Jill Silverberg

SLIS Reflections

It’s been a little more than two months since I walked across the stage at the Blue Hills Pavilion to accept my Masters degree in Library and Information Science. The fact that I won’t be starting classes this September still hasn’t totally sunken in. This has never happened to me before; I have held the identity of “Student” since I started kindergarten. While I am thrilled to be starting the next chapter of my life, the part where I finally get to find out what grown-ups do during the work week, I will miss the familiarity and comfort of the classroom.   I will also miss the familiarity and comfort of SLIS. For the last three years, I have been a part of a community of like-minded individuals. Like me, the many members of my cohort have aspirations of becoming LIS professionals while also juggling the struggles of being a twenty-something living in the city of Boston or Cambridge. Yet whenever the uncertainty of the unknown would begin to become overwhelming, one of the program’s many mature…

Three Fun Places in Boston

For the first time in months, I took some time yesterday to simply walk around Boston and visit a few of my favorite locations within the city. While I probably should have picked a cooler day (yesterday was HOT!), it was still nice to just take some time to enjoy sites that are unique to Boston. If you have not had an opportunity to visit any of the following locations, I strongly suggest you do. They are a part of what makes Boston special and are as notable to city as Central Park is to New York City.  Beacon Hill: I started my day over in one of my favorite neighborhoods in Boston. With history extending as far back as the early 1600s, the neighborhood of Beacon Hill predominately features federal-style houses build during the nineteenth century. I love this neighborhood; while walking around its brick sidewalks and narrow streets one can easily forget that there is a modern city just a few streets away. The Charles Street area is where the old neighborhood and the…

Farmer’s Markets of Summer in Boston

June is one of my favorite months of the year. In the past, it used to signify the official end of the academic year. Since moving to Boston, June has come to mark the beginning of farmer’s market season!  As a lover of all things related to food, farmer’s markets are like catnip to me. I absolutely love wandering through markets like SoWa, the Boston Copley Farmers Market, and the Haymarket Square Farmer’s Market and talking with the vendors about their produce. The fact that you can buy an amazing amount of fruits and vegetables for just $10 doesn’t hurt either. Whether it is your first spring in Boston or not, you definitely should check out a few of these farmers markets while you can.    This past week I’ve been nose deep in books that discuss the history of New England cuisine. At the same time, I’ve been spending my Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Schlesinger Library reading through the letters of Arthur Nichols, as a means of learning about the late nineteenth and…

Life After Graduation

This past Friday something incredible happened: I graduated from Simmons with a Masters in Library and Information Science. Three years, seven semesters (including one summer session), and two internships later, I have emerged from the other side with my shiny degree in hand ready to take on the professional world. Huzzah! And yet, here I am, still blogging for SLIS. Just when I thought my time with SLIS had reached its end, I was asked if I wanted to continue blogging for the program over the course of the summer. Having done so for the past two summers, I was happy to take on the challenge. Submitting posts for the SLIS student experience blog has been apart of my Boston life since moving here in the Fall of 2013. It’s really fun to go back and read old posts and see how far I’ve come since then. But enough reminisces, let’s talk about what I have in store for this summer. This summer I have two major projects to tackle. The first will be completing…

The End

The Fab Four (AKA The Beatles) once sang: And in the end The love you take Is equal to the love You make While the lyrics above might not directly correlate to my thoughts and feelings towards reaching the end of graduate school, I just really wanted to kick-off a blog post with something Beatles related. But, let me make some slight word modifications to make the four lines above a bit more topical. And in the end The experience you take Is equal to the work You make Okay so it’s not as good as the original version but I think it was worth a shot. Even so, I think my alterations work with the situation that’s going on here.  Indeed, my time as a graduate student is dwindling down; about twenty days, I am going to walk across a stage to receive my Master’s in Library and Information Science!* Can you believe it ’cause I really, really, REALLY, can’t. It seriously feels like just yesterday that I attended SLIS (or GSLIS as it was known then) orientation…

Food Advertisements

When you are writing a thesis about food, it is almost inevitable that you are going to encounter some pretty interesting examples of food culture. Thus far in my study of American food culture from the 1950s to the early 1990s, I’ve encountered fan letters to Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer-Becker the mother-daughter duo behind the Joy of Cooking. Their cookbooks promote a vast array of recipes that utilize ingredients that range from diced vegetables to box Jell-o mixed. By far my favorite thing that I’ve had to analyze in the name of academia is food advertisements from magazines such as Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, and Better Homes & Gardens from the 1950s. These advertisements, which are very much products of their time, offer insight into consumer and food trends from the decade. For my paper, I am analyzing these advertisements as a means of understanding how the food and consumer industry promoted the gendering of the kitchen and the position of the home cook. The following advertisements were found within magazines that are a part of Johnson and Wales Culinary…

MBTA Commuter Rail Survival Guide

As a former New Yorker, I am not unfamiliar with taking rail transport to get to the places that I need to go. With my Archives capstone internship in Providence, I’ve become quite familiar with the MBTA Commuter Rail. Would I say that it’s the best rail transport that I’ve ever taken? No. That title will always be reserved for my beloved Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). I have too many fond childhood memories of the lights flickering off and on while traveling under tunnels to ever consider awarding another train system the top honors. Yet the MBTA Commuter Rail does a perfectly fine job at doing the whole train thing. Most of the time. Listen, no train is perfect; all commuters can hope for is that their train arrives and departs on time. Yet sometimes, things happen, as they tend ton do. Thus far this semester, I have been stuck on a train for almost three and half hour due to Amtrak complications as well as stuck on a train traveling at reduced speeds,…

Cookbooks

Looking out the window from my desk at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science, I can’t help but think about how, exactly one year ago, the city of Boston was drowning under piles of snow. While I am a big fan of snow and snow days, I have to admit that I am rather relieved that this year, the weather has decided to play nicely. Considering that I have a thesis to write, research to do, an internship to complete, and heat bills to pay, I am quite content with having 50+ degree days in February. And how exactly is that thesis coming along? Well I can tell you that it is coming along. This evening I will be submitting my outline to my advisor which I have to admit, is equal parts exciting and terrifying. I treat my outlines like architectural blueprints. Having outlined the overall structure of my paper enables me to focus on each section at a time. Since an average thesis runs about 60-80 pages, having something like an outline is definitely…

How I Spent SuperBowl 50

I want to preface that I am not a big football fan. I enjoy watching a game every now and then but only casually. I barely know any rules associated to the game; I can only name like three players; and half of the time, I forget which team is which. Like I said, I am not a football person. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t find ways to enjoy myself when I watch a football game. This year, my entire apartment decided to do something special for the Super Bowl. Last year, our first year living together, three of us were extremely sick and I spent the majority of the game hallucinating from the flu. So, to celebrate 50 years of Super Bowl fun and not being sick, we decided to put together a massive Bingo game. Pretty impressive huh? We got into the tradition of making Bingo boards during the last year’s baseball season. Since then, we make a board for every sport game we watch. Some times it works better than others but it’s…

