Losing It
Posted October 26, 2014 by Alison Mitchell
Well, I lost it. I thought I was doing a pretty great job at keeping it all together. School, kids, work, check. House, parents, in-laws, friends with issues, got it. Crazy scheduling? Husband travelling? Bring it on. Until I lost my notebook. My 415 notebook. My 415 notebook for the class taught by Candy Schwartz, the legendary SLIS professor. Not good. I think I lost the notebook sometime last Friday, when I met three classmates to work on a group project. My kids didn’t have school that day, so I brought them with me — and they were really well behaved, but still, I was a little distracted, trying to focus on the group work but also make sure my children didn’t wreak havoc in the Harvard Coop or Cambridge Public Library, the two places the group met. It seemed to go so well. But today, when I sat down to finish one of Candy’s never-ending-quite-challenging-yet-interesting assignments, I couldn’t find my notebook. I called the library and the Coop, and it wasn’t in lost and…
Small victories this week
Posted October 25, 2014 by Samantha Quiñon
Making an Important Decision I’m staying in the archives concentration after a little internal debate about whether or not to study something more general. I can’t do everything I may love, so I’ll do one thing I’m certain I love. I’m really passionate about people accessing and using archives, so I’ll find a way to do something with that. Having this decided brings me a little peace of mind, especially for selecting my Spring courses during registration next week. Getting a Flu Shot I got a free flu shot on a break between classes in the Main College Building near the Fens Café. I love how Simmons uses its students in nursing school to administer the vaccines. They get to practice their new skills, and everyone else gets to not be in agony this winter. It took literally three minutes from filling out a piece of paper to getting the vaccination in my left arm, which is still a little sore when I try to lift my backpack which weighs a ton. It’s like Hermione’s…
Want to spend more time writing this November?
Posted October 23, 2014 by Hayley Botnen
Many people who like to read also like to write. I definitely belong in this group. In fact, every November, I am one of those crazy people who participate in NaNoWriMo. What is NaNoWriMo you might be asking? NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It takes place every November, and it is when people decide to tackle their writing projects. Typically, NaNoWriMoers write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. That’s 1,667 words a day. Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t say typically. That’s usually what the goal word count is, but I, for one, have only met it once in the five years I’ve done it. 1,667 words a day doesn’t seem overly hard until you get behind a couple days. I’ll let you know how I do this year. Until then, if you’re interested in trying the challenge, head on over to Nanowrimo.org and get started. Let me know in the comments if you’re participating! I always love to have friends to spur me on towards the goal. All the Best – Hayley
BAHFest
Posted October 22, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
What do you think when you read the words, ‘Bad Ad Hoc Hypothesis Festival?’ If you think that the event is going to be as ridiculously fun as it sounds, then you are correct. Sponsored by the online comic strip “Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal” BAHFest is a celebration of science and how amazingly awesome it can be. The rules of the contest are simple: come up with an outlandish theory and then prove it with science. What makes BAHFest amazing is that even the most ridiculous theory is backed up with absolute science. All the data and formulas are real even if they are being applied to something crazy like trying to prove that smugness is hereditary. As someone who isn’t exactly amazing at science, I was worried that I would not be able to enjoy the presentations. However, all six presentations were hilarious, and different. The winner (I won’t spoil who) 100% deserved the 3D printed statue of Darwin looking doubtful. Although this is only the second year that BAHFest has been held, it was…
Head of the Charles
Posted October 21, 2014 by Gemma Doyle
I love fall here in New England. We’ve covered that topic pretty well, I think, but I don’t think I can really stress it enough, now that the foliage is changing in earnest and color is everywhere. I think I love it so much, and I appreciate it so much, because it’s nothing that I’m used to and it seems like a minor miracle to me every single year. So it was with actual, real shock that I heard someone on the radio talking about watching the boats on the Charles and how it was the only part of autumn in New England that she liked. Well. First of all I had no idea what she was even talking about, so I had to do some research. You know every movie that has ever been set in Boston, how there is at least one scene with crews doing their crew boat thing on the Charles? Apparently it’s a huge deal – and I never even expected that, because in all the time I’ve lived in…
The Librarians – Coming to a television near you!
