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Embracing an Opportunity: LIS Students Across the Pond
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- Author(s) / Creator(s)
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Last summer, we chose to complete an LIS study abroad program offered by the University of Southern Mississippi and based on-site in the United Kingdom. This cross-cultural experience broadened our perspective of library services and challenged us to develop new ways of thinking as we immersed ourselves in learning first-hand about some of the oldest collections and institutions in the Western world.
There were two aspects to the program: comparative studies and independent research. The comparative studies component included private tours of historic institutions including the British Library and Conservation Centre in London and the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Time was granted at many of the institutions to delve further into the material for our independent research, which was also conducted independently at LIS institutions of our choosing across London. Our topics included censorship in eighteenth-century London; John Snow and the history of early information visualization; and the life and work of Marianne North.
This program was a remarkable opportunity and we hope to share what we learned with fellow students. In addition to an overview of the program and our research projects, we will discuss the differences we found between North American and the UK LIS culture; the best practices for contemporary and historic LIS institutions; and our perceived benefits of embracing international opportunities.
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- Date created
- 2019-02-08
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- Type of Item
- Conference/Workshop Presentation