I was 22 sitting in a cubicle at the University of Miami’s Digital Library department updating web archival profiles for the Cuban Theater Digital Archive when it dawned on me that I liked the idea of organizing information, and more importantly, I liked the lifestyle that it could facilitate.
Here I was a Spanish and French major who had every intention of getting to know the world, traveling, living abroad while continuing my exposure the private sector as well as academia. I did not want to confine myself to a program or a career in just one theme/discipline, culture, or geographical location. In a way, I saw information studies as a universal gateway to all of the disciplines, languages and places I wanted to explore. Eureka! I knew then, that I absolutely had to give this field a chance…
So naturally (in a very illogical sequence of events), I picked up my suitcases and moved to France. I taught English for a year while auditing courses at Ecole Bibliothecaires- Documentalistes. Here, I was introduced to the field of Knowledge Management, which I ultimately decided to pursue. I decided to go to the only ALA accredited library school that offered a full specialization on knowledge management: McGill University’s School of Information Studies.
Through a series of internships in global NGO’s, corporate law firms, and academic institutions, I have proven to myself that this is the type of career that can take you anywhere. Much like IT, which is increasingly perceived as THE universal business enabling and facilitating department in most organizations, information studies- the discipline, cuts across all sectors (private or public), languages, regions and industries. Like it or not–your organization needs us to manage its information flows, intelligence about its competitors, in addition to researching and managing the external collaborations and innovations that could maximize your value and worth.
And, personally, I love the mobility and the flexibility that this specialization translates into my professional, cultural, and personal life.
