This post is part of my "Master of my Destiny" series on my blog in which I share about my happenings in graduate school studies in library and information science.
As I continued beyond the halfway hump of my MLIS studies, and advanced closer to graduation, two aspects that stood out in this fall semester that just concluded were the amazing discussions we had in classes, and the fascinating insights I encountered. Much of it affirms my decision to pursue my MLIS.
Internet Fundamentals and Design class was especially full of good discussions week after week. When I registered for this class, my thought was that we were going to spend lots of time learning about internet design, especially HTML coding. But the class was rather driven by discussions about the nature of digital technologies and the impact they're having on society, even on how libraries provide their services.
We talked about the role of ICANN in maintaining the security of IP addresses, net neutrality, the open source movement, gamification, Google Analytics, and the ideas of Clay Shirky, Chris Anderson, and Jaron Lanier on the impact of digital technologies--you can click on the links to access websites and videos explaining those ideas further to learn more about them. Our professor also brought in a journalism professor at his college to talk about how newspapers had to adjust to changes induced by the rise of digital technologies, especially The New York Times, which speaks very much to how libraries adapt. With the newspaper, they reenivisioned themselves as a digital media outlet that also happens to have a newspaper, rather than just being a newspaper with some online digital content available.
We also talked about the design of webpages, which is an important part of how usable they are for people visiting them. To reinforce these principles, we did a usability study assignment. For this, I created a test of functions on an actual library's website, and then had people complete the test. From the results, I created a presentation, for which I pretended to be giving to the library's board, making recommendations for how they could make the website more usable. I actually liked this assignment to a large extent, especially getting people's reactions to how the website was designed, those who did my test, and those in class when I presented.
I was fortunate to be in this class with one of the professors I had over the summer term for Library User Instruction. He did a stellar job engaging us in these topics, which I feel made the class a richer experience than if we focused more on coding. But it was nice to play around with coding and see how it all makes web pages come alive, which took me back to a website design class I had in high school.
Knowledge Management was an online class, so we didn't necessarily have lots of discussions in the usual sense. But the class was chock full of amazingly fascinating insights, in the assigned readings and in my professor's lectures. The semester started out with discussions on the nature of knowledge and information, as well as how we as people process knowledge. Towards the middle of the semester, we got into topics that focus more specifically on knowledge processes in corporations, especially how organizations can facilitate meaningful learning for their employees, and what is involved as they undergo change. Toward the very end of the semester, we had an assignment in which we created a taxonomy of resources, organizing them into topics and by their various facets.
I had a couple of big essay assignments in this class. For the first, I tackled the gargatuan matter of what is knowledge, which I described as information that is used for some end. For the second, I talked about groupthink, a type of mindset that occurs in group settings when groups as a whole make bad decisions, even when a minority of members have reasons to be against the decision being made the way it is, but don't speak up, resulting in a bad decision. Some feel groupthink led to situations like the botched Bay of Pigs invasion and the Challenger space shuttle disaster, the latter of which is discussed in the memoir Gabby: a Story of Courage and Hope, from which I drew a scene to set the stage for my essay's introduction. Both essays were a lot of work, but I was pleased with the end results.
Management of Libraries and Information Centers class combined some aspects from the other two classes: We talked somewhat about how to run organizations, which brought up principles that are applicable in general to any organization. We also had some good discussions, especially when the midterm and final presentations occurred. Some of the topics we covered were management theories and their history, the structure of organizations, staffing/human resources matters, and marketing. The professor has had extensive experience working in various jobs in libraries, especially managerial positions, and would often mention anecdotes from his experiences in them, even as he handed us documents like job descriptions and on effective management practices. We also had two guest presenters who talked about what it takes to be a manager in a library, one a library director, and the other an AV manager. The former handed us lots of documents related to her work, including tax forms, legal papers, and library policies. I think the big take-away from the class is that management is an art, and having experience in it is an important way to build management skill.
What was really nice about this semester was that I was building up a good body of knowledge on the principles of librarianship, even upon what I gained in previous semesters, and I could apply many of these principles to the work I have at the Oak Park Public Library. This happened on our all-staff institute day earlier this month. To start, we had a presentation on storytelling, actually given by a Dominican LIS professor. Ultimately, it's not the telling of statistics that demonstrates the value of a library in a community, but the stories of how it makes an impact on the people who use it. We spent much of that day talking about how to tell the library's story. I know from MLIC classes that libraries are always going to be important, even though the way they provides services changes. It's important to communicate how the library can always be an important part of its community, because of the way they bring people together to interact and engage with ideas. This day was definitely a great opportunity for me to see how my studies and my work fit together. And being there with many of the library staff gave me a great sense of the place where I work, and who I work with, and made feel proud to be part of it.
Indeed, it's great to see how my studies and my work come together as I pursue this path, seeking to live out my life's vocation, laid out by the Master of my Destiny.
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