DONE. Where's the fork!?

Call me Steak because I am so done with my masters degree! Received my final grades on Tuesday -- two As :) For anyone who cares, my GPA was 3.93. Pretty proud of that considering all that I've had going on while also pursuing a masters degree.

I was going to attend the commencement/hooding ceremony this past weekend, but waited too late to book a hotel room. All of the hotels around Knoxville were booked solid. Since I didn't have strong feelings about attending, I decided to forego that pomp and circumstance. Honestly, dodged a big ol' stress bullet by not attending anyway.

As it stands now, I am an official graduate. I can call myself a librarian, if I want. I'm not sure other people would call me a librarian (there seems to be some snarkiness and prejudice against those who don't work in a traditional brick-and-mortar library and that's a shame). I call myself a librarian, though! Just because I don't have the Dewey system memorized or have to deal with porn watchers doesn't mean I don't manage information! And isn't that what it's all about? Managing information and access to such?

Here's how I spent my "graduation day":

Snugglin my son at celebratory Buffalo Wild Wings dinner :3 (If it's difficult to read, my shirt in that photo says "library schooled" haha)

What's next on my professional horizon? Working through my catalog plan, developing some social media content policies, and finalizing (I hope!) a few projects this year. It's a brave new world for this solo embedded librarian!

{Work Project} Small Library Catalog

I work for a small agency that helps county governments do their thing. We provide technical assistance in a wide variety of topics like finance, law, environmental, and law enforcement (among others). My specific job includes managing our small physical library as well as our electronic resources and publications. Years ago, my agency published several print manuals that covered many topics. Today, all of that information has been converted into a Drupal site and is maintained electronically. We have the capability to print out an updated version of those manuals, but we no longer go through the lengthy publication process. Converting to Drupal has streamlined our publication process.

However, the physical library is in poor shape. My agency last had an actual librarian over a decade ago. I am stepping into those shoes and trying to bring the physical library into a modern version of itself. Hence a project I hope to complete later this year: An online catalog!

Since we don't need a true OPAC or access to OCLC records, I am planning on using LibraryThing for our catalog needs. Why? Mainly because it's already online. It also allows for relatively easy data entry (and retrieval for some of our materials like the Tennessee Code Annotated, believe it or not). I am hoping that using LibraryThing will allow me to get the catalog up and running in a relatively short amount of time, but also offer the opportunity to expand as needed.

My basic (for now) plan entails:

• Determine cataloging needs: metadata fields to be used, catalog size (rough estimate), operational/functional needs (how will people access it)


• Explore LibraryThing and document aspects to be utilized in agency catalog


• Develop and draft crosswalk between identified metadata fields of existing materials and fields available in LibraryThing


• Document all of this process ;)

My current target date for taking the catalog live is around the end of the year. I would really like to get the meat of the fields sorted and decided by the end of summer. I currently have a hot project I'm trying to finish by the end of summer, so hopefully I will get that one done and can move on to this catalog.

I will probably (read: please remind me) post my documentation or at least some lessons learned from this catalog project to this blog, so keep checking back to stay updated on the ongoing saga project.

Book Rut

Now that school is done and I have a ton of free time I should be able to dive into more books, right? There are so many that I want to read, but I've been having trouble deciding which one to start. I've started three different books, but can't get focused on one. I'm not quite sure what is going on... stressing about the lack of stress I have? That's just weird, brain. Cut it out!

I hope to get back in my book-reading groove soon! I am only 4 books away from completing my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I know 10 books seems wimpy, but it's the first challenge I've done and it's been awhile since I was able to actually read a book (It took me over a year to finish A Dance with Dragons mostly because of the baby and all that). I wanted to start this challenge with a reasonable amount of books. Maybe next year I can read more. And more. And more...

It's {almost} Over!

Today is the last day of my masters degree journey. It will end with a 5-minute presentation on my final project (http://sisdrupal.cci.utk.edu/egosset1). I do have a couple of other things to do for that particular class (commenting on other students' websites, writing a lessons learned type review). As of Saturday, I will be completely finished! 