Posted October 20, 2014 by Alexandra Bernson
Often librarians in pop culture are reduced to over-sexualized stereotypes in low tops and glasses, so I can’t help but be excited about librarian portrayals that don’t fall into this category. Throw in some corny fantasy and I am completely lost. Therefore, I feel compelled to tell you about “The Librarians” just in case you aren’t aware. First, let me promise that I am in no way employed or endorsed by TNT (though quick shout out to TNT: if you are looking for an archivist come May 2016, please let me know). I just completely love television, librarians, and librarians on television, and “The Librarians” looks like my next favorite mini-series. Last week, TNT released a trailer for their upcoming “The Librarians” mini-series. I was a little hesitant at first, as my memories of the one “Librarian” syndicated movie I saw was not great. The one moment that I do remember is Noah Wyle, the information professional in question, struggling to identify what indigenous language an Amazonian tribe was speaking in hopes of figuring out…
What Everyone Is Talking About
Posted October 18, 2014 by Samantha Quiñon
The schedule of Spring 2015 classes came out this week, and for a while, it was all anyone could talk about. I still walk through the halls and overhear conversations about it. Generally, people are excited or stressed about it. It’s exciting because we can look ahead and see ourselves moving forward in the program, but with all of our options at SLIS, that can simultaneously be a bit anxiety provoking. I’ve stayed really close with three other people with whom I had classes over the summer. We all started during that term and were all archives concentrators with the same SLIS academic advisor. Also, we were in class 12 hours a week together and worked collaboratively on many group projects, which is a good way to get to know one another. (Summer schedule is 6 hours a week for six weeks per class with a maximum of 6 total credits, instead of the usual 3 hours a week for 12-13 weeks per class with a maximum of 9 total credits.) Now, after two classes…
Explore
Posted October 16, 2014 by Hayley Botnen
This week has been fantastic for adventuring. October is drawing to a middle, but the weather is still lovely, and with having Monday off from school, I felt like this was a mini-break in the middle of a busy semester. So, of course, I did a little bit of exploring. This last Saturday, I went to Maine with my roommate. We wanted to see a few lighthouses, so we figured we’d take the scenic 1A highway up to Portland. According to GoogleMaps, Portland is usually just under 2 hours away by interstate. We figured it’d take us an extra half-hour to forty-five minutes. Ummmm. No. Being from Montana, we were still going by Montana highways, which while you will hit more towns by taking the highway, you do still have plenty of stretches going 65 mph. It tooks us four hours to get to Portland. It was a lovely drive, but we didn’t have much time to check out Portland while we were there. In fact, we pretty much walked up their Arts District street,…
#LibrariansReadComics
Posted October 13, 2014 by Alexandra Bernson
Ever since I picked up my first comic book, the possibility of one day visiting Comic Con was the goal. Middle School Alex would probably be rather disappointed in her current day counterpart with regard to my nerd cred: I didn’t keep up with anime, graphic novels, and superhero trivia and knowledge and I do not yet own an authentic Storm costume (though I did put together a pretty great replica using yellow duct tape and black exercise clothes). Several of my purist friends have complained that Comic Con is no longer only about comics, that “Hollywood took over” and “the con” has been spoiled. I can understand how these insertions could disappoint hardcore comics fans, but I was happy to learn that ALA is one of those sneaky non-comics booths that is now participating. The relationship between libraries and comics is an ever evolving one. The previously mentioned Middle School Alex would scour the one small graphic novel section of my public library for the next installment, which would almost never be available and…
“Bring Them Back”: How a Parody Helped Me Learn More About Disability
Posted October 12, 2014 by Alison Mitchell
I was going to write about how draining the last week was for me, but then I realized that no one wants to hear about the minutiae of my life, especially when the draining parts don’t actually have to do with library school. The library school part of last week was, as always, lovely. (What? You’re wondering why my week was so draining? blah blah mammogram blah blah unrelated health issue blah blah friend’s more serious health issue blah blah husband out of town for four days leaving me with kids and work and my school but not their school, thanks teacher-professional-day-weekend-Columbus Day blah blah. I’m in my 40s, with two kids, in graduate school — it’s going to be like this a lot, so I’d better get used to it.) Anyway. Since I spent the past week basically keeping my head above water, I’ll use this space to introduce you to one of my favorite librarians. I don’t actually know her in real life, but her blog is tremendous. She’s Mary Evelyn Smith, a…