Community Profiles: Alumni
Experienced MLIS Graduate Finds Her Way Back to Public Libraries as Director
“Working in the library and information science field is a wonderful mix of learning new things every day and serving the community.”
Kimberly Partanen
MLIS Graduate 2015
Castlegar, British Columbia
Graduate Erin Berman Uses Her MLIS Skills for Innovation
“I had really strong professors. They were always there when I had a question for them, and they provided challenging work for me to do. Most of them had actually worked in libraries before or were currently working in libraries, so they were able to give everyone real-world applications for everything.”
Erin Berman
MLIS Graduate 2011
San Jose, CA
Recent Graduate First to Receive Advanced Certificate in Digital Assets and Services from the iSchool
“I didn’t really know what pathway to choose, and I’m open to anything. I thought [the certificate] would be a great way to add to my resume and focus my electives. I was happy, of course, to find out that I could pursue both goals of mine at the same time.”
Rebecca Goodchild
MLIS Graduate 2016
Sacramento, CA
Senior Museum Coordinator’s Career Path Began Right at the iSchool
“There is a lot of flexibility in the program. You can study exactly what you want, or you can study a bunch of different things, and you’re still going to come out with that quality MLIS degree to start your career.”
Beth Atlas
MLIS Graduate 2013
San Francisco, California
MARA Graduate Robert McLauchlin Backs up His Experience With Information Governance Professional Certification
“Being in the information age, the records field is genuinely exciting right now. There are really no limits to what your career path can be. I’ll never run out of things to do, to investigate or implement.”
Robert McLauchlin
MARA Program 2011 Graduate
Calgary, Alberta
Dedicated Librarian Enriches Her Communities Using Skills Learned in Post-Master’s Certificate Program
“I’d been working as a librarian for 10 years and was looking for some continuing education that would help me gain new and innovative skills to bring back to my communities. It was an excellent decision!”
Vicki Heck
Post-Master’s Certificate 2016 graduate
King County, Washington
If You Build It They Will Come: Erin Berman Brings Imagination and Innovation to the Library
2016 Library Journal Mover and Shaker Erin Berman creates the programs and services her community needs.
Chris Burns and the Library Job(s) Project
San José State University School of Information alumnus Chris Burns gets a taste of library life, working several jobs at once.
Dolly Goulart Says Hello to Corporate Librarianship
“Our mission statement for the library is to provide actual intelligence to the employee base. At the end of the day, our purpose is to make sure that employees, for whatever reason they come to us, are smarter and more informed when they’ve left us.”
Dolly Goulart
Library Director, Qualcomm
iSchool Alumna (MLIS 2002)
San José State University School of Information alumna Dolly Goulart finds her niche in the world of corporate librarianship.
iSchool Community Profilees: Where Are They Now? (Part 2)
Part 2 in the Where Are They Now? series, checking in with past Community Profilees.
iSchool Community Profilees: Where Are They Now?
Catch up with with previously profiled students and alumni to see where they are now.
Tiffany Davis: A Fast Tracked Library Life
“One of the key things that has helped facilitate my career is good leadership and great mentors.”
Tiffany Davis
Director of Branch Services, St. Louis Public Library
iSchool Alumna (MLIS, 2011)
Kayla Marie Figard: A Visionary For Youth Services
“Leadership is enabling and inspiring others to come up with great ideas and do great work. It’s not about me, it’s about us as a whole.”
Kayla Marie Figard
Community Program Specialist, Belmont Library
iSchool Alumna (MLIS 2016)
Linda Harper: Hingham Library’s First Female Director
“When you talk about value for the degree you get at SJSU: it’s useful, it’s immediate, there’s no throwaway classes or things that won’t help. I couldn’t do what I’m doing now without all the education and experiences I had in the online classes.”
Linda Harper
Director, Hingham Public Library
iSchool Alumna (MILS, 2015)
An Academic Librarian Falls for Corporate Life
“The education you get from SJSU is all about what you put into it. Everyone that I know that dove in and got involved has only succeeded in life or in their career afterwards.”
Whitni Watkins
Web Systems Engineer, Analog Devices
Wilmington, Massachusetts
iSchool Alumna (MLIS, 2014)
Julie Winkelstein is the Change She Wants to See in Libraries
“My goal in life is for people to see that we do a lot of different things, so people can understand that social justice comes naturally to librarians.”
Julie Winkelstein
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
iSchool Alumna (MLIS 2005)
iSchool Distinguished Alumna Lisa Rosenblum Likes Big Library Systems
“Part of the benefit of education is to learn new things, even if you don’t think you need them for your future career. There are so many options now…and a lot you can do.”
Lisa Rosenblum
Chief Librarian, Brooklyn Public Libraries
Brooklyn, New York
iSchool Distinguished Alumna (MLIS, 1994)
Crystal Schimpf and the DIY LIS Career
“I knew how to do the training work, and I knew how to put the team together, and I knew how to work with the clients: it’s creating an organization that works that’s the hard part.”
Crystal Schimpf
Founder, Kixal Consulting
Pleasant Hill, California
iSchool Alumna (MLIS, 2007)
Brittany Austin: A Grand Pas to Success
“Two of my major motivations for going back to school for my MLIS were to build communities and to share information and resources within these communities. My overall academic goals were to take classes that gave me new experiences that I could not learn on the job at my current position in a college library.”
Brittany Austin
Becket, Massachusetts
iSchool Alumna (MLIS, 2014)
Alumna Vanessa Holm Reaches New Heights, With Help From the MLIS
“iSchool taught me great skills that I can apply to work, and made me more confident in the work I do. I would recommend the iSchool to anyone.”
Vanessa Holm
Ontario, Canada
iSchool Alumna (MLIS, 2015)