Meet MSM’s staff members: introducing Ms. Iris Weijenberg

At MSM we are proud of the more than 40 staff members who are committed and eager to fulfill our mission in offering management and entrepreneurship education, advice and research to individuals and organizations from all over the world. To become more acquainted with our staff members and to show you how it feels for them working at MSM we will each month highlight one of our staff members. This month the spotlight will be on Ms. Iris Weijenberg.

Let me introduce myself…
My name is Iris Weijenberg and I have several positions at MSM. I am manager of the Information Center and I coordinate the admissions for the Doctoral Programs. Beside this I am the contact person for the IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service).

I have studied in Sittard and Maastricht (NL) and hold a Bachelor degree in Library and Information Studies. My key area of expertise is information literacy.
My career started in 1988 in Venlo, where I established a medical library for the local hospital. As a young newcomer in this field, I felt very lucky to get this challenging and pioneering position. During this period I learned a lot about library systems, databases, interlibrary loan and I had the chance to build my network in the interesting world of libraries, booksellers and suppliers of databases.

Mid 1990 I continued my career in Maastricht, starting as a librarian at MSM. The message was very clear: “Bring this library to a higher level!” And this was exactly in line with my earlier pioneering work. Today, 27 years later, the traditional library has changed into a modern Information Center with state of the art facilities. I am proud to be the manager of this very inspiring working place.

My goal is that every MSM student becomes information literate!
My work in the Information Center is very diverse. It is important that all available sources are well classified, organized and up to date, from books on the shelves to access to the online library. Online sources are available 24/7 for residential students as well as for our outreach students. The working environment must be attractive to students and staff. Every day I enjoy the presence of our students and helping them with their various questions. I encourage them to use the library resources in an effective way, teach them how perform a good literature search and help them referencing their sources. My goal is that every MSM student becomes information literate!

Handling the admissions for the Doctoral Programs is another part of my job. Most of the time I am the first contact person for a potential applicant. This first impression is very important. Via mail, phone or Skype I guide the applicant through the application process. Turning the applicant into a student at the MSM Doctoral Program is my greatest satisfaction! Being the contact person for the IND is the third part of my job. International students coming to the Netherlands for their study must meet certain requirements. It is of great importance for MSM that IND-related issues for every student are well organized.

We learn them typical Dutch habits like eating “drop” and “pepernoten”!
I feel privileged to work in this inspiring international oriented environment. Students and staff come from all over the world. I learn a lot about their cultures and countries. They learn about the Dutch culture and traditions. And typical habits like eating “drop” and “pepernoten”. It feels like I am travelling around the world every day!

Libraries are my passion….
My working environment is in a library. During holidays I love to visit libraries and bookstores. In the last 25 years I visited all sort of libraries, from large university or public libraries in cities like Paris, Stockholm, Rome, Budapest, and Vienna to very small libraries in France, Austria and Tuscany (Italy). It is my tradition to take a picture at each library. Next on my agenda? The National Library of Prague! My passion became reality when I had realized my own library at home. The picture above shows a part of my home library. A wonderful place to stay, read, relax, dream….

What I mostly do in my spare time….
I really enjoy cooking and gardening. Try to go to the gym to practice Body Balance and CX Worx. And of course…..reading. What else!! My favourite author is John Irving.

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Maastricht School of Management | Tapijnkazerne 11, 6211 ME Maastricht, The Netherlands | www.msm.nl | msm-infomail@maastrichtuniversity.nl