Interning at Johnson and Wale’s Culinary Arts Museum

Like many students who entered SLIS in the fall of 2013, this semester I will be completing my final LIS course. While each program within SLIS is structured differently, all feature a Capstone course that usually includes an internship requirement. For this internship, students can either wait to choose a location from a database of options (similar system to what is used in LIS 438, the introductory course for those on the Archives track) or they can work alongside the Capstone Coordinator, Kendra Giannini, and set up an internship at a location of their own choosing. Since my first semester as an Archives-History dual degree student, I have known that my dream job would be to work within a museum or special library that features a large collection of cookbooks and other texts and items associated with food culture. When I met with Kendra, we talked about my interest in Food Studies and she suggested that I consider trying to satisfy my Capstone requirement by interning at the Johnson and Wales Culinary Arts Museum. With…

It Begins!: My Final Semester

All throughout the Fall semester, I’ve been mentally preparing myself for this moment. However, now that the time has come, now that my final semester is about to begin, I’ve come to the realization that nothing truly could prepare me for this. That’s the funny thing about reaching the last stretch of a race or the final level of a video game; you’ve known all along that this would happen and yet you still can’t believe that you’ve finally made it. The finish line is in sight, the final boss is right behind that door. In other words, stuff is about to get very real!  Last semester, I wrote a blog post about my semi-frustration with people asking me about my future. What were my post-grad school plans? Was I going to stay in Boston or contemplate moving away? Was there a PhD program waiting for me just past the horizon? Essentially, this was my life all throughout my Thanksgiving break: Ironically this scene also happens to occur during a Thanksgiving meal I didn’t know the…

Attending ALA

This past Friday I attended the American Library Association’s mid-winter conference which was held at the Boston Convention Center. Not only was this my first time attending an ALA conference, this was actually my very first library conference in general! Talk about exciting. While I had known that the ALA mid-winter conference was going to be held in Boston for quite some time, at first, I wasn’t certain if I should go. Since my focus within the field of library science is archives and cultural heritage, I was slightly concerned that, despite being a wonderful opportunity, I wouldn’t have too much to do beyond wandering around the exhibit hall. However, after speaking with a cousin who is a librarian in the Queens, NY area, I reconsidered a few things.  To begin with, the conference was being held in a city that I was currently living in. One of the primary reasons I had opted out of attending the Summer ALA conference (previously held in San Fransisco) was the cost of finding a place to stay…

My Disney Rant

*I want to preface that the topic discussed in the following blog post is something that is near and dear to my heart. The thoughts and opinions that follow are not meant to insult anyone. Please enjoy the oncoming rant. Thank you.* Dear Disney,  Remember the good ‘ol days when you were known for creating stunning works of animation and beautiful stories? Remember all the colorful characters and memorable songs that have become, for many, wonderful pieces of childhood nostalgia? Well I remember those days. In fact it wasn’t too long ago that your studio produced what many argue to be one of the best Disney films in years. I’m sure you know the one that I am talking about. It’s the one with that extremely catchy song that kind of sort of hasn’t totally gone out of the public conscious. Oh I remember what it was called. FROZEN!!!!!!!! Considering that this little blockbuster of yours has earned $1.219 billion at the box office, I was kind of shocked to read that in the coming years, your…

Inventorying the Boston Public Library’s Print Collection

Since the beginning of October 2015, I have been part of a team that is currently working on inventorying the Boston Public Library’s print collection. The print collection, housed in the heart of the BPL, is massive and although considerable progress was made on inventorying the collection over the course of the summer, there is still a long way to go. Currently, my duties are split in two. On Mondays, I spend my shift rifling through index cards (remember those?) and looking for duplicates. Sometimes there aren’t any (YAY!); but usually there are a lot of them. For example, I am currently weaning out duplicates from a stack associated to the French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Without the duplicates, the collection of cards is about two-hundred and fifty. Multiply that number by 2. Talk about a lot of cards!!! As much fun as removing duplicate cards sound, Wednesdays are my personal favorite day of the week. That’s because on Wednesdays, I get to actually dig into the collection, open up boxes, see what’s hiding inside. Basically…

Learning about the Copyright Act

Yesterday in my Photographic Archives course (LIS 471) taught by the wonderful Professor Martha Mahard, my class was was treated to a crash course in the Copyright Act and all of its wonderful quirks. For those not acquainted with the Copyright Act, it is something that many of us will encounter more than once in our line of work as librarians, archivists, and information professionals. To describe the Copyright Act is no simple task but I will do my best to define it in under 100 words. The U.S. Copyright Act: a piece of federal legislation that provides Constitutional protection to the writings of authors. The term ‘writings’ is a loose term, one that encompasses architectural design, software, graphic arts, movies, and sound recordings. The owner of a copyright has the sole rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, and license works based on the copyrighted work. The rights of the copyright owner are subject to limitation by the ‘fair use’ doctrine. Fair use applies to criticism, comment, news, reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. These are not…

Happy Halloween!

Grab your pumpkins and copious bags of candy ’cause Halloween is right around the corner! This year the holiday fortunately falls on a weekend which means that us students do not have to deal with the epic struggle of deciding whether or not to attend class dressed in full costume. While I will certainly support anyone who has/would do it, I sadly have never really had the opportunity to do so. Life just has a way of messing with my plans. Oh well. In preparation of All Hallows Eve I’ve been binge watching and reading anything and everything that reminds me of my favorite autumn holiday. From watching Let’s Plays of survival horror video games to reading a horror novel set within a store reminiscent of IKEA, I know that come November 1st, I am definitely going to need a year to recover from my apparent Halloween overdose. But until then, the parade of all things spooky, creepy, and nightmare-tastic will keep marching on. While I sadly could not make a visit to Salem, MA this…

The Million Dollar Question

Every now and then I journey home to Long Island, NY to spend time with my family, friends, and cat, Ella. This was the first time I was home since the start of the semester, so everyone wanted to know how my year had been going so far. Besides asking about the usual stuff (school, work, and my friends), I noted that there were two questions that everyone wanted ask me. And trust me when I say that that utilization of italics is not an overreaction.  The first question, I guess, should have been anticipated: Are you ready for another Boston winter? While I do admit that last year’s winter was bad, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, at least not for me. Since I don’t have a car and can walk to everything I need, the only complaint I had was the fact that I missed one or two classes. Besides, I LIKE SNOW. So what if we have a lot of snow this year? I seriously do not mind. As for the second…

Health Comes First

Does anyone else remember the days when they would pretend to be sick to get out of classes? I certainly do. Back during my high school days, I would sometimes wish I would get sick just so I wouldn’t have to get up at 6:20am and endure about eight hours of mind-numbing and soul breaking school. During those days, I would have to be strategic; pretend to be sick too much and the parents would certainly catch on. I doubt I missed a total of ten days throughout my entire high school career and certainly at least three or four of those times I probably truly needed to miss school, but I’ll be honest, those days when I could stay home and relax were always worth the risk of getting caught faking it.  Ironically, high school would be the last time I ever truly enjoyed getting sick. In my first semester as a freshman, I caught the Swine Flu, H1N1, and missed an entire week of school. Not only that, but my parents had to drive four…

