Wilson Mericle
Collaboration- The student effectively collaborates for the achievement of individual, organizational, professional, and societal goals.
Collaboration is an integral part of maintaining professional relationships. During my studies, I have had many opportunities to work with fellow students, UNCG library staff, and neighboring institutions. Not all collaborations run smoothly; however, handling issues in a professional manner helps in ultimately reaching the desired goal.
As referenced in SLO #3, I completed a practicum in music librarianship in the Spring of 2016. The typical practicum relationship is that of a mentor/supervisor and student. However, in this instance, I not only worked with the interim head music librarian, but also the professor of a musicology class, and the Harold Schiffman Music Library staff. I worked closely with the music librarian to grade assignments and answer questions when he was unable to attend class. I informed the music librarian and the musicology professor of what material needed to be reviewed, which students might need extra help, and when grades needed revision. I worked with the music library staff to give library tours and assist patrons to find and check out resources. Finally, I worked in tandem with the night manager to process gift items and decide whether they should be included in the collection. The practicum was highly successful thanks to the music librarian's trust in my abilities and the ease of communication between each party involved.
Unfortunately not all collaborations function as well as the one above. I discussed the needs assessment performed for the Jamestown Public Library in my SLO #2 reflection. The project started off well. We had our initial meetings to assign tasks and create the surveys. Our team member who was in contact with the library then distributed the surveys among the staff and volunteers, and then set up times for us to man a table in the library's lobby to collect surveys from patrons. Upon retrieval and analysis of our data we began writing our respective sections of the report. I unfortunately contracted a severe case of strep throat and fell behind on my writing. However, I kept my team and professor aware of my progress, and doubled my efforts once I was well and successfully submitted my material to team by our proposed deadline. Conversely, another team member was late sharing their sections with the group. Email was our only form of communication and this member's responses were rare. The work was finally shared for compilation, but was in need of revision. The team member initially did not want help editing their work, but the project's due date was fast approaching, so the team member eventually agreed to our help. We were able to turn in the project on time and received an A. Our ability to deal with the issues in a professional manner allowed us to continue to work toward and meet our common goal.