The Ultimate Group Project: Saving Kingston Part 3
Posted August 14, 2013 by Julie Steenson
I am recovering from the summer term and the intensity of two classes. You may have followed our ground-breaking alternate reality game in my online Management class with Mary Wilkins-Jordan. (See earlier Kingston posts) As fabulous, dedicated Simmons GSLIS students, we did, indeed, save Kingston and all its libraries! We battled blizzards, naysayers, and gloomy politicians to raise the level and value of the library and information science industry of our fictitious town. To do so, we had to be a team, and all flag-waving aside, the collaborative effort was the likes of which I have not seen before in any of my classes. Early in the term, our professor gave us complete flexibility to work alone or in groups related to our organizations (public, corporate, prison, archives, etc.) or across our base groups (our classes – management, reference, etc.). She cautioned us, however, that while working alone remained an option, we might need to work in groups in order to accomplish it all in the compressed summer session. I am pretty driven, but she…
#GSLISchat Round 2 Results!
Posted August 13, 2013 by Katie Olivo
Hi everyone, We just completed our 2nd #GSLISchat. Check out the conversation here: Tweets about “#GSLISchat”
Exploring Your Neighborhood
Posted August 13, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
For the first time in seven years, I am so happy that this coming September 1, my husband and I will not be moving. I will be excluded from the uHaul hassle, the security deposits, the shady landlords, and dealing with the fact that dishwashers are still a sought-after commodity despite our foray into the twenty-first century. In the past year, knowing that we wouldn’t be moving in September, we have made our little apartment a true home (rental-style) – temporarily replacing the dim lighting fixtures, accruing beautiful (if eclectic) art and photographs, even adopting a puppy for our pet-friendly pad! But one of the things that we have admittedly slacked on is learning our area. When my husband randomly plugged our address into Walkscore.com and a 97 popped up, his friend asked what great coffee shops, bars, parks, and restaurants were in the area to inflate our score so much – sadly, we had no idea. It wasn’t until very recently that we actually made exploring our area a priority – and we have…
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Graham Herrli
Posted August 9, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
I have fallen into the habit of falling in love with fellow classmates in my past few semesters at GSLIS. I share my crushes through this blog to you, the GSLIS community. I first met my friend Graham in LIS 408, User Instruction. While there were many talented people in the class with lots to contribute, Graham always intrigued me because of his usability perspective on library science issues. Graham is one of those students that blows you away with his passion and genuine interest with the way patrons interact with information. I want more Grahams in my next class, though I suspect he may not be taking storytelling in the fall. Regardless, I am thrilled to present Graham Herrli. 1) What made you choose the GSLIS program and what is your focus while here at Simmons? I came to GSLIS initially because I was interested in how people interact with information and I thought I might want to become a librarian. Since arriving, I’ve found that librarianship isn’t for me, but I’m still intrigued…
Bookstock 2013 and My New Job
Posted August 8, 2013 by Emily Boyd
Last weekend marked the fifth annual literary festival in Woodstock, Vermont, whimsically named Bookstock. This event brings together many community groups and businesses including the public library, both of the independent book stores in town, the National Park Service, and private vendors. I’ve been able to participate in this weekend long celebration of the written word through my job with the National Park Service and it is absolutely a highlight of the summer. The event appeals to tourists and locals alike and really offers something for everyone. In addition to a tent of exhibitors there is also a huge used book sale; I was able to get 6 books for $10! Quite a steal! I am so happy to see this event thriving and expanding every year because community events like Bookstock are why I want to work for a small public library. (Interested in learning more? Check out: http://www.bookstockvt.org/) Starting in September I will have a new job that I hope will allow me access to more behind scenes details of similar community events….
Petition to Proceed into the Library World
Posted August 1, 2013 by Sarah Barton
Most people know what it’s like to have an email inbox that is constantly full of crap. Listservs, gimmicks, promotions, mass emails that may or may not pertain to you but you should probably read anyway just in case…you know. I do my best to keep my inbox as crap-free as possible, which necessitates a fair amount of deleting things based solely on their subject line. Who knows how many emails I delete that I shouldn’t, but I do my best to diligently discard blatant crap emails while still opening anything that is, or might be, relevant. Last week, my usual subject line deletion system was jarred by an email from the GSLIS Student Services Center with the subject: PETITION TO GRADUATE form – 2013-2014. This petition clearly pertains to me as I enter my final semester; thus, the email was granted the esteemed privilege of being opened and read. I expected the petition form to be long-winded and daunting, asking me to list every GSLIS credit that I took with which professor on which…
#GSLISchat
Posted August 1, 2013 by Katie Olivo
We’re going live on Twitter in about 45 minutes – 10am EST! Tweet your questions to us at #GSLISchat and/or join us on Twubs to follow the discussion: http://twubs.com/GSLISchat. If you can’t join us today, we have two more scheduled for this month: http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/admission/events/. I’ll also be putting up some of the questions on the blog today after the chat is over. We hope you’ll join us!
Live Twitter Chat – This Thursday!
Posted July 29, 2013 by Katie Olivo
Hi everyone! This is just a friendly reminder that the Admissions Office will be hosting their first live Q&A Twitter chat this Thursday, August 1st at 10:00 am EST. Join our conversation on Twubs, http://twubs.com/GSLISchat, or just tweet your questions to #GSLISchat. We’ll be ready and waiting to answer all of your questions!
Dissemination of Information
Posted July 28, 2013 by lazylibrarian
I have a week off between the end of my internship and the start of my full-time job! If you are interested in some of the cool things I found while going through the Cambridge Public Library’s old vertical file take a look at the Cambridge History Room WordPress. And what am I doing with my time off? Reading, of course. And drinking Mayan coffee from the Simmons Café….way too good. But one of the books that I just finished up is True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society by Farhad Manjoo. Among the many interesting points Mr. Manjoo brought up in his book; this passage really struck me… “It is a common mistake in the digital age. New technology gives us access to vast new stores of data and tolls with which to understand them. On the Web you can find seemingly any number you want: an instantaneous county breakdown of live election results; a census of illegal immigrants in the United States…Through my local library’s Web site, I can get thirty-year-old…