Archive for the ‘slis’ Category

Why do I want to work with teenagers? This is the question I ask myself every so often as I continue to pursue my MLIS degree. At what point in my life did I decide I wanted to become a teen librarian? Is it only because I love to read YA lit? Is there more to it? As I participate in a young adult library services class this semester, I continue to examine the path that brought me to this program, and to my chosen career.

Of course, I love YA lit. I love all genres within YA lit, I enjoy the YA blogosphere, and I’ll read whatever I can get my hands on. But as I am slowly beginning to realize, that isn’t enough to be a teen librarian. Of course, I knew this, but as I learn about the developmental paths of teenagers, the programs and services that libraries offer them, and their general information wants and needs, I know that I have a lot to learn, and a lot of experiences to create, before I’ll be a great teen librarian.

I’m not worried about the future. I know working with teens won’t be easy, but I anticipate it will be rewarding. I’m learning what I need to know to build the foundation, and time and trial and hopefully few errors will get me to where I want to be. And I look forward to the teens I will work with, interact with, communicate with, and hopefully have an effect on in the future.

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. My life has been a crazy whirlwind this past month. I don’t even know where to begin! Work has been crazy, crazy, crazy. And I recently accepted a position as a graduate assistant for my school. So, I’ll be leaving my current place of employment in early January and embarking on this new, exciting journey. I can’t even describe how excited I am about this. I’ll be able to attend school full time, which means I will graduate sooner than expected, and be in my chosen career field sooner as well!

Next semester I’m taking a course in young adult library services, so you can be sure that I’ll be posting quite a few reviews/discussions on here. I should be beginning some of my books to read this week, so look for updates soon!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I am definitely looking forward to 2010!

I’ve finished my first semester of graduate school with great grades and awesome learning experiences. I’m very satisfied with the classes I took and what I’ve learned. I’m very happy to have succeeded in both despite time constraints with work and other stresses. I have a really good feel on the basics of this profession I’ve chosen to enter and can’t wait to take more courses that are further specialized for my specific interests. A few things I’ve learned thus far:

• Online courses are very different than what I thought and I feel that they take more time on the part of the student than an onsite class might, because of the online discussions and online lectures.
• I had no clue what was involved in cataloging, and now I realize just how complicated it is. Everything is very standardized–kudos to all cataloging librarians! This has given me some good insight into why you need a professional degree to be a librarian. It’s not easy!
• There are many different fields and organizations that a person with an MLIS can work in after graduation, including nontraditional library settings.
• The profession of library and information science is a passionate, dedicated group with people out there willing to share their knowledge and also gain more.

Can’t wait for my next semester next year!

I am approaching my 4th week of grad school and I can’t even believe it! I am still feeling just as excited about it as I was the first week. The past 2 weeks were very busy–I had a lot of reading and a lot of lectures to listen to. Now that the classes have begun, we’re now working on assignments and exercises, and of course, tons of discussions. I finally feel like I am beginning to grasp some of the more difficult concepts I have come across. It seems like in both my classes it is divided between those who work in libraries right now and those who do not. I don’t, and I do see a difference when others talk about their experiences in libraries.

I can’t say that the difference is causing me to suffer. I appreciate that the professors of all my classes understand that there are a lot of students that don’t work in libraries, and that these concepts are extremely new to us. The topics in my classes are explained well, and the exercises and lectures are relevant and fun.

So far, everything is going great and I’m loving it!

This past week was my first week as a graduate student of library and information science. I’m not exactly sure what to say about it just yet, as I am just getting my feet wet, but first I’d like to say I am SO EXCITED! I have been waiting for this all year and am so glad to finally be moving towards earning this professional degree.

Several weeks ago I attended new student orientation for my program with my friend and I was very pleased with everything that I heard. I am very thrilled to be beginning in this profession, and know that I will be learning a lot.

I am taking 2 courses this semester, both online. My first course is the introductory course for the program and the other is a course on the organization of information. I have to say, what I thought I knew about library science, and how much I thought I knew, will definitely be challenged this semester. Even after a week I am beginning to realize I know very little about what a librarian actually does. I am glad that I am taking it slowly with only 2 courses–I didn’t want to overwhelm myself right off the bat, especially with having been out of school for a few years.

Mainly, in these online courses, we do our readings from the textbooks and other sources, we listen to lectures that the professors post on the website, and then we discuss the topics on the online discussion boards. I’m glad I’m technologically-savvy, some of this has been quite complicated to figure out, but I have been doing well so far. I can’t wait to go into more depth in the classes–I haven’t felt this way about school in a long time!

Well, friends, I will keep you updated on that. Keep reading!