FOUNDING PRACTICE PHILOSOPHY, 2017 A.D.
Professional Vision, (2017 A.D.)
As a professional digital informationist, I have armed myself with well-rounded tools to empower my community to know for themselvesAs a masters candidate of the library and information science program at the iSchool @ Syracuse University’s School of Information, I aim to increase my understanding of information practice. By investing in my professional degree from Syracuse, I am currently receiving some of the best training in the field from their top 5 Information studies program, so I will be prepared for a career that gives me quality skills for using digital resources to investigate new forms of data discovery, cultural preservation, digital analytics and measurements. In my research, I am building my subject knowledge of theological materials and my professional knowledge of the digital library field. By understanding the information cycle better, I am able to communicate the major issues affecting the information profession in a manner that is informed by a specialized experience of faith-based materials. By being well-rounded, I am also able to contribute informed solutions in any information community. I hope my studies will add significantly to the professional conversation particularly as it relates to religion and the information age. As I successfully achieve research goals, I hope to be a “library change agent” who can empower all types of people to access and constructively use information to create and inform their everyday lives and support their faith.
Professional Practice Goals, (A.D. 2017)
As an independent scholar, I have been building my knowledge of information access. Looking at the intersection between digital repositories at the community level and within faith communities, I have been researching Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. connection to India through the digital “King Papers Project.” This project for social good was sponsored by Morgan Stanley, as a collaboration between and academic institution: Carson Clayborne at Stanford University and a public institution: the King Center in Atlanta. This project exemplifies exactly what skill set I am hoping to build throughout my career. In my six years in the profession, I have learned how to support information needs of an academic and a public environment, but ultimately I have learned how to better connect patrons with resources and knowledge. I have passion for investigating how to better leverage community connections as useful resources for library institutions. From a research perspective, I hope to further the conversation about how faith intersects with the evolution of libraries in the information age and how it has informed and/or enhanced religious practices today. I hope to understand the information cycle for digital materials across the internet and beyond, particularly as it relates to religious texts. Through this investigation, I hope to advance the library practices, and shine a light on the unique experiences of faith and religious libraries such as seminary libraries, church libraries, theology department libraries, and private school libraries. Between then and now, I am interested in publishing another two articles, one being a strong book review. (So, send me your books!) And, I would like to master the art of databases and research guides and learn basic computer programming.
My Seven Beliefs about Libraries in the Digital Age, (2017 A.D.)
- I believe in digital literacy for all users of the internet and especially the mobile web and I want to know how to make it possible
- I believe in libraries as not only a repository of knowledge, but also a place of instruction in research and facilitation of information use for any type of community it serves
- I believe libraries support individual freedom by inviting community members in to share low-cost or free resources for the education, professional development and personal enlightenment of themselves and those around them
- I believe librarians who aim to support their communities in meaningful and relevant ways
- I believe in librarians as change agents on at the person-to-person level to the policy levels
- I believe in libraries as protected safe spaces for our communities to collect and freely exchange ideas
- I believe that librarians’ role in our societies is to be the keepers and protectors of knowledge
Crishuana & Company 