April 20, 2009
Making Your Exit
Due to the natural ebb and flow of business in graduate life, school year internships usually end right around the time all those final Ps of graduate school (papers, presentations and projects) come due. In the midst of a very busy and usually stress-filled time, the idea of 10 or so extra hours in your week may seem so enticing that you're blinded by the light at the end of the tunnel. And while you don't necessarily have to knit your mentor a sweater and proffer a teary farewell, if any of the following apply, you should make it a point to say a proper goodbye:.
If your mentor
a) is awesome
b) knows your cat's name
c) provided quality guidance, perspective, and/or learning opportunities
...you should plan a proper exit from the position.
Depending on your relationship to your mentor, this may range from an "exit interview" type conversation, to the exchange of baked treats and well-wishes. Here are some suggestions-take from them what applies:
-Make sure your mentor is aware of when your last day will be, and whether any work will be left unfinished when you leave. A week is a good amount of lead time on this-2 hours is not. Ideally, this will provide time for you to tie up any loose ends and gather/give feedback on the experience.
-If you have developed relationships with other employees at the organization, take note (if possible) of the last time you will be working with them, and say goodbye then. Don't limit your goodbyes to those who are working on your last day.
-Write a Thank You letters to your mentor, any higher-ups responsible for your internship (ex. your mentor's supervisor, perhaps), and anyone else who was especially helpful. If this turns into a long list, you may want to consider an writing open letter to the staff. If you're had a total sunshine and rainbows experience, adding sweets can't hurt. (Short on time? A bag of Oreos or other inexpensive/quick treat is still a nice gesture.) Remember that even if you work for free, your training and supervision costs the organization in staff time-often from more people than just your mentor.
-If you wish to keep the option of someday working for your mentor, or someone in the same organization, it is also not a bad idea to take the time to express this. "Hey, you wanna hire me now?" doesn't flow as well as a respectful mention that you've really enjoyed the experience, are thankful for their time and effort, and would be eager to work with them again in the future. Even if they don't do the hiring, they may be a part of or have the ear of someone on a hiring committee somewhere in your future. In fact, they may be even keep their eye open for a position, and alert you when something comes up.
It's all about the networking, kids. I can't say that enough. (In fact, I say that quite a lot in this blog entry.) Making a graceful exit shows respect for your mentor and colleagues, and for the skill-building experience you have completed. It shows that though you are a student, you are already a professional in many respects.
Posted by messelti at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2009
SI Visiting Days 2009
Right now we're smack-dab in the middle of Visiting Days, which is an annual occurrence when SI invites all newly-admitted students to spend a weekend in Ann Arbor getting a feel for the city and the campus, and meeting current students, faculty and staff. I spent most of yesterday talking with some of these prospective SI-ers about life, the Universe and everything and I thought I'd share some of the common themes for anyone who couldn't visit, hasn't applied or been admitted yet, or just may be interested anyway.
-What is a typical full-time courseload?
--Most students take 12 credits per semester, though some may take slightly more (maybe 13.5) or slightly less if they're ahead due to a for-credit summer internship. Some classes require more or less time than others, but a good rule of thumb is that 4 3-credit courses should take up about the same amount of time as a full-time job (40 hour/week). This can be helpful when deciding how many hours to work at a part-time job, or how many classes to take if you are a part-time student.
-How soon do I need to settle on a specialization? How easy is it to switch or add another specialization?
--Within the first year, it's pretty easy to switch specializations. They don't allow you to switch during your first semester (this is a good way to make sure you've thought about it a bit before you do it),but afte that the process is pretty simple (it inolves a well-placed email). Adding a second specialization requires a meeting with a student services staff member in which you must show your plan for getting all of the required course work done, and that's it. Pretty easy. There's enough overlap in many specializations that most people have no problem switching as long as they've started to plan for their new semester by the time they determine their third semester schedule.
-How did you find your part-time job?
--I've found two part-time jobs through the SI email list. Staff, faculty, students and alumni will post to the list when they know about (or are hiring for) positions of relevance to SI students. In general, I had no problem finding work once I was here, as SI students have a pretty good reputation on campus.
-I want to be a (*insert career choice here*), what classes should I take?
