General
Halfway Through My Degree
Posted January 28, 2025 by Erin Wood
Around this time last year, I had just begun my very first semester at SLIS. It is crazy to think about how I am now halfway done with my degree! In only a year, my life has changed so drastically, and I could not be more thankful for this program. With the more generalized courses under my belt, this semester I am taking more specific classes that focus on the areas of librarianship I want to explore in my professional life. I am currently taking LIS-442 Establishing Archives and Manuscript Programs, which focuses on staff and program management within archives; LIS-476 Outreach and Advocacy for Cultural Heritage, focusing on the roles outreach and advocacy play within the operation of a healthy cultural heritage institution; and LIS-439 Preservation Management, which explores the foundations of preserving physical objects within cultural heritage institutions. Each of these classes cover an aspect of the field that I am really interested in, so I am excited for what is to come this semester. When I first started this program, I thought…
Looking Back On My First Semester
Posted January 23, 2025 by Mary Kassman
Spring semester is beginning and I’ve officially completed my first semester in the MLIS program! I was not sure what to expect going into my first semester of classes, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I took LIS 407, Information service, behavior, and Ethics, which went over the basics of providing information services, common information behaviors, and the ethical dilemmas that information professionals might encounter while on the job. In a time where books and information are constantly being banned or censored, I found learning about the ethics of this profession to be extremely relevant and important. The next class I took was 415, Information Organization. This class went over the fundamentals of organizing information, metadata, and the various information systems used by information professionals. I enjoyed this class because coming into this program, I had no knowledge of what information systems were and how they worked, but by the end of the semester I was able to establish a strong understanding of them , and feel more prepared to…
Not With a Bang, but With a Moodle Submission
Posted December 12, 2024 by Isabella Rodrigues
As the days darken, the wind whips, and the deadlines grow closer, tension rises on the Simmons campus. The final week before classes end for the winter break contains a lot of emotions for all of us. Some of us are scrambling around trying to finish up our final projects while others are hitting “send” on those deliverables. If you’re like me, it’s finally dawning on you that your last semester of SLIS is approaching. Perhaps your family or other classmates are already questioning you on the where/what/how after graduation in the spring when it just seemed like yesterday you sat in a classroom on campus for the first time and worried if you were making the right decision. Questions buzz through your head—interrupting your day. Did you take enough resume-building classes? Did you engage with your professors enough? Did you slack off? Are you prepared for the after? Am I doing enough? Finals seem almost soothing compared to the plunge I and others are going to take next May. An existential crisis is one…
Essential for Surviving Boston Winter
Posted December 10, 2024 by Mary Kassman
With the weather getting cold and our first bit of snow, I have found a few items essential for surviving the Boston winter, as a person from the south who has never experienced this cold of weather before. First, and most importantly, a good jacket to keep you warm, followed by a scarf, hat, and gloves too. I recommend looking for sales at the end of spring and summer to get a good discount on these items. A good pair of boots is essential too. You don’t want to slip on ice or get dirty in the water and mud from melted snow. Along with boots, a good pair of thick socks is helpful to keep your feet warm. Next, a heated blanket, for when you’re cold even with the heat turned on. Next, a good hand cream. Along with the cold, Boston’s air is also super dry, so having a good hand and or body cream helps lock in moisture. I would personally recommend trader joe’s hand cream. And lastly, a good travel mug…
Welcome Mary and Ava- New Bloggers
Posted December 3, 2024 by Lindsey Clarke
Mary Kassman Mary Kassman is currently a first year student in Simmons’ Master of Library and Information Science with a concentration in Archives Management. Mary is from Houston, Texas and just moved to Boston back in September. Mary got my bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Houston with a minor in women’s studies. When Mary has free time, she loves to watch TV, read, bake, or work on whatever craft she is into at the moment, currently it is crocheting. Mary is a long-time Taylor Swift fan, loves any mystery or crime based tv shows, and is an avid follower of Formula 1 racing. Ava Wilson Ava Wilson, is in her first year as a LIS student, concentrating in Cultural Heritage Informatics. Originally from New York, she am new to the Boston area. Ava loves to read, specifically historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy novels. When she’s not pouring over her SLIS readings or her latest leisure read, you can find her engaging in some sort of outside activity, whether it be caring for my plants…
Some Wintery Reads for Winter Break!
