SLIS
First Semester: Complete!
Posted May 2, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
As of 11:55 PM last night, my first semester at Simmons is over! Not that I was counting the minutes or anything. All of my lectures are done, readings completed, and my final project has been TURNED IN! Even though this class was a lot of work, I loved every minute of it and learned so much. As I said last week, I’m really proud of everything I’ve accomplished this semester, and now I have a break from schoolwork until mid-June, which is when my summer class starts. Because I have had absolutely no free time whatsoever for the past few weeks until today because of school, stress, and personal life issues, I am a little bit relieved that I will be having a break from schoolwork, just for a little while. As I will now be having free time, I plan on catching up on some reading. I’ve really been slacking off- I’m a voracious reader, and I usually try and read several books a month but I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t…
Everyone’s Talking About It…Wrap up + Career Fair Tidbits
Posted April 24, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
Yep. How can we not talk about it? One more semester (or the first as it is in my case) almost in the bag! One step closer to graduation and that coveted degree for us all. I finally got into a routine with my school work, work, and how to make free time for myself about four weeks ago, just after Spring Break. Funny how that works, but I will not argue about the end coming near. It is a strange mix of stress and glee for me. It is probably the only time I try to finish a paper early so that I can wrap up my semester early! This never works for me by the way, though I do feel the motivation to get on top of the work rather than the other way around. This semester it seems that spring has decided to come the last couple weeks of our semester as well. I will not complain about its delay, at least it happened! The flowers were planted and blooming before the…
Crunch Time
Posted April 23, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
We’ve now entered the last two weeks of the semester, otherwise known as “crunch time.” I have three end-of-semester projects on the horizon that I’m busily plugging away at. Now is the time when my kids get away with a little extra TV in the afternoons and I remind my husband daily, “just two more weeks….” The summer break is so close you can taste it, as it hovers like a sunny promise just out of reach. Oh how the pleasure reading and the hobbies and the home organization projects are calling! In my experience, you never know quite how the end will play out until it is suddenly upon you, but this semester (so far) I feel like the crunch won’t be too bad. The end of the semester is always an exciting time, and not just for the prospect of homework-free evenings. It represents the culmination of all we’ve been studying and working on throughout the semester and usually includes some kind of presentation in front of our peers. The project I’m most…
End of Semester Thoughts
Posted April 19, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
I won’t lie, y’all. It was hard for me to think of something to write about for my post today. I’ve actually been having a lot of trouble in that area where inspiration meets diligence lately…which, you might guess, and guess correctly, is not the nicest position to be in here at the end of semester when final papers and projects are due. Still, I’m showing up, and that’s always a good first step! Things are winding down, which is simultaneously a relief and bittersweet. It’s surreal to think I’m almost done with my first year of the program (which flew by crazy fast), meaning I’m almost halfway through (how on earth did that happen?), meaning sooner rather than later I’ll need to consider what I want to do and where I want to apply for jobs and live and start my actual adult life. Because strangely enough, I don’t feel that it’s started that yet. Being in school again makes me feel like I’m in a perpetual state of youth somehow. Anyway, I digress….
