Library Knowledge
Introduction
Special Project/Leadership
Teaching/Service
Information Management
Networking
Scholarship
Final Thoughts
Resume
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I entered the MLS program as a patron, unlike many of my fellow classmates. I am leaving my degree program, however, with a better understanding of how libraries work and what issues libraries and librarians face. Library instruction, before I began my studies, was helpful to my students and was something I had experienced. Now I see library instruction is a necessary part of the college curriculum and students must leave college with essential information knowledge and skills. While all of my ILS courses contributed to my library knowledge, I’d like to highlight the knowledge I gained from a select number of courses and assignments I had to complete.

  • An assignment in ILS 503, Foundations of Librarianship, during my first semester in the program gave me the opportunity to learn about the Colorado State Library, their web site and what they had to offer. Here is a report on what I found: Colorado State Library Web Site.
  • As a patron, I had often consulted the library’s reference section. ILS 504, Reference and Information Resources/Services, introduced me to a much broader scope of reference materials. The final reference journal we prepared for the course illustrates the breadth and scope of reference materials available in print and online. Here is an excerpt from my Reference Journal: Guides to Reference Guides.
  • In ILS 642, Management of Electronic Resources/Services, we had the opportunity to learn in-depth about electronic databases and how libraries and the companies that create or manage the databases work together. I had no understanding of vendors and licensing issues when I began this course. One assignment that helped me gain in-depth knowledge about databases and vendors was the Group Project Vendor Analysis.
  • Electronic Services and Resources also include the web pages libraries create in order to offer their patrons access to any number of services. Another assignment in ILS 642, the Library Web Page Survey, gave me the opportunity to see and evaluate what different libraries are doing with their web pages across the country. As a web page creator myself, I found it interesting that many times, simple design with less technology was the most accessible.
  • Finally, two specific assignments in two different courses offered me the opportunity to get inside the library at my home community college, Front Range Community College. College Hill Library completed a total metamorphosis from the one room library stuck on the lower level I used to take my students to when I began teaching at FRCC. Today it can be found in a large, beautiful building and more importantly, it has joined forces with the Westminster, Colorado, Public Library. As an instructor and patron, I only had a superficial knowledge of the shared system. Two particular assignments in two different courses, however, gave me a chance to interview library staff and get a better picture of what was shared and what was not. The Network Report I prepared for ILS 535, Information Networks, provided me the opportunity to see just how the two libraries, very different with different missions, shared staff, resources and the network itself. The Acquisitions Interview, completed for ILS 519, on the other hand, helped me understand what was not shared between the two.

Last updated to add CSS Stylesheet on March 5, 2005, by Mary L. Cash