MemberBlog

A technical information specialist and researcher for the Department of Defense, Quintel Freeman-Allen holds dear a personal and professional commitment to self empowerment through information research, experiential learning and sustainable development. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in English from Hampton University, a Masters of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a three-year tour of duty in Zimbabwe, Africa with the Peace Corps. She resides in the DC Metro Area with her family.

What made you choose your field of focus, and when did you decide?

I decided to choose library science as a field of study after I completed my tour of duty with the Peace Corps. I served in Zimbabwe from 1994-1997 where I taught English as a second language and literally built, staffed and stocked a school library. I inherited the project from my predecessor and upon teaching, quickly saw the need for a library. The library materials enabled students to read at their leisure which in turn enabled them to practice their English reading and writing. Practice helped to build proficiency.

What skills have you had to learn on the job that weren’t covered in your classes?

In my current position, I capture, organize and leverage internal institutional knowledge for better decision making. In order to meet this daily objective, I have had to pursue training in records management and archival studies. Specifically, I completed the NARA records management certificate class series to acquire the basics of records management as well as customize these learned skills to the functions, business processes and culture of my organization.

What information from your MLS studies do you use regularly? What doesn’t come up at all?

The information and skills training that I use regularly from my MLS are cataloging, index/abstracting and system analysis of search and retrieval/search engine functions/content & document management systems as well as information consulting for providing added value to tools and evaluating information quality and assurance for repositories. Fortunately for me, most of what I learned in the MLS program at the UIUC was very relevant to my current position because I was able to customize my course load to my area of interest. Even my librarianship overview courses were helpful to conceptualize a project with macrovision while chunking the project tasks, objectives, impacts into smaller pieces.

What kinds of skills from outside of your library background have come in handy in your job as a librarian?

Strong interpersonal and communications skills are always helpful but these along with team building skills are especially necessary when you are in a leadership role whether as a manager or just a project lead.

What is your typical work-day like?

My day is one of unexpected duties depending on my priorities. Currently, my daily duties include metadata tagging documents, processing information research requests, and creating a taxonomy.

Heather Harrison is in her second year of the LIS Program at Wayne State University where she serves as Vice President of the ALA student chapter. She assists the WSU chapter in planning events, library tours, and workshops for fellow students. In addition to her studies, Heather works as a Graduate Student Assistant at WSU’s David Adamany Undergraduate Library. She has a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan and also works with WSU librarians Lothar Spang and Deborah Tucker on their ongoing Poetry Chapbook Information Literacy Initiative with Detroit area K-12 school children.

What field of focus are you studying and why did you choose this field?
My focus of study is reference services. I chose this because I enjoy helping people directly, puzzling out answers to difficult questions, and making someone feel glad that they stopped at the reference desk.

What office or area of Conference did you work with during Annual?
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. I worked with a wonderfully dedicated group of ALA staff members.

What were you able to take away from this experience to help you with your studies?
Several sessions I attended gave me new perspectives on the people we serve in libraries and I am taking these ideas to the desk with me every day. I was also energized by the Privacy Revolution session. Attending this session heightened my awareness of privacy as a crucial issue in the field. Corey Doctorow’s comments about CCTV cameras has made me start noticing them everywhere!

What was your typical Conference Day like?
I attended presentations in the mornings and spent most of my afternoons helping the OIF prepare for their scheduled sessions. I also had the delightful opportunity to walk around the Convention Center with the OIF’s very own Privacy Revolutionary, aka Bryan Campbell. My evenings were spent hobnobbing with other librarians at receptions, dinners, and impromptu parties.

What tips or ideas would you like to share with future Student-to-Staffers?
If you are a naturally shy person; don’t be during Conference. Introduce yourself to people sitting around you during sessions and chat with the presenters afterward. I met so many lovely people. The library field is filled with interesting, dedicated, and fun librarians. Get to know them at Conference.

Alma Ramos-McDermott, a 2006 Spectrum scholar, finished her studies December 2007 at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Boston, MA. Before Alma attended Simmons, she was a public school elementary teacher in Brooklyn, NY for 21 years. In the last 5 years of her career, she was the “pseudo” school librarian serving grades k-5. During those 5 years, Alma realized she would have to return to graduate school to earn a library degree (her first Masters degree was in Elementary Education) in order to better serve her students, since she felt that her Education degrees weren’t helping her to figure out how to teach library skills. Alma studied at Queens College for one semester before marrying in 2005 and relocating to Weymouth, MA, where she began her studies at Simmons in the spring of 2006. Alma was hired as a Library Media Specialist at Plymouth Community Intermediate School (PCIS) in February 2008. PCIS is a grade 5-8 school, with over 1200 students.

Alma is responsible for the building’s technology (which includes distribution and maintenance), as well as the scheduling of the 150 seat auditorium adjacent to the library. The building’s technology includes computers, DVD’s, TV’s, projectors, VCR’s and anything with a wire or that plugs into something. In addition, she supervises a staff of 5 assistants to help her with the running of the 5 computer labs (with 30 computers per lab) attached to the library, the 16 computers in the library, book check in-outs and typical library duties. She also teaches research and library lessons to students, and regularly schedules book talks with reluctant readers in their Reading classes. Due to the new 700 volume Young Adult collection Alma created in the library, as well as her book talks, these students have been more interested in borrowing books, which thrills their Reading teachers. Alma’s 21 years of teaching experience have served her very well as this skill allows her to have confidence in front of the students, and the knowledge of how to handle disciplinary issues that may arise.

