What I Learned as a Graduate Assistant for the Journal for the Association of Information Science and Technology
What I Learned as a Graduate Assistant for the Journal for the Association of Information Science and Technology
Cait Brady
In May 2023, in the JMA Wireless Dome (affectionately known as “the dome”) I stood in a line of my peers waiting to hear my name called as I walked across the stage to receive my undergraduate diploma. As I walked back to my seat, carrying my brand new diploma book, waving to friends and family in the crowd, I never expected my journalism degree would lead me to a job as a Graduate Assistant/ Intern at the Journal for the Association of Information and Technology (JASIST). Now, three years and a master’s degree in library and information science later, I’m writing about what I learned – and still wondering about — as my time at JASIST comes to a close.
With minimal knowledge of the ins-and-outs of academic publishing, I came into the role with the perspective of an author. I was used to pitching stories and writing articles, now I was in a position to see behind the publishing curtain and really understand what goes into running a journal. While many of my responsibilities involved maintaining documentation and running records of everything our team does for the journal, such as notes that cover our meetings and individual weekly assigned tasks, Editorial/ and Advisory Board tracking spreadsheets, and comprehensive guidebook – to name a few – I conducted additional research projects that led me to a deeper understanding of AI use in academic publishing, peer review ethics and biases, and marketing.
—In the past three years I gained invaluable knowledge of the publishing landscape that I can translate into any branch of publishing I might wish to pursue in the future and forged connections with other information science professionals—
Through that research, I developed an interest in marketing, specifically as it pertains to academic journals. I was intrigued by the juxtaposition between marketing tactics for popular publishing (like fiction books or magazines) and the marketing plan in place for JASIST. The most glaring difference was the saturation, everywhere I looked I saw social media posts, ads, and articles promoting different books or media outlets, but I had to search for information on JASIST and other similar journals.
JASIST’s marketing plan relied heavily on email campaigns and often targeted an already established audience, but our team felt we were missing opportunities to engage with audiences we hadn’t reached yet. While we explored different ways to use social media platforms to our advantage like LinkedIn or TikTok, we ultimately didn’t have the resources to experiment with them. Although we couldn’t implement many new marketing tactics I was constantly challenged to think of different strategies and grow my knowledge of the journal marketing landscape.
Every new task assigned to me at JASIST was a learning experience. Some challenges I quickly overcame and mastered. However, others continue to puzzle me to this day. Mail merge is one of them. No matter how many tutorials I reference, email accounts I make, and different computers I use I have never been able to complete a successful mail merge for JASIST. I even enlisted the help of my boss, Editor-in-Chief of JASIST, Professor Steve Sawyer, and after many frustrating attempts we came to the unfortunate conclusion that our University technology and email accounts do not support mail merge. While my repeated trials and attempts didn’t have the desired results, in theory I know how to execute a mail merge. So, in the future with a new email account and hopefully a computer that supports it, I’m confident I will eventually solve the puzzle of the mail merge! We’ll just have to wait and see.
With that being said, I’m so grateful for the educational and professional opportunities JASIST has opened up for me. In the past three years I gained invaluable knowledge of the publishing landscape that I can translate into any branch of publishing I might wish to pursue in the future and forged connections with other information science professionals. I never expected my academic journey would lead me to where I am today, but I can honestly say I wouldn’t be here without JASIST. As my time with the journal winds down, I’m preparing to start the next chapter of my academic career, earning an MFA in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. I’m sad to be leaving the JASIST team, but I can’t wait to see what the future holds as the journal welcomes a new Editor-in-Chief.
Cite this article in APA as: Brady, C. (2026, July 14). What I learned as a graduate assistant for the journal for the association of information science and technology. Information Matters. https://informationmatters.org/2026/07/what-i-learned-as-a-graduate-assistant-for-the-journal-for-the-association-of-information-science-and-technology/
