MLS Goal -- Medical Librarian

Written 10/26/2006
Having worked in libraries for nearly twenty years, it is my hope that I have contributed something to the field already, if nothing more than furthering the rank and numbers of library staffers. I think, though, it is the other way around here; that I have received more than I have given from this very unique and diverse science. It is with this in mind that I write this statement of objectives, striving to give back to the field by furthering my knowledge of library and information management and what possibilities it presents for our future.

In general, the library has changed to reflect the explosion of the digital age. Processing, storing, transmitting, and displaying collections are embedded within a library’s ability to use new and innovative technologies. Libraries struggle to find ways to fund the hardware and software needed to remain abreast of technology and attract staff with the technical expertise to use it. The quest in the future will be how long it will take to get research into the hands of those that need it or how to submit research, search collections, retrieve information and relay it to information seekers. Discussions will continue about electronic journal archives, proxy access, storage and transmission of digital collections, and podcasts, wikepedias, RSS feeds, and blogs will find their way onto our library websites. And while the principles of the structure of librarianship may not have changed in the last twenty years, certainly the library services offered and the work performed by library staff has changed.

My first job in a library was as a bookshelver when I was in college. I was drawn to libraries because I loved to read books. After my four daughters entered school, I returned to the library to work, and eventually spent nearly ten years at Central Missouri State University (now the University of Central Missouri) with their Interlibrary Loan Department. Currently, I am the Information Resource Specialist for the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. My main responsibility is the care of our electronic collections (journals, books, databases) from license agreements and proxy access, to teaching our clients how to access and use them.  I have found this work most rewarding of all the library work that I have accomplished.

In the future, I would like to contribute to the forward path libraries are making by using the skills and knowledge I have already gained, and enhancing this with the knowledge I hope to acquire by obtaining a Master’s degree in Library Science. I am committed to promoting libraries by furthering my understanding of the definitions of information retrieval which our culture inspires, and by being willing to allow for and develop creative change.  I cannot help but wonder if in the future, bookshelvers will be obsolete in libraries. But, it is not important to me if there are shelvers working in the libraries of the future, what is important are that libraries are still here, available to all, bringing answers to the information seeker.