CALL
Collaborating
During the time I have spent as a student at Southern Connecticut State University, I have collaborated with classmates, and fellow staff members. I could see the benefits of collaborations when I attended conferences where that were planned by groups of librarians working together. At first, working with students who I had never meet in person seemed difficult. Then, we began to figure out how technology could allow us to communicate and work "together" even though we were not in the same room. During ILS 503, I completed a group paper with three other classmates, we also critiqued the work of another group. We made use of the chat room in Blackboard Vista and the chat functions of GoogleDocs to be able to meet in real time. When I had trouble accessing the meeting I was able to tell the rest of the group by calling another member who then communicated that I would be late. After a few classes of online group work, the idea of collaborating with technology became common place. In ILS 501 and ILS 504 my partners for projects and I communicated via E-mail. In some projects, we were able to exchange documents with GoogleDocs.
Collaborating is important in work settings, because it allows the members of an organization to reach a common goal. Much like when I worked together with classmates I could also see how the work of many people came together during my internship with the U.S. Department of State. When preparing a webliography about U.S. presidential elections, I looked for reliable websites in French relating to the topic, the librarian who I worked with corrected my work and made a final copy, which was sent to an IT staff member who loaded the document onto the website. Working in this environment required me to make certain that I understood what I needed to be doing and that I was clearly expressing myself. This is because everyone was bilingual and I was often working in French. Good communication is important in collaboration.
For examples of collaboration please see:
Collaborating is important in work settings, because it allows the members of an organization to reach a common goal. Much like when I worked together with classmates I could also see how the work of many people came together during my internship with the U.S. Department of State. When preparing a webliography about U.S. presidential elections, I looked for reliable websites in French relating to the topic, the librarian who I worked with corrected my work and made a final copy, which was sent to an IT staff member who loaded the document onto the website. Working in this environment required me to make certain that I understood what I needed to be doing and that I was clearly expressing myself. This is because everyone was bilingual and I was often working in French. Good communication is important in collaboration.
For examples of collaboration please see:
Applying
As I have progressed in my studies, I have been able to apply what I learned in classes to real life settings. During the summer of 2012, I was the Research Library Intern at Old Sturbridge Village. I was able to use the skills that I learned in ILS 506 Information Analysis and Organization to write a few original catalog cards for the Library's manuscripts following AACR2. During my internship with the U.S. Department of State (ILS 582) what I learned in ILS 504 Reference and Information Resources and Services was put to the test in a real life setting. I found myself thinking back to the reading and sources that I had used in class when looking for the answers to questions posed by the staff of Nouveaux Horizons.
There were also situations where earlier classes were applied to assignments in later classes or influenced what I was working on later. The concepts that I learned in ILS 519 Collection Development had a role in my Special Project when I was thinking about whether or not a museum pass lending program included a variety of museum types.
Some of my class work itself applied directly to real world situations. My final project for ILS 519 Collection Development, required that I actually take 30 books off the shelf in the library and explain what I would do with the gardening collection if I worked there. In ILS 531 Indexing and Abstracting, my final project was an index of websites from college programs pertaining to courses in international and comparative librarianship. While this site is far from a complete listing, it a prospective student or a professor could use it. The outcome of my special project was a paper containing recommendations for the museum pass lending program at the Tolland Public Library. This required me to apply all of the skills that I learned in ILS 580 Research in Information and Library Science (along with the skills from an undergraduate statistics course) . I applied all of the knowledge I had gained in ILS 606 Advanced Cataloging and Classification to the creation of records of part of the Tolland Historical Society's Banking and Insurance Collections in CONTENTdm.
There were also situations where earlier classes were applied to assignments in later classes or influenced what I was working on later. The concepts that I learned in ILS 519 Collection Development had a role in my Special Project when I was thinking about whether or not a museum pass lending program included a variety of museum types.
