Living Grad School to the Fullest
Posted April 16, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
This post was inspired by a guest speaker we had in academic libraries – a recent SLIS West graduate that many of us knew. Marco is now a Reference & Collection Development Librarian and he gave a wonderful interactive presentation about his current job. I remember taking Collection Development with Marco and it was inspiring to see how he had made that his work and now he was behind the podium, teaching us with the very same material he had been learning just the previous year. Marco was full of confidence and enthusiasm, and it made me feel very encouraged about the value of our preparation at grad school. Observing Marco gave me something to strive toward: a vision of what I hope to achieve after graduation. Library school is a lot of work on its own: there are some weeks when all I can do is submit assignments on time and get myself to class in some semi-prepared fashion. But I’d like it to be more than that. I’d like this to be a…
Reflections
Posted April 13, 2018 by Josie Snow
My goodness, it is hard to believe it has been two months since my last post! The time went by in a blur. So much has happened, I went on a trip to Vermont for some cross-country skiing; Played in some snow from the many Nor’easters; Visited the Eric Carle Picture Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts; wrote paper after paper; took a whirlwind tour of Washington DC; and read more books than I ever thought possible. To top it all off, Winter is edging towards Spring (slowly…oh so slowly it seems, but getting closer every day!), and somehow, I am almost done with my first year in grad school. Wow, where do I even begin? Eric Carle Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts Simmons maintains a close relationship with the Eric Carle Museum of picture book art in Amherst, Mass. Some students take classes there. Curious to see the museum I ventured out there, Amherst is a very interesting place, it was once the home of Emily Dickenson and many other literary figures visited. I…
Updates
Posted April 11, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I cannot believe how quickly this semester has gone by! It’s already the second week of April, and I only have three weeks left in this semester. As I mentioned in my previous post, last week was Fall 2018 registration, and this fall I am taking LIS 488, which is Technology for Information Professionals. I’m not going to lie, I am a bit nervous about taking that class because while I am a child of the Internet, and I know my way around a number of technological devices, I do not know much about coding and programming. However, I have heard nothing but encouraging things about this class, and I am eager to learn new skills. In other news, I have officially decided to take a class this summer. I have signed up, and I have organized my schedule so that it will fit, and I am ready to go! I am taking LIS 415, which is Information Organization. Admittedly, I was hoping to actually make it to Main Campus for my next class, meet…
Comprehensive Reading List and Learning to Love Old Genres
Posted April 10, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
Are you an avid reader and stuck in a genre? I certainly was before I attended Simmons. I have my preferred genre’s and have difficulty convincing myself to read something different. Especially when it comes down to books I read for pleasure. In the Children’s Literature program, you will be reading a lot of books. I was so overwhelmed at the beginning of the semester, the few books I brought with me from Texas to read in my “spare” time sat on my little bookshelf collecting dust. Each week I had anywhere from two-five books to read. While these books are young adult books, some of them falling into my preferred genre, there were some I was not too excited for. It had been quite some time since I read anything outside of fantasy so when books like The Boxcar Children (a book I loved as a child), Little House in the Big Woods, or Happy Endings are All Alike showed up on our reading list, I was a bit apprehensive. However, as each week…
My Unexpected Library Class
Posted April 9, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
If you are like me, you’ll come to library school with some idea of what librarianship looks like and what subjects your course of study may include. I can tell you that there are plenty of courses that you might expect, such as subject cataloging, history of the book, collection development, and library programs and services. But you will also find courses that you might not expect, like usability and user experience, knowledge management, web development, and information visualization. The fact of the matter is, there will be more classes offered that you want to take than you can fit into your program. Library school is both too long and way too short. If you’re curious about Simmons’ course offerings, you can view the full course catalog here. Database management is one of those unexpected classes that I’m so excited to be taking. My interest in databases dates back to my internship at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and the day my staff sponsor asked me if I had any knowledge or experience with Microsoft…
