2017 – 2018 ACADEMIC YEAR
During the 2017-2018 academic year, Professor Christine Borgman was my Faculty Advisor. She was a wonderful advisor who encouraged me to think big with my career aspirations and who supported me continually throughout the year. Below is a summary of our advising interactions during my first year in the MLIS program.
Fall 2017 Quarter: I first met Professor Borgman at the MLIS Convocation along with her other advisees. I expressed interest in taking her IS 298 “Privacy in Information Technology”, and she encouraged me to do so. As such, I met with her multiple times throughout the Fall Quarter in her class and in her office hours to discuss my coursework, my classes for the Winter 2018 Quarter, and my general career interests.
Winter 2018 Quarter: I met with Professor Borgman intermittently throughout the quarter to ask advice on courses to take in Spring 2018. She also wrote many letters of recommendation for me for various scholarships and for job positions. She also consistently informed me of events happening on-campus (such as talks or workshops) that related to my scholarly interests.
Spring 2018 Quarter: I met with Professor Borgman throughout the quarter to review course selections for the Fall 2018 Quarter and for my summer plans. Professor Borgman also recommended that I take part in the Data Carpentry Workshop offered on-campus, which was a great experience. Additionally, throughout the quarter, Professor Borgman went out of her way to introduce me to people in the field with whom I shared scholarly interests.
SWITCHING FACULTY ADVISORS
Professor Borgman was retiring at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year, so I had to choose another faculty advisor to mentor me during the 2018-2019 academic year.
During the Spring 2018 Quarter, I spoke with Professor Miriam Posner to see if she would be willing to take me on as an advisee in the 2018-2019 academic year and she graciously agreed. Professor Posner (who works in both the Digital Humanities and Information Studies departments) seemed like the perfect faculty advisor for me as I am also pursuing my Digital Humanities Graduate Certificate. As such, she would be able to offer me insight into both worlds. Moreover, as I took IS 270 “Systems and Infrastructures” with Professor Posner in the Winter 2018 quarter, she was already familiar with my work and my scholarly abilities. Additionally, Professor Posner had already acted as a reference for me for a few on-campus jobs that I applied to, so we had already begun to develop an advisor/advisee-like relationship.
I informed Professor Borgman of my decision to be advised by Professor Posner in the 2018-2019 academic year (which Professor Borgman thought was a great choice, especially given my career interests), and I worked with Professor Borgman and Professor Borgman to submit the appropriate paperwork to make the advisor change official with the department.
2018 – 2019 ACADEMIC YEAR
During the 2018-2019 academic year, Professor Miriam Posner was my Faculty Advisor. Professor Posner has been a wonderful and insightful advisor during this year, who is always very responsive, supportive, and encouraging of my scholarly plans. Below is a summary of our advising interactions so far throughout my second year in the MLIS program.
Summer 2018: I met with Professor Posner over the summer to discuss my classes for the Fall 2018 quarter.
Fall 2018 Quarter: I communicated with Professor Posner (mostly via email) about some changes in the classes I planned to take during the Fall 2018 Quarter. I also spoke to her about my Winter 2019 Quarter classes, including the idea of doing an independent study course with her to work on my issue paper and the idea of interning for the NBCUniversal Archives, to which she was very receptive.
Winter 2019 Quarter: I communicated with Professor Posner during the quarter for my IS 596 “Directed Individual Study or Research” with her, in which I worked on my issue paper for my portfolio. I also discussed my coursework plans with her for the Spring 2019 Quarter.
Spring 2019 Quarter: I have been communicating with Professor Posner a lot this quarter about my plans for completing my Digital Humanities Graduate Certificate and the MLIS degree.
ADDITIONAL ADVISORS
Throughout my time at UCLA, I have had a few other unofficial advisors, including:
- David Cappoli, Director of Web Operations for the UCLA School of Law: David Cappoli is the Faculty Advisor for the UCLA Student Chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SLA), of which I am the President and have been involved throughout my time in the MLIS program. David is also an alum of the UCLA MLIS program and used to work for the Information Studies Department. As such, he and I have met many times throughout my first and second years in the MLIS program to not only discuss SLA-related topics and events, but to also discuss my coursework and my career ambitions. David has consistently introduced me to different people in the SLA Professional Association, and he has also written letters of recommendation for me.
- Professor Shawn VanCour, Assistant Professor of Information Studies at UCLA: I worked for Professor VanCour during the 2017-2018 academic year as his Graduate Student Researcher. As such, we often chatted about my coursework and my career ambitions. Professor VanCour also wrote me many letters of recommendation and offered to be a work reference for me for future jobs. Professor VanCour was a very caring and thoughtful supervisor and unofficial faculty advisor.
- Shira Peltzman, Digital Archivist at UCLA: I have worked for Shira Peltzman as a Digital Archives Program Scholar in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) since June 2018. During this time, Shira has not only taught me a number of digital archiving skills and software tools, but she has also allowed me to sit in on various archival staff meetings and hiring sessions which have been very educational. Shira has been very supportive of my educational and work goals in the library and information science field, and she is always open to offering her advice or trying to create and offer opportunities for me to gain more practical experience in the field.
Joanna Smith 