Week 4: A New Project

Hello again!

This week was both long and fun. First, over the weekend I was able to attend an archival bazaar held at USC, which further inspired me to want to work in an archive. Who would have thought that an academic librarianship internship would have caused me to want to switch gears? It's kind of nice that I'm able to explore this way.

This leads me to my next point, as I spent another day in the archives looking for materials for my workshop. It's been a great getting hands on knowledge and understanding where this specific institution needs assistance with, as the job of an archivist is never over. Plus the smell of old documents and books is life changing.

I've very nearly completed my application packet. I've committed myself to applying for a job at the University of Redlands as an assistant librarian with an emphasis in instruction. I'm just filling in the final certifications before I send it Joseph for review. I'm excited to see what kind of feedback he's going to give me as I've never actually written a CV before. Also, the fact that a CV is so ridiculously? Who came up with that idea? I get bored reading three pages of a textbook, so the fact that librarians who are 20 years into their careers have 90 page long CV's?! I'm telling you, it's a scam.

Anyways, from my title you can see that I've been given a new project to do! I have been asked to show my skills, writing a memo regarding whether or not the library has the infrastructure to support a new degree program. This will be a great exercise for me, as this something that I may need to do in my future career. Essentially, I'll be looking over the program proposal, figuring where the library can support it, seeing what's already in place, plus additional areas that would be needed for extra support. The parameters were both vague and specific, a specialty of my mentor. This is something that I genuinely appreciate, as I don't like to be micromanaged. I feel comfortable enough to ask questions where I need to, but I like being able to figure things out on my own. It gives me the chance to be more creative, and I need that in a career path.

We also did my mid-term review, but haven't submitted it yet. Joseph was clear that he would like me to sit on the answers for a week, before turning it in. But honestly, I can't see any reason not to turn it in now. I'm very happy with the feedback I received, and we have been very open and communicative with each other this whole time. I genuinely feel like I can excel at this now, despite my earlier reservations.