Freshly Minted: Michael Nyby

July 17, 2022

MLIS Candidate, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University

Which information studies program are you attending?

I am currently enrolled in the MLIS program at Western University. I chose Western for a combination of reasons, including reasonable proximity to my home in Hamilton, the co-op work program, and the ubiquity of Western grads working in the Canadian LIS field.

What are your current classes like? Which is your favourite so far, and why?

I have been working on this program part-time, so I am only enrolled in two courses this term, Information Management and Information Policy. While I personally find the material for Information Policy more interesting, I think the skills learned in Information Management may be more useful in my professional career.

Since finishing my core classes, I have pursued an elective program concentrating on the data and information organization and management end of the LIS spectrum, and I have to say my favourite class of the entire degree program so far has been Database Management. I didn’t expect to enjoy it, but I found the process of designing a relational database and user interface both fascinating and fulfilling.

Is there one aspect of the profession that surprises you that you were not expecting when you started the program? What is it?

Going into the program, I did not expect to be learning much about Marxist philosophy, yet the core beliefs behind progressive and critical librarianship have a lot to do with Marxist theory. As a dyed-red-in-the-wool socialist myself, I found this area of LIS very engaging. It is very reassuring to me that the field that aligns most with my academic values also aligns well with my social and ethical values. I can only hope that other fields work more to develop critical theory into their academic curricula so workers in all fields can work to prevent social stagnation and decay.

What was it that initially drove you to librarianship?

I spent the first 15 years of my professional life as a classical musician, but for about half of that time I felt that my work was not contributing to society in a meaningful way. I became disillusioned with the profession as time went on and began to seek areas where I could make some sort of positive impact on society. I have always had a passion for research, and that aspect of my personality guided me to courses of study in which I could perhaps contribute to sociological research. As I learned more about LIS and the wide range of careers available within the field, it became clear to me that this was likely the best area for me to find both a serviceable career and personal fulfillment.

If you could work anywhere, and do anything with information, what would your dream job look like?

I would love to work with data. I find data librarianship absolutely intriguing. I’m also fascinated by earth sciences. If I had my druthers, I would like to work with field researchers in the environmental sciences, crunching numbers and compiling research data to help with the fight against climate change. Ideally, our field work would be in the arctic, probably working with ice core samples. Much of the job would involve trekking across rugged terrain and setting up camp in the most inhospitable conditions. Of course, we’d have to make some important trips to the South Pacific to collect control samples as well.

If someone were considering going to information studies, what would you advise them about?

Library school is about more than just working in libraries. There is a tremendous variety of areas of study within the LIS field, so keep your mind open and take some courses in areas outside your immediate interest. You may be very surprised by what you learn about the field and about yourself. I went into this degree expecting to learn how to catalogue library items and create metadata for research papers, but instead I’ve designed databases for research and institutional use and learned how to dig deep into government microdata sources. The program is so much more than I ever expected.

What do you think is the most important aspect of being an information professional today?

Awareness of how information pervades every aspect of our daily lives is key. As the digital world of information continues to supplant physical modes of communication, information professionals need to stay on top of new technologies and how they affect our day to day lives. One of the biggest threats to society at large today is the rapid dissemination of online disinformation. Government regulators struggle to control this trend, and private enterprises are incentivized to encourage it. Information professionals are best equipped to find ways to fight against the virulent spread of false information by helping to create new modes of content filtering, publishing standards, and programs for information literacy. In no small way, information professionals can help save the world.