Students
Out with the Old, in with the New
Posted November 14, 2016 by Amanda Pizzollo
In January I left my last nursing job so that I could better pursue a position in the wonderful world of librarianship. When I did so, my partner and I sat down and talked about how to make that decision work economically. He’s in grad school getting his doctorate in science, so he gets paid through that. It’s a pretty fixed amount, and not something that would keep us easily afloat for long without me working as well. Especially since I went to Nurse Practitioner grad school for a year, and I’m still paying off those loans, plus now I’m gathering more debt from LIS school, and we bought a house last year. We’ve both spent years saving up for all of this, but still. So, we sat down and thought of the lowest priorities for spending and how and where to cut corners. We ate a lot of rice and beans until I starting get more jobs, and we cut our cell phone plans. Now- we still had cell phones because we’d paid those…
Advising — Should I Take An Internship Course
Posted November 10, 2016 by Elizabeth James
One thing I was extremely surprised to note when I started my program online at Simmons was just how approachable the professors were–they responded quickly to any of my requests to speak with them, and were very open to talking on the phone with me about any questions I might have. Recently, I was required to turn in my tentative planning statement for my program of study, but I wanted to talk with adviser to make sure that the schedule I was picking was feasible given the planned courses for the next year and a half, and would be a viable match for my future career interests. She happily set up a time to talk later in the week, and I had a really productive conversation with her about required courses, and whether an internship would be beneficial to me. Because I have a lot of library experience, it never occurred to me that an internship for course credit was not something I should do while I am in school. I already volunteer at several library and…
Pleasant Suprises
Posted November 7, 2016 by Amanda Pizzollo
Whew! Busy week with a couple penultimate assignments and a presentation in my classes, plus attempts to get back in shape and return to meditating daily. It seems as though my new year resolution phase has kicked in a bit early. Or maybe I’m just excited for cookie season. So, I thought this week I might share a bit some of my pleasant surprises from my role as a metadata intern. When I started library school, I honestly didn’t really have an intention of becoming an information organizer to the extent of a metadata creator or cataloger. I found I really like my 415 class though (information organization), and suddenly I was considering resource description as a potential career. A piece of me thought I was just getting excited about something new to me, not really finding a new career path. So, I looked in other directions course and internship-wise for a while. Yet, the allure of info org has been too strong my friends — and it has remained a consistent presence for me…
Being An Online SLIS Student
Posted November 4, 2016 by Elizabeth James
Like many people, I was initially really skeptical about getting my Master’s degree online. I wasn’t sure if the classes would be as difficult as in-person courses, and I wanted to make sure I got the best possible experience that would leave me prepared to actively contribute to the field. Little did I know, I didn’t need to worry! Even though I’m only in my first semester, I already get to collaborate with other students working in hugely diverse geographic areas and types of libraries. It sounds really impressive when you can tell your friends you’re having a group meeting with people in West Virginia, California, and Connecticut! In addition to giving me experience collaborating with others in a national setting, the online experience gives me a chance to practice networking with individuals in other institutions the same way I will in my eventual professional career. My advisers and professors are readily accessible and very responsive to questions, and have office hours that are accessible to online and in-person students. Plus, I get to avoid…
Subjects, Categories, & Classifications in LIS
Posted October 31, 2016 by Amanda Pizzollo
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend a panel discussion called Contested Subjects: The Politics of Library Classification at Amherst College. The speakers were Emily Drabinski (on whom I have a professional crush), Kelsy Shepherd, Alana Kubmier, and John DeSantis. They were all fantastic panelists, and I would highly recommend viewing the discussion once the recording is available. It’s going to be posted on their Facebook page when it’s ready. The topic was that the library, particularly the library catalog, is never really a neutral space. The panel started with John DeSantis, a librarian at Dartmouth with an insider’s perspective, talking about the recent “illegal alien” Library of Congress subject heading controversy. For those of you who don’t know, a group of students at Dartmouth started the movement to change the “illegal alien” subject heading. After the initial rejection by the Library of Congress, more people began to weigh in and advocate for a change in terminology. A new proposal with the additional changes was proposed, and some politicians soon became involved, a few even spoke…
