Classes
A Bit About My Summer Classes
Posted July 27, 2015 by Samantha Quiñon
As we head into the end of July, we at SLIS are entering the final week of the summer term. This is my second year taking summer classes, and they are a lot of work (classes are condensed), but worth it (six credits in six weeks). I definitely recommend them. This semester I took Collection Development (LIS 453) and Evaluation (LIS 403). Evaluation sounds vague, I know. It’s mostly about how to evaluate and assess various aspects of your library to meet user needs and justify funding, along with the various research and data collection methods that exist. The classes complemented each other well, as Collection Development had a large part devoted to evaluation of a library’s collection. I’m working on final projects for both courses now. For Evaluation, I have to write a research proposal including literature review, and for Collection Development I have to write a collection development policy with demographic data, budget allocation information, deselection guidelines, a gift policy, and collection priorities. (Mine is about 35 pages total, single-spaced, but that includes…
Summertime Panic
Posted June 10, 2015 by Alexandra Bernson
As an online student, it is difficult to connect with one’s professors or fellow students on a regular basis. Certainly in this day and age there are so many ways to reach out to someone – email, social media, Moodle and discussion forums, but these will always pale in comparison to good ol’ fashioned face-to-face time. While I know that I can reach out to my professors and advisor when necessary, and I certainly have, I’ve learned to be my own support. Because of this, coupled by the fact that I spend so much time on my own reading through discussion forums, tracking down articles, and navigating through modules on Moodle, my education often feels like a very solitary experience. I learned a great lesson recently in taking responsibility for my personal experience as a Simmons graduate student, specifically regarding summer semester. During my undergraduate education, summers usually involved internships in random fields as I tried to figure out exactly what it was that I wanted to do. I was still unsure about library science…
Well, that was fast.
Posted June 2, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
I just submitted the final assignment for LIS-505, Reader’s Advisory. Hurrah! LIS-505 was a two-week class, and by that I mean a full three-credit class jammed into two weeks. We read eight novels from different genres, about 20 articles on different aspects of reader’s advisory, book selection, leading discussion groups and genre fiction, completed three assignments and gave an in-class presentation. I’m not going to lie — it was a lot of work in a short period of time. But it was fun work, interesting work, and I enjoyed the professor, classmates, readings and assignments. I did not enjoy the timeframe so much. It turns out that I really like to take my time with assignments. I guess I knew this, but taking a two-week class really made it clear. Usually, I write a first draft well before the assignment is due, and revise it considerably until the day before the due date, and then try to submit early, which is essentially impossible in a two-week timeframe. However, every once in a while it’s good…
Exploring Options, SLIS Style
Posted May 19, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
When I enrolled at SLIS, I was sure that I would take all my classes on campus, in person. That was the whole point of going to grad school, right? I wanted to meet my professors, form relationships with my classmates, ask questions and have face to face conversations. Then, for family and scheduling reasons, I ended up taking an online class this past semester. While I still prefer on campus classes and face-to-face interactions, I now appreciate the great flexibility online classes provide, and I’m actually taking another one in the fall. I was also pretty sure I’d take all my classes during the traditional fall and spring semesters. A friend of mine, who also went through Simmons when her kids were in Elementary school, shared horror stories of the shortened, intense summer semester — “that’s when my kids learned to cook their own meals, since all I did was study.” However — and I think you know where I’m going — I’m about to start a 2-week “short course.” It meets every day…
Semester is Almost Over
Posted April 23, 2015 by Hayley Botnen
As I’ve mentioned before, April is a crazy month for me. What I forgot about was the fact that registration and the end of the semester were also both approaching. Registration always brings challenges and stress along with it. This semester, I completely forgot my registration time. Twelve hours later, I remembered in a panic and hustled to our registration site. I managed to get into two classes easily, but one already had a waiting list of 8 people! I try to remind myself not to stress. I try to tell myself that even if I can’t get into the class (which I think I will because the school tries to work with people) that it’s alright. I can extend school by a semester and my life will still be alright. But I still spend a lot of time freaking out. I also have like 8 projects due in the next week and a half which I keep trying to prioritize in order of due date, but it’s stressful. I’m excited for summer and the…
