I hope I sent this to the right address. It is my first submission:
Hi all! My name is Elise Brown and I am an MSIS candidate graduating in May
2004 and getting ready to enter the field as a full-fledged professional. I
hope I can add some thoughts to this discussion regarding LIS student
participation in ARLIS NA.
How did I end up as a student member of ARLIS NA?
I was extremely fortunate to have input and advice from the librarians I
worked with and for at the Hirsch Library at the Museum of Fine Arts
Houston. In fact all 4 of the librarians at Hirsch and the Visual Resources
Librarian were at that time active at the chapter and national levels of
ARLIS NA. So even before I was accepted to the LIS program I knew that
joining ARLIS at both levels would be an important and essential part of my
education as well as developing into a professional librarian.
Just as others have commented in their posts, I had a strong interest in art
librarianship from the beginning. There are many LIS students who enter
their education not really knowing where they want to go. For me having the
mentorship and advice before I started my education really made all the
difference. I was also able to seek out ARLIS NA members working here at UT
when I arrived.
It is true we are limited in number, so the suggestion of a national student
chapter just might be the ticket. The development of a list serve and/or
website dedicated to Art and Visual Resources LIS students could provide a
way to meet and greet fellow future colleagues as well as unify this section
of ARLIS NA.
The other suggestion I have would be for active members who have an affinity
and passion for ARLIS to go to their local universities with LIS programs
and set up brown bags or informational seminars. As a student member I was
able to find other students here at UT also interested in art librarianship
and talk up ARLIS. I am thinking a lot of students just do not know that
there is a specialized professional organization to participate in.
I hope this contributes to the discussion and provides some more ideas. I
will also say that I am willing to participate in the development of a
student section and to promote student membership.
All the best
Elise J. Brown
LA I, Fine Arts Library
MSIS Candidate
School of Information
The University of Texas at Austin
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512-731-9882
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