Joining the fray
Though just recently accepted to the iSchool, and yet to introduce myself to the MLIS community, I will now join the fray of "librarian-types" who blog.
Starting at the very beginning. Why do I want this? What do I hope to learn? Why do I think I might be successful at this? What do I envision? What could I hope to contribute? What type of work-environment do I hope to get out of this? Will this make me happy? These are just a few of the questions I need to learn to answer with ease. I was able to answer many of these questions successfully in my admissions essay (max 750) words, which I worked on daily for about 8 weeks. Going through the process of: idea, futher research, writing, revision, peer review, re-writing, better ideas, (rinse, repeat). In the end my essay was exactly 750 words, written as tightly and with as much passion as I could muster. It's a very personal statement so I'll not repost it here.
What I will post here are some basic ideas about how this degree is essential to me.
For many years I've had this general feeling of information-overload in the midst of an information-intensive culture, work and personal information-seeking behavior. I had this realization even before I'd ever thought of librarianship as a potentially "hip" career choice.
Although I would characterize myself as a professionally organized person, there were (are) vast streams of data, unutilized, wasted. I wanted to continue to learn (certain things) but lacked the intrinsic ability to structure my own learning in an effective way. I lack the specialized language (what database admins call "metadata" to succesfully perform highly personal research projects. On a basic level, I was unable to develop myself (structure my own research) beyond certain limits. This is very understandable, since humans learn symbolic language structures, highly technical systems and arcane knowledge from others (not in isolation).
My hope is that were I to receive this specialized training that I would be able to break those limits, become not just the master of my own "domain" (from an information/data/knowledge) standpoint, but become the access-point for others. If we are indeed "drowning" in information, then I plan on diving in with a "9.5" for creativity and form, then learning how to breathe underwater.
One of the iSchool's marketing phrases is: "Knowledge is power." I mean to embody that.
Starting at the very beginning. Why do I want this? What do I hope to learn? Why do I think I might be successful at this? What do I envision? What could I hope to contribute? What type of work-environment do I hope to get out of this? Will this make me happy? These are just a few of the questions I need to learn to answer with ease. I was able to answer many of these questions successfully in my admissions essay (max 750) words, which I worked on daily for about 8 weeks. Going through the process of: idea, futher research, writing, revision, peer review, re-writing, better ideas, (rinse, repeat). In the end my essay was exactly 750 words, written as tightly and with as much passion as I could muster. It's a very personal statement so I'll not repost it here.
What I will post here are some basic ideas about how this degree is essential to me.
For many years I've had this general feeling of information-overload in the midst of an information-intensive culture, work and personal information-seeking behavior. I had this realization even before I'd ever thought of librarianship as a potentially "hip" career choice.
Although I would characterize myself as a professionally organized person, there were (are) vast streams of data, unutilized, wasted. I wanted to continue to learn (certain things) but lacked the intrinsic ability to structure my own learning in an effective way. I lack the specialized language (what database admins call "metadata" to succesfully perform highly personal research projects. On a basic level, I was unable to develop myself (structure my own research) beyond certain limits. This is very understandable, since humans learn symbolic language structures, highly technical systems and arcane knowledge from others (not in isolation).
My hope is that were I to receive this specialized training that I would be able to break those limits, become not just the master of my own "domain" (from an information/data/knowledge) standpoint, but become the access-point for others. If we are indeed "drowning" in information, then I plan on diving in with a "9.5" for creativity and form, then learning how to breathe underwater.
One of the iSchool's marketing phrases is: "Knowledge is power." I mean to embody that.