My Vote is Split
Posted April 10, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
I am a student at SLIS. I have two young children. They take a lot of time and attention. I am their primary caregiver. My first two semesters at SLIS, I intentionally scheduled classes and schoolwork in such a way that it barely impacted my kids. Everything was done while they were at (their) school. Even my library shifts are primarily during their school hours, and a grandparent typically picks them up when I work later. Things are much easier for me when the girls’ schedule isn’t disrupted. Not so much from now on. I’m pretty much done with required courses, which are offered at a variety of days and times each semester. From now on, I’ll be taking classes that are only offered once a semester, or even once every other semester (or even once every two years, but I don’t even want to think about that). This means that I have very little choice as to when I go to school, and my kids’ schedule will now depend on my schedule, instead of…
The Insanity of April
Posted April 2, 2015 by Hayley Botnen
As always, the final full month of a semester is filled with the insanity of every class wanting to fit in the rest of the assignments before class is officially over. I have papers upon papers (seriously, I have 24 papers due in one class this month–short papers, but still 24 of them) and a few rogue assignments as well as discussion board posts. So what do I decide to do? Camp NaNoWriMo. Camp is the equivalent of regular National Novel Writing Month, however, it occurs twice (April and July), and people are free to set their own word count goal. Writers can also work on a variety of works, a novel isn’t the only option. I’ve also been enjoying the presence of two friends who have moved in with me. Hence, my life has become unexpectedly busy. I’ve been enjoying walking with the warm weather. I also started listening to podcasts! I had downloaded several podcasts to listen to during the 43 hour drive from Montana, but I didn’t end up listening to very…
Online Classes and Group Projects
Posted March 28, 2015 by Samantha Quiñon
Many bloggers on this site, myself included, have written about how group projects and teamwork are the bedrock of many SLIS courses. But what if you are taking a class online? Does that change? Not at all. Online students do just as much group work as face-to-face students, except sometimes they have to get more creative to accomplish their goals and finish projects. This semester I am taking Metadata (LIS-445OL) online. A good friend of mine took it in person with the same professor in the fall. After the class got started, I showed him the syllabus and asked if he saw any major differences between the work for the face-to-face class and the work for the online one. He said the professor used different examples for some exercises, but that all the assignments and modules were the same, and I was happy to hear this. At the beginning of the semester, I worked with my group to compare our individual work against each other’s. This ensured we were all taking away the same lessons…
SLIS: The School of Group Projects
Posted March 6, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
So far, every class I’ve taken at SLIS has had a major group project component. The people, topics, work style and product in my group projects have varied widely — from the fabulous, all-on-the-same-page group I’m part of in 404, to a frustrating experience in 401 with a classmate who missed every meeting and turned in subpar work. Working on one group project this week, I realized that my partner and I had completely different comfort levels with when to turn in our assignment (I trend early, she’s fine with right at the deadline), which made me think about the similarities (or lack thereof) between group projects and real life. Why a Group Project is Not Like Real Life There is no boss. In real life, someone is in charge. Group projects run the risk of floating along until someone takes charge. Or, someone tries to take charge and the rest of the group doesn’t like it. You cannot get fired, but you’re also not getting paid. In real life, if you mess up, your…
Taking Care of Business
Posted February 28, 2015 by Alison Mitchell
So, the first half of this semester was a little unusual. I’m just thankful I didn’t take any Monday classes, because between snow days and holidays, they have only met once. How crazy is that? By the end of last semester I figured out that things worked best for me if I had big blocks of time for each part of my life. A day here for work, a day there for homework. From 3:15 – bedtime, all my focus was on the kids. Weekends were family time, unless there was a big assignment on the horizon, in which case I carved a few hours out of precious family time so I wasn’t freaking out. It was a little hard to keep to that schedule at the beginning of this semester, as I got used to the slightly different rhythm of an online class. Still, I was keeping a positive attitude and trying to figure out the best way to get things done. I mapped out the dates for all the group projects in…