It has been way too long since my last post to really catch up with what has happened. Basically this past semester was overwhelming -- far more overwhelming than I expected.
Volunteering at the special library has been going well except they are having financial difficulties and had to lay off a number of the staff. I have been helping out as best I can but the whole thing is frustrating. I am not sure how an institution that supports a college and a museum thinks closing the conservation lab and the archive is a good idea. Ugh!
I have also begun looking for librarian positions, I figure in this economy the earlier I start looking for a job the better the chance that I will have a new job near graduation in May. I am casting a wide net, looking at public and academic library positions as well as archives. This is furthering my belief that I was right when choosing classes that created an overall education rather than specializing in one type of librarianship. The whole thing is making me nervous, I was not planning on the economy to completely collapse...really not part of the plan.
I am definitely ready to be done with the library school part of this, I don't think two more classes are going to make me any more of a librarian than I am already. On the bright side one of my classes is an online course and the other is a weekend class so I am only on campus for about six days this semester. Which is good because if the snow these past few weeks is any indication it is going to be a bad winter.
Showing posts with label schedule. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schedule. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
New Class and Fall Registration
This weekend I began my last summer class. This one is entirely devoted to serials and the consistent inconsistencies about them. The class meets all day on Saturday as well as Tuesday and Thursday evenings but is over in three weeks. It is an intense few weeks but I am kind of looking forward to it. Originally it was one of the only classes that was still open when I registered but now it is relevant to my volunteer work since I have begun cataloging bound and fragile periodicals. However there are some things about the class I do not like: we spent the first Saturday defining serials and that took the entire class time, and there is not only a final paper/presentation but a final exam as well.
I will be registering for fall semester in about a week. This has caused some anxiety because the archiving classes are only offered in the fall and I will have a hard time getting into them. One of the classes that I very desperately want to take has a prerequisite that is also only offered in the fall which makes things very difficult. I am sure that if I could register for both at the same time it would be alright except the prerequisite conflicts with another class I desperately want to take. A conversation with my advisor is the best course of action. The part that really irritates me is that if I were in the School Library Media concentration I would be able to take the classes I miss in the fall in the following spring. I really can't wait until the following fall to take these classes, I need to graduate in the spring.
I will be registering for fall semester in about a week. This has caused some anxiety because the archiving classes are only offered in the fall and I will have a hard time getting into them. One of the classes that I very desperately want to take has a prerequisite that is also only offered in the fall which makes things very difficult. I am sure that if I could register for both at the same time it would be alright except the prerequisite conflicts with another class I desperately want to take. A conversation with my advisor is the best course of action. The part that really irritates me is that if I were in the School Library Media concentration I would be able to take the classes I miss in the fall in the following spring. I really can't wait until the following fall to take these classes, I need to graduate in the spring.
Monday, March 3, 2008
No Time
No time seems to be my new catchphrase. I had class this weekend and between that, my Thursday class and the laundry room in my building closing at 10pm I did not have time to do my laundry. This led to me doing it at work. This isn't necessarily a problem but it was a bit weird. It caused my employer to remind me that I can take some time off work if I need to. I have vacation days that I have not as of yet used but I always feel guilty about using them. I haven't even used a sick day, even when the wee redhead gave me a cold. So I am taking a few days around my birthday and the Monday after my next weekend class. This should help me from going too crazy.
This weekend wasn't actually all that bad. Like the previous class weekend we had a presentation due at the end of the second day and a paper due in a few weeks. My group did a presentation on the Luxeuil Abbey and the Luxeuil miniscule that they created which can be seen here http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/luxeuil.htm
My group and I tried to recreate the script and the illuminations used as best as possible. Part of the presentation was do to a mock page of text to try to better understand the life of a scribe.
I don't know if I understood the life of the scribe that well but on Sunday night my neck and shoulders hurt so bad from the tension due to writing that I couldn't sleep.
I also introduced the others in my group to Google docs and to Refworks. Since we are all writing the paper together and because there aren't really clear divisions of the topics it makes sense to write it together in Google docs. This way we can all share the information as we go. Hopefully this will also make editing the parts together a bit more streamlined. Refworks is a really great tool when doing a bibliography, it will format it once the sources are entered into the program. You can also put websites into it by using RefGrab-It. This makes paper writing so much easier, it even does the in text citations.
I was very lucky to have Garrett's help this weekend. He encouraged me to enjoy the art project that I was assigned (even though I paid thousands of dollars for this class only to be assigned an ART PROJECT!). And even better he took Miso (the cat) for the weekend so that I would have uninterrupted rest. Most nights I get kept up until late hours because she decides to randomly bite my arm or she wakes me at 5am with her call of the wild moments that last for about an hour. Although it was very nice to have her back Sunday night, she fell asleep next to me by about 10:30 and stayed that way most of the night. I think I was missed.
Technically this week is spring break but next Tuesday I have a presentation to give about a library visit for my management class. I spoke to the library director today and will visit the library tomorrow evening. There is also a corresponding paper due the week after the presentation and a midterm take home exam for my cataloging class. Combine this with the paper for my early books and manuscripts class so I don't really have a Spring break at all.
I am debating my decision to take three classes next fall. This has been a very busy semester however part of the difficulty have been that these are the last of my required classes and the added problem of snowy commutes. I hope that taking classes that I want to take and in weather more conducive to commuting I should be ok. I think I will register for three but drop one if need be.
