How a Hungry Floridian Feeds Herself without Publix
Posted July 23, 2019 by Maria Reilova
Now as someone born and raised in Florida, I have very strong opinions on which supermarket is the best. Publix is the greatest gift that Florida has given to the Southeast and I will always make whoever picks me up from the airport come with a chicken tender pub sub in one hand, and a Publix arnold palmer in the other. So as nearly a cult member to the religion that is Publix, moving up to New England and not having access to my pub subs and near endless BOGO deals was honestly quite worrisome. But don’t fret fellow Floridians, or any folks who care to read my crazed musings about grocery shopping, I have taken it upon myself to visit the nearest grocery stores to me and let y’all in on all my crazy thoughts and opinions. I’ll not go to in depth since this is one of those weird topics that I could talk about for hours, but honestly I feel like this is helpful information for fellow foodies moving to the Boston area from…
Adventures in Reference
Posted July 16, 2019 by Amie Grosshans
It’s week 5 and I still haven’t gotten the hang of how fast summer courses go by. Including this week, there are only three weeks left in the semester. *takes a few deep, calming breaths.* How did that happen? Basically, because all I’ve been focusing on is my schoolwork and how to get everything done on time without cramming. I’ve been keeping a very regular study schedule so that I don’t get behind. When I get home from work, I eat, then do school work, and on the weekends, I spend a lot of time finishing up projects. There really is no time to procrastinate or take a break, and the time has gone by in a blur. But, I am loving both of my classes and have learned a ton already. I’m particularly enjoying LIS 407, Information Sources and Services. It’s all about reference services–basically, teaching us how to search more efficiently and effectively. We’ve learned many searching strategies, including how to combine those techniques to broaden or narrow our results, and how to…
Baby’s First ALA
Posted July 15, 2019 by Katie Carlson
A few weeks ago I took part in a librarian rite of passage, and made my way down to Washington D.C. for the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition. As a grad student on a tight budget (especially a full time grad student living in Boston), attending conferences can be expensive. That is why I was extra thankful that LISSA offers Professional Development Reimbursement at Simmons! More information on PDR funds can be found here, but essentially LISSA will reimburse students for up to $250 incurred by engaging in LIS-related professional development activities. My $250 went directly towards my ALA experience, including covering a good chunk of the gas I purchased making the 879 mile journey from Boston to Washington, D.C. and back. This ALA trip truly was brought to you by a giant cooler filled with sandwiches, a 15 hour long playlist, PDR funds, and lots of iced coffee! As you probably know by now, one of my jobs is working as a SLIS Admission Student Ambassador. This meant I also manned the Simmons booth…
The Dog Days of Summer
Posted July 11, 2019 by Sarah Callanan
It’s Week 4 of LIS 404! Oh, my goodness, this class has been keeping me on my toes! As I’ve said before, this class is a lot shorter than a regular semester class, but we’re doing the same amount of work, which is a little bit intense! There’s a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time, so each week there’s an abundance of readings to be completed, notes to go over, and lectures to watch. I know that theoretically it is same amount of work as a regular semester class just in an accelerated timeframe, but between this class and my summer class last year, I feel that there is a lot more reading in summer classes than there is during the semester. However, this could just be because of the timing- maybe I just don’t notice the amount of reading as much because it is more spaced out during the regular semester classes? These past two weeks have been more ‘participation’ weeks rather than ‘assignment’ weeks, with us participating more…
To All the Bookstores I Ever Loved
Posted July 8, 2019 by Maria Reilova
Now that summer has officially started, I am finding myself with something I almost never have, extra free time! I am interning full-time this summer so I am still busy throughout the day but it is so nice to be able to leave my work at the office and come home and not have to worry about catching up on my assignments or readings for class. So obviously, my conclusion for how to occupy all this new free time is that I can finally start catching up on all my leisure reading. This also means I have to make a trip to my favorite bookstore because you can never have too many books. I live pretty close to Brookline, and Coolidge Corner has always been one of my favorite areas to take a stroll and hang out when the weather is nice. The Trader Joe’s is there, a great tea shop, a yoga studio (I keep saying I will take a class at one of these weekends), and best of all Brookline Booksmith, (a used…
The Summer Semester Has Begun!
