SLIS
Finding Your Librarian Identity
Posted February 8, 2019 by Megan Ondricek
I have two interesting stories from this week! For the first, I unexpectedly came face-to-face with a real life preservation situation and I knew exactly what to do. I keep all of my family’s important documents and records in a heavy duty plastic file box. The other day I was pulling out a package of extra file folders when I noticed an icky smell. The outside of the package smelled really bad, and looked a little….wet, or maybe greasy? I looked back in the box and noticed the pocket folder next to the package was deformed and buckling, like it had gotten wet. I gingerly pulled it out and observed some interesting damage and deterioration all over the surface where the glossy finish was wrinkling and peeling. I cracked the folder open, which in retrospect, wasn’t the best idea because it was stuck together with MOLD!!! I stared at it for a good three seconds with equal parts fascination and repulsion thinking, “so that’s what active mold looks like” before I hustled the whole thing…
First Weeks
Posted February 6, 2019 by Sarah Callanan
So it has been a crazy few weeks! First, the weather has been insane. We’ve had super cold weather, we’ve had snow squalls, we’ve had ice, we’ve had rain, we’ve had sun, we’ve had wind, and yesterday the high was 63 degrees! We’ve had a little bit of everything! Will the weather ever make up its mind? Every day is a surprise! I thought one of the things about living in New England was guaranteed freezing cold weather all the time in the winter, but the past two days have proved me wrong (although I’m certainly not complaining because I did not enjoy the snow squalls last week, and I do not want anything similar to the polar vortex the Midwest experienced). The first few weeks of class have been going great! As you know, I’m taking LIS 451: Academic Libraries this semester. It’s my first elective at SLIS, and my last blog was posted on the first official day of my class, so I didn’t have many details to share, but now I do! …
Spring 2019 Kickoff
Posted February 4, 2019 by Katie Carlson
With the first week of classes coming to a close, I thought I’d give my first impressions of my second SLIS semester so far! On Tuesday I had my first section of LIS 488: Technology for Information Professionals (my final core class). I was extremely nervous about this class, so it’s not a coincidence that I saved it for last! I am someone who loves technology and is always excited to learn new things, but after a few too many attempts at troubleshooting, I go into meltdown mode. Danielle put my mind at ease when she started class by having us go around the room, share our tech backgrounds, and rate our feelings about technology on a smiley face scale ranging from love to hate (just like this one). Most of us placed ourselves on the scale at “meh,” with various justifications for why. Some rationales for not providing a more positive score were frustration, privacy concerns, and lack of sociability. Danielle stated that the course would take on all of those subjects! We…
My Last Rodeo
Posted January 24, 2019 by Megan Ondricek
It’s been over a month since I last posted on the blog so Happy New Year everyone! I did survive last semester’s final week and I’m really proud of what I accomplished but boy was it tough. I needed a good break after that which is why I took a little hiatus from the blog. But now I am back in the saddle for what will be my last Simmons SLIS rodeo! In fact, I’ve been back in the saddle since January 10th which was the first day of the two-week long preservation course up at SLIS West. We met from 9-4, Thursday-Saturday for two weeks in a row and it was a blast. It was a large class too – probably the biggest I’ve had face to face – with a mix of students from Boston and SLIS West. I got a hotel in the area both weekends and it almost felt like a mini vacation. Preservation was so fascinating and what it did most of all was give me another “lens” through which…
And We’re Back!
Posted January 23, 2019 by Sarah Callanan
Happy 2019 everyone! The Fall 2018 semester wrapped up a little over a month ago and school is officially back in session. Additionally, because I work in an academic library, I got almost three weeks off of work because of the intersession. I must say, as much as I love school and work and libraries, it was nice to not think about any of that for a few weeks. So, what did I do during my time off? I had such grand plans for my break, because I wasn’t going to have any homework, and I wasn’t going to be at work, and I had a nice solid chunk of time off where I could actually do things and go places. However, absolutely none of my plans came to fruition. I did absolutely nothing over my break and it was wonderful. I have no regrets. I did see Mary Poppins Returns if that counts as doing something, but aside from that, I really just spent most of my time hanging out at home in my…
One Year Down!
