Florida State University School of Information graduate student Michael Rodriguez presented three times in three days at the 2014 Florida Library Association (FLA) Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., on May 7-9.

Rodriguez’s first presentation at the poster session on May 7 developed from an assignment in Professor Nancy Everhart’s Instructional Role of the Information Specialist course. Students selected and digitally curated web-based social, technology and other resources that would enrich their library and information studies skills. Rodriguez’s poster was titled, “Creating and Curating Digital Professional Learning Networks.”

On May 8, Rodriguez presented a Lightening Round Event (five minutes, 20 slides advancing automatically every 20 seconds) titled “Coaching Undergraduates to Shrink Wikipedia’s Gender Gap.”  The presentation discussed his collaboration with a Florida Gulf Coast University faculty historian on a class assignment requiring undergraduates to team-write Wikipedia articles on Latin American gender history. Rodriguez served as an embedded technical consultant, teaching the students how to write, code, and upload pages to Wikipedia.

In his CyberZone tabling on May 9, Rodriguez demonstrated and explained Poll Everywhere, a free online instant polling service.

Rodriguez is pursuing a master of science in library and information studies at Florida State.

“The FLA conference was an amazing opportunity to share my work with future colleagues while building relationships with smart, energetic librarians and future movers and shakers,” Rodriguez said. “I was particularly excited to personally meet several dozen faculty, students and alumni from my own MLIS online program. The overall experience was stimulating and empowering to the nth degree.”

FLA develops programs and undertakes activities to earn it a leadership position for all areas of librarianship.

For more information on the School of Information or the MLIS program, visit ischool.cci.fsu.edu.