Introduction

I want to be an information wizard, otherwise known as a reference librarian. While I have an extensive knowledge of a few topics, I also know how to use the resources around me to collect and identify data on topics with which I am unfamiliar. I already have the ability to describe technology to most people in a way that they can understand and help them with technical things that they assume are second nature to me. I want someone to be able to walk up to me, ask me a question about some massively obscure topic that no one has ever asked me about before, and be able to quickly and succinctly help them find resources that will answer their question.

The growth and experience I felt was needed to become more suited to be a reference librarian follow:

Leadership: Growth here would show me how to manage and work on projects either as leader or participant in a effective manner.

Service:I would help community groups accomplish their goals, showing effective community organizational skills.

Intellectual: I needed to write more long form research papers from an academic perspective so I could help further individuals discover more in their own topics.

Teaching: I needed to learn how to quickly and effectively answer questions that would come from a wide variety of people in different positions.

Technology:I needed to expand my knowledge of web based programming, and work to learn how to design and maintain systems.

Attending graduate school changed my perception of the world. I worked with folks on projects hundreds of miles away from me, and we found effective ways to communicate without having the ability to work face to face. I discovered many paths to find information, and ways to interpret and evaluate the information I retrieved. My life became more online, as I took my job and schooling both online and moved to a state where neither resides. I found ways to serve and lead in my community using skills I expanded while at the iSchool.