skills
Learning about Learning (or rather, metalearning)
Posted October 11, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I saw a mug in the bathroom at Mt. Holyoke on Saturday that said: “Anything you can do we can do meta” and I’ve been chuckling to myself ever since. You see, the prefix “meta-” is something I hadn’t really encountered before I came to library school and now I can’t seem to get away from it. Librarians love it (and we aren’t the only ones). I’m going to do you a solid today and tell you what meta means and then make up some words with it just for fun. The Google dictionary defines meta as “denoting something of a higher or second-order kind” but I actually like this one from Urban Dictionary better: “Meta means about the thing itself. It’s seeing the thing from a higher perspective instead of from within the thing, like being self-aware.” The example you’ll encounter most frequently in library school is metadata, which is essentially data about data. Right now in User Instruction we’ve been reading about metacognition, which is thinking about your own thinking. And since this…
On Teaching
Posted October 4, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
It is always with a slight swell of pride that I tell people my dad is a college English professor. I’m not completely sure why; perhaps it’s because I see it as a noble profession. There’s also the fact that he followed his passion into his field and I think that’s what makes him so good at it. I’ve always wanted to emulate him in following my own passions, but I didn’t necessarily think that would mean teaching. Now that my mom has her master’s in teaching perhaps I should be wondering if teaching is in my blood. This semester with User Instruction I feel like I’m finally learning something about the “family business.” It may all be in the context of information literacy, but we’re still learning basic principles of instructional design, pedagogy, reflective practice, outcomes assessment, and learning theories. We’re also practicing our speaking and presenting skills. It’s something you might not have expected to find at library school but it has broad and exciting applications. On Saturday we had an assignment to…
So Much Critical Thinking
Posted September 28, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I was quite at a loss over what I should write for this week’s blog post, so I decided to write about something that seems to be emerging as a common thread throughout my classes and even my personal life this semester and that is… critical thinking. Bear with me. I realize that the notion of “critical thinking” ought to be familiar to anyone who’s been through any kind of formal education. I’ve literally spent years of my life looking at syllabi and assignments with “critical thinking” written all over them. Probably every teacher I’ve ever had has said something about critical thinking at some point, but I honestly don’t know if any of them ever sat me down and told me exactly what it was, or how I was supposed to “think critically.” As if it was something that I was expected to just pick up as a result of participating in class and doing assignments. (Apologies to any of my former teachers who are reading this thinking, “I definitely told her what critical…
Surprising Myself and Time Management
Posted September 26, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
The third week of my fall class (LIS 488: Technology for Information Professionals) just started, and things are going much better than I thought they would. I’ve mentioned several times before how nervous I was for this class because of how technology focused it is, but things have been going really well so far. I’ve really stepped up my time management skills and have devoted at least two hours a night to working on the material for this class, whether it be the readings, lectures, note-taking, labs, or other assignments. A part of the reason why I’ve been doing this is because I learned from the accelerated nature of the class I took this summer, and because of my overall apprehensiveness regarding the material for the class. Due to the way I’ve been managing my time for this class I’ve been finishing my weekly labs well in advance of the due date. However, this week we’re starting HTML, so I’m a bit nervous, but I’m hoping that I’ll continue to surprise myself with my technology…
Engaging Classes and Best Laid Plans
Posted September 20, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I’m delighted to report that my new system for homework worked incredibly well last week. I methodically chugged through all my readings, got started on some future assignments, took notes on everything I read, and tracked how much time I spent on what. It was so efficient that I had everything finished by Thursday! Want to know my grand totals for the week? (Of course you do.) I spent 17 hours and 45 minutes total, of which I spent 11 hours reading (and note-taking), 4.75 hours on assignments, and 2 hours on review. I know this is incredibly nerdy, but I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know how much time I actually spend on homework, and how close it is to the 20-hour/week ballpark (10 hours per week, per class). Also, I thought it might be helpful for any of you out there still considering library school to get a realistic idea of the time commitment. My archival access & use class is down to only five people, but so far that hasn’t hindered discussion. I find…
The Last Week of Summer
Posted August 27, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
And just like that, our last golden week of summer is over. My, how golden it was. The kids and I spent our last full week before school starts enjoying some gorgeous weather and having all kinds of fun and leisure time. I could not have asked for a better summer send-off. We did all the things: nature center, aquarium, IMAX, libraries, parks, and playdates. I have LOVED being able to spend all this quality time with my two kids, unhurried, unburdened, and unscheduled. With my first child about to embark on his public school journey and the second starting preschool, it feels like we’re about to lose something that we can never get back. For all my reluctance to leave behind these lazy summer days, I am actually quite excited for the fall and the new challenges and opportunities it will bring. Remember that exciting news I hinted about in my last post? Well…the exciting news has officially been rescinded. I had been accepted for a reference and instruction internship at a nearby university,…
From Summer to Fall
Posted August 15, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
It. Is. Over. My summer class is done. The class (LIS 415: Information Organization) was interesting, invigorating, and utterly exhausting. I know I’ve said this before, but one of the reasons I really enjoyed the class was because even though it was an online class on an accelerated schedule, we had so many opportunities for discussion. Additionally, the new concepts I learned will be useful to me throughout my career. I learned so much about why and how we organize information. The class challenged me to think in new ways, and I am walking away with a valuable set of new skills which I will use in future classes and in my profession. However, I did struggle with the accelerated timeframe of the class. What really helped me was setting aside designated hours of each day to work on schoolwork. Admittedly, that didn’t always help, because I underestimated the amount of work in the beginning (it’s double the work of the normal semester because it’s done in half the time), so there were a lot…
Pondering the Future
Posted June 13, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
So, readers, my little summer break is almost over. My new class starts next week (LIS 415: Information Organization). As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, it’s an online class again and I’m excited to start. I am a little bit ambivalent about the shorter timeframe, but I’m really excited about the topic and I’ve already started in on the reading. Over the past few weeks I’ve been pondering my future a lot. Currently, I’m doing the Archives Management concentration within the MS in Library and Information Science program. Even though I’m near the beginning of the program and am still taking my core classes, I can’t help but wonder whether or not the Archives Management track is right for me and if I should instead be doing the design-your-own option. I’ve been doing a lot of informal networking lately, and through my discussions with other librarians I’ve started to think about what I really want to do with my life once I graduate from Simmons, and if archives will play a role in that. …
The End is Near
Posted April 25, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I have less than one week until my first semester is over. My final project is due next Tuesday, May 1, and then I am done with my first semester at Simmons. I’m happy, stressed, excited, and terrified all at the same time because it’s crunch time and I’m working away on my project and I can see my deadline looming closer but I know I have a break coming up (until my summer class starts). This semester has gone by so fast and I’m so proud of the work I’ve done and all of the new skills I’ve acquired. In just this one class, I’ve learned how to conduct reference interviews, I’ve learned about ready reference sources, I’ve learned about ethics and professional standards in the library and archives industries, I’ve learned a variety of new search strategies and techniques for databases and web sources, I’ve learned about evaluating information and resources, I’ve learned how to plan and create a basic instruction session, I’ve learned about making LibGuides, and so much more! I think…