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Helping students find science resources comes naturally to Alexa Carter (\u201918). When she was an undergrad at the University of Tennessee, earning her degree in chemistry, she often found herself helping other students find information for lab classes. Her interest in chemistry merged with a love of the information sciences when she began looking for an elective to take.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a friend who was doing information science, and she thought, with my curious nature, I might like it. So I took a class as an undergrad and kind of fell in love with it,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
As her undergraduate experience started coming to a close, she began thinking about next steps. That elective information sciences course stuck with her, so she started looking at the master\u2019s program at the UT School of Information Sciences. It just so happened that the school was looking for students to be in a User Experience Assessment program, and she was hooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I initially set out to be a librarian, but looking back at the different interests I had while doing my chemistry degree, it went way beyond the laboratory aspect and aligned well with scientific communication and information,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
One of Carter\u2019s favorite aspects of the MSIS program was the wide variety of opportunities it gave her to experience different aspects of information science professions before graduating. The UXA program allowed her to follow an academic libraries track and study research techniques in that area, but Carter also completed practicums with the US Geological Survey and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The practicums] were probably my favorite part, and one of the things that drew me to the SIS program at the UT were the unique experiences you could do within science organizations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
At the US Geological Society, Carter helped update the agency\u2019s catalog and also explore what features scientists and researchers wanted the catalog to have. At the ORNL library, SIS alum Anna Galyon (\u201909) showed Carter what it is like to be a science librarian, both in the library and in the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the perfect introductory experience to librarianship within the sciences,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
After graduating with her MSIS, Carter entered into the North Carolina State University Libraries Fellows Program in Raleigh. She said it gave her an early career introduction to working as a science librarian in a larger institution producing a lot of research. That fellowship position turned into a full-time one as the Research Librarian for Physical Sciences and Graduate Services at NCSU Libraries. Carter said it\u2019s been a great fit because she gets to work with students and continue her research.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of research I am focused on right now is diving into the graduate student success stories and exploring how \u2013 especially at my library but at other institutions \u2013 the library can be part of that journey,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Some of her other areas of focus at her job are training students on how to teach their peers, and how to talk about their science to different audiences. She does this by overseeing the Peer Scholars Program, which pays graduate and post-doctoral students to conduct workshops in the library.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re able to get that teaching experience they may not otherwise be able to get, and they can teach their peers. It\u2019s really cool to see how graduate students can benefit and strengthen their skills,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n