Student Snippets A Window Into The Daily Life & Thoughts of SLIS Students

Real World

Life in Boston: Beginning of Spring Semester

Happy beginning of Spring semester!  As I begin my 4th semester here at Simmons, I have really been reflecting on the past year and a half I have spent in Boston and everything I have learned both inside and outside of the classroom. Since moving from California I have had to adapt and learn the many parts that come with living on the East Coast, and I have to continue learning as I go! Recently a large portion of the Green Line trains have been down, which at first really freaked me out. I live close to the Green Line and use it to get almost everywhere in my life, so I was concerned with getting to work and the places I meet my friends regularly. Luckily for me, this has pushed me to become familiar with my local buses, which I had been nervous to use in the past because of their schedules. Now I can easily make it to everything I need to without having to use the Green Line so I will…


Libraries in Germany

It’s good to be back after a really nice winter break. Happy new year to everyone! I had a few grand adventures which I wanted to update you all on. After going home to Washington for Christmas and New Years, I went on a trip to Europe! This trip really revealed my library nerdiness. Almost every place we went I forced my friends to go on a mini exploration of the local libraries. In between rounds of museums, long walks on cobblestone streets and breaks of kaffee und kuchen here is where we went! Prague: Municipal Library of Prague—This is where the Instagram famous infinity books photos are taken. There was a huge line for the photo station, which I walked right by to go snoop in their library. Prague: Strahov Monastery Libraries—One is focused on theological texts and the other is on philosophical texts. They are all lusciously old. Made my archivist heart happy. Berlin: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin—This library is so impressive. It is free to access and has some very cool collections. Berlin:…


Book Events in Boston and Baltimore

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…


Resources for Transitioning to Boston

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…


Museum Adventures in Boston

And the adventures continue! In this post I am going to focus on my obsession with the museums and libraries in the Boston area. Prepare for a lot of Rebecca’s brain in a perpetual explosion. My list of visits so far: The Central Boston Public Library (BPL), the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the immersive Monet and Impressionist exhibit, the Boston Athenaeum, the Simmons Library, and Emmanuel College’s Library. I have decided that the BPL is my favorite study space in Boston, at least at this point. I love seeing all the people interacting with books, research, and information. I am a fan of studying with the white noise of people moving around in the background, with children walking past, and with so many books at my fingertips. Beyond my visits to the BPL I also need to share about my visits, yes plural visits, to the MFA. I have been three times so far (each visit lasted multiple hours). I plan to go again tomorrow. And I have STILL not…


Inciting Joy at Boston Bookfest

This past weekend, I attended the Boston Book Fest, a day of readings, discussions, and more.While I enjoyed walking through Copley Square to visit the booths of various literary journalsand publishers, my favorite experience of the day was a panel session titled “How to Live:Purpose, Joy, and Dash of Philosophy” with authors Ross Gay, Kieran Setiya, and Ellen Warner,held in Old South Church. Though I attended the session to hear Ross Gay speak about his new book Inciting Joy—I’vegifted Gay’s Book of Delights to many a family member or close friend, and have multipleannotated volumes of his poetry on my bookshelf—I was pleasantly surprised by how much Ienjoyed the other speakers’ presentations, as the titles of their books had not originally piquedmy interest: Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way and The Second Half: FortyWomen Reveal Life After Fifty. My notes from the session almost read like a prose poem, though not one of Gay’s caliber:“justice is not separate from self-interest — you always must invite guests — speak well ofpeople…


A Thought Provoking Discussion

*Please note this post discusses book banning* I recently attended the event “Not in my Library: Challenges to Library Materials and Public Policy” that was hosted by Simmons. It was a thoughtful and discussion provoking talk surrounding a topic I’m sure has been discussed within most SLIS classes. The presenter talked about statistics concerning book banning and the common locations that they take place. They discussed also how the most common The presenter also discussed how book banning has increased in recent years and how books are the most common media restricted. It was also discussed about what are our jobs as librarians within this issue. The presenter mentioned how ALA now includes a section within their ethics framework that highlights intellectual freedom. As well as another line that shows the ongoing social justice work librarians must do in order to fight against systems of oppression, since we are often confronted with this issue. As a budding information professional I want to make sure that everyone has access to to the information we want and…


Internship in the Outer Banks: Collection Closing

Twelve papercuts. Four knuckle abrasions. Three split cuticles. I have finally finished unboxing, foldering, labeling, alphabetizing, and reboxing my collection. 161 archival boxes and 905 folders. In seven weeks. My hands and fingers took a much-needed break this past weekend!  While I’m trying to revel in my sense of accomplishment, I still have two weeks left in my internship. I want to soak in as many additional experiences as possible. There’s a four-shelf display cabinet for an exhibit on my collection in wait. A finding aid that wants to be written. A coffee with my collection’s donor to share. A podcast with the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to record. An oral history with a descendant of the original Outer Banks seafood empire to conduct. Just as my to-do list has reached zero, I have filled it back up.  When I accepted this position for the summer, I made a promise to myself to embrace the slower pace of rural, island life as an antidote to the frenetic energy of studying for…


Internship in the Outer Banks: Learning from Leaders

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: Personal Information Organization

Although almost a year has passed, I still remember the first Moodle discussion board topic for the course 415: Information Organization. It was my first course in graduate school, and I did not know what to expect. The discussion board topic itself asked us to classify our personal information organization style based on three criteria researchers derived that had been the subject of one of our readings that week. (Yes, you do have readings for your first week of grad school.) I struggled with this post. Not because of the content – I knew exactly where I fell along the personal organization orderliness spectrum – but because this, my level of computer file organizing, was how my classmates would first meet me.  I have returned often to the ideas in that discussion board this summer as I have worked through my internship collection. On the one hand, I have been heartened by the fact that even though the best-laid organizational plans can crumble – life, the passing of time, other unknown factors get in the…