWOT analysis will show how these can be used to a manager’s advantage in the strategic goals.

The next evidence is the second part of the group project from LIBR 204, Team 3 Strategic Plan- Part 2. Section two includes the strategic goals, objectives, and assessments; and an annotated bibliography. My contributions to this part include writing goals 3-5, as well as half of the annotated bibliography. The goals I wrote, as well as the articles I annotated, are all focused on the marketing of library services through social media, especially Twitter, Facebook, and a library blog. The goals include specific tasks and guidelines for social media use; this type of marketing is not a one-way street, but is inherently interactive. Social media must be monitored closely by library staff to ensure proper posting and responses.

This shows that I understand the importance of marketing library services to users online. A public library really needs to have an online presence. Some people may prefer using one social media platform over others, so librarians must go where the users are to bring them the information they need. For the right person, this type of marketing could become an enjoyable way to get to know patrons and their wants and needs. I have already begun to apply what I have learned about social media in this particular project; I recently took charge of the Twitter account for the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center.

My third piece of evidence is a discussion post from LIBR 282 (Discussion Customer Analytics).  The class was a seminar on managing information technology; in this discussion we responded to a case study in which an organization was presented with advanced customer behavior analytics technology. Was there a way to ethically and responsibly use the information? One important part of management is being able to say “no” sometimes, especially when the technology would violate a core value - in this case, privacy. Even though the technology seems like it would have advantages – in the case study, the insurance company could make correlations between grocery store purchases and customer health data – but the disadvantages may outweigh whatever would be gained. A health insurance company is not the same as an information center, but they do face the same type of privacy issues when medical records are involved.

In the discussion post, I argue that using the new technology could not only violate the security and privacy of their customers, but they could actually lose customers. I advise against using the technology. “The question of making a poor investment is important, since information and communications technology takes up an increasing percentage of the service’s budget,” according to Evans and Ward (p. 456). Libraries generally have less money to spend on new technology, so we must be very careful what we choose to invest in.

Conclusion

Through work experience and what I have learned in LIBR 204 and LIBR 282, I will be able to approach any management opportunity with the requisite knowledge and skills to be successful. Managing an information center brings its own benefits and challenges that are not found in other organizations. The most important point is that a library manager must be flexible and not get mired in something that is not working – whether it is a management style, type of plan, particular marketing tactic, or even social media platform. Knowledge of the various methods and philosophies will help me adjust to whatever the setting and situation call for.

References

Evans, G. E., & Ward, P. L. (2007). Management basics for information professionals (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers.

Week 3 complete

This week I finished categorizing all the Caldecott books by the medium the illustrator used (type of painting, printing, drawing, etc.). I couldn't find information on some of the old, out-of-print ones, but I completed as much as I could. Then I began working on the artist LibGuide pages - I am supposed to find biographical info, interviews, and more about the artists. I am also supposed to add in arts & crafts projects related to the artist and their styles. This is taking longer, since I do not have much (or any!) experience with kids arts and crafts. It is also taking some time to figure out how to properly attribute each photo or video I post in the LibGuides. I know most of what I post is covered under Fair Use as long as I cite where I got it, but I want to make sure I am doing things right.

I went to the used bookstores around town and bought them out of any Caldecott books they had. Now I have a giant stack to use for reference, and I'll send them to my 2-year-old nephew when this internship is over. It is much easier to examine the artwork that way than to look at pictures on Amazon, although Amazon is actually not bad. For most of these kids books, they have the "Look Inside" option to see a few pages, and the resolution is nice and clear.

Anyway, I will probably be working on the artist LibGuide pages for a few weeks, unless my supervisor tells me otherwise.

Week 2 complete

This internship continues to be fun, and I wish I could spend more time on it. I am also doing my e-portfolio this semester, which is very daunting. I keep switching between the two projects so I don't get too stressed out over the e-portfolio.

