Student Leadership
Posted March 15, 2019 by Peggy Hogan-Rao
It’s finally Friday! This week was a busy one, starting off on Sunday using Google Docs to be a part of a LISSA (Library and Information Science Student Association) officers meeting. Tuesday was a student leaders meeting, for all officers of the eleven library science student groups. After I got out of the student leaders meeting, I checked my phone to find five emails from my other SCIRRT (student chapter of International Relations Round Table) officers regarding an event we are planning. Wednesday was the most fun of all the meetings, since I got to attend a faculty meeting as a student faculty representative. From there, the week got easier. How did my week get so busy? Well, back in December, a fellow student posted on the SLIS current students Facebook group asking if anyone was interested in being a student faculty representative. I had no idea as part of this position I would be accepting a role as a LISSA officer, or what I would be doing in this role. But my…
Hello Peggy!
Posted March 13, 2019 by Lindsey Clarke
We are adding another new blogger. Everyone welcome Margaret “Peggy” Hogan-Rao to the team. Here is a Peggy’s Bio: Hi, I’m Peggy! I’m fairly new to the Boston area, so far I love it here. I started the Simmons LIS program in fall 2018, and moved to Boston a few weeks before classes started. Originally from the mountains of upstate NY, coming to Boston is a big change for me – getting used to the city life in Boston. I completed my undergrad degree in Media & Communication and English Writing at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY, few hours west of my hometown in Eastern New York. My dream job for after I finish the Simmons MLIS degree is to be a certified school library media specialist in a city school district, and a bestselling children’s author. You can find me most weekends exploring a new church or a cool independent bookshop in the Boston area. My hobbies include collecting more books than I can read, cuddling with cute dogs, visiting beautiful beaches,…
Breaktime
Posted March 12, 2019 by Amie Grosshans
Last week was Spring break. I didn’t go anywhere, because I still have a full-time job, but I was able to relax. Instead of coming home every day and doing schoolwork, I got to come home and read, or knit, or catch up on my tv. I still worked a bit on a group project, but I didn’t have to spend nearly as much time on that as I would my usual work. While it was really refreshing to have a break, I have to admit that I got a bit antsy after a few days. I’ve been so used to my study schedule that I feel a bit lost without it. A week was great, but I’m ready to get back into school mode. I have a lot to think about for the second half of the semester. I have a group project for my tech class that’s due next week, and then two projects due at the end of the semester: a group project for my info organization class and an individual project…
Developing and Managing Collection Development and Management
Posted March 11, 2019 by Katie Carlson
I, Katie Carlson, am a ‘microwave thinker.’ This idea was introduced to me by a professor at Mount Holyoke, and indicates that given a moment, I can always supply an idea. Put simply, my brain moves fast. (Sometimes too fast – especially when the goal is quality over quantity.) Microwave thinkers are placed in opposition to ‘slow cooker thinkers.’ These are people who need time to let their ideas marinate, especially before they feel comfortable sharing them with a group. A round table discussion can be torture for these ‘slow cookers,’ especially when the room is populated with ‘microwaves.’ While I originally responded negatively to being a ‘microwave’ — thinking of unevenly heated food with weird textures — my professor stressed that one brand of thinking is not better or worse than the other! We landed on the idea that in any educational setting, it’s important to plan activities and allow for opportunities that work well for both ‘slow cookers’ and ‘microwaves.’ The reason I bring up this ‘thinker’ dichotomy is that…
Putting It All Together
Posted March 7, 2019 by Megan Ondricek
These past few weeks have been about putting things together and wrapping up everything I’ve been learning into an actual product. At my internship, all my previous class work, observations, readings, and discussions have finally culminated in an actual teaching experience! I have now taught undergraduate freshmen and lived to tell the tale, haha! But really, my first teaching day went as well as I could have hoped. It was rigorous – three 75-minute classes in one day – but rewarding. I did not realize how unaccustomed I would be to talking and standing that much in one day! My very first class was a little wobbly and I couldn’t quite shake the nerves, but my second two felt much more natural. By the last one I wasn’t even looking at my outline or checking the clock. Whew! I am relieved to have the first day over with so that I never have to be teaching for the very first time again. In my metadata class we are working on an assignment that involves several…
Spring Break!
