User Instruction From A Former Tutor
Posted October 7, 2025 by Olivia McGovern
One of the classes I’m taking this semester is LIS 408: User Instruction & Information Literacy, and it’s reminding me of how I came to choose a career in librarianship in the first place. Before deciding to become a librarian, I was an English tutor. I started tutoring first generation, low-income students while I was in undergrad through a program called TRIO Upward Bound. Up until that point my Big Plan for my English degree was to write, copy edit, or get some other job at a publishing company and spend all my days surrounded by books. But tutoring opened up a whole world of other possibilities. So, I added a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), continued tutoring with TRIO for three years, and never looked back. What I didn’t expect was that my entire final year of undergrad would be spent on Zoom in my childhood bedroom. Most of my last classes were for my TESL minor, so everything I formally learned about teaching methodologies and pedagogy was from a…
Independent Study_Visual Literacy 101
Posted October 6, 2025 by Aurora Daniel
For my final course this semester I’m working on an independent study on visual literacy instruction in Library and Information Science graduate programs that’s funded by the Simmons Center for Information Literacy (SCIL). When I started at SLIS, I hadn’t realized that there would be research opportunities for those in the MS program and just assumed that those would be reserved for doctoral students. Yet, with the launch of SCIL this past spring, there was a big push to encourage students to apply for fundingto work on group and individual projects. This brought to the forefront individual research projects for SLIS Masters students. After attending the info session in April, l I began to kick around ideas for a research project and settled on visual literacy because I’m interested in arts librarianship and archival practice and was curious what support was in place for emerging professionals to deliver visual literacy instruction. I had to start working on this course over the summer, when I drafted a grant application proposal, project outline, and reached out to…
My Fall 2025 Semester
Posted October 3, 2025 by Emmy Mahoney
Hello, everyone! Having made it through one month of this semester, I thought I would share a little bit about the classes that I am currently taking. As a dual degree student in the archives and history program, I am enrolled in two library classes and one history class. My first library class is LIS 451 Academic Libraries. This class focuses on the skills and responsibilities necessary to be a librarian working at an academic institution. For this class, we are required to complete a semester-long group project, in which we simulate working in committees. I am a member of the marketing committee, who is responsible for creating, planning, and promoting a hypothetical library event for an academic institution. The professor gives us a lot of time to work on the project in class, which I am very appreciative of. My second library class is LIS 506 Government Archives. Some of the main goals of this class include learning how the government functions, as well as understanding the difference between public and private records. I…
Two Semesters In
Posted October 2, 2025 by June Kramer
Two semesters into my program, and now two weeks into my practicum, and I keep learning something new every day. It’s not just a cliché, it’s the reality of the SLIS program. As a student teacher at Shutesbury Elementary School, I’m discovering more about myself and about the field of librarianship consistently. Today, I was asked by a kindergarten student to read to her. Of course I obliged, and we sat crisscross on the library rug, reading a book about aliens, and then another about sweet potatoes. I felt her head fall onto my arm and realized that she had fallen asleep listening to the book. After I gently woke her up and she went back to her classroom, I let out a sigh that anyone who has ever worked with children knows: one of knowing that I am in the right field.
Reflecting on my First Year: Archives Management and Required Courses, Semester 1
Posted October 1, 2025 by Laura Kiely
My first and second semesters here at Simmons were dedicated largely to completing the required courses here at Simmons. I am attending Simmons full-time, meaning I am taking three classes per semester each Fall and Spring. There are three courses that everyone here at SLIS are required to take: 407, 415, and 488. In the archives concentration, there is a similarly prescriptive set of three classes, but these are to be taken in sequence: 438, 440, and 442. My first semester here at Simmons I took 407, 415, and 438, which I think was the best introductory set of classes for the archives concentration. For more context, I am taking classes in-person in Boston, so some of my class selections have been made based on course availability, as I find I learn best in person, but this selection of first semester classes would be equally effective online. LIS-407 is truly the most introductory class to the concept of libraries and library science, so I find it is most valuable in your first semester. The three…
Welcome, Welcome!
