Thomas Shane Somerville

GSLIS E-Portfolio
Reflective Essay

As an undergraduate pursuing a degree in History, I realized in my third year

that I had no real direction or ultimate goal in mind for my education. Multiple
meetings and conversations were required with my advisor to come up with a
potential solution, an internship in the Special Collections and Archive of the library.
I had spent time in the archive briefly when writing a couple of my papers, but had
never taken a detailed look at the operations and offerings of the department. The
experience culminated in a presentation that featured the donated artifacts of an
original homestead from a local family, and it sealed my decision to pursue a career
in archives. I soon applied to Dominican University, and once I attended orientation I
knew that this program was going to be a defining moment in my life. I knew that
my love for history and research would be empowered by the curriculum reviewed
that night, with the goals and outcomes of the program preparing me for a
rewarding career ahead.
The first goal of the GSLIS program is to develop a professional identity that
is committed to the core values of library and information science. To do this in the
classroom, the core values must be explained, explored and performed in a wide
variety of assignments. Ethics in the workplace has always been a pillar of my
professional life, and it is also a pillar for LIS professionals. In a number of classes I
had the ability to write about ethics for information professionals, and LIS 770:
Management of Libraries and Information Centers generated some of the best
discussion posts I had on the topic. The nature of this course allowed for a
managerial perspective on this issue, and had not been one I considered before I
was enrolled. This opportunity allowed me to grow my own viewpoint of ethics and
develop a more complete perspective that will serve me in every job I have moving
forward.
Another great opportunity I had to develop my professional identity occurred
at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in early 2015 that Chicago
hosted. This was my first convention as an information professional, and I tried to
soak up as much as I could and take advantage of the great networking opportunity.
An actor, LaVar Burton, from one of my favorite television shows growing up was on
hand Sunday to present on his lifelong mission for childrens literacy advocacy. In
every place that I have lived, I have always volunteered my time at libraries to read
to children because it is so important to develop a lifelong love of reading, and to
make that connection with someone I admired already was so empowering. It
reinvigorated my desire to get back out on the volunteer scene when I had
admittedly been falling off.
An assignment in LIS: 770: Management of Libraries and Information Centers
allowed me to really understand the essential nature of information and the work
required to articulate this by universities and institutions. The assignment called for
students to choose a library and examine their strategic plan, followed by providing

feedback and analysis. My goal is to work in an academic library, so I took the

opportunity to choose the library of a place I hope to work one day, the University of
Texas at Austin. The library system at UT is frankly enormous, and their strategic
plan has to cover a massive amount of information that will dictate the decision
making and attitudes of hundreds of employees. It was a challenge to investigate,
but by doing so it allowed me to see the hard work and dedication that goes into
creating a strategic plan as well as just how important the facilitation of information
really is. I felt a strong sense of community reading through the plan as well, as I
was now able to relate to the goals and understand their origins.
I had another opportunity to increase my understanding of the essential
nature of information by way of an assignment given to me in LIS: 745 Searching
Electronic Databases. Our task was to consider what databases are offered to LIS
students, and then suggest changes based on what we saw and what our personal
preferences were. I saw this as a great opportunity to familiarize myself with more
databases than I had up to that point, and hopefully even make a difference in the
process. We were informed that all of our proposed changes would be taken into
consideration and that really motivated me to use a keen eye when developing my
choices. The experience turned out to be quite introspective, as I had to examine
how I used information and what nature I preferred to have it presented in. I had to
take presentation, usability and of course the quality of information available in
these databases. When I ran the available databases up against those criteria, I
developed my own view of what was most important to the average LIS student.
The results of this manifested itself in a write up as well as an infographic that were
submitted for grading, and I left the experience with a greater understanding of the
importance of information and ways it is accessed for students.
Another goal of this program is to navigate, curate, and create information by
way of designing tools to facilitate access for users. One of my favorite assignments
in this program was given to me in LIS 880: Knowledge Management, and it allowed
me to create my very own tool. For our final project, we had an exercise in
taxonomy; students were required to create a system of organization for a thrown
together group of artifacts. In addition to logically sorting and grouping the artifacts,
we had to create a faceted worksheet that contained our custom identification
system. The artifacts we were given included Word documents, PowerPoints,
meeting minutes, presentations, proposals and more, all needing to be classified for
quick and easy user access.
In order to accomplish this, I created a 5-digit identification system that
would assign a unique identifier to every artifact in the collection. Each digit of the
system corresponded to a limiter, staring with the Department, Group, Format, and
then deviating based on what the subgroup needed (e.g. Author, Title, Year). For
example, one of the proposals from the assignment had the ID number CD214,
translating to (C) Proposal, (D) Individuals, (2) PowerPoint, (1) Alf A. Romeeo, (4)
Lawn & Order. By using this code, someone could quickly find the artifact in
question. This assignment really opened my eyes to the types of tools and
experiences that awaited me as an information professional, even though it was on

