Reflections of Informational Landscapes, Professions, and Services

Reflections of Informational Landscapes, Professions, and Services

Talina Pipes, LIS 600-01D
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Abstract
Defining Information Services today can be difficult because the definition is evolving with the
changes in how users get information. With this paper, I will show my understanding of what an
Informational Landscape is and how it shapes our current views on MLIS. I will also show my
understanding of an information professional and the responsibilities they hold. I will show my
understanding of Information Services and how they contribute to communities as well as to the
information professional.
My idea of an information professional before my first online class of LIS 600-01D has changed
drastically. I did not consider myself an information professional but I will tell you why I am in
this paper. Information professionals provide information for their communities. They also
educate on ways to obtain information. They are unbiased in providing resources to help
individuals and groups obtaining the information they need. They use informational landscapes
to make sure that everyone has access to information. They also become proficient at
information services. I will explain my role in this profession today and how I am growing and
dedicating myself to lifelong learning to better myself and my community.

Reflections of Informational Landscapes, Professions, and Services

Part 1- Informational Landscapes:

The term landscapes was new to me when talking about anything other than someones
lawn. In the class discussion, I was able to define the term to mean how one finds and
processes information. The term informational professional was also new to me and I have
never considered myself as that. In the book, Information Services Today, I learned that I am a
bridge for information access and understanding. In order for my students to use the information
that is available, they must know what is available and how to use it. If I have QR codes around
the library for easy access to more information on a topic and my students dont know how to
access the QR code, the information available is a waste. As a professional, I need to utilize the
ILS to organize resources and know how to find them. I dont have to know every detail about
metadata; but it is important to know what it is and whom to contact when I need new software
information to better serve my students and staff. It doesnt matter which direction you take as
an informational professional as one must be proficient with understanding ones environment,
clients/students and how to best meet their needs.
I have come to understand that this profession is ever changing and the way individuals
obtain information is different than when libraries first emerged. Technology has drastically
changed over time in the realm of obtaining and accessing information; yet, a constant in
technology is that it has and will always evolve because people have the desire to learn and
advance within their realm of knowledge in technology. An information specialist must also be
committed to a life of learning. We must be the voice of growth individually as well as for
society.
To understand what an informational professional is, one must know the history. In a
class slide, it was stated, Information literacy initiates, sustains, and extends lifelong learning
through abilities which may use technologies but are ultimately independent of them. (Mike
Crumpton, August 30th). Chapter 2 Information Services Today, introduced Reverend William
Bentley (1759-1819) who took the initiative to become an informed citizen. He collected books,
talked with both men and women at depth. However, in Antebellum America, libraries were
more like a private club for educated white men. Access to information was limited to these men
and not available to the masses. However, by the end of the Civil War, people began to push for
change. Among the changes to the social fabric of American society rose a new, more educated

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citizenry. According to Pawley (2015), High literacy and industrialization had produced an
explosion in publications of all kinds, from newspapers and other ephemera to solid reference
tomes ( p. 11).
There has been a shift in thought on what a public library looks like. In the early 1800s,
it was an elite group of white men that had access to books. They were expensive books of
information. After the Civil War, people saw the importance of having access to information and
opened the first public library. This library was still not open to all and the shift was put on to
helping ones community. Much later there was another shift as Pauley states, In the 1970s,
libraries learned to acknowledge the importance of the library in the life of the user rather than
the user in the life of the library (Pawley, 2015, p.15).
Part 2- Information Professions
I enjoyed this part of the book because I was able to get a better idea of the different
styles and types of informational professionals. I came into this class with a mission, which is, to
become a Media Specialist for my local elementary school. I enjoyed listening to the class
presentations and sat nodding my head in agreement about the variety of responsibilities. This is
all I have known. I love having order and cataloging, shelving the stakes, and using the ILS to
maintain and keep accurate records as well as to see what others have to better serve my
students. I have a love of teaching students different ways to use technology in real life
situations. I love engaging conversations with struggling readers to help find a way to best serve
them.
I feel my responsibilities in the media center to the students and staff go far beyond
putting a book in their hand and wishing them a good day. In class, we discussed the importance
of getting to know the people that come in and developing a relationship with them first. I
believe that this is one of the most important parts to the job. I know that I cant help my
students if I dont know their needs. I enjoy helping them figure out more about themselves by
asking them questions to make them think as well as what their interest might include. I feel I
can then tailor each individuals library experience based on that.
I was reading the Scholastic article, Meet Your New School Library Media Specialist and
it discussed the importance of a school administrator taking the time to hire the best fit Media

