A Whirlwind of Activity
Posted October 17, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
Oh my goodness the past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity! So many things have happened! I flew to North Carolina to be a bridesmaid in a good friend’s wedding, which was very exciting. I have been to several weddings, especially in the past year, but I’ve never actually participated in one, so it was a new experience for me. I was so thrilled for the couple, I’ve known the bride for ten years and she is one of my best friends, and it was my first time back to North Carolina since I’ve started at Simmons. I completely forgot how hot it is in October in North Carolina! It was about 90 degrees and extremely humid every single day I was there. Additionally, while I was at the wedding, I met someone who was considering pursuing their Master’s in Library and Information Science. It’s really funny, at the past three weddings I’ve been to, I’ve either met someone who has gone to Simmons SLIS, someone who works in the LIS field, or…
Starting Strong and Staying Strong
Posted October 16, 2018 by Maria Reilova
A little over a month into my first semester of grad school and, oh boy, what a whirlwind! From really nailing down my commute in from Brighton, (never thought I’d be team bus over T) to learning how to layer (someone please teach how to scarf) so as not to over heat during said commute, these past weeks have been quite the experience. But enough about my struggles over the weather, let’s talk classes. For my first semester, I chose to take the 3 core courses to get them out of the way before the snow hits too hard and I lose all motivation to leave my bed. This means that I’m enrolled in 407-Information Sources & Services, 415-Information Organization, and 488-Technology for Information Professionals. I was warned by my advisor before the semester that this course load would be tough with a lot of reading and a lot of assignments. Personally, I always feel more energetic and refreshed Fall semester since it’s a new school year and you’re coming off from ideally a relaxing…
Learning about Learning (or rather, metalearning)
Posted October 11, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I saw a mug in the bathroom at Mt. Holyoke on Saturday that said: “Anything you can do we can do meta” and I’ve been chuckling to myself ever since. You see, the prefix “meta-” is something I hadn’t really encountered before I came to library school and now I can’t seem to get away from it. Librarians love it (and we aren’t the only ones). I’m going to do you a solid today and tell you what meta means and then make up some words with it just for fun. The Google dictionary defines meta as “denoting something of a higher or second-order kind” but I actually like this one from Urban Dictionary better: “Meta means about the thing itself. It’s seeing the thing from a higher perspective instead of from within the thing, like being self-aware.” The example you’ll encounter most frequently in library school is metadata, which is essentially data about data. Right now in User Instruction we’ve been reading about metacognition, which is thinking about your own thinking. And since this…
Adding to the Team
Posted October 9, 2018 by Lindsey Clarke
Hello everyone! We’d like to introduce our second new student blogger –Maria Reilvoa! Here is her bio. Stay tuned for her first post…coming soon! Welcome Maria! Hello! My name Maria, I was born and raised in a small beach town on the east coast of Florida a little over an hour away from Orlando and yes we would take field trips to Disney growing up (also to Medieval Times, which is a personal favorite, it’s basically a year-round Renaissance festival-Huzzah!). But I am trading in hurricanes for nor’easters and ready to brave the winter wearing ever article of clothing I own! I am currently in my first semester at Simmons studying for my LIS degree with a concentration in cultural heritage informatics. My educational background is in Arts Administration and I love all things historical! Which is one of the reasons I wanted to attend Simmons in Boston. I’m eager to start exploring all the fun history Boston has to offer as well as all the great sights and eats (pastries from the north end,…
The Real Numbers for Moving to Boston
Posted October 5, 2018 by Katie Carlson
104 days to panic between graduation and move in 5 inquiries sent to potential roommates//landlords 4 rejections (some last minute) 1 perfect fit 10 pages of the world’s longest packing list — organized by room, and including a physical description of purchased objects 294.8 miles between home and home 2.0 1,000,000 anxious thoughts 2 red minivans packed to the brim, seats all folded down 4 hours and 58 minutes << the anticipated drive time 9 hours and 4 minutes << the actual drive time 1 crucial Dunkin’ stop 1 high school friend I duped into riding to Boston with me (thanks Alex!!!) 1 lovely girlfriend of the high school friend I duped into riding to Boston with me >> who also happens to be a Boston local 1 rolled IKEA queen size mattress 3 sets of too small bed sheets, purchased in a confused panic 1 set of sheets that actually FIT the bed 1 amazing past and future roommate, flying in from Kentucky 1 committed and supremely organized mother 2 air mattresses, 1 sleeping…
