Get Involved during the Spring 2012 Quarter!

The Benefits of Joining a Student Organization     

SCALA would like to welcome new and returning iSchool students to participate in our organization during the 2012-2013 academic year. Whether you are new to the iSchool or have been enrolled for some time now, it is never too soon or too late to participate in a student organization. While your future professional success depends largely on how well you do in your courses, joining a student organization increases your chances of finding employment after graduation. An invaluable pre-professional opportunity, joining a student organization helps you establish connections with other library and information science students, learn more about how the information profession is developing, and share advice on how to best prepare for your future in the profession.

A Few Tips for Your First Term    

Participating in a student organization, of course, is just one of many pre-professional activities available to you. Although there is no guaranteed recipe for future success in the profession, there are several recommended pre-professional activities that all library and information science students should consider doing in addition to their coursework. For a brief overview, we recommend that you read the Hack Library School’s Library School Starter-Kit—The First Term. This step-by-step “How to” guide gives first-term library and information science students manageable goals to help establish themselves as future information professionals. We also recommend this guide to students who are further along in their library and information science education but who would like to become more involved in pre-professional activities.

Upcoming SCALA Activities    

SCALA officers will visit classes to introduce the organization and explain the benefits of joining during the first week of classes. If you are an online student taking INFO 515, 520, 521, and 522, you will see a post in from SCALA that presents the same information. We encourage participation from both on-campus and online students. Additionally, SCALA is hosting an online social event on Friday, April 13th from 7:00- 9:00 pm EST (4:00 - 6:00 PM PST). To join the meeting, visit http://bit.ly/SCALAevent. More events, both in-person and online, are in the works, so please keep visiting the SCALA blog for information.