Daily Musings: Twelve Years a Slave
Posted October 27, 2013 by Jill Silverberg
As a big fan of historical dramas, be it a novel, a play or a film, when I first heard about the film 12 Years a Slave, I knew it would be a film worth seeing. Well, I just got out of the theater and I have to say, I made the right choice. Set during the mid 1800s, the film depicts the experiences of a kidnapped free black man, Solomon Northup, and his struggle to both survive and return to his family. Based off the book with the same name, the story perfectly captures the attitudes that were prevalent towards slavery during this point in American history. I won’t give away any details other than the fact that director, Steve McQueen, did an excellent job with casting for the film. Actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, Paul Dano, Michael Fassbender, and Benedict Cumberbatch are all outstanding in their respective roles. You feel differently for each of the characters that these actors represent, emotions ranging from pure sympathy to absolute disgust. I haven’t had the chance to read the source…
I Dream of FRBR
Posted October 26, 2013 by Maggie Davidov
Have you ever gotten down and dirty with the people who put the numbers on books at your library? You know, those call number people who keep to themselves and in the words of Ron Burgundy, “have many leather-bound books.” I assumed with the aid of the World Wide Web, cataloging and classifying would be a cinch. Sadly, I was very wrong and those catalogers that sit in the back room of the library should be revered as Gods who walk among mere mortals. The organization of the data associated with things like books, DVDs, periodicals, and all the other fabulous stuff we house in our hallowed halls can take many forms. And get this: the experts in our field cannot agree on the best way to do it! It is said that the best kind of classes are the ones that make you question many things. All I’m questioning is why organization has to be so difficult. I could talk to you about Dublin Core (not from Ireland, but Ohio), MARC, AACR2, RDA, and…
Notes from the Field #1
Posted October 24, 2013 by Maya Bery
It’s now six weeks into the school year here in Massachusetts, and I am happy to say that I love my job. It’s wonderful. The community is supportive and values the library, my colleagues are welcoming and helpful, and I’m so lucky to have ended up in such a lovely place. I’m at an especially interesting vantage point, because many of the people who were in the GSLIS program with me when I began have now entered their second and third years of teaching, and they all seem to be thriving: enjoying their jobs, contributing to their school communities, and generally being exemplars of the graduates of the Simmons GSLIS SLTP program. It’s also six weeks into the start of the Instructional Technology Licensure program (ITL), the two-year, entirely web-based course for post-master’s candidates pursuing additional licensure in instructional technology. We’ve discussed learning styles, how to foster collaboration, and are now moving into our study of Web 2.0 technologies and their applications in education. What I value about this course is that it encourages us…
The Reference Desk
Posted October 23, 2013 by Julie Steenson
My professor in Literature for the Humanities also happens to be a reference librarian at a large university. He offered each of the students in my class an opportunity to shadow him for a day. I never pass up such great learning opportunities. My “typical” day had varied experiences, including a Library Instruction class and a meeting with a new faculty member to discuss how the library could support his research and students, but my favorite part of the day was our shift on the reference desk. It was an exceptionally busy day at the reference desk, with both walk-ups and email chat questions, and so my professor just looked at me and told me to go to it. Huh? Me? I appreciated the vote of confidence so without a missing a beat, I jumped right in to be a reference librarian, alongside my professor. Here I was in an unfamiliar library, suddenly helping a student with an obscure search related to the reproductive systems of pigs and cows. Yep, former history major turned librarian…
Online Classes : To Overthink or to Not Overthink, That is the Question
Posted October 22, 2013 by Carolyn Lucas
Despite the fact that I have been the Facilitator for the Archives Management Cohort Online for almost a year and a half now, I personally have never taken a class online. I have taken face-to-face classes for almost 20 years, but had my first online class experience happened last Monday when my Management class was held online for Columbus Day. We had a fairly “traditional” online class, which required several hours sitting in front of the computer reading through articles, and then watching powerpoints, reading lectures, and participating in discussion activities – a fairly typical week in the life of an online class. I cannot speak for the other students, but I for one quite enjoyed the structure of the online class. It was laid back and didn’t require an hour’s travel to and from school (if you live around the Boston area, you’re familiar with the “reliability” of the green line…), but it was difficult to motivate myself. While we normally have classes on Monday afternoons, I found myself starting the readings on Monday…
Mastering the Master Plan
Posted October 21, 2013 by Sarah Barton
It happened. I got a job. My master plan – starting my job search in September, taking one class online and one blended night class for maximum schedule flexibility, and continually using this forum to express my job-related anxieties in hopes that someone would sense my urgency and offer me a position – came together last Tuesday when I was offered a job offer doing prospect research at Boston University. I will not be in a traditional library setting, but this is the type of research-oriented, special library/information center position that I have been interested in since I took the Corporate Libraries course in May 2012. I start on the 28th, so I will have about six weeks of overlap until my classes end in mid-December, but the scheduling could not have turned out much better. I gave two weeks notice at my internship and part-time job, which means that this and last week involve finishing up with those while simultaneously reveling in the glory of having mastered my master plan. Thus far, my glorious…
Baking Fun!
