Learning
Second Semester Successes
Posted February 6, 2023 by Magenta Jasinski
I recently started my second semester of the dual MA/MS in Children’s Literature and Library Science, which has been really pleasant. After a trip back to Wisconsin over the holiday break, a wedding between friends over New Years, and a few days to prepare for CHL 436A Narrative Nonfiction, I was back into it. I have always enjoyed the dependable routine of the semester: wake up, class, work, go home, repeat four times, and weekend. Knowing what every day of the next three-ish months will hold is a great source of comfort to me. Another great thing about being in my second semester of the program is that I generally know who people are by now. Although I don’t know everyone in SLIS, I am an active member and moderator for our Discord group, recently renamed the SLIScord. I recognize people’s usernames and appreciate all of the fun things they put in there, which ranges from craft projects to job postings to club meeting times to book recommendations and more. I met one of my…
Book Events in Boston and Baltimore
Posted November 23, 2022 by Magenta Jasinski
As we approach Thanksgiving and eventually finals for the Fall 2022 semester, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the book-themed events I’ve attended this semester. I’d like to highlight the following three: First was the Boston Book Festival, which happened on October 29. (See Claire’s post about it if you’d like another perspective.) I went as an attendee in the morning and a volunteer in the afternoon. I had a chance to go to a comics panel at the Boston Architectural College which I’ve walked past many times but have never gone into. The inside of the building is very visually appealing with displays of architectural models, hardwood, and a spiral staircase. The event space was large despite the small number of attendees, the book sale table was well-stocked, the authors had a great conversation, and the questions asked to the authors were engaging. I ended up buying two young adult graphic novels after this event. Next, I went to the young adult horror event in Teen Central, which is the teen…
Joy in the End
Posted November 15, 2022 by Johnna Purchase
I have managed to freak out most of my friends when dropping into casual conversation the fact that we only have four weeks of class left. To me, this signifies fewer 10%-assignments, most of my due dates crossed off my list, and a chance to focus on my final projects and research papers. As an English major in undergrad, I am used to working on large-scale analysis that brings together research and original thought so final projects are where my brain is happiest. And, I finally know not just something but almost a lot-of-something about my course topics. It’s a time for celebration! My friends are less than convinced. The looming deadlines that all seem to cluster around the same two days, the uncertainty that maybe we don’t know as much as we think we do, the will-they-won’t-they arrive in time ILL requests for research papers, I will admit it can be a stressful time. With Thanksgiving Break disrupting this final sprint to the end and the whispering guilt of needing to work on projects…
Resources for Transitioning to Boston
Posted November 8, 2022 by Magenta Jasinski
Recently, I had a person who was close to me decide to leave the Simmons-Boston campus. This was a shock and a surprise to me, as she had only been on campus for five weeks when she announced this decision. The astronomical cost of living, the distance from family and friends, the frustrations she faced with her landlord, roommates, and other people in her life all contributed to this choice. Conversely, I’ve been in Boston since January, working at various internships and integrating myself into the life I’ve built for myself. Coming to Simmons this September was a relief after months of doing virtual classes andfeeling a tangible lack of community with other students. It was a joy to see my classmates inperson, and I felt everything click into place after I came on campus. I made the decision totransfer from my university in my hometown to prolong my stay in Boston for an unknownamount of time as I progress through my program and decide whether to stay or leave aftergraduation. I can’t imagine moving…
Registration Is Coming…
Posted October 25, 2022 by Johnna Purchase
Last week one of the most-anticipated parts of my semester arrived – course listings! It seems that every year departments post their course offerings for the next term at just the right time; I’m not bored with my current classes per-say, but I am past the midway slump with more items crossed off my assignment lists than still on them, and my end-of-term papers are set squarely in my sights. Knowing how much work I have yet to do, dreaming about next semester and all of the new content I will get to learn is a welcome break. The new semester also promises a fresh start where I can readjust my schedule to try out a new mode of learning. This semester I stacked my course and work schedule so that I only have commitments Tuesday-Thursday. It’s a lot packed into a little bit of time, but I am really treasuring my four-days-in-a-row off too. Next semester I’m interested in experimenting with an online course or two as I’ve watched my roommate totally thrive with…
Overcoming Techphobia
Posted October 24, 2022 by Claire Pask