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Specialist for their school. This position is so crucial because the media specialist would work
daily with teachers and students on curriculum, and making sure that the school was offering
structured and unstructured media services for all.
Weil s (2016) article stated,
As workstations replace dust-covered shelves in your district libraries, a new breed of librarian
the library media specialist (LMS)has become an essential part of a schools faculty. These are
the people who will integrate the digital world into todays classroom and throughout the
curriculum. Specially trained and knowledgeable in the use of information technology, library
media specialists have become one of the most important instructional partners, working with
teachers and administrators to change what is possible in the classroom. This article really hit
home the importance to have open communication and to be willing to learn constantly to keep
up with all of the information services available. This person is an advocate and must know how
to maintain open communication with administration, teachers, and students.
I thought that requiring a mentor for the first year or more for a new Media Specialist
was a wonderful idea. Having access to a person with experience and established relationships
within a school is crucial to sustaining a quality program and helping keep goals focused.
A personal example of the importance of having a proficient and dedicated media
specialist was something that occurred at the elementary school with which I am affiliated. I
have a student that struggled to comprehend what she read and her teacher only allowed her to
read books on her Accelerated Reading level. I learned that she liked horses and loved to ride
one every chance she got. I talked with her mom and teacher about ways to help her not be so
discouraged. The media specialist and I came up with a solution. She would be able to read
books that were not on her AR level that were about horses. I read the books with her and we
would meet once a week to have a chat about what she learned. Since this experience and a lot
of hard work on the students part, she is now reading on her level and doing much better with
her comprehension. She also learned about different resources that were available to her such as
books online, fiction books, NC wiseowl, to name a few. By taking the time to get to know the
student, collaborating with her mom, teacher, and media specialist and teaching her different
ways to get information, the student now has a desire to learn more and can do so independently.

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Susan Waldons online presentation on September 20th, 2016, left me wanting to explore
public libraries and reminded me how crucial a public library is to a community. The history
outlined in her presentation was helpful in understanding the changes that were happening during
the last two hundred years. There was a shift in creating communities (the first focus of
community were the social elite). This shift in thought, also meant a new focus on all the many
different functions the library could offer. Taking care of user needs was a focus mentioned and
discussed. An information professional must not push ones own thoughts and feelings on the
people he/she is helping. Waldons presentation reminded me of something I read in an article
shared with our class written by Michael Gorman (May 2015) . It stated, we must have beliefs
and ideals but we should never seek to impose those beliefs and ideals on the unwilling (p.17).
It is important that we be unbiased in sharing information with our users, especially as an
information professional.
Academic libraries, as well as special libraries intimidate me. When Luz Crespo
presented her understanding of academic libraries on September 6th, 2016, I was surprised at the
amount of education, research, and publications that were expected of academic librarians. Mary
Abernathy helped explain special libraries in a way that made sense to me. A special librarian
must be able to market well with those with money and /or influence to ensure that the library
gets the funds to provide the informational resources needed to best serve the users and clients. I
realized how much dedication it must take to devote so much of oneself to one type of study. I
was blown away by the amount of higher education one must possess as well as the depth of
dedication. I know that I do not want to be on call 24/7/365. I have no desire to take this path for
my professional journey. I do, however, have an appreciation for those that work in this field as
they truly are influential in what we do. Special libraries differ from public, academic, and
school libraries in that they have to know their clients needs, and understand the type of
information needed in order to help serve their clients. Their jobs are so specific while the other
three types are much broader. School librarians, depending on their fixed or flexed schedules
will need to be able to answer a broader range of questions as well as providing education on
finding information for which one is looking. Academic libraries are focused on educating at a
higher level and offering resources to encourage ones own thoughts.

