Michelle Keba

"... the breadth of experience I gained while at the iSchool has helped me throughout my entire career."

As the Senior Medical Librarian for the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, I am responsible for managing my department’s budget, personnel, and resources, providing research services, and teaching sessions on evidence-based medicine. I also engage in my own research as a faculty member and have conducted studies on information literacy misconceptions and the role of curiosity during the research process. I think that having a strong background in instruction and reference services helped prepare me for this role and that the breadth of experience I gained while at the iSchool has helped me throughout my entire career. While at the iSchool, I studied to become a school librarian. However, I also gained experience in public, academic, and special libraries through a variety of jobs and internships.

My advice to current iSchoolers would be to take advantage of all the opportunities available to you through the iSchool and gain as much practical experience as you can. Working as a GRA at PCL, as a Connected Youth Intern for Austin Public Library, and as a Copy Cataloger for the Seminary of the Southwest opened my eyes to different types of librarianship and prepared me for my first professional position after graduation.