international · peer reviewed · open access
Emerging Leaders Issue (2008)
Welcome to the First Annual Emerging Leaders issue.
The Emerging Leaders issue was created with the goal of showcasing current (or recently graduated) LIS students. Our leaders are:
- Paulina Aguirre, University of Arizona
- David Dwiggins, Simmons College
- Royce Kitts, Emporia State University
- Marcel LaFlamme, Simmons College
- Patrick M. Lozeau, Université de Montréal
- Paula Maez, University of Arizona
- John Miedema, University of Western Ontario
- Stacey Palazzolo, Wayne State University
- Sarah Rosenberg, Kent State University
- Natalie Russell, San Jose State University
- Leslie Cataldo Savage, Syracuse University
- Lili Wang, University of British Columbia
- H. David "Giz" Womack, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Nominated by their peers, these 13 leaders show the variety of interests found in members of the LIS community. Some are interested in slowing down our information intake to truly absorb and appreciate what we read (look for John Miedema's Slow Reading, published by Litwin Books, in Winter 2008/2009). Others are concerned with health information outreach to underserved populations (like Paula Maez's work with Latino and Native American communities). And some are intrigued by the use of search engines (and how librarians, according to Patrick M. Lozeau, will be even more necessary to weed the good from the bad).
Many thanks to all those who nominated leaders, to Andrew R. Clark for handling all of the layout for this issue, and especially to those profiled here—for sharing (in your own words) your thoughts on libraries.
I hope that these Emerging Leaders will be an inspiration to both rookies and veterans in the LIS field.
Cheers,
Editor
|
|
Paulina AguirreMLIS: University of Arizona, Class of 2008 Member: Knowledge River Scholars, Reforma, American Library Association |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
Dear librarian,
Hi how are you? I am doing grate. I love all the books that I got from the libery and you will love the book i'm making for you. I'm making this book because you are one of my best friends in the world and because I love you.
love,
Valeria L.
This is the note that inspired me to become a librarian. It was written by a third grade student at the elementary school I work at as a library assistant. A few months after writing this note, Valeria made good on her promise and gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received—a bilingual book entitled Paulina and the Librarian: Paulina y la bibliotecaria!
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
I am excited about the opportunity of exposing children to quality literature that is not only entertaining but nurturing, insightful, and challenging so as to inspire them to explore their creativity and also boost their self-esteem.
I also look forward to using new technologies such as social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, etc.), podcasts, blogs, and wikis to reach out to children and young adults.
I worry about the lack of support for teacher-librarians in some school districts. I worry about people's perception that teacher-librarians are only for younger children and that they are not educated professionals.
What is your dream job? Why?
Another one of the reasons I decided to study librarianship was to serve not only the greater community but specifically the Latino community. Therefore, my dream job would be working as bilingual Spanish youth services librarian or a Spanish-services librarian to insure that the Latino community's informational, educational, and recreational needs are met with the utmost respect and sensitivity.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
Last summer, I took "Introduction to Technology" where I learned about radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. Twenty years from now I envision us with RFID chips implanted in our bodies to speed up processes like the check-in and check-out of books. I imagine customers picking a book and walking out of the library with the book automatically being checked out.
Favorite LIS-related joke
Q: What happens when you cross a librarian and a lawyer?
A: You get all the information you want, but you can't understand it!
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
Like many people, I entered librarianship through the back door. I spent about eight years as Systems Editor at the Tennessean Newspaper in Nashville. I was in charge of managing newsroom technology for the organization. Newspapers are fundamentally in the business of managing the flow of information, so without realizing it I was already dealing with a lot of hot-button LIS issues.
Then partway through my tenure I was officially asked to manage the newsroom library and archives. I was reluctant at first—I already had a lot on my plate, and I didn't entirely understand what the library did. Managing the library was officially 15% of my job, but it was soon my favorite part—and I found myself spending more and more time on it. Eventually I realized that I was more interested in libraries and digital archives than I was in newsgathering. So I applied to grad school, and ended up at Simmons College in Boston.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
I'm excited by the new doors being opened up by technology. I remember using computers that stored everything on cassette tapes or 360k floppy disks. You can now go down to Best Buy and find computers with hundreds of gigabytes of disk space for less than a good television. We're no longer constrained by the cost of storage. Same thing with networking—Verizon is now trying to sell me a 20 megabit connection for less than I used to pay for my phone service. These things are a huge boon for information professionals looking to make vast quantities of information available to patrons in new, creative ways.
