Caroline Ziegler, MLIS student at the School of Information Studies, Louisiana State University
What inspired you to study in an LIS program?
COVID! I’d been working in a special collections library for a few years when we were all sent home for COVID. My primary responsibilities were physically working with materials. I had been enjoying my job, and was concerned that if I got laid off because I couldn’t fulfill those duties (since we weren’t allowed on campus), I would have trouble getting another library position without the degree. It was a scary moment. Fortunately nobody from the library was laid off.
From home, my boss taught me how to do descriptive metadata for our digitized collections. I really enjoyed the work! Soon after we returned to campus, I applied to the graduate school. Besides just wanting the degree, I thought there was a lot more that I wanted to learn outside the scope of my job, like cataloging, how to run the reference desk, and archival work. When my boss asked me what I wanted to do with the degree, I told him I wanted to catalog artists’ books and be an art archivist. I asked him if “Special Collections Art Librarian” was a thing and he said he’d never heard of it lol He was very supportive and helped me gain work experience in the areas I’m interested in.
LSU is the only institution in the state that has a library program and an archives certificate program (I’m doing both). LSU generously offers tuition exemption for full time employees as well as the possibility for putting 3 hours a week towards course work. I thought it was a smart idea to take advantage of that, and with two young kids, I don’t think I could have afforded the program otherwise, so I’m grateful for all of the different kinds of support I’ve received!
What parts of your program are you enjoying?
One of the things that’s tricky about my program is that it’s entirely online, so there are certain elements of handling materials or developing community with peers and faculty that I feel is a real shortcoming of an online program. That said, my favorite parts have been learning how to use tools like ArchiveSpace and OCLC Connexion. For me, that’s where I see the connection from theory to practice, and where you can put to use the work of making resources accessible and findable to patrons. I have lots of favorite parts of librarianship, and technical services is definitely one of them.
What are you most proud of?
As I mentioned, the hands-on component to my program is limited, so I kind of created what I wanted my experience to look like (with the help of my academic advisor and art professor!) I have been doing an Directed Independent Study in the Printmaking Archive on campus, where I’ve been able to bring it all together! I get to use my background in art (I have an MFA in Book Arts / Printmaking) and my knowledge of arrangement, description and subject headings. The faculty of the Printmaking Department are already benefiting from the usefulness of the work I’ve done. This is a 2-semester long DIS, so I’m excited to continue the work this spring. I’m creating a workflow so that another library/archives grad student (or a printmaking grad) can continue the work, since this is a growing collection. There are so many elements of this project to build from!
What are you most looking forward to in your future career?
I’m always excited for the next new challenge!
What’s something you’ve read recently that you’ve enjoyed?
My partner has a podcast about zines. I recently enjoyed December’s episode which is about using zines for preserving Louisiana French. It connects to my art background, my partner (obv), and my home area. It describes exactly how Cajun French disappeared from my family. And it champions zines for how they can really be used for anything from the everyday, playful and mundane to serious and important topics.
Do you have a website and/or social media account(s) that you’d like to share?
I don’t really have any professional websites or social media accounts, but check out my BookArts LibGuide if you want to see some of the artists’ books at my library!
Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?
Grad school has taken up a lot of my brain space, so I’m really looking forward to continuing my bigger art projects after graduation. I have a quilt top that’s been begging to be finished and a zine about socks on the floor to be made!