Before the Canadian Library Association’s (CLA) dissolution, mentors were provided by the CLA and paired with Dalhousie MLIS students. Meetings between professionals and students would take place informally; this could be over coffee, a tour of the workplace, attending library events together, etc. The initiative gave students insight into the professional world and allowed them to ‘’pick the brain’’ of their mentor.
In 2016, APLA offered to replace the CLA by providing mentors to Dalhousie students. However, the student association expressed a desire to remain independent from any organization. APLA remained eager to collaborate with students so a virtual chatroom was born.
After several test runs between group administrators, the forum launched in the fall of 2017. As of December 21st, there are 62 members consisting of library & information management professionals in the Atlantic Provinces and Dalhousie students. In early 2018, the forum hopes to add students from NSCC and, of course, more professionals.
Any member can start a thread and discussions can range from questions about research, current events, advertisements for events, etc. Thus far, students have been asking excellent questions and have given appreciative feedback when a professional has contributed an answer. Every question seems to have at least one person that can provide valuable insight and advice based on his or her professional experience.
The Google Group can be found (and joined)
here.
