The New Grad School Try
Posted April 23, 2012 by Sarah Barton
I could have tried harder in college. In fact, I should have tried harder in college. For some reason it just didnt seem cool to do so at the time. When I embarked on my thesis at the beginning of my senior year, I realized that I was going to have to change my work habits. And change them I did. I daresay I enjoyed writing my thesis, and even finished it before the deadline. I relegated myself to the library for self-imposed Thesis Thursdays in addition to several hours per week when my former self would have been watching some stupid dating show on MTV. (Because clearly that was the cool thing to do.) My thesis went without a hitch, and I realized that investing myself in my work could actually be cool. After three and a half years in the real world (MTV pun intended), I entered GSLIS and promised myself that I would work hard.
Two Weeks!
Posted April 22, 2012 by Danielle Geller
Thats pretty much all I have left in this semester, and Im working (not too) furiously to wrap up all of the assignments I have to do. Today Im trying to finish writing my literature review, the subject of which is related to my summer internship! I am looking at the literature that describes the ethical considerations and debate surrounding the acquisition, preservation, and access to Native American collections in institutional repositories and archives. Historically, indigenous cultural materials were collected and described not by Native Americans themselves but by white collectors, anthropologists, historians, curators, etc, which has had devastating effects on Native American identity and cultural preservation in their communities. There has been a call to improve the relationships between museums, archives, and repositories that house Native American materials and tribal nations to balance the needs of researchers and the public good with the needs of indigenous peoples. While many people now sympathize with Native Americans and would argue in favor of repatriation, many archivists are faced with a conflict of interest.
Change in Curriculum for Fall 2013
Posted April 20, 2012 by Maya Bery
Recently, the GSLIS community received news that beginning with the incoming class of 2013, the curriculum will be changing. The core requirements are changing (Evaluation of Information Services will be replaced with a Foundations course), the program will increase to 39 credits, and most importantly to me, that there will be a new capstone requirement put in place. For me as a SLT student, my capstone experiences are my practica, both at the elementary and the high school level. It’s part of the state licensing requirements, but as I draw to the end of my elementary practicum, I realize just how valuable an experience this is, so much so that before this announcement was made, I was going to write a blog post exhorting new students to sign up for LIS 501, a 150-hour, hands-on internship. Here’s why I approve of this change.
Dig In
Posted April 19, 2012 by fox32
You don’t have to subscribe to online newsletters, blogs, and tumblrs – but since you are reading this you are halfway there… Librarians were and are some of the most profilic bloggers around and there are reams of lists and feeds from which to choose. I am going to just suggest two; the technical/rural Jessamyn West, and the user experience (UX) commentator Aaron Schmidt. Again, you don’t have to use twitter, leave comments on people’s blogs, or create an online presence for yourself – but I would recommend it.
All the Things that are Good for You: Broccoli, Shoveling Snow, and Group projects
Posted April 18, 2012 by Julie Steenson
You probably remember being a kid and being told, Eat your broccoli its good for you. As a parent, I have had said my fair share of Its good for you moments in raising my daughter. A couple of specific examples stand out: Stacking wood builds character, and I know it is hard to work in a group, but it is good for you. While I have no problem eating broccoli and I love to stack wood, I have had to eat my words on the group project thing. Just two days ago, on a visit home, as I was stressing about an end of term group project, my daughter gave me a sympathetic smile and reminded me that group projects are good for me. I have to admit that I wasnt prepared for group projects at GSLIS. I know we will work in a collaborative environment and so learning how to reach our goals with our peers is important, but there have been some real challenges.
Marathon Monday
Posted April 17, 2012 by dunhame
When you move to Massachusetts, they give you a free holiday! The third Monday of April is Patriots Day, the Massachusetts state holiday commemorating the Battles of Lexington and Concord. There were battle reenactments, parades, and ceremonies all over the state this weekend. One other big thing about Patriots Day is it always serves as the day of the Boston Marathon. It was certainly an exciting weekend to be a resident of Boston! Unfortunately, I didnt make it out to any of the Revolutionary War commemoration events, but I did have a chance to be a spectator at about mile 24 of the Boston Marathon. I used boston.coms handy interactive map to determine that the route went through Coolidge Corner, which is within walking distance from my apartment. (With Boston well over-capacity due to the international pull of the marathon, I did NOT want to brave public transit!) I doused myself in sunscreen and made way to join the crowd of eager Bostonians awaiting their chance to cheer on the marathoners.
How Running a Marathon is (sort of) Like Attending Simmons GSLIS
Posted April 16, 2012 by Sarah Barton
I want to make the Boston Marathon relevant to GSLIS. I really do. Library school is like a marathon. The last two weeks of the semester are the final sprint to complete a marathon. The Boston Marathon is awesome, and so is GSLIS. As much as I enjoy figurative language, those statements just dont quite get it done. I couldnt watch the Boston Marathon last year, but two years ago it was one of the most inspiring things I have ever witnessed. Despite being a certified stoic, at one point I found myself holding back tears. The combination of beautiful weather, everyones positive energy, and the camaraderie among the runners and spectators created an experience that I will not soon forget. There is something overpowering about watching 27,000 people meander 26.2 miles from Framingham to Downtown Boston. A marathon is hardly about winning in the traditional sense. Everyone out there, whether on the course or alongside it, wants every single marathoner to succeed. In a marathon, to succeed is to finish and to finish is…
Building a Fancy CV
Posted April 15, 2012 by Danielle Geller
This semester, Ive been trying to take advantage of all of the opportunitiesbeyond Simmonsthat living in Boston has to offer. Three weeks ago I attended the NEA Spring Meeting, and this week I attended a conference that on the service might not seem strictly relevant to our field: the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (PC/ACA) conference in Boston. True, there were a lot of panels on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter, World of Warcraft, and other popular fandoms, but the conference itself was huge! The program was over 450 pages long, and I managed to find a few sessions that were on the intersection of popular culture, research, and archives, special libraries, and museums. So of course I attended! Ive found that some panels on an archives holdings can turn into a form of show and telllook at these awesome things I have in my collections!that never evolve into a discussion on methodology, theory, or issues of access publicity, etc., which can be frustrating. One of the most interesting presentations, in fact, was on…
So…why library school?
Posted April 14, 2012 by Maya Bery
If you are currently contemplating the decision to attend library school, chances are at some point in your search process, you have heard some helpful individual say something along the lines of “Libraries are dying/e-books are rendering books irrelevant/why do you need a degree for that/fill in your own silly reason here.” This issue irked me so much, it actually wound up being the introduction to my admissions essay for Simmons. Are e-books and the internet changing the way in which libraries operate? Of course. But the library as an institution is far from becoming irrelevant, and in fact, I think this is a fascinating time to choose to enter our noble profession. For a start, there’s so much potential that technology and the internet opens up for us, and a simple Google search is just the tip of the iceberg. When your friends and family learn that you actually know how to extract useful information out of Google in a method more refined than random keyword searches, their estimation of you will rise. If…
The Shawshank Redemption and an example for the defense of libraries
Posted April 12, 2012 by fox32
The Shawshank Redemption is a fantastic film, we can move past that point. But when discussing libraries (and marketing) I often remember Andy Dufresne’s persistance in writing a letter a week to the state house asking for funds to buy more books and supplies. It is a crystal clear example of inserting yourself into the conversation that has to continue for public libraries to survive. Of course, once he gets a check and a few boxes of weeded books (after 6 years of writing) he doubles his efforts and writes two letters a week. Well played.