Spring 2013 Jottings& DIGRESSIONS
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College of Letters & Science UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON SCHOOL OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION STUDIES Volume 44, No. 1 • Spring 2013 Jottings& DIGRESSIONS Heather Johnson and family Cynthia Lewis MA’12 Did You Know That SLIS Has a Distance MA Program? Q&A with Heather Johnson: special education with a specializa- Q&A with Cynthia Lewis MA’12: Current Distance Student tion in learning disabilities. Distance Graduate I also work 20 hours as a part- Interview by Ellen Hassel time library aide at the River Falls Interview by Ellen Hassel Public Library. I have worked there Q. Tell us about yourself. for over three years and was encour- Q. Tell us about yourself. A. My name is Heather Johnson, and aged to pursue my library degree A. My name is Cynthia Lewis, and I am in my second year of the online from the director of the library. The I am a graduate of the UW-Madison SLIS program at UW-Madison. I outstanding quality of the education SLIS Distance Program. I earned a am a mother to three amazing, that I am receiving has made me BA in English from California State- young daughters: Margaret, Adeline, better equipped to meet the specific Fullerton in 2010 and began the and Kathryn. My husband, Sam, needs of the community that I serve. UW SLIS MA program in the fall and I live on a family-owned and of 2010. After graduating from the -operated farm in River Falls, WI, Q. Tell us about your focus as a SLIS program in August of 2012, where we raise cattle and cash crops, distance student in SLIS, and what my husband and I relocated from board horses, and run more than made you decide to follow that track. San Clemente, CA to San Diego, 800 acres of land. I earned my bach- A. My initial focus as a distance stu- CA, where I began working for elor’s degree from UW-Eau Claire in dent in SLIS was in Youth Services. Ashford University as a digital services librarian. The library is completely digital and serves online, Continued on page 2 distance-education students. In addition to a passion for library work, I am also an avid swim- CONTENTS 10 I ❤ SLIS Scholarship mer who regularly competes in pool 3 From the Director’s Chair Fundraising Party and open-water races. Last year, I 4 Course Profile: Digital Curation 12 Class News and Notes broke six national records for my age 5 Meet the New SLIS Librarian 14 Student Organization Highlight group and was honored to be named 6 Faculty and Staff News 15 SLIS Contributions 8 Distinguished Alumna: 16 Save the Dates Continued on page 2 Toni Samek Heather Johnson, continued Q. What are your plans for the future? A. I was initially attracted to UW SLIS However, as I began getting into A. I look forward to my internship because of the organic structure of the my coursework, I also added Library this summer at the River Falls Public program — particularly the ability for Management to my degree track. Library, where I hope to showcase students to construct a unique My background as a special edu- the education that I have received emphasis through different course cation teacher has provided me with in the Distance SLIS Program at combinations. My emphasis was the knowledge and understanding UW-Madison. in Digital Libraries and Reference. for working with the youth popula- Because the program emphasized the tion. I love the diversity and creativity Q. What is one piece of advice you technology skills and “soft skills,” that is involved with youth librarian- would extend to current distance such as flexibility, innovation, collabo- ship. I especially love the ability to students at SLIS? ration, and creativity, I felt prepared connect to a person’s early reading A. Don’t forget to thank the people to work in a breadth of information experiences. From the management who help you make it through the environments when I graduated. standpoint, I enjoy being a commu- day. According to an African proverb, nity leader and a positive role model. “It takes a village to raise a child.” Q. What is your current job, and what I would like to add to that by stat- kind of projects are you working on? Q. What is your current job, and what ing that… it takes a family to raise a A. I currently work for Ashford kind of projects are you working on? librarian. I would not be where I am University. Ashford has a physical A. I am currently working on the today without the love and devotion campus in Clinton, IA and a virtual committee for River Falls Reads, of my family. Don’t be afraid to campus in San Diego. Although I which is a One Community One Book ask for help, but don’t forget to be didn’t plan for a career in academic program. I am also working with the gracious and say “thank you.” librarianship, I was attracted to the youth librarian on a YA for Adult On a more practical and idea of working in an all-digital library book club that was started this fall. humorous note: and felt my graduate work at UW, as • Learn to love your laptop and well as 10 years of reference experi- Q. What do you find most rewarding smartphone. ence in public libraries, gave me a about your position? • Be extremely disciplined with good foundation to work in an all- A. The most rewarding part of my your commitment to staying virtual environment. Having gone position is working directly with the current with the coursework. through a distance program, I also community. I am able to support early • Read the syllabus for each class understand the challenges and rewards literacy activities and help individuals (often). of online learning environments, get access to the quality information • Don’t be afraid to ask for help which has allowed me to relate to the and resources that they need. I am with your coursework. students I serve. also part of a team of knowledgeable • Enjoy the discussion boards. The Ashford Library consists and friendly library staff who make • Learn to live without sleep. of a highly collaborative staff of six coming in to work each day a positive • Love the high-quality education librarians and a library director. Our and rewarding experience. that the Distance SLIS Program primary roles are to provide reference enables you to get from the services to distance-education students Q. What classes or activities through comforts of your own home, via phone, chat, and email, and man- SLIS have proven to be of particular at any time of the day, and in age a growing electronic collection. use to you in your SLIS career? any kind of wardrobe that We also create usable library spaces for A. I don’t have a particular class or you choose! online students and faculty through our library website and connect online activity that stands out, simply because n n n n n they have all been so complimentary. classrooms to the library by embed- ding library instruction and research I have been able to build upon my Cynthia Lewis, continued coursework and apply what I have tools into highly visible and critical Southern Pacific Masters Swimmer learned to create meaningful and places in the courses. Ashford’s online Female Athlete of the Year. relevant experiences. In turn, each student body primarily consists of class has then made me a more well- adult reentry students, students in the Q. Tell us about your focus as a rounded and knowledgeable library military, and first generation college distance student in SLIS, and what employee. students, many of whom are inexperi- made you decide to follow that track. enced in using electronic resources and conducting research. 2 JOTTINGS From the Director’s Chair Spotlight: Online Master’s Program Dear SLIS In addition, SLIS has kept the size additional materials such as critiques Friends and of the online cohorts small in order of the readings. Sometimes students Alumni, to maintain the small class sizes work in teams to complete small and strong community spirit valued projects. For example, in my online Did you know by the SLIS community. Further, LIS 710 Research Methods class, SLIS has a full we have maintained the practicum students worked together in teams online master’s requirement to ensure that all grad- to develop assessment plans based on program? You uates have real-life experience prior different models of assessment. Professor Kristin may notice a to entering the work force. The online degree has been in Eschenfelder, Director theme in this Currently, SLIS offers a full place for about four years; however, season’s Jottings: the SLIS online range of coursework in the follow- for several years prior, SLIS ran a MA degree. The online master’s ing specializations in the online video-conference-based distance degree in library and information format: Information Technology degree in cooperation with the studies is a historic stage in the and Digital Libraries, Youth Prairie Area Library System (PALS) in school’s educational offerings, so Services, Public Libraries, Academic northern Illinois. Our PALS alumni we want to describe the program Libraries, and Corporate/Strategic in northern Illinois and Iowa repre- and introduce some current online Information Services. In addition, sent the first alumni of our distance courses and some recent alumni SLIS is working hard to put its top- program, but we now have alumni to you. ranked Archives curriculum online. from all across the nation.