A Glimpse of Summer
Posted June 28, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
I had almost forgotten about the feeling of that sweet exhale summer break brings until now. I don’t know if what I’m doing 100% qualifies as a “break” since I am working a lot and still managing to keep my schedule quite full, but it is nice to be doing all of those things without having to worry about homework and readings for a few months! In terms of work, I’m still filling in as a senior substitute at the Somerville Public Library. I love it for…well, many reasons. 1) SPL is an awesome place and you should come visit us, okay? Okay. 2) We’ve got three branches, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work in various roles at each of them. Plus, I have amazing co-workers who have been so helpful and supportive. A little circulation here, some reference desk there, and my personal favorite–the children’s room. I got to do an impromptu preschool story time a couple of weeks ago and it was only a little scary, but mostly a lot of fun…
Of Classes and Museum Passes
Posted June 27, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
Oh my gosh the past few weeks have been so busy! My class officially started last week and it’s been a wild ride! It’s been all good so far. There are a lot of opportunities for group discussion in this class (even more than my last class), so I don’t feel like I’m missing the student interaction part of an in-person class at all! Admittedly, it is all behind a screen and in a forum, but still. The summer class is a bit intense though. We’re fitting 14 weeks’ worth of material into an 8-week class, which is a bit daunting. But so far everything has been great, and the material is really interesting! On a more fun-related note, I’ve finally gotten around to doing some more sightseeing! I went into Boston to go to the Museum of Science with my family. When my dad was a child, he had a book with a Van de Graaff generator in it, and he’s wanted to see one in person for a long time, so that’s what…
Our Neighbors at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Posted June 26, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
Hi guys! This week I took the opportunity, as a fairly new resident to the Boston area, to explore our neighbors at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I have heard a lot about this museum and have been itching to get over. First things first, Simmons students get in free! I was prepared to pay the much-discounted student price of $5, but the lovely girl at the desk said no fee with my student ID! I believe this is true for the Museum of Fine Arts which is nearby as well. It’s a gorgeous building and was Gardner’s home as well. She traveled the world looking for fine art, collected it, and brought it back to Boston to display in her house. She picked where each piece went so it is unique in that way and unlike any museum I have been to. Her pieces are amazing. I often found myself wondering how they shipped some of the pieces over to Boston. Now for the juicy part. This museum is home of many works of…
Back in the Saddle!
Posted June 25, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
Hoo-boy it’s been a wild week! Summer has officially started. My online class has officially started. I spent two days at Hershey Park with my family, two nights at a remote cabin getaway with my husband, and have somewhat settled into the new summer routine at my folks’ house in Virginia. Everyone is healthy and things are going really well. My online class is off to a great start with the usual virtual introductions and the first forum discussion. I didn’t realize it before, but this summer class has only seven weeks and each week encompasses two “modules.” So I guess I should expect it to be more intense than a typical semester-long class? This is my second online class and as with the first, it will be a lot of reading and writing. The way I see it, the extra reading makes up for the lack of classroom lecture time and the extra writing fills in for the lack of classroom discussion. There are pros and cons to online courses that I hope I’ll…
Some Thoughts on Cars and Parking Permits
Posted June 15, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
Hello, people of the world! I’d like to pass along some practical advice about what it’s like to bring your out of state car to Massachusetts, because there are a number of things I’ve had to learn the hard way since I did just that a couple of weeks ago. First off, there are a number of cities in the Greater Boston Area that will require you to have a street parking permit if you aren’t lucky enough to land in a place with a driveway or garage. Know that you have been blessed by the parking gods if such fortune falls upon your head. And since the spaces in the lot behind my apartment complex were already filled up, I was in need of such a permit. I made a big, fat assumption that since I was a grad student living here temporarily, I’d still be able to get some kind of permit. Oh, I was wrong. So very wrong. It turns out that when you’re living here and have your vehicle here, you’re…
Pondering the Future
Posted June 13, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
