I Know What You Did Last Summer
Posted May 29, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
The summer is always a great time to capitalize on opportunities that escape during the cold, hard, rainy winter season. For me, I ended up getting a summer internship in an aspect of GSLIS that I had never before considered – records management. While I am super excited just to have an internship – and a paying one at that – I am even more excited to try out what is the “hors d’oeuvre” of the meal of one’s career (sorry, this metaphor is kind of falling apart…). I’m pretty excited to be trying out this new career path, and I have super high hopes (expectations) that this will end up being THE NEW CAREER FOR ME. I have very little expectation that this career won’t work out. But it is the last in a long line of internships that I have tried in my still juvenile career – I have worked in financial planning, in support and administration, in publishing. I have worked at Harley Davidson Motor Company, law firms, and for various academic…
Summer Slowdown
Posted May 27, 2013 by Sarah Barton
In my last post (which seems like ages ago), I posited that it would take a week or two for me to adjust to the semester being over. In retrospect, I think my estimate was off by, well, about a week or two. I adapted to my newfound classlessness in no time by picking up a few extra hours at the library and altering my internship schedule so I have Fridays off. In short, the real adjustment has been acclimating to three-day weekends, which, as you might expect, has not been all that much of a challenge. The summer of 2013 won’t be quite as liberating as that of 2012 when I wasn’t working or taking classes, but it is not in my best professional or monetary interest to completely check out of the library world for another summer. (And frankly, three-day weekends are pretty liberating.) Plus, an unforeseen perk of my summer schedule is that I have more time to put toward my local Friends of the Library group. I spent the last two…
Cambridge History Room Internship
Posted May 23, 2013 by lazylibrarian
This week marked the beginning of my internship. I am working at the Cambridge History Room which is placed inside the Cambridge Public Library. The plan as it now stands is for me to process the papers of John Langstaff, singer, author and creator of the Cambridge Revels while selecting pieces from the collection that are usuable for an exhibit as well as creating the finding aid. The boxes I have glanced over so far (there are about 15 in total I think; I need to double check that number though) contain an assortment of sheet music (both printed and hand-written), production notes, correspondence, mock-ups of his children’s books and promotional materials. I believe the majority of the “good stuff” was removed and are in the boxes of material the biography author was using, which I have not gone through yet. I hope to find some photography, etc. that would be useful for an exhibit. I do think there should be something in the collection that would interest the public if not about the Revels,…
Let the Adventure Begin: Summer 2013
Posted May 22, 2013 by Emily Boyd
This week has finally arrived! I leave for Rome on Thursday and I could not be more excited to get this adventure started! I look forward to sharing all my stories when I’m back from my European travels. I’ve spent the last few weeks recovering from my first semester at GSLIS, preparing for my trip to Rome, and getting a kickstart on my summer reading list. Other than the short course I am taking in Rome (LIS 493 Intellectual Freedom and Censorship), I will have a school-work free summer and I plan to spend the extra time reading everything I can get my hands on. I recently stumbled upon a great blog called “Beerbrarian” by a librarian in the DC area named Jacob Berg. “The Four-and-a-Half Types of People I met in Job Interviews in May” is a recent post that caught my eye about his experience interviewing candidates for a position at his library (check it out here http://beerbrarian.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-four-and-half-types-of-people-i-met.html). The post raises a lot of really interesting points about the interview process in general…
The Interview
Posted May 20, 2013 by Julie Steenson
If you have followed my journey from mom to batgirl, you already know that I have committed myself to an unusual career path – correctional librarianship. A year ago, I did not see this coming. After my first semester, the possibilities for my library degree seemed endless and in fact, I was a bit worried that I would never narrow down my interests. Other than motherhood (which was my first calling), I did not expect to experience a vocation, a calling, an overwhelming need to pursue a very specific career. Then I set foot in a prison library, and my life changed. The problem with a desire to be a prison librarian is that there aren’t that many prisons or opportunities for pre-job experience. The good news about wanting to be a prison librarian is that the skills I acquire in a public library setting are very applicable. On top of that, I am a champion of the benefits all around to volunteering, and my desire to learn everything I could about prison libraries turned…
We’ll be back!
