Professional Philosophy of Practice
The Information Science program has had a significant impact on my personal growth. The program has taught me that organization is the key to efficient and easy access to all types of knowledge. One of the main skills that I have gained from the program is knowing what questions to ask and the resources to access them. Throughout the courses I have taken in the program, I have gained a diverse understanding of information, technology, and knowledge-based concepts. The projects and deliverables we worked on used real-life concepts as representations, paralleling the rigor of real-life circumstances. The research conducted for my projects primarily involved database searches and accessing reference materials as resources.
As an information science professional, I believe in social equity, user access, and unbiased views on data and materials. These values are the foundation of my professional philosophy, which drives me to challenge the status quo and promote diverse perspectives. Understanding the users' experience and perspective is critical to collection development. By interacting and surveying different types of users, information science professionals can identify gaps in collections and data, which restricts resource access and equity (Saponaro and Evans, 83; Hill, 9).
Providing equitable service and resources to both end and technical users, of any ethnic, racial, gender, age, nationality, or sexual orientation, is crucial in promoting free thought and social justice (Nielsen, 73). As an information science professional, my duty is to help end and technical users search and recommend resources from multiple perspectives while encouraging them to analyze their data critically. To achieve this, I see myself as a "living resource" who can provide unbiased and bountiful reference services.
I realize that achieving equity in user access and perspectives requires incorporating diverse perspectives and multiple channels of information access (Nielsen, 72). This resonates with my past professional practices, such as tutoring, subbing, cataloging, or interning at a museum, where I encouraged users and others to access information while challenging them to consider equity and perspectives. However, I need to improve my gap and user assessment skills and techno-linguistic expertise to discover gaps and inequity in the system. (Ireland, 15). To achieve true mastery in data modeling and analytics, practice is required.
References:
Hill, R. (2010, November). The problem of self-censorship. School Library Monthly, 27(2), 9-12.
Ireland, S. (2017). For your information: Using information literacy in public libraries. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 57(1), 12-16.
Nielsen, W. (2019). Library services in Harris County juvenile detention facilities. Texas Library Journal, 95(2), 72-73.
Saponaro, M. Z. and Evans, G. E. (2019) Assessing user needs. Collection management basics (pp.69-90). Libraries Unlimited.