--There aren't tracks for most SI-related courses-not because SI won't prepare you to do those jobs, but because SI provides you with the toolkit, and SI students are the ones who use mold their coursework (papers and projects) towards their interests, and seek out internships and part-time work that will further enrich their skill set. However, SI does have helpful suggestions in their "MSI Pathways to Success" (http://www.si.umich.edu/pathways/), which lists helpful courses, internships and research for certain career paths. Otherwise, two suggested ways to find out what you should do to prepare for the career of your choice is a)talk to someone who is in that career-see what they suggest course- and internship-wise, and b)find some job postings for positions you'd like, and see what skills potential employers are seeking.
Just a reminder: you don't have to wait for Visiting Days to visit SI-we schedule campus visits all year round. A typical visit often involves lunch with a current student, and a meeting with at least one member of the SI Admissions team. Students also sit in on classes (during the school year), meet with faculty (when possible), or visit other campus resources of interest to them (such as specific libraries or departments). Just email si.admissions@umich.edu a week or two before you plan on coming to Ann Arbor to arrange a visit.
So, that's it for me today. Have a nice weekend everyone-that beautiful spring weather is right around the corner!
Posted by messelti at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2009
ASB-Brooklyn Public Library
Hello All!
Last week was spring break, and wouldn't you know it-instead of relaxing and catching up on my laundry or house cleaning, I was off to NYC to spend a week working in the Brooklyn Public Library.
Last year I had a really great experience at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, processing an archival collection and getting a general feel for what that sort of work is really like. It was very well structured, and I learned a lot without spending an entire summer shackled to one project. However, one the of the things I learned was that I was not an archivist. I'm one of those crazy people that kind of enjoyed my time as a waitress, liked my service jobs (sometimes) and really wants to see a wide variety of people in my everyday work...and February is a much better time to figure that out, as opposed to, say...August.
This year I took a similar strategy into choosing my ASB project. I know that I would like to work in a public library or in some sort of learning-centered position. I've gotten a lot of experiences in Adult Services or in instructional technology. However, I really haven't done much with youth services. Sure, I'd done a storytime or two on the Bookmobile, but I hadn't really paid my dues in Youth Services. So I put a project in the YA department of the Brooklyn Public Library on the top of my list-making a pathfinder about humorous books. Funny? I can handle that. Information resources? Right up my alley. Kids? Let's give it a go!
My supervisor had a scheduling conflict, so we only worked together in the middle of the week, but she found some other people for me to shadow and therefore I was able to get an idea of the different experiences everyone was having (YA librarians also spend time in the Juvenile dept, so I got a feel for both). I learned a bit more about Novelist, a database I'd only used briefly in my time at the Ypsi library. It was a mini collection development project, in a way, so I got a chance to become more familiar with their system (which they say has a pretty popular setup, so I should see it in the future), do a little graphic design and sink my teeth into some teen literature. It seems I had a few more skills than they'd expected, so I needed a bit less guidance and therefore got the project done a bit early. That gave me time to see a little more of each of the reference desks, tour the library, and sit in on toddler, 'tween and teen programming. Heck, I got to play Rock Band with some 14 year-olds, not to shabby for a working break.
The end result was similar, but somewhat reversed from last year. I really liked my time in youth services, and though I'm not quite ready to turn my back on dreams of helping adults self-educate, there's something enticing about getting in on the ground level and revisiting my former teaching aspirations. When I got back to Ann Arbor I contacted the head of Youth Services at the Ypsi library to see if she'd be willing to spare me some desk time. I'll let you know how it works out-it may lead to a whole new direction for me.
Posted by messelti at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)
October 29, 2008
Rockin' the Precincts!
I've never been one to regret the paths I've taken in life. If anything, my meandering has made things much more interesting and rich, and I've had a lot of opportunities I might not otherwise noticed had I been more focused in my journey. However, one downside to really settling on my SI major so late is that I missed out on an entire year of work with the Community Information Corps (the student group focused on Community Informatics projects). I'm trying to make up for it now by leading a pet project of mine between now and election day: a voter's rideshare.
I figured that enough SI students would be without a car, and the weather would be cold enough that connecting the rideless with rides to their polling places would be very useful on November 4th. I talked to a few people in the CIC to get feedback, and once I felt even the slightest glimpse of confidence I went ahead with it. I put out a general call for assistance, talked to a few people and figured out a battle plan. Although I imagine some of my esteemed colleagues in Social Computing could probably have put together a totally rad community resource to match people up with rides, I went somewhat low-key with a mass email and an online survey (courtesy of SurveyMonkey.com). I figured that if I could figure out who needed a ride and the when and where of their situation, then found a few volunteers willing to drive to those places at those times, it would fall together like magic. My only concern was that we wouldn't have enough volunteers.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Opposite my fears, I got a good number of responses within the first few days. This is an exciting election for people and they want to help others participate. The bummer: no riders. It seems that no one (so far) at SI is without a car, voting in person and in need of a ride there. I really should have considered beforehand that a number of SI students would be voting absentee, and the rest of them might have friendly roommates or be particularly close to their polling location.