Job Hunt
Posted April 18, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
Before I applied to Simmons, I did thorough research on the Master’s of Library Science programs and what types of jobs you can get after you graduate. Unfortunately, what I did not have was experience working in a library. The only experience that I had working in a library was volunteering in middle school to help sign people up for the summer reading program (I’m pretty certain that doesn’t count). The thing that was stressed over and over in the information sessions that I attended before applying, and while meeting with my advisor, and in class was to get experience during your time at Simmons. So, right now, I’m looking for that experience. The Archives Management concentration does require an internship course, LIS 438: Introduction to Archival Methods and Services, so I know I will get some experience when I take that class. However, I’m not taking that class now so I’m hoping to find something before I take that class, whether it be a paid job, an internship, and/or more volunteer experience. As I…
Living Grad School to the Fullest
Posted April 16, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
This post was inspired by a guest speaker we had in academic libraries – a recent SLIS West graduate that many of us knew. Marco is now a Reference & Collection Development Librarian and he gave a wonderful interactive presentation about his current job. I remember taking Collection Development with Marco and it was inspiring to see how he had made that his work and now he was behind the podium, teaching us with the very same material he had been learning just the previous year. Marco was full of confidence and enthusiasm, and it made me feel very encouraged about the value of our preparation at grad school. Observing Marco gave me something to strive toward: a vision of what I hope to achieve after graduation. Library school is a lot of work on its own: there are some weeks when all I can do is submit assignments on time and get myself to class in some semi-prepared fashion. But I’d like it to be more than that. I’d like this to be a…
Updates
Posted April 11, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I cannot believe how quickly this semester has gone by! It’s already the second week of April, and I only have three weeks left in this semester. As I mentioned in my previous post, last week was Fall 2018 registration, and this fall I am taking LIS 488, which is Technology for Information Professionals. I’m not going to lie, I am a bit nervous about taking that class because while I am a child of the Internet, and I know my way around a number of technological devices, I do not know much about coding and programming. However, I have heard nothing but encouraging things about this class, and I am eager to learn new skills. In other news, I have officially decided to take a class this summer. I have signed up, and I have organized my schedule so that it will fit, and I am ready to go! I am taking LIS 415, which is Information Organization. Admittedly, I was hoping to actually make it to Main Campus for my next class, meet…
My Unexpected Library Class
Posted April 9, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
If you are like me, you’ll come to library school with some idea of what librarianship looks like and what subjects your course of study may include. I can tell you that there are plenty of courses that you might expect, such as subject cataloging, history of the book, collection development, and library programs and services. But you will also find courses that you might not expect, like usability and user experience, knowledge management, web development, and information visualization. The fact of the matter is, there will be more classes offered that you want to take than you can fit into your program. Library school is both too long and way too short. If you’re curious about Simmons’ course offerings, you can view the full course catalog here. Database management is one of those unexpected classes that I’m so excited to be taking. My interest in databases dates back to my internship at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and the day my staff sponsor asked me if I had any knowledge or experience with Microsoft…
Bookish Thoughts
Posted April 6, 2018 by Josie Snow
In mid-February my program hosted a live streaming of the ALA (American Library Association) Youth Media Award ceremony, we gathered together and had breakfast and cheered when books we recognized or loved were awarded. It was enjoyable and eye opening. What was interesting to me was that while I recognized some of the awards, like the Newberry and the Caldecott. I was amazed to discover that all told twenty awards are given out at this time, many of which I had never heard of. A few of the new-to-me awards are listed below: Pura Belpré Award, celebrating Latino/a writers or illustrators and Latino culture. The Odyssey Award, recognizing the best audiobook for children or young adults produced in English and available in the United States. The Schneider Family Book Award, honoring an author or illustrator for excellence in portraying disability experiences. The Stonewall Book Award, given to LGBTQA books in English with exceptional merit. To find out about some of the other awards, visit the ALA website The award event, and some of the discussions…
In Case of Free Time
Posted March 29, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
Due to some marvelous twist of fate, I indeed have some of this coveted free time mentioned in the title, even in the midst of three classes, two part-time jobs, and an internship. Phew. Did I mention that the twist of fate was marvelous? Of course, a fair amount of said free time is spent taking care of important things (i.e. homework & blessed, blessed sleep) along with the everyday banalities of life. But how else to fill in those special gaps of nothingness? Here’s how it looks for me: I still read for pleasure. Honestly, I’ve found it impossible to stop! I tote books around to read on my train or bus commute, and I’ve joined a couple of different book clubs in the area. I was a little shy to jump in at first, but they’ve helped me be motivated to read new things regularly, and I’m also getting to meet some great new people. FYI- the Meetup app is an awesome way to get plugged into groups like this! Speaking of great…