Right: Pauline Lam (CityU Library)
Left: Gigi Wong (MIS student, HKU)
Pauline: Mentor
I moved back to Hong Kong last September after living in New Zealand for over 12 years and have been working as the Research Support Librarian at CityU Library. When Jo asked if I was interested to be a HKLC mentor earlier this year I immediately said yes. I did a one-year mentoring program with the New Zealand LIANZA Library Association after finishing my MLIS degree and am keen to share my experiences, as well as learn from a younger person.
In mid-March I was paired up with Gigi Wong who’s studying towards her MIS at HKU and we immediately clicked, discovering that we share a lot of common interests. We met up shortly afterwards and Gigi shared with me the assignments she enjoyed working on and I talked about my work experiences. I have a background in design and am particularly interested in information design (ID), an area Gigi happened to be also interested in. After browsing through some blogs and online resources, we decided to focus on website usability/user experience (UX) design – two topics that are becoming important in the library profession.
I have enjoyed using Slack, a digital workspace that enables people on a “team” to exchange information and communicate easily using various channels. When I suggested using this platform to collect resources and share learning experiences, Gigi was keen to try it out. Now we’re in the process of populating our Slack channels with interesting resources for more sharing and we both look forward to continuing the interactions well after the mentorship ends.
Gigi: Mentee
The year of 2017 is a very special year to me, as I officially became a university student and am continuing my learning journey in a brand new environment. Throughout the year, I have experienced quite a lot of challenges and have tried many new things. In early 2017, my diploma teacher asked if I would like to join a mentoring program. I thought it was a really precious chance to meet some librarians in the field and at the same time, it was a great program to mark the beginning of 2017.
In the March program meeting, I first met my mentor, Pauline. When I first saw her, she looked like such an elegant lady sitting on the sofa and waiting for me to say hello to her! Before I approached her I was really afraid that she would be a very staid and stern person, but after we chat for some time I found out that I was completely wrong. We shared a lot of common hobbies, such as reading. And both of us like reading about food!
Pauline introduced me to a communication tool called Slack, which I haven't used before. I feel like it is very like a blogging system and we can establish a channel between us to share information. I am looking forward to continuing sharing information with Pauline.