Way back in 2011, I found out that The University of Tennessee offers an online, distance education program for Information Science. I read about InfoSci and the program and realized, "HEY This is the kind of stuff I like to do and I'm good at it!" I applied and was admitted to the program in Fall 2012. Since I work full time, I have only been able to take 2 classes at a time (Let's not remember Spring 2013 when I took 3 classes okay? That was HORRIBLE). And then I got pregnant. So add dealing with all the pregnancy stuff that went with his birth and being a first-time mother with a fragile, premature newborn. While still working half-time and taking 2 classes a semester. 

Cue reaction gif here:

But now the worst is over and all I need to do is finish up these last couple of assignments and wait for my diploma to be mailed to me.

I've also added the other final project website to this blog and linked to it on my Grad School Work page. I've added that site's pages here because I will be losing access to it some time after graduation and I kinda want to keep it since I worked on it for a few months. Plus, you never know when you'll need to cannibalize your previous work, right?

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead to no more school ever again! 

 

(Yep, I sure did just link to a *gasp* Wikipedia page. ;P)

I'm still here!

Just a quick note: I'm still here! I'm right at the end of my very last semester and things are a bit hectic for me. I've got a few more assignments to finish up over the next two weeks and all of my energies are being poured into them. After the semester is over, however, I will be adding a couple of books reviews (since I've now finished two books and reading another). 

One small update: I've decided to not attend my hooding ceremony. Simple reasons: husband just got a new job and so time off for him is a bit iffy. Also, there are ZERO hotels available. I waited too long to book the hotel. UT has the university-wide graduation (mainly for undergraduates) on Thursday, May 7. Then on Friday, May 8, there is the College of Communications graduation ceremony in the morning and my School of Information Sciences hooding ceremony in the afternoon. Three graduation ceremonies in two days = no hotels within a 15-mile radius of Knoxville. I wasn't really strongly convicted on attending anyway. I'd rather save myself some stress of traveling and stay home to RELAX. Plus, the real icing on the "yay masters degree" cake is the actual degree, professionally framed. I have the frame choice selected and I cannot wait to hang it in my office.

Of course, all of this depends on my passing the comprehensive exam! I think I will, but my anxiety has me second-guessing myself. I'll find out Friday. 

The Waiting Game Begins

Yesterday, I took my comprehensive exam in Knoxville at the school. Since I've been sick and coughing my head off, I emailed the exam committee chair earlier this week to see if there was anything that could be done so I wouldn't be sitting in a room full of my stressed out classmates and coughing during the exam. Thankfully, I was allowed to take my exam by myself (with a proctor, of course). And I still coughed my head off -- probably about 20 minutes of straight coughing. It was rough for me, but the proctor didn't even flinch. I was grateful for that. 

The exam itself consisted of three sections of two essay questions each. I had to pick one question from each section and answer it. I had been really nervous about the test because even though I've learned a ton during this program, I still wasn't confident in my ability to answer the questions. I was afraid I'd blank and forget everything I learned. 

Thankfully that did not happen. 

I chose questions that asked about a specific theory I've learned and how I would/could apply it to an information setting of my choice. Naturally, I chose my current work situation (but I referenced it in a vague way so as to not give away myself to the review committee. I felt if I named my agency or gave specifics about my work, someone might recognize it and therefore compromise the anonymity needed for them to objectively grade my work) and Buckland's "information-as-thing" theory. I enjoyed writing that answer, truly. 

The second question I chose asked about the digital divide -- which is the gap related to accessing information. Some groups experience barriers to accessing information due to discrimination (i.e., libraries instituting policies that directly ban things like having extraordinarily strong body odor, which prevents certain homeless individuals from using public libraries). Some individuals also may lack the needed skills to find information they need -- they lack information literacy. This question was also fun to answer and I am pretty confident in my answer.

The third question asked about how controlled vocabularies and user-generated content such as tagging (e.g., Delicious bookmarks) can (or possibly not) work together. It's interesting to think about how tagging could enrich metadata records if catalogers would add fields for user-generated tags. I don't think controlled vocabularies and tagging need to exist in a mutually exclusive manner. 

