Conclusion

These artifacts and reflections are not just for the faculty to assess my learning over the last two years. They have also caused me to evaluate it for myself. Each SLO reflection has encouraged me to look deeper into myself and how this program has changed me as a person and molded me into a librarian. In SLO1 Services I began learning about information services and why they are important to patrons and the community. In SLO2 Professions I started developing my professional philosophy and learned that the core values of service and access were critical values to me. SLO3 Resources demonstrated to me the ways in which information organization can affect access to that information. My SLO4 Technologies artifact gave me hands-on experience in using a technology to organize information, to promote searching and access, and to consider the various ways that information can be of service to the user. SLO5 Cultures taught me about engaging with a community to address what they need, not what I think they need. SLO6 Management prepared me for working in the field and ensured I had a knowledge base that would enable me to progress professionally. In addition to what I have learned from the SLOs, the program has taught me how important teamwork and leadership are in the library profession. I have had the honor of serving on three student organization boards in the last two years. This enabled me to fully immerse myself into the LIS community here at UHM. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to give something back to the program and feel I have had a more rewarding experience as a result.

I have learned so much over the last two years and, even though this feels like an ending, it is also a beginning. I am about to embark on a new chapter in my life and there is still so much I need to learn so I can continue to move forward. I have plans to learn some new technologies after graduation. Python would be very useful to know as a digital librarian, and I could use a refresher on SQL. I am also reaching out to organizations and offering to volunteer. I would very much like to gain experience with additional Content Management Systems and volunteer work seems like a good way to accomplish that. Of course, I am also job hunting, here in Hawaiʻi, on the mainland, and even overseas.

I have always had wide interests and now that I understand more about what being a librarian means, I realize this career is what I have always been moving towards. My interests are still just as varied as they have always been, although I have been able to narrow the scope somewhat, as least professionally. I was on the academic track throughout the program, and focused primarily on digital librarianship, but I also started to identify aspects of public librarianship that really appealed to me. I developed an interest in services for senior citizens, especially regarding their use of and access to technology. As I learned about the role public libraries take in today’s society, I realize that my experience working as a career counselor with first-generation and low-income students could be beneficial to patrons.

I think I would be very happy in an academic library, working with students and helping them achieve their goals. It is familiar and what I did previously, although in a different way. However, the LIS program has shown me that there are more definitions of what a librarian is than I ever thought possible so I cannot say for certain that I will end up in an academic library. I have learned, during my years as a military spouse, that sometimes our path does not always take us where we had planned, but it does take us where we need to be. I cannot wait to see where my path takes me next.