Student Governance {Starter Kit}

Another school year is upon us! Over the next few weeks, we will add some more tips and discussions to our Starter Kit Series as we welcome new library students to the blog. We’d like to encourage returning students to revisit the series along with us as well and especially to dive into the comments to share your own experiences and tips.

Voting station at Foster City Library.

For today, I’d like to bring up the idea of joining and serving in student governance as a useful part of a library student’s education and experience. Librarians foster civic participation by providing education and information for informed citizens in electoral campaigns. Librarians also face the challenge of being advocates for libraries to legislative funding bodies, corporate boards, and other governing organizations that hold the purse strings for libraries’ budgets. All of this work requires a solid understanding of on-the-ground politics and how to navigate bureaucracies and hierarchies. Please also take a look at a related and overlapping post by Britt last year, Student Organizations and LIS Education, which focuses on the many benefits (and difficulties) of being a part of student organizations on campus such as ALA student chapters, professional development clubs, and special interest groups. Make sure to read through the comments there, too, which offer an excellent conversation with many people sharing thoughts on their schools’ particular organizations.

How to Hack Your Summer Vacation

Congratulations to everyone who’s just finished the first year of an LIS degree! If you’re anything like me, you’re still occasionally having phantom-homework guilt, as it’s such a novel feeling to have a bit of spare time. That spare time can be put to good use, though!

In the spirit of Zach’s Library-School Starter Kit for the first semester, here’s a few ways to spend your summer:

How to Hack the Academic Conference

Planning Quasi-Con

This post was collaboratively written by Quasi-Con planners and School of Information Master’s candidates Kelly Davenport, Peter Timmons, Ilana Barnes (ALA chapter president), Kim Miller (vice president), Katy Mahraj (treasurer), Ryan Clement (webmaster), and Mariah Cherem (social media coordinator).

The DIY Library Conference: A Quasi-Guide

It was an experiment.

When Ilana Barnes pitched the idea of a student-led library conference at the University of Michigan School of Information (SI) during her tenure as ALA Chapter president, she chose the following theme: “The Future of Libraries?!”

Ultimately, we didn’t need the question mark. More than 70 students, professionals, and alumni gathered in January for the first Quasi-Con, a hybrid unconference and professional conference. We’re here to tell you how we organized it, and why we think you should plan your own Quasi-Con, in three easy steps.

To Read Tues: Recommended Reading Twitter Question

We got a question on Twitter over the weekend about reading material for LIS: 

RT @brandontlocke: Any recommended reads for aspiring/future MLIS students?

It is difficult to respond to such a question in 140 characters or less. I made the attempt by suggesting reputable blogs and e-news sources for LIS information and fiction for mind expansion (and fun!). Feeling that a little more was needed I have expanded with advice, links and resources.

Unbook Unreview: The Edupunks’ Guide to a DIY Credential

Download the book or read it on Scribd.

Available in a multitude of formats (.mobi, .epub, .pdf, .rtf, and more!), this free ebook is written by Fast Company writer Anya Kamenetz with support from the Gates Foundation.  The book is based on the premise that the traditional process of attending college is expensive and exclusive — but more importantly, the way education is being delivered is changing.  The purpose of this book is to provide you with resources that give you control over your education.

Now I haven’t read the entire book from cover to cover, but I don’t think you’re supposed to!  The “How to use the Edupunks’ Guide” section helps you figure out what you want to learn from the book — do you want to learn about online programs?  Are you interested in alternative college programs that help you earn a degree faster?  Or do you just want to find free, open sources of educational content?

Personally, I’m most interested in the last section of the book — “Open World” — that lists where you can find open educational content, social learning websites, and reputation-based networks.  For example, I’ve known about MIT Open Courseware for a while but had no idea that there is an open courseware consortium.  I also didn’t know about the web development resources named in the book.

The Edupunks’ Guide is definitely worth checking out if you’re an independent self-learner or just interested in exploring the free online resources out there.

Are you an edupunk?  What open content resources do you use or know of?