Why This Course?

Ah, INFO 287: The Hyperlinked Library. I decided on this course for a multitude of reasons, but perhaps the most influential being that one of my last courses was made up of lectures by Micheal Stephens, enjoyed his vibes, and was very down to take another class with him. The second most influential reason being I was originally going to finish my last initial requirement course (INFO 204), but am in desperate need for room in my life to breathe and ended up deciding a lighter and more enjoyable course would be most appropriate for my needs at the moment (and this one fit the bill). As for why the course content itself spoke to me – it was a combination of the professor’s immaculate passion for the content combined with my curiosity for exploring possibilities that likely pulled me right in. Since I have jumped into my potential MLIS degree/path and library role(s), I have had my creative-problem-solving funny-bone tickled endlessly while working at and thinking about libraries – and I love a good brainstorm. I notice issues or room for improvement often with ease, and I’ve been doing so left and right. This course seems like the perfect fit to feed into that rabbit hole. Plus, it seems like a vital course during this time and age anyhow – thus, an opportunity not to miss. Not to mention I can never refuse a good time involving teachers promoting room for creative flexibility – I’m a creative, how could I ever say no?

Who Am I, You Ask – And You Expect Me to Know? 

So, it looks to me like I’m the only one in the course having fun with pseudonyms – a shock to me, why miss out on such fun. Alas, an outlier always, I expect it at this point – but this was not my guess. But, no matter. Who am I? I am an artist, a creative, an avid reader, a music lover – and many more things. I dabble in many mediums, with a focus on drawing (illustrating with pen & ink usually), have been working on collage and zines more lately, and hope to get around to both illustrating children’s books and getting back to printmaking. You can find my work on Instagram under the handle blackmyosotis – which I guess is also to say – Hi, my name is Alder. Normally what follows me introducing my craft is an unloading of book related content which I can not in the least avoid in any scenario given where discussion around books or sharing media is welcome. Instead, I’ll keep it brief and say: please talk to me about books if you have any desire, and the exchange or request for recommendations (of any media, but perhaps most especially books – and especially if queer) fuels my soul. Beyond that, I will briefly mention (since it will likely pop up repeatedly within my work this quarter), that I have been deep diving neurodivergent (especially Autism and ADHD) content for nearly two whole years. This has fueled a grand new special investment in accessibility, and perhaps a more user-experience pathway within my MLIS mapping and intentions. 

& What is MLIS to me?

As reading is perhaps my largest special interest to have social interaction as an actual and constantly desired component, it made a lot of sense for me to pursue library science as a degree, and consider the pathway of librarian. I’m not certain that’s where it will take me exactly, but it’s the current plan. As for pathways and interests within, I like creative problem solving, design, organization, considering needs and behaviors (I enjoy psychology and learning around these sorts of things), and a lot more…and now that even looks like how can I incorporate my learning and interest and perhaps advocacy on a broader scale for neurodivergence. I’m very interested in how this course is going to come together with all of these and more of my interests, wrapping into one big movement towards change, and the needs of now and the future within libraries and the focus of technology and more.

So there’s a lot to say, but that’s me in an itty bitty nutshell. I hope to find those of you I can connect with over the course! See you around.

– Echo.exe / Alder