Falling Down and Getting Up
Posted September 17, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
Yesterday, I fell off a ladder. This wasn’t some deep metaphorical ladder, but rather the type that one climbs when one is shelving books.This wasn’t my first time falling off a ladder or step stool while trying to either shelve books or pull them down, and it probably won’t be the last time either. After all, couldn’t you argue that life is filled with moments like this; moments when you fall down and moments when you get back up. The other day while I was working at the Student Service Center’s desk on the 2nd floor of the Palace Road building, a new student came by looking for information about the archives program. They wanted to know what I thought of the program, was it a good place to be if they were still a bit unsure about where exactly they wanted to go with their degree? Was I enjoying the dual degree program or did I regret adding the second Masters? And finally, what can they do to make sure that whenever they graduate…
Careers for MLIS Grads
Posted September 16, 2014 by Gemma Doyle
Most people who attend a Master’s in Library and Information Science program want to work at a library or archive when they finish. The degree tends to be centered on those types of repositories, but there are also other research-oriented jobs that an M.S. can be excellent preparation for, especially in the current job market. Here are a few different career tracks that I’ve seen advertised in the Boston area recently: Prospect Research involves finding potential donors for non-profit organizations. It can involve a lot of internet and database research, determining not just who is likely to want to give to an organization but also what their donation capacity is. Because prospect researchers are employed by different types and sizes of organizations, the pay and actual job can vary widely. I’m going to be doing a prospect research internship this fall, so I’ll probably end up writing a couple of blog entries about what it’s actually like to do this type of work. Rights and Permissions Research involves doing internet research to identify and locate…
A Day in the Life
Posted September 15, 2014 by Alexandra Bernson
As a first semester MLIS student, I would be the first to tell you that I don’t have much experience with archival work. Aside from volunteering in public libraries and a brief stint as a shelver in college, my only real exposure to archives was researching the Theatre and Performing Arts special collection at my undergrad’s university archives. I had the opportunity to hold a Shakespeare First Folio and other amazing artifacts, and got a little spoiled when it came to the joys of archival discovery. When I volunteered to work several hours at the Brookline Historical Society for the REPS Day of Service 2014 this past Saturday, I didn’t know what to expect. Google Maps brought me to a little old house with a white picket fence, but thankfully the curators found me lurking in the backyard before I convinced myself that I was trespassing on a private residence. In a small room in the back of what I learned was the historic Edward Devotion House, I was assigned two boxes from a new…
The Balancing Act Begins!
Posted September 14, 2014 by Alison Mitchell
Well, my first full week of school is over, and my two biggest accomplishments were getting a student discount (10% at Tags!) and making my kids do my homework. Kidding. Kind of. Going back to school at age 41, with a husband and kids and part-time work, is, in some ways, just like going to school at any age. I puzzle over how long it will take me to get to school from our home in Somerville (almost an hour!), where to get my ID (the campus card office), what kind of notebooks to use, whether I needed a snack during a 3-hour class (yes!). There are some major differences, too. Before I leave for class, I make lunches for my kids and get them ready for school. I check my phone during breaks to make sure the school hasn’t called. I drag myself to book club one night, and we talk about our parents’ health problems (probably not what my 20-something classmates are discussing over dinner). I balance my freelance work and shifts at…
Dissecting Computers
Posted September 13, 2014 by Samantha Quiñon
I blog and I’m in library school, so sometimes people think I know a lot about computers. While I can understand why they would make this assumption, to be perfectly honest, technology really intimidates me. This goes back to a when I was in the second grade and my family got a new peripheral device and remote control for our cable television. There were so many colorful buttons! I started pushing away at them, trying to find the guide channel. As result, the TV froze and would not turn back on. It took two days to get someone from the cable company to reset everything, and by the time it was all over, I had a fear of touching expensive machines and always tried to get other people to handle technology for me. My first personal computer? My boyfriend set it up. My first iPod? My brother put all of my music on it and on every iPod I’ve owned since. When I moved away from home for the first time? My boyfriend at the…
Grad School Year Two: Bring it On!
