ÉSIS Student: Paméla Bertrand

This February we are joined by Paméla Bertrand – bookworm, crochetier, and future information professional. Over to you, Paméla!

… knowledge holds so much power and the way we organize it really matters to how the knowledge is dispensed.

-- Paméla Bertrand

Salut! S’il te plaît, parle-moi un peu de toi.

Bonjour, je m’appelle Paméla! J’ai 24 ans. J’ai complété mon baccalauréat ès arts spécialisé en psychologie à l’Université d’Ottawa en 2020, un dénouement anti-climatique pour mon premier cycle tumultueux. J’adore la lecture et apprendre! De plus, je crée des vidéos YouTube à propos des livres que je lis, mais c’est en pause en ce moment pendant l’école. J’espère continuer au printemps!

What drew you to Information Studies?

My love of reading means I love the library too, a beautiful institution for literature and learning. In high school, I completed over 100 volunteer hours at my local branch of the OPL (for the high school graduation requirement)! My mom has often mentioned to me some program called a “masters of library science” and it always sounded great for me, but I couldn’t find any information on it and had to worry about finishing my undergrad first. After that, I felt a little lost, so my mother brought up the master’s in library science again, and I finally found out about this program, the new modern version!

Ta perception du domaine d’études a-t-elle changé depuis ton début?

Certainement! Ceci n’est que mon deuxième trimestre, mais maintenant je comprends comment ce domaine touche beaucoup d’emplois sans même que nous le sachons! Spécifiquement, le cours de l’information et la société a vraiment ouvert mes yeux/mon esprit pour voir comment une professionnelle de l’information peut se trouver n’importe où!

Qu’est-ce que tu trouves le plus intéressant dans les études de l’information ? Qu’est-ce qui t’intrigue le plus ?

Ce trimestre je prends le cours de Métadonnées et taxonomies, c’est très intéressant de voir les coulisses de comment se construit une base de données. J’ai créé ma propre base de données en Excel pour cataloguer ma collection de livres personnel et je m’amuse voir les choses que j’ai mis en place sans savoir le vocabulaire! Ce qui m’intrigue le plus c’est d’apprendre plus à propos du monde de la bibliothèque!

Qu’espères-tu faire après l’obtention du diplôme?

Idéalement, j’aimerais travailler dans une bibliothèque, être entouré de livres c’est un rêve devenue réalité. Mais je garde l’esprit ouvert pour voir où ce programme m’amène, c’est un vaste monde après tout!

Beyond classes, what do you enjoy doing? Do you find that it affects who you are as an Information Studies student?

I love reading, as mentioned, haha! But I also love crocheting, the occasional video games and skiing. I’m sure some of these affect who I am as an Information Studies student. My love of reading brought me to this program, and the world of crochet is so wide and has a very detailed website to find patterns called Ravelry.com! What I’m learning in these courses can be applied to my interests and it helps me retain information!

Tell us about a project you really enjoyed and/or are proud of.

Okay, there’s two, I can’t choose! I mentioned Ravelry.com above as a website that’s a database for crochet and knitting patterns. I wrote an assignment about Ravelry.com’s information architecture! And the other one is where I got to compare my book database built in Excel to personal information management literature!

Can you tell us more about how your courses have shaped your understanding of Information Studies?

I already mentioned how information and society showed me how information professionals can be found anywhere! Information Resource Discovery taught me about the mechanics behind searching which has me being more analytical about how I research.

Knowledge Organization showed me how knowledge holds so much power and the way we organize it really matters to how the knowledge is dispensed.

Gestion des ressources informationnelles (Information Resource Management) showed me how the management of information is important to the life-cycle of information.

What advice would you give someone considering entering this field?

Be prepared for a lot of reading in the program, I made an Excel sheet to keep track of my readings and my due dates. As for preparing for the field, I offer this, but keep in mind I am still new to this world and always learning myself: listen to your professors and take opportunities when they arise even if they seem scary! I still push myself to do both!