St. Patrick’s Day in Boston
Posted March 23, 2024 by Emma Hayden
One of the best parts of being in Boston during March is the city’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities, which took place this past weekend (March 17th)! Everyone gets into the holiday spirit, and people from all over the greater Boston area come into the city to celebrate. A highlight of the holiday weekend is a yearly visit from Irish rock band the Dropkick Murphys at MGM Fenway, and “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” can be heard in every neighborhood’s bars and pubs which are usually decked out in green decorations and Irish flags. While some like to get out of the city to avoid the crowds, I was really excited this year to see the annual South Boston St. Patrick’s Day/Evacuation Day parade. If you want to learn more about the parade’s history you can check out the website! As a dual degree student at Simmons, I am currently taking a public history course where we have been visiting and interacting with a lot of Boston’s history. Inspired by this class and conversations I have…
Archival Fieldwork for LIS 438
Posted March 22, 2024 by Clarabel Smith
For many Simmons MLIS students, LIS 438: Introduction to Archival Theory & Practice is a natural next step forward after completing their core classes, especially if they’re thinking of going into the Archives concentration. As someone who is currently in the Design Your Own concentration, I wanted to take LIS 438 to see whether the Archives track is for me, and in any case was interested in how archival practices compared to library and special collections. I was somewhat apprehensive of the field experience component of the class, even though I had been enjoying the concepts we’d been studying so far and I like to apply my learning in a hands-on way. I was worried that it would be more time than I was able to commit outside of class, and that I would be out of my depth in an environment where I didn’t know the people or the institution. However, halfway through the semester, field experience is my favorite part of my week. Field experience host sites are assigned with the help of…
Books about Librarians and Libraries!
Posted March 20, 2024 by Isabella Rodrigues
It’s not surprising that a great way to have a deeper understanding of library science is to read about it! Of course, many SLIS students will have read articles, research papers, and textbooks about information science, but I am going to list some “not-so-academic” fiction and nonfiction titles that will help you learn and also get you learning. Enjoy the odd cases and questions that come to Gina Sheridan’s circulation desk at her public library. These true short stories are a celebration of libraries and patrons as well as the quirks of working as a reference librarian. A deep dive into the more scientific side of libraries. When is it important for children to start reading on their own? What is the difference between reading on screens and reading on paper? How are libraries going to look in the future? Maryanne Wolf contemplates all this and more in her musings in this non-fiction work. Historians Andrew Pettegree and Arthur de Wedewen explore both the whimsical and dark past of libraries and their keepers. This book…
Spring Break: a Time to Relax?
Posted March 12, 2024 by Magenta Jasinski
Ahhh, spring break. The time when tired grad students are able to take some time off fromschool to decompress and relax. Right? Unfortunately, that isn’t the reality for most of us. Although no classes took place this past week (3/4-3/8), that doesn’t mean that we could just put our feet up and relax. With professors assigning hefty projects often due the day before classes start again (3/10), many are forced to put these assignments together in addition to going to work. If students opt to take time off of work and go on vacation (or a staycation) instead, like what myfellow Simmons student and partner and I did, there are additional logistics. Is it possible to finishthese projects before flying out, and can we afford to both not work for the whole week? Well,yes and no. I managed to finish my school projects and end up with products that I’m happywith, but I do feel a degree of guilt over RSVPing “no” to meetings and asking for extended workdeadlines. My partner, on the other hand,…
Transportation In Boston
Posted February 28, 2024 by Isabella Rodrigues
For what seems like the entirety of this spring semester, the MBTA has been out of commission. And the green line is out again until the second week of March after being worked on in January. Many people have asked me “does this always happen?” Yes and no. The train, most commonly, the infamous green line will be shut down almost every three months regularly. But, I have never seen two shutdowns this close to each other. In my time living here, I have had to anticipate these shutdowns. Fret not, while construction is annoying, there are still ways to move about the city without it. While the T gets a facelift, students and staff have had to find new methods of coming to campus. Of course, the easiest option for the down on their luck commuter is to have a friend with a car, having a classmate with a car can also prove useful. Talk to your peers to see if anyone is available for carpooling! While walking from Allston to Seaport might not…
Time Management at the End of Grad School
Posted February 19, 2024 by Regina Dziergas
This last semester is a particularly difficult one for graduating students, as we apply for post-graduate employment, work part time-jobs, and manage conferences/networking all while finishing up the last of our coursework at SLIS. After nearly four (!) years of being in grad school between my previous program and my current MLIS, I’ve managed to get a pretty good idea of how to create and stick to a set, effective schedule that works for me. Even so, during this semester it’s taken a lot of hard work to find the right balance! Here are a few tips on time-management that I can offer as someone who’s currently working and searching for long-term employment while still in school.
Conferences
Posted February 14, 2024 by Isabella Rodrigues
In the journey from academia to professionalism, library conferences can be an excellent tool for networking, updates about the industry, and job searching. Simmons holds memberships with many prestigious organizations such as the American Library Association, Massachusetts Library Association, and International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. A comprehensive list of these organizations can be found here. A great in to these places and the greater community of librarians nationwide and worldwide is by attending yearly conferences. Ask your professors or advisors about the conferences they attend! Ask other SLIS students! Here are some of the advertised conferences for this year! Many organizations are still updating and listing their dates so check in frequently for more information.
Starting the Post-Grad Job Search – LIS Listservs and Job Boards
Posted January 29, 2024 by Regina Dziergas
Hi Sharks, I hope you’ve had a great start to the spring semester! As I face my last semester and the end of my time in grad school, I thought I’d share some insight into the process of searching for post-grad work. Leaving graduate school for full-time work is a tough transition, and finding a job is the hardest part of that transition, but I’ve found a few resources that have made my search a lot easier. First, the SLIS Jobline is a lifesaver for finding positions that look to recruit SLIS students or alumni. The Jobline (https://slis-jobline.simmons.edu) accepts postings from organizations who send in their job listings hoping to recruit from our SLIS community, and provides postings from a wide variety of organizations spanning all of the degrees and concentrations offered at SLIS. Listservs like Jobline are great resources to access these postings without having to track them down from individual organizations’ websites, and it’s incredibly useful to have a Simmons-run career platform specifically concentrated on positions in libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, and…
Experience: Where to Start Looking for It
Posted January 24, 2024 by Isabella Rodrigues
I, like a lot of students new to the SLIS program, have been told time and time again of the importance of getting practical experience. During my first semester at Simmons, it seemed like every professor made a point to emphasize how vital internships and volunteering are, especially to those on the archives track. If you’re an overthinker like I am, you might be worried about where to start. Landing a perfect internship is always tricky. Here are some helpful tips for those searching for SLIS-related work experiences.
Life in Boston: Beginning of Spring Semester
Posted January 22, 2024 by Emma Hayden
Happy beginning of Spring semester! As I begin my 4th semester here at Simmons, I have really been reflecting on the past year and a half I have spent in Boston and everything I have learned both inside and outside of the classroom. Since moving from California I have had to adapt and learn the many parts that come with living on the East Coast, and I have to continue learning as I go! Recently a large portion of the Green Line trains have been down, which at first really freaked me out. I live close to the Green Line and use it to get almost everywhere in my life, so I was concerned with getting to work and the places I meet my friends regularly. Luckily for me, this has pushed me to become familiar with my local buses, which I had been nervous to use in the past because of their schedules. Now I can easily make it to everything I need to without having to use the Green Line so I will…