But, of course, it's a double-edged sword—the digital environment poses all sorts of other new challenges. Can we really be sure that we'll be able to read all this stuff in 10 years? In 100? How do we build permanent collections when so much information is being "leased" under restrictive license agreements? How do we implement effective records management for born-digital records? How can we market our services and build relationships with "virtual" patrons? These things are scary, but they're opportunities for librarians to take a leadership role in building the digital future.
What is your dream job? Why?
I'm not sure I have a "dream job"—I'm always finding new things that interest me. But I generally look for jobs that present new challenges and then give me the freedom to come up with creative solutions.
In my current position, I'm working to make the extensive museum, library, and archival collections of Historic New England more accessible to our internal customers and, most importantly, to the general public. We're trying to build one comprehensive and approachable catalog/digital library out of a whole bunch of disparate databases and tons of "analog" data. It's a huge project, but it's also an exciting opportunity to build something new from the ground up.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
Legislators suddenly remember that the goal of copyright is to foster creativity, not stifle it. Copyright law is reformed, granting producers a reasonable (and perhaps renewable) term. The change is retroactive, and librarians and archivists are suddenly freed to do new, super-cool things with the flood of material entering the public domain. The change sparks a worldwide renaissance as authors, scientists, students, and others take advantage of the wealth of new content that becomes accessible.
Or maybe someone just invents an OPAC interface that doesn't suck.
Favorite LIS-related joke
from http://xkcd.com/327/
|
|
Royce KittsMLIS: Emporia State University, Class of 2008 Member: ESU student chapter of the American Library Association, American Library Association, Kansas Library Association |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I knew that I loved being a librarian, and thankfully a past supervisor was able to sufficiently light a fire under me and convince me I should get a masters in the library science. I love it. The best part is being a scientist.
What excites you most about the LIS field?
I am most excited about how technology in the library is evolving.
What worries you?
I worry most about the fact that during budget crunches, libraries are usually the first and hardest hit.
What is your dream job? Why?
Library director in a small town about an hour away from a big city. I think rural library sustainability is vital to our profession. Living in a small town would give me the hands on experience I need to focus my professional career on this topic. But I also like to visit a big city every now and then.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
In twenty years I envision a time when librarians discover that patrons are looking for books in one of three ways: author, title, and subject. We will then develop a paper system of little cards representing each of these categories. These cards will be held in a wooden box in alphabetical order.
Favorite LIS-related joke
How many librarians does it take to change a lightbulb?
Cha----ange!
|
|
Marcel LaFlammeMLIS: Simmons College, Class of 2008 Member: American Library Association, Kansas Library Association, Progressive Librarians Guild |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I can still remember the article in the Utne Reader that turned me on to librarianship ("Revolution at the Reference Desk: A new generation of librarians sees information as a social cause", Nov/Dec 2002). I loved libraries as a kid, insofar as they were inviting places to spend a rainy summer afternoon, but in four hundred words or so, Utne librarian Chris Dodge woke me up to the fact that librarians could also be agents of social change.
I became a librarian because I saw it as a way of becoming a better activist, an activist with a set of skills at my disposal beyond the ability to hold a sign at a rally. For me, activist librarianship doesn't mean being an ideologue, doesn't mean tossing Ann Coulter books out the window and replacing them with Howard Zinn. Rather, it means thinking long and hard about the ways in which unequal access to information reproduces inequality, and then reaching out to underserved communities with materials and services that empower, rather than exclude.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
As the internet makes an ever-increasing volume of information available to end users, I think there's a real opportunity for librarians to help our patrons sift through all of that content and become more sophisticated consumers of information. Technology has made it easier than ever for us to put sources in conversation with one another, to evaluate reliability, see through spin, and ultimately help our patrons develop the kind of critical media literacy that is essential for a competitive workforce and an engaged citizenry. I'm pretty sure that Google doesn't have an algorithm for that.
Yet if there's one thing that worries me about LIS today, it's the way in which LIS programs tend to prepare students for positions at resource-rich libraries with lots of databases and cutting-edge gadgetry. Meanwhile, many rural communities throughout the United States cannot even afford to hire a degreed librarian, which means that very few of the innovations in professional practice that we crow about in journals and at conferences actually trickle down to the communities where they might make the biggest impact.
