Reflection on the MLIS Program

I began in the Masters of Library and Information Science Program at San Jose State University in the fall of 2005. In the beginning I did not know where I should focus. My wife’s elementary school colleagues encouraged me to become a Library Media Specialist, but I lack the teaching credentials needed to enter that particular program and pursue that endorsement. I have maintained my interest in children’s literature in my spare time, relying on the knowledge my friends in the program have sent my way. During my core classes, I found myself remembering the experiences I had as an undergraduate. I initially struggled just to find the information I needed on my topics, but with time, I learned the value of good research and became a proficient researcher myself. I warmed to the idea of becoming an academic librarian. Now some 20 months later, I find myself on the brink of graduation and ready for my new career. The overall focus of my studies has been on Academic Librarianship and Archives. The research-centered roles of these tracks of librarianship appealed to me.

My selection of classes was not built around any one of the prescribed career tracks used in the program. I chose classes that were suggested by my academic advisor, instructors and mentors to develop a well-rounded librarian. The program offered sufficient variation in types of classes that would allow a student to be very specific in their focus to become a certain type of librarian or follow the approach I did. To prepare myself for a career in academic libraries, I developed my own plan of classes that would teach me technical service skills such as cataloging and archiving, reference skills, database searching, information literacy and technology development. Upon completing one class, I was prepared to move on to the next. The skills I learned in these classes helped me to find my first jobs and internships in libraries.

My employment during my time in the program has also directed my course of study. Working for the Associate Dean of the King Library, Dr. JoBell Whitlatch taught me the importance of having skilled library administrators in charge of your library and a good technical services department. Dr. Whitlatch was an adjunct SLIS instructor and actively recruited library students to work in the administration department of the King Library. She methodically rose through the technical services to administration. She used various usage statistics, which she knew were generated by technical services and circulation, to help her successfully manage the services provided at the King Library. After conversations with her and my academic advisor, we concluded that beginning my career in technical services is an effective way for me to advance in the hierarchy of a library. Because of her influence I studied cataloging and archives.

My employment at The California Maritime Academy came about because of a successful internship there. At the CMA Library, I have been able to cultivate my skills in cataloging and archiving. The Library Director, Carl Phillips, provided a new example to me of an effective library leader. He taught me how interrelated technical and reference services really are. He gave me the opportunity to become cross trained in every aspect of the library. Because of his influence, I have developed my reference and research skills while paying special heed to how information literacy comes into play. I wish that every student through the program would have professional librarians to mentor them aside from our academic advisors. I do not believe enough students in the program get the opportunity to work or intern in libraries. This would greatly benefit the preparation

Reflecting on my time in the program has left me with a few conclusions. The courses in which we learned practical skills were far more useful than the classes in which we only studied theory. I have gained a sense from professional librarians in the area that many previous graduates of the SLIS program lacked the skills to be effective librarians. My awareness of this attitude toward the school led me to specifically select courses where I would gain practical, real library experience. Many of these classes provided a good combination of theory and practicality that I greatly appreciated. I wish that all classes, including the core classes would provide more real library experience. I believe that classes in cataloging and reference services should be required of the program regardless of the career track a student chooses. These are the basic services that every library provides regardless of their type. As holders of MLIS degrees, we are expected to be leaders in the libraries we will be working in, and leaders should have a minimal proficiency in all of the departments of the library. While I do appreciate the fact that our school has been progressive in distance learning, I feel that there should be more classes provided on site. Many of my friends in the program who, like me, were trying to complete the degree in as few semesters as possible, wish that there were more onsite or hybrid classes offered. The onsite or hybrid classes cater to our particular learning need and provide a better structure, allowing students to manage more classes at a time.

I believe that the current crop of graduates of the School of Library and Information Science is superb. I believe that the fellow graduating students that I know and the new leadership in the program will help dispel the view that librarians have that SLIS graduates lack sufficient experience.

Back to Top

Statements of Strengths

Once a year, I take an inventory of myself. I tally up the new things that I have learned, the weak things that have become strong, the talents that I possess and how I have dealt with the obstacles along the way. Library school has presented me with new topics to learn. Some of the topics I have studied have reminded me of ideas that I have already possessed, while others that were completely foreign to me have become strengths. I have identified four strengths that I will contribute to the library profession. Two are strengths that I did not have when I entered the School of Library and Information Science, and two I have refined since entering the program.

The first strength I developed was my commitment to the ethics of librarianship. These ethics were completely new and very foreign to me when I began the program. In all actuality I initially thought that the ALA’s Code of Ethics and the Library Bill of Rights were comical, just a pathetic attempt to push a political agenda by associating with a substantial piece of real ideology and legislation. I soon learned through discussion and practical application that these are much more than documents, but a unified commitment to serve by which professionals are judged. Librarians determine what resources are appropriate for our patrons, not the community. We operate our libraries under equitable policies in order to equally provide for the community. We defend intellectual freedom and guard against censorship. We respect the patron's right to privacy in regards to the information sources they will or have accessed. This is what I have committed to and what I will sustain as a librarian.