Lesson 1: When trying to solve a problem, take a few minutes to really think about the perceived need.
Lesson 2: Be flexible.
So now I have more than a dozen volunteers and no recipients. If only life were always full of these problems. Too much money, how to spend it? Too much time, what to do? Nonetheless, these people had stepped up to help out, and I had to find an alternative way for them to do so.
Another CIC member referred a woman from the Michigan Prisoner's Re-Entry Initiative to me for help with her rideshare. I contacted her to get more information on what she needed, and used my survey results to find volunteers who might be able to help her. My organizational team current consists of three CIC members, so we've been working together to find other areas where our help may be needed (currently we're trying to connect with a local senior center or two), after which we will touch base with our volunteers to see if change of plans still suits them.
So, ideally, we will find two populations that need transportation to the polls, and will be able to put everyone who originally signed up to help their fellow classmates to good use in the community. Because that's what we're all about here at SI, connecting people with information throught technology. Yay CIC!
I'll check in after the election to let you know how it all works out! Until then, happy trails!
-Megan
Posted by messelti at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2008
I'm going to MLA! Yay!
Check out that rhyming there, MAN ALIVE, I've got talent!
Anyhow...
I feel that I didn't really pay a lot of attention to professional conferences in my first year, mostly because I was paying attention to more immediate concerns, such as how to keep up with my classwork, keep my job, and not allow my mind and body to fall into complete disrepair. Year one-success.
Now that I've learned how to balance work, school and personal matters while still getting enough sleep to avoid falling into a zombie-like state, I can turn my attention to professional development. It's a little early, I think, to begin looking for jobs, but not to early to work on the ol' resume. So a few opportunities arose, and I grabbed them.
One of the obstacles for conference attendance as a student can be cost. As valuable as it may be to hear all of those speakers and do that networking, it can be hard to justify missing 3 days of class and work and spending triple digits on registration and travel costs. However, SI can help with some of these costs under certain circumstances. Since I will be helping put together the SI alumni reception after the conference on Thursday, and presenting at one of the sessions, SI is covering the registration cost and reimbursing my mileage for driving to Kalamazoo.
As for the presentation, there is a session on future professionals that focuses on the group work of current students. I will be presenting on the project my group did with the Ozone House Drop-In Center last winter. It will only take a few follow-up questions and mild revisions, and ka-pow! I've got myself an MLA presentation! Although one of my group members has since moved on, the other is helping me do follow up and revise the slides and make them more outsider-friendly. It's nice to work together again and feels good to see that our work isn't disposable and can instead be built upon and used in the future.
Posted by messelti at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2008
Back from DC!
ASB, part II:
Last night I had the joy of sleeping once more in my own bed. After an entire day of driving back from DC, I do not envy the New York group (who had an extra hour or two to go). Even thought the weather and such was pretty ideal, I still would just as soon have spent the day somewhere other than in a car.
Nonetheless, it was a wonderful week. We continued processing personal papers, each of us taking the time to focus on a few individuals assigned to us by our mentors. We then chose one and dug up their interviews and photographs, and used this information to prepare a short presentation on the individual for the staff meeting. This is how the staff becomes acquainted with the files in each collection, since they all share reference duty but do not equally share processing. It really helped us to get a sense of what we were working with.
On Friday they prepared a feast of traditional lebanese fare for us and joined us to eat and say goodbye. They made us each a card signed by the staff and we chatted as we ate about...well...anything interesting. I brought up video game archiving and a pretty good discussion ensued. It was nice to be surrounded by professionals in a casual setting, where we could pick their brains without the pressure of raising your hand and articulating something a whole room of people will want to hear, but instead to just chat in a small group about whatever comes up.
Mid-afternoon we realized that we'd accomplished a lot more than we had expected, and so instead of digging into cold storage for more to process in our last two hours there, they gave us the option to hop out once the family papers were done, to get some extra time to talk with people at the Smithsonian, or go see some of its museums before we left town. I took the opportunity to check out a few museums I hadn't hit yet, and do the long, long, long hike out to the FDR and Lincoln memorials.