Anyway, I only need to earn a "pass" from each of the reviewers in order to pass the exam. And if I pass, then I get to graduate! I think I did well enough to earn a pass, but I won't find out my result until around April 17th, when the results are due to the Graduate School. Although getting through the test itself has reduced my stress level a whole lot, I will still be anxious as I wait for my result and then still until I get through the hooding ceremony. It's just how I am. 

Comps Time!

My comprehensive exam begins at 9am tomorrow (Friday). This exam is all essay and closed book. I'm a little nervous, but the point of the exam is to show what I've learned in the program and that I can professional and intelligently relay the knowledge I have gained. It shouldn't be difficult, but it may be a little tricky, depending on the questions. I've always been good at writing essays, but it's not one of my favorite types of exam styles. At least with essays, the qualitative nature allows for more subjectivity in assessment (as opposed to the quantitative yes/no, right/wrong nature of multiple or true/false questions). So that gives me a little relief! I will still need to make sure I answer all parts of the questions and do my best to coherently and concisely convey my thoughts. 

Hopefully, by 2pm eastern time, I will be a lot less stressed. I started my MSIS back in August 2012, so this is a long-time coming. My graduation is May 8 and I will find out the pass/fail result of my exam by April 17. 

Here goes nothing!

{Book Review} Time's Edge (The CHRONOS Files)

Title:
Time's Edge (The CHRONOS Files)
Author: Rysa Walker
ISBN: 1477825827
Publisher/Location: Skyscape
Year of Publication: 2014
Pages: 452
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Amazon Link: Kindle Edition: http://amzn.to/1CcsvAw

Time's Edge is the second book in The CHRONOS Files series. And for some reason, I always type "THE CHRONOS Files." My fingers just want to SCREAM ABOUT CHRONOS I guess. :)

Back to the review, though! I was excited to read this book because I loved the first book (Review here). Since I didn't directly say this in the review of the first book, let me be clear here: I loved it! This second book was no different. There is more of the same great, consistent writing from Rysa Walker and the plot thickens. Let's talk about my favorite parts of the book, but I'll put a break here so as to not spoil it for anyone...



I think my favorite part of Time's Edge is when Kate realizes that Kiernan has been talking to Prudence. This realization doesn't happen until toward the middle/end of the book, but when it does, it hit me like a rock in my gut! Kiernan doesn't really explain why he is talking to Prudence. I mean, I absolutely don't buy his story about keeping an eye on Kate for Prudence. But this twist really pushed the story into super interesting territory. And, actually, this plot twist is what has made me so excited for Book 3 due in October 2015 -- I really want to know the truth behind Kiernan's motives.

Overall, the story of this book is just as good as the first. I was saddened by the break between Trey and Kate, but at the same time somewhat intrigued by the Kate/Kiernan "let's all be actually honest" relationship pizazz. There's something going on there that I hope is resolved in Book 3!

Lastly, I have a theory about Abel and Delia. At the end of the story, they opt to go with Simon and become Cyrists. The book ends with Kate receiving a text message from Charlayne that alludes to the Fifth Column, which is reference to something Abel says while they're all in Georgia in 1938. We find out at the end of the book that the Fifth Column means a faction within the Cyrists that is trying to bring the Cyrists down -- internal dissent. My theory, though, relates to Charlayne and it goes something like this: Is Charlayne descended from Abel and Delia? The way that Kate has perceived the post-time-shift-timeline Charlayne is that she does what the Cyrists want, but there is still a spark of the "old Charlayne" in there. And I wonder if that spark exists because all along, Charlayne is really Abel and Delia's granddaughter and is in the Fifth Column!

That's it. xD Go put on your tinfoil hats with me and wait for October 2015!

New Page: Listeners' Advisory

So there's a thing in LibraryLand called "readers' advisory" where if you find a book you liked, you can ask a librarian to suggest other similar books. It's the original recommender system that we are all familiar with -- buy something on Amazon and get presented with other items you might be interested in. Same idea, except provided by a human rather than an algorithm.

One thing I really enjoy is music. It's been so pervasive in my life that our son is completely entranced by ANY music anywhere. He's 15 months old (at the time this was written). I'm not sure about genetic predisposition to liking music, but my sociological background has me leaning toward my son getting his fascination and love for music from my husband and I.

