School of Information Sciences

Get to know Alana Callender (MS '80), museum director

[image1-right]The research and organizational skills Alana Callender developed at GSLIS have contributed to her success in several departments of the college where she has made a career for more than three decades.

Where do you work and what is your role?
I work for the Palmer College of Chiropractic. It is the first chiropractic school in the world, and I am developing their museum. I also run the historic home of the second president of the school.

What do you like best about your job?
I like the flexibility, autonomy, and creativity. I never know from one day to the next what I will be doing, and the range of tasks is incredible. It is up to me to decide what the priority is at any given moment. I find the detail work soothing and the creative part challenging.

How did GSLIS help you get to where you are today?
I started at Palmer College thirty-one years ago as a librarian. I had held one other professional library job before coming here—working for the Department of Justice Library in Washington, D.C. I only stayed in the library here at Palmer College for three years, moving from there into the research department, then into admissions, before tackling my present role. The organizational skills, research knowledge, and attention to detail required in library and information science have served me well. I know how and where to find answers.

What advice would you like to share with GSLIS students?
Be open to possibilities. I still consider myself a librarian first, but I could never have predicted my career path.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I research and write as a hobby and as a job. I especially enjoy history and am the executive director of an international chiropractic history organization that publishes a semiannual journal. I volunteer at Habitat ReStore. I also like to take cooking and wine classes. And I have ten grandchildren if I need a distraction.

What’s next for you?
More of the same until I can't get myself into work. And then I'll do it from home. The advances in technology have brought so much information to my desktop.

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School of Information Sciences

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Email: ischool@illinois.edu

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