Simmons offers a Management course, but it is not required of those studying to become school librarians. However, since Alma is responsible for many Management-type areas, she wishes school librarians had been required to take this course. She feels that perhaps it would have given her tips and insights into how to manage adults, among other skills. A required class at Simmons discussed how to integrate state frameworks into library lessons. Alma feels that this course was the most helpful to her, because the professor who taught it had been a school librarian and gave many helpful tips. One of the tips that she uses is to eat lunch with different teachers/departments on a regular basis. This tip has served her well, as it enabled her to be better known by the staff of over 150 teachers, and allows her to regularly speak with them to find areas to help them integrate the library into their lessons.

A typical work day for Alma begins with several teachers running in desperately seeking a VCR, projector, DVD or overhead projector that they must have for their first class but forgot to request on time. At the same time, others will come in wanting a specific DVD, video or book that is also a “must have,” or needing to replace batteries or blown out projector bulbs. Throughout the day, Alma checks her e-mails to see if any requests for technology, meetings or materials have been sent to her. Students stream in and out of the library to locate books for projects or for fun, while the two office phones constantly ring with requests for information, as well as technology or scheduling issues.

The library is on a flexible schedule, which means teachers plan their lessons in the library when needed. Thus, Alma daily stops teachers who come to the library to schedule time for their lessons to find out how she can collaborate with them to co-teach these lessons to enable students to learn needed information literacy skills. She is also in and out of the library addressing technology issues that arise in classrooms. While on these “technology runs,” teachers may stop her in the hallways to ask for specific books or to share information on upcoming lessons.

Alma’s days pass in a whir of activity, with no two days exactly alike. However, despite the stress of the job and the late hours (a typical workday may go from 7:30 AM to 5 or 6 PM), Alma enjoys the creativity and the chance to get students and teachers interested in what the library has to offer them. The many thank you letters, comments and e-mails she has already received in her short 2 ½ months of work show that she is on the right path.

Michael Gutiérrez is currently a Senior Assistant Librarian in the reference department, Morris Library, University of Delaware. Mr. Gutiérrez holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and history from the University of New Mexico; received his M.A. degree (LIS) from the School of Information Resources and Library Science, University of Arizona; and is currently working on his doctorate in education from the University of Delaware. Mr. Gutiérrez is active in national and local library associations. Currently, he is serving as Councilor-At-Large. He has previously chaired the ALA Office of Diversity, Spectrum Scholarship Curriculum and Planning Task Force and chaired the RUSA (Reference User Services Association) Organization Committee. Locally, Mr. Gutiérrez was involved in the New Jersey Library Association, working on the Personnel Administration and Scholarship Committees, and, since 2003, has been serving as the Treasurer of the Delaware Library Association.

1. What made you choose your field of focus, and when did you decide?

Actually, I believe I stumbled into my field of focus—reference. I always had the inclination to discover how things worked or why events occurred or where a certain place was located. I guess I was a natural detective, so focusing on reference service became a logical path. While I was a paraprofessional at the University of New Mexico General Libraries, I was encouraged to volunteer to staff the reference desk two hours a week. After having overcome my initial fears of dealing with the public, I was a public service convert.

2. What skills have you had to learn on the job that weren’t covered in your classes?

There are numerous skills that I have learned since becoming a professional librarian such as webpage design, classroom management, curriculum development, and networking skills. But, the most important skills are what I would call true social skills. Those would include “people-reading” skills, which are important in dealing with patrons; “organizational politics” skills, which are equally important, if you plan to succeed in any organization; and “perspective” skills, which means being able to view things from “outside the box” or outside the realm of librarianship.

3. What information from your MLS studies do you use regularly? What doesn’t come up at all?

I would have to say that the concepts I use most from my library coursework would be knowledge of reference and government publications materials. I also feel that I use some of the basic learning theories that I was exposed to in my coursework, like Constructivism.

4. What kinds of skills from outside of your library background have come in handy in your job as a librarian?

I really can’t pinpoint just one skill from outside my library background that I use regularly. I use all of them, depending on the situation. I mean sometimes I will use my knowledge of cars or my skills in home repair or my knowledge of pop music or my cooking skills. So, basically, I try to tap into all my skills while I am working with a patron.

5. What is your typical work-day like?

For me, a typical day begins early and includes at least several hours of intense service at a busy reference desk. My work at the reference desk includes providing research assistance in-person as well as via phone, email, live chat and IM. Questions may come from students, faculty, staff or from the community. In addition to daytime hours, I also work evenings and weekends on a regular basis. Reference librarians at Delaware are also responsible for collection development and making recommendations about print and electronic resources that should be added to the Library’s collection. For example, I am the liaison to the School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy and the Departments of Political Science and International Affairs. I stay in touch with the students and faculty in these areas regularly via email, IM,phone, and through a newsletter I created to improve communication. I teach library instruction sessions and I am constantly learning new technologies that assist with reaching students through instruction. I am also the Scheduling Coordinator, and manage the day-to-day schedule of more than a dozen librarians and staff at Reference service desks. I collaborate with other librarians on projects such as web usability testing and student focus groups as part of library initiatives to improve services.

That sums up my typical work day, but I don’t think professional librarians have typical work days—the work they do is different everyday.