Master of My Destiny: Installment 5

I've just submitted an essay and given a presentation for a midterm assignment in one of my classes.  So I think now is a good time to give another update on my MLIS studies.

Knowledge Management, my one online class this semester, focuses on how information flows through an organization in a way that makes it useful to the whole.  The class started off with readings that contained many fascinating insights on the nature of knowledge, with one reading about ignorance, and how it's more of an active force than we might think.  Another insightful reading was from Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point, which focuses on the movement of knowledge and ideas.  I also took on the challenge of writing an essay that answers the question, "What is knowledge?", drawing inspiration from Aristotle, which was quite successful.

Internet Fundamentals and Design, which I attend in-person, is a class in which we learn HTML coding for creating websites and the nature of the Internet and related digital technologies.  Before being in this class, I knew some HTML coding from a web design class I had in high school.  But there's a whole lot more to the Internet.  I learned this especially when I prepared a partner presentation on the expiration of a contract that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)--a US government agency--has with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which has implications for the overall security of the Internet, as ICANN is in charge of Internet Protocol addresses that all websites have.  (I also learned about mosh pits.)

In Management of Libraries and Information Centers, a core class, which also meets in-person, we learn about how to run a library or other place that handles information resources.  Professor Crowley draws upon his many job experiences from throughout his career, in places as far-ranging as New York, Alabama, and Ohio, presenting interesting anecdotes and remarks about what it takes to run a library, which is definitely more of an art than a science.  We also heard an earful of insights from Ruth Faklis, the director of the Prairie Trails Public Library District in Burbank, IL, who is quite a brilliant woman.  For my midterm assignment, in this class, I wrote a profile of the library media centers at Julian and Brooks Middle Schools in Oak Park, which was a great opportunity to visit both schools.

As a final note, I'd like to speak to the culture at Dominican University, which I was able to experience in a profound way recently.  At the end of September was the Caritas Veritas Symposium, a daylong event with a series of presentations on life and work.  I attended a presentation at which students spoke who participated in a trip last March to sites of the Civil Right Moments, and the 50-year Anniversary of the March at Selma.  The depth of the reflections they shared was incredible.  Being there for this occasion reminded me so much of what I appreciated about Valparaiso University, in that both institutions have a learning environment pointing to the higher pursuit of truth.  It definitely adds to the sense of how much I appreciate the backdrop Dominican provides while I pursue my MLIS, because ultimately, there's a Higher Purpose and a Higher Power to serve, the One who is ultimately Master of my Destiny.