Posted September 30, 2025 by Lindsey Clarke
Introducing a trifecta of bloggers to the Snippets team! Big Hello to Laura K! Laura’s Bio: Hello! My name is Laura Kiely and I’m in my second year of the master’s program here at SLIS. I moved from Iowa to Boston to study library science and archives management, a move inspired both by the school itself and by my desire to uproot my life and try living somewhere new. I grew up and went to school in Iowa, so living in Boston is a brave new world for me! I will be writing about my classes, the process of moving to Boston, and the variety of jobs I have found here to support myself in my day to day life. I may also toss in a book recommendation or two—I am a librarian, after all! Hello to Michaela O! Michaela Bio: Hi! My name is Michaela O’Gara-Pratt (she/they) and I am a second year student at SLIS with a concentration in Archives Management. I grew up in the Boston area and graduated from Boston University in 2023 with…
First Day of Classes, or “Get Into the Groove”
Posted September 29, 2025 by Will Romey
First Day of Classes, or “Get Into the Groove” My first day of school! Last time I started an academic program, I was half the age I am now. That passage of time doesn’t just make me feel existential dread, but also appreciation for all the experiences that took me where I am today – standing next to a towering humpback whale skull by the entrance to SLIS West. First, I drop my lunch bag in the fridge (a tin of smoked trout, a hunk of comte cheese, cherry tomatoes from Astarte Farm, a slice of homemade bread). I head upstairs, where SLIS West Program Coordinator Eric Poulin is easy to find. He’s directing people to classrooms, making introductions, and crucially, has brought coffee and doughnuts. My first class is 488 – Technology for Information Professionals. This foundational course surveys technology use in information fields. As we go through introductions, it’s clear my fellow students have a wide range of backgrounds and goals. This will be great as we explore the field together. After lunch…
The New Student Experience: My First Week at Simmons (And in Boston)
Posted September 26, 2025 by Brooke Thomson
Hi there! My name is Brooke, and I’m starting my first semester of the MLIS program with a concentration in Archives Management. I thought a good way to start things off might be going over my first week in town. Stick around if you want to hear more about the famous September 1st move-in, my first days of class, how I joined a club called Panopticon, and what went down at the President’s Welcome and SLIS Kick Off event! Move-In DayIf you don’t live in Boston, you probably don’t know that most leases here turn over on September 1st (I sure didn’t). In a city affectionately called “America’s College Town”, that means on this day every year, thousands of Boston students—and their families, friends and movers—hit the streets with boxes and furniture galore. Parking is a nightmare, Target is a warzone, and so much stuff gets left out on the curbs that Boston has its own unofficial curb-shopping holiday called “Allston Christmas.” Allston is a neighborhood of Boston well-known for its college student residents, but…
New Bloggers Joining Us!
Posted September 25, 2025 by Lindsey Clarke
Hello Readers! We are lucky enough to have many new bloggers joining our team. Today I am introducing two of them to you. Please welcome – Brooke Thomson and Will Romey! A little about Brooke: I’m Brooke, a first year Simmons MLIS student with a concentration in Archives Management. I come from Tampa, FL and this is my first time living out of state! I’m really excited to get to know Boston and Simmons University. Many students come into this program with some practical library, archival, or museum experience already under their belts—I have none, so I’d like to share my journey with other students who may relate to that. Before coming to Boston, I got my BA from Florida State University in Creative Writing and History. Storytelling is something I’m passionate about, so it tracks that I’m also a total geek! When I’m not too busy, I like to obsess over TV shows and movies, read fantasy novels, and window-shop the merch at BoxLunch. Two things on my Boston bucket-list are: getting a Boston Public Library passport and seeing a Bruins game! A…
Fall Bucket List
Posted September 24, 2025 by Emmy Mahoney
I love being a graduate student, but it is a lot of work. After classes, homework, internships, and jobs, I usually end the day scrolling aimlessly on my phone. This academic year, I am trying to be more intentional about my time. With the fall season starting up, I have decided to create a fall bucket list to achieve that goal. My fall bucket list includes a variety of tasks, but can be sorted into three categories: major activities, minor activities, and activities that I can do while completing my graduate work. Starting with the major activities category, these list items require preparation and larger amounts of time. Because of the time and preparation required to participate, I usually only complete one or two during the fall season. Some examples of these major activities are apple picking, going for a hike, and trying a new fall recipe. The major task that I would most like to complete this year is pumpkin carving. The next category is the minor activities. As the title suggests, these list…