Internet Public Library Internship

This semester I will be working with the Internet Public Library as a Digital Reference Service Intern! The IPL is a public service organization and learning/teaching environment founded in 1995 by the University of Michigan. It is currently managed by Drexel University and Florida State University. Pitt is a partner university.

I was excited to find out that although my supervisor is employed by Florida State, she works from her home in New York. I will also be working on the site remotely. This experience should be helpful to my career if telecommuting continues to be a trend -- I would love to work from St. Croix part of the year in the future.

As part of the internship, I'll help with the IPL question and answering service. Anyone can submit questions through the website and interns and volunteer librarians research and respond to the questions within 24 hours through email.

Second Semester Begins

It's my second semester in Pitt's MLIS program! I am taking 2 courses and I just love online learning. I can watch the lectures at my leisure in comfort. There's no driving to Pittsburgh or paying for parking (just one weekend each term, which I enjoy). There are a lot more students this semester, which could be challenging. In my summer classes nearly everyone was online and used Blackboard. Now my classes are a mix of on-campus and online students. We need to work together on group projects and I think some of the on-campus students are hesitant to use new technology. Besides Bb, I've used Skype for conference calls and Google Chat and Docs for effective group work.

I really enjoyed my break in August, but I didn't get as much work done around the house as I wanted to. I did volunteer at the public library in the small town I live in. The library received a state grant which was matched by private donations to double its size and renovate the current space. The project is long overdue. There was a lot of excitement when I was there as the construction was just starting. As the library director explained to me, a lot of time in a small public library is spent talking to the patrons. I found this to be true, especially with the older people. Many people stop by every day. Most patrons would ask about the building project so the director had the same conversation over and over. She didn't seem to mind, though. August is a slow month for the library, so there wasn't much for me to do, but I did help update the website content and created a user survey for future use. The website needs a redesign, but I don't have the time or skills to do that right now. Maybe in the future. Rather than volunteer on a regular basis, I'm going to check in with the director from time to time and help out with special projects.