Tag Archives: School of Information

Libraries Kick Off Fall Mentorship Program

The University of Texas Libraries is pleased to announce the launch of this fall’s iSchool Mentorship Program.

The UTL-iSchool Mentor Program is a joint program occurring each Fall and Spring semester between the UT Libraries and the iSchool Career Services Office. It is a voluntary program for second year graduate iSchool students to pair with librarians to learn more about the experience of being a librarian. The focus is mainly on the academic track, so that mentees can find out what liaisons (or subject) librarians do, what archivists do, what’s involved in metadata work, or library administration. The goal is for mentees and mentors to meet 3 times either virtually or in-person over the semester. 

Liaison Librarian for Communication Meryl Brodsky fills the coordinator role as the iSchool Liaison. A committee composed of staff professionals works to match students with a librarian who works in the area of interest to candidates – instruction, metadata, subject librarianship, the administrative track, or others. Occasionally the program is able to match candidates with special interest placements, such as in film librarianship. 

This semester’s class is composed of seven students. Five are paired with librarians from Libraries: including librarians from Teaching & Learning Services, from Stewardship, from the Benson Library, from Scholarly Resources, and from the Resident program. One is paired with a librarian from Austin Public Library. And for the first time, one mentee was paired with a librarian from the Law School.

Participants can talk with their mentor about the day-to-day work, and may shadow librarians on a chat reference shift or a research consultation, attend a librarian candidate presentation, discuss professional associations, decode job descriptions, or ask questions about the profession in general. The Mentor program is not a path to getting a job at the UT Libraries, but it could help to generate some ideas for Capstone projects, and help participants to network with library professionals.

The Mentor program is student-centered, which means that mentees direct it by asking questions or asking to meet people from different parts of the library or bringing their interests to the conversation.

“A mentorship really goes two ways,” says Meryl Brodsky. “The iSchool students learn about our jobs and the role we play on campus. They share their professional interests and what they hope to accomplish with us, and that shows us where our profession is headed. It’s a validating experience for both sides.”

Reflections on a Practicum

Mark GoodwinMark Goodwin is a project assistant for HeadsUpGuys and student librarian in the Music, Art and Architecture Library at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He undertook a practicum with Music Librarian David Hunter of the Fine Arts Library at UT this spring. He has graciously provided the following reflections on his time in Austin.

For my two-week practicum, I was extremely fortunate to be given the opportunity to work under Music Librarian and Musicologist Dr. David Hunter at the Fine Arts Library at the University of Texas in Austin. My time there resulted in profound growth on both a professional and personal level.

The Fine Arts Library.Dr. Hunter was an outstanding mentor. He has a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge relating to the profession and was more than willing to share this wealth of experience with me. He was also exceptionally kind and constantly made sure I was getting the most out of my time, even going above an beyond my role in the library to inform me of events occurring throughout the city. In terms of my role, Dr. Hunter had me take on an assistant-type position in which I shadowed him and helped with his daily duties. This was key to making the experience an invaluable one for me, and I am extremely grateful to Dr. Hunter for giving me this role. Continue reading Reflections on a Practicum