Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for professional work including collaboration and presentations.
The iSchool program gives me ample opportunity to demonstrate oral and written communication skills in both internships as well as course final projects. There are chances to develop professional skills by working in teams and giving presentations on a regular basis. In my evidence I present both collaborative and individual presentations. The first piece of evidence is my strategic plan presentation on an academic library, which is done as a final project with a group of students. The other evidence is my poster session at the California Library Association conference where I describe my internship experiences with prospective students as well as current students, staff and faculty.
Justification of the Evidence
Evidence #1: Strategic Plan Presentation
In a collaborative effort to present our Strategic Plan for F.W. Olin Library at Mills College, I practice both my oral and written communication skills in my slide presentation. My role in this group project is to create an Action Plan on Civic Engagement informed by the academic library’s mission, “to provide learning experiences grounded in social justice.” In this Action Plan, I outline the strategic outcome that the library serves as a campus resource in effort to strengthen civic engagement among the student body. To be in an academic context and to communicate and know how to articulate the institutional mission and to also align it to my Action Plan is valuable experience that shapes my professional identity as a librarian.
Evidence #2: Poster Session at CLA
At a recent local library conference(CLA), I presented a poster for a poster session to feature SJSU’s iSchool internships. At this event, I spent a couple of hours standing by my poster to answer any questions students, visitors, conference participants, and staff/faculty had about my experiences as an intern in various contexts. I offered suggestions on how to approach applying for these internships as well as the benefits to trying so many types of them. This experience allows me to build on my ability to express my communicative skills, as well as develop networking opportunities and connect with different stakeholders in library world. In addition, I have created in Evidence 2b a slide presentation with photos, and a chance for people to browse through the various job descriptions for each of my internships.
Conclusion
In order to maintain professional relationships and continue to develop communication skills in the profession I plan to keep in touch with professors and supervisors I have made connections with for the last few years in our program. I will actively participate in my current campus as a part-time academic librarian by shadowing coworkers and my supervisor at department committee meetings. I will also continue to network within smaller local library organizations such as BayNet and the regional APALA chapter and seek leadership opportunities to continue to build on my professional and communication skills. To remain in contact with the community, and especially in local contexts is crucial to expand in my professional development.