Posted December 19, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I have officially completed my first year at Simmons! I started in Spring 2018, and I’ve just finished the Fall 2018 semester. I’ve completed all three of my core LIS classes- LIS 407 (Information Sources and Services), LIS 415 (Information Organization), and LIS 488 (Technology for Information Professionals). I’ve learned so much over the past year, and I’ve made such huge strides both personally and professionally. While the past year has been challenging at times, it has also been extremely rewarding. Here’s a quick wrap up of some of the lessons that I’ve learned and things that I have accomplished over the past year: I’ve learned so much about search strategies and techniques, instruction, finding and evaluating information, the way information is organized, circulation and cataloguing, ethics and professional standards across the industry, and so much more, and I’ve been able to directly apply nearly everything that I’ve learned so far in my professional life. I have learned that coding is an incredibly useful tool and it is not something to be feared. However, learning…
Resume Review & Planning for the Future – Ready to Upload
Posted December 18, 2018 by Maria Reilova
Whenever the end of the semester rolls around, I always start thinking about the future. I have a very day-to-day planning style throughout the semester. I plan my days out and try to focus in the moment so as not to overwhelm myself with how much I have going on. Luckily for me we have the Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA) on campus that sends out emails every week with all the events going on around campus! This is how I found out that Student Services was organizing resume reviews with Amy Ryan, a former president of the Boston Public Library and honorary advisor at SLIS. I have to start off by saying I am a shy, sensitive soul (shocking for a library student, I know) and was genuinely terrified of having someone look over and critique my resume and cover letter. Especially someone as impressive as Amy! I was very worried about the regular things about one’s resume, is what I have enough or not enough? Should I put my education above…
A Very Merry SLISmas
Posted December 13, 2018 by Katie Carlson
A little over a week ago, my roommate Chloe and I embarked upon a true ‘grad students living in Boston’ adventure when we went hunting for a Christmas tree! A douglas fir wasn’t really an option when we lived together in dorms, and we are both originally from suburban areas, so Christmas tree hunting usually requires a car and a series of bungee cords! Where would we even begin? We floated ordering an Uber, renting a car, begging friends and even ordering a tree to be delivered, but settled on the old fashion way: hoofing it. Chloe, my favorite person on earth, was able to locate various places to pick up the tree, mapped how long it would take us to walk to each, and ensuring that they sold tree stands. We budgeted, made sure we had the cash necessary for the purchase, threw on our raincoats, and set off (in the rain, of course). When we arrived at the lot, we decided that something between Chloe’s height (5’3″) and my height (5’10”) would…
My view from the trenches
Posted December 12, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
It’s Thursday morning as I write this, with only 2 more days until The Last Day!! It’s a mental game now, a test of endurance. Can you stay calm and resolved as the deadline marches closer, the nights get later, your freedom so close you can taste it? I was reminded again about the importance of self-care. Self-care is such a trendy word these days that I cringe to even use it, but here we are. I thought I could get through the week denying myself those little niceties that make you feel like a fully-functioning human being, like showers, exercise, sleep, good meals and leisure time. Those things are all so time-consuming and I thought I’d be better served spending every last minute I could scrape together on my assignments. Well yesterday I could feel myself beginning to crash. My motivation slumped, my body began to protest, and my mind wavered. After scaring my husband with a bunch of desperate-sounding texts, I switched tactics. I did the dishes and the laundry, exercised, and later…
Reflections
Posted December 10, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
As of last night, my final project is complete and turned in! As I mentioned last week, the final project for my LIS-488 class (Technology for Information Professionals) is a personal website and portfolio, coded by hand using the skills that I developed over the course of this class. There were some shaky moments during the process of doing this project, but I was able to either troubleshoot and solve everything, or compromise and change my original plan to work with what I had. All in all, I think that my final product looks pretty similar to the original paper mock-up that I sketched out over Thanksgiving. I’m really proud of this final project, although I should really stop looking at it, because I’ve noticed a few things that I would like to go back and change, but what’s done is done and I need to walk away and not dwell on it. This semester has been a wild ride for me. If you’ve been following my past posts, you know that I was a…