Cataloging and technical services are not what librarians brag about when they talk about their libraries at conventions. Yet no library can ascend to greatness without a skilled department of catalogers to present the collection in a stellar way. Dr. Bill Fisher imposed the idea on me that if libraries one day went completely digital, and the library as a place was no more, the term librarian would live on due to the catalogers who describe the digital collection. I truly value the skills I have gained as a cataloger. The class that I took prepared me well to work in either public or academic libraries. My competency in cataloging led to my first internship which then evolved into my first professional library position. Work taught me the nuances of cataloging that were alluded to in my class. I am now capable of producing original cataloging records and performing the copy cataloging needs of any library. While I may still need to refer to OCLC’s Help Site every now and then, I feel confident in my ability to successfully catalog any item for a library and that I would be an asset to any library’s technical services staff.

When I joined Cub Scouts at I was eight years old, I began to learn the value of working in a group. Twenty years later, I welcome the opportunity to work in a group more than ever. I have been developing my ability as a leader since my Cub Scout days, and have had many opportunities to learn how to manipulate individuals to accomplish tasks. Please do not think of this as a bad thing. Leaders should be able to read a member of their team and see what their abilities are. With that knowledge a leader can effectively utilize those individuals to accomplish tasks with which they are comfortable or when to stretch that individual to accomplish a task they did not know they could do. I have been able to act as a leader at many times, but also act as that individual that was directed. I have had many wonderful experiences in library school to work in groups. In the group that I worked with in LIBR 266, I was stretched to create a collection development policy, something I have never done before. My kabal of friends fell apart temporarily during LIBR 248, and I had to be the mediator to bring the group back together. In LIBR 250, I had the opportunity to reverse roles and lead my instructor to accomplish a transformation of his own lesson. These experiences have shown me that I can continue to positively influence groups in which I participate, regardless of my role in the group.

The final strength I am presenting is one that brings mixed reactions from my families, friends and colleagues. I am able to remove my moral and personal standards emotionally from situations in which I am involved. When providing reference service, this allows me to adopt the ideologies of my client so that I am able to locate and retrieve information relative to the information need they have presented, even if the subject is controversial. This ability also allows me to participate in organizations that may be in direct opposition to my personal beliefs and standards. This also allows me to carry on professionally even when choices have been made that go against my opinion and to carry out policies and procedures to which I may object that have been adopted by the library. While working at the King Library, my employer wanted me to carry out a project using procedures that I thought were ineffective. I successfully completed the project without complaint or lack of respect by offering further suggestions on how to improve the process. In November 2006, I was able to help students at The California Maritime Academy conduct research into controversial topics without my personal beliefs entering into the process.

These are just a handful of the strengths I possess. The yearly evaluation I perform of myself helps me to specifically locate my weaknesses. Over the next year, I hope to turn all of these weaknesses into a type of strength. My evaluation also helps me to keep the strengths I already possess honed and developed so that I may call upon them at any time.

Back to Top

Professional Growth Plan

I remember the very first day in my Collection Development class when the professor asked each student, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" When my turn came I remember standing and boldly stating, "In five years I plan on being at least a low level library administrator in an academic library." My comment was met with dismissing sighs and quiet chuckles, except for a few encouraging smiles. True, it was a lofty goal and I did not know at the time how to achieve it. One year later after more school work, research and some eye opening work experience, I find myself fixed on the same goal.

I feel that library administrators need to be well-rounded in order to be able to serve their students and faculty. They need to have experience in multiple parts of the library aside from their main focus. To begin my quest to obtain that lofty level of administrator, I will start off my library career in technical services. I plan to distinguish myself at the libraries in which I work by presenting stellar organization and presentation of library collections. I wish to become an active member of the ALA roundtables and committees related to technical services. While I endeavor to perfect my abilities as a cataloger, I hope that the library I work at affords me the right to provide reference services as a part of my regular duties. I want to continue to cultivate these skills until the time comes when I will be able to daily participate in reference or research services. This is my tentative plan for the next five years. It is subject to change, but my goal has not yet.

To develop other aspects of my career and my marketability, I will continue to study information technology. I already possess skills and talents as a web designer. I am able to interpret code and manipulate it to make it my own. As a part of my career development, I would like to become certified in network administration and various operating systems. I feel that it is important that library staff other than IT understand how the systems work so that they may provide assistance when the time comes. I will take what opportunities I can to publish information on the web for my employers and other organizations in which I participate.

Even though my plans have me working in technical services, I believe that I need to develop my Spanish-speaking ability to effectively serve the library’s community. With the diversity of students in higher education, it behooves libraries to have staff that can read and speak fluently in the native languages of many students. There is a constant need to have catalogers who have a working knowledge of Spanish. I would like to enroll myself in classes or be put in a situation in which, out of necessity, I need to be fluent in Spanish. This is a goal I wish to have underway in the next few months.

As a librarian, I have not yet determined my specific plans for lifelong learning. Many libraries in higher education require that their librarians possess a masters degree in library science and another masters or doctorate in a separate subject. As it stands now, in five years, I would like to begin a work on a doctorate in educational leadership. An advanced degree would help me to understand and research current and future issues facing academic libraries and the relationship between the university as a whole and the library. I see this as a long term goal that is subject to change as my career develops.

In the short term, though, I plan to become an active member of the ALA. I would like to attend conferences and workshops that will help me provide the services I will render in my first position following graduation from the SLIS program. This will help me to stay current on the issues related to my career. I also want to take this time to stay current on other issues that I might be able to communicate effectively with my other colleagues in other departments of the library. This will help me transition to other positions when the time comes to do so in my career.

Back to Top

Affirmation Statement

I, Benjamin Bolin, affirm that all introductory, reflective, and evidentiary work submitted submitted in this e-Portfolio are mine alone (except where indicated as a group or team project), and has been prepared solely by myself.