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Student Learning Outcome 5
Professional development is a concept that I learned early on in my career, and continue to rely on for growth and advancement. What makes libraries and information institutions so dynamic is the ability to network and collaborate. I have joined a few professional associations through the LIS program. These memberships have great resources and benefits for students. My memberships in ALA, NCLA, SNCA, and MAC-MLA have broadened my reach throughout the field of library and information sciences. Many courses in the LIS program have coincided with my pursuit of professional development as well as associations.
There are several benefits to joining library and information associations such as networking, conferences, shared research, listservs, scholarships, etc. I know colleagues of mine and even one of my professors are members of the Society of North Carolina Archivists and they always pass along opportunities to me. I work in a Health Sciences library which gave me the opportunity to attend the Mid Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association’s annual conference in 2019. I was able to experience a conference for the first time and navigate my way around lightning talks, poster presentations, vendor presentations, continuing education classes, and other exciting moments. I’ve even turned my Independent Study in Advanced Cataloging into a training experience outside of my own department at the library. Working a full-time position in the Access Services department and wanting to work the Archives doesn’t mean I’m restricted when it comes to internship or practicum opportunities. I’ve realized it means I have to create my own professional development opportunities to merge my academics and my career to gain the practical experience for my future.
Archives are a gateway to history and a home to artifacts that tell the stories of so many communities. As a writer, the voices and narratives that are found within the archives speak to me on levels that influence my creativity. There are preconceived notions that archives are places where documents go to collect dust and never see the light of day again. To the contrary, archivists are promoting more access and less of the idea that archives are meant to be cherished or kept locked away. Open access is a concept that interests me and I want to pursue it in my career, ideally in an archives. The archives need more advocates that can show communities how the collections serve them by documenting their history.
All of the assignments in my Archival Management course are submitted as blog posts. My professor asked us to start a blog that we can maintain for our assignment posts as well as anything else we want to explore within the field of archives. As a member of the Society of North Carolina Archivists, I have embedded their news feed into my blog to help promote the activity within this association. This is my first blog and I’m excited to share my views on archives through it. I have also taken advantage of volunteering within Laupus Library’s own archives collection. Our institutional archivist was excited to discuss the concepts I was learning in class as well as give me some hands-on experience putting my studies into practice. This opportunity would have been less likely if it wasn’t for the knowledge my Archival Management course has given me and my eager pursuit of any and all professional development.
My Advanced Cataloging course helped me advance my cataloging skills and knowledge through studying and practicing with a variety of non-book items. I learned cataloging rules for e-resources, serials, videos, etc. This independent study reviewed the rules and tools I used in my Cataloging class like authority records, standards, encoding, and more. The course also provided access to OCLC Connexion to practice copy cataloging and updating holdings. Considering I was sharpening my skills, I took advantage of this opportunity to apply Advanced Cataloging to my professional work.
Laupus Health Sciences Library hosts a collection of anatomical models that circulate to the students within the health sciences colleges and programs. I work in the Access Services department where I assist the circulation of the models. The library had made an order of more than thirty new models to add to the collection. I knew this was a great opportunity to utilize my Advanced Cataloging knowledge in a practical hands-on experience. After setting up a professional development/practicum with the Head of Collection Services, I applied my skills to helping catalog the new models. I was updating OCLC records with the addition of RDA fields so that they could be migrated to our ILS. This experience afforded me the opportunity to create an original record in OCLC where I applied everything I had learned from Advanced Cataloging. Throughout my time in the MLIS program, I have taken every chance to apply my academics to my work at the library.
Artifact 3: Continuing Education Credit Class: “Finding Management & Leadership Opportunities Where You Are”
One of the core classes for the MLIS program is Leadership and Management in Information Organizations. Leadership is a very important aspect in every institution and I try to take advantage of as many professional development opportunities in leadership as I can. Within my employment at Laupus Library and East Carolina University, I attend leadership lectures, training, and webinars. I also look for leadership opportunities outside of work through professional associations. The Mid Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MAC-MLA) held their annual conference in Duke, NC. I was able to attend as a student member and participate in a continuing education course about leadership in libraries.
The CE session I attended was called “Finding Management & Leadership Opportunities Where You Are” presented by Stewart Brower, MLIS, AHIP. This class was structured around Robert Greenleaf’s idea of servant leadership, a concept he developed in 1970. We also took an assessment of our leadership orientation and discussed with the class whether we believed it corresponded with how we view ourselves as leaders. I can say my assessment was in line with how I view myself as a leader and what type of leadership strategies I practice or want to employ in a future leadership position. The discussion on management and leadership style invoked a lot of what I’ve learned in my Leadership and Management class. There were intersections on the topic of emotional intelligence and how it’s an important aspect in a leader. I was able to add a lot to the conversation because I pulled so much from my LIS 650 class. Everything I’m doing to develop my leadership knowledge through classes and professional development will hopefully help me take on a leadership role in the future.
Patti Wilson
Writer & Librarian
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