What have you learned about RADS through your social media project?
This project served as a great way to integrate all of the individual yet extremely interdependent lessons that I learned from each niche within the RADS office. This, in and of itself, is a lesson: that each niche within RADS does not operate in isolation, but builds directly upon the work that each of the other alcoves produces. Acquisitions decides what enters the collection, while cataloging determines how users will find it. This connection was solidified during the process of selecting two books for acquisitions with Isabela. I had to examine the gaps in the record in terms of the geographical background of the authors and select books for purchase based on this, and then catalog them from scratch (with Kate’s help) in order to make them the most accessible to readers. Similarly, I saw how cataloging and digital collections were connected, as the former provided the metadata (e.g. subject headings, summaries) foundation that was needed for my quasi test collection. The social media and outreach work that RADS (Susan) does and that I drew most directly upon for my project was the most obvious throughline of my work this term, but one that deserves deeper treatment here. Outreach is the public expression and synthesis of all the behind-the-scenes that I (hardly sufficiently) described above. My graphic novel display became a physical, public demonstration of all the behind-the-scenes work, and translated this work into community engagement. Yet, even though I found it extremely meaningful to work on the entire term and I was pleased with the level of engagement I observed from the Gould community, I still am not sure that such a display was able to communicate to the public all the labor that RADS does that is hidden to library users. So I would say that’s one thing I struggled with: the fact that, after a term of conversations with the wonderful RADS team, I wished my graphic novel display could somehow have paid greater homage to their critical role in the campus community (even though I know that was not the point of the project).
How has this project challenged you?
In terms of other challenges that I faced during this project, the first is that, while ostensibly the social media aspect of the project seemed, from the start, that it would be the aspect of the project that would be the most familiar to me, I found it challenging to condense all of the meaningful conversations, exercises, and readings I did into a few sentences and one photo. While I really did enjoy the process, and such high-level summarization will serve my long-term retention of my work this term (and as a sort of digital archive!), I found that my experience of RADS this term as a continuous stream of exciting work and experiences did not map well onto the somewhat artificial categorization of the term and project by week.
Secondly, I found it difficult at times to gauge what kinds of content would foster the most engagement from social media users. As the term progressed, I increasingly realized that the captions for the posts I had made earlier in the term were overzealous in the amount of information they tried to convey. Susan helped me address this, and reminded me that shorter, more accessible captions are shown to increase engagement. While this was a good exercise in putting myself in the shoes of someone engaging with my posts, I had to become much more selective with my words, for as interesting as the experiences I was having were, not everyone necessarily wants to hear all the details. To that end, there is a certain kind of way of speaking (or typing) that is more appropriate for a promotional social media post on a school/business account, as opposed to a personal post for friends and family, that I’ve hardly encountered before, but after some trial and error and trying to mimic the mood that Susan so skillfully cultivates on the instagram, I think I was able to improve.
One of the challenges I ran into while creating promotional materials like bookmarks and buttons was figuring out how to balance design, clarity, and space. Graphic novels often have rich themes and complex visual styles, and it was hard to capture that in a format as small as a bookmark or one pager without overwhelming it with text or imagery. I also had to think about visual hierarchy—what information should stand out, what should stay subtle, and how to make the design appealing without distracting from the books themselves. Another struggle was making sure the materials felt unified: the bookmarks, the buttons, and the display signage all needed to look like parts of the same collection, which required more intention than I expected.
The physical limitations of the display cart added another layer of complexity. Space was tight, so I had to be strategic about which titles to include, how many to feature, and how to arrange them so it didn’t feel cluttered or chaotic. The cart also had limited surface area for promotional materials, so I had to think carefully about what would actually fit without covering up the books or competing for attention. All of this made me much more aware of how display work involves negotiation, editing, and curatorial restraint—not just creativity.
What are some strengths you have gained during your work this term? How do you think your work this term will inform the work you do for the rest of the year?
Over the course of the term, I realized that ethics are woven into every corner of librarianship, often in ways that are quiet but incredibly consequential. Whether I was selecting materials in acquisitions, enhancing records in cataloging, or learning about algorithmic bias in discovery systems, I kept seeing how each decision reflects values about whose voices are included, how communities are represented, and what forms of knowledge are made accessible. I had always thought of library work as careful and methodical, but I hadn’t fully appreciated how deeply intentional it is—how librarians constantly weigh stewardship, equity, accuracy, and user experience. Working across RADS showed me that nothing in the library is ever completely neutral: subject headings, licensing agreements, call numbers, digitization choices, and book displays all shape librarian-patron interface. That realization has been one of the most meaningful parts of my time here.
My work in RADS will directly shape how I approach references over the winter because it has given me a much deeper understanding of how information gets into the system in the first place. In reference work, I’ll be able to learn how one might guide students not just toward “where something is,” but toward why it’s classified or described the way it is—and how those structures might help or hinder their research. I’ll be more attentive to gaps in the catalog, biases in subject headings, and how discovery tools surface (or obscure) certain materials. The ethical awareness I’ve gained will hopefully enhance my ability to navigate these systems critically.