How to Have a Job after Graduation
Posted April 16, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
As I have mentioned in previous posts, one of the things that bugged me the most about my undergraduate experience was the lack of support when they pushed you forth into the world. When people inevitably ask me what I like the most about Simmons, my answer is always the same: while I love many of the classes and professors, and the students are some of the sweetest and brightest I have ever met, I feel that the support Simmons offers to its students in terms of employment is one of the best things a school can do. Simmons is great in that you enter this program knowing that you would like to be employed at the end of it – and you get employment support from the moment you enter orientation. In the Archives Concentration you are automatically enrolled in two internships – one 60-hour, and one 130-hour – that provide you with experience in an actual archive. These internships often provide invaluable networking experience, and more often than not the repositories ask the…
Marathon Monday
Posted April 15, 2013 by Sarah Barton
Forgive me for writing about sports for a second consecutive week, but the Boston Marathon is kind of a big deal. The Boston Athletic Association claims that in terms of media coverage, the Boston Marathon ranks behind only the Super Bowl as the largest single day sporting event in the world. Yowzer. As I wrote at this time last year, I love watching the marathon, and it is another unique Boston experience. Simmons is about a mile from Mile 25 of the marathon, where Beacon Street and Commonwealth Ave will be absolutely packed with people cheering for runners as they gut out the last few miles through Brookline and Boston. Today is Patriots’ Day, which is only a holiday in Massachusetts and Maine (although for some reason in Maine they move the apostrophe and call it Patriot’s Day), so many people either have or take the day off to witness thousands of people running. Watching people run sounds fairly boring, but the emotion and camaraderie are palpable. You have to be there. This is not…
How Libraries Changed Me
Posted April 14, 2013 by lazylibrarian
So I came across this wonderful article entitled Five Times a Library Changed Me and began to think about how the library had changed my life, outside of you know, wanting to be a librarian. I went to a pretty small private school where everyone knew everyone and what you could or could not do. I wasn’t good at sports, was too scared to sing or play an instrument in front of people and was too much of a rule-follower to be known as a rebel or class clown. But I found my little niche in books and specifically in the library. I was the girl who held the record in Mrs. Johnson’s first grade reading contest, the girl who received permission to take out the “adult” books (this was a Christian school, that just meant regular adult-level books), the girl who organized everyone’s classroom libraries and the girl who was always picked to read devotions (again, it’s a Christian school) for the class every morning. But the greatest thing of all was being the…
The Great Library Cat Debate
Posted April 10, 2013 by Julie Steenson
Nothing gets people more worked up than their pets. I belong to many forums on library issues, and recently, the issue of a library cat was the hot topic on an ALA LinkedIn Forum. The title of the discussion was: “A Grinch in Swansea, MA wants the library’s feline resident, Penny, to find a new home. Does your library have a pet?” The “Grinch” in this case, is making the claim that the cat’s “presence violates the Americans with Disabilities Act because people with allergies to animals are being discriminated against if the cat is there when they want to use the library.” Full article: http://www.turnto10.com/story/21809894/swansea-man-says-librarys-cat-violates-ada The cat has been a resident there for 14 years, and according to townspeople, the man doesn’t frequent the library, but that is beside the issue. The reactions on the LinkedIn forum were enthusiastic to say the least, with librarians on both sides of the debate. I quickly got into the fray by asking everyone: What about Dewey?! How did the famed Iowa library of the most famous library…
Being Frank About Fenway
Posted April 8, 2013 by Sarah Barton
Today is opening day at Fenway Park. Granted, the Red Sox have already played six games on the road to start the season, but baseball doesn’t really seem official until the boys of summer suit up within the confines of friendly Fenway. I am not a huge Sox fan, and they aren’t even supposed to be very good this year, but somehow that doesn’t seem to matter. Baseball has started, which means that spring is here and having a few afternoon beers is excusable in the name of watching “tha Sawcks.” (“Tha Sawcks” = “the Sox” with a Boston accent.) Boston sports teams have more or less of a cult following that can be borderline offensive to the uninitiated. For the next six months, many Bostonians will be living and dying with each and every pitch of the remaining 155 regular season games. I can guarantee you that people will come out of the woodwork to be in the Fenway area this afternoon, and I plan to be one of them. I think that “Red…
