ASIS&T Student Chapter Welcomes New Membership Director

iStudent Blog

Published: November 13, 2017

A conversation with SJSU ASIS&T Student Chapter’s newest executive committee member, MLIS student Lauren Frazier.

lauren_frazier_100x100.jpgPlease join me in congratulating MLIS student Lauren Frazier on her new appointment as the Membership Director for SJSU’s ASIS&T Student Chapter! I chatted with Lauren to get to know her, find out more about ASIS&T and her plans for her new role.

Introducing Lauren
Lauren started her iSchool journey in the fall of 2016 and plans to graduate in summer next year. She works as a Library Clerk at the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library in Southern California. Her focus is on public librarianship, and information literacy and instruction. Lauren shared with me why students should consider joining ASIS&T, “if you’re a student who is more interested in the IT side or the information science side, ASIS&T is great for that. Another great thing about ASIS&T is that it’s really focused on research, so if you’re going to go into research after you graduate or if you’re interested in it while you’re in the program, it’s a really great chapter to join.”

With a background in theater as a Stage Manager, Lauren is no stranger to organization and management. She felt these skills would be valuable to the ASIS&T student group in the Membership Director role. Coupled with her interest in technology, Lauren felt compelled to join the group and submit for the position on the board. She’s just now getting her feet wet, but in this role, Lauren will be planning recruitment events, and managing the member roster and email list, among other duties. Lauren has hopes to connect the student group with the SJSU Student Research Journal, which she believes is a “really great opportunity to get published and experience interacting with editors.”

Joining ASIS&T and serving as the Membership Director is obviously going to look good on Lauren’s resume. I asked Lauren what other professional development opportunities she had taken advantage of during her time at the School of Information. Lauren replied that “peer mentoring in INFO 203 is an amazing opportunity to take what you’ve learned and put it towards real people. You grade their work, give feedback, basically be a teaching assistant and work closely with the professor.”

Get to Know ASIS&T
ASIS&T, which stands for the Association for Information Science and Technology, is a professional association that has been around since 1937 and today has over 4000 members from around the world. San Jose State University has its very own student chapter of ASIS&T, aiming to connect students with one another and professionals in the field. 

Why Join?
SJSU’s ASIS&T Student Chapter provides opportunities for professional development in a supportive and encouraging environment. This includes connecting with students with similar interests, attending events or even serving in an officer position.  Members also receive a subscription to Bulletin, a bi-monthly magazine with news from the field, and the Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology. If that’s not enough, you’ll gain access to JobLine, a searchable database of jobs, as well as a host of discounts.

Check out these other great posts to learn more about ASIS&T and the benefits of joining a student group:

Get Involved and Build Your Professional Network
Lauren had some good advice for students weighing up their professional association options, she said, “look at what association lines up with what you are interested in[...]don’t be afraid to go to the webinars, and don’t be afraid to make suggestions[...]the more student input we have the better we can make the programming because we know what people want out of their membership.” And finally, “take advantage of the student groups and the student group price while you still can!” Before you know it, you’ll be a graduate and joining associations as a fully fledged LIS professional.

Don’t forget these other iSchool student chapters:

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