Reflections on my Classes and Experiences in the Master of Library and

Information Science Program, School of Information Studies, Dominican

University
By Helen Shenton Harrison

I took my first class in Dominican Universitys Master of Library and Information

Science (MLIS) program in the fall of 2012 and now, five years later, am completing these

studies. I have been in the fortunate position of not having to rush through the program

as I am not planning a job change, at least for now. Taking one class at a time has given

me the luxury of focus and time to delve more deeply into the subject matter of each

class. Even so, I admit to sometimes feeling overwhelmed by trying to process and

integrate what I am learning. Although this is more likely a reflection of my maturing

brain, it also speaks to the richness of the program and all that there is to learn in the

world of library and information science.

I am also fortunate in that I receive tuition assistance from my employer, the

MacArthur Foundation, for my coursework in the program. But to receive this assistance

at the graduate level, I had to make a case before starting the program that it would be

applicable to my work. In the summer of 2012 I was looking at Dominicans website for

some information about the undergraduate program my younger daughter was in at the

school. And there on DUs homepage was the button for the Graduate School of Library

and Information Science, and it hit melibrary AND information science. Essentially

what we do at the Foundation is collect information to determine whether to provide

funding to an organization and then, after the grant is given, capture more information

and knowledge. And there is a constant need to research and gather information to keep

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the staff up to date with issues in their respective fields and philanthropy in general. It

was not a stretch to make the argument for tuition support.

In my first class, Introduction to Library and Information Science, Dr. Karen

Brown asked us to look over the programs offerings, think about what our interests and

goals were, and put together a sequence of classes we anticipated taking. I carefully chose

eight information-science focused electives that I believed would benefit my current

position at the Foundation at that time, but also ones I thought might provide me with

knowledge and skills that I could use in an enhanced or different position. Looking back

at that listing, I see that I only took two out of those eight electives. Some of the changes

were due to scheduling and what worked for me; other changes were made because my

interest was piqued by a class I had not originally considered. In every class I have taken,

however, I found value and benefit for my own learning goals and ways that I could apply

it to my work at the Foundation. In addition to meeting these personal and professional

needs, I can unequivocally state I will be leaving my formal studies at Dominican with a

good understanding of the MLIS programs five learning goals.

Meeting the first goal of developing a professional identity, including a

commitment to the core values of LIS, is one I wholeheartedly embraced. As highlighted

in several artifacts in this e-portfolio, I have grappled with censorship, intellectual

freedom, and intellectual property. Providing people with access to accurate, evidence-

based information has always been something I personally valued, and something

glaringly needed in todays world of questionable sources and outright fake news. Each of

these aspects of the LIS environment are part of the professional identity and philosophy

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I have developed and strengthened through this program. I also learned not only the

history, value and importance of libraries in the United States, but in places as different as

Cuba and Timbuktu through work I did in the International Librarianship class. These

efforts are illustrated by artifacts for the three outcomes I chose for Goals One in this e-

portfolio, and Goal Five for my project on the libraries of Timbuktu.

While I did not choose an artifact for the outcome about participating in

professional activities and associations, it was recommended in more than one of my

classes that we should take advantage of student membership rates for the American

Library Association (ALA) and other professional groups. I might have overdone it with

memberships not only in ALA, but in the Illinois Library Association, the Special

Libraries Association, and the Association for Rural and Small Libraries as well. Through

the two ALA annual meetings I attended, and from reading the various print and digital

publications and reports from ALA and these other groups, I have seen the connections

between the theories I was learning in class translated into the realities of library and

information-centered work, as well as being inspired by those who do that work.

Understanding the essential nature of information and its relevance to society is

the second learning goal. The artifacts I have chosen represent different aspects of

understanding this goal. As I state for the explanation for outcome 2b, information

professionals often must balance their respect for the rights of authors/creators with their

users needs for better access to resources. I explore this tension through the perspective

of copyright and questions of open access, a debate that is becoming even more

prominent than when I wrote the paper. We studied how data translates to information

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and then becomes knowledge in LIS 880 and 884. And in every class I took, the

importance of assessing and responding to the informational needs of different kinds of

users of our library or information center was stressed. We investigated the assessment of

community needs in the context of strategic planning in LIS 770, for example, and

through selecting a collection of resources in both LIS 748 and 704.

To navigate, curate and create information across the spectrum of human

records, the programs third learning goal, has several layers of meaning for me. One

layer is based in the physical worldsuch as demonstrated through the classification and

cataloging of a librarys resources as I learned in LIS 703, or through the arrangement and

description of archival objects in LIS 775 and now in 881. The other layer is technology,

and here is where I may have stretched myself the most over the past five years. Having

worked in office environments for some years, with quite a few in the era of typewriters, I

appreciate basic office technology. No more bottles of white-out or rolls of correction

tape, as I used when I worked in publishing. With the internet and access to databases

and resources across the globe and the abundance of desktop mobile devices to connect

to them, research is not the time-consuming, manual process it was in my undergraduate

days. And email has kept me in closer touch with friends and family who live far away.

