My friend Jean talked me into running for webmaster of our school's student chapter of the ALA (SJSU ALASC) -- mostly because I kept comng to her with a million ideas of things I wanted to do, like have more of an online community where you could see profiles of your fellow-students, a blog with an rss feed where we could share LIS-related information, profiles of alumni (like a 5-question-Fridays format), etc. But it turned out that everyone wanted to be webmaster, so the current chair asked some of us to run for other things.
You can read everyone's statements -- it does sound like it'll be a fun group to be part of! I'm hoping that Jean will stay on as the Treasurer or something (since most of us seem to have agreed to get involved to be able to work with her...)
Candidate Statements:
Chair: Catherine Cormier
My name is Catherine Cormier. Like many in the
program, I am a part-time student, and began SJSU SLIS
in Fall 2002. After graduation, I hope to be a youth
services librarian in a public library. As a future
public librarian, I am particularly concerned with
outreach and equity of access, and I believe that
public libraries have a social responsibility to
proactively reach out to those who do not even realize
they are underserved.
Although I am on the public library track, I am also
aware of the needs of students on other tracks such as
special libraries or archives, and I believe all
students regardless of career goals have much to offer
one another through their diverse life experience as
well as through their experience at SJSU. It is
through collaboration that we can all have empathy for
and benefit from both our shared and unique
experiences.
While I applaud the increase in entirely online
classes that have opened up SJSU SLIS to students in
the most remote corners of the state as well as to
those who work full time, I am concerned that the
erosion of classes with regular in-person meetings has
meant that students do not have the opportunity to
collaborate face-to-face and learn from one another in
a more informal manner. So that students whose
classes are entirely on-line have the opportunity to
meet other students, I hope to create informal
in-person gatherings once a semester in regional
cities throughout the state so that students who live
far from San Jose or Fullerton have the opportunity to
meet one another. I would like to invite recent SJSU
SLIS alumni to these meetings so that they can share
their experiences with new and current students.
Co-Chair: Laurie Briggs
My name is Laurie Briggs and I'd like to be your next
ALASC Co-chair. Although we may not have met face to
face, I have been one of your fellow students in the
SLIS program since Fall 2002. This semester, I've
been doing a practicum abroad and have realized how
very much I want to interact with more students in the
SLIS program. Like most of you, I am balancing
schoolwork, a job, family, and (sometimes) a life, but
still want to get as much out of the SLIS program as I
can. I believe that we students should be able to turn
towards our ALA student chapter for information and
activities that will make our experience pursuing an
MLIS a valuable one. Towards that goal, I look forward
working with other ALASC officers and members to make
that happen by communicating with other student
chapters as well as by talking to you. As ALASC
Co-Chair, my main goal would of course be to assist
the Chair in any way I can. I've been in a similar
position before, as an Under-Secretary General for UC
Berkeley's Model United Nations club, and enjoyed the
responsibilities and challenges that came along with
it. I look forward to the opportunity to devote my
energy (and I have a lot of it!) to a position that
requires a little bit of everything.
Web Coordinator: Mana Tominaga
My name is Mana Tominaga, and I am a first-semester
student in the MLIS program. I am currently working as
a freelance translator and webmaster. Most recently, I
worked on product reviews and was responsible for
online content as editor for Web Techniques magazine,
a monthly publication from CMP Media. Before CMP, I
worked at Fawcette Technical Publications and
DevX.com,
working on product reviews for Visual Basic
Programmers Journal, and managed all content for
DevX.com's C++ Zone. I learned about the importance of
user-friendly, accessible information architecture and
technology through such work, and I hope to transfer
such knowledge to librarianship. I am a creative,
energetic, friendly person and I live close to campus
and am online constantly. As such, I can contribute
extensive time and
energy to ALASC, and am eager for any opportunity to
help. Thank you.
Editor: Angie Miraflor
As the ALASC editor, I promise to maintain high
quality and ensure our students are well-represented
in publications. As a public relations major at SJSU,
I have experience in story pitching, writing, and
editing. I was the newsletter editor of a
campus-club, PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society
of America) in which I was a writer, editor,
photographer, and layout designer of this monthly
publication. Outside of school, I was part of the PR
Committee at the Sunnyvale Public Library, which also
created a patron newsletter. I hope to contribute to
the ALASC and the SLIS my skills in editing and my
enthusiasm to continue to make this club for our
students. Thank you for your vote!
Archivist: Ericka Gonzales
Ericka Gonzalez has been in attendance at San Jose
State University's School of Library and Information
Science since the Fall of 2003 semester pursuing an
Archival Studies emphasis. Prior to coming to San
Jose State University, Ericka attended Humboldt State
University where she underwent studies in English
toward her Baccalaureate degree. She held positions
as a Teacher across all grade levels and as an
Executive Director for the McKinleyville Chamber of
Commerce. She also enjoyed serving as a youth mentor
for parenting teen boys and writing columns for the
business section of the Times-Standard. Currently
residing in Stockton, CA with her husband and two
children, she works as a homeschooling mother and
intends on continuing her graduate studies toward a
Ph.D.
Ericka is a member of the American Library Association
and its student chapter, the Society of American
Archivists and its student chapter, the Society of
California Archivists, REFORMA, and the Association of
Moving Image Archivists. As such, she is in touch
with the profession and maintains a strong interest in
rare books and manuscripts, records, and moving images
archiving. It would be an honor for her to collect
and archive documents for ALASC and represent the
students in the Library Science program here at SJSU
as a liaison with other organizations.
Program Coordinator: Emily Reich
I am running for Program Coordinator because I would
like to work towards building a greater sense of
community among the SLIS students. Because of the
nature of the program, it is often hard to get a sense
of who our classmates are or to have any sense of
belonging to a bigger whole. I have heard many people
talk about how they would like additional ways to get
to know their classmates and to build up a network of
other students and alumni in the field. I am very
excited about the formation of regional salons and
would work to help coordinate them on an on-going
basis. I am currently working with ALASC and the
Alumni group to organize a trip to a San Jose Giants
Minor League Baseball game on June 13th (information
coming soon!) and look forward to working to organize
other events and programs as well.
Membership Coordinator/ Secretary: Nancy
Sheldon-Deegan
I have been a student in the SLIS program since the
Fall of 2002. During this time, I have come to value
the friendships I have made with others in the
program, but recognize how difficult this is given our
geographical challenges. I would like to be a member
of ALASC so that I can help my fellow students meet
others in the program and form these important
relationships. I also want to personally learn from
the experience and meet new people. In addition, I
was a Project Manager before entering the SLIS
program, and I was involved in student organizations
during my undergraduate days. I feel that I could use
this past experience to help in the continuous
improvement of the ALASC organization.
END OF CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Posted by Emily at May 13, 2004 09:12 AM