So, readers, my little summer break is almost over. My new class starts next week (LIS 415: Information Organization). As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, it’s an online class again and I’m excited to start. I am a little bit ambivalent about the shorter timeframe, but I’m really excited about the topic and I’ve already started in on the reading. Over the past few weeks I’ve been pondering my future a lot. Currently, I’m doing the Archives Management concentration within the MS in Library and Information Science program. Even though I’m near the beginning of the program and am still taking my core classes, I can’t help but wonder whether or not the Archives Management track is right for me and if I should instead be doing the design-your-own option. I’ve been doing a lot of informal networking lately, and through my discussions with other librarians I’ve started to think about what I really want to do with my life once I graduate from Simmons, and if archives will play a role in that. …
Books and Adaptations
Posted June 12, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
Hello again! I am back in Boston as of late last night (early this morning) and they weather is gorgeous. I read many great books while abroad including a thriller/mystery series. My sister-in-law had obtained a collection of books from the UK author Ann Cleves. These books are great mystery books and the Vera series has been made into a television series in the UK (which we can watch here in the States on Hulu). These series remind me of Agatha Christie series with Hercule Poirot. Great for summer time beach reading of you’re into that sort of thing. Reading these books got me thinking about books that have been adapted into television and movies. I feel that most popular books have now been adapted into a film or television series. Often, people only know about the adaptation before learning that it was a book first (with the exception of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games). The Divergent series, The Maze Runner series, The Book Thief, and Riverdale as well as Lemony Snicket as Netflix…
The Summer Interlude
Posted June 11, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
Well readers, I was right – my enthusiasm for school seems to be dutifully returning now that I’ve had a sufficient break. My online class, LIS456: Records Management, starts in a week and I am looking forward to it. As a bonus, the instructor put the entire course up on Moodle way ahead of time and encouraged us to start the readings and lectures early – if we so desired. I am very pleased that he did this and it makes a lot of sense for an online, asynchronous, self-directed class. Our professor has acknowledged that folks may have trips and other things going on during the summer and has given us the capability to manage our time and plan accordingly – increasing our chances for success in the course. Thank you, Professor Wood! As it so happens, my family will be embarking on our first big trip of the summer the very week that class starts. I’ll be spending the first day of class at Hershey Park, PA. Woo hoo! I have mixed feelings…
Summer Reading
Posted May 31, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
It’s time for another book list! Here’s what I’m currently diving into, and one more that I’m planning to pick up from the library ASAP. Needful Things by Stephen King- I haven’t read a good scary book in a while. Well, that’s not true. I did read The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani, which thoroughly unsettled me. I would not suggest that one if you are a mother looking to hire childcare anytime soon. The kind of scary I’m talking about is the supernatural horror variety, and King is my go to author for that particular brand. I’m only a few pages in, and once again he’s taken me right into the small-town life and happenings of Castle Rock, Maine. He has this enchanting way of writing characters, dialogue, and setting that transports me inside of the story. It’s fantastic, and it also guarantees that I’m going to be frightened at least a few times. I can’t wait 🙂 Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert- Yes, I’m reading this one again. I think it’s going to…
Local Discoveries
Posted May 30, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I’m not going to lie, I’ve kind of failed on the planned adventuring. As I said last time in my post, I was planning on discovering more of Massachusetts on the weekends, and I was going to plan out my trips, and report back. I had a great adventure planned to write about, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. I initially planned to go into Boston and meet up with my sister (to see her for the first time in five months!) and I had a list of places to go, things to do, where to eat; however, I was unaware that first, the MBTA is doing construction on the Commuter Rail that I take on the weekends and that has messed with the schedule, and second, that Boston Calling was this past weekend, so I did not end up going to Boston. However, I have made some discoveries about Massachusetts in my own neck of the woods. For example, the wildlife. So, as someone who is not from New England, I have had encounters with…