So far, I have categorized all 300+ Caldecott winners into categories of style, medium, and themes. I have made LibGuide pages for nearly all the themes and styles and am almost done. I have started learning about the illustrators and am beginning to craft LibGuide pages for them, although that will be much more difficult. If I want to post videos and other media about the authors, I will have to brush up on my "fair use" copyright knowledge and make sure I am doing it correctly. We will be putting all these resources into an e-book later in the semester, so "permissions" is one of my tasks.

Week 1 complete

It's only a week in, but my internship so far is very fun. I went through the list of 300-odd Caldecott winners and took notes on all of them about the themes and styles. I made a big Excel spreadsheet with all the information on it. Now I'm making some LibGuide pages about the themes. Next I'm going to look for resources (videos, websites, books, etc.) about the major authors and doing LibGuides for them.

Just for fun, over the weekend, I visited the used bookstore attached to our local library and cleaned them out of Caldecott books. They were only 50 cents each, so it was a cheap shopping trip, and I can give them to my nephew when the internship is over. I don't have any kids myself, so it's kind of fun to go back and re-read some of these books I remember from when I was a kid!

Philosophy

Introduction

My mother worked in a medical library at a hospital when I was in middle school. I “helped” her out in the library, and I loved it. Not just because I was surrounded by books – of course, they were mostly back issues of JAMA and Lancet – but because it made me feel important and useful. Doctors would come in and ask for copies of certain articles. I was allowed to make copies for them. This meant I, an 11-year-old kid, was helping the doctors. That was pretty neat! For some reason, in spite of this and the hours I spent in my local and school libraries, library science never crossed my mind as a career when I was a kid. It took me many years before I figured out it was the right path for me.

In college, I majored in communications, with an emphasis in journalism. I worked at a year-long internship as an editorial assistant for a daily newspaper, covering local government and education. My interest in public service was always strong, but that year was especially influential as I learned how the stories I was writing really affected people in the community. But as much as I loved journalism, there was not a lot of available work in a small town, and the daily newspaper - soon after my internship ended - got bought out and was shut down. So in the end, after graduation, I just stuck with the retail jobs I have had since I was 16, without much though or ambition. In 2009, I had been a manager at an extremely busy, stressful retail store for several years, when I just thought - after a particularly difficult Christmas season – I’d had enough. I decided to pursue a career I really wanted instead, so I went back to graduate school. I was volunteering at my local library, and judging from what I saw there, the LIS profession seemed to have it all: intellectual appeal, public service, and a strong ethical aspect. That is what has led me to this point.

Philosophy

I have enjoyed all my classes, but the readings and discussions that have stuck with me have not necessarily been about any particular LIS topic, but rather the ethics of the whole profession. For instance, class discussions about confidentiality in reference interviews and the USA PATRIOT Act as it relates to libraries were the most engaging. When I had a choice for a topic, I seemed to always pick something related to the ethics of the profession, such as copyright issues faced by Google or net neutrality in libraries. In LIBR 204, I wrote my final management philosophy paper about ethical leadership. It is very important to me that I will be able to uphold these core values and ethics laid out by the ALA in whatever path my LIS career takes. The strong public service factor as well as a dynamic, powerful code of ethics will play a large role in my work. The fact that equality and intellectual freedom are so prominent in the ALA Code means I will be able to promote those values, which I have always shared, in my future profession.

I have always been interested in not just books, but all media. Books, television, film, radio, artwork, magazines, and the Internet are all conduits for information and heavily influence our lives. Getting this information to people is important, whether it is for business, personal, civic, or even entertainment reasons. I have always believed the phrase “knowledge is power” to be accurate. The more people know and use that knowledge, the more empowered they can become. I would say it is the underlying premise of my professional philosophy. It would be extremely satisfying to be able to connect people to any information they may need or want.