Posted November 26, 2024 by Isabella Rodrigues
I’m sure everyone is already deep into final projects, tests, essays, and presentations so rather than talk about the campus-wide stress November and December bring, I thought it would be fun to talk about some books! Specifically books for a cold winter’s night! For those obsessed with ballet and a snowy fairy tale, Nocturne might be for you. A blossoming prima ballerina in 1930s Chicago gets a mysterious patron who might just be the death of her. A nutcracker retelling with an extra bite, this story follows Marietta on her wintery journey through another world. If you loved Barbie in the Nutcracker as a kid, you will love this book. Why do we feel so tired all the time when it gets dark? Why is it harder and harder to get out of bed? Is it because of the season or because of us? This nonfiction book tracks why we need to hibernate a bit. In Manchuria in 1908, a courtesan is found dead in the snow. A detective, a boy with a curse, and…
Historic New England’s Annual Summit
Posted November 19, 2024 by Aurora Daniel
This past week I attended Historic New England’s annual summit in Portland, Maine. I interned with Historic New England this past spring and during that I found out that they had a scholarship to help current students attend the summit. It covered food, a one-night stay at the hotel where the summit was hosted, parking and travel reimbursement. The worst thing that could happen if I applied was to be rejected so I went for it. Thankfully, I was one of the recipients. As a current dual LIS and History student here at SLIS I’m always looking for opportunities to expand upon what I’m learning in the classroom and it seemed like the summit would provide that. However, what I hadn’t expected was how much fun I would have. View of Portland from my hotel room The summit primarily consisted of a series of lectures given on a range of topics from building preservation to how cultural institutions can better address the current socio-political landscape to how climate change is impacting this sector. One…
Election Processing
Posted November 13, 2024 by Isabella Rodrigues
As we hit the middle of the semester, scurrying into sweaters and our finals preparation, it can feel like the start of a very long winter. With the results of our country’s election this week released, that winter feels even longer for some. As future and current librarians, archivists, and museum curators, it is hard not to fear what this means for our professions and ourselves. Some people are allowing time to process, some are continuing as usual. But it seems like everyone has the same questions: What do we do? How do we feel? What comes after the grief? What happens now? We are all smart enough to feel more than a little uneasy. I don’t have much advice to give on this subject. The future feels dark and frightening. All I do know is that we have to take care of ourselves and each other. Take a shower, eat some food, talk to a friend, maybe step away from that final project for a second, and breathe. The Simmons Counseling Center offers Student…
Juggling Work and School
Posted November 1, 2024 by Erin Wood
Managing work and classwork is one of the most difficult parts of graduate school. Of course, the coursework is challenging but working full-time while being a full-time (or part-time!) master’s student is exhausting. There are a lot of students who juggle multiple jobs alongside school and manage to make it out alive. You can do it too! I am currently stuck in the interview phase for jobs in libraries and archives, so I’m on the customer service grind working early mornings as a barista. If you’ve ever worked in food service or retail, you know how draining it can be. I acknowledge that working early mornings gives me more time in my day following work, but by the time I’ve worked 8 hours, I’m so exhausted that I can’t even think straight. I am sure every working graduate student can relate to the feeling, no matter the job. The good news is, there are things you can do to make this whole grad school journey a bit smoother. For me, I found that structure was…
It’s Fall – Balancing Time
Posted October 30, 2024 by Aurora Daniel
How fast this semester has flown by! It’s hard to believe that the leaves are already mostly off the trees, my last day of coaching Ultimate frisbee for the season is this Sunday, and that it’s already time to work on final projects. Unlike undergrad where I regularly had a midterm exam or a couple of tests throughout the semester (yes, even as an Art History major) I’ve found that Library Science and graduate-level history courses tend to have smaller group work assignments or papers early on in the semester and one large assignment towards the end. As we pass by the halfway mark of the semester I’ve transitioned from those smaller assignments to digging into my final projects. What’s exciting this semester is how wildly different they are. For HIST-597: Historical Methods I am writing a historiography of any subject I choose. Currently, I’m exploring historical texts about the U.S. Army Nurse corps to see both how it came into being and how historians have covered its history over time. I did some research…