The Mysterious Line
Posted April 6, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
Have you ever driven or walked past a Shake Shack? What is the most distinguishing characteristic of this place of business? Picture it in your mind. See the line. Do you see it? I went there last night to see what all the fuss was about but gave up when I saw, l wondering what it is exactly they put in those burgers and fries. What’s the x factor? I read in a magazine about the Shake Shack CEO who talked about how the line builds character. How people want to conquer the line. It’s a “challenge accepted” concept. again, a line around the corner outside of the restaurant. Though it is spring, you really wouldn’t know that at night. So instead I chose a local burger place and was quite satisfied. But here I am stil You’re probably wondering what this has to do with library school. Nothing. It has nothing to do with library school, unless you get reeeeeally creative. Think about that longing and desire to cross the threshold of the Shake…
Awesome Advising
Posted April 5, 2013 by Emily Boyd
I have reached the inevitable point in every semester where all I can think about is how excited I am for next semester. In addition to being very excited about my upcoming trip to Rome (less than seven weeks to go!), I am looking ahead to courses for the fall. With class selection right around the corner I turned to my advisor for some advice (go figure) about the best classes to take in the fall. The GSLIS program only consists of twelve classes and with five core courses already spoken for we only get seven electives. This may seem like a large number but considering the fact that those seven courses represent your focus and areas of expertise it is important to choose them carefully. For a student such as myself who is very undecided about my future career path choosing classes becomes an even more delicate task. It is for this reason that I am so thankful to have my fabulous advisor. My experience with advisors during my undergrad was less than satisfactory…
The Art of the Symposium
Posted April 2, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a very cool symposium put on by many of GSLIS’ student organizations including SCoSAA, LISSA, ALASC, ASIS&T, Panoption, SLA, and UXPA. This Symposium was the second one GSLIS has ever put on, and provided a really interesting glimpse into many different areas of GSLIS. There was a keynote speaker, GSLIS’ own Martha Mahard, and four panels of students and past students. Each panel had a topic, and the panelists gave a presentation on their specific area of study and then answered questions. Overall, there were a wide variety of topics, from Technology to Ethics, and it was incredibly interesting to see what my fellow students were working on (not to mention impressive… I’m feeling like a bit of a slacker for not having presented!). An additional super-cool part of this Symposium was that it was available for both live and future streaming. As the Facilitator for the Archives Management Cohort Online, it was awesome to be able to present this opportunity to the online students that…
25-30 of 36
Posted April 1, 2013 by Sarah Barton
I think I’m a bit overdue for telling you about my courses this semester, so here goes. I am only taking two classes right now, as last May’s weeklong class and last semester’s independent study got me a bit ahead of the game. I’m pretty sure I have already referenced both of my current classes in some recent posts, but this post will serve as their official coming out party. Wahoo! Mondays, 9am-noon – LIS 403; Evaluation of Library Services This is currently a core class, and one that anyone who entered the program before Fall 2013 must take. That means that those of you who will be starting in the fall will not need to take this one…but you’re going to hear about it anyway. The idea behind this class is that in order to optimize library services for both patrons and the library itself, librarians must perform evaluations on different library programs and processes. These evaluations can involve surveys, a case study, or action research, among other things, and are often lengthy and…
2nd Annual GSLIS Graduate Symposium
Posted March 31, 2013 by lazylibrarian
I am still digesting everything…yesterday I participated in my first conference, Simmons 2nd Annual GSLIS Graduate Symposium. The day went well all things considered, but it was both an exhilarating and exhausting experience. I presented on the art panel and chose to talk about how we can use technology to integrate more use of primary source documentation as a means of context in art museums. It was not an idea I thought would create any backlash at all, and perhaps backlash is not the right word. It wasn’t hostile, but some of the questions I received after my presentation surprised me. But that is a good thing, and is the point of a symposium. It is all part of the peer review. When my very first question was pushing back at something I said instead of just a general question for further explanation I immediately felt my pulse quicken and my self-esteem plummet. But I quickly realized that the questioner was not attacking me, she was not even really attacking my work but simply bringing…