Some of my class work itself applied directly to real world situations. My final project for ILS 519 Collection Development, required that I actually take 30 books off the shelf in the library and explain what I would do with the gardening collection if I worked there. In ILS 531 Indexing and Abstracting, my final project was an index of websites from college programs pertaining to courses in international and comparative librarianship. While this site is far from a complete listing, it a prospective student or a professor could use it. The outcome of my special project was a paper containing recommendations for the museum pass lending program at the Tolland Public Library. This required me to apply all of the skills that I learned in ILS 580 Research in Information and Library Science (along with the skills from an undergraduate statistics course) . I applied all of the knowledge I had gained in ILS 606 Advanced Cataloging and Classification to the creation of records of part of the Tolland Historical Society's Banking and Insurance Collections in CONTENTdm.
- Activities, Internships, Research Library Intern
- ILS 519 Collection Development (Final Project)
- ILS 531 Indexing and Abstracting (See Final Project: International and Comparative Librarianship Index)
- ILS 580 Research in Information and Library Science
- ILS 582 Library Science Practice
- ILS 606 Advanced Cataloging and Classification (Term Project)
- Special Project
Leading
I was a leader during ILS 606 Advanced Cataloging and Classification when I asked the Tolland Historical Society if I could display part of their collection online for my term project. They had not been considering doing a project with objects online before I suggested it. I met with the volunteers who run the organization and explained what I wanted to do and asked if they had a suitable collection with which I could work.
Through my classes, I have learned that I will have to be a leader when working in a library setting. In ILS 564 Special Libraries and Documentation Centers and ILS 565 Library Management, I learned about the need for librarians to demonstrate the value of the library. This is very much part of leadership because part of being a leader is speaking up for what you believe in.
Through my classes, I have learned that I will have to be a leader when working in a library setting. In ILS 564 Special Libraries and Documentation Centers and ILS 565 Library Management, I learned about the need for librarians to demonstrate the value of the library. This is very much part of leadership because part of being a leader is speaking up for what you believe in.
Learning
Learning has been part of all of my classes and the activities that I participated in outside of school. It is part of my life. As a librarian, I will need to continue my learning and education. I expect that this will be carried out through attendance at conferences, reading articles, and coursework. Membership in a professional organization will help me to continue learning. In ILS 564 Special Libraries and Documentation Centers, as part of a class discussion I described ARLIS / NA and each of my classmates explained another organization that they could join as professionals.
As part of my learning through classes, I have found that libraries can be a source of learning for everyone. This was best demonstrated in ILS 503 Foundations of Librarianship when we read and discussed the history of libraries. The work of librarians to provide information to patrons is part of the patron's learning. Informal learning can also occur in museums, which is what I showed with the literature review for my Special Project (originally written in ILS 580). I saw the learning environment in museums while touring the museum at Windsor Historical Society as a field trip for ILS 597 Introduction to Archival and Museum Work.
In addition to learning through class readings, I was also able to learn from my classmates. We were able to discuss our past experiences and share information that we had learned in other classes through discussion threads. One of the discussions that stands out the most in my mind was the discussion in ILS 565 about our best and worst bosses. Through this we learned what to do and what not to do as managers.
(All of the courses I have taken and activities I have participated in have been learning experiences for me. The listing below provides links to the course I have mentioned in the paragraphs above.)
As part of my learning through classes, I have found that libraries can be a source of learning for everyone. This was best demonstrated in ILS 503 Foundations of Librarianship when we read and discussed the history of libraries. The work of librarians to provide information to patrons is part of the patron's learning. Informal learning can also occur in museums, which is what I showed with the literature review for my Special Project (originally written in ILS 580). I saw the learning environment in museums while touring the museum at Windsor Historical Society as a field trip for ILS 597 Introduction to Archival and Museum Work.
In addition to learning through class readings, I was also able to learn from my classmates. We were able to discuss our past experiences and share information that we had learned in other classes through discussion threads. One of the discussions that stands out the most in my mind was the discussion in ILS 565 about our best and worst bosses. Through this we learned what to do and what not to do as managers.
(All of the courses I have taken and activities I have participated in have been learning experiences for me. The listing below provides links to the course I have mentioned in the paragraphs above.)
Capstone Portfolio
Rosanna M. Longenbaker
updated July 1, 2013
RosannaMLongenbaker"at"gmail.com
Rosanna M. Longenbaker
updated July 1, 2013
RosannaMLongenbaker"at"gmail.com