Banned Books Week

After recently looking over ALA’s ‘Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books’ from the past two decades (1990-1999 & 2000-2009), I realized that I have read quite a few so-called banned/challenged books in rather short lifetime. Some of the books on these two lists were notable for due to their reputations as being banned or challenged: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume; Blackboy by Richard Wright; American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Others came off as bit of a shock: In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak; Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling; and Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey. Yes, even Captain Underpants has been challenged for its content. While it is certainly true that there is a stark difference between a book being ‘challenged’ [an attempt to remove or restrict materials] and ‘banned’ [to completely remove materials], either act is a case of enforced censorship. Although ALA acknowledges that books that are challenged are usually done so with best intentions in mind, whenever I hear about a book that has been challenged -often within the context of…

Trivia Night at Thornton’s

Last Friday night I attended the trivia event that was hosted by ASIS&T, ALA, LISSA, Panopticon, PLG, SCoSAA, SCIRRT, SLA, and Spectra. Considering the number of student organizations that were involved with making trivia night possible, I think we should really be calling it a super event. I’m not certain how often the SLIS student organizations come together to collaborate on putting together big events like this but I hope that they do more of them in the near future. For those who have never been, Thornton’s Fenway Grill is located on the opposite side of the Emerald Necklace from Simmons, on Peterborough Street. It is conveniently located on a strip of businesses that almost all specialize in food. By the time a friend and I arrived at Thornton’s for trivia, the place was already jammed packed with students. Fortunately, I was able to snag one of the few remaining seats at a table of friends. After ordering a round of drinks (the place was featuring a $5 Blue Shark drink that we all couldn’t ignore), we…

Non-Library People Logic

So here’s a funny story: last week while I was working at the reference desk at a medical and pharmaceutical college, a group of students approached me with a question. Normally the sort of questions that I get asked usually pertain to one of two subjects: ready reference such as location of bathrooms or the color printers OR questions related to one of the college’s many databases. This question was not related to either. Instead, the student wanted to know if I could apply my reference skills to help her track down not a book or an article but… *drum roll* A GUY SHE FOUND ON TINDER I really wish that this was just some made up anecdote. Want to know my reaction?   Needless to say that this reference interview didn’t last particularly long. After the student and her friends walked away, I was left wondering why exactly she thought that I would be the person best suited for the task of semi-stalking some stranger. This encounter, coupled with things I experienced way back when I…

Welcome to the Beginning (for new students) of the End (for me)

Welcome to the Beginning (for new students) of the End (for me) Yesterday I experienced something entirely new. For the first time since starting college, I did not have to endure an entire day of moving all of my stuff from one place and unpacking it at another. For those of you who have never had to undergo the ordeal of September 1st AKA Boston’s largest moving day EVER, you are not really missing out on a life-changing experience. The only really fun part of the day is getting to meet your roommates -if you are meeting in person for the first time- and seeing what free stuff you can find abandoned on the side of the road. And while I may or may not have selfishly done a happy dance at the fact that I didn’t have to climb up and down stairs with boxes that weigh more than myself, I did take a moment to acknowledge the fact that Sept. 1st represented more than just the fact that Boston’s population just grew exponentially…

Summer Reading

It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago, the city of Boston was still blanketed in snow, my apartment was a frozen tundra, and I was elbows deep in school work. Even though school ended for me back in early May, it still feels like just yesterday that I would spend a solid twelve hours a day on the Simmons campus working on final papers and projects. Fortunately for me, days like that are now simply just fond memories and hilarious anecdotes. And with the 2014/2015 academic year now a thing of the recent past, I’ve finally had the opportunity to do something that I only really get to do during the summer months: leisure read!!!!!!!! I don’t joke around when I tell people that I am a blbliophile. I REALLY love books. However, not even my love of the written word is enough to find time to read a book for fun while also working on all the reading and other academic responsibilities that require my attention during the school year. While…

Happy 150th Birthday, Alice!

It’s almost hard to believe that it has been 150 years since Lewis Carroll’s Alice fell down the rabbit hole and tumbled into the weird, mad, and impossible world of Wonderland. Since its publication in 1865, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has not only become part of the literary classic but also a figure that squarely represents the innocence of childhood. Considering its age, it’s understandable that there have been quite a few interpretations on Carroll’s -or Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s- most famous character. Indeed, the metaphorical journey of Alice has almost become as iconic as the girl herself. So, in honor of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland turning the big 1-5-0, I’ve compiled a top five list of Alices. But before I reveal the list, let’s get some things out of the way. This list and its ranking has been created based on my own personal opinions. So yes, expect some biases For the sake of simplicity, I’m only sticking to Alices from direct adaptions. There are simply too many Alices from works that are allusions or influenced by Carroll’s novel…

Summer Fun: Musical Mondays

In recent years I have come to realize something about myself: I absolutely love traditions. Defined by Merriam-Webster as being a “a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by the people in a particular group, family, society, etc., for a long time,” traditions are something that anyone and everyone has. At the same time, traditions can be anything that one or many people want them to be.   From family traditions such as always stopping at a specific spot on a road-trip to more sacred and religiously symbolic traditions such as attending Easter Mass, lighting the Sabbath candles, or by marking the end of Ramadan by celebrating Eid al-Fitr, traditions are practices that unite individuals together in unique and special ways. And then there are silly traditions; the kind that you have with your close friends, that ones that just sort of started out of nowhere but have since become something sort-of special. Within my apartment, we have a tradition. We call it Musical Mondays. What started one Monday night a few weeks…

Ready Set Rhubarb

Well, it might have taken a bit longer than I would have liked but at long last the Boston Ice Age has ended and Spring has firmly declared its presence. For the last few weeks of April and even the first few weeks of May, I was seriously starting to get worried. After the winter we just went through, the last thing I needed were any more days below 55 degrees. However, judging from the explosion of flowers, leaves, and the sudden outbreak of open toed shoes, I think it is safe to say that those chilly days are behind us. Goodbye winter chill, hello spring/summer humidity!  Wait….I hate humidity. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Fortunately my apartment’s ability to remain far cooler inside than it is out will mean far more pleasant days than my old place last year. While I will forever miss my very first apartment, the place’s lack of windows made the unit a walk-in-oven. While this certainly encouraged my roommates and myself to get creative with ways to stay cool (three of them bought…

The task of getting…

Getting into a library I mean. Normally this isn’t something that most people would assume would be a difficult task, and yet, depending on where you go, it can be a herculean effort. A few years back my uncle and I decided to spend a day in New York City. Since I had just recently decided that I wanted to pursue a M.S. degree in LIS, my uncle wanted to celebrate by showing me the library of his former grad school, Columbia University. As a then student worker in my undergraduate’s school library, I was accustomed to the idea of non-students visiting a school’s library. Sometimes it’s tourists, other times researchers. In the case of where I worked, it didn’t matter who you were; the library was part of the local community. Considering this,  you can imagine my surprise when we arrived at Columbia’s library and were stopped at the door. “Sorry, only students and members of the faculty can enter,” said the guard. “Well,” my uncle replied back, “I am an alumni of the…

