First Semester

Posted October 16, 2025 by Lucy Oster

It’s my first semester of graduate school, and everything’s been pretty solid so far. However, it is still early days, and I know that the Roadrunner-style crash could be just around the corner! But, hey, that’s what keeps me running. I relish being busy when that busyness is all about what I’m interested in, which is to say: LAM (libraries, archives and museums.) I also like lambs!

I’m taking three courses this semester: the introductory LIS 407 and LIS 415 online, and LIS 439 Preservation Management in-person. I’m doing the archives management concentration here at Simmons, and Preservation Management is the first course I’m taking for that. The course is pretty interesting, and I’ve learned that a lot about preservation management ultimately comes down to, guess what, management and resources. Every type of physical and digital resource has its own special little requirements to live for as long as an archivist wants it to. This is, to quote my professor, “until the sun explodes.” The most interesting aspect of LIS 439 for me so far is realizing that, generally, the rule of thumb is that resources made in or before the 19th century are a lot more durable than more contemporary and/or 20th century resources: just looking at burning cellulose nitrate, or, um, the internet! I’m wondering how the rapid deterioration of more recent resources will impact future generations’ knowledge of history. It’ll be sorta wild if these people have more of an idea of what the 1930s looked like than the 2000s internet. Hopefully I’ll keep on trucking and learning what I need to from this course.

Good luck to us all!