This is not to denigrate the excellent, frequently innovative work being done by non-degreed librarians in small communities throughout the country! But it is to say that I think the American library profession could be doing more to connect rising professionals with opportunities in underserved rural communities. State and regional library systems need to work with municipal officials to find ways of combining part-time positions, making it possible for one person to hold positions in two different communities without losing out on benefits. And LIS programs need to teach students how to "scale down" some of the strategies that they encounter in their coursework, fielding reference questions without relying on expensive databases and becoming connoisseurs of what Jessamyn West has aptly described as "tiny tech".
What is your dream job? Why?
A joint appointment as a professor of anthropology and LIS, so that I could teach courses on rural America and community needs assessment (and moonlight as a talking head on CNN whenever the Iowa caucuses roll around).
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
Twenty years from now, Washington will finally get hip to the fact that huge agricultural subsidies aren't actually helping to create rural jobs or rural wealth. Once this epiphany sinks in, Congress will divert a fraction of the money that it currently spends on farm subsidies to set up a WPA-style Community Information Corps. In exchange for student loan forgiveness, young, idealistic information professionals will fan out across the American heartland, partnering with existing rural development programs to promote information literacy and attract New Economy jobs.
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I wanted to understand the Dewey Decimal classification at my local public library...
Seriously, I'm curious by nature and probably drove my parents nuts with the "pourquoi?" ("why?" in French) question when I was a kid.
Also, everyday we create so much digital information, we need people to help organize and find it. I think that I serve my fellow citizens best doing that kind of work.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
Librarians always knew that collaboration was important. We were exchanging cataloging information for a long time with the card catalog and now we are sharing through bookmarks, blogs, wikis, etc... The sense of collaboration between people through the web is exciting, as well as librarians who defend everyone's right to access to information.
I am worried about people who are scared of change and answer: "because we have always done it that way"
What is your dream job? Why?
Is this question meant to frighten someone or to warn them in advance that I want their job? (Just joking.)
Probably any job related to academic libraries involving digital information.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
Google will not be the leader in search, and librarians will still be around helping patrons find what they need.
Favorite LIS-related joke
A library is the only place that you can go up to the reference desk and ask "where is God?" and the librarian will answer you in a calm and reassured voice: "God is in 231".
|
|
Paula MaezMLIS: University of Arizona, Class of 2008 Member: Medical Library Association, American Library Association, Reforma, Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I decided to enter the field of librarianship because I have a passion for learning. If I could, I would be in school forever! I also enjoy empowering others by providing information and teaching them information literacy skills.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
I am so excited to see how much technology has changed the field of librarianship, and I know it will continue to do so. I am also excited to see that libraries are becoming community centers. They are no longer only scholarly institutions but are places that all people can access information services.
What worries me most, is the lack of funding school libraries and school librarians receive. We must work together to educate others on the importance of these libraries and librarians within our schools.
What is your dream job?
My dream job is to work in a capacity where I am providing health information to underserved populations so that they may make informed decisions about their health, and the health of their family.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
Technology will far exceed our expectations, librarians will no longer be providing books and/or articles to their patrons but electronic packets of information for them to plug themselves into (think of the movie The Matrix).
Favorite LIS-related joke
Do you know how many librarians it takes to screw in a light bulb?
No, but I know where you can look it up!
|
|
John MiedemaMLIS: University of Western Ontario, Class of 2009 Member: Ontario Library Association, Ontario Library and Information Technology Association, Canadian Library Association |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I should have gone to library school a long time ago. When I was 12 years old I entered a contest with an essay, The Library in My Life; I didn't win. In high school I joined the library club; what a geek. When I finished my undergrad, I considered going to library school but the times were changing; I went into IT instead. One day I was at the public library, looking at the OPAC and thought, "Hey, I could improve this". In the end it was because my kids were such avid readers, wanting to go to the library all the time. I just liked being there. I wanted to work there. They wouldn't let me in without an MLIS.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
I am taking the program part-time over four years, and that has given me lots of time to reflect on each course. Somewhat to my surprise, I find that technology has less to offer libraries than librarians have to offer technology. Web 2.0 has peaked (arguably) and timeless skills such as classification and content expertise are going to matter more than ever.