Another aspect of this is the ability of people to access good, organized, reliable, and meaningful information. That is one reason I chose to take more information science classes, such as Metadata, Information Literacy, Web Usability, Database Management, and Information Visualization. Data is nothing if it is not organized into a meaningful way. These classes have all taught me to take information and shape it in ways that a user, patron, or client could then use and interpret it successfully. For example, in my Information Visualization class, I took pages full of raw data about carbon dioxide emissions in different countries over many years and turned that data into graphs, which a user could just look at quickly to see where the United States compares to other countries, whether our emissions have been increasing or decreasing, and by how much. The user can mentally process that information much more quickly and retain it longer than a page full of numbers. I would be proud if I could reach people with information like that professionally.

As for Competency O, I have not had a chance to demonstrate this yet in the workplace. But I believe I am beginning to contribute to the cultural, economic, educational, and social well-being of my community through my volunteer work at my local library, as well as my virtual internship at Indiana University East, writing and editing LibGuides for the students. If I do not find a job in the LIS field immediately, I still plan on staying involved and contributing through ALA and ASIS&T as much as I can, as well as dedicating more time to my local public library. For instance, I am very interested in joining my local library advisory board.

Goals

Unlike many of my fellow students, I do not yet have a library job. I volunteer two hours a week at my local library, but currently still work at a retail job. My short term goal is to start searching for something new upon graduation in December. With my classwork focused broadly on technology and information, I could apply to many jobs. My over-arching goal is to connect people to information, and if I do this one-on-one (at a reference desk) or on a large scale (as a database administrator), it doesn’t much matter to me. I do not have a particular view on what the job would be exactly, so much as that I would be working with information and technology. I am interested in so many different topics in LIS, so setting does not make much difference to me. I really could work for a library, a private company, a non-profit, or for the government. I just want to be able to use my knowledge to help others.

Conclusion

I have a lot of passion and intelligence. I believe in intellectual freedom, equality, and the spread of knowledge. I also have skills working with many kinds of people, technology, and information. Combining all of these traits and I believe I will be able to much good for my community, whether it is virtual or face-to-face.

Introduction

Introduction

Welcome to my e-portfolio, a culmination of my work in the Master’s program at the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University, completed between Fall 2011 and Fall 2013. This e-portfolio demonstrates the skills and knowledge I have acquired in my time here.

The e-portfolio contains this introduction, my professional philosophy, Competencies A-N, and the conclusion/affirmation. The links to each of these are in the left-hand column. Each competency has an introduction explaining my understanding of the topic, followed by two to four pieces of evidence backing up my learning. The evidence links lead to Google Docs, where I uploaded all of my work. This is followed by a short conclusion describing how I hope to use this information in the future, as well as any references I may have used.

From my first class on, many of my professors emphasized the importance of keeping my work organized and backed up in anticipation of using it for this e-portfolio. One professor, Dr. Robert Boyd, was especially diligent in making sure all the students knew how to upload work to the e-portfolio part of D2L, as well as letting us know we may want to save all our discussion forum posts in addition to our regular homework. This advice was invaluable, as I ended up using many discussion posts as evidence.

I have kept my work very organized, knowing that would make it easier when it came time to start my e-portfolio. At the beginning of this semester, I wrote out the topic or name of each piece of homework on a separate index card, then started sorting them by which competency they fulfilled. This way, I could see how much evidence I had for each competency; in the areas where I was weaker, I was able to supplement from some competencies where I had more evidence (since a lot of the work fit into more than one category). I worked on the competencies in alphabetical order so that I would have a mix of difficulty levels; saving all of my weakest competencies for last would have led to more stress. I gave myself five days to finish each competency so I would be done in plenty of time before the deadline.

This e-portfolio was a great way to review all the concepts I have learned about these past two years. Some topics I hadn’t thought about in a while, so it was an excellent look back at the topics I’ve learned and the work I have done. Thank you for taking the time to read my e-portfolio.

Comp B: Environments

Describe and compare the organizational settings in which library and information professionals practice.