Posted May 9, 2013 by Katie Olivo
Hello readers, I gave our bloggers a few weeks off to recover from the spring semester before classes start up again. They’ll be back to regular posts the week of May 20th, which is when our first summer session begins. Check back to find out how GSLIS students spend their summer. As always, thanks for reading and feel free to comment with questions or suggestions!
School’s out for the summer… or is it?
Posted May 4, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
I remember telling a friend, way back in September, that I couldn’t possibly think about taking a class in the summer. I wanted to prevent burnout and make sure I had time to recharge my batteries for the coming year. However, the further I went in the program the more I realized EVERYONE’s here in the summer! Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but I would say at least 75% of my friends at GSLIS are taking at least one summer course. I, myself, am VERY excited about my summer course with Vivienne Piroli: User Instruction. I’ll keep you up to date on the many pearls of wisdom that will undoubtedly come my way. I’m also excited about my new summer job at Beatley library. HUZZAH! That’s right ladies and gentlemen; I am staffing the reference desk this summer at the Beatley Library. I am delving into the realm of academic libraries. I’ll also be reporting on the awesomeness of recording every reference transaction I have, the new subscription databases I learn about as well as Beatley’s…
Time to refuel…
Posted May 1, 2013 by Julie Steenson
Classes ended on Monday. Tuesday should have been a day to relax, but then there was that Call for Submissions that I had been thinking about for months, due on Wednesday…so between all the academic pursuits, my public library job, and my volunteer time at the men’s prison library, I am only now coming up for air. This semester was my most rigorous. I only took two classes, but I balanced more than usual, as my cluttered house and cobwebs will attest. My day job expanded, I added volunteering, started a regular exercise routine, and had some pet and family health issues. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to being exhausted. I am sure my family and friends are tired of my response to most invitations, “In May…can’t do anything before May.” I am not trying to scare you away. Some great results came out of this: I discovered minimalist running shoes, and my knees don’t hurt anymore. After 18 years of marriage, my husband learned to do laundry. I found my calling…
Library Laryngitis
Posted April 29, 2013 by Sarah Barton
Last week I had a case of acute laryngitis and could not speak any louder than a whisper, if at all. It wasn’t a huge deal (aside from being annoying), and actually led to some unintentionally comical and unfortunately stereotypical interactions when I was working at the library. People would come in and speak to me at a normal volume but I would respond in a whisper, thereby prompting them to start whispering. (It is a library, after all.) One woman even apologized after becoming self-conscious that she was speaking too loudly, at which point I assured her that I was the one having volume control issues. Speaking exclusively in a whisper is not particularly conducive to most occupations, but librarian is one of the few where it’s not that bad. Being a student, however, is not ideal when laryngitis strikes, as my five-minute final presentation was not particularly pleasant for my poor classmates who strained to listen to my hoarse, raspy voice. Needless to say, I am glad that’s over with. Wait a second…my…
End of Semester and the Simmons Community
Posted April 28, 2013 by lazylibrarian
I run a Tumblr about news that I feel is pertinent to women. A few times I have tagged things #simmons college, like this picture I posted that I snapped at our residential-campus café the other night. Since I have tagged a few things as Simmons or have mentioned it in my posts I have gotten more than one note from high school girls wanting to know more about the Simmons atmosphere. Unfortunately, I tell them that I am a Grad student and cannot provide much information about what type of classes they will take, what the undergrad events are like or even how roommate selection takes place. However I am always glad to be able to tell them that Simmons College has a diverse, warm and accepting culture. I see it in my limited interaction with the undergrad population, but also of course with the grad students in general and within my program. Friday night was the end of the year semester party hosted by LISSA, one of the student library association groups. It…