Published: July 23, 2015

Social media platforms like Pinterest can be a great way to gather helpful tips, keep track of essential resources, and find out about interesting events and developments in the world of libraries and information management. The iSchool has a lot of great Pinterest boards, including some that are especially helpful to new students.

Make the Most of Grad School
The Tips for iSchool Students board has valuable tidbits on how to get the most out of your graduate school education. There are pins about time management, how to get the most out of networking, and how apps and social media can help you be more productive—like the iSchool Pinterest boards, for instance.

There’s a great pin there from Hack Library School entitled Tips for New Students Looking for Library School Jobs (Starter Kit). While the article discusses on-site, in-person jobs, these suggestions can easily apply to online jobs and student assistant jobs—like this blogging gig. Be sure to follow the pin to read about how to set up a productive work environment, not just for internships as the pin suggests, but for all your computer work and schoolwork.

Being self-disciplined, scheduling yourself, and having a good work environment are keys to being successful in your coursework at the iSchool. Another great pin about procrastination (note to self) will help motivate you to get started on that paper, database, group project or discussion post.

Get to Know the iSchool
A few other boards prospective and new students should take a look at are the Meet Our Faculty board, the iSchool Spotlight board, and Bookmark This!, a group board that takes suggestions from students, alumni and aspiring experts for pins about emerging trends and resources in library and information science fields.

If you want to get to know the iSchool faculty better, then be sure to read about the impressive research that many of the iSchool instructors are doing to be at the forefront of library innovation and the best in information technology. Check out the Meet Our Faculty board and get excited to take classes and learn from these amazing people.

The iSchool Spotlight board features current iSchool students and alumni doing amazing things in library communities, archives and records management, and a diverse array of other information fields. There are also pins that talk about various awards given to the school and its faculty and students.

Bookmark This is a community board that anyone can pin to, and here the iSchool community offers great ideas for library programming and collection development and lists of educational websites, social media tools and tips for getting internships. I am a list lover and would happily wallpaper my computer, my bathroom and my dining room with these lists. Until my family agrees with my decorating concepts, I’ll have to make do with these awesome Pinterest boards. Note the TED talk by Richard St. John, “Eight Traits of Successful People,” which is all of seven minutes long and worth the look while you drink your morning coffee. It’s funny, entertaining and enlightening. Since Bookmark This is a public board, feel free to add any great information that you think other students and information professionals would find interesting. This is inspiration to me to be an information sleuth, just so I can pin and share with you all.

Connect with Fellow Students
Students often look for other ways to meet fellow students outside their class environments, and I encourage everyone (prospective students, new students, and students who’ve been with us for a while) to check out the iSchool’s Student Groups board. You can get a sneak peak at all the exciting ways that students are sponsoring events, being involved in the community, and building working relationships with faculty, students and information professionals.

Pinterest is also a way for newly admitted students to try out for scholarship funds. New iSchool students Beth Berlin Stephens, Katie Monroe, Janine Bauer, Carina Langstraat and Hannah Blatchford all used their Pinterest skills and passions to put together boards for the SJSU Director’s Scholarship for Excellence. There’s a ton of great inspiration to be had by perusing their pins and then following them on Pinterest. I plan to keep track of what these motivated students-to-be are getting into once they start the MLIS program this fall.

Whatever board you choose to follow or pin from, you’ve got a great variety of fun and fascinating stuff to choose from. Who knew social media could be so educational!

Related posts:
Shape Your Graduate School and Professional Goals with iSchool Pinterest Boards

New Scholarship for New Students, Using Pinterest

Get Off to a Successful Start with the New Student Checklist

Survive, Thrive and Feel Alive as You Learn Online

image courtesy of renjith krishnan