Being Web Administrator for GLISA - Guest Post

I fell into the web administrator position at the end of the fall 2015 semester. A friend and classmate, Nekeeta Borden, was the secretary; she and Raquel Williams, the web administrator, were both graduating, and Nekeeta wanted me to apply for one of the positions.

I worked full time when I was an undergraduate, so I never had time to hang around campus and get involved with my classmates and school organizations. I was excited at the thought of being more involved as a graduate student, but with TWU being the best choice for my educational goals, I realized that I would never really have the on-campus experience of being an involved student. In fact, living in Memphis, TN, meant that I would not even be able to attend a meetup, the Texas Library Conference, or graduation.

Even with that in mind, I wasn't too sure that I wanted to be a GLISA officer. Taking two classes a semester while raising a young son and balancing volunteer work seemed to be all I could handle. Before I knew it, Nekeeta and the current president Christine De Angelis were emailing me to say that the web administrator position was still open, and Raquel was sending me a list of duties. I felt pretty unprepared for the position, even though I have experience blogging and interacting on social media.

After the first GLISA meeting, I was hooked. I felt so comfortable with my fellow officers, and it was a lot of fun to find interesting articles to share on the GLISA Twitter and Facebook, because I knew I would get feedback and new thoughts on these articles from my classmates. I started the GLISA blog and invited students to share guest posts about classes, conferences, and thoughts on librarianship in general.

The point of GLISA is to provide a community for SLIS students and be a source of information and resources when it comes to school, the job search, and professional development. But GLISA is also a really fun organization to get involved with. As web administrator, my duties include:

• Posting GLISA and SLIS information on Facebook, Twitter, and the blog.
• Sharing interesting and thought-provoking articles on Facebook, Twitter, and the blog.
• Keeping up with GLISA's Blackboard for students not on social media.
• Writing blog posts and inviting submissions from current students.
• Writing two articles a semester for the GLISA newsletter.
• Participating in monthly meetings via Blackboard Collaborate.
• Providing opinions on matters like GLISA merch, grading scholarship submissions, and more.

The time commitment, the thing that originally scared me away from a GLISA position, is completely manageable. The monthly meeting I previously mentioned is the only major commitment; the rest of the duties are done as I have time - and since the program is online, I found a lot of time to do a little GLISA work here and there while completing schoolwork.

I highly recommend the position of web administrator to anyone who loves finding interesting articles to share, sounding off on social media, writing blog posts, and being enthusiastic enough to get other people to chime in and get involved. Apply for a position, or nominate a classmate today!


Allison Renner, who lives in Memphis, TN, is the current GLISA web administrator. She graduates in August 2016 - so sign up to fill the position NOW!