Technical Difficulties
Posted January 25, 2013 by Emily Boyd
There seems to be an assumption that all twenty-somethings are incredibly tech savvy. I wish I could say I fit this stereotype, but in actuality I have a lot of room for improvement. I don’t want to suggest that I am living in the stone age (I do have an iPhone and an iPad after all!), but troubleshooting gadget mishaps and searches more complex than Google can be baffling to me. Truth be told, I was initially attracted to the library field because I thought it would be a way to escape technology. Could I have been more wrong? Technology is the backbone of this profession and it is crucial for librarians to keep up with constantly evolving new developments. Although I am nowhere near where I need to be, I have become more open to experimenting with and embracing new technologies since starting at Simmons. All new GSLIS students are required to take a self-guided course called the Technology Orientation Requirement (TOR for short) during their first semester. The course takes you step by…
16 Great Library Scenes in Film
Posted January 24, 2013 by Katie Olivo
Check out this article about the author’s favorite library moments in film. My favorite line from it is this: “See what happens when you cut back on library staffing? You risk Voldemort taking over.” Enjoy!!
A Change for the Better
Posted January 23, 2013 by Julie Steenson
One year ago, I started the GSLIS program worrying about catching up on technology and the laundry, and filled with both anticipation and anxiety about going back to school. It seems like a long time ago. I am not the same person I was last January. Where there was fear, there is now confidence. As a future student considering our program, the question you need to ask is, “What happened?” What transformed me from a forty-something who was afraid to get into the car on that very first day of grad school into a confident and comfortable graduate student who embraces challenges and seeks out new professional experiences? The Faculty I have been fortunate to have great faculty who have treated me as a fellow librarian regardless of how many credits or how much experience I had. Rather than being intimidating authority figures or haughty experts, they are respectful colleagues. They have helped me to grow, acknowledging that we all come to librarianship from different places. They have encouraged me to step far outside…
“Libraries are still vibrant…”
Posted January 22, 2013 by Katie Olivo
How can we, as students, help libraries improve for their patrons? What is most important to them? Read what Americans have to say about libraries in this post on the Christian Science Monitor… http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0122/Libraries-are-still-vibrant-say-Americans-but-need-to-keep-up
Practical Versus Passionate
Posted January 22, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
Like many of my fellow GSLIS students, I graduated university with degrees in English and Art History. After graduation, I was essentially pushed out the door, told to “go forth and acquire employment.” After looking around, my worst fears were realized: what was I going to do with two degrees and relatively few marketable skills?! I worked for a while temping; I sent out resume after resume and made phone call after phone call. It was one day, after my mom called me and recommended that I look into going to graduate school to obtain these marketable skills that are apparently so desirable in the working world, that I started to consider libraries and archives as places of employment. But once I got to library school, I felt myself being pulled into the same trap. Fascinating courses called to me – The History of the Book?! Storytelling?! Organizational/Informational Ethics?! These are ALL courses I want to take. But, because my time – and more importantly, my money – is limited, I need to decide on…
We are Not on the Same e-Page
Posted January 21, 2013 by Sarah Barton
My mother reads more books than anyone I know. She is always reading something, and more often than not she has multiple books going. She legally possesses three library cards from three different libraries, and she actively uses each of them. For the past few years, my father had been talking about getting my mom an e-reader for Christmas, but I always told him that she doesn’t need one because she is at a library multiple times per week. This year (and it is unclear whether this was the result of a lack of other gift ideas or a concerted effort to put my mom at the forefront of book technology), he finally gave her a Nook. For all the books that my mother reads, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her purchase one. That said, getting a Nook is not going to make her any less of a library user. I will be shocked if she purchases a book on her Nook – she is a library user through and through. Anyway, I was…
The one thing we ignored in our syllabi this week…
Posted January 19, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
It’s the first week of classes! I spent my week looking deep into the future of my semester. Oh what fun projects I will do this year! The possibilities are, pardon the cliché, endless! Oh, the places I will go! Yet, as I reflected at the end of the week, every class had one commonality that I think doesn’t get talked about enough. Ever hear of the Simmons honor code? If you’ve read a syllabus in the past week you’d remember teachers dutifully reminding their students that plagiarism is taken seriously at this institution. I suppose in light of the recent cheating fiascos across the river you can hardly blame them. However, I remember skimming that part of the syllabi I had the fortune of reading this week, or rather skipping that part. It has occurred to me that this behavior is probably typical and symptomatic of the academic arena we were all raised in: DON’T COPY, DON’T CHEAT, DON’T STEAL…but most importantly, DON’T GET CAUGHT! I teach an information literacy course for high school…
First Week at GSLIS!
Posted January 18, 2013 by Emily Boyd
Hi! My name is Emily and I am a new addition to the blogging team for the January 2013 semester. This is my first semester as a GSLIS student and I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with all our readers. Many admissions departments hope to attract a diverse group of students by the use of cliches such as ‘every student’s experience is unique’ and ‘there is no such thing as a typical student.’ Simmons GSLIS is no exception, however, if my experience thus far is anything like the average student, these statements are not simple cliches, they are the reality. Right from the get go, I have been encouraged to make the most of my experience regardless of any ‘normal’ progression. True to form, I decided to take a nontraditional route when starting classes. My first experience with a GSLIS class was a weeklong intensive course in Corporate Librarianship (LIS 414) with Professor Jim Matarazzo. It has been incredibly fascinating to jump right into things with a class consisting primarily of students nearing…
Welcome Back!
Posted January 17, 2013 by cdelnero
Happy New Year and welcome back, GSLIS! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday and a relaxing break.I am still in denial that the spring semester is here. Today reality sunk in and I reluctantly opened some emails from professors and GSLIS staff. I know that once I get into the swing of things, it won’t seem so scary…but right now, I am SO not ready! I have some big things to look forward to this semester. First of all, tomorrow I am heading out to Boston with two classmates for our first course on the main campus. This is so exciting for me because I love the city and can’t wait to experience the main campus as a student and not just a visitor. Even more exciting is that I start my new job on Monday the 28th! That’s right, folks, I got the job! I am officially the library assistant for the Health Sciences Library at St.Francis Hospital, and I couldn’t be happier. This is my first official library job and for…
Restructuring Public Libraries
Posted January 16, 2013 by Julie Steenson
I like my blogs to be fun but informative, which usually means avoiding politics. Unfortunately, there is a political situation taking place across the nation that just might influence your decision to go to library school. I live in rural NH, and more often than not, rural libraries are staffed only by paraprofessionals. Librarians with Master’s degree are not the norm, but that is changing, for good and bad. Why a change is good? In the year I have been at GSLIS, I have learned there is a lot more to being a librarian than one might think when one checks out a book. Along with a ton of technology skills, there are many things that just make good practice and good library management. In my experience, paraprofessionals are smart people who use a lot of common sense, but their decisions may or may not be informed by library theory or tried and true methods. Why a change is bad? Recently, in St. Johnsbury, VT, the board of trustees fired the entire Athenaeum library staff…