While skills and tools may be gained through classroom learning, real knowledge often only comes from experience. In this section, I describe how I obtained practical experience and interacted with professionals through directed fieldwork and service in professional organizations.

I was able to test my skills learned from coursework in professional practice by doing a directed fieldwork. In volunteering at three conferences, I provided a service to the professional community. While these two experiences are vastly different, they represent two major aspects of any career: the practice and the community of practice (in other words, the skills and knowledge to do the job and the people who do that job).

1. Directed Fieldwork [Summer 2002]
2. Volunteer, ASIS&T and CoLIS [Summer & Autumn, 2002]