Second Class is Done too!!

My final project for ILS503 - Foundations of Librariansip is done as of 3:30PM this afternoon. I'm even more excited to be done with this one. I worked with another student to develop a pathfinder (in both print and web format) for Brazilian immigrants in a specific library district in the New York area. This was an exhausting project - from which I learned SO much. As a person who works in library systems in an academic library, I very rarely have contact with the public. Admittedly, this is a big problem - and one of which I am very conscious. One of the reasons that I chose to return to school was because I believed that graduate school could help me expand my vision of libraries and how important the user experience is to making library systems better.

This project has really been an important part of this process. Ultimately, the library has a significant Portuguese-speaking immigrant population who have specific needs that the library cannot meet. While resources for Spanish-speaking patron abound, there are very few resources for those who speak Portuguese. I truly believe that the woman that I worked with and I only scratched the surface of the resources available. We developed a print pathfinder and a web page for the library at which my partner works. Overall, I learned so much about how different the needs of public libraries are from those of academic libraries.

I am so excited to be done for the semester. Summer classes don't start until May 24th - and I am goind to take a much needed break between now and then (although I will be doing many different types of good luck dances to help me pass my classes . . . ).

One class down . . . One to go

I finished my term project for ILS504 - Reference and Information Resources and Services. I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. YEAH!!! I turned it in on Sunday evening (April 24th) and had an incredible feeling of joy. Finishing work for a class is a wonderful feeling. Of course, I cannot bask in the glory because I have another project due for ILS503 - Foundations of Librarianship on April 29th. I have to get cracking to make sure that everything is in order for that. However, for right now, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. YEAH!!!!!

My term project for ILS 504 was to design a library instruction class. I chose to design a class geared to teaching college upper classmen how to use federal government sources, specifically census resources, to complete a research project that required statistical evaluation. I mentioned previously that I love government documents. I worked as a gov docs assistant at a Federal Depository Library for 4 year (plus 3 years of work study while in college). I figured that my previous knowledge of gov docs would allow me to spend more time on the actual design of the project. I hope that this is the case. It was a fun project - yet, I'm psyched to be done. The final project is available online in my eportfolio.

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!

Summer 2006 Class

This morning I registered for a class for this summer - ILS656 - Information Architecture. After going back and forth several times about whether or not to take a class, I definitely decided that I did not want to sit out a semester. I think that would make it much harder to get back into school come the fall. I was all set to register for ILS537 - Information Seeking Behavior. However, due to prerequisite restrictions, I couldn't register for the class without calling the ILS department and getting an override. Fortunately, in order to take ILS656, I only needed to have completed ILS501 - so I could register online without needing help. Unfortunately, there are only 3 people registered for the class right now (which starts on May 24th). I can only hope that more people register!!!! I will be pretty bummed if I can't take this class this summer.

Now, I need to get back to work on my final projects - one is due on the 24th of April and the other is due on the 29th of April.

Class for Fall 2006

I finally registered for a class for the fall - ILS506 - Information Analysis & Organization. I still haven't made up mind about taking a class this summer. I hate to wait, but I think I'm just feeling overwhelmed with trying to get my classwork done for the end of this semester while working on several large projects at work (I have made a commitment to get our new library home page done for Monday, the 24th - which is also when one of my projects is due for school). So at this point, I'm feeling as if I want to have the summer off - and possibly hoping that feeling will change after I've completed my work this semester (IF I finish it all).

I'm Psyched!!!

Yesterday, I finally got a grade back on my Robert S. Taylor biography - and I did fine. I was a bit concerned about the paper, since I ended up having to work on most of it while I was on vacation in St. Maarten. It took tons of discipline to try and get the paper finished (working on the beach with a laptop is a tricky proposition). Additionally, the initial draft was far longer than the specified 5 double spaced pages. Having to thin the paper out was difficult - and I thought that there was a choppy feel to the paper because of it. Fortunately, the professor did not find that to be so.

Anyway, this makes me feel much better about the class. It is very difficult to take a class and get absolutely no grades until the last two weeks of class. I have been hesitant about working on the final project because I had no sense of what the professor thought of my work. As such, I'm a bit behind where I should be - and will be spending all available time working on the project over the next two weeks.

At least, I feel like I'm making more progress than I was a couple of weeks ago.

Link to Eportfolio

The link to my eportfolio is http://home.comcast.net/~jennifersmls. However, at present, there is nothing there. I'm filling in the back end of the site, before I get to the home page. Sometimes, I can't believe how long it takes to get these things done!!!

Creating My Eportfolio

I finally got around to getting a web site started for my online portfolio. All students are required to submit a portfolio in order to graduate. From a document created by Prof. James Kusack (from SCSU), the portfolio should include:

• Student's Special Project
• A description of major landmarks in one's MLS studies
• Examples of significant course projects
• Organizational material/navigational aids
• A serviceable resume

The Special Projct is a research paper or report of a project in which the student demonstrates knowledge and skills gained in the graduate program. The Special Project must include:

• Identification of 5-9 key concepts and skills gained over the course of one's planned study and an explanation of how they apply to the project
• Identification of the course's in the student's planned study the contributed to the knowledge set
• Discussion of how the knowledge and skill set was applied to the project
• Documentation of the project
• Where appropriate, supporting assement documents should be included

I'm hoping that if I keep all of my work organized from the beginning, finding information pertinent to my special project will be much easier - and less stressful later on. Admittedly, it is hard to think about finishing my degree when I am much closer to the beginning than the end. However, I plan to give it my best shot!!!

Final Projects

I have two final projects that I am working on for both of my classes. In Foundations of Librarianship (ILS503), we were assigned a semester long project that is a "major (hands on) course project " [quoted from syllabus]. The project's focus was to design and implement an information service. The professor stressed that we are supposed to implement this project. I am working on a project with another woman in my class on a project geared to the public library where she works. We are creating a pathfinder with resources for non-native English speakers. The plan is to include English as a Foreign Language, immigrant and Test of English as a Foreign Language resources for the Portuguese speaking population in a suburb of New York City. This has been a challenging project for me since I know very little about this subject.

For Reference and Information Resources and Services (ILS504), we are supposed to plan and design an instructional/training project for a targeted user group in a specific library. For my project, I am designing a library instruction class for upper level undergraduates doing research using census resources. The class will be geared to teaching the students about using federal government resources. I am fairly excited about this project - partly because I love government documents.

I Might be Back on Track (Kind of)

Well, I've spent the past two weekends dedicating myself to my schoolwork - so I think I'm making progress to get over my spring fever. In so many ways, I can't believe that the semester is almost over. For the most part, the day-t0-day work for the classes is over. I now have two final projects to complete - and I have to get cracking on these. I'm not sure how much faith I have that I will actually get these projects done.

ARGH!! I definitely need to find some way to reinvigorate my studies. Experiencing apathy in my second semester is not a good sign. HELP!!!!!!!