Guess what? It worked!
Posted November 13, 2013 by Julie Steenson
I am writing to share some good news. As the end of my degree program nears, I have started looking at jobs that require the MLIS. I have been fortunate to have worked in a public library and volunteered in a prison library while going to school, giving me lots of valuable paraprofessional experience. Having spent all this time and money, however, I felt it was time to look at moving on to an entry-level professional position. If you spend any time on the blogs or on LinkedIn, you don’t believe it is possible to take that degree and get a job, but guess what? The whole “go to school, get a professional degree and join the profession” plan works! As one of my last classes here at GSLIS, I am taking Literature for the Humanities. In this advanced reference class, my professor has been nothing but encouraging, so after one of his pep talks, I started looking at the advertisements for reference librarians. Most want the degree in hand, but I am so close,…
INALJ
Posted November 11, 2013 by Sarah Barton
A GSLIS graduate and former GSLIS Admissions blogger, James Fox, emailed me last week asking if I had used INALJ.com in my job search. Looking at the URL, at first I thought the site would display in another language, then assumed it contained a typo, and finally decided that it was one of those shortened URLs that you sometimes see in Tweets. Having come to that conclusion, I pasted it into my browser and hoped for the best. As it turns out, INALJ is an acronym for “I Need A Library Job,” and the site is pretty cool. It compiles job postings from across the United States and Canada (and even some internationally!), success stories of folks who have found library jobs, and links to general library-related blogs and articles. It serves as a virtual community for both employed and unemployed librarians – everybody wins! It is somewhat surprising that at some (very low) point in my job search I did not, in the midst of a frustrated stream of consciousness moment, type “i need…
Savor Your Time at GSLIS
Posted November 9, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
Are we there yet? I keep asking myself this question. When I started at GSLIS, I thought I would be at a great advantage over the full-time students. Here they were rushing through a very full and complex curriculum, while I would be plodding along, taking stock of my interests as I went. This, fundamentally is true. However, with both sides of the coin it seems I shall mix metaphors and say that the grass looks greener on their side! I want so much to be DONE. I have learned a great deal here and I’m enjoying my classes. But I’ve finished almost four semesters and the thought of three more is weighing me down. So, what’s the remedy here? Who can I turn to? In this case I turn to everyone and anyone who’s worked full-time and gone to graduate school at the same time. Most of the teachers at the high school I work at completely feel my pain. We sit over lunch and ask ourselves, “When does life get easier?” When we…
Bad Grade? No Big Deal
Posted November 8, 2013 by Emily Boyd
I’ve mentioned once or twice that advising and personal connections with professors was severely lacking from my undergraduate experience. Now in my third semester at GSLIS I’m still amazed by the dedication professors exhibit to each student. My professors not only want me to succeed at GSLIS, they are truly invested in making sure I come out of my time at Simmons with skills to thrive professionally. A couple weeks ago I wrote a literature review as part of a large assignment for my evaluation class. After we turned in our assignments, my professor, Mary Wilkins Jordan, explained to the class that things had not gone well and most of us would need to revise or entirely rewrite. She kindly told the class not to stress about grades, the goal is to learn how to write literature reviews and she offered to help us create literature reviews worth reading. With that heads up, I was not at all surprised to see that my literature review came back with a horrendous grade and I knew I…
Confessions of a New Employee
Posted November 4, 2013 by Sarah Barton
I started my new job last week, and have already encountered a handful of situations where I thought “I learned about this in one of my classes.” It has been encouraging to have that baseline knowledge, yet strange to be learning how to apply it in real life with real sources and real implications. I haven’t done anything of consequence yet – just some snooping around in a few databases and reading some internal instructional documents – but I feel like I’ve already learned a lot. GSLIS has given me a general knowledge foundation, and now my job will teach me the specifics. Starting a new job is always a challenge, whether it be adjusting to a new schedule, sitting through HR information sessions, interacting with new coworkers, learning new systems, having questions but not knowing who to ask, feeling anxious about all there is to learn, or figuring out appropriate arrival and departure times (I’m still a bit flummoxed by that one). Who knows how long it will be until I hit my stride…
