Introduction to me


A woman and a dog sitting on a couch
image source: personal photo

Greetings! Welcome to my blog! I am currently in my last year of my Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree and having a lovely time. I came to this program from an English literature focused undergrad at Lawrence University so the switch from humanities to social science took a bit of getting used to, but I think I have it figured out at this point. My English degree had a heavy focus in Eighteenth-century British Literature, so I initially thought about going into archives work within libraries.

Currently I am working as a Technical Services Assistant at Moraine Valley Community College’s Sylvia M. Jenkins Library in addition to my position as a Graduate Reference Assistant at our very own Rebecca Crown Library at Dominican. If you come to campus often come say hi! I am mostly interested in academic librarianship and most likely within Tech Services and/or collection development, but I am still exploring and open to new and different opportunities. At Moraine I primarily process books, facilitate tech services workflow by helping with various projects, and weed the collection.  

I am also an amateur powerlifter and the 2024 American Powerlifting Federation (APF) national champion in my weight class. I will be competing in worlds in November with my team. I also love jigsaw puzzles and find that the best way to absorb a lecture is to puzzle while listening. One of my long-term goals is to participate in competitive speed jigsaw puzzling ala Karen Puzzles. I am a born and raised Midwesterner and have lived in the Chicagoland area for most of my life, now with my partner Henry and our beautiful and endlessly energetic Husky mutt Ducky.  

Technology and Me

My relationship with technology is okay, we’re not in love but we do tolerate each other. I recently completed a summer course in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (cascading style sheets) and created a website using those languages. You can view my website, which is a shell for my MLIS e-portfolio, at emmabergholz.com. It's not much to look at now but when I graduate in the Spring, I will update it with all the required content and, oh will it be glorious. I also obviously have a smart phone and use it all the time. I try to limit my time on it and set boundaries so that it doesn’t “use me” but my general opinion is that we are kind of bound to technology in a way that I don’t always like (Zumpano, 2024). We all rely on Google and maps to settle debates or find our way anywhere and those resources are very helpful. The places where I resent technology are where it inhibits interpersonal interaction and relationships.  

At work, I use my work laptop, various communication services, and the library catalog to do my job. I use barcode scanners to compile lists of barcode numbers or ISBNs (international standard book number) to do batch withdrawals of items or to change their locations in the catalog. At my reference position I use technology to help students find what they need in the library or on campus. There is a bit of teaching involved in this position and for that purpose the reference desk is equipped with double monitors to demonstrate how to use the catalog for students who come for research help. I think technology has immense value in teaching and I am excited to explore those opportunities in the coming weeks of blog posts.  

How I am feeling beginning this course:

image source: Giphy.com

via GIPHY

Comments

  1. NMZumpanoAugust 30, 2024 at 11:01 AM

    Thanks so much for explaining your professional roles, Emma. For those of us not in library sciences this is helpful. Congrats on your powerlifting achievements! That is fantastic. Here's hoping we can get you to a different GIP by the end of the fall :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. FrancescaSeptember 1, 2024 at 5:10 PM

    Emma, it's so nice to see a familiar face in this class! I loved getting to know more about your hobbies (which are awesome) as well as your experience in this field so far! Even though I work in the guest services department, we do a lot of similar reference work which was interesting to read about. Your opinions on technology also strongly resonated with me. Since certain technologies have an addictive nature, this can have a negative influence on a person's in-person communication; however, it is increasingly necessary to be able to communicate using technology, thus creating a negative feedback loop.

    ReplyDelete

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