LIS Career Fair

Yesterday afternoon, a project I started about four months ago came to an end. Since January, I have been working closely with the Career Education Center and the School of Library and Information Science to put together a career fair for the SLIS student population. While the process was long and certainly not without its surprise twists, overall, I am very grateful that I was tasked with being this year’s LIS Career Fair Coordinator.  For those of you who didn’t get a chance to read an article published at the end of March where I answered questions about the career fair and the preparation process, I won’t bore you with the details. You can find the link to the article here. I will say that one of the most important parts of being the LIS Career Fair Coordinator was ensuring that I had invited exhibitors that represented the various fields within the world of Library and Information Science. Fortunately for Simmons, Boston and the greater Boston area is rife with all sorts of information institutions. Once…

Innovation and Collaboration at Simmons’s Graduate Alumnae/Professional Day

On Saturday, March 21st, I had the pleasure of attending this year’s Graduate Alumnae/Professional Day. The event, a collaborative effort between Simmons School of Social Work, School of Management, and School of Library and Information Science, featured workshops and and award ceremonies hosted by each school’s alumni association. Additionally, the event kicked off that morning with Bill Walczak, president of the Lewis Family Foundation and the Grad Circle Foundation, as the keynote speaker. Bill was one of a handful of founding members of an initiative that helped re-develop the Codman Square area of Boston beginning in the late 1970s. Through the efforts of Walczak and the other members of this initiative, they opened the Codman Square Health Center, a multi-service center which addressed health and other needs of the community. Since it has opened its doors, the health center has become a major factor in the regeneration of the community.  During his speech, Walczak discussed the symptoms of poverty and how his work and the work of others since the 1970s have all been directed…

Gearing up for the 2015 Simmons Leadership Conference

Last night, I joined a large group of current and past Simmons students at the Seaport Boston Hotel and the World Trade Center to train for the 36th annual Simmons Leadership Conference. For those of you who were at Simmons last year, you might recall this event as the one that Hillary Clinton spoke at last spring. While I could not time find in my schedule to go last year, this time around, I was determined to get involved. Ranked as one of the principle women’s leadership conferences, the Simmons Leadership Conference attracts over 3000 middle and senior level women from companies and organizations across the country and around the globe. Inspired but the mission of Simmons founder, John Simmons, the creators seek to continue his work to enable women to acquire independent livelihoods. The list of past speakers who have been previously featured is quite impressive: Madeline Albright, Maya Angelou, Benazir Bhutto, Diane Keaton, and many more.  This year, Sally Fields has the honor of being the final keynote speaker of the day. Seriously, how could I…

Hanging out with the Future Authors of Tomorrow

Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure to attend an event hosted by the Children’s Literature Department over at the School of Management. Our neighbors up the stairs, my first interaction with the Children’s Literature Department and Program occurred way back on September 1, 2014. That was the day that I formally moved into my new apartment with three other girls. Two of these young women were just beginning their second year in the Children’s Literature Program.  Since that time, I’ve learned a great deal about the Children’s Literature Program, and all that is has to offer its students. Yesterday, I sat down and listened to various students from the program not only discuss their mentorship experience from the previous semester, but also hear excerpts from the novels that they are currently working on. Hearing the culmination of months, and in most cases, years of effort, was a wonderful experience. I could not only hear the passion that these talented writers had for their work, but also the excitement, pride, and love that they had for…

3D Printing: A Nerd’s Fantasy Realized!

Have you ever been online and saw something that you wanted? I’m sure the answer is yes, but how many times have you actually acted on that impulse? But what if the thing you wanted is something a bit bizarre? Like an Ocarina of Time? Or maybe you want your own House Crest from one of the Four Houses of Hogwarts? As a self-declared nerd, these items are merely just an example of things from various books and video games that I have wanted since I was a child. Of course, like most early twenty-somethings, I am not currently at a place in my life financially where I could justify buying these things. Thankfully, I don’t have to. When 3D printing was still a concept that one could only read about either online or in the newspapers, I thought it was the coolest things ever. I still do. However, I never thought that I would ever have the chance to see one up close, let alone 3D print something. On Newbury Street, there is a…

An Open Letter to Snow

Dear Snow, You have been very busy these past two months, my dear friend. Since the end of January, not a week has passed where you haven’t unleashed yourself upon the city of Boston. I wonder, is this perhaps retaliation of some kind because the meteorologists were predicting a mild winter? Or perhaps, you simply enjoy covering Boston in your snowy blankets, changing the city into a winter wonderland? Whatever your motivation for delivering snow storm after snow storm upon my beloved city of Boston, I write to you today, as strong winds howl outside my apartment creating clouds of white, to ask you for leniency.  Enough is enough. Please, can we not have anymore snow? I am fully aware that writing this plea to you is most likely folly, but with 45.5 inches of snow as today (according to CNN.com), a plea such as this can’t hurt. And yes, that’s right: 45.5 inches. That’s a lot of snow, especially in such a short amount of time. Let me list a just a few of…

Welcome to 2015!

Fourth semester at SLIS. Here we go! Indeed, it seems that the month of January has just flown on by. But unlike some of you, I have spent about 95% of it here in Boston rather then home with my family. The reason? Well, it’s because the offices at my job, as a student worker at the student services center (haha shameless plug), were open as we prepped for both the New Year and new students. With so much to do, I’ve lost track of the time. Instead of spending the days at home, lounging around, I was on my feet, running around and performing key tasks. Working from the perspective of being behind the scenes, I must vocalize my respect for all of those who are part of SLIS faculty and staff. These men and women are some of the most dedicated individuals I’ve ever seen. In the days leading up to the Spring 2015 Orientation, I watched as everyone in SLIS came together, both student workers and members of the faculty and staff,…

Happy Study-mas!

Well, this is it. The final weeks of the fall semester have finally arrived! Yes that’s right, the end is finally in sight; what we see up ahead is the light at the end of the tunnel. Now the only thing standing in our way from kicking off winter break: Finals.  Ah finals. Like Christmas, finals is that magical time of the year when everyone comes together and collectively moves into the library for a week or two. Instead of putting up decorations and baking cookies, we get to write essays and stand before our peers and present our group projects. While some people eagerly check off the days until their respective winter holiday begins, we’ll be busy checking off the number of hours we have before the dropbox on Moodle stops accepting submissions. The season of giving and joy might be upon us, but so is the season of all-nighters, study groups, and the feeling of triumph one feels when everything is finally completed. I recently researched the month of December just to see…

An Evening with SCoSAA

With the final weeks of the fall semester just around the corner, life has been a bit hectic around here. In between the reading, papers, and projects that I need to do for all three of my classes, finding time to relax has become somewhat of an afterthought, at least for me. However, every now and then, an event on campus catches my eye, something that despite how busy I am, I want to try and find time to attend. Well, last week, I found out from a classmate that SCoSSA (the Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists) was going to be hosting a panel discussion on the topic of community and social justice archives. With guest speakers from Northeastern, Brandeis, and Simmons, the event, which was held last night, would focus on discussing the challenges and considerations connected to community and social records and the responsibilities and decisions of the archives and archivists to handle them. Considering that  1). I only live about ten minutes away from campus, 2). this was a…

Boston Winter Survival Guide

This past Sunday morning, my roommate ran into the living room of our apartment, opened the window and stuck her head outside of it. “It’s snowing out there!” she proclaimed in disbelief. I stood up and joined her at the window and took a look at all the white, fluffy stuff that was coming down. “Well, considering other years, snow in November isn’t such a shocking thing around here. However, this is only the beginning.” For those out there who do not know me, I love snow. One of the reasons I ended up going to an undergraduate university in Massachusetts was because I was guaranteed to have at least more than one snow day. But, my love for snow extends far beyond just the possibility of not having school. I love walking through it, playing in it, taking pictures of it, watching snow collect outside while sitting inside with a warm cup of hot cider. Essentially, if it is a snow based activity (other than shoveling it), chances are high that I’ve participated in it….

