The Library’s Changing Role in the Community
Posted June 20, 2012 by Julie Steenson
I have many career ambitions for my library degree, and to be honest, working in a small, public library is not one of them, but since the opportunity presented itself, here I am. I suddenly find myself at the circulation desk and preparing movie nights for the adult summer reading program. My first library job back in 1993 was in a children’s public library, and I absolutely loved it. If I had had the same opportunities then, I would have become a Children’s Librarian. I did, in fact, check out Simmons in the early 1990s, but as a single mom who lived far from Boston, it didn’t seem realistic at the time. Credible distance learning opportunities like West campus, and online/blended classes did not exist. One of my duties so many years ago was an evening storytime, complete with kids in PJs with teddy bears, usually accompanied by working dads who were having quality time while moms enjoyed an hour or two to themselves after dinner. We had our regular afterschool moms and kids, too,…
Online Classes
Posted June 19, 2012 by Katie Olivo
Now that it’s the end of June, my classes are certainly keeping me busy. I have just a week and a half left of my history course on Race and Media, and I’m in the full swing of my online course – LIS 440: Archival Access and Use. Taking an online class certainly requires some adjustment. Our system, Moodle, is a very easy system to adapt to, but the online environment is a bit different. For the first time, I feel like I am truly in control of how much I learn. Granted, I was always in control of the amount of information I digested or whether or not I did the readings, etc., but this time no one is lecturing to me and I have to read and record the information in a way that I will learn it on my own. It requires more responsibility and thus far, I’m not that sure how I feel about it.
Corporate Librarianship: Selling Out or Buying In?
Posted June 13, 2012 by Sarah Barton
Goodness gracious was that one-week “Corporate Libraries” course a blur. In five days I had to do two short papers and two group presentations, so there was no time for “I’ll do this later.” Maybe that was a sneaky introduction to the “I’m asking you now, but I needed it yesterday” corporate library culture. Based on what I learned from the course, that theory doesn’t seem too far-fetched. [Before I get started, so as not to confuse the “Corporate Libraries” title with the many different types of libraries we learned about, this course could very well be renamed “Special (With a Large Emphasis on Corporate) Libraries.” Just doesn’t have a very nice ring to it.] Two of the most useful things about the course were the field trips and guest speakers. (I know I sound like a middle schooler, but bear with me.) Over the course of the week, we visited three different special libraries and had a number of guest speakers. We also had in-class lectures, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and readings, but the visits…
Week 1 at my Summer Internship with the Smithsonian NMAI!
Posted June 11, 2012 by Danielle Geller
So concludes my first week at the Cultural Resources Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian! I’ll make sure to take some pictures that I can post next week. I have my own little cubicle in the Repatriation Department and access to all manner of really interesting office files and archives. At the start of my week, I felt a little overwhelmed at the scope of my project, but the more I dig, the more excited I get! I’m here through August 11, and by the end of my internship, I am expected to produce a report to the Board of Trustees on the department’s policy and case history. I am looking at how discussions have evolved around topics concerning human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony, as well as conclusions and debates surrounding cultural affiliation, stewardship, Native American identity and state, federal, and institutional recognition, author, jurisdiction, etc. As you can see, it’s a huge amount of information I’m trying to extra from Board of Trustees agendas,…
Bringing Back the Music
Posted June 8, 2012 by dunhame
One of the things I’ve struggled the most with since moving to Boston is the fact that, for the first time in my life, musical instruments haven’t been immediately accessible to me. Wherever I’ve lived up until now, I’ve had access to at least a piano, and I usually had my mom’s violin or my alto saxophone on hand. I took this privilege for granted (and grumbled way too much about practicing!), and its importance didn’t become clear to me until I found myself feeling stranded without a musical outlet in my apartment in Boston. I dealt with this problem temporarily at the beginning of the spring semester when I borrowed an alto sax and went to a few rehearsals with the Freedom Trail Band, Boston’s LGBT community band. This group is fantastic. The atmosphere is laid-back–there were no auditions and I could meet all of the skill-level expectations even as a self-proclaimed “hobby musician.” Unfortunately, as the semester pummeled forward and my juggling act got more difficult to manage, I decided I couldn’t commit…