Posted June 27, 2019 by Sarah Callanan
The summer semester has begun! This summer I am taking one class, LIS 404: Principles of Management. Summer classes at SLIS are shorter in length than normal semester classes, but have the same amount of work. My class this summer is only seven weeks long. You may have noticed in Amie’s post that she is also taking LIS 404, and we are both in the same online class section, so that’s exciting! The really good thing about this class is that all of the course content is available, so we truly can move at our own pace. There are due dates of course, but if I want to see what assignments are coming up, or work ahead, I have the option to do so. For my summer course last year, there was a lot of “locked” course content, everyone had to move at the same pace. I understand the logic behind that, but with the shortened time frame and so many things being due each week, I really appreciate being able to know what is…
Back at It
Posted June 25, 2019 by Amie Grosshans
Summer break #1 is over. It was nice to have a few weeks off, even though I was lazy and didn’t do a lot of the things I meant to do. But I got to relax, which is great because I don’t think I’m going to relax again until the end of summer term. I’m taking two classes, LIS 407: Information Sources and Services, and LIS 404: Principles of Management. Each week of a summer course is equivalent to two weeks of a fall or spring course, so there is a lot of work. I was expecting this, but I was still shocked when I saw the syllabus for each class. There is a ton of reading. A TON. It’s pretty intimidating. I am going to have to be super organized to fit in all the reading and the assignments each week. I know I can do it, but I’m probably going to be miserable the whole time. Having said this, I managed to make it…
SLIS Tavern Night
Posted June 17, 2019 by Katie Carlson
Our amazing end of the year event for SLIS took place at a Tavern Night hosted at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum! Each one of the actors stayed so perfectly in character that when Paul Revere told me to follow him for the “baby shower,” I was frazzled and felt the need to clarify that we were library students here for a tavern night! It quickly became apparent that the “shower” was just a cover for our booze-filled gathering, which was illegal by 1773 standards. I rubbed elbows with John Hancock and his Aunt Lydia, Dorothy Quincy, Samuel Adams, and several other relevant Bostonians. Each actor was believably living in 1773, and kept throwing various “easter eggs” that were particularly funny if you’re well versed in history! I grew up attending Renaissance Fairs, was a “theatre kid” in high school, minored in Art History in college, and have two history-loving parents, so this was quite my cup of tea (pun intended)! As a budding information professional I was ALSO very impressed that the…
Guest Blog Post – MLA Conference Experience – Professional Development
Posted June 13, 2019 by Lindsey Clarke
Hi Everyone! We are lucky enough to have a fabulous guest post from one of our current students in the program — Kerri MacLaury. Kerri was kind enough to share with us her input on the recent MLA conference she attended. I hope you enjoy this exciting guest post! One of the reasons why I chose to attend Simmons University’s School of Library and Information Science program was its support of students’ professional development. Every fiscal year, each SLIS student, courtesy of the Library and Information Science Student Association, receives $250 which they can put toward various professional development activities. Funds can be used to be reimbursed for professional association dues, workshop or conference fees, and travel and lodging expenses. This year I considered using my funds to pay for American Library Association, New England Library Association (NELA), and Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) membership dues, but ultimately decided to use the funds to attend the MLA conference. I made that decision because I know that I will remain in Massachusetts at the conclusion of my…
Summer Reading
Posted June 12, 2019 by Sarah Callanan
Summer Reading Summer is here! My summer class (LIS 404: Principles of Management) doesn’t start up until next week, but the course materials are online, so I’ve been trying to get head start by looking at the readings and seeing what my assignments are. I remember how busy last summer was as summer classes at SLIS are shorter than actual semester-long classes (my summer class this time is only seven weeks long). Even though I’m looking ahead to my summer class, I’ve been enjoying my last few days of summer break by reading and relaxing. I’ve been reflecting on what I used to do during summer break when I was a child. One of my favorite activities was the summer reading program at our public library. I was a voracious reader as a child (I still am–not an uncommon trait for someone in the SLIS program), and I not only did the summer reading program at the library, but also at all of our local bookstores. One of the reasons why I’ve been thinking about…