1. MENTORING THE 21ST
CENTURY INFORMATION
PROFESSIONAL
Kimberly Silk, MLS
Data Librarian, Martin Prosperity Institute
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto

2. The Situation
 The information profession is changing constantly
 There are more career choices than ever before
 As president of the Faculty of Information Alumni
Association, I’m talking to lots of students
 The students have lots of questions; they have a lot
of uncertainty, apprehension and skepticism about
the profession

3. The Questions
 How do students decide to enter an “information”
school? And, which one?
 How do they find out about all the different kinds
of careers out there?
 How did we do this, when we were entering
“library” school?

4. More Questions
 What can we do, as practitioners, to help students
make informed decisions about their career paths?
 How do we change our profession for the better?
 How do we “be the change we want to see in the
world”?

5. One Answer
Mentoring

6. The (beginnings of a) Solution
 Collaborating with the Faculty of Information at the
University of Toronto to develop a course to help
transition about-to-graduate iSchool students to the
work force
 Focus on practicing in the information profession
 Offering perspectives from a wide range of
practitioners
 Type of info environment
 Length of time in workforce
 Educational background

7. Format
 Developed an 8-week course delivered by the
iSchool Institute
 Each class was 2-3 hours in length featuring speakers
from a wide range of information environments
 33 speakers donated their time to participate
 Cost to students was $75; iSchool Dean Seamus Ross
created a bursary to offset the true cost of running
the course
 15 students enrolled

8. 1st Class: Why are you here?
 Many of them didn’t have a specific idea why; many were arts undergrads who
didn’t know what to do next; “I flipped a coin”
 In one case, a student already had a non-ALA accredited degree
 Several came to the faculty with an interest in the degree, but not in a conventional
library environment
 Most could not envision what they wanted to do as a practicing information
professional
 I asked the students to think about what their dream job might be --- not so much as
an end goal, but to ensure they plan a career direction for themselves that is
consistent with what they really want in life, and to remain true to themselves.
Because we all know that happiness in our work plays a HUGE role in happiness in
life

9. Speakers and their workplaces

10. I asked the Speakers to describe:
 Their educational background
 Their career path so far
 How (if?) their career paths had changed in comparison to
what they thought they might want to do when they began
their degree, when they finished their degree, now, and
future
 Their goals up to this point and where they saw themselves
down the road
 Their views on leadership: their style and philosophy, and
what new information professionals need to know about
leadership.
 Their “dream job”

11. What the Students Said
 “I often left feeling inspired, but there were times I left feeling anxious. However, I
feel that this anxiety is nonetheless positive, as it allowed me to reflect on why I was
feeling anxious and what steps I could take to dissipate this feeling; often, I found
myself referring back to what had been said by the various professionals
throughout the course.”
 “I would have liked to get some more concrete advice on how to apply to position
(e.g. where to look for positions, how to send in blanket applications) and how to do
well in an interview.”
 “There are lots of great things we can do with our degree, and being the Faculty of
Information, we must accommodate the Museum people as well. We must design the
panels so we meet as many interesting people as possible, as many people to
represent the various angles within the Faculty as possible, and to meet as many
leaders within both the MI and the MMST professions as possible. “

12. More Student Feedback
 “I figured out I could do more than be a simple librarian. I even learned that there
are many opportunities for people with our credentials, that are not advertised to
people in our school, as the employers don't know about our degree. This course
taught me how to CHANGE our language into THEIR language, thus making MIs
sellable to a 'new' constituency.”
 “This was essentially a giant professional colloquium or conference broken up, and
considering how expensive most of those are even for students to attend, $75 is not
much to ask for this opportunity.”
 “I was happy to discover that my unease about the unpredictability about emerging
into the rapidly changing info professional world was shared by the speakers. My
generation is on the cusp of a technological revolution wave that is rapidly
redefining libraries, museums, and info institutions' public and private services, and
we need to be ready to handle it.”

13. What the Speakers Said
 “Great class - where was this when I was in library school?”
 “I was struck by the students questions about how to get a job. Each speaker should
perhaps address what he/she thinks is the best approach in today's job market.”
 “This sort of information is what the graduates need and it is good for both them
and the employers who will be hiring them. They get too much theory and not
enough of what happens in the real world. The profession needs to move forward
as the world around us changes and they need to hear about the changes before
they get out there.”
 “Not sure if the class currently includes 'road trips' or hosting the class at a local
employer”
 “I suggest the use of blogs or opportunities for students to engage with panelists
virtually (perhaps with some constraints so as not to overwhelm speakers)”
 “Was glad to see people from outside the Library community speaking.”
 “From what I could tell, the students seemed to really enjoy it and it met a need that
has been there for some time. It would have been great to see more students there.”

14. Next steps
 Tweaking the course to run again in fall 2011/winter 2012
 Establishing a method to maintain contact with the 2011
grads – what do they end up doing? How can they be
mentored, and offer mentoring to those in school?
 Create a formalized mentoring program; begin with new
grads, but expand to all career stages.
 Figure out how to connect with potential information students
to help them learn about our profession

15. Why it’s important
Because we all benefit from mentoring,
and being mentored.
And, because it’s our responsibility to
create the future of our profession.

16. THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Kimberly Silk
Kimberly.Silk@rotman.utoronto.ca
Kimberly.Silk@gmail.com
@kimberlysilk