Classes
300 Words or Less
Posted January 23, 2016 by Amy Wilson
This was the first week back to class and I am really looking forward to this very career-focused semester. As I have mentioned before, I want to go into legal librarianship. My classes this semester include: Wednesdays – Legal Information ServicesThursdays – Information Sources and Services& Spring Break (five full days) – Special Libraries I can already tell that this is going to be a lot of work, but I am going to throw myself into it because everything I learn is going to be directly applicable in a career. Even my Information Sources and Services course (also known as Reference) is going to be highly focused. I was worried that the broad nature of the topic would mean most of it wouldn’t relate to my career; however, Professor Froggatt made it very clear from the first night that she wants us to find our focus and use it as a lens in the class. This morning our group presentation sign-ups opened at 8am, and I set an alarm to make sure that I could get into the Special Libraries…
Expecting Nothing More or Less
Posted December 10, 2015 by Tara Pealer
It’s the end of the semester. I have two assignments left, two days of work, and four days. I’m trying not to stress out. However, looking at the semester, I’m trying to make sure that I’ve achieved the one goal I set out for myself: To Have No Expectations. I like to theme my school years. Junior year, for example, was the Year of Yes, and I said yes to every opportunity I could, from entering the honors program to becoming a head tutor. Senior year was my Year of No, and that year I did my best to not add extra work to my overfull schedule. Entering Grad School and moving to Boston, however, required a new focus. I’d learned a lot between the yes year and the no year, and I knew what I could handle without freaking out. So this time around, I decided that my focus would be to have no expectations. I wouldn’t expect classes to be difficult or easy. I wouldn’t expect myself to always have it all together….
One Semester Down
Posted December 7, 2015 by Amy Wilson
Two days – this is all that stands between me and my last assignment this semester. Technically, my last class is next Tuesday, December 15, when half my classmates in my Information Organization class will present their research on an LIS topic. My group is presenting in this first week, so my only job for next Tuesday is to listen and bring a snack. I think I can handle that. Finishing this first semester is a little surreal. A year ago, I had no intentions to apply to Simmons, and here I am one sixth of the way through my program. Last Thursday I turned in my eleven page literature review for my Foundations class. My focus was the information behavior of lawyers, and it really gave me a new respect for my colleagues on the legal team at my work. Ultimately, I found that there are really two levels of information seeking in legal work; first, there is basic legal research, and second, there is a more complicated process of finding the solutions within that information…
The Joys of Co-Working
Posted November 19, 2015 by Tara Pealer
“If you have a friend you like to spend time with, but also want them to have their dreams to come true, co-work. Accomplish your dreams together.”–Hannah Hart One of the biggest problems I find myself facing when I’m trying to complete schoolwork is the fact that I let myself decide that I’m not in the right mood to get anything done. I could be in a sleepy mood, and who wants to work then? Or I could be too awake to do work. Or none of the Spotify stations are playing music which I can get work done to. When I don’t ‘feel’ like getting work done, I can have a million and one excuses. Now, as a lot of people know, one of the fixes for this is to set up a space where you get work done. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but, although I love my apartment, it’s small. My desk has a mix of school books, scarves and bills on it. It’s not, currently, a friendly workspace. Another,…
Pickles and PhDs
Posted November 13, 2015 by Amy Wilson
As I approach the end of this semester (my final assignments are due 12/3 and 12/8) I am feeling an increasing sense of urgency, but also a feeling of confidence. Part of this is likely due to the fact that I have a whole weekend ahead of me with no plans, except making pickles. I’ve never pickled anything so it should be an interesting journey. Anyway, it will be nice to make some real progress on my research this weekend. Last night I indulged in a night of crafting, Gilmore Girls, and no homework. I stitched initials onto some Christmas stockings that I bought for our apartment, and then started making a hat for my boyfriend. I learned how to knit from my old bosses in my job at the Saint Michael’s College library, Kristen and Naomi. It’s an unspoken law that librarians must learn to knit. I also have a cat, so I can check off that box too. Last weekend I came very close to being the owner of two cats, when I…
Learning about the Copyright Act
Posted November 11, 2015 by Jill Silverberg
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…
Temporary Disturbances in the Force
Posted November 7, 2015 by Amy Wilson
Hello there! I’ve had trouble finding time to write recently because work has been incredibly busy. I like my job for many reasons, one being that my firm offers great benefits, like sabbaticals every 10 years; however, in the last two weeks, one coworker’s sabbatical overlapped with another person’s honeymoon. Doing the job of three specialists has made me feel like a battle droid running around with its head cut off. This week, one of my coworkers is back, so things have quieted down a bit. Finding time to celebrate Halloween! I have definitely started to find a healthy balance when it comes to school work, and my last few assignments have come back with high marks. I felt confident enough, when I registered for classes next semester, to sign up for 9 credits instead of 6 – kind of. It will work like this: during spring break in March my adviser, Jim Matarazzo, is teaching a week long class called “Special Libraries,” which is 3 credits like any other course, but meets from…
Building Foundations
Posted October 3, 2015 by Amy Wilson
We are a few weeks into the semester, so it seems like a good time to reflect. Making it Work This is probably a good time to talk about my workload and plans for time management. I have chosen to take two classes each semester, and attend during each of the spring, fall, and summer terms. That should allow me to finish the required 36 credits (two 3-credit courses per semester) in two years (six semesters). I’m pacing myself this way because I also work 37.5 hours a week (9 to 5:30) at a law firm in downtown Boston, in the records management department. This semester, I am taking classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6-8:50pm, and my boss has agreed to let me leave at 5pm on those days so that I can make it to Simmons on time. As the semester goes on, I will learn how to balance my homework and spread it out through the week. My professors also have listed the entire semester’s readings on their syllabuses, in case I want…
Nope, Not in a Routine Yet
Posted September 15, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
It’s technically the third week of classes at SLIS, and I am definitely not in a routine yet. My kids are only in their first full week of school and gymnastics, so I’m not completely clear about their rhythm, which means I’m also not completely clear about my rhythm. I’m taking two classes — 481, Children’s Collections, which meets Thursday evenings (my first evening class!), and 407, Reference, which I’m taking online and has significant work due every Tuesday night. Because of some one-time scheduling issues, I’m a bit behind this week — I’m not the type who enjoys doing work due Tuesday on Tuesday, but that’s what’s happening right now! Hopefully I’ll get it all straightened out this week, and by next week be on a better schedule for schoolwork. And I have full confidence that the kids will get themselves straightened out. They have excellent teachers, love their classrooms and enjoy gymnastics, so as long as I get them where they need to be when they need to be there, with snacks, we…
Back to School
Posted September 9, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
It’s September, which means it’s back-to-school time. And in my family, three of the four of us return to school (my husband continues on as a lawyer, without the seasonal changes of second grade, fourth grade or library school). Last year, my daughters and I all started on the same day, and it was kind of crazy. This year, we start at different times, and it’s still kind of crazy. That’s the way it is, I’ve learned, when you’re both a parent and a student. I know what to expect this year, though, and that will make things so much easier. I know that my classes will be a lot of work, but that the work will all get done. I know there will be times that I really need to work on something for school, but a family matter will take precedence (and that the work will still get done). I know that I will feel older than my classmates (because I am), but that there are other SLIS students who are parents and…