BAHFest

What do you think when you read the words, ‘Bad Ad Hoc Hypothesis Festival?’ If you think that the event is going to be as ridiculously fun as it sounds, then you are correct. Sponsored by the online comic strip “Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal” BAHFest is a celebration of science and how amazingly awesome it can be. The rules of the contest are simple: come up with an outlandish theory and then prove it with science. What makes BAHFest amazing is that even the most ridiculous theory is backed up with absolute science. All the data and formulas are real even if they are being applied to something crazy like trying to prove that smugness is hereditary.  As someone who isn’t exactly amazing at science, I was worried that I would not be able to enjoy the presentations. However, all six presentations were hilarious, and different. The winner (I won’t spoil who) 100% deserved the 3D printed statue of Darwin looking doubtful.  Although this is only the second year that BAHFest has been held, it was…

It’s Pumpkin Time!

A long time ago, in a state not too far away, my elementary school arranged a special surprise for its fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes. It was October 2001, and to lift the spirits of the students still reeling from 9/11, the school board somehow managed to secure one pumpkin for each student (this was not a particularly large elementary school) and brought in someone to teach us how to ‘carve’ Jack O’Lanterns. Over the course of three days, each class was given an hour, a small pumpkin, and some paint while a master pumpkin carver showed everyone how to carve a spooktacular Jack O’Lantern. Pictures were taken, jokes were made, and a pumpkin contest was held to decide which student painted the best pumpkin. Although the annual Christmas Classroom Door contest was usually regarded as the best school-wide event, that year, nothing could compare to my elementary school’s pumpkin fest. And I missed the whole thing. Indeed, that year, my normally decent immune system betrayed me and on the day that my fifth…

Hello Fall!

Although it only feels like it was just yesterday that summer was upon us (AKA this past weekend), the changing of the leaves and the cooler temperatures are sending a signal to all of us Bostonians that Autumn is here. And I cannot for the life of me figure out how September went by so quickly! Am I the only one who is shocked by how quickly the month of September went by? I swear, just a few weeks ago I was moving into my new apartment. Now, the leaves are not only changing, but falling off the trees and I’m bundled up in my Northface!!!! But I digress. Despite my apparent shock and slight hint of denial, I actually love October. Next to December, this is my favorite month. Why? Well, other then the obvious reason of Halloween, October means pumpkin season! And cold nights with a big cup of hot cocoa. And let’s not forget massive leaf piles! Essentially, all the things I loved as a kid and still continue to love today….

Falling Down and Getting Up

Yesterday, I fell off a ladder. This wasn’t some deep metaphorical ladder, but rather the type that one climbs when one is shelving books.This wasn’t my first time falling off a ladder or step stool while trying to either shelve books or pull them down, and it probably won’t be the last time either. After all, couldn’t you argue that life is filled with moments like this; moments when you fall down and moments when you get back up.  The other day while I was working at the Student Service Center’s desk on the 2nd floor of the Palace Road building, a new student came by looking for information about the archives program. They wanted to know what I thought of the program, was it a good place to be if they were still a bit unsure about where exactly they wanted to go with their degree? Was I enjoying the dual degree program or did I regret adding the second Masters? And finally, what can they do to make sure that whenever they graduate…

Grad School Year Two: Bring it On!

I’d like to start this blog post by first welcoming back my fellow returning grad students and by welcoming those starting their first year in SLIS! I have a good feeling that this semester is going to be a good one, and I wish the same to all of you. Since the last time I posted something here, I’ve made the move from Brighton to Roxbury Crossing. Not only am I now living with other students from SLIS and the Children’s Literature program, but I am also within fifteen minutes from school. Essentially, I will be at Simmons a lot this year, either at the library, at the Student Services Center desk, or in the tech lab. I even purchased an awesome blanket from the Simmons Bookstore to keep me warm while inside the Palace Road Building. Still deciding if bringing a blanket to class would be a bit too much. What do you think? Beyond the above, I’m sort of ashamed to admit this but, the reality that my second year of grad had…

Five Inspirational Librarians from Film and TV

Since the unfortunate passing of Robin Williams, I’ve come to realize how many of his films in the 1990s defined my childhood. Films like Aladdin, Ms. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Ferngully, Hook, and countless others have and will always hold a special place in my heart. However, in my efforts to both remember Robin Williams for the comedic genius that he was as well as to take a trip down nostalgia way, I got lost somewhere along the way, and what started as a Robin Williams movie marathon turned into an all out nostalgia binge. I’m not exactly sure when I came up with this week’s blog post (the last one of the summer if you can believe it?) but its timing could not be any better. What started off as a quest to remember my first real comedic role model slowly morphed into a re-discovery of other characters that inspired me while growing up. And since I’m currently enrolled in a graduate program for library and information science, I thought it would be cool to compile…

A Night with Google

Sometimes I am purely baffled at the things I’ve gotten to do since moving to Boston almost a year ago. Most recently, I found myself at Boston’s very own Children’s Museum at an event hosted by Google as a means of promoting their online program, Google City Experts. Like Yelp, Google is trying to find a niche for itself within the world of online reviews. Nowadays, if you search for something on Google Maps, a box appears on the left hand side that includes a variety of information such as the address, hours of business, phone number, and website. At the bottom of the box, are reviews for your inquiry. Like Yelp, these reviews were created by users, and can range from being brief to extremely thorough. Write enough of these reviews and Google will eventually consider you to become part of their City Experts program.  So here is the big question, is it worth it? Well, the event at the museum was hands-down awesome. For the most part, me and the other attendants had…

Hanging out with JFK

Did you know that just a short bus ride away from the JFK T stop on the red line is the JFK Presidential Library and Museum? Did you also know that the papers and writings of Ernest Hemmingway are also stored there? No? Well, neither did I. That was, at least, until I went on a field trip with my Preservation Management class last Thursday. Yea, that’s right, I went on a FIELD TRIP! Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus would have been super proud of my class. Not only did we get to learn about the responsibilities and skills required to be an archivist and deputy curator to a Presidential Library, but we also learned about the JFK Library’s disaster plan and how it was tested during an actual disaster that happened last year. For those who don’t know, the library had a fire last April and though smoke, water, and firefighter damage was great, the library and museum did not lose a single item. Now that’s what I call impressive. Considering that my course,…