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Digital Libraries are the hardest for me to comprehend. I have never experienced one but
found my classmate, Amy Agidius, presentation on September 20th to be very eye opening. I
can only imagine how hard it must be to never know your audience yet keep up to date
information available and assume that needs are being met. Most of all I found myself thinking
about the copyright issues. Digital librarians must understand the complicated laws associated
with print material as well as with digital materials. A digital librarian must have strong ethical
morals and must educate others on what is lawful and against the law. I know from working in a
school library, teachers do not always understand the ramifications of copyright laws and the
effects it can have on the entire school if an issue arose. I was also intrigued about the thought of
not really owning digital materials and the expense of renting it. This is an issue for my school
because we want to offer online resources, but the expense of having access to the books for
certain amount of time, usually one to three years, takes a large portion of our budget. Part of the
job is to teach the children how to use the resources so that they will have the experience later.
With school budget cuts, this often is impossible. How can we teach about a resource if it is not
available? When reading the chapter on digital libraries, I was on information overload. Amy
truly did a wonderful job breaking the profession down to a level that I could understand with
examples that made sense to me. Amy stated that there were eight specific roles that a digital
librarian should follow and they include: - cataloger, collector, educator, legal expert, manager,
negotiator, researcher, and technologist.
Both chapter 11 of Information Services Today and Randi-Marie Gonsalves presentation
on September 27th, 2016 opened the possibilities of the MLIS opportunities beyond working in a
library. On a recent job interview for a local community college, I used the information that
Randi-Marie shared on her Most Wanted Characteristics of LIS specialist slide to present
myself to the hiring committee. I was given a scenario that dealt with multiple users coming for
information at the same time such as a student walking in the door, a co-worker asking for a
report, two phone lines ringing with one call being my boss looking for payroll. I was able to
approach the scenario by using the most wanted characteristics to answer. Based on this
approach, I would greet the student walking in the door first as it is known as customer service.
Next, I would respond to my co-worker wanting a report by having it ready to give to the co-

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worker. This is known as information needs because I would know when the report was due. It is
also known as teamwork because I would have the report ready reinforcing the idea that my
coworker could depend on me. Answering my boss phone call and emailing the payroll report
would then proceed these tasks. This would be categorized as information technology because I
could explain the payroll issue through email as well as explain the answer to the question. By
this time, the other caller would have left a voicemail and I could promptly return the call and
offer the assistance that was requested. This would be identified as the customer service role.
Chapter 11 had an interesting table (Table 11.1) (p.108) that showed different occupations
with the MLIS degree; as well as the Median annual pay. If I were going into this profession for
the money, I would rethink being a librarian and look into working more with a private sector. I
notice that the higher paying occupations focused more on computer and research, two things
that have brought me no joy in my academic career. Dont get me wrong, I love learning things
with computers and I am amazed at how quickly I do learn and then have to learn again because
things have changed so quickly. But the pressure that goes with computer and information
research science does not appeal to me in the least, even at $102,190 per year median.
Part Three- Information Services.
Information Services Today mentioned how libraries are a place for social justice and that
has really gotten my attention. I cant help but think about all of the conflict going on in our
society and all of the false information being passed around and how devastating that is to our
society. To understand how to obtain credible information starts with an information specialist.
We must offer services to our users to best serve them. This includes making information easy to
find and understand. We must have our resources cataloged and maintained so that all can find
the information. If I enter data for an informational resource to my standards but not for all,
what good have I done? I must relay the information on the needs of my users to metadata
personnel. Open communication with all levels of informational specialist is crucial to our
profession. If our users cant understand our cataloguing systems, our arrangement of the stacks,
or how to find what they are seeking, we are failing.