I digress... I recently thought that I should create a Listeners' Advisory list! I really like songs that have clapping in them. I'm not really sure why because I don't really clap along with the songs. I guess I just like the kinesthetic feel of the music with clapping in it.

I plan to add songs to this list as I hear them, but if you've heard a song not on the list that you think I would like, send me a note!

>>Click here to view my Listeners' Advisory!<<

Listeners' Advisory

Welcome to my Listeners' Advisory!

I've never done a recommendation list before, but I thought it would be fun to compile. I used to have a giant, hideous table on this page, but I found I could make a widget to my Spotify playlists. Yes, I have a Spotify playlist for clapping songs. :) You may notice that some songs are on multiple lists and that's because they fit into multiple categories. 

Enjoy! I will likely add more to these playlists as I hear new songs. Or remember songs.

NOTE: You will need a Spotify account and Spotify installed (I think) in order to listen to the music. This widget will attempt to launch your Spotify app!

Playlist 1: Clapping Songs

I love clapping in music. I think it speaks to the primitive part of my brain locked up under all the useless trivia. Usually, songs with hand claps are more upbeat and fun and that's my favorite style of music.

Playlist 2: Singing Songs

This playlist contains songs that I like to sing along with. I can't hit the high notes, so I tend to gravitate toward singers who don't hit those notes (I still love you, Ms. Carey!!)

Costco has Books!

I may be late to the game on this one, but I got excited about the sheer amount of books available at Costco! We've been to Costco several times over the past few months -- finally using our membership I purchased a year ago (whoops!). I noticed the books they have, but it never really dawned on me the utter convenience of having so many books available to look through while we are getting groceries!

DUH, Liz!!

Costco has a wide variety of books: children's (babies to older kids and teens), cookbooks, fiction, and non-fiction. I'm sure everyone could find something to read! There are a few nice compilations of Dr. Seuss books that I'd like to get for our son, plus a few cookbooks for me! They have coloring and activity books for kids, fitness books (yoga, Pilates, etc). They even have some magazines AND Rand McNally atlases/maps!

I love Costco!

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{Book Review} Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
ISBN: 1565124995
Publisher/Location: Algonquin Books
Year of Publication: 2007
Pages: 364
Genre: Historical Fiction
Amazon Link: Kindle Edition: http://amzn.to/1CTddgW

Water for Elephants offers a lot to the reader: humor, suspense, love, action, and a smooth plot. The last point about the plot is intriguing because Gruen has essentially woven two stories together into one: the story of young Jacob Jankowski and that of old Jacob. The book tells the story of how the young Jacob runs away from his life and ends up on a circus train. He becomes the circus' veterinarian and falls in love with Marlena, one of the circus' top stars. Jacob spends three and a half months with the circus and seems to figure out who he is (as well as who he isn't). He meets all sorts of characters (Camel, Kinko/Walter, Barbara, Ezra, etc) who, through different encounters, help him define himself as a man with convictions.



This novel is historical fiction as it is partially set in 1931, but it is also somewhat a coming-of-age story as Jacob grows from being a college dropout to a man who stands up for his friends (whether they are human or pachyderms).

The juxtaposition of old and young Jacob provided a solid characterization of his personality. The way Gruen describes Jacob's reactions to several events in the book makes me feel as though I could tell you how he would react in other situations. I feel like I know him really well -- almost as well as he does himself.

This book really made me laugh and cry. The old Jacob's insights into being elderly in a nursing home bring back my own personal experience being the kid of a registered nurse who worked most of her career in long term care. Jacob's narrative about his neighbors, the nurses, and how it feels to be an elderly person in a nursing home put into words some of the memories I have of nursing homes and their residents. Gruen really pointed out the deeper issues of aging, using Jacob to give a voice for those who may not be able to (i.e., the Ipphy Baileys of the world).

Jacob as an old man is a cantankerous, crotchety, lovable character. You really see how his older personality is shaped by his young self. He seems the stereotypical "old man" at first, but knowing his backstory (and all he went through in such a short period of time) reveals the crotchetiness is more like a security blanket to protect his vulnerability brought on by aging.

