While thinking about a theme for this semester's newsletter, I was struck by how many distance students SIRLS has, how many SIRLS students have summer internships or conferences, and how many SIRLS alums now have jobs overseas. Therefore, this issue is focused on these travel stories. Whether it's California, New York City, Puerto Rico, or Africa, SIRLS students definitely get around!
This summer, I had the honor and pleasure of attending the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA as part of the ALA Chapter's Student-to-Staff Program. As the representative from UA, I worked with the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) for about 2-4 hours per day in exchange for free conference registration, hotel, and a meal per diem. I received a travel grant from the Graduate Professional Student Council (GPSC) to cover my plane ticket, so it was basically a free ride. Can't beat that!
My duties for OIF included fairly menial tasks, such as setting up the room for speakers, running paperwork around, getting lunches for the task force meetings, and making sure our sponsored vendor had change. However, it was great getting to know all of the people involved in ALA from an administrative standpoint and I made a lot of good friends with the other student-to-staffers. More information on the Student-to-Staff program can be found at HERE and I definitely encourage you all to apply when the time comes.
Now, buckle your safety belts and enjoy your travels through the rest of this issue of BiblioTech!
Stephan Elizander Przybylowicz is a second-year Master's Candidate, DigIn Certificate Program participant, and BiblioTech Newsletter Editor for Fall 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment