Week 9

  I have been working extremely hard at my professional internship this past week since it has gotten quite challenging. This past week and a half, I have worked around 29 hours. This is because I'm not just compiling information for the public and staff sites for the Marin County Free Library, but doing the larger tasks of posting the information to those sites, learning to use the sites including creating content like library items and websites, and basically managing the sites. It takes much work and a lot of time to learn how to utilize public and staff sites for libraries, especially as an administrator in training who must create and manage information, as well as experience lots of trial and error.

   More specifically, I have been learning to use and manage the Research and Learning section of the public site. After I had compiled information for two social media subject guides, both a general guide and a parent's guide, I have had to learn how to create these subject guides in the Research and Learning section of the public site, which includes creating taxonomy (social media subject terms like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, You Tube, and Websites), but also placing library items like books and also websites into the taxonomy fields I created. For instance, I created a taxonomy section for the General Social Media Subject Guide simply called "Facebook." I then had to learn to take library books about Facebook and also websites about Facebook and place them into the "Facebook" section of the General Social Media Subject Guide, and I did the same for the Parent's Social Media Subject Guide.

  To do this work, I used a guidebook on how to manage or utilize the public site, which has instructions on how to add things to the site such as titles, websites, and databases.

  Although the work is quite complicated to describe, perhaps too complicated for a simple and brief blog post, I am essentially learning to do what all library staff and administrators must do, which is utilize and manage the library's public site.

  I have so far worked a total of 95 hours this semester, and have 40 required hours left. I know I have more challenging assignments ahead that will take much time to learn, so I have no more worries about filling up the required hours for this 3 unit internship. What I have not mastered yet is making decisions about what types of blog posts to make on the public site, but this internship certainly requires much trial and error, which may be frustrating, but I am glad my site supervisor wants me to take much time experiencing trial and error and work slowly in order to learn how to do things, rather than pressuring me to get the work done.