Gruen's writing really makes the characters come to life in this book. One character, however, really stuck out to me: August. He is the director of animals and Jacob ends up working for him when he becomes the circus' veterinarian. The other Benzini Brothers crew members know to steer clear of August because of his bad tempter. August is described by Uncle Al as a paranoid schizophrenic near the end of the book to explain his changing moods and violent behavior. This really bothered me because it's a perpetuation of misinformation about a mental illness.

Whether Gruen included it to illustrate the evilness of Uncle Al (by covering up his abusive behavior) or if she included it because she herself is also misinformed, I am not sure. So we're all on the same page (and soapbox): Schizophrenia is NOT multiple personalities. Multiple personalities is actually called Dissociative Identity Disorder (which was called Multiple Personality Disorder). I'm no psychiatrist or psychologist, but August's behavior is the classic pattern of behavior of an abuser. Charm and charisma alternate with violence as the abuser tries to maintain power and control of his victim.

I also really appreciated Gruen's descriptions of Rosie the elephant in Water for Elephants. The afterward of the book included an interview with Gruen wherein she describes her research into circus trains and elephants. She mentions how much she learned during her research and her writing proves that. You can just picture Rosie's open-mouthed smile and the playful way she reaches for things. Jacob's evolving relationship with Rosie is one of the highlights (both heartwarming and humorous) of the story.

There was one thing that bothered me a little about this book and I'm not sure if it makes me a prude or if I should attribute it to the story being narrated from the perspective of a 23-year-old young man: the descriptions of sex, lust, and all that. I felt it really made the book a little more vulgar than it should have been. I really enjoyed Gruen's writing for the rest of the book, but these scenes felt like they were written for a romance novel (you know the ones, with Fabio on the cover).

Personally, I think this story could have been just as great without the graphic descriptions. I mean, I suggested my mom read this book! Of course, that recommendation came after reading the first bit of the book before I got to Barbara's act in Chapter 3. After I read that chapter, I kinda wished I didn't recommend it! Of course, my mom (Hi, Mama!) is a grown woman and can handle that kind of stuff. But it made me feel a little skeevy! I just don't like to read about that stuff in my books.

Overall, I would recommend this book -- possibly with the forewarning about some graphic scenes. I really liked the story, the characters, and the level of details surrounding the circus.

A New Look & A Big Thank You!

You may have noticed (if you're visiting the blog directly rather than through an RSS reader/aggregator) that things look a little different! Awhile back, I put out a call on Twitter to ask if anyone would be willing to help me with a blog header. And @Caladom agreed! I am so thankful to her for her offer and her amazing art! I mean, check it out!

Thank you so much, Caladom! You rock!

You should also check out her Deviant Art page at http://caladom.deviantart.com AND her webcomic (which I love!) at http://coi-love.webcomic.ws/. 

Nasty Weather = New Contact Form!

We have some not-so-nice weather here in Nashville -- it's icy and chilly. Weather forecast was for 4-6" of snow overnight/today, but we got freezing rain and sleet instead. There is about 2" of ice in my driveway, so I am staying home (Work ended up closing anyway as did most of Nashville). While I'm at home, I'm trying to finish an assignment for school. Part of this assignment is to create a website/page on my Unix account with the school. Of course, I am probably overdoing it, but I am having fun! You can check on my progress here if you're interested in my terrible webmaster skills ;) http://web.utk.edu/~egosset1. I'm toying with moving my collection development project over there since I'm not sure how long the link will be live on the main SIS website. (I'm on the fence, though, because I graduate in May and I'm not sure how long my own Unix account will be active after that. I'm an employee of the university, so it might not get dumped after I graduate?)

You can see on that page a link to this blog and, specifically, a link to my NEW CONTACT FORM! Yay! I don't know if people get excited about this kind of thing, but I do! Welcome to my life :)

I just added a contact form via Google. You can access it HERE or by clicking the "Contact" link in the navigation menu up above ^. It has a really cute theme, so go check it out and send me a message :)

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Making My Comps Study Guide

I have just over a month until I take the big, comprehensive exam to get out of graduate school. Can I just admit that I am really, really nervous? I'm not nervous because I'm worried about writing essays or trying to develop coherent thoughts and possibly arguments. No, I'm nervous because I think* I'll be expected to name-drop authors/researchers and their related concepts or works. 

