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Please Note: This website is now superseded by the committee's Wiki. The latest information on the Mentorship Program, including application forms, can be found under The Cornell University Library Mentoring Program on the Wiki.
What do you
think of when you hear the word "mentoring"? A business relationship,
an apprenticeship, or some kind of "touchy-feely" organization?
You may be surprised to find that mentoring encompasses much more than these
traditional notions, and that there is a very active program here at Cornell
for librarians that matches seasoned librarians with newcomers and those approaching
the promotion process. If you're a junior librarian who has ever felt in the
dark about networking with others in the profession, getting published, or
just getting to know the campus and the local area, if you're a librarian
who's been here a while and would be interested in mentoring others, or if
you're considering a library degree this may be the event for you!
Join us for a fun, informal and interactive workshop. Participants in the
CUL Mentoring Program will be on hand to relate some of their stories and
observations, and refreshments are provided!
Program
History:
Since 1998, the
Committee on Professional Development has offered a mentoring program in which
new professionals are paired with more "seasoned" librarians and archivists.
To date, thirty-four people have participated.
The librarians
who are mentors are those who have been working in the Cornell library system
for some time and who are willing to share their knowledge and friendship.
We believe strongly that a mentoring relationship can foster a sense of belonging
at Cornell and help new librarians to succeed as professionals.
In the fall
of 2000, the Committee began to evaluate the library's mentoring program.
We were keen to determine what had been working well and what might need to
be tweaked for future and continuing participants. We sent surveys to all
current and former participants to learn from their experiences. A follow-up
focus group was then held to further mine participants' thoughts. In addition,
we gathered information about other library mentorship programs, reviewed
the mentorship literature, and considered the appropriateness of a more formalized
mentorship program here at CUL.
On May 3, 2002
co-chairs Angela Horne and Michael Cook gave a presentation on the CUL Mentoring
program at the 2002 Spring Conference of the Western New York/Ontario Association
of College and Research Libraries (WNY/O ACRL) in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario,
Canada. The presentation and bibliography are available below:
Guidelines:
- Any CUL librarian
or archivist, new or continuing, is eligible to participate in the Mentorship
Program, either as a mentor or a mentee. Non-professional staff members
pursuing a library science degree are strongly encouraged to participate
as mentees.
The Mentorship Program
offers three types of mentoring: Introductory, Promotion, and Publication/Research.
The first is intended for new-to-Cornell librarians or non-professional
staff pursuing library science degrees and is expected to last (at least)
six months. At the end of the six-month period, the pair can determine if
they wish to continue the relationship. Promotional matches are intended
to aid soon-to-be-promoted librarians and archivists preparing for promotion
review. Publication/Research mentorships are intended to help a mentee with
identifying publishable areas of his/her work and providing advice on how
to go about publishing.
If either a mentor
or mentee doesn’t feel that their pairing is working well, they should contact
the Mentorship Coordinator. The Mentorship Coordinator will evaluate the
situation. No-fault conclusions are endorsed.
Anyone interested
in participating in the Mentorship Program should contact the Mentorship
Coordinator.
The Mentorship Program
will seek to foster a mentoring environment by sponsoring “library mixers”
and other social events.
The Mentorship Coordinator
will be selected on a rotating basis from the membership of the Committee
on Professional Development.
- Additional guidelines (24 K PDF) from the discussion held in the mentorship program workshop in Nov. 2005 are available as well. These are subject to revision by program participants.
Goals:
- Ensure new librarians
feel welcomed and supported as they begin their Cornell careers.
Provide non-academic
staff pursuing library science degrees with support and guidance as they
embark on a career in librarianship.
Foster collegiality
by encouraging all librarians to participate in the mentoring program and
thereby share their knowledge and expertise with newer staff.
- Provide a mechanism
for assisting librarians through the promotion process.
Articles:
For more on the CUL Mentorship
Program, see:
InsideCUL,
May 2005
Kaleidoscope,
Volume 10, number 1 (pdf)
Applications
To be paired with a mentor,
or to volunteer to be a mentor, please complete the appropriate application:
- Mentee
application
- Mentor
application
Send your completed application
to the the Mentorship Coordinator:
Patrizia Sione
Reference Archivist
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
227 Ives Hall Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
If you have any questions
about the program, Patrizia can be reached at ps39@cornell.edu
or (607)255-3183.
Mentoring
Links: Associations
| Miscellaneous
Many library, archival,
and other information associations provide their own mentoring programs.
Numerous non-profit organizations have also accumulated useful mentoring
bibliographies.
If you have suggestions for additional sites for this list, please send
your ideas to Patrizia Sione .
Associations
with Mentoring Programs:
Association
of College and Research Libraries (ACRL):
The Research Committee sponsors a "research
mentoring program."
Society
for American Archivists (SAA) -- Their "year-round [mentoring] program
is designed for any SAA member interested in becoming or obtaining a professional
mentor."
Special
Libraries Association (SLA) -- Individual divisions provide mentoring,
such as the Business and Finance Division.
Miscellaneous
Mentoring Links:
Peer
Resources is
a mentoring metasite.
For
More Information
If you have any questions
about the program, contact Patrizia Sione at ps39@cornell.edu.
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Development
Cornell University Library, Ithaca, New York 14853
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Page last updated: November
4,
2004
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