On Teaching
Posted October 4, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
It is always with a slight swell of pride that I tell people my dad is a college English professor. I’m not completely sure why; perhaps it’s because I see it as a noble profession. There’s also the fact that he followed his passion into his field and I think that’s what makes him so good at it. I’ve always wanted to emulate him in following my own passions, but I didn’t necessarily think that would mean teaching. Now that my mom has her master’s in teaching perhaps I should be wondering if teaching is in my blood. This semester with User Instruction I feel like I’m finally learning something about the “family business.” It may all be in the context of information literacy, but we’re still learning basic principles of instructional design, pedagogy, reflective practice, outcomes assessment, and learning theories. We’re also practicing our speaking and presenting skills. It’s something you might not have expected to find at library school but it has broad and exciting applications. On Saturday we had an assignment to…
A Fall Outing
Posted October 3, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I went on a wonderful fall outing this past week! Ever since I moved to Massachusetts I’ve been working on trying to explore the area more. I research things to do and places to visit online, I ask classmates and colleagues where to go, and sometimes I just stumble across places as I go about my day. One thing that several people told me was that I couldn’t go through a fall in New England without a trip to an apple orchard. I’ve noticed that there is an abundance of apple orchards near where I live, and it feels like there are far more here than there were North Carolina. This past week, I decided to take the advice that was given to me and I visited an apple orchard with my family. We went to Tougas Family Farm in Northborough, MA. At the farm it is currently apple and pumpkin picking season. During other times of the year, you can pick other kinds of fruit such as strawberries (early June to early July), cherries…
Welcome to a New Blogger!
Posted October 1, 2018 by Lindsey Clarke
Hello everyone! We’d like to introduce one of our two new student bloggers — Katie Carlson! Please read a little about her below. You will see her first post very soon! Welcome Katie! My name is Katie Carlson, and I live in Brighton, with my best friend from undergrad. We loving refer to our apartment as the Bachelorette Pad, and spend our evenings cooking elaborate meals and watching 60 Minutes. While my zip code reads Brighton, my heart resides in New Jersey, where I spent the first 18 years of my life. I attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA for undergrad, and received my degree in English and Art History. Seven sisters all the way! I stumbled into the field of library science after my childhood best friend suggested I apply for an internship at our hometown’s public library. Never had I ever looked forward to going into work every day — until work was a library. I knew I had to do whatever it took to keep being that happy, so here…
So Much Critical Thinking
Posted September 28, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I was quite at a loss over what I should write for this week’s blog post, so I decided to write about something that seems to be emerging as a common thread throughout my classes and even my personal life this semester and that is… critical thinking. Bear with me. I realize that the notion of “critical thinking” ought to be familiar to anyone who’s been through any kind of formal education. I’ve literally spent years of my life looking at syllabi and assignments with “critical thinking” written all over them. Probably every teacher I’ve ever had has said something about critical thinking at some point, but I honestly don’t know if any of them ever sat me down and told me exactly what it was, or how I was supposed to “think critically.” As if it was something that I was expected to just pick up as a result of participating in class and doing assignments. (Apologies to any of my former teachers who are reading this thinking, “I definitely told her what critical…
Surprising Myself and Time Management
Posted September 26, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
The third week of my fall class (LIS 488: Technology for Information Professionals) just started, and things are going much better than I thought they would. I’ve mentioned several times before how nervous I was for this class because of how technology focused it is, but things have been going really well so far. I’ve really stepped up my time management skills and have devoted at least two hours a night to working on the material for this class, whether it be the readings, lectures, note-taking, labs, or other assignments. A part of the reason why I’ve been doing this is because I learned from the accelerated nature of the class I took this summer, and because of my overall apprehensiveness regarding the material for the class. Due to the way I’ve been managing my time for this class I’ve been finishing my weekly labs well in advance of the due date. However, this week we’re starting HTML, so I’m a bit nervous, but I’m hoping that I’ll continue to surprise myself with my technology…