Bookish Thoughts
Posted April 6, 2018 by Josie Snow
In mid-February my program hosted a live streaming of the ALA (American Library Association) Youth Media Award ceremony, we gathered together and had breakfast and cheered when books we recognized or loved were awarded. It was enjoyable and eye opening. What was interesting to me was that while I recognized some of the awards, like the Newberry and the Caldecott. I was amazed to discover that all told twenty awards are given out at this time, many of which I had never heard of. A few of the new-to-me awards are listed below: Pura Belpré Award, celebrating Latino/a writers or illustrators and Latino culture. The Odyssey Award, recognizing the best audiobook for children or young adults produced in English and available in the United States. The Schneider Family Book Award, honoring an author or illustrator for excellence in portraying disability experiences. The Stonewall Book Award, given to LGBTQA books in English with exceptional merit. To find out about some of the other awards, visit the ALA website The award event, and some of the discussions…
What I’m Reading Lately
Posted April 5, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
I haven’t put together a proper book list in quite some time, and I figure this is one of the best places to post such a thing. I’ll tell you a little bit about some of the books I’ve read so far this year…I’m about halfway to my goal of 30, which is exciting…, what I’m in the middle of, and what’s waiting for me! Stalking God by Anjali Kumar- I just finished this one a couple of days ago, so it’s still pretty present with me. I came across Kumar in a TED talk she gave that about made my heart burst, and when I found out that she wrote about her experiences in greater detail in this book, I had to get my hands on it. Kumar’s journey, self-described as unorthodox, is full of ups and downs and fascinating turns as she hunts for big answers about the meaning of life and a spiritual home for her young daughter. I applaud her for her bravery and for sharing her beautiful insights about what…
School and Stress
Posted April 4, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
I’m in the final push of my first semester of grad school. I just checked Moodle for my online class and I only have four weeks left. FOUR WEEKS. This semester has been so amazing, but unfortunately it is currently the most stressful part of the semester with readings, essays, online forums, and final projects being due soon. Add real-life interference and Fall 2018 class registration being this week and that leads to stress. Here are some things that I am doing to combat stress that may be useful in your life: Make a list: Making a list of everything that needs to be done and checking things off of it as those things get done actually can be very soothing because you can really see what has and has not been done. Walk: My mom has always stressed the power of walking, and how much good it can do for you, and I never actually believed her until I went to college, and I got stressed while writing a paper. I went on a…
An Apprehensive Baseball Fan
Posted April 3, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
Baseball Season is upon on. Opening games were just last week! I was never one to really watch baseball on television (so long!), but I did enjoy watching the World Series last year (ASTROS!). I do enjoy going to games because everything’s more fun in person in my opinion. Plus, it’s a chance to drink beer and partake in the food I usually would not. Hello junk food! I learned a bit about the game by watching the World Series, which I mean, the most elementary fundamentals of the game. Enough to watch, cheer, understand, but still feed my always curious brain so I can ask ridiculous questions most baseball fans will roll their eyes at. I don’t care because it’s a learning opportunity. Right? I have a feeling that this year things will change for me as a baseball fan. The Red Sox are literally just around the corner from us here at Simmons, and it’s across the street from my work, so I am expecting to be inundated with all things Sox this…
Librarian Advice
Posted April 2, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
Spring break has come and gone (while we’re still waiting for actual spring to arrive) which means we’re entering the second half of the semester. It’s amazing to me how different this semester has been from my last. In the fall I had the same number of classes and the same number of credits, but 20 hours a week was barely enough time to complete all the assignments and I struggled to keep up with the reading (I was also doing my 60-hour archives internship). This semester, 20 hours a week feels fairly sufficient, and my current two classes require lighter reading and fewer written assignments. Last Saturday we had one of our Day-in-the-Life lunchtime programs that could have been called “Personalized Advice from a Career Librarian.” It was awesome. These lunchtime events are one of the best things about SLIS West. There’s free food and the opportunity to mingle with classmates and librarians from around the area. Saturday’s speaker was Barbara Friedman, current part-time director of Erving Library with nearly fifty years of library…