Introduction

When I was ten years old, my mother went back to nursing school to get her degree. To pay for it, she worked evenings in a hospital medical library. Sometimes I would have to go there after school until she was done with work. It was funny to me that there was a library in a hospital, and it didn’t have any books that I wanted to read! My mother explained that it was just for people who worked there, so they didn’t need any “fun” books. I would help my mother by retrieving journals and making copies of journal articles requested by the doctors and nurses. It was fascinating to me, as a curious child, to see what kinds of information the medical staff needed. It didn’t make me want to pursue a medical degree, but it did make me more interested in libraries. At a young age, I got to experience a special library setting first-hand, a type of library many people probably have no idea even exits.

Special libraries are just one of many places a librarian or information specialist might work. Of course, there are public libraries and school libraries, academic libraries, and many other non-traditional settings. Nearly all libraries have a similar predominant mission: “to provide information to patrons,” according to Kane (as cited in Haycock, 2008, p. 43). She adds that the differences tend to lie in the types of information provided and the types of patrons seeking that information.

•    Public

The public library is open to the public within a community. This type of library has the widest range of patrons of all. It is generally open to anyone in the community where it is located, with very few restrictions on who can check out materials. The collections include fiction, non-fiction, and children’s materials. There is usually a variety of media available: DVDs, CDs, magazines, newspapers, computers for Internet use, and more. These libraries also tend to have free space available for community programs, exhibits, and special events. Librarians could work in any number of areas, depending on the size of the library, including circulation, reference, children’s, young adult, and more.

•  Academic

The academic library is affiliated with a college or university. It generally serves only the students, faculty, and staff of the institution where it is located, although sometimes community members can access the library for a small fee. The focus here is more on research and study, so the materials will include scholarly journals, access to databases, and specialized texts. Many librarians that work at academic libraries have special knowledge of a particular subject, and can help students and faculty find resources for that topic.

•  School

The school library is housed within a K-12 educational institution. The available materials are focused on the age groups of the students at the school, and there are materials for the teachers as well. The information in a school library is a mix of fiction and non-fiction materials for the students to use for entertainment or classwork. The school library often houses the audio-visual technology and computers also. In many places, the librarians in school libraries must not only be LIS professionals, but also have teaching credentials.

•  Special

A special library is any library devoted to specialized subject matter. The demographics of the clientele really depend on the organization supporting the library. Law libraries, medical libraries, and corporate libraries are usually associated with an institution (like a law firm, hospital, or large corporation). These are for employees of the institution. There are some special libraries - like the American Kennel Club Library, specializing in materials related to purebred dogs - that are open to anyone, but are for research only. In another example, the Sonoma County Library has a wine library in its Healdsburg branch. This is open to the public, and materials are available for anyone with a regular library card to check out.

The nature of the information is highly dependent on the subject matter the library specializes in and usually very narrowly focused. At the wine library, besides the books, there are large soil maps, archives of corks and labels, and more. In the small medical library I mentioned in the introduction, the collections seemed to consist mainly of a very large number and variety of medical journals. Librarians tend to be subject matter specialists in these libraries, and may hold additional degrees related to the topic.

•  Other  

LIS professionals could work in museums, digital libraries, or a variety of jobs in non-traditional settings. My professor for LIBR 244, for instance, owns her own research firm, consulting for various companies as they need information. An acquaintance who has an LIS degree runs the information center for a large bank, and another collects data for the federal government. LIS professionals have skills that can translate to many different settings.

Evidence

For my first piece of evidence, I submit an essay from LIBR 204 about the official Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero (called Drewieske Good to Great). The paper is in the context of Ferriero as an excellent leader, but through his career choices I have learned about library leadership positions in many settings. He worked his way up from shelving books as an undergraduate to heading the Duke University library as vice-provost for library affairs. From there, he went on to direct the New York Public Library (NYPL) system. President Obama then chose Ferriero to head the National Archives and Records Administration. Ferriero’s most notable accomplishments in each setting are described in detail. For example, at Duke he acquired the American Newspaper Repository, and while at the NYPL he oversaw a huge renovation project, as well as the digitization of the collection.