(Not) A Lazy Summer

When I look out my window, I find it hard to believe that less than three months ago, there was still snow on the ground. Not only that, but it felt like the winter of 2013/2014 was never going to vacate the Boston area. And yet, here we are; the sun is out in full force and people are starting to gather in any air conditioned space that they can find. However, considering just how unbearably cold the first half of the year was, I won’t be complaining about the heat anytime soon. But if the city gets hit with another heat wave like it did last July, well, let’s just say that you will most likely be able to find me sitting at a table inside JP Licks. Speaking of summer, this one will be my first ever as a resident of Boston! But just like my last few summers back home in Long Island, I will be spending the bulk of this summer tucked away inside, either at work at the BPL or in…

It Isn’t Always Easy Being a Librarian

The experience of throwing out books is perhaps the one part of being a librarian that I do not like. I’m not sure why, but I just find the notion of tossing books away to be kind of sad. Unfortunately for me, this past Friday at my new job working as a library assistant/intern at a law library, my co-workers and I had to toss out a good chunk of the library’s collection. Going into the day, I had come in prepared to do some moving, thinking that we were merely going to be moving boxes over to the library’s temporary location until the building was finished being renovated. What I did not know was that we would be throwing out books. However, since all these books were outdated and the library could not find any one who would be interested in purchasing them, there was only one solution left. The thing is, in the world of law libraries, things change frequently. Once something is outdated, even if it just under two years old, its most likely…

Where Did the Time Go?

I’ve looked at my calendar more times than I can count in the last few days. Surely the date can’t be right; wasn’t it January just the other day? Although it says that today is the second to last day of April, I’m about 95% certain that my laptop’s calendar is wrong. Shouldn’t the last few days of April be warm? I’m pretty sure that the weather outside is more like something I’d find in late February, or early March at best. No, this all has to be one massive, over the top hoax; any moment now Ashton is going to pop and inform me that I’ve been punked. Any moment now…still waiting….Ashton?   Alright fine, I’ll face the facts, the semester is literally days from being over which means that somehow,  I’ve just completed my first year at Simmons. Of course I’m over the moon excited by this fact; I have just one small twenty-five paper standing in between me and summer break. And yet, it seems like just yesterday I was leaving for…

Simmons Neon 5K

This past Saturday, me, my sister, and close group of friends came together to participate in Simmons Neon 5k. For most of us, this was the first time any of us had run a significant distance in a long time. Although I used to run competitively, I haven’t run a race since my senior year of high school, so going into a race like this was both exciting yet nerve racking. A part of me really wanted to run the race as fast as possible but I knew that that would be a pipe dream; there was no way I was in any shape to run a 5k in about 25 minutes. So, I decided to aim for something else; finish under 30 minutes and do it without walking. Even if I did have to stop, I knew that both my friends and my sister would be there to support me. On the day of, the six of us met on the course with mixed emotions. My sister and I were excited to get started, the…

Five Reasons Why it Needs to be Spring

Although spring technically started about ten days ago, it sure does not feel like it. In fact, while I was out running errands today, I realized that the rain turned into hail. Now I am an total fan of winter but even I know when enough is enough. Unless this seemingly endless winter is a curse accidentally placed on us by Queen Elsa from Frozen, starting tomorrow, it better start feeling like spring. Now, I know its been a while since it has even come close to feeling like spring so I’ve composed a list of five reasons why its time to open up the windows and enjoy the fresh spring air. 1. Warmer weather. Think how wonderful it will be when we no longer need to go outside bundled up in winter wear? Rather than having to wear extra socks on my feet, I cannot wait to bust out my t-shirts and flip flops. 2. The rebirth of nature. One thing that I absolutely love about spring is how everything seemingly comes alive again. Flowers bloom, trees sprout leaves, and butterflies are everywhere. Yea there are those pesky…

City of Neighborhoods Exhibit

This past Saturday, the map gallery where I work, the Leventhal Map Gallery, premiered their newest exhibit to the Boston public. The new exhibit, City of Neighborhoods, celebrates the racial and ethnic diversity of the city of Boston. While the former exhibit, Made in Boston, had featured antique maps of both Boston and the New England area from the late 1600s through the 1700s, this exhibition “Compares the neighborhoods of today’s ‘new’ Boston with those of 100 years ago.” Through the use of photographs and maps, the exhibit is colorful and enlightening. As music representing the cultures that form the social fabric of Boston plays in the background, one can see the areas where newer immigrant groups have settled and how the physical appearance of the city had changed to reflect those who live and work there. As part of Saturday’s opening, the map gallery pulled out  all the stops. In a separate room, we had activities for families with children while a band played music from Cape Verde. For many people who attended the event, this was the first time they had ever realized just how diverse the city was….

Going Home and Coming Back

In the weeks preceding spring break this year, I’ll admit, I was starting to get a bit stir crazy. You see, for the last four years, I had the luxury of being able to journey off my undergraduate campus for weekend hikes all around Massachusetts. These weekend adventures not only provided me with a break from my academic responsibilities, but also helped fend off any possibility of developing recklessness.  As an individual who can’t ever seem to stay in one place for too long, you can imagine how much I miss these weekend outings. While I absolutely love living in Boston, sometimes, a person just needs a change every now and then and I hit that wall about a month a half ago. Of course, without access to a car or enough free time to venture off on the commuter rail, I’ve found myself essentially stuck within the confines of the city. Now don’t get me wrong, one can never go wrong with a bit of urban exploring, but sometimes, a person just needs to get out. And so, I decided to do just that and last Wednesday, I said…

Baking a little bit of springtime

Normally, I am a very big fan of winter. Snow, ice, the cold; I love it all. Or I used to. Although I am no stranger to New England winters, this year, the winter seems longer, colder, and snowier than ever before. And normally, I wouldn’t be complaining. However, it seems my love for winter has waned over the course of these past few months. I guess the same would happen to anyone after experiencing temperatures in the single digits for almost two straight weeks and a seemingly never-ending bombardment of snow storms. Indeed, I am so done with winter that I am actually keeping track of how many more days are left until spring (fifteen days to go!). Although it seems like it is forever and half away, soon (hopefully) all the snow will be gone, the flowers will bloom, and most importantly, it will be WARM. And to help get myself amped up for the upcoming warm weather, I decided to bake a springtime dessert this past weekend, just a little something to…

Monday with Julia Child

This past Monday I ventured over to the Schlesinger Library, which is part of Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advance Study. Although I was making this trip for research purposes, I won’t deny my excitement about getting to handle the papers and letters of THE Julia Child! To begin with, this was the woman who not only taught America how to cook, but she was part of a food revolution that helped pull America out of its bizarre obsession with disgusting Jello-molds and pre-packaged foods. Going beyond that, this woman is somewhat of a role model to me. Like her, I went through most of my relatively short life not totally sure of what I wanted to do. Just like her, I tried different things, each fun but never quite providing me with the level of fulfillment of satisfaction that I was searching for. But then, I discovered how much I loved baking, and a passion began to grow. Sure, I didn’t have the same degree of a food epiphany that Ms. Child had when…