Posted September 12, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
I’d like to start this blog post by first welcoming back my fellow returning grad students and by welcoming those starting their first year in SLIS! I have a good feeling that this semester is going to be a good one, and I wish the same to all of you. Since the last time I posted something here, I’ve made the move from Brighton to Roxbury Crossing. Not only am I now living with other students from SLIS and the Children’s Literature program, but I am also within fifteen minutes from school. Essentially, I will be at Simmons a lot this year, either at the library, at the Student Services Center desk, or in the tech lab. I even purchased an awesome blanket from the Simmons Bookstore to keep me warm while inside the Palace Road Building. Still deciding if bringing a blanket to class would be a bit too much. What do you think? Beyond the above, I’m sort of ashamed to admit this but, the reality that my second year of grad had…
Dressing for the Interview: Feel Unstoppable, Be Unstoppable
Posted September 11, 2014 by L. Kelly Fitzpatrick
You got the interview – high fives all around. Applying and interviewing for jobs is without doubt a big part eventually becoming the unstoppable librarian, archivist, or information scientist you have set your sights on. After scheduling an interview, you’re prepared, you’re qualified, but there’s another secret level to securing that job that can produce undue stress and unease the day of – what to wear. It’s a couple hours until your interview and you’re amid a hellscape of button down shirts and khakis trying to piece together a puzzle which will somehow reveal the perfect interview outfit. The interview that might get you the job. You’re interviewing for a job that you see as an important step on your path to becoming an unstoppable librarian, archivist, or information scientist, right? If you want to be unstoppable, feel unstoppable. Sitting down with your interviewer, it’s easy to become unsure of yourself, and wearing something which will make you feel more confident during the process can make a huge difference. Equip the threads which will remind…
Ahts Festival
Posted September 9, 2014 by Gemma Doyle
One thing I love about Boston is the amazing diversity and frequency of the festivals and events that happen in the city throughout the year. This is especially good if you’re new to town and aren’t quite sure what to do with yourself – I know I spent my first fall here learning the city by going to harvest festivals in neighborhoods all over the place, and it’s how I learned the T/commuter rail routes. Fall may be the best time, the quintessential New England time, really, but summer is a busy time for festivals, too, and it’s hard to go more than a few blocks in the city without stumbling on tents and music and food trucks. This happened to me Labor Day weekend, when I went into Boston mostly to visit the Institute of Contemporary Art but also just to poke around Haymarket and enjoy my last free weekend before classes started. The Ahts Festival is proof that no matter what anyone tells you about not being able to hear the accent you’ve…
From the Harrowing Heights of Pizzacliffe: Naming Your Living Space
Posted September 3, 2014 by L. Kelly Fitzpatrick
Something that we’ve learned from literary classics is that all great living spaces hold even greater names. Moving onto a graduate program, there is no doubt that you’ll be spending a fair deal of time in your new living space between completing all those assignments, scheduling classes, and entertaining the occasional guest. When moving into a new city and onto a new campus, going the extra mile to make that dorm feel closer to home and exude you-ness can make all the difference. One thing is clear – your dorm needs a name. But what goes into a dorm name? Well, that depends on what flavor you anticipate your dorm having as you move through SLIS. Depending upon your anticipated trajectory, your dorm name could follow any of the following examples, such as: Pizzacliffe Citationview Napcrest Endnotewalk Moving into a new dorm or apartment with the start of a new semester, it’s likely that you already have a lot of thinking and preparation to take care of. But with a brand-new living space you’ve purposefully…
Five Inspirational Librarians from Film and TV
Posted August 25, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
Since the unfortunate passing of Robin Williams, I’ve come to realize how many of his films in the 1990s defined my childhood. Films like Aladdin, Ms. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Ferngully, Hook, and countless others have and will always hold a special place in my heart. However, in my efforts to both remember Robin Williams for the comedic genius that he was as well as to take a trip down nostalgia way, I got lost somewhere along the way, and what started as a Robin Williams movie marathon turned into an all out nostalgia binge. I’m not exactly sure when I came up with this week’s blog post (the last one of the summer if you can believe it?) but its timing could not be any better. What started off as a quest to remember my first real comedic role model slowly morphed into a re-discovery of other characters that inspired me while growing up. And since I’m currently enrolled in a graduate program for library and information science, I thought it would be cool to compile…