Introducing — Amanda Pizzollo — A New Blogger for Simmons SLIS
Posted October 24, 2016 by Amanda Pizzollo
So, I’m coming up on my 10 year nurse-a-versary. Yup, it’s almost been 10 years since I took my boards and got my first job as a nurse. What? Oh, this is a blog about librarianing you say? I know, I know. I’m getting there. I’ve been getting, there, in fact, since I started training to be a nurse. Well, getting here that is, and by here I mean the library world. I loved nursing, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t what I would have chosen in college if it weren’t for outside pressures and a certain measure of indecisiveness. Don’t worry, I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not. I don’t think. Well, maybeeee… No really. I’m very sure about this whole library thing. But being a nurse is still a big part of my life, and a big part of who I am. As much as I try not to, I somehow end up telling people in library school that I’m also a nurse within about 2 minutes of conversation. It’s just…
Events and Banned Books
Posted September 29, 2016 by Tara Pealer
This week has been a busy week for Student Associations: Panopticon held two meetings (I went to both! They let me decorate cookies!), SCOSSA had a brown bag lunch with Dr. Sheffield who is so interesting, SCIRRT had their welcome meeting, and UXPA also hosted a welcome meeting. However, several associations hosted events with a specific theme in mind: Banned Books Week. Every librarian, archivist, and book lover knows and adores banned books week. We get to leave our caves and shout about our love for the books that have been banned– Wait, that’s not what we did. ASIS&T hosted a Banned Books, Intellectual Freedom and Censorship panel Monday night (here’s a link to watch it!I recommend doing so!), where two professors and two of Beatley Library’s librarians came to discuss topics relating to censorship in archives, Banned Books Week, and so much more. AMIA hosted a screening of Perks of Being a Wallflower (the movie version of a book banned in a Connecticut School System) with a discussion following. PLG, SoCS and ALA-SC have…
Events, Classes, and Being Busy
Posted September 15, 2016 by Tara Pealer
I don’t know about the rest of SLIS, but I like to keep busy. It’s the reason I’m working, in student leadership, and a full time student. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t have something going on. We’re about a week into the semester now, and it’s been, well, Busy. My classes only meet on Tuesday and Thursday nights, but because I work two on-campus jobs, there hasn’t been a day in the past three weeks that I haven’t been on campus for some reason or another. I’ve finally decided to master the art of making food ahead of time for classes to save money. Basically it’s pasta and chicken, but I might mix it up sometime soon. Maybe. In between classes and work, I’ve been trying to make time for fun events. As a student leader, I’ve been trying to plan my life around going to Student Association events, which I recommend everyone go to. My friends and I went to the LISSA and ASIS&T Trivia event at Thornton’s, which…
Guest Blog Series about Study Abroad (Part 1)
Posted July 20, 2016 by Katie Olivo
We have a special guest blog post this week by current SLIS student, Hanna Soltys. Hanna Soltys is beginning her second year in SLIS with a focus on archives management. Since moving to Boston, she’s learned to like seafood and loves games at Fenway despite being an STL Cards fan. She believes tea, laughter, and a good book can cure any ailment. From A to Z: Finding a SLIS Study Abroad Program Guest Blogger: Hanna Soltys Every start of the semester when learning about other students in the class, it’s inevitable. It’s the one thing tying a vast majority of us students together: We all love to travel. Yet, I was shocked to learn most of my classmates weren’t aware they could study abroad as LIS students, even if they weren’t interested in the programs Simmons offered. After looking through a couple options at SLIS, I didn’t find one that spoke to me, and met with my advisor (Prof. Bastian) to see what my options were (if any). She introduced me to a SLIS Study…
Guest Blog Post About Medical Librarianship
Posted May 3, 2016 by Katie Olivo
We have a special guest blog post this week by current SLIS student Jessie Cass. Jesse is currently (Spring 2016) in her last semester at Simmons SLIS. She is finishing up an internship at the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester doing collection development and creating a libguide. She hopes to continue to do similar work in the future, though she would also love to combine her interest in cognitive science with the skills in library and information science gained throughout her time at Simmons. She has always lived in Massachusetts and will be remaining in the Boston area since it has so much to offer! When she is not doing homework she loves walking her dog and reading science fiction novels. You can learn more about her academic career at www.jessiecass.com Medical Librarianship Guest Blogger, Jessie Cass In the spring of 2016 I completed an independent study which I called “Comparing Medical Librarian Roles: Circuit Riders, Clinical Librarians, and Informationists”. I worked with a medical librarian (Catherine Carr) from…