The Role Of Mentoring Analysis
“The Role of Mentoring” Article Critique
Columbia Southern University
Training and Development
Professor Travis L. Smith
September 9, 2013
After reading the article, “The Role of Mentoring” by Michael Stephens, I felt that he had some valid points. However, I also believe that it was slightly unprofessional. He uses the abbreviations; like profs instead of professors and LIS (which I assume means Library Information Science). I understand that he’s catering to a particular audience; the people that read the Library Journal but, it can be informative to people that are in the school setting. I agree that mentorship would be a great opportunity for any student and even for the mentor. In today’s electronic world, you must be
able to keep up with the times. That’s why he states that mentors should be practicing librarians. However, he then points out the benefits for a professor to be a mentor: in that he can learn the new way of the world, i.e. social networking, from his students. The author, Michael Stephens, brings up the topic of the formal mentoring process and the casual mentoring process but, does not explain what he means by the labels. What constitutes formal and casual processes in mentoring? Why would one form be better than the other? He leaves me wondering these questions. I really think that the article could have used clarifications in this matter. I think that overall the article as a whole was informative. Assistant Professor Stephens was right on target for his potential readers. But, I wonder if they were left with the same questions that I had. Mentoring has been proven to be a valuable asset to the mentor, the mentoree and the companies or institutions that use them. He states that he gained a lot from having the opportunity to be both a mentor and a mentoree. This article may help someone who is on the fence about mentoring or being mentored in library settings. As he pointed out; they must first be less introverted in order to do the networking; to make it happen.
References
Goetsch, D. L. (2010). Establishing a safety-first corporate culture in your organization. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Stephens, M. (2011). The role of mentoring. Library Journal,136(15), p38-38.
Columbia Southern University
Training and Development
Professor Travis L. Smith
September 9, 2013
After reading the article, “The Role of Mentoring” by Michael Stephens, I felt that he had some valid points. However, I also believe that it was slightly unprofessional. He uses the abbreviations; like profs instead of professors and LIS (which I assume means Library Information Science). I understand that he’s catering to a particular audience; the people that read the Library Journal but, it can be informative to people that are in the school setting. I agree that mentorship would be a great opportunity for any student and even for the mentor. In today’s electronic world, you must be
able to keep up with the times. That’s why he states that mentors should be practicing librarians. However, he then points out the benefits for a professor to be a mentor: in that he can learn the new way of the world, i.e. social networking, from his students. The author, Michael Stephens, brings up the topic of the formal mentoring process and the casual mentoring process but, does not explain what he means by the labels. What constitutes formal and casual processes in mentoring? Why would one form be better than the other? He leaves me wondering these questions. I really think that the article could have used clarifications in this matter. I think that overall the article as a whole was informative. Assistant Professor Stephens was right on target for his potential readers. But, I wonder if they were left with the same questions that I had. Mentoring has been proven to be a valuable asset to the mentor, the mentoree and the companies or institutions that use them. He states that he gained a lot from having the opportunity to be both a mentor and a mentoree. This article may help someone who is on the fence about mentoring or being mentored in library settings. As he pointed out; they must first be less introverted in order to do the networking; to make it happen.
References
Goetsch, D. L. (2010). Establishing a safety-first corporate culture in your organization. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Stephens, M. (2011). The role of mentoring. Library Journal,136(15), p38-38.