a small scale. My mind finally grasped how to think like an information professional,
and the realization served me well throughout the rest of the program.
In addition to creating tools, students also need to be able to evaluate them.
LIS 775: Intro to Archival Principles, Practices and Services afforded me the
opportunity to do just that. Students were tasked with evaluating an archive found
on the internet. I chose The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social
Change digital archive. The King Center contains a massive amount of personal
correspondence, news items, speeches and more all dedicated to Civil Rights
Movement championed by Dr. King. With so much information, the archive would
need stellar presentation and usability, as well as intuitive controls to limit search
results. It passed all of these tests with flying colors, but the issue I had with the
archive was a steep learning curve. Some guesswork had to be done with some of
the tools, and it stood as an area in need of improvement.
My favorite experience during this program showcased my ability to translate
theory into practice, yet another goal of this program. As a part of LIS 775: Intro to
Archival Principles, Practices, and Services, I had the opportunity to take part in a
40-hour field work assignment at Adler University here in Chicago. This opportunity
turned out to be the most frightening and most rewarding experience the program
provided me with. When I arrived for my first day, I was shown the enlarged broom
closet that housed their archive and records and told that I would be on my own to
make sense of the records found therein. Some previous work had been done to
create a very rudimentary organization system, but nothing close to archival best
practices. Adler University had never had a dedicated archivist before, and it was
now my responsibility to use the theory from class to make positive impact for an
institution in dire need.
Going into the experience, I honestly was expecting more a mentorship
opportunity with an archivist present to ensure I was doing the right things and
coming to the correct conclusions. When I realized I was going to be on my own,
and results I produced used immediately by an institution, I began to get cold feet. I
was thrown into the deep end and it was time to show that I could actually swim,
but Ill be honest and say that I had my doubts. However, the 40 hours flew by, and
when I left Adler University I was so proud of how I performed under that pressure.
While I ran out of time before being able to organize all of their records and create
corresponding finding aids, the results of my work were gratefully accepted and put
to immediate use. I continue to be very grateful for that opportunity and I know that
I will be a more competent employee because of it.
The last goal to discuss for the program is to effectively communicate and
collaborate to deliver, market, and advocate for library and information science.
One of my proudest moments stems from my personal experiences advocating for
childrens literacy, including reading to children at public libraries in my former
home town as well as in Chicago. These opportunities are also great at
communicating the importance of the library as an institution to children, to
hopefully create lifelong readers and visitors, and it also gives staff a great
opportunity to educate parents on the myriad of activities offered. I am always

surprised at how often parents never knew the most basic things about the libraries
I volunteered at, and these experiences allowed me to educate them about
everything we offer.
One outcome designed to achieve this goal is writing to achieve common
understanding. The best paper that I wrote during this program comes from LIS 880:
Knowledge Management, and we were allowed to choose our own topic. This
allowed me to really think about what I had learned throughout the class, and pick a
topic that I could write at length at without fatigue. I chose to discuss the necessity
of strong leadership in organizations implementing new forms of knowledge
management. A large variety of issues can crop up with these new forms, usually
technology related, and a strong leader can help set the example needed to get
these technologies off the ground. The tools can only work if everyone is on board
and promoting them. I expressed this belief eloquently over 12 pages and earned a
grade I could be proud of to wrap up the course.
When I came to Dominican University, I only knew that I wanted to work in an
archive so that I could bring joy to another donor family. I had no idea the amount of
possible careers that would open to me with my Masters Degree in Library and
Information Science, nor did I expect to develop in interest in so many different
fields of study. My focus remained on archives, and my courses certainly reflect
that, but now I have an appreciation for Knowledge Management, Reference, and
Cultural Heritage. I have also learned to create websites with HTML, navigate and
provide others with information from hundreds of databases, catalogue, and above
all else live up to the expectations of a library and information science professional
with integrity and enthusiasm.
There were stretches of my undergraduate experience that left me feeling
hollow and without purpose. My grades and attendance in class began to reflect
this, and my final transcript still bears the scars. My decision to pursue a
professional degree helped me out of my slump, and the Graduate School of Library
and Information Science at Dominican University empowered me to be the best
student and budding professional that I can be. By taking note of the goals and
outcomes of this program during orientation and throughout my classes, I made
sure that I would be prepared to enter the workforce armed with a stellar education.
I will always be thankful for my time spent at Dominican University, and will be
forever grateful to the faculty and staff that helped guide me along the way.