On the brink of graduating, student Indri Pasaribu took the advice of her academic advisor and enrolled in our school’s new INFO 298 Virtually Abroad course, taught by Dr. Paul Christensen. She wanted to gain as much practical work experience as she could before initiating her post-degree job search. The two projects she took on during the semester gave her that and more.

Similar to a virtual internship, in which students work remotely while gaining on-the-job experience with a real information organization, Virtually Abroad links students to organizations with an international mission.

This semester, Pasaribu worked with the International Association of School Libraries (IASL). Pasaribu helped promote  their annual conference, which will be held this year during August in Bali, Indonesia. “I’ve been contacting school librarians to let them know about the conference,” said Pasaribu.

Having grown up in Jakarta, Indonesia, Pasaribu took a personal interest in this project because she could see herself at some point working in Indonesia or conducting indigenous librarianship work in an international context.

Her passion for indigenous rights also piqued her interest in the second project during the Virtually Abroad  course. “I’m writing a literature review on oral history projects in North America for the S’Klallam Tribal Library in Washington State, which wants to conduct an oral history project in their own community.”

Pasaribu currently works for First Nation Summit in British Columbia doing records management. She has also worked in a volunteer capacity with Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, which provided her with some understanding of indigenous rights issues and what indigenous librarianship means.

She hopes that these experiences, along with the other SLIS courses she’s taken, will lead to a career working as an information professional in an international context. Pasaribu, who currently lives in Vancouver, BC, will graduate in Fall 2013. To read more about her experiences in the MLIS program, check out an article about her on page 2 in the Fall 2012 Circle of Learning newsletter.

Influential Classes

Internships: “Internships have been great because of the practical application.”

Professional Affiliations

American Library Association, American Indian Library Association, Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), Circle of Learning

Best Conferences

“My Circle of Learning scholarship allowed me to go to the ALA annual conference, Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries & Museums (ATALM) conference, and International Federation of Library Associations conference.