Summer
The Summer Interlude
Posted June 11, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
Well readers, I was right – my enthusiasm for school seems to be dutifully returning now that I’ve had a sufficient break. My online class, LIS456: Records Management, starts in a week and I am looking forward to it. As a bonus, the instructor put the entire course up on Moodle way ahead of time and encouraged us to start the readings and lectures early – if we so desired. I am very pleased that he did this and it makes a lot of sense for an online, asynchronous, self-directed class. Our professor has acknowledged that folks may have trips and other things going on during the summer and has given us the capability to manage our time and plan accordingly – increasing our chances for success in the course. Thank you, Professor Wood! As it so happens, my family will be embarking on our first big trip of the summer the very week that class starts. I’ll be spending the first day of class at Hershey Park, PA. Woo hoo! I have mixed feelings…
Summer Reading
Posted May 31, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
It’s time for another book list! Here’s what I’m currently diving into, and one more that I’m planning to pick up from the library ASAP. Needful Things by Stephen King- I haven’t read a good scary book in a while. Well, that’s not true. I did read The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani, which thoroughly unsettled me. I would not suggest that one if you are a mother looking to hire childcare anytime soon. The kind of scary I’m talking about is the supernatural horror variety, and King is my go to author for that particular brand. I’m only a few pages in, and once again he’s taken me right into the small-town life and happenings of Castle Rock, Maine. He has this enchanting way of writing characters, dialogue, and setting that transports me inside of the story. It’s fantastic, and it also guarantees that I’m going to be frightened at least a few times. I can’t wait 🙂 Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert- Yes, I’m reading this one again. I think it’s going to…
Local Discoveries
Posted May 30, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I’m not going to lie, I’ve kind of failed on the planned adventuring. As I said last time in my post, I was planning on discovering more of Massachusetts on the weekends, and I was going to plan out my trips, and report back. I had a great adventure planned to write about, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. I initially planned to go into Boston and meet up with my sister (to see her for the first time in five months!) and I had a list of places to go, things to do, where to eat; however, I was unaware that first, the MBTA is doing construction on the Commuter Rail that I take on the weekends and that has messed with the schedule, and second, that Boston Calling was this past weekend, so I did not end up going to Boston. However, I have made some discoveries about Massachusetts in my own neck of the woods. For example, the wildlife. So, as someone who is not from New England, I have had encounters with…
A Much Needed Break
Posted May 28, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I’m afraid I don’t have any exciting summer adventures to report on yet; with my son’s preschool still in session our summer hasn’t officially started. To be quite honest, I’ve been laying pretty low since the semester ended. I’ve written no blogs (until this one), largely ignored my school email, and given barely any thought to school or libraries. I’ve also been sick almost the entire time (thanks kids) which has necessitated taking it easy. That means watching shows, reading books, and playing silly games on my phone. But the best part of my break so far has been all the unstructured quality time I’ve been able to spend with my family, without the worry of school deadlines weighing me down and subtly siphoning away my energy and attention. My husband and kids are thrilled to have mommy back in full for a little while. And yes, as others have mentioned, spring is in full swing here in New England. It’s that brief and magical time of year when the house needs no heating or…
E-Readers, Tree Books, Libraries & Traveling
Posted May 22, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
Currently I am in Manchester England. The UK is a place I visit often as my husband is from England. I was never much of the E-reader type. I like to hold my books, collect them, smell them, all the things people like us in the LIS & Children’s Literature programs are all too familiar with. I tried E-readers in the past and could never get behind them. It didn’t feel real. Even traveling back and forth from the UK I would lug Jonathan Frazen, Stephen King, or any of my 350+ pages of YA books across the pond. My in-laws and husband would smile at my efforts and my diligence in my devotion to the book I was reading. (The idea behind Frazen was that if I brought a long enough book I wouldn’t have to bring several smaller books, logical right?) I did begin to utilize the public library system over here, which was a huge help and downsized the small personal library I brought with me everywhere. Plus, it was interesting exploring…
Summer Travels
Posted May 17, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
Greetings from Amarillo, Texas–home of the Big Texan 72 oz. Steak Challenge, truly epic thunderstorms, and according to a 2016 article by The Weather Channel, it’s the windiest city in America. Another fun fact? A-Town’s record wind speed clocked in at 84 mph back in 1949, and I would imagine the tornado passing by the instrumentation less than a mile away may have had something to do with that. Anyway, here I am hanging out with my younger brother, caffeinating with a coconut chai, and smack dab in the middle of my cross-country road trip. It’s hard to fathom that I was at home in Somerville just last Saturday. Since then I’ve been to California to watch one of my dearest friends tie the knot, flown to Texas to spend time with my family, and made a quick trip back to my hometown in Oklahoma to visit my Grams. Y’all. It has been the definition of a whirlwind. I’m zonked from traveling and switching up time zones, and I’m only at the halfway mark. This…
Summer is Here!
Posted May 16, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
Within the past two to three weeks the weather has finally warmed up! Today it was 85 degrees outside! Can you believe it?! I can barely believe that just a few short weeks ago I was wearing a parka. Practically overnight all the trees have leafed out and everything is now so green. It just suddenly appeared. This is the weather I have been waiting for! However, as I am writing this post, there is currently a tornado warning and it is pouring rain, so I guess I can’t have everything. As I mentioned last time, I’m done with classes and I have a bit of a break before my next class starts on June 19, so I’m taking advantage of my time off to try and discover more of Massachusetts on the weekends, as I am kind of new to the area. Also, once class starts, I still want to try and explore while the weather is nice. A few months ago, I found the Massachusetts Office of Tourism and Travel’s website while working…
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…
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…
Final Thoughts on LIS 453 (Collections Development and Management)
Posted August 11, 2017 by Megan Ondricek
I know it’s been a little while since I last posted and I’m so grateful the Simmons folks have been patient with my erratic summer blogging. Our final class for LIS 453, collection development, was on Saturday and I’ve been gathering all my thoughts about the class, the format, and the things I’ve learned. First of all, I’m really glad I took a summer class and I’m glad I only took one, as opposed to two like I originally planned. This summer has been so enjoyable, with just the perfect balance of relaxation and work, traveling and sitting at home, homework and pleasure reading. I almost wish it could last forever, but fall is just around the corner and with it, a busy new semester at SLIS West! This class was the first time I had ever taken something with an online component, and I thought the blended format worked really well, especially for summer. To me it seems like the “happy medium” between in-person and online classes. It gave me flexibility to vacation with…