Three Reasons Study Groups are Awesome
Posted November 3, 2013 by Jill Silverberg
Study groups are something that I used to avoid when I was an undergraduate student. Back then, I found them to be disorganized and extremely one-sided, with one person usually doing all the work. However, I’ve had a recent revelation regarding study groups: they are AWESOME. Perhaps its because I am now a mature graduate student or something, but the study group dynamic that I was used to seems to be a thing of the past. Indeed, I have found that having a study group is one of the wisest decisions I’ve made since starting at Simmons. As much as I would like to think that I am one of those students who can do it all on their own, I am not. With assignments that really challenge you to use everything you’ve learned in class and then some, its nice to have a group of people who are equally as confused as you are. It seems to create a nice sense of solidarity, if you catch my drift. So, to showcase how awesome and…
Rivalries
Posted November 2, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
This whole week has had me thinking about competition, about the deep-seeded rivalry that forms for no reason other than loyalty and pride. I mean, let’s face it, why do we get so worked up? Most students aren’t from Boston who go to school here, so why are there so many heated exchanges at the bar? I think back on the golden years of SNL with Rachel Dratch and Jimmy Fallon as the diehard Sox fans. So this week and last we saw governors placing food bank bets, the St. Louis Symphony and the BSO brassing off, and other such competitions in defense of their beloved teams. Back to Jimmy Fallon: No, you aaaah! No, you aaaaah!! Nomaaaah Garciapaaaaraaa!!! So, my question is this: if competition is healthy, and rivalry is about demonstrating loyalty and devotion then where’s the rivalry in libraries? Who are the Sharks and the Jets in the ALA? Is it YALSA versus AASL? That would be a fun librarian-off to watch. Ok, it would be a fun competition to watch for…
World Series Champs!
Posted November 1, 2013 by Emily Boyd
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days: THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!! One of the best things about living in Boston is the sports culture. People here are passionate about sports, and our teams are among the best (the best if you ask me!). Of all the Boston teams the Red Sox are my favorite, in fact, during the 2007 playoffs I camped out overnight outside of Fenway Park in order to get tickets! Needless to say, when the Sox won on Wednesday evening I was beyond thrilled. With everything the city has gone through this year it felt really wonderful to see everyone come together to celebrate a big win. In honor of my favorite sports event of the year here are some fun facts and historical tidbits about the Red Sox and historic Fenway Park: The first World Series took place in 1903 in Boston at a long gone ballpark on Huntington Avenue, today part of (my alma mater) Northeastern University’s campus. Opened in 1912,…
Get WISE
Posted October 31, 2013 by Julie Steenson
There has been a lot of blog talk lately about online classes. I have taken all three types of classes in my two years here at GSLIS – face-to-face, blended and online. My personal favorite is face-to-face although with a long commute, blended and online can be more convenient. I love the face-to-face interaction of my traditional classes, but a well-done online or blended class can be just as involved and highly interactive. (See my posts on Saving Kingston and my alternate reality class!) Any kind of long-distance learning requires one to tap into a different skillset and requires good time management and self-motivation. As all styles of learning have their benefits, which vary from individual to individual, I am a big fan of trying them all. I have taken classes on both the Boston and West (South Hadley) campuses, in-person and online. This semester (my last!), I have added the final GSLIS choice and am taking a class online through the WISE program at Syracuse University. WISE stands for Web-based Information Science Education. It…
Not a Group Work Groupie
Posted October 28, 2013 by Sarah Barton
Given my mostly virtual schedule this semester, I figured that group projects would be out of the question. How could I possibly work with a group when nearly all of my classes meet online? I didn’t choose online classes to avoid group work, but as someone who tends to work best alone, I was looking forward to doing solo assignments and projects. Plus, haven’t I already met my GSLIS group project quota? No and no. As it turns out, only three of my twelve GSLIS classes did not involve some sort of group assignment or project. (Two of those were reference courses, which makes sense, as reference is usually not a communal endeavor.) I am struggling to think of a job that does not involve working with other people, and have come to appreciate that this focus on group work is a necessary preparation for the real world. Group work can be easier, harder, more stressful, less stressful, more effective, or less effective than working alone. I have experienced each of those sentiments in the…