Thursday, January 19, 2012

Musings of a Grad Student: Final Semester in Library and Information Science!


It is my last semester as a graduate student! I’ve been to each class once and they all look interesting. 

Here are descriptions of my classes:

  • Search and Discovery: A required course, it covers online information sources like subscription databases. We’ll also cover info-seeking behavior, the reference interview and types of searching structures found online. 
    • Interesting Assignment: Client Based Final Project in which I will identify a real-life client with an information need. I will produce an annotated bibliography of resources for this client.

  • Topics in Book Studies: Creating Library Content: Digital or physical, library materials are diverse. How did they get to the library? How did they get written/coded/filmed, why, and who publishes these materials and why? How do different medias work together and influence the creation of other materials? 
    • Interesting Assignment: Topic-Specific Contributions. Each week I will discuss how my chosen topic (an aspect of children’s lit that I haven’t nailed down yet) interacts with the publishing model under investigation that day.

  • Children’s Literature II: Reading Gender in Children's and Young Adult Literature: Oh, my, I am excited for this class! Most of the books are geared towards children with a few that overlap into middle grade YA. I’ll be posting about my reads for this class so watch for those reviews! 
    • Interesting Assignment: Bookstore/Library Visitation and Field Notes. I’ll be spying on a children’s library department while my colleagues check out a book store children’s department for an hour observing workers, shoppers, displays and the general layout.


It is fast approaching, the wave. The crest grows higher as the base swells. Soon I will lose sight of the sky. Will it swamp me this wave? Will I drown? Will I ride up and over the crest, breaking through the foam and soar into empty air? Am I ready to fall, splash and start rowing? Yes. Yes, I am. Four months to May!

7 comments:

  1. yay how fun! i wish i had thought to blog during my library school years. great idea!

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  2. Thanks, Pam! It's been great comparing with others what they did in library school and how things have changed or stayed the same.

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  3. I'm jealous! Sounds like good classes. Enjoy every minute. I miss it - but working is exciting too. I wish you well - let me know if I can help with anything.

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  4. Thanks, Cindy! I plan to have a good time and will definitely let you know if I need ideas for anything. I'm glad your job is going well!

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  5. Congratulations on reaching the end!!! I hope you love your Children's Lit class! Looking forward to those reviews :)

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  6. Yay! Your classes definitely sound like good ones (and more fun than what I did my last semester of library school). :)

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  7. Congrats on your final semester! The classes look fantastic!

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