Currently, I am intrigued by the changing meaning of intellectual freedom. Traditionally, this has been a matter of getting access to information. In an age of info-glut, it takes on the extra meaning of access to relevant information, and having the space and time to think. It concerns me that the biblioblogosphere and conferences talk too much about Web 2.0; IÕm doing my small part to try to balance that. I advocate the art of slow reading.
What is your dream job? Why?
Top interests: a public library, management, IT responsibilities included in the mix. I'd really enjoy starting up a UK-style bibliotherapy program in partnership with counselling services. I keep trying to bridle my inner academic ("No, I'm not interested in doing a PhD") but if the right job came up at an academic library, I'd consider it.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
In the nineties, books and libraries dropped out of popular visions of the future. Some people still think that way, trotting out their end-of-the book stories. Others see a complementary relationship between traditional and digital technologies. We forget that the book is a technology, optimal for reading anything of length or substance. My prediction is that this complementary relationship will be the model for libraries. Sort of like Xavier's vision in the X-Men, with both humans and mutants living happily side-by-side.
Favorite LIS-related joke
A chicken holds up a book to a frog, saying: "book, bok, bok, boook". The frog blinks, and croaks: "read-it, read-it, read-it".
|
|
Stacey PalazzoloMLIS: Wayne State University, Class of 2009 Member: WSU student chapter of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, SOLIS |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I decided to study librarianship because for my entire life I have enjoyed being resourceful to others. I suppose I really like sharing what I have, whether it is a great recipe, how one might go about solving a problem with their car, or having what everyone else forgot to pack on the camping trip. Being a librarian, I can do this everyday. I especially like being resourceful when it comes to folks who need assistance with computers and job seeking.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
What excites me most about the LIS field is the fact that we are in the "information age". All kinds of people around the world are finding creative ways to share information, whether by providing instructional videos on YouTube, playing Scrabble with their cousin in Italy online, or discovering something new they had never heard of before simply by browsing online.
What worries me is kids growing up too fast from too much exposure to the internet, television, and cell phones. Other than that, I find it hard to criticize access to information.
What is your dream job? Why?
My dream job changes from time-to-time, but what always stays the same is working with people and information, so I fully expect I will enjoy my job upon graduation because all information-related careers satisfy this criteria. However, I am pretty fascinated with information architecture (otherwise known as the organization of information on websites). I think it would be great to be a consultant that works with organizations to help their customers or patrons actually get the information they want from a website without all the walls and hoops.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
I think the biggest change we will see in the future will be other applications on the internet becoming perhaps bigger than the World Wide Web—that's my "realistic" prediction.
My "crazy" prediction is that the internet, as a whole, is just a fad. We could certainly see a whole new age of technology we haven't even thought of yet that makes the internet look like a a 150 page novel or a rotary phone. Hmmm....maybe that's not so crazy after all.
Favorite LIS-related joke
(I'm not usually a blonde joke person, so I hope I don't offend anyone, but here goes...)
A blonde walks into a library and shouts, "I'll have a hamburger, Coke and fries."
The librarians says, "But this is a library, Miss."
The blonde replies in a whisper, "Oh, I'll have a hamburger, Coke and fries."
|
|
Sarah RosenbergMLIS: Kent State University, Class of 2008 Member: American Library Association/Young Adult Library Services Association |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I worked as a volunteer and then as a page throughout high school, and the librarians that I worked with were forever telling me, "You know... I started out as a page when I was in high school too," and then smiled knowingly. Of course, being a contrary teenager, I didn't listen to them and majored in psychology. After graduating from college, I realized I missed library work and that it was silly to stop fighting against what I was clearly meant to do, so I went back and got my MLIS.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What are you worried about?
The answer to both of those questions is the same: anything could happen. Not only do you not know what questions you might get during a day, you also don't know where the entire profession will be in ten years. It's exciting, but also scary.
What is your dream job? Why?
It's my dream to be some sort of crime-solving librarian. I'm not entirely sure how this would work, but it would definitely be interesting!
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
Books will cease to exist because we will read everything on the tiny personal computers we carry everywhere.
Favorite LIS-related joke
A man walks into a library and loudly announces to the librarian: "I would like some bacon and eggs."
The librarian, taken aback, replies: "Don't you know that this is a library?"