I am TERRIBLE at remembering who developed or said what. I've never been good at that. Sure, I can remember a few names like Buckland, Kuhlthau, and Ranganathan. But I can't really tell you exactly their work! I can't even recall all of the 5 laws of library science or what they mean.

So that means I need to study! At least I know what I need to study (the who/concept thing), so that should make it a little easier. I already know that I need to review certain topics such as:

• What is information?


• How is it organized?


• How do people access and use it? (Information seeking, information retrieval, digital divide, etc.)


• Cataloging (Metadata, FRBR, WEMI, RDA, etc.)


• Copyright/intellectual property


• Five Laws of Library Science


• Legal issues in information science


• Collection development


• Social media


• Relevance


• Digitization/digital libraries


• Web 2.0 & Library 2.0


• Information literacy


• Ethics in information science


• Information technology

As I study, I will likely come across other topics I need to revisit. I've seen that previous exam orientations resulted in students setting up their own study groups and I hope my group does the same. It would be nice to have others' perspectives when studying. 

I will probably be nervous until after I've taken the test. Then I'll be nervous until I get my result (pass or fail; no numerical score). Basically, my constant level of stress will stay with me until mid-April. Joy.  

*From the orientation slides I've seen, it appears that the exam-takers will be asked to refer to specific concepts from "the literature" (which is confusing, because it's a closed-book exam and we are told that it is not a test of rote memorization, so how do we refer to literature??)

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{Book Review} Timebound by Rysa Walker

Timebound by Rysa Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'll be honest -- I chose to read this book because I was interested in the time-hopping aspects of the story. I also liked the cover. Yes, I absolutely chose a book based on the cover design. I'm a visual person, so it's a factor! What I really liked about this book is the plot -- I enjoyed the mind-twisting bits related to time travel and how changing things in the past would affect the future (present time in some cases). I enjoyed Rysa Walker's writing style. She has a great talent for describing complex concepts and giving plenty of detail that I was able to play a movie of the book in my head while I read. This reason alone made it hard to put this book down!

The only thing that made me hesitate a few times when reading this book was...

...the sexualization of the main character. I've been a 17 year old girl and so I know those thoughts well, but it was still a little jarring for me to read about a 17 year old's intimate thoughts. At times, I felt like I was reading the thoughts of an older character, not a 17 year old. I'm not saying 17 year olds can't be mature enough to have those thoughts. It was just a little weird to read the prose then remember the character thinking those things is technically a minor (according to U.S. law). It was just a tad weird, but I was able to push it to the back of my mind.

I should probably admit that I've already got the second book downloaded to my Kindle. I haven't started reading it yet, because I need a little more time to recover from the emotional roller coaster I experienced a few times. But I will be reading the second book!

Bloglovin!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

I signed up for Bloglovin and in order to "claim my blog" there, I have to post some HTML code in a new blog post. So here it is!

Blogging to Help Me Win At Comps?

So I just realized that keeping up with writing on this blog in topics related to information science will likely help me with writing for my comprehensive exam. I still need to work on placing concepts and theories with names, though. I've never been very good about remembering who said/thought what. Except Ranganathan!

Every book its reader!!

A Rare Find: The Rocket Book

As I was perusing the Library of Congress' website today, I found a link to Read.gov. I'm curious by nature, so I clicked the link to find out what that website offers. Of course, I have the memory of a hamster, so I can't tell you exactly how I arrived at the following book, but suffice it to say that if you were to google "The Rocket Book LOC," it should pop up in the results.

The Rocket Book by Peter Newell

 

Wait, let me test that...HA! It's the first result. Post-coordinated search terms, ftw. :)

I have a little boy who LOVES books. He has so many books that my husband and I will need to get another shelf or rack for them. They're all over the floor. The existing book rack he has is stuffed to the gills. Due to his affinity for books, I am constantly on the lookout for anything that would capture his attention. I happened to see an illustration of The Rocket Book that looked promising, so I clicked the link.

BAM. Rare book access achieved! Of course, my son would only be able to look at this book in a digital format (unless, by some miracle, we can get up to D.C. and remember to request it). But I think it's really cool that LOC has digitized this book so it's accessible. Rare books need to be handled carefully for preservation reasons, so digitizing them is a great opportunity to

For those interested, here is the full citation:

Newell, Peter. The Rocket Book. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1912. Classic Books. Library of Congress. Web. 5 Feb. 2015. <http://www.read.gov/books/rocket.html>.

