Shift #16 - Career Panel Webinar, Weekly Check-in Email & Collections Research
Friday, June 7, 2024 | 12-4:30 pm CST/1-5:30 pm EST (4.5 hrs)
Details
Michelle Hurt, student/intern
Jennifer Gonzalez, practicum supervisor
This is a screenshot from the main slide of the Career Panel webinar. It was hosted by the Library of Congress's Internships and Fellowships Program.
Today's shift was a long one but it was very informative! I started my afternoon by joining a webinar hosted by the Internships and Fellowships Program where they had several people give a talk about their career in the federal government. It was a panel-format where the host, Antonio, would ask a question and different panelists would answer. The first question I noted was people's career path and how they ended up in their current position. One person named Grace Morie (Librarian, U.S. Special Acquisitions Section), told us that her background is in history and theater. Her love of research from both of those fields led her to going to library school and interning at a textile museum. From there she learned the behind-the-scenes work of technical services and gained a student position at the National Gallery of Art which eventually led to her current job. Another panelist, Bill Kellum (Deputy Director, IT Design & Development) spoke about his background in economics and how he started working in IT during the first wave of jobs related to the Internet. His expertise actually lies in project management - getting things done - instead of IT, and that he has gained a lot of experience in knowing which experts to approach to take care of different projects and issues.
This is a screenshot during the Q&A part of the webinar. I was recently part of an event at my job where we had an executive speak about their career and I thought of the question of professional risk.
During the last part of the webinar, interns had an opportunity to ask questions. I submitted a question to the panel regarding a professional risk they took and the outcome of that risk. One panel member Malcolm Hawkins (Chief, Administrative Services Division) answered my question and explained that for him, switching jobs was a risk. He originally came from the Air Force and later, the Department of Defense. He hadn't ever thought about being part of the Library of Congress but when a position opened up, he applied. Since it can take a long time for the federal government to process applications, he forgot he had applied in the first place and was quite surprised when he was notified for an interview. He encouraged everyone to apply for a position that interests them, and to not worry about what is happening right now since it can take a long time for applications to be processed. Another intern asked the panel how is it working in a remote or hybrid environment in the federal government. Different panel members stated that in-person interactions are still good and that you cannot replicate that kind of environment, especially since work issues can sometimes be easily resolved when you walk down the hall and speak to someone on your way there. However, another person said that with such a diverse staff, remote work can really be the right thing for many. I'm so glad I attended this webinar, because I'm thinking through job decisions and career goals right now and I have a lot of questions to ask myself in these coming months.
The second half of my shift was focused on working on my intern bio and submitting that plus a picture, and letting Jennifer know about our approved topic and how we feel about it - this was all part of our weekly check-in email due to Jennifer. After I completed my intern bio, I also spent more time researching the "A Century of Lawmaking" collection. I was still under the second category of Statutes at Large and looked at the American State Papers sub-category. This collection has 38 physical volumes of Congressional legislative and executive papers between 1789-1838, with topics ranging from Indian Affairs and Foreign Relations to Military Affairs and Claims. It is currently being digitized for the Law Library and I can't seem to find an archived version of it. Hopefully the digitization will be finished soon as I'm interested in seeing the papers on foreign relations and public lands. I finally finished the second category of Statutes at Large by viewing the U.S. Serial Set (which are various papers, journals and documents by the House and Senate and also from other departments and external organizations like NGOs). One example document I looked at was "The Alaska Railroad: message from the President of the United States transmitting the report of the Alaska Railroad, covering the period from July 1,1924, to June 30, 1925". This was interesting to look at and I saw that it outlined economic processes and reductions in expenditures. The budget was reviewed so that the railroad could eventually be completed, taking into account present and future operations and maintenance costs. I also viewed a document that outlined the proceedings of a statute being unveiled and presented at the Capitol Building. I ended my shift by moving on to the 3rd category under the "A Century of Lawmaking" collection by viewing the Journals of Congress, and within it, I viewed the House Journal and the Senate Journal.
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