IST 511 - Day 1

Day 1 of IST 511 was an intensive overview of the library profession. It gave me a broader understanding of the many facets of librarianship and how they all fit together. It was also interesting to consider how information technology supports libraries and how that has altered their traditional hierarchy / management structure. As more and more public services become interwoven with technology, the need for bridging becomes greater.

One highlight of the day were the guest speakers. It was fascenating to see public librarianship from the perspective of seasoned public librarians. The fact that both Bev Cholcto-Devlin and Kate McCaffrey spoke of the realities and challenges with candor was refreshing. I was amazed that the opportunities available to public librarians range from servicing the informational needs of prisoners to petitioning congress to make equal access to information a law.

Another key point of the day was learning about searching basics. Understanding the fundamentals of how databases work help me approach searching in a much different way. It was also tremendously benneficial to undersand how to best manipulate terms as well as how different databases filter searches from a different perspective.