But we all have days when technology is not our friend, and sometimes feel as if we are

working harder with it than we did without it. After once imagining that a future brilliant

career for me would be technology-free, or as close as one can get to it these daysI was

thinking massage therapyI landed in library school (polite laughter). But what I

appreciate about the uses of technology in the LIS environment is that it always has the

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intention of making things easier and/or better for our own work and for our

communities and users.

The one class I do not have represented in my selection of artifacts in this e-

portfolio is LIS 753Internet Fundamentals and Design, and I think my most

challenging assignment was done for this class. I never imagined learning any sort of

computer coding, but in that class Dr. Gao expected us to learn HTML and CSS, the

coding used for websites. Our final project was to design and create five web pages. The

work was painstaking and, at times, painful. But I was pleased with my results, and

although my coding still open as web pages, there are bits missing because of content that

has shifted or been deleted from its source. Thus, although it is an achievement I feel

very proud of, I have chosen not to include this work.

The artifacts that I have chosen include an exercise I did for LIS 703, which shows

my understanding of common resources used in managing information through

classification and cataloging. The other two are assignments involving subject guides

which were once print-based (and sometimes still are), but have perhaps been made better

through technology. One artifact is a subject guide I put together myself for LIS 704,

demonstrating a tool that can be used to facilitate access to knowledge; the other is an

examination of studies that had been conducted around the use and value of subject

guides, and an assessment of the methods used in those assessments.

I had multiple opportunities throughout my time in the program to address the

fourth learning goal around synthesizing theory and practice. In addition to the

experiences through the professional organizations I am a member of, I have heard

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speakers in several classes, library and information professionals who have shared with us

a glimpse into their work. I attended several of the annual lectures on campus, and

participated in webinars hosted by ALA or WebJunction. And I have learned at least a

semesters worth from reading the listserv postings that the rural librarians exchange with

one another through the Association for Rural and Small Librarieswhen one has a

question or problem, they all rally to help. The artifacts I chose to document outcomes

for this goal include a paper written based on a shadowing assignment done for LIS 770,

where I spent part of a day with the director for a lovely suburban library. I have also had

the opportunity through two archives classes to do an internship that takes what I have

learned and am learning and translating it into something concrete. Doing these

internship hours has been challenging because of my full-time job, but being able to see

how the theory translates into something concrete and useful is well worth the time spent.

The final learning goal for SOIS students is to effectively communicate and

collaborate to deliver, market, and advocate for library and information services. In

addition to the artifacts I include for the three chosen outcomes, I had other experiences

over the last five years that touch on this goal. For LIS 770, I wrote both a paper and

presented on the critical topic of sustainability in libraries. I quoted library consultant

Chrystie Hill in that paper, from a TEDx talk she gave on Libraries Present and Future.

She posed the question when everything is online, why come to the library at all? (Hill,

2009). A community in Denmark asked that same question of their community when

planning a new library, and actually listened to the responses they received. When the

services and space of the library meet the needs of the community, an article about the

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process of building this library states, the library will help to sustain that community and

the community, in turn, will sustain the library (Ferrari, 2014).

I also participated briefly in a campaign when our neighborhood library, the

Independence Park branch, was closed in 2015 due to a fire. Community members, along

with our city and state elected officials, came together to request that the Chicago Public

Library (CPL) give this branch a new home to replace the several storefront library

locations it has resided in for the past 100 years. This past October, the city announced

that the Independence branch is one of three libraries to be part of a collaboration

between CPL and the Chicago Housing Authority to locate libraries in new mixed- or

low-income housing developments. Our new library will be on the ground floor of a

10,000 to 14,000 square foot building with senior housing on the upper floors, serving

two needs of the neighborhood (Cherone and Wetli, 2016).

From the time I learned to read, I have been voracious in doing so for both

pleasure and to gather information and knowledge, and am a strong believer in life-long

learning. Walking across the stage a couple of months from now will signal the end of my

formal LIS studies, but not the end of my education in the field. I was fortunate to have

moved to a new position at the Foundation a few months ago, and am now in an area

that encompasses the library, archives, and an emerging initiative around knowledge and

information management. Part of my new responsibilities include assisting our librarian

with tasks such as interlibrary loans, cataloging, and managing the serial subscriptions, and

I have been involved in discussions around our archives and the knowledge/information

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management efforts. I anticipate being able to contribute more over the coming years

because of receiving this degree.

In the personal essay I wrote when applying to the LIS program, I noted that I

have never been tied to job titles. Rather, I have sought or been lucky enough to land in

workplaces that provide me both with a spirit of service to a community or ideal, as well

as work that offers opportunities to grow and to expand my skills and knowledge.

Librarianship feels like a culmination of everything I have done up until now in my

professional life, as well as perhaps a calling that has finally caught up with me. While I

am entering this profession with no starry-eyed illusions about its realities, I can only

hope I will live up to the responsibilities and the expectations that claiming this title,

librarian, means to me.

Sources Cited:

Cherone, Heather and Patty Wetli. Independence Library to Get a Permanent Home,

And Some Live-In Patrons. DNA Info, October 21 and 24, 2016.

Ferrari, Ahniwa (2014). Sustaining Communities, Sustaining Ourselves. WebJunction, June

4, 2014.

Hill, Chrystie (2011). Libraries Present and Future. Presentation at TEDxRainier,

November 12, 2011, Seattle, WA. YouTube.