Reflection
When I began seriously looking into pursuing a Master in Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree several years ago, I did so not on a whim, but as a culmination of years of considering changing careers and learning about a field and profession that had long been of interest to me.
Up until now, I have spent my entire career as a writer, mostly in marketing departments at technology companies. I love writing and have enjoyed most of my positions, but what has been missing is a sense of purpose and contributing something positive in my community and beyond—specifically, an element of service. A career in information science would, I believe, let me put my strengths to use while giving me the opportunity to engage and serve others in a way my roles to this point have not.
My background has given me several skills that will be beneficial as I transition my career, especially when it comes to communication. In particular, I have years of experience learning to listen to and understand audiences, and then providing information and developing clear messages aimed at helping those audiences resolve their particular problems. My work has also involved heavy collaboration as well as project management, people management, attention to detail, technological savviness, and other soft and hard skills that I will help me be successful in any future position in the information profession.
Furthermore, over the course of the MLIS program, I have acquired some more industry-specific skills such as how to establish an information-seeker’s needs, how to think about and approach ethical dilemmas, and how to perform an effective search. Many of these require specialized knowledge, such as where to find particular resources, how to assess databases, and how to judge the credibility or authenticity of sources and materials. I also developed useful technical proficiencies, some of which are common to other lines of work and others of which again are specific to the information profession; e.g., around metadata and controlled vocabularies and with apps and programs such as LibGuides and ContentDM.
In general, then, I have prepared myself for a career as an information professional by supplementing my existing strengths with the additional knowledge, competencies, and experience that I will need to fulfill both the larger responsibilities and the day-to-day tasks in wide range of roles within the field, with a particular focus on courses in the special libraries track. I began the program in the fall of 2019, and the Covid-19 pandemic struck in earnest early that following year. In May of 2022 I will graduate with a 3.975 GPA (one point on a single assignment in one class shy of a 4.0), having completed the program in two and a half years while working full time.
And yet, the journey doesn’t end here. My plan is to keep gaining knowledge and experience by seeking out seminars, conferences, and volunteer opportunities before transitioning my career to the information profession. I am excited to put my current expertise together with my new skills and competencies to use in a real-world environment, helping individuals and teams solve problems and address their information needs.