As an American born in the late ‘90s—not a millennial nor a Gen Xer—I guess I’m something of a “digital native.” Sure, I’m comfortable with most social media platforms and can figure out how to navigate any webpage or app with relative ease, but I’ve always been incredibly daunted by anything I saw as beyond the scope of my self-imposed tech barrier. I mean, I studied English literature as an undergraduate student, and my vision of my life as a librarian usually involves my future self in a hand-knitted wool cardigan surrounded by various dusty books and manuscripts—not sitting in an office writing code or thinking of the best ways to integrate new technology into my work. Any skill on the “techie” side of things—like the back end of that website I’m happy to transfer my data onto—seemed beyond my reach, out of my comfort zone. That idea is changing, and my LIS coursework is forcing me to reconsider my vision. Just this past week, I wrote an image into an HTML code and formatted…
Internship in the Outer Banks: Learning from Leaders
Posted July 18, 2022 by Johnna Purchase
This past week ended with a two-day visit from the Special Collections Section Head for the State Archives of North Carolina, Judy Allen Dodson. Earlier in the week she had led a virtual monthly staff meeting, and I was impressed by how encouraging and supportive she and the rest of the archivists were. They genuinely wanted to learn more about the projects their colleagues across the state were working on and nerded-out together over new acquisitions like a collection of Civil War era photographs and sheet music from a nineteenth century Black composer. Used to the endless complaining and storm-cloud-gathering of department meetings from when I was a high school teacher, the enthusiasm for work and the curiosity about their colleagues took me by surprise. Later that week when Judy came to visit, all of her joy for her work doubled in-person. She took the time to really listen to each staff member, asked detailed questions to understand ways she could better support each member in their specific roles, and added in doses of humor….
Interning in the Outer Banks: An Archival Analogy
Posted June 28, 2022 by Johnna Purchase
An analogy for archival work that they don’t teach you in 438 is this: archival processing is cleaning up other peoples’ messes. Without a key, without a blueprint, without any inkling of what, potentially, the original organizational system that the donor, maybe, possibly, hopefully attempted to follow for at least part of their document-generating life. You, the intrepid archivist must venture through boxes, pulling out sheaves of paper that seem to share nothing in common except the rusty paperclip holding them together, dusting your black pants with the glitter of deteriorating fax paper, and puzzling over the names of repeat characters in the documents like a crime scene detective building profiles for each murder suspect. Or so I’ve felt these past few weeks processing my first collection. In the midst of the chaos, though, I stumble across little gems that make me forget about the filing conventions my donor seemed to create and then drop on a whim or the fact that desperately-relevant online records for certain local government officials don’t exist. An inspirational quote…
Interning in the Outer Banks
Posted June 20, 2022 by Johnna Purchase
Billowing white sand dunes, salty sea breezes, and Elizabethan history lurking at every corner – welcome to Manteo, NC in the Outer Banks! Today marks my second full week interning at the Outer Banks History Center (OBHC) on Roanoke Island after I spent my first week virtually due to an outbreak of COVID in the guesthouse I am staying in. A satellite archive in the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the OBHC collects materials about the history of the region – often maritime in nature – ranging from oral histories about life on isolated Ocracoke to extensive photo archives of the generations of beach goers in this late-blooming tourist destination. While Manteo, the town I’m working in, touts itself as the “birthplace of English-speaking America” and as the birthplace of the first English baby born on American soil – Virginia Dare – the collection I’m processing is decidedly more modern. It was donated by a prominent local who served two tenures as mayor, led on a variety of boards and commissions, spearheaded…
Simmons Students Present at Boston College Conference
Posted May 2, 2022 by Johnna Purchase
Over the weekend, the Boston College History Department hosted their first annual graduate student conference entitled “Grad Student Voices.” The student leadership team possessed a simple yet bold vision – a conference for graduate students by graduate students. Especially as a student just finishing her first year of her M.A. in History, I found it refreshing to attend an history conference that uplifted graduate voices rather than relegating their voices – and the students themselves – to the corner. Since the dual degree Archives and History program here at Simmons pairs the M.A. in History as a complement to the M.S. in Archives Management, at times I have struggled to engage with my peers as fellow historians. The dominant attitude is that we are archivists first. And while I take my role as an archivist seriously because of the authority it invests in me in determining what records make it into the archives that future historians will rely on, sometimes I just want to dive deep into the theoretical frameworks and dizzying array of possible…