Now I'm back in Ann Arbor and wish Spring Break were two weeks long...but oh well. It was a wonderful opportunity to visit another city and make invaluable connections while getting hands-on experience under the guidance of professionals who are happy to help you. I know it seems like a lot to fit into your one week off in a busy semester, but I recommend ASB to anyone, especially those with multiple work environments that they'd like to explore. It's a great way to get a taste of one possibility while still having all summer to explore others.
P.S./Once I get my pictures back I'll upload a few. Good stuff!
Posted by messelti at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2008
ASB DC, Day Two
Hello from ASB!
Two days down and three to go for my five-day engagement at the Smithsonian Museum of American History! DC is a good twenty degrees warmer than Michigan, so even through it’s February, I still feel like I’m on vacation in some tropical clime, where flipflops and sunscreen are more important than my laptop and notebooks.
There are four of us working on processing the Naff collection, which is good because its HUGE! We spent a good chuck of the first day rehousing photographs, which can be pretty boring work except for the whole part where you get to look through 100 years of family photos from dozens of families you’ve never met. For every cute baby or wedding picture, there was something completely bizarre, like a hula dancer at a church social or snapshots of the aftermath of a Druze rebellion in 1925. Then we moved onto a very broadly defined series of “personal papers� which basically contained every piece of paper donated by these families-poems, newspaper clippings, letters, naturalization papers, you name it. Some are completely in Arabic, so we have to trust that the historian who collected all of these materials correctly and comprehensively labeled them in English (which is not always the case).
Our supervisors have done a wonderful job of working in specific learning opportunities into our practical processing experiences. Each day at lunch a different staff member gives a talk while we eat. Today a music archivist showed us clips and talked about musicians and how their styles can be affected by changing technology and media, from television to digital sampling. Very cool stuff. Also, as we run into preservation needs, such as specialized rehousing, they teach us all how to create these items. Today we made “sink mats� to hold fragile glass negatives. Mine was particularly conservation-tastic, if I do say so myself.
There are so many things to do in the city, it can be tempting to go explore every night. Luckily, the hotel has wifi and I’m tired enough to be perfectly happy doing homework in my hotel room while the city bustles below. Our hotel is right Capitol Hill area (only three blocks from the Mall) and so there’s always something going on below us. I’m a heavy sleeper who likes cities, so I’m pretty much in heaven right now.
I’ll try to write more in a few days, to give you the full view of my Alternative Spring Break experience. Until then, g’night!
-Megan
Posted by messelti at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2008
Alternative Spring Break!
Today I'm going to sing the praises of a great program here at SI, because right now it's all I can think about. Normally February is a blue time for me. It's a time of crappy weather and crappier midterms, of stress and cold, and I don't like it one bit.
This year I signed up for Alternative Spring Break. I remember ASB from my undergrad years as a service opportunity: usually, students would travel somewhere and build houses, feed the homeless, etc. for a week instead of partying in Cabo San Lucas. SI, however, puts a spin on it to make a particularly valuable opportunity for MSI students, particularly those with their eyes open for summer internship opportunities.
ASB through the School of Information is also a service opportunity, but SI targets organizations specific to the field of information science, such as academic and public libraries, community nonprofits, and larger organizations such as ALA and NARA, and sends students there to work on 30-40 hour projects, like a mini-internship. Students gain a week of great experience (and are sometimes offered summer internships) and participating organizations get a week of free labor and the chance to impart a little wisdom to the next generation of information professionals.
And the cost? Just $25. Oh, and you have to pay for your own food and transportation (around the city, not to or from it, which makes walking a good and often feasible way to minimize costs). SI raises funds to cover your housing and transportation to and from the host city. They also find student volunteers to organize carpools and social events, so you'll still get a chance to hang out with good people. (You know what they say about all work and no play...)
So, I am very excited. There were a lot of great projects available at really exciting sites, like the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the Federal Trade Commission. I was assigned to my first choice, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, where I'll be working with a small team of SI students and some of the archivists there to process the Naff Arab American Collection, which is a collection of oral histories, photographs, manuscripts, and other articles documenting the experiences of Arab-American immigrants in the early twentieth century. My inner history geek is, well...geeked.
Oh yeah, and right now it's 28 degrees outside. In DC, it's 42 degrees. Should be a good 10-20 more when I'm down there. Heck yeah!
Alright, enough from me. I'll write more when I'm actually down there.
-Megan
Posted by messelti at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)