Competency B
compare the environments and organizational settings in which library and information professionals practice
The first question I invariably get from people when they learn that I am studying for an MLIS degree is: "so are you going to work in a library?" I must then embark on an educational speech about the sheer variety of environments and organizational settings in which information professionals are needed.
Libraries can be Public, Academic, School, or Special (e.g. a law library). These settings can be as varied as private or public organizations, universities or elementary schools, repositories or museum archives, actual buildings housing records or virtual reference desks...Within these environments information professionals can also play different roles: head librarian, library manager, administrator, records manager, software developer, systems analyst, web designer, database coordinator, and many others. "Career opportunities are limited only by one's imagination, ambition and degree of mobility" (Haycock, n.d., para. 2). The different program specializations offered by the San José State University's SLIS programs are further proof of the diversity of roles encountered within the profession. Some of the program tracks are Academic Libraries, Archival Studies, Information Organization and Description, Management, Reference Services and Instruction, Special Libraries, and Web Design and Technology.
Though I selected Archival Studies as my main area of concentration I made sure to take classes across several tracks in order to be exposed to as many different settings and situations as possible. I have not had the experience of working in a library or organization dedicated to the dissemination of information. However, I gained valuable experience on this topic through class assignments that encouraged students to research a variety of settings.
The first piece of evidence I am submitting to document my understanding of this competency is an assignment from LIBR 204 (Information Organizations & Management). I am an avid user of public libraries and find myself frequenting them quite often. For this asignment, however, I had to visit a public library under the guise of a future librarian. The purpose of this exercise was to do an observational analysis of a series of external and internal environmental factors that influenced the library's operations. As part of the assignment I was also tasked with suggesting possible areas of improvement guided by aspects of a fictitious strategic plan. Through careful observation, research, and interviews with the staff I was able to draft a plan that addressed the external issues and the internal challenges faced by this specific public library and informational type of setting.
In a different informational setting, a site visit assignment for LIBR 257 (Records Management) had me visiting the records management office of Swinerton Management and Consulting, a construction management consulting company doing business in San Francisco, California. During the visit and subsequent e-mail communications I interviewed Karen Freeman, a Program Manager. Ms. Freeman had also recently been appointed as the Records Administrator. In that capacity she was in charge of developing and enforcing the newly established Records & Information Management Policy. Up until that point information was archived and retrieved differently by staff, college personnel, and contractors. A series of recordkeeping setbacks highlighted the need to have a policy that standardized the way information was handled, disseminated, and preserved. Immediate and quantifiable benefits took place upon the new policy's implementation. For example, the use of a new collaborative software that provided project scheduling, timeline control, forecasts, up to date project costs, electronic document retrieval, custom reports, collaboration tools, action alerts, and centralized project information, played a big part in the success of the new RIM policy and ensured that information was only accessed by the users involved in each project with the correct security clearance. This visit gave me the opportunity to learn about records management within a big organization and how important it is to maintain the security and confidentiality of all records.
I was exposed to a widely different environment when I briefly acted as a virtual reference librarian for the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) project, a commendable effort by the library community that offers digital reference. It is sponsored by the US Department of Education, and it is dedicated to study, support and improve current K-12 digital reference services, as well as build a foundation for a national cooperative digital reference service and the establishment of human-mediated, internet-based information services. Answering users questions at the VRD, made me realize that a reference librarian must be neutral, truthful, equitable, and non-judgmental while providing his or her services.
Through the exposure to these experiences I learned that there was indeed a great range of applications, environments, and job titles in the field of library and information science. In essence these environments, though differing in context, were similar in that they all had the same objective of equal access to information, employed similar methods of information management and retrieval, and offered remote access to their material. The main difference was in the respective constituencies for which they had to tailor their collections. Whereas the public library mainly served the people of a specific city, the construction company's record management office served only the needs of its staff, school personnel, vendors, and contractors, and the VRD catered to a wider audience throughout the nation if not the world.
Despite the unique challenges of each organization, the principles of library and information science in which they all base their work are the same. The understanding of these fundamental principles of library and information science provides information professionals with a solid base to effectively address the needs of his or her setting.
References
Haycock, K. (n.d.). Director's Welcome. Retrieved August 28, 2008, from the San José State University, School of Library and Information Science Web Site:
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/welcome.htm
Evidentiary
LIBR 204 - Information Organizations & Management - Undercover Visit
LIBR 257 - Records Management - Site Visit
LIBR 210 - Reference & Information Services - Virtual Reference Desk Experience