 

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The Future is Now!

It's time to...

 

 

Watch the short video below and geek out with me!

 

The University of Chicago Joe and Rika Mansueto Library has a really cool storage and retrieval system -- it's a giant ROBOT. The system stores materials based on their physical size rather than the traditional subjects. Each item is barcoded to help track it in the system.

HOW COOL.

Seriously, this type of technology seems like it's been lifted straight from 1984 by George Orwell. I know some people will worry about future employment prospects for librarians, but I don't worry about it myself. For one thing, computers and robots are only as good as their inputs. A system on the scale of the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library absolutely requires human interaction to ensure it functions properly and smoothly. There may come a day when humans are needed less and less for this type of work. However, humans will continue to need other humans so librarianship of the future may become even more customer-focused (hard to imagine, I know!). I would even go so far to say that librarians may get to come out from behind the desk to perform other service-based duties because we will need the human interaction to balance all of the potential robotics with which we'll interface. Just a hunch.

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Tech Tip: Easy "Mark as Read" in Outlook 2013 (Windows)

I just figured out this little trick the other day and wanted to share it with you. Although this isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, it does save you some mouse movement and clicks.

So you have some emails that you want to Mark as Read. They're messages that you know you don't need to read or open, but it's annoying to select the messages and find/click the Mark as Read button.

Do I have a deal for you!





If you use the Reading Pane, just click the vertical bar on the immediate left of the message sender's name and subject! I know! I didn't know that button was actually a button that did stuff either!

And because this is fun and I am a visual person, here is a gif of the way it changes/works. Imagine a mouse pointer over the vertical bar. :)

Voila! Go forth and amaze your coworkers!

The Great Digital Detritus Clean Up of 2015

My best friend probably (rightfully so!) cringes whenever my email address comes up in conversation. She's been really good natured about it, but I should be honest. It's time to bring Skelly out of the closet. Skelly needs a vacation. Closets are dark, chilly, and boring.

Skelly holds a secret of mine. She's been the caretaker of this dark secret for several years. Well, Skelly and my husband and my best friend. Ha.

I switch my email service provider frequently and sometimes, *gasp* close accounts. 

How frequent are we talking? Oh, usually every few months. I don't know if I've used an email address longer than 9 months at a time. Sometimes, I've switched them a lot more frequently. Why do I do this? It's mostly because I change my mind frequently about these service providers or how I want to keep my digital detritus contained. (Yes, there is a TON of detritus by now. Shh.) Of course I have regrets -- like closing that really well-named Gmail address/account. I decide that I don't like a feature of one part of my setup, so I scrub it all and "move house" to another provider. I move my emails, online cloud storage, account settings... all of it. I've done it so many times now that I am a PRO-FESSIONAL at digital moving. I could probably be a freelance consultant for others wanting to move house to another provider. I've learned tricks and tidbits about various providers and their quirks. How to import, export, and expat oneself from one provider to another.

But no more.

One of my 2015 resolutions is to pick a provider and stick with it all year (and then some?) long. I'm going to tell myself to get over whatever little things may bother me or normally cause me to move house. And be a stick in the mud about certain things like the quirks of a blogging platform, or the idea of using certain software on my computer.

The lessons I have learned in my constant migration are these:

1. No one likes to email me because they don't know which email address to use. I am the Debbie Downer of emailing and I hate that I make people uncomfortable. Note, I am only assuming that people are a tad annoyed -- no one has actually said anything concrete. That's okay though! I got the hint. ;)

2. I am getting older and having a hard time remembering which online account is using which email address (or which password, but that's another issue entirely haha). I don't want to have to remember so many dang details. I already have a lot going on in my life and trying to remember something as trivial as an online login is just irritating.

3. I just want stuff to work. I really don't care who makes the software/service. I don't need to get all hung up on "corporate integrity" because, when it comes down to it, we're all data sheep in their big algorithmic shearing farm ;) I will strive to get over the "Google products" on my "Apple products" thing going on in my head. It doesn't matter, Liz. Shush, brain.