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I loved hearing in class discussion about a roving reference. This shows how we must
make ourselves available to our users and seek their needs. When I was an undergraduate twelve
years ago, I never asked the librarian for help. I suffered through trying to find what I was
looking for and settling for mediocre information that didnt really give me the answers I was
searching. If I would have had a roving reference worker walking around the stacks asking me if
they could help me, I would have more than willingly taking their help. Making simple changes
like this allows for an informational specialist to stay relevant in our time of extraordinary
changes.
In the book, (Information Services Today), by Hirsch, it states, To become effective
contributors in society, information users need the skills to not only recognize their information
needs, but also to best access and use information suitable to their needs (p.117). This quote
really explains the importance of educating others, not only with information, but how to obtain
it. I admit that I use google way more than I should. It has only been in the past few years that I
see how little information I obtain by using that as a main source of information. I am thankful
that I do know how to look for credible websites but most of the information I find is just a basic
knowledge. If I want to really learn, I must know how to obtain information.
I like how Heather OBrian and Devon Greyson explain the three approaches to
informational needs. The first being the micro, then meso, and then macro. Most of my
informational needs fall in the micro. The main concept I got from this chapter is the need to
establish relationships with the patrons. Building a relationship will help to understand how the
patron needs information and how to help empower the patron to seek the information for
himself or herself. This is a new way of thinking for me as I have always wanted a librarian to
spoon-feed me the information that I sought and not teach me how to find resources for
myself. This way of thinking has greatly impacted the way I currently teach my students. When
a student asks for help in finding a book, it is very easy for me to go to the shelf, find the book,
and send the student on their way; but this is such a disservice to the student. I must first get to
know the student and ask more details of what he or she is looking for. This is helpful for both
of us because it is allowing the student to learn how to articulate what need he/she has. By
listening, I can then guide the student to a style of book that may be more of what he/she is
wanting, even when the student doesnt know that it exists.

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With all of the advancements of obtaining information, one thing remains as a core
importance to me and that is to create meaningful relationships with those I encounter, empower
others with tools and resources, and never stop learning myself. I personally choose not to use
all the newest technology; But I do see the importance of understanding it and offering it to
others. I hope that at the end of my journey to obtaining a MLIS, I will have mastered the art of
finding information and ways to empower my community by providing information for all. I will
end with a quote from Information Services Today by Hirsh that gives me much hope for the
future of this profession.
The profession may already be in the process of orienting itself toward facilitating learning and
communication, regardless of where users are finding information. Teaching users in the future
may prove to be one of the most stable aspects of a profession that no longer has to warehouse
materials just in case they are needed. The value information professionals add to users abilities
to create knowledge in their own communities and strengthen civic ecologies may become our
most recognizable trait. (p. 169) This quote makes me excited about the future of this profession
and reaffirms my desire to teach in a school media center.

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References
Hirsh, S. (2015). Information Services Today: An introduction. Lanham: Rowman &
Littlefield.
Weil, B. E. (2016). Meet Your New School Library Media Specialist. Retrieved October 09,
2016 from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3748779
Gorman, M. (2015, May 15). Revisiting enduring values. Giornale Della L, 6(2), 13-33.
doi:10.1472/medra2cr/11324
Waldon, S Community anchors for lifelong learning: Public libraries [PowerPoint slides 1-10]
Retrieved from: https://uncg.instructure.com/courses/27614/files/1672454?
module_item_id=468078
Luz Crespo (2016, September 6th). The Learning and Research Institution: Academic Libraries
[PowerPoint slides 11-15]. Retrieved from
https://uncg.instructure.com/courses/27614/files/1622965?module_item_id=463066
Mary Abernathy (2016, September 20th). Information Centers: Special Libraries [PowerPoint
slides 11-15].
Retrieved from: https://uncg.instructure.com/courses/27614/files/1672454?
module_item_id=468078
Randi-Marie Gonsalves (2016, September 27th). Expanding the Horizon of the MLIS
[PowerPoint slides 1-14]. Retrieved from
https://uncg.instructure.com/courses/27614/files/1697785?module_item_id=470018

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Christine Pawley (2016, August 30th). Information Literacy and Information Technology
[PowerPoint slide 13 of 32]. Retrieved from:
https://uncg.instructure.com/courses/27614/files/1611749?module_item_id=461618