Posted October 19, 2013 by Jill Silverberg
If you haven’t noticed, we are already more than halfway through pumpkin month! It is kind of hard to believe that October is nearly over, meaning that I’ve already been a student at Simmons for two months. Time certainly flies when one is busy at work with their studies. But between learning about MARC, RDA, AACR2, and how to create a finding aid, one needs a little time to unwind. Well, considering that I love to bake and it is almost Halloween, I decided to take some time off between writing papers and MARC to try my hand at something new. Whoopie pies are something that I have known about for a long time but have never had an opportunity to make. Well, this past week I decided to take a break and try something new. Well, the whoopies pies I ended up baking turned out to be not only phenomenal but super easy to make. So the next time you feel like taking a study break, give this recipe a try. The results are…
That Time Already?
Posted October 18, 2013 by Emily Boyd
It’s hard to believe, but yes, this week I chose my courses for the spring semester! My new classes don’t start for nearly three months but I’m sure that will go by in the blink of an eye. I did not sign up for any online courses but who knows if that will change in the coming months. While looking through past course evaluations to determine which professor might be the best for the dreaded and difficult LIS 415 Information Organization, aka Cataloging, I got some great advice from the all knowing Student Services Manager Richard Gates. Prior to Wednesday I had never interacted with Richard other than reading his many emails providing students with crucial information about course registration and events on campus. He is such a wealth of knowledge and I gladly accepted his advice about potential courses and professors. Once again I was reminded how different my graduate school experience has been compared with my undergraduate. At Simmons it seems like there is always someone available to help, from advisors to professors…
Entry-level Expectancies
Posted October 14, 2013 by Sarah Barton
I spent some time with my brother on Sunday afternoon, and we were talking about school, jobs, life, and all that fun stuff. My brother just turned 22 and will graduate college in May. He must be living the life, right? One and a half more semesters of partying, hanging out with friends, partying, sleeping in, and partying. I can assure you that he has the partying part covered, but what is creeping closer and closer to the forefront of his mind is getting a job. Ugh…total buzz kill. The good news is that my brother is way ahead of where I was at this point during my senior year of college. He acknowledged that he isn’t sure what he wants to do, and said he’s having a hard time finding “entry-level” positions. (My response: Do those even exist anymore?) Compare that to when I was 22 and about to graduate college: I was positive that I wanted to go into publishing, and getting a job would be no problem. I could not have been…
Course Registration Jitters
Posted October 13, 2013 by Jill Silverberg
So it seems that it is already that time of the year again, that magical time when we the students are asked to pick our next round of classes for the following semester. During my undergrad years, course registration went something like this: at the end of October, the course list would be released and we would have about two or three weeks to figure out which courses we wanted to take. At Simmons, this process is a wee bit different. In the course of this upcoming week, not only will the official spring semester course list be released, but by Friday, I’ll officially be registered for the spring semester. Talk about covering a lot of ground in just five days! Although I, like my peers, do not know which courses will be offered this spring, I am thankful that I was able to sit down with my advisor to discuss registration. Fortunately, since I am still only in my first year, I still need to complete LIS 407. One class down, two to go. To…