School and Work

Two similar things that are quite different! Registration season for the Spring 2009 semester is upon us.

I am undecided if I should go ahead and enroll for 3 classes again instead of my plan of enrolling for just 2 classes and then getting a part-time job. I know there's always the option of dropping the third class but by then I probably would have purchased my books or I may want to drop the class only after the deadline has passed.

Busy/Trends

School has been keeping me busy. I'd say that this semester has been MUCH busier than last semester, but I'll take that as a good sign that I'm getting my money's worth for this education.

When I'm not busy with school, I'm procrastinating. When I'm neither procrastinating nor busy with school, I'm blowing off steam in some form. Today (guess why) I found myself window-shopping online and found a librarian pin for sale at some trendy website. I could understand the retro fascination with owls and such, but how in the world is this hip? Why not a pin that says "plumber" or "senior engineer" or something like that?

Banned Books Week

Today is the start of Banned Books Week.

It's interesting to think that Mark Twain passed away almost a hundred years ago, yet he's ranked third in the list of the Most Frequently Challenged Authors of 2007. That's street cred you can't buy.

You've read a banned book if you have read:
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Angelou)
- Brave New World (Huxley)
- The Giver (Lowry)
- most of the Harry Potter books (Rowling)
- The Golden Compass (Pullman)
- Catcher in the Rye (Salinger)
- The Lovely Bones (Sebold)
I've read those books, because obviously I am a bleeding-heart liberal from California. Woohoo. I have also purchased a copy of “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell, which is the #1 most challenged book of 2007, but I have not read it since I had it directly shipped to a friend and her partner, so it could be one of the first books their daughter will ever read.

Sharing is Scaring

I've had to watch this video for two classes in my grad school life, so far. Everyone else should suffer through it.

"ANGRY LIBRARIAN"

A little extreme, aren't we?

In one class, alongside outdated tutorials on how to attach files in Outlook Express and how to send files through ICQ, there is a UNIX cheat sheet.

It looked like all fun and games until the UNIX cheat sheet.

Trying to generate as much work momentum early on is harder than it sounds. This late-summer heat wave is not helping.

When doubling up is not good...

In one of my classes, the professor is teaching two sections of the same class. Basically, she is teaching another class, which is just like the class that I am in. Both classes share the same discussion board on the class site, which could cut down on duplicate questions, but it's not reassuring to find 92 posts in the introduction board on the first day of class. How many "Hi, _____!" posts do you need?!

Being remembered by the prof in this class is probably going to be tougher than the other one. I am not amused.

So very tired...

The ALA Conference was great. What could be better than a book cart drill competition? A bunch of videos featuring book cart drill teams.

I picked up a lot of advance reviewer copy books. I am addicted to these things.

Then I went to another, totally different convention and lost my phone. Much sadness ensued. Edit: I got my phone back.

ALA Annual Conference: Day 3 to them, Day 1 to me

I finally got to the ALA Conference. Today, I picked up my badge and did a quick sweep of the exhibit hall.

It's a Saturday, but I feel horribly under-dressed. I am hoping that people look dressed up (at least to me) because most of the attendees I saw are older and/or are probably at the conference for work. The dressiest clothes I packed are button-up shirts and casual, summer-weight slacks. The only footwear I packed are my very comfortable walking sneakers and flip-flops.

I examined the program guide and didn't see anything about a dress code. The web site mentions that business casual is "appropriate" but I saw a lot more people who were more formal...and I also saw a few people wearing shorts. =_=; I have to resist the urge to over-think this. I just have to keep telling myself that I'm breaking the stereotype.

I intend to spend more time at Nintendo's spot in the exhibit hall. I'll probably be spending most of my time at the Gaming/Graphic Novel section of the exhibit hall if I'm not attending panels. Other than that, I'm supposed to go to watch Dean Koontz speak and then try to get one of his books autographed for my friend who's providing me with crash space.

I can has ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition badge?

My ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition conference materials (badge, expocard, that sort of thing) have arrived in the mail. Yay!

Now if only I could get my friends to stop calling it LibrarianCon. :unamused:

9 units down, 33 more to go

The first semester is done. Grades are posted. I passed. YAY.

Too bad I was slow about enrolling for summer classes and therefore didn't make it into any summer classes I wanted. I'm only wait-listed for two. If I'm lucky I might get into one of them.

My membership cards for the American Library Association and the California Library Association came in. I am a card-carrying...something!

In the meantime, I'm teaching myself Spanish, reading recreationally, and thinking of reading the textbooks I should have read this past semester.

Relevant to my interests

Old Maids, Policeman, and Social Rejects: Mass Media Representations and Public Perceptions of Librarians

Wilson Web offers free trial of their Graphic Novels Core Collection

Pages and spacing

Having to do a double-spaced 12-page research paper feels like a joke after having to do single-spaced 8-pages-at-least research papers.

Not that I'm using that as an excuse for procrastinating, oh no...

Budget cuts all around

Based on the five strategic plans presented today in my Library/Information Center Management class, anyone trying to get into librarianship with a full-time job right now would be better off looking into corporate (privately-funded) libraries/archives/information centers.

Public libraries aren't doing that well, unless you live in a rich community. Thanks a lot/for nothing, Governator.

Server Gerbil Night at the Bar

Once Saturday hits midnight and crosses into Sunday, the central website for our online classes goes down. One of the people in my group for a class project suggested that it will go back up once they put the gerbil back on the wheel.

I thought it was just the server that went offline to go hit the bars. Apparently it's the gerbil that powers the servers that goes to the bars.

This really has nothing to do with school, but I am tired and still have many pages to work through.

The Perils of Group Projects in Distance Learning

My group has been remarkably relaxed with our Strategic Plan, even though it is due next Sunday. We seem to be in good shape for it, but I have this nagging overachiever tendency to think that more should be done, tempered by the underachiever tendency to do the least work for the most results.

It seems like the other people in the group are not as responsive as I would like them to be to my emails and forum posts, but I am afraid of being more persistent with the emails and forum posts. I'd rather not piss them off.

I don't dislike the other people in my group, I just don't like how this is set up. Somehow I thought there would be the awkward teething stage in terms of getting used to group projects with people I will hardly see face to face or may never see face to face, but it seemed to be gelling better in a group for another class.

Perhaps more constant deadlines and shorter assignments make it easier for that.

This is frustrating; a necessary evil.

A step in the right direction...I hope

Distance learning is taking a toll... on my social skills. I can't really afford to go out much since that usually requires money, which I don't have, since I am currently an unemployed graduate student.

Somehow I think starting a blog will help fix this. Let's see how it goes!