I'm sure I've learned some other lessons over the past little while, but those three are the ones I could describe right now.

PLAN OF ACTION
Yes, I have a plan of action! I am a list-making, double-checking, box-filling nerd. Of course I have a plan of action. Below are some basic details of what I plan to do. This is mostly as a reminder in case I daydream off and forget to check a box ;)

Email/Calendars
I'm going to switch to Gmail. I tend to waffle between giving my digital soul to the Big G. Some days, I don't want to be a sheep. Other days, I need the fluid interoperability of the Big G's services. What can I say? :) I do plan to keep my other email addresses. I will just funnel them through forwards into my Gmail account. If we chat on Google Talk/Hangouts, you already have my Gmail account. If you want my Gmail address, send me a note using the Contact form at the bottom or message me on Twitter. I also have the herculean effort to transfer all of my iCloud calendars to Google. I know it's really not that herculean since I have export/import. But you know what I mean. (I have a lot of calendars).

Cloud Storage
I'm going to switch to Google Drive. I've been using iCloud Drive and it works okay. I was really excited for the announcement, but it just doesn't work very well in reality. I have a feeling that Apple will eventually get iCloud Drive up to Dropbox/Google Drive standards. Eventually. I don't have that kind of patience. :| Since Google Drive is pretty seamless with Gmail, I'm just going to go with that. Make my already busy life a little less complex.

Note-Taking
I'm going to switch to Evernote. I know I just said I didn't like Evernote, but this is one of those situations where some small thing just irritated me. I'm resolving this year to get the heck over that irritation and give Evernote a third try (don't ask; you know the drill by now).

Other Stuff
I will, eventually, update my email address in my other online accounts to the Gmail address. I also need to update the apps on my phone so everything syncs correctly. The syncing thing will be a big part of this plan since #3 above is a big deal to me. I like having access to my "stuff" whenever, wherever I am.

Conclusion + How this relates to information science
So! That's my plan. I'm sure I will think of something else I need to do that I haven't written down here. And actually, now that I think about it, most of y'all probably don't really care about all this. Oh well!

Back to info science, though! 
Digital detritus or clutter is the many, many online accounts, email addresses, websites, profiles and such that people collect over the course of using the Internet. Some people have more than others, but we all will eventually need to face our Skelly in the closet. Seriously, this is going to be a real issue because these accounts are becoming lasting impressions on the Internet as server sizes swell into the terabytes. More space is coming to store all of this clutter. All of this data, stored on servers, the cloud, wherever, feeds into algorithms in various places. Will it clog up the virtual information highways? Will we need a special episode of Hoarders?

The big question, though, is how do we corral all of this information about ourselves? Do we even need to? Court cases abound related to messages posted to online spaces -- will that iloveporkrinds screen name come back to haunt you? Or will it become the mostly benign expired can of soup in the cabinet that just needs to be thrown away?

I'm not sure yet, but I hope to not "hindsight is 20/20" the answer to those questions!

Inaugural Post

Hello! Welcome to my new blog. I hope to use this blog as a vehicle for sharing my ideas related to information science and librarianism.

If you haven't clicked on the About the Librarian page, I'll share a little bit here: My name is Liz and I am currently a graduate student at The University of Tennessee. I will graduate in May 2015 with a masters of science in information science. I've taken a lot of interesting courses during my studies including:

• Digital Libraries


• Specialized Information Agencies and Services


• Government Information Sources


• Information Network Applications


• Information Technologies

The rest of my courses covered the basics of the profession, including: Organization and Representation of Information, Information Environment, Information Access and Retrieval, and Development and Management of Collections.

As I work full-time and have a young son, I am opting to take the comprehensive exam instead of writing a thesis or doing the e-portfolio. In the now famous words of Kimberly Wilkins (AKA Sweet Brown): Ain't nobody got time for that. I may even chronicle my attempts at studying for the comps. We'll see. :)

 

So far, I have enjoyed my time in the program and have learned a whole lot. There have been a few things I wish could have been different -- I will detail those thoughts in a different post. 

 

For now, I am working on filling in some other non-post content here. Please check back later to see some updates!