artifacts
Why serve?
While each of the following experiences are practical or non-academic ones, for me the key to them all is service. There are many kinds of service in the information professions, but my focus over the course of this program has been in three areas: service to the profession, service to my institution, and service to my peers.
Service to the profession is certainly not entirely selfless. By volunteering at conferences and other events, not only do I help these events run smoothly, but I am also making myself visible and available to people in the field. Like any other part of my graduate education, these opportunities did not come and find me. When I heard about Peter Merholz' IDEA Conference during my first term at the iSchool, I contacted him directly and advocated for volunteer positions for several iSchool students to be able to attend the conference at no cost. Similarly, when one of the conference organizers asked me if I was interested in volunteering at the IA Summit, I didn't hesitate and made certain we kept in contact.
When I decided to give some of my time to the University of Washington's Special Collections, it was because I had seen a brief film presentation courtesy of Marika Pineda's work with them. I knew I had some free time in my schedule, and was willing to do any kind of work for them, so I approached Hannah Palin and Nicolette Bromberg with the idea that I would do anything they needed me to do. For me, it was a way to give back and get some practical experience in a realm of libraries that I would likely not get otherwise. Working in Special Collections expanded my experience outside of my technology emphasis and helped give me a more well-rounded perspective on the scope of Library and Information Science careers.
Finally, and most importantly for me, I have actively worked to serve my peers. As someone who felt very alone in my first few terms, and who struggled to integrate into the culture of the iSchool and the University of Washington, I wondered if my fellow students felt the same. I did not wait for opportunities to serve; instead, I asked my colleagues what they wanted and needed, and then I created those opportunities. Working to make the iSchool experience better for students has an impact that goes beyond a temporary feeling of accomplishment to what I'd like to think is a culture of connectedness that actively values and supports us as students.
IDEA Conference - Volunteer
Fall 2006
As a newly admitted student, I was very interested in Peter Merholz'
new conference on Information Architecture called IDEA. When the invitation to
participate was forwarded to the iSchool lists, I contacted him about
volunteer opportunities. I assisted the conference organizer,
Sarah Rice of Seneb Consulting, with greeting, logistics, and welcoming attendees
to Seattle (no small trick for a recent transplant). This opportunity
led Sarah to ask me to be her volunteer assistant for the Information
Architecture Institute's IA Summit pre-conference.
IDEA Conference 2006
IA Summit Las Vegas - Preconference Volunteer
Spring 2007
My responsibilities here included working with the speakers to collect
their materials for presentation; making the presentation materials graphically
consistent, contracting for and negotiating printing, coordinating presentation
technology and room requirements with the main conference staff, and seeing
to the needs of the speakers for the duration of the preconference.
IA Summit 2007 - Preconference
Special Collections - Volunteer
Winter and Spring 2008
I have worked independently on three small projects for Nicolette Bromberg and Hannah Palin in Special Collections: a preliminary inventory of Jane Richardson Hanks' collection of ethnographic films and recordings, a preliminary inventory of architectural drawings from a prominent Seattle family, and building a finder for Men of The Pacific Northwest, a book with photographs of influential men of the region printed circa 1890.
Day MLIS "Student Ambassadors"
Fall 2007
When I began the MLIS program, I had minimal contact with the second-year MLIS students, and I had even less contact with the iSchool students outside my program. The first term's class schedule didn't leave much room to interact with anyone outside my own cohort, and that was something that as time went on, I wished I'd had access to.
When I contacted Marie Potter about the possibility of involving second-year Day MLIS students in the incoming student orientation process, she was very interested and came up with a plan. She and I worked together to build a group of student ambassadors F students who would be entering their second year of the program in Fall 2007. These students would volunteer their time to act as hosts for a part of the new MLIS student orientation.
In all, as the result of my recruitment and their interest and availability,
16 students (out of a second-year cohort of less than 80) volunteered to
attend a training, come back early from summer break, and spend several
hours during the MLIS program orientation talking about the program,
answering questions, and sharing their personal experiences with the
incoming students. My hope is that these first-year students who
benefited from this time will have a cultural expectation that it's important
for them to connect with their incoming students, and will volunteer to
do the same thing next year.
Current iWelcome Week schedule
The ourSchool Mixer
Fall 2007
As part of iWelcome Week activities, I worked with all of the program
advisors (MLIS Day and Distance, MSIM Day and Executive, Informatics,
and PhD) and each of the student governing groups to get the word out about
making contact across disciplines. This mixer was an attempt to introduce
incoming and returning students across programs.
I worked with Dowell Eugenio, the advisor coordinating the iWelcome Week schedule, to find an open time slot with the least conflict that was still during the MLIS Distance residency. I successfully lobbied for funding from ALISS, IUGA, and the Dean's Office, then I reserved the room, purchased food, and canvassed my peers to attend as hosts. Nearly 45 people attended over the course of the mixer, and I had at least one attendee and one host from each of the program areas.
Like the Student Ambassadors, the ourSchool mixer was a way to begin conversations about student participation, engagement, and socialization across programs. These conversations are having implications much more far-reaching and powerful than the events themselves. When I worked to introduce students from the different iSchool programs to each other, my hope was to foster not just networking and cooperative effort for more large-scale events, but also to encourage friendships. And while I don't have any knowledge of what previous cohorts experienced, I do know that the change in cross-program interaction from when I began at the iSchool to the present has increased dramatically, and can be seen in everything from the composition of the attendees at the recent iEdge conference, to the new Student Organizations Council proposed by Wendie Phillips, the Director of Student Services.
Incoming GA Training Program
Fall 2007
The Graduate Assistant Crew training was another opportunity to introduce returning students to incoming students. By working with Jan Boyd, the supervisor of the Crew, as well as recruiting my fellow returning GAs, the incoming GA training included significant time for team training. The returning GAs were paired up to work on actual tasks with incoming GAs in a "buddy system" for the first time.
Connecting incoming and returning students was useful in this environment not just because of the task training, but also because GAs are on campus before any other students, and so for us the start of our first year can be even more difficult. We're learning the iSchool system, the University of Washington system, and the GA system all at once, which is no picnic. The best part of this successful training program is that plans are already in place to continue this initial connection for next year's incoming GAs.
MLIS Admissions Committee
Winter and Spring 2008
I am committed to helping create a diverse and successful MLIS student body, and being chosen as one of three students to serve on the 2008 MLIS Admissions Committee was one of the best ways to do that. It has been an honor to work with my fellow committee members, and Committee Chair Trent Hill.
As an Admissions Committee member, I gave my time and effort to serving my fellow students by thoughtfully evaluating admissions applications and advocating for the best and most diverse incoming cohort.
