Journalism, Information and Communications»Student Profiles»Students»Nicola Semple
Journalism, Information and Communications
MA Library and Information Management
"A huge focus of the course is professional skills, such as professional and strategic search, building a collection and developing e-learning courses to name a few."
The course covers a whole professional field in really creative ways. This may sound like an impossible task, but they manage to do it brilliantly. Each module is a world within itself, and can be quite intense at times, but all are connected and come together perfectly in the end. If you know this is the general area you want to work in, the course covers enough of it that you will have a clearer idea of what you want to do by the end.
Skills necessary for the profession are a huge focus on the course. Professional and strategic search, building a collection (including metadata schemes etc) and developing e-learning courses to name a few. But I’ve found my critical thinking skills have improved during the course, especially through the consideration of evidence bases.
I joined the archery club early on in the academic year as I never did anything like that during my undergraduate degree and I regretted it. I go as often as I can and it has helped release stress around deadlines. It can be a great way to develop a better routine as a student too.
I’m due to start my placement at Manchester Central Library in a few weeks. I'll be developing a survey for impact analysis of ‘Storytime’ at Manchester libraries. It isn’t anything I expected I would be doing for a placement and involves much more responsibility than anticipated. I’m excited to see what impact this will have on my professional future.
Keep on top of your reading, break your work down into smaller chunks and attack it bit by bit. Organisation is the best thing you can do to ease stress. Don’t put things off until the last minute, it just isn’t worth the stress!
Other professionals in this field. Especially those with much more experience. Their advice can guide you through the unknown!
You quickly find your feet here, and there’s always something interesting just around the corner.