Weekend at the Boston Public Library

Sitting right outside of the Copley T stop are two connected buildings that couldn’t appear to be more different. The first building is old and scholarly, the type of historic landmark that is almost begging to have its picture taken. Its classic charm makes one feel as if they are about to enter some sort of sacred place, an historic institution where knowledge is both value and shared.  The second building seems to lack the romantic charm of its brother although that does not seem to hamper its popularity amongst the general public. Everyday, a wide range of people pass through this modern building’s rotating door, each looking for something different amongst the building’s vast collection and other offerings. Although both buildings might appear to be aesthetically different, they are actually one in the same. Together, these two buildings make up the Boston Public Library. Over this past weekend, I had the pleasure to visit the BPL not once, but TWICE! Starting with Saturday, I took a friend who’s lived in the city for the…

The Super Bowl from the Perspective of a Non-football Fan

I’m not going to beat around the bush, I am not really big on this whole football thing. Don’t ask me why, because I can assure you that at age 22 ½, I’m still trying to figure it out. My three other roommates, on the other hand, are about as nuts about football as cats are to cat nip. Every Sunday evening, they can found in our common space with a game on (because there is always a game on, somewhere), surrounded by chips, dip, and beer. Like the fans in the stadiums, they hoot, they holler, they make snide remarks about the opposing team. Even from the perspective of someone who would much rather listen to silence than hear a baseball game broadcasted over the radio, my roommates somehow always managed to make whatever they are watching seem like they are watching the greatest show on earth. And so, after months and months of listening to their weekend hoopla, I found myself Sunday night, over at a mutual friend’s apartment watching the Big Game….

Learning the World of Computers

As we all know, last Tuesday’s snow storm caused Simmons to cancel class that night. As I stayed nice and warm inside, I decided to do the responsible thing and do some reading for class. It was while I was reading through one of my two books for LIS 488 (Technology for Information Professionals) that I realized that I have a lot to learn in regards to computers. Now for those of you who might not know, LIS 488 focuses on the conceptual foundation and context of computing, Internet, and other technologies used within information-based professions. Besides learning the concepts and skills related to various pieces and aspects of technology, we are learning about the inner workings and history of computers. Considering that I grew up in the 1990s and had a front row seat to all the changes that occurred within the world technology, I figured that this course was going to relatively easy. Boy was I wrong. But not for the reasons that you’re probably thinking. I’ll be the first to admit that…

Academic Peace at Last: Finding that Place to Study

For those of you who might not know, I am a commuter student. While I did have the option of living on Simmons campus, I opted to rent an apartment right outside of Boston in the Brookline/Brighton area. I’ve included the slash since my apartment is located in a place that if I take two steps to the left I’ll be in Brookline. Now don’t get me wrong, I deeply love living in an apartment; it allows me to feel like I’m one step closer to entering the world of being a working professional without actually entering the professional working world. However, as much as I love living a few T-stops away from the hip and happening place that is Coolidge Corner, there are quite a few luxuries of living on a college campus that I truly miss. While I could create another list featuring the five things I miss the most about a college campus, I will save that for another time. Rather, I think I am going to talk about the one thing…

New Year, New Semester, Already So Much To Do

Well, the truth can be denied no longer; my second semester at Simmons has officially begun. As of 9am this morning, I became a student once again, putting an end to my month-long academic hiatus. Sure, I will miss the luxury of being able to sleep in past 7am and not have to worry about finishing all my homework before the weekend, but I know that its high time I get back to focusing on my academics. After all, I have a lot to look forward to this semester. For example, I will have not one, but two night classes this year, something that I am both dreading and excited about.  Additionally, I have my first history course to look forward to, representing my first step towards completing my dual degree. But classes at Simmons are not all that I excited about. You see, right before I went home to celebrate the winter holidays, I went into Fenway High for a job interview. While I’ll be the first to admit that I did not land the job, I walked…

Service First? A New Kind of Service Model for my Local Library

About a week ago, my older and sister and I returned home to celebrate the winter holidays with my family. As always, within less than twenty-fours of arriving home from Boston, my mom and I piled into the car and made a trip over my town’s local library so I could pick up some books to read while I’m home for the break. Although the library had undergone some serious renovations back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, very little has changed in regards to its general services. However, things have apparently changed quite a bit while I have been away. When I walked inside my local library last Saturday, I was horrified to see that the circulation desk was all but gone and in its place were a line of computers and book scanners. After inquiring about the significant changes with a nearby librarian, I learned that the computers and the removal of the circulation desk were all part of the library’s new Service First model. While my library’s website boasts that amongst other…

Kicking it Old School

Well, it’s official: my first semester in GSLIS is now over! All fanfare aside, I’ll admit, it does feel somewhat strange to not have any classes to attend or homework to do. I mean, after about fourteen weeks of classes, readings, and other assignments, one does kind of get used to pulling all-nighters while fighting deadlines posted on Moodle. However, now that I have had a week to relax and simply longue around the city of Boston, I’ve decided that it is high time that I find something else to do other than re-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After some careful thinking, I’ve decided to go back into my childhood and re-read a series that, like all the other people who were kids during the 1990s, made me constantly stare out my window awaiting the arrival of an owl to change my life forever. That’s right, I am going to spend my free time this winter break re-reading the Harry Potter series. As I write this post now, I’m currently halfway through the second book, The Chamber of Secrets, a book…

Going Dual Degree

What many people don’t know is that back when I was in the middle of applying to Simmons for graduate school, I was originally planning on submitting an application for Simmons’s dual degree in archives and history. As someone deeply interested in working within a museum, I figured that having a degree in both history and archives would open to me to more opportunities in the future. Unfortunately, due to some minor miscommunication between a professor and myself, I ended up submitting my application to GSLIS with a concentration in archives. After talking to both my parents and a representative from GSLIS, I decided that I would try GSLIS for a semester and if I felt that it was necessary, I could always apply to the history degree for the following semester. Well, about two or three weeks after starting at Simmons, I knew that something was missing. While I do enjoy being a member of the archives program, I realized rather quickly that the program wasn’t giving me everything that I wanted out of…

Call Numbers: Why they are Awesome

For those of you who don’t know, when one enters the Simmons GSLIS program, there are a number of core classes that they must complete. Besides an introductory course, LIS 401, there is another core course that they suggest we take in our first semester, LIS 415, Information Organization. Within LIS 415, we learn about the processes behind information organizations, which includes topics like classification, descriptive metadata, and resource types. Whenever I’m asked by my non-library friends to describe this class, I summarize it by saying that, essentially, we are learning all the behind the scene processes that make a library function that way it does. Amongst the variety of things that help ensure that a library isn’t one massive chaotic mess, librarians use call numbers to make sure that every book has a place on a given shelf. If you have ever gone to a library to find a book, then I am sure that you are acquainted with call numbers. Without them, it would be like trying to find one specific needle in…

Study Tips and Tricks to Help Get you Through Finals

As I enter the final weeks of my first semester as a member of GSLIS, I’m somewhat in shock with the realization that it is almost over. Of course, it won’t be officially over until I get past the dreaded final weeks of the semester. Basically, in college terms, I’m stuck in the middle of what I affectionately call ‘academic crunch time.’ To anyone who has ever been a college student, they are probably familiar with this window of time; it tends to usually crop up whenever there are midterms or finals floating around. Now, as a four-year seasoned pro when it comes to dealing with finals and midterms, I’ve developed a few strategies for handling the stress. Of course, now that I’m in the big leagues that is grad school, I’ve had to adapt to a few changes, the fact that I’m not within proximity of a my school’s library being the biggest of them all.  Now I know that I am not the only one who has to cope with the changes that…