The man, embarrassed, lowers his voice to a barely audible whisper and repeats: "Please can I have some bacon and eggs."
|
|
Natalie RussellMLIS: San Jose State University, Class of 2009 |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
Unlike many graduate degrees, library science isn't limiting in the fields to which it can be applied. An MLIS provides the opportunity to go in so many directions—I could expand on my undergraduate degree in film production and be a film archivist; I could take a cue from my love of children's literature and becomes children's librarian, in a school or public library; I could continue an interest in history or architecture as an archivist; or I could move into the corporate world.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
With the glut of information flooding society today, the need for information professionals will be even greater than ever. Technology has made access to and the creation of transferable information so simple that information professionals will have their work cut out for them trying to sift through the masses to find what people need when they need it. What worries me is that many people see the benefits of access to information without recognizing the need for evaluation of the information. We need to open the eyes of the corporate world, the educators, the school administrators and the world in general to realize that there is good information and there is bad information and while they might find it all, they could still use some help distilling the good from the bad. And furthermore there are already professionals out here waiting to help them do it!
What is your dream job? Why?
In many ways, I have my dream job. Working at an archive/research library like the Huntington Library (in San Marino, CA) I get to help people find unique information everyday. There is variety in my job and I get to see bits and pieces of many different collections, on topics I might never study myself. If I could create a niche job for myself I think I would like to be in charge of exhibits—sorting through the collections and bringing highlights to the public view, and helping them value and have an interest in academic scholarship.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
In 20 years rising gas prices and improved technology will encourage/allow 20% or more of the workforce to telecommute, and distance business within a corporation will become an everyday reality.
Favorite LIS-related joke
On a t-shirt: "Natural language search engine" with an arrow pointing to the wearer.
|
|
Leslie Cataldo SavageMLIS: Syracuse University, Class of 2008 Member: American Library Association, Central New York Media Specialists |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I decided to study librarianship to teach key information literacy skills to students in a K-12 setting. The hope is to provide them with the skills needed to effectively find and use information in a digital landscape that can often be confusing and overwhelming.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
The most exciting aspect of the LIS field is that it is constantly changing by virtue of ongoing technological innovations. This forces us to be lifelong learners and adapt these technologies to the needs of our users. One concern is the ability of the LIS field to make the changes necessary to successfully compete with other recreational activities that consume our users' time/attention.
What is your dream job? Why?
My dream job is to work in a school library media center actively collaborating with classroom teachers to teach information literacy skills.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
Keyboards will be obsolete. We will be talking to our very, very small computers.
Favorite LIS-related joke
Check out "Introducing the Book" on YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFAWR6hzZek)
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
I have years of experience developing content management systems for libraries. So through studying librarianship, I very much wanted to research how to apply computing technologies to library work to improve knowledge/content storage, sharing and networking.
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
It is exciting to see technologies such as Web 2.0 tools and movements such as Open Access greatly enhance knowledge sharing and networking.
I think integrating library services seamlessly into patrons' work environment around its workflows is a big challenge.
What is your dream job? Why?
Being a librarian in an organization which enjoys a reputation for being innovative and collaborative, and sees library services important to improve their productivity would be ideal.
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
More than 80% physical libraries will have disappeared.
|
|
H. David "Giz" WomackMLIS: University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Class of 2008 |
Why did you decide to study librarianship?
After graduating from Wake Forest I worked in the Wake Forest University Art Slide Library for three years (I was an English/Art double major at WFU) and was looking for a career in technology during that time, having always been a geek at heart! When a technology position opened up in the library I jumped at the chance! Twelve years later, after getting my MBA from WFU, I realized I needed to go back to school again and fill in some gaps in my knowledge of librarianship!
What excites you most about the LIS field? What worries you?
I think we live in a kind of "golden age" of information. Everything is new and exciting and the possibilities seem endless! What worries me most are forces that attempt to put a stranglehold on all that information.
What is your dream job? Why?
I have my dream job (as Manager of Technology Training, ZSR Library, Wake Forest University)! I get to work with students, faculty and staff and help them use technology and library resources to further their academic pursuits. What could be better?
What will the LIS field look like in 20 years?
We will take the information commons to a new level, cast off the shackles of our offices and roam the library with portable technology that allows us to work anywhere (preferably near a window). Spaces will be more flexible, but it will take longer for the people who use them to become more flexible!