Ode to Spring Break
Posted March 11, 2013 by Sarah Barton
As a graduate student, I feel a little awkward telling people that this week is Spring Break. I mean, Spring Break is soooo college, right? Last year I felt better about discussing my Spring Break plans, as I spent a week in the great outdoors of Arizona and Utah – far, far from the dreary New England winter. This year, however, my Spring Break involves a trip north (but not too far north) to my parents’ house in Portsmouth, NH for a few days. It isn’t going to be any warmer or less snowy in Portsmouth, but a different setting will certainly be welcome. This year will make for a far less exciting Spring Break story, but I am looking forward to it just the same. I am not generally a restless person, but this year’s winter weather has made me quite edgy. I have been spending an excessive amount of time wasting away in my apartment, and my weekly routine has been feeling even more routine than normal. Enter: Spring Break, exactly the elixir…
Digital Preservation Course
Posted March 10, 2013 by lazylibrarian
This semester I am taking a class called Digital Preservation. I haven’t had much previous experience with coding and such so this class has really taken me out of my comfort zone yet I can see just how useful it can be in not only the current archives field but in libraries as well. I see more and more advertisements for technology librarians; we no longer live in a print-based world in America. Having mused over these things I began to wonder about the set-up of Simmons’ Archives Program. As a dual degree student I am studying both archives, under the broader Library Science program and History as a separate entity. Some schools, like U.T. Austin also place their archives programs under Library Science or in the case of Drexel, under Information Science. However, some institutions place their archives programs under their History programs, like UMass. I have never been a part of the UMass program but as I delve deeper into these tech classes I can’t help but wonder how you obtain those technical skills…
What does your library look like?
Posted March 6, 2013 by Julie Steenson
I took a week off from blogging because I recently started a new volunteer/intern-ish position at a prison library, and I am still trying to embrace the new work schedule and commute, along with my job in a public library, and two classes. (We won’t mention laundry and housework as I am pretending they don’t really exist…) In the midst of my frenzy the last couple of weeks, my sister sent me a very fun link: The 30 Best Places To Be If You Love Books http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/the-best-places-to-be-if-you-love-books Take the time to go have a look at these amazing photos. The site quotes Mark Twain, “In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.” I could relate to this quote, and I imagine that many of us are here at GSLIS because this is how we feel whenever we walk into bookstores and libraries. So, enjoy visiting these unique book places…hard to choose a favorite but I…
Challenge accepted?
Posted March 5, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
So… I’ve always loved this youtube video. The more time I spend in Beatley, the more I really, REALLY want this to happen here at Simmons. We deserve some musical theater spontaneity in our lives. This is all there is from me today. This blog is a plea, nay, a challenge! Sing in your local library TODAY! It’s probably best to clear all box steps with the librarians first. Just a thought.
The Hardship of Librarianship
Posted March 4, 2013 by Sarah Barton
An eight-year-old girl who comes to the library multiple times per week with her older sister, and sometimes their mother, posed the following to me and a colleague on Thursday night: “Do you work really hard every day? I think being a librarian would be hard.” I don’t know what prompted her to say that, as my colleague and I were both sitting at the desk doing…well, we weren’t really doing anything. In fact, the girl’s next question was “What game is that?” when she noticed that I was playing Minesweeper. The library is open until 9pm on Thursdays, and nights are generally pretty slow, so I would not say that I was working particularly hard (unless Minesweeper counts as hard work). Librarianship is not hard like rocket science or physical labor is hard. I would say it is hard like fielding customer service calls or working in retail is hard. No matter what type of library work you do – reference, cataloging, research, archives, and/or whatever else – you never know what you are…
Ready for Outdoor Reading, Part 2
Posted March 3, 2013 by lazylibrarian
Last week, I brought you my top five reading spots in Boston. This week, check out the next five best reading spots in the area! 6. Copley Square Although busier than the inner courtyard, Copley Square outside of the Mckim Building also provides a nice place to read. There are benches around the green square which has the BPL on one end and Trinity Church on the other. There is also a fountain where one can dangle their feet in while reading on a hot day. However there are always splashing children around, so don’t take a book you don’t want a few stray drops of water on!
Study Abroad: Not Just for Undergrads Anymore!
Posted March 1, 2013 by Emily Boyd
After years of missed opportunities to travel abroad during high school and undergrad, I am so excited to finally say that this summer I will be going to Rome with GSLIS!! For several years Simmons has provided library students the opportunity to study abroad with courses offered in Yonsei, Korea, and this summer the program is expanding by adding an additional trip to Rome, Italy. Simmons GSLIS is collaborating with St. John’s University Division of Library & Information Science in New York and each school will be offering two courses from which students can choose. The program runs from May 23 through June 10 and I will be taking Intellectual Freedom and Censorship (LIS 493) with Professor Laura Saunders. The course will begin with readings and online forums several weeks prior to our departure and conclude with a research paper due after our return to Boston. This way our time in Rome can be spent focusing on discussions in class, and of course, exploring all of the wonderful culture, history, and food the city has…
Open Access, and the Story of Why Are We Paying to Access Important Information
Posted February 27, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
Open access is a topic I have been thinking about a lot lately. And not just the stories of glamorized and easily implementable “open access” that the media picks up and drops two weeks later – open access as a way that information is communicated. Anyone who has talked to me for more than five minutes knows that I am passionate about the way information is communicated, received, and re-communicated elsewhere – which serves as the basis of open access. The White House recently addressed the issue of open access in a memo, which stated that the findings and papers that come about as a result of publicly funded research will be made publicly available. While this is a huge step in the field, I can’t help but think that we are years behind. How many critical results of research have come and gone without garnering public attention, simply because the public cannot afford the astronomical prices to scientific journals? This is information that most people are unfamiliar with – mostly because the information is…
My Library School Library
Posted February 25, 2013 by Sarah Barton
I’ve written about a handful of different libraries in this blog, but I daresay I have neglected one that has been integral to my time at GSLIS: the Beatley Library at Simmons. During my first semester I was neither working nor interning, so I had a lot of downtime outside of class. To combat any and all inclinations to sit around doing nothing, I would go to a desk on the second floor of the library after my morning classes and before my afternoon class to get as much work done as possible. I find that the library is kind of like the gym – sometimes I don’t necessarily want to go, but I am fairly productive once I’m there. This and last semester, my increased extracurricular activities have reduced the amount of time I spend at Beatley. These days, I am usually only there for two-ish hours on Wednesdays, and I tend to splurge for the comfy chairs on the first floor instead of the studious desks on the second. Beatley is by no means huge,…
Ready for Outdoor Reading
Posted February 24, 2013 by lazylibrarian
It is snowing. AGAIN. I admit I am getting a little stir crazy. So far this weekend I’ve done homework in my bed, at my desk, in the tech lab, at my boyfriend’s house, at Pete’s Coffee (where I was continually interrupted by an adorable five year old next to me) and now I’m back in my room again. But come spring, oh come spring….i love to read outdoors in Boston! I’m the kind of person who if it’s too quiet I can’t focus. I think it has something to do with growing up with four younger siblings and a dog. So I love reading outside in the city there where there is just the right amount of noise, not enough to be overpowering but enough that I can’t zone in on one conversation and get too distracted. So in anticipation of that, my next two posts will display my top ten favorite spots to read outside in Boston. All pictures are mine because I’m also that chick that snaps a cellphone shot every five…