All About Going Abroad

Having the chance to study abroad is something that I think many students want to strive towards when they begin their career as college students. While a number of my close friends did indeed get to experience the wonders of studying in a foreign country, I unfortunately did not. With the idea that my opportunity to go abroad had finally passed, you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered that GSLIS offered its students a number of study abroad options. Yes you are reading this correctly; you can study abroad in graduate school! Who knew? For those of you who are curious, GSLIS will be offering two study abroad options this summer, one in Seoul, South Korea, and the other in Paris, France. For two whole weeks, groups of students will have the chance to take LIS classes, experiences the wonders of another culture, and get to explore locations they have only dreamed of! Just to clarify, for each trip, two different course options will be offered. As for the classes themselves, there will be a total…

Three Reasons Study Groups are Awesome

Study groups are something that I used to avoid when I was an undergraduate student. Back then, I found them to be disorganized and extremely one-sided, with one person usually doing all the work. However, I’ve had a recent revelation regarding study groups: they are AWESOME. Perhaps its because I am now a mature graduate student or something, but the study group dynamic that I was used to seems to be a thing of the past. Indeed, I have found that having a study group is one of the wisest decisions I’ve made since starting at Simmons. As much as I would like to think that I am one of those students who can do it all on their own, I am not. With assignments that really challenge you to use everything you’ve learned in class and then some, its nice to have a group of people who are equally as confused as you are. It seems to create a nice sense of solidarity, if you catch my drift. So, to showcase how awesome and…

Daily Musings: Twelve Years a Slave

As a big fan of historical dramas, be it a novel, a play or a film, when I first heard about the film 12 Years a Slave, I knew it would be a film worth seeing. Well, I just got out of the theater and I have to say, I made the right choice. Set during the mid 1800s, the film depicts the experiences of a kidnapped free black man, Solomon Northup, and his struggle to both survive and return to his family. Based off the book with the same name, the story perfectly captures the attitudes that were prevalent towards slavery during this point in American history. I won’t give away any details other than the fact that director, Steve McQueen, did an excellent job with casting for the film.  Actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, Paul Dano, Michael Fassbender, and Benedict Cumberbatch are all outstanding in their respective roles. You feel differently for each of the characters that these actors represent, emotions ranging from pure sympathy to absolute disgust. I haven’t had the chance to read the source…

Baking Fun!

If you haven’t noticed, we are already more than halfway through pumpkin month! It is kind of hard to believe that October is nearly over, meaning that I’ve already been a student at Simmons for two months. Time certainly flies when one is busy at work with their studies. But between learning about MARC, RDA, AACR2, and how to create a finding aid, one needs a little time to unwind. Well, considering that I love to bake and it is almost Halloween, I decided to take some time off between writing papers and MARC to try my hand at something new. Whoopie pies are something that I have known about for a long time but have never had an opportunity to make. Well, this past week I decided to take a break and try something new. Well, the whoopies pies I ended up baking turned out to be not only phenomenal but super easy to make. So the next time you feel like taking a study break, give this recipe a try. The results are…

Course Registration Jitters

So it seems that it is already that time of the year again, that magical time when we the students are asked to pick our next round of classes for the following semester. During my undergrad years, course registration went something like this: at the end of October, the course list would be released and we would have about two or three weeks to figure out which courses we wanted to take. At Simmons, this process is a wee bit different. In the course of this upcoming week, not only will the official spring semester course list be released, but by Friday, I’ll officially be registered for the spring semester. Talk about covering a lot of ground in just five days! Although I, like my peers, do not know which courses will be offered this spring, I am thankful that I was able to sit down with my advisor to discuss registration. Fortunately, since I am still only in my first year, I still need to complete LIS 407. One class down, two to go. To…

Internship Time

Tomorrow afternoon, I start my internship requirement for LIS 438, Introduction to Archival Methods and Services. For those of you who don’t know, each student enrolled in LIS 438 needs to complete a 60 hour internship project. While the list of potential internship sites was numerous, each student was told to select just three potential locations and from there, one of the three would eventually be chosen. Well, after waiting anxiously, two weeks ago I was finally given my placement; the Cambridge Historical Commission. As someone very interested in history, I couldn’t be more happy with my placement. Tucked away in Cambridge, the Commission is an institution concerned with preserving and chronicling the development of the city. Although on the smaller side, the Commission is filled with photographs, registries of those who have lived in the city, and other items related to the city’s history. As for the people who work there, they seemed super excited to have another Simmons student working with them for the semester. Fortunately for me, I couldn’t have shown up at…

Tastes of Fenway

So for those of you who don’t know, besides being a bibliophile, I am also a foodie. As a person obsessed with all things food, I always love a chance to try a new restaurant, type of cuisine, or entrée. However, since I commute from Brighton, I don’t usually get a chance to explore the neighborhoods surrounding Simmons. This is a rather unfortunate fact since just outside of campus, is a slew of eateries that every Simmons student or faculty member should check out. The one I’m featuring here today, Neighborhood Coffee and Crepes, is a place perfect for anyone who likes a good cup of coffee (or latte), mouthwateringly delicious crepes, and chill atmosphere excellent for reading a book or doing some casual studying. Located just seven minutes from campus, this little gem is tucked away amongst a number of other eateries. Since this was my first dining experience in the Fenway, I decided to pull out all the stops. Although Neighborhoods offers a number of yummy looking baked goods, I decided to go…

The T and Me

I’m sure that this has happened to everyone at least once. Picture this: It’s a school day and you have class at 9am. It’s 8:15am, and you have just rushed out of your apartment, running as fast as you possibly can to the T with high hopes that it will be pulling in just as you arrive. Instead though, the T is just leaving, the passengers all turning to watch you as the train leaves you behind in its dust. Now its 8:30am and the next train has finally pulled in. Hallelujah! But with only 30 minutes left and a number of T stops to go AND a lengthy walk separating you from the T stop and your classroom, the question remains: will you make it to class on time? Well when the above scenario happened to me, I ended up making it to class with ten minutes to spare. Yes, I was out of breath and somewhat half crazed from worry, but I had made it to class on time. As I boarded the T back home later…

Five Things I Have Learned Joining GSLIS

Before I packed up the family car with dad to drive up to Boston for school, my mom decided to impart some advice for me to mull over during the course of my four and half hour long car ride. She said “Keep your mind open, everyday you are going to be learning something new, in and out of school.” I’ve got to give my mom a hand; she doesn’t normally offer such thought-provoking advice. However, since I was unable to go back home to Long Island for the Jewish high holidays, I’ve been thinking about my mom a lot lately, especially what she said to me two weeks ago. So, for my first official blog post for GSLIS, I’ve created a list of the top five things that I have learned since becoming a member of GSLIS. *The following is in no particular order and can probably apply to the experiences of students outside of the GSLIS program* Moodle is your best friend: Although this seems like an obvious one, Moodle is a resource…