Posted March 6, 2019 by Sarah Callanan
It is Spring Break everyone! Does it feel like Spring Break to you? It certainly does not feel like Spring Break to me. We are not having Spring Break-esque weather with the snow and the freezing cold and everything. Last year for Spring Break I participated in the SLIS Alternative Spring Break program at Papercut Zine Library, but this year I have to work so sadly I am unable to participate this time around. This year they are working with The History Project, The Prison Book Program, 826 Boston, and Papercut Zine Library. I had a great time last year and I learned a lot, and volunteering is a great way to give back to the community while also gaining valuable experience! Also, last year I had recently moved to the area and it was a great way for me to meet new people. The Alternative Spring Break program is an excellent way to get involved at Simmons, to give back to the community, and to gain experience. This year for Spring Break, as I…
Tongue-Twisting Terminology
Posted March 5, 2019 by Amie Grosshans
When I tell people that I’m in school to become a librarian, they are immediately curious and ask what my classes are like. I usually give the same response: “Classes are awesome! But there’s a lot of…terminology.” I know ellipses are overused nowadays, but I can’t think of another way to represent the long, slightly awkward pause in which I scrunch up my face, look off into space and try to find the best way to describe my classes. It’s difficult because my classes are very broad. Both LIS 415: Information Organization, and LIS 488: Technology for Information Professionals are required classes, and they are meant to introduce students to concepts and standards that will be used later on in our classes and careers. They’re not meant to make us experts in any one area, but to be a starting point on our journey. So, we go through a lot of topics in a relatively short period of time. There are different types of information in each class. For Info Organization, it’s all about the…
Enjoying the Journey
Posted February 28, 2019 by Megan Ondricek
As the semester goes on I continue to feel very pleased with the way that it has turned out. Taking that two-week preservation course at the very beginning was the best thing I could have done. I enjoyed the topic more than I thought I would, and it left me with just one class to worry about for the rest of the semester! It does feel a little strange to not be driving up to South Hadley every Saturday, but I am thrilled to have my weekends back and to spend them with my family. It is a good thing too, because the weekly class schedule for metadata makes all the assignments and discussions due on Monday – which means I’m pretty busy over the weekend. Fortunately my internship makes up for the missed classroom interaction and sociality I enjoyed up at SLIS West. On Thursday I got to observe Matt, the senior instruction librarian, teach the class that I’ll be teaching next week! The lesson plan, activities, presentation and materials are already provided for…
Never Thought I’d See One of Those in an Archive…
Posted February 27, 2019 by Maria Reilova
I am now approaching my 5th week of interning at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design Archives and it could not be more of a perfect fit! After graduating with my MSLIS, my dream is to work as an art librarian, so you can imagine my excitement with my placement at this institution! To further sweeten the deal, MassArt is right next to Simmons and my supervisor is a Simmons alum! So easy it is an easy commute and I love hearing about her experience while she was in the program. Just as a quick recap in case anyone isn’t too familiar with how the LIS438 internship works, you are required to complete a 60 hour internship in conjunction with your regular course assignments. The great thing about this internship is that Simmons set it up for you so there is none of that application stress and decision fatigue. I should point out though that the one downside to that is you don’t have any say in where you get placed. You fill out…
Searching for the Unknown
Posted February 26, 2019 by Amie Grosshans
We are taught early on how to search for information in a library. You search by author, title, or subject, and find what you need. But the reality is, it’s not always easy to find exactly what you want unless you have a good idea of what you are looking for. In LIS 415, Information Organization, we completed an assignment where we searched for the word “grey” as author, keyword, and title. Predictably, the results were numerous and varied, as “grey” is a fairly common word that can be a name or a color. That assignment gave me a lot to think about. I use the library a lot, both for school and for myself. Most of the time I have an author or title in mind when I’m searching, or at least a subject that can narrow down my search. But how do I search when I don’t know what I want? And more importantly, do I ever search for the unknown? All these questions came up because of my trip to the Needham…