Conclusions

The MLIS is my second Master’s degree and I originally embarked on this journey for personal enrichment, a nod to the idea that I may someday get lucky enough to have a completely different career when I decide to retire. But now that I’m through the program, I am determined to use the knowledge and skills I’ve developed in the short-term for my current position and as a volunteer for schools in our district, our public library, and various library and education-related virtual worlds. Long-term I hope to transition to a position in which I am focused on bringing STEM opportunities to girls and low-income kids.  I believe my technological skills and understanding of the challenges faced by those on the wrong side of the digital divide uniquely position me to have a positive impact.  I hope to have a positive impact on the lives of kids and especially girls as I am living proof that they can be successful in male-dominated careers. In addition, my experiences and ability to be empathetic about the difficulties that minorities frequently deal with puts me in the unique position of being able to bridge differences between people.

 I have met some incredible people through this program and I hope to continue to connect and collaborate with them on both educational and library projects. As a life-long learner I will never be able to abstain from opportunities to learn new things. There are also several technologies that I have been putting off learning until I finish with this program. These are technologies that I came across during my program but did not have the time to dig deep into. One is 3D modeling. The ability to do 3D modeling is useful for creating objects in virtual environments as well as for 3D printing. As libraries increasingly embrace the idea of maker spaces, 3D modeling will be a sought after skill for teaching. Another technology I want to become a lot more familiar with is that of multi-media content creation including a much more in-depth understanding of video editing and storytelling using video. The ability of everyone to create and publish content means that people will want to learn how to participate. Teaching patrons how to use content creation software is not unheard of in libraries and is an example of the types of learning folks in the community will find relevant.  Finally, as the director of the largest library in the virtual world, Inworldz, I will continue to develop programs and services for the community there and I will continue to volunteer for VCARA in Second Life.

I have to say that I am both happy to have had the opportunity to finish this program at SJSU, but I’m also a little sad. I know I didn’t learn as much as I could have learned if I were allowed to take more than 43 units.  The wonderful thing about the iSchool at SJSU is that they offer continuing education and I just might take some of those classes I didn't get around to in the MLIS degree. :-)