The Juggle
Posted June 6, 2012 by Julie Steenson
Reflecting on Katie’s post, regarding time flying in undergrad and grad school, I attended my daughter’s college graduation this past weekend! If you are a recent undergrad, I am indeed old enough to be your mother…but even if you are old enough to be MY mother, you are not too old for GSLIS. I have a wooden sign in my kitchen that reads, “You are never too old to change what you want to be when you grow up.” This might sound like a trite quote from the mid-life crisis crowd, but the sign has hung in my kitchen since I was “only” 32. Becoming a part of Simmons GSLIS was a huge lifestyle change, and if you read my earlier blog entries, I certainly had my share of anxieties. If you are part of the older crowd, you know what I mean about the great balancing act, but younger students have to strike their own balance, too. They don’t have it any easier than we do. Neither of us has more to juggle, we…
Library School Changes the Brain
Posted June 4, 2012 by Maya Bery
I recently returned from a trip to see my parents, who have just moved continents and countries from India to the Netherlands. When I arrived, they had just received their shipment of possessions from India, and were still in the process of setting up. My parents are lifelong readers, and for as long as I can remember, our house has had endless numbers of bookcases overflowing with books, sometimes several levels deep, and not counting boxes in the garage or basement. When I got to college, I enrolled in a major program very similar to the one my dad had done more than thirty years earlier, and to my delight, I was able to use some of his vintage books. Nobody else had inherited copies of the Communist Manifesto, the Marx-Engles Reader, or even The Protestant Work Ethic, but I did. Yet, there was never a set method of organizing the books in any real or meaningful fashion. This never bothered me before, but it bothered me now. My librarian brain, fresh from the experiences…
Archiving Hate
Posted June 2, 2012 by Katie Olivo
Just a word of warning – this post is not going to be very cheery. As I wrote a few weeks ago, my current History class is on Race & Media. We’ve talked a lot about the subject of lynching and there is some important information that I’d like to pass on. First of all, I learned that lynching was not just an activity that occurred to slaves before the Civil War. Actually, it proliferated after the Emancipation Proclamation. When African Americans were slaves, sadly enough, because they were someone’s property, they were protected more than after they received their so-called freedom. When they belonged to a white farmer, other whites could not harm them without suffering penalties. But, of course, once they were considered freedmen under the law, white mobs could accuse a black male of any number of crimes and subsequently lynch them. Thus, lynching was most frequent in the early 1900s, especially during Jim Crow laws. If that isn’t disturbing enough for you, here’s the kicker: people sent postcards of lynchings. It…
Time Off
Posted May 30, 2012 by Danielle Geller
I have to admit, I havent been doing many productive things since class has been over. A lot of my activities have been geared towards heading down to Washington, D.C. for my internship, which is now only a week away! Im really excited, but Im also worried that Im forgetting something. I opted not to sublet my apartment, though it would have been an option, so I dont have too much more to get ready before I leave. Ill miss my friends and my cats, but its going to be a really fun summer. I wish I had more to write, but Im sure Ill have plenty once I actually start at the NMAI!
The Post-Semester Life of an Unemployed Aspiring Librarian
Posted May 29, 2012 by Sarah Barton
The calendar tells me that the semester ended three weeks ago. Instead of harping on how that does not seem temporally possible, I will briefly detail the post-semester life of an unemployed aspiring librarian in all of its glory. The day after my final final I started volunteering at the Somerville Public Library. I had the opportunity to shadow the library director, and came away with all kinds of clichéd what they dont teach you in library school-type knowledge and insights about what goes on behind the scenes in a public library. I sat in on meetings, met interesting people, and did research for a grant proposal. In less glamorous news, I spent four days going through random documents that past library directors had left in the office. Im pretty sure that experience solidified my lack of interest in archives. I also spent some time helping at the Friends of the Somerville Public Library Book Sale. On the last day of the sale, all VHS tapes were $0.25 each or five for $1. A little…