Emily Swan
Emily Swan is a graduate student from Columbia, South Carolina, pursuing her master’s degree in mass communication. Her interests include entertainment journalism, nonprofit public relations and health communication.
Posted April 12, 2017
By Emily Swan
Senior information science major Michelle Sprague is putting her skills to use as an intern at local software company TCube Solutions.
Sprague, an aspiring school librarian, sees her internship as an opportunity to expand her horizons and experience the role of information science in a different environment.
“I’ve never worked in a corporate environment before,” Sprague said. “I expressed a desire to do something with my information technology minor, so I thought this would be a good fit.”
Dr. Darin Freeburg, assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Science whose research interest is in knowledge management, connected Sprague with TCube solutions.
“Information science is about more than providing access to existing information. It’s about working with the implicit knowledge hidden inside people’s heads to create the solutions of the future," he said. "TCube provided Michelle with an opportunity to experience this first hand, and has given her an outlet for her wide range of technical and social skills.”
As a TCube Solutions intern, Sprague spends the bulk of her time keeping up with the company’s newly implemented knowledge repository. Her role is to document the company’s methodology to ensure that employees can carry out their responsibilities perfectly and consistently, every time.
She is also participating in research development activities - collaborating with employees on a research paper about new technology trends in the marketplace.
Sprague is a firm believer in the importance of information and knowledge management in all careers.
“Knowledge management is applicable to every industry that wants to run itself like a business,” she said. “It’s important in a knowledge economy, which we find ourselves in, to capture what the workers know so you can do it better the next time.”
She encourages anyone considering the information science field to go all in.
“Throw yourself into it, because it can take you so many different places. If you want to put your focus on engineering with an information slant, do that. If it’s teaching with an information slant, do that,” Sprague said. “Everyone can use information.”
After graduating in May, Sprague plans to continue her education at USC in the MLIS program.