In this essay, I show that I understand the different roles and responsibilities Ferriero has had at academic libraries, public libraries, and the National Archives. I argue that his experience and expertise in all these areas, and knowing the differences and similarities among the various environments, are part of what makes him a great leader. Throughout this essay, I show the diversity of environments in which an LIS professional can succeed. This paper was especially instructive to me on the topic of archive management, as I have not taken any official classes about archives.

The second piece of evidence is an instruction observation I performed in LIBR 287, called Drewieske Instruction Observation. I attended an information literacy class for college freshman at the local university, which was taught by an academic librarian (I have removed all identifying details). The librarian is an instruction coordinator, specializing in teaching these information literacy classes, as well as being an education and philosophy subject specialist. She tailors her presentation to fit each group of patrons. For example, this class has already chosen research paper topics, so they do not need instruction on that aspect. Many of the incoming students she teaches are very familiar with accessing general information online, so she focuses on showing them how to discern the good information and sources from the more questionable information. She introduces the students to the importance of looking for peer-reviewed articles, scholarly journals, and citations. As college freshmen, this may be the first time many of them have had to use any kind of scholarly literature in their writings.   

In the observation paper, I demonstrate familiarity with the student population and their needs in an academic library. The librarians in an academic library are an integral part of the university experience, showing students not just where to find information but how to properly analyze it themselves. I understand the uniqueness of the academic library setting, in that for many students, it is the core of their university experience.  

My final artifact is a discussion post for 200 about the history of the Rohnert Park-Cotati Public Library where I volunteer, called Drewieske Library History Discussion. In it, I describe the features, collections, clientele, and staff of my local public library. I have worked two hours a week for three years at the library, assisting the circulation, children’s, and reference librarians, as well as the branch manager, on special projects. I have done everything from daily tasks like shelving or preparing newspapers, to preparing materials for the monthly Library Advisory Board meetings, to special projects like cleaning and re-stickering all of the children’s picture books.

The Healdsburg Wine Library (mentioned above in the special library section) is also part of the public library system where I volunteer, so in July I took a tour with the head librarian. This was not for a class, just a special event offered through the Special Library Association. I wanted to find out more about this unusual library – a special library combined with a public library. The librarian showed us the collection and described his patrons, which consist mainly of owners and employees of local wineries. They appreciate that he can get some of the more uncommon journals and wine guides, as well as keeping a local history archive of the industry. There is excellent community support for this special library; the locals see it as a great resource. The librarian has very little space for his large collection, and is constantly working to keep his budget intact. The budget issues he faces are a little unusual – the Wine Library budget is just a line item on the regular Healdsburg Public Library budget, but he has free reign to spend the money as he sees fit. Because of budget cuts, his staff has been severely cut back and he must do everything himself, as well as regular hours at the Healdsburg Public Library reference desk.  

Through my volunteer work, tour, and this discussion post, I demonstrate that I understand the clientele and their information needs at a public library. The Wine Library tour was especially interesting to hear a first-hand account of not only the positive experience of working in a special library, but also the challenges. The large, well-equipped Rohnert Park-Cotati Public Library where I volunteer certainly offers a stark contrast to the overcrowded, understaffed Healdsburg Wine Library, even though they are both part of the Sonoma County Library System.

Conclusion

LIS professionals work in many types of environments, each with different clientele and information needs. Understanding these differences is key to serving the needs of the patrons well. My experience in a public library, as well as evidence proving my knowledge of other types of libraries, shows I understand the various settings and the over-arching mission to provide information to patrons.

References

Kane, L. (2008). Careers and environments. In K. Haycock & B. E. Sheldon (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (pp. 42-54). Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.