My time at ÉSIS has been very busy, but also very rewarding. Being able to shape the development of a new graduate program has been a truly unique experience. As founding president of the student association, AÉSISSA, I had the opportunity to be involved in many exciting student activities, and I have made some great friends along the way.

I am now working as an Information Specialist at Industry Canada’s Library and Knowledge Centre, where I completed my CO-OP placement. I have wonderful memories of my time at the School and I look forward to the opportunities my degree has opened up for me.

— Melissa Cheung, MIS ’11

I chose the “course-based” option for my MIS degree with the management of information services specialization. So I did not do a CO-OP placement, or complete a thesis. Even so, I managed to keep pretty busy! I really enjoyed most of my courses. In particular, I really valued my directed readings course because it allowed me to work for one semester on a research subject that really captured my interest. I've been hired as a reference librarian for the fields of science, data and geospatial data at the University of Moncton. I look forward to answering even more reference questions, doing collection development and working on special projects. I can credit my classes at ÉSIS and my part-time library research assistant position for helping me gain the skills and the confidence necessary to pass through the interview process.

— Julie Marcoux, MIS ’11

I met and made some truly wonderful friends amongst my cohort, and I found it really interesting to always be in a classroom of people from a variety of educational backgrounds! Our classes always had stimulating conversation and offered many different perspectives on a given issue.

I chose the course track because I felt that - having already had the experience of writing a thesis - I could benefit from immersing myself in all of aspects of information science. I wanted to be sure that I had taken “a little bit of everything” so that my knowledge base was well-rounded and that I didn’t have any gaps in my education.

I am currently enrolled in a PhD program in Musicology at Université Laval, and will be a part-time teacher at the School of Music (uOttawa) in the coming academic year. My goal is to become an academic music librarian, and continue my musicological research in country music. My dream would be to be able to combine my passion for research and music librarianship with musicology.

— Jada Watson, MIS ’11

The best part about my experience at ÉSIS was the CO-OP placement work term: it was a wonderful experience for me! It helped me to gain a deeper understanding of my field by applying the knowledge from the classroom into a real work situation. I also attended two information studies conferences during my MIS studies. This experience made me realize how important it is for graduate students to network and participate in other professional activities beyond the classroom.

My plan after I graduate from the MIS program is to find employment with an information management organization. I also hope to enrol in a PHD program in Information Studies so that I can teach in the exciting field of information studies.

— Channarong Intahchomphoo, 2nd-year student in the MIS CO-OP option.

My experience at ÉSIS was terrific. I found the courses stimulating, and appreciated the opportunities to connect to the larger profession, via guest speakers and conferences. I was in the Policy stream, and chose the thesis option.

At the moment I am pursuing contract work and I hope that my thesis topic (public library service for the aging population) will lead to some interesting projects, so clearly there is a direct connection between the work I did in the program, and career goals. At some point I hope to work in the public library system, but possibly not full time- I have done the 9 to 5 routine for three decades, and enjoy having flexibility in my schedule!

It’s hard to identify one single thing that was the best part of the experience, but I can say that I really enjoyed the mix of students and all the varied experience they brought to the discussions, and I have to say that I felt tremendous support from the School’s administration throughout my time in the program.

— Wendy Robbins, 2nd year MIS student in the thesis option.

I started working in the field of Information Management as Records Management specialist in 1999. Since then I have been continuously updating my skills and knowledge to further my education. I have enjoyed the program and feel that it has broadened my horizons as an Information Management professional through a good exposure to Library Services. There are many parallels between Records Management and Library Services (i.e. subject analysis and classification, access and storage of physical documents, migrating users to the electronic environment, etc.). As a full-time employee, I am always looking to apply the knowledge gained in the program to my work environment. I believe that accreditation will greatly increase my chances of successful entry in the Library Services stream should I decide to steer my career there later.

— James Wilkinson, part-time MIS student.