<LIS 488>

Posted April 17, 2025 by Emmy Mahoney

In order to complete the MLIS degree, we are required to take a course called Technology for Information Professionals. This class essentially teaches the fundamental principles of technology. At the beginning of the semester, I was really intimidated by this class. I had never considered myself well-versed in technology, so reading words like Python, HTML, and Cascading Style Sheets on the syllabus made me very nervous. Now, as we near the end of the semester, I can say that this class has boosted my confidence in technology. 

For our final project, we are making websites using HTML coding. We started this project at the beginning of the semester, and have been working on it for our weekly assignments. Through this project, I have learned that a lot of the coding process is trial and error, and that can be tedious. That being said, nothing is more satisfying than figuring out the right code and seeing the elements appear on your website exactly how you want them to look. In the early stages of the project, it took me so long to figure out how to change the background color of the website. I wasn’t using the correct coding punctuation, I did not know how to use hex codes, and I was overwhelmed. An hour and a half later though, my website was –intentionally– green. I was so excited, I called my older sister; she did not understand why I was so excited about a blank green webpage. Ten weeks later, changing the background colors is easy. My website now has multiple pages, I have created a photo gallery, and I have even figured out how to embed Spotify links. 

This class has really taken me out of my comfort zone. At the beginning of the semester, creating a website from scratch was so daunting. Now, although I am still at the beginner level, I have gained a really useful skill, as well as found something that I really enjoy doing.