This weekend wasn't actually all that bad. Like the previous class weekend we had a presentation due at the end of the second day and a paper due in a few weeks. My group did a presentation on the Luxeuil Abbey and the Luxeuil miniscule that they created which can be seen here http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/luxeuil.htm
My group and I tried to recreate the script and the illuminations used as best as possible. Part of the presentation was do to a mock page of text to try to better understand the life of a scribe.
I don't know if I understood the life of the scribe that well but on Sunday night my neck and shoulders hurt so bad from the tension due to writing that I couldn't sleep.
I also introduced the others in my group to Google docs and to Refworks. Since we are all writing the paper together and because there aren't really clear divisions of the topics it makes sense to write it together in Google docs. This way we can all share the information as we go. Hopefully this will also make editing the parts together a bit more streamlined. Refworks is a really great tool when doing a bibliography, it will format it once the sources are entered into the program. You can also put websites into it by using RefGrab-It. This makes paper writing so much easier, it even does the in text citations.
I was very lucky to have Garrett's help this weekend. He encouraged me to enjoy the art project that I was assigned (even though I paid thousands of dollars for this class only to be assigned an ART PROJECT!). And even better he took Miso (the cat) for the weekend so that I would have uninterrupted rest. Most nights I get kept up until late hours because she decides to randomly bite my arm or she wakes me at 5am with her call of the wild moments that last for about an hour. Although it was very nice to have her back Sunday night, she fell asleep next to me by about 10:30 and stayed that way most of the night. I think I was missed.
Technically this week is spring break but next Tuesday I have a presentation to give about a library visit for my management class. I spoke to the library director today and will visit the library tomorrow evening. There is also a corresponding paper due the week after the presentation and a midterm take home exam for my cataloging class. Combine this with the paper for my early books and manuscripts class so I don't really have a Spring break at all.
I am debating my decision to take three classes next fall. This has been a very busy semester however part of the difficulty have been that these are the last of my required classes and the added problem of snowy commutes. I hope that taking classes that I want to take and in weather more conducive to commuting I should be ok. I think I will register for three but drop one if need be.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Early Books and Manuscripts
This weekend I started my Early Books and Manuscripts class. Overall I am really enjoying it, during undergrad I never had a chance to take a Medieval History class and that is essentially what this class, at least this weekend was.
The workload isn't too bad, for each of the three sessions we have a 10 page group paper and the majority of the reading has already been done. Most of the groups are three people, unfortunately someone dropped the class so my group is only two, which makes the part of the paper I am writing longer. Next session we switch groups so hopefully I will be in a group of three.
My only criticism of the class is that we are only focusing on Medieval Europe, I wish we would cover non-Europe texts, I would love to learn about Middle Eastern and Asian texts. I don't believe the school offers a class like that. But to be honest I didn't expect to have a more global coverage.
This is my first non-required class and I am so glad that I finally got to take one this semester. Taking a third class does add a lot of work but this is the only class that is truly enjoyable and should help make the other classes a little easier to take.
Volunteering is also going well. I was able to go in on Friday since I had the day off work. I got some work done and met more of the library staff. They all seem pleased that I am there, although there were moments when I wished they would leave me to my work and stop asking questions, but they were just being friendly. I am looking forward to going back on Sunday when it is quiet. Out of all of my responsibilities this is the one thing I am enjoying the most, sadly it is the one thing that I can only do occasionally and will be the first thing to cut if I don't have the time.
The workload isn't too bad, for each of the three sessions we have a 10 page group paper and the majority of the reading has already been done. Most of the groups are three people, unfortunately someone dropped the class so my group is only two, which makes the part of the paper I am writing longer. Next session we switch groups so hopefully I will be in a group of three.
My only criticism of the class is that we are only focusing on Medieval Europe, I wish we would cover non-Europe texts, I would love to learn about Middle Eastern and Asian texts. I don't believe the school offers a class like that. But to be honest I didn't expect to have a more global coverage.
This is my first non-required class and I am so glad that I finally got to take one this semester. Taking a third class does add a lot of work but this is the only class that is truly enjoyable and should help make the other classes a little easier to take.
Volunteering is also going well. I was able to go in on Friday since I had the day off work. I got some work done and met more of the library staff. They all seem pleased that I am there, although there were moments when I wished they would leave me to my work and stop asking questions, but they were just being friendly. I am looking forward to going back on Sunday when it is quiet. Out of all of my responsibilities this is the one thing I am enjoying the most, sadly it is the one thing that I can only do occasionally and will be the first thing to cut if I don't have the time.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Getting Close
I am getting close to the end of my first semester. I have less than two months left and the last session of my weekend class is this coming weekend. I will still have assignments due for that class but at least I won't have to go anymore.
I started looking at next semester's schedule. Looks like I will be taking Cataloging and Management during the week and taking another weekend class possibly History of the Printed Word or Preservation/Conservation. It depends on what I can get into.
I am still heavily bored in my Intro class but luckily I found a comrade who is equally bored and appreciates my sarcastic comments. This makes things much easier.
I started looking at next semester's schedule. Looks like I will be taking Cataloging and Management during the week and taking another weekend class possibly History of the Printed Word or Preservation/Conservation. It depends on what I can get into.
I am still heavily bored in my Intro class but luckily I found a comrade who is equally bored and appreciates my sarcastic comments. This makes things much easier.
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