Posts tagged with MLS in Blog Student Stories

When I applied to the Michigan Library Scholars program to work for the “A Survey of Global Open Access Policies” project, I took it as an opportunity to learn more about a particular side of publishing and law that I didn’t know much about. As someone who is double majoring in Political Science and Creative Writing & Literature, I have always been interested in how the law interacts with people’s creations — regardless of whether those creations are novels, pieces of artwork, or video games. For some reason, though, I’d never considered works of research under the same umbrella. Through this project, I’ve learned about the importance of open access policies and how they fuel innovation and generate new knowledge.

Being a new transfer student, I was intimidated at first by the scope of the University of Michigan and its library, but when I heard that I could have the chance to work on an exhibit based on the Greek War of Independence through the Michigan Library Scholars Program, it was an opportunity I simply couldn't pass up. Not only was my experience one of learning, but also one of fun, as well as growth as a student and a professional.

A reflection on working in a pair on a multifaceted project in a remote setting as part of the Michigan Library Scholars internship.

Creating the "Hispanofilipino Literature: Translation as Repa(t)r(i)ation" exhibit as part of the Michigan Library Scholars internship.

During the summer of COVID-19, Michigan Library Scholar Yifei Yao contributed to the Askwith International Media Awareness Project by curating an online exhibit that highlights Asian film collections. This remote working experience provided an opportunity for Yifei to learn and grow. Through combining her passion for film and the new professional skills she learned, Yifei became more clear and confident in her career path after graduation.

The Michigan Library Scholars application jumped out at me back in February. I’m a rising junior studying economics & communications with a minor in Spanish, hoping to ultimately work for a non-profit one day. I saw the Askwith project and was immediately drawn to it because the majority of my classes this past semester were on globalization. Slowly I began to understand the necessity of being culturally aware and maintaining diversity in a world where homogeneity is often expected. Knowing I had been confined to my own “single-story,” or was truly only familiar with my home country, became an impediment to my perspective on the global community. The MLS program stood out to me then, and now, because I got to be part of a team of classmates and mentors working to end narrow-mindedness at UM.

Michigan Library Scholars intern Sophie Shao provides a glimpse into her experience of creating an animated video about the library's services and resources while working in a remote environment. This project underscores the importance of accessibility with a multilingual lens as well as the need for communication and problem solving in this new era of virtual work.

Dorothy Ma's Final Reflection Blog Post for the 2019 Michigan Scholars Program, the Increasing Accessibility to Digital Image Collections in Japanese Studies project.