SLT Practicum
Posted February 10, 2012 by Maya Bery
It’s only a month into the new semester, but for those of us in the school library teacher (SLT) program, we’re already looking forward to August and September. Our wonderful advisor, Dr. Fran Zilonis, has already wrapped up meetings with all students planning to undertake a practicum experience in the fall to let us know about deadlines and offer advice in choosing a site. The practicum experience is the capstone of the SLT program, and is required by the Commonwealth for our teaching licenses upon graduation. Each SLTP student does two practicum experiences – one at the elementary level (k-5 or k-8), and one at the middle or high school level (6-8 or 9-12). There are two hundred hours of work required in total, which are done under the supervision of a licensed library teacher at dozens of schools across the greater Boston area (students who attend GSLIS West do their practicum experiences in western Massachusetts, generally). What this means is that the great scramble to find practicum sites has officially begun.
A look at an updated library symbol
Posted February 9, 2012 by fox32
Library design consultant Aaron Schmidt has designed this alternate symbol for libraries, rather than the currently used “lone reader” (which while simple and striking, does present a potentially negative, isolationist attitude). He notes, “Theres still room for solitary reading, sure. But theres more going on. There are people. Not only do we need to think of our institutions in these terms, we need to convince the public to think of us like this too. Otherwise, more libraries will turn into kiosks.” I like it. I had never clocked that the older symbol represented an L have to admit…
my archives internship
Posted February 2, 2012 by fox32
I recently had the opportunity to complete an 8 week internship in the William Munroe Special Collections that is housed downstairs in the Concord Free Public Library (left) in Concord, MA. Open to the public btw, but if you have an idea of what you are looking for I recommend you communicate in advance with the energetic and straight-talking curator Leslie Wilson. Quick note to the uninitiated; Concord and its residents were closely involved with pre- and post-American Revolutionary history (18thC), and was also a seat for the Transcendentalist movement of the 19thC (Thoreau, Emerson et al.), and much more. It is chockablock with history. Has history coming out of its ears…
Library School Dissection
Posted February 1, 2012 by Katie Olivo
It’s only the second week of classes and I feel like this semester is already flying by. I’ve been making tons of to-do lists and definitely checking them twice. Today, I can submit my choices for my sixty hour internship for LIS 438: Introduction to Archives. I’m pretty sure I’ve got it narrowed down to Beverly Historical Society, Sudbury Historical Society, and Walden. Hopefully, no matter where I end up, I get the chance to work with archival material and process at least one entire collection. Some of my friends that took the class last semester were less than pleased with their internship sites and I’ve made sure to do some basic research before submitting my decisions. With any luck, I won’t just be scanning documents or shredding paper the entire time, but interns certainly don’t always get the glorified jobs. Besides the internship excitement, I got to dissect a computer in technology class on Monday (LIS 488). It was awesome! I have to admit, I was slightly intimidated by all the wires and the…
New Bloggers and Posts On Their Way!
Posted January 27, 2012 by Katie Olivo
As you can see, besides Jason’s post last week, it’s been a little while since we’ve had some regular bloggers on here. Sorry for our lapse! But, I promise to bring you some new reading in the coming weeks. I thought I’d get things started for now, but rest assured, there will be new posts to read and topics to discuss on a regular basis! My name is Katie Sallade, and I started attending GSLIS in the fall. I’m enrolled in the Archives dual-degree program with History and Library Science. The transition has been great thus far, although it definitely was not the easiest move I’ve made in my life. I’m from Harrisburg, PA, so it took about seven hours to drive to Boston and then the unpacking and such began. But the hardest part was actually finding a place to live. I opted to live off-campus in the hopes of feeling less like an undergrad and more like an independent woman. I had a housing situation lined up and then one of the…
Scary times… scary times
Posted January 18, 2012 by homerj
Wikipedia will be taking down its English language site Wednesday 1/18/12 in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act. Read more about Wikipedia’s decision on PCWorld. Wikipedia joins Reddit and BoingBoing, who will also shut down on Wednesday in protest of the proposed legislation. The webmasters and founders of opponents to SOPA and PIPA agree that something needs to be done about internet piracy, but argue the bills in their current forms will enable the type censorship happening in Iran and China. Internet heavy-hitters such as Google, Facebook, Mozilla, Twitter, and Tumblr have also vocally opposed the legislation but none have committed to the blackout on Wednesday at this time. “If you want an Internet where human rights, free speech and the rule of law are not subordinated to the entertainment industry’s profits, I hope you’ll join us,” said Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing. Research Works Act: The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has introduced the “Research Works Act,” aimed at Open Access Policies that allows the public access to federally funded research. Under…
Notes from the field #3
Posted November 20, 2011 by homerj
Public v. Academic Libraries Right now I have two library jobs. One as a Research & Instruction Librarian in an academic library, and the other as a Adult Services Library Technician in a public library. I love them both and have yet to choose what kind of Librarian I want to be when I grow up. I thought I would share with you some of the reasons I stay at both and why I am still struggling to decide what kind of Librarian I want to be. Academic One of my favorite aspects of working in an academic library does not appear in every academic library. I love the challenge. I currently work in an academic library within a school that focuses on engineering. Everyday is a challenge and the students here push me further every day. One minute I will be helping a student search for patents on non electric breast pumps and the next I will be attempting to help a group of students who are working on flooding problems in Thailand. The…
Posted November 16, 2011 by homerj
A few months ago I posted about my favorite book trilogy The Hunger Games. (See the post here) They just released the trailer for the movie coming out March 23rd, 2012. I have never been so excited for a movie. (watch the trailer here) I plan on seeing this movie about 30 million times. I might camp out or rent a seat. May the odds be ever in your favor!
Notes from the Field #2
Posted November 16, 2011 by homerj
Part 2: Library Chat At my library we have a library chat function. (This is present at many academic libraries – even Simmons Library!) I love library chat. As I mentioned in my previous post, Notes from the Field #1, I try to keep the chat window unobstructed throughout the day because I like to respond as soon as possible. Even if I say “Be right with you I am helping another patron” I like the person on the other end to know I am a real person and I am at the computer. In my Reference and Social Informatics classes we discussed library chat. I was always a fan of chat because I grew up with AIM and I gchat and fbchat all the time while I am at home. Library chat is another way to reach out to patrons and seems effective on pulling in some of the more shy patrons. On some occasions the chat can lead to research consultations. (Those are sit down meetings between a librarian and either a single…
Notes from the Field #1
Posted September 18, 2011 by homerj
Part One: Reference Desk: Now that I talked about my job search I figured I would talk a bit about my job as a Research and Instruction Librarian I spend a significant amount of time at the Reference Desk, either as a direct contact or a backup. As the direct contact I sit at the reference desk and wait for questions. While I wait I am normally working on other projects such as LibGuides (I will be posting about LibGuides later) or other projects and planning) but I always try to look as warm and as available as possible. Because our reference desk is part of our larger information desk I often stop confused looking students and ask them if I can help them with something. It is important to be as welcoming as possible because many users are hesitant to ask questions. One of my favorite things about this Information Desk is the fact that the Reference desk section is lower more like a normal sized desk. The computer at this desk…