Master's of Science, Library and Information Science Curriculum Goals

This is the e-Portfolio of Danielle Oakes in pursuit of a Master's of Science, Library and Information Science at Dominican University.

3.) Navigate, curate, and create information across the spectrum of human records.

1. Design resources or tools that facilitate access to information.
2. Utilize resources or tools to manage information.
3. Evaluate resources or tools that facilitate access to and manage information.
4. Assess applicability of current and emerging technologies to information management.

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3a Design resources or tools that facilitate access to information.
This is a book review written for LIS 701 Intro to Library and Information Science taught by Karen Brown. One of the tools librarians use to recommend books in reference is book reviews. Many use applications (Goodreads, Library Thing, Shelfari) to get reviews of books and link keywords, but the content still needs to be available. Knowing what keywords or summaries librarians might need to search, I created a thorough book review for book, "The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu", showcasing different library goals and major plot points from the book. This review serves as a tool to facilitate access to information. This review could be uploaded to any book review application to aid users and library professionals in book selections.

3c Evaluate resources or tools that facilitate access to and manage information.
This is a usability study conducted for LIS 753 Internet Fundamentals and Design taught by Troy Swanson. The purpose of a usability study is to make sure that a website or program meets the goals of the library and also the needs of the users. In this example, I studied the Omaha Public Library and surveyed users from different age groups who had never visited the website before. This tool, the usability study, is a great resource for libraries allowing librarians to see things from a different perspective than their own, which often would be biased having the knowledge of where to find everything. This study serves as an evaluation of many available resources that librarians can employ to get the perspective of potential library website users. Usability studies are recommended for every library website. The website should be reviewed and studied again after every program implementation or update.

3d Assess applicability of current and emerging technologies to information management.
This is the final exam written for LIS 703 Organization of Knowledge taught by Maureen McCourry. Although this class dealt a lot with MARC coding, one of the components of the final exam was to write how MARC, Machine Readable Cataloging, is sustainable in libraries or should be replaced. I opted that MARC, although useful, is outdated in many respects and does not reflect the cataloging needs of the digital age or its users. This paper also goes on to talk about the use of HTML or XML as alternatives for metadata that can be read globally. This addresses the applicability of current technology as it relates to cataloging. This knowledge was expanded through the classes Advanced Web Design and Advanced Archives. This paper does not include specifics about programs like GitHub or Oxygen as valuable technological resources to the LIS profession, which would be added if this paper was written later in my academic career. The website you are viewing these goals on was created and coded using techniques and lessons learned in Advanced Web Design and also serves as an example of implementation of emerging technology for information management. For additional reading, you can view the code and the progress of how this site was made by clicking this link.

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