Brave New LIS

no need to pay attention now

derek — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:18:08 +0000

internet exploder

derek — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:38:17 +0000

A quick note to all students. I’m getting feedback from some for whom the course site is not functioning. Without exception it is a result of using Microhard Internet Exploder©. We’ll talk more about this later in the semester, but keep in mind that my course site is only tested on Firefox. If a student wishes to use some other browser, that’s OK, but your experience is likely to be mediated by people who feel it is their right to extract $$$ from you and the world just to access the Internet.

week 1 grading

derek — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:40:12 +0000

Great work from everyone this week and the best first week showing from any of my previous classes (overall scores, working links to assignments and timeliness of submission). This is the first group ever to have each student turn in the first week assignment on time.

A note on seeking help: I work full time for SJSU and usually do 12 – 15 hour days. If a student needs assistance from me, awareness of my schedule is extremely important. Emails after 5pm on Friday afternoon typically won’t be answered until Saturday and possibly Monday morning. It’s why I post materials on Saturday morning and then lecture/demo on Monday — lots of lead time to ask for help when in need.

A brief bit about concerns voiced by students worried about whether they can “do” this course. Recent studies show that expectations have a gigantic effect on learning outcomes. Specifically, if you tell students that it takes a certain “gift, skill, talent, knack, etc” to become proficient at learning in a domain (ie, programming, coding, web development) they will perform less well than those who are told it’s simply a matter of practice and dedication. These results are startling and impact even those who are told they have the “knack” to succeed. Those who are told “work and practice” perform better than those told they have talent.

What we are all going to learn requires patience, practice and detail oriented perception. Nothing in that preceding list is inborn, all are learned behaviours derived from practice. Like learning to sit still and calm the mind with meditation, coding itself teaches the behaviours required to do it properly. So, do as I say you should do, and turn off the inner critic/mind killer. That voice adds nothing but noise.

Hello Class,

starsliu — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:40:17 +0000

My name is Crystal Liu. This is my 4th class of MLIS, and basically I take one class each semester included summer section so far, but it’s not a fixed plan and it may change depends my time. Therefore, I do not have a fixed time line to graduate. So far, I have no programming experience at all, but I have some design experience such as Photoshop, InDesign, etc. and a slightly touch to the Dreamwaver. I don’t really see any unusual factoids in my life, because I believe that anything good or bad that happened has something that you can learn to prepare your future life.

Hello

booksanddirt — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:43:05 +0000

Hello Class,

My name is Karlin Hicks and I am currently attending the MLIS program full time. I work part time as a librarian’s assistant and am currently volunteering at a private library in my community as well. I am hoping to graduate no later than Spring 2013 but I also understand life may get in the way. I have zero programming experience, and I am not the strongest with new technology however I find the detail work enjoyable and I do take pride in seeing results. My unusual factoid is that I spent almost a decade in the military doing records management before I decided it wasn’t for me and I followed my heart to the library. I have never been happier.

Happy Friday!

rharper100 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:15:51 +0000

My name is Renee LaCapria-Harper. I am taking it kind of slow through our MLIS program. This is my third semester and my plan is to take a maximum of two courses per semester with Summers off. This leads to a graduation date I think somewhere around 2015. I have started my second career in project management, still at the bottom looking up as I am still a project analyst, so I figure there is no need to rush.

I have very little programming experience, only through a previous course. I have zero web development experience. I am fascinated by programming and bewildered by its awesome power.

I don’t really see any unusual factoids about myself. My life is pretty simple. I moved from California to Arkansas in search of a peaceful existence, which I pretty much found. My husband and I are working on our 20th year of marriage, no children, but we do have 10 goats, two cats, and two dogs. My husband seems to think I’m addicted to school so shhhhh – he thinks I took this semester off. Okay, he may be right – this is harder to hide than chocolate.

Hello!

robbrun — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:13:31 +0000

Here is a short introduction for me, Robert Brunelle. This is my third semester in the program, and I’ve chosen the teacher-librarian path as my focus. As to when I plan to graduate, I am not quite sure; it all depends on how many units I can complete each semester. When it comes to programming, I have no experience whatsoever. In fact, computer programming has always been a mysterious and intimidating subject for me–which is a large part of my reasoning to take a programming course. I’ve always been a bit of a Luddite, so I suppose the fact that I am taking a programming class is a bit unusual in and of itself.

Hello fellow librarians!

vtlibrarystudent — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:22:40 +0000

My name is Angela Bernard and I currently reside in northern Vermont, about twelve miles outside of Canada, in a small city called St. Albans, having moved here five years ago from the Boston area.

I have been a SLIS student since the fall of 2009. I am taking my classes part-time (obviously!) and I am a little more than halfway through. My scheduled date of graduation is spring 2013, which works out perfectly because my younger daughter will start kindergarten that fall so it will be just the right time to go back to work full-time (yikes)!

Speaking of my daughters – I have two. Lindsay is 7 and in 2nd grade and already smarter than her parents, although she says she will never go to grad school after seeing me sweat over my classes! Molly is 4 years old and in pre-school.

I have absolutely ZERO programming experience and fear I may be too old to take this on but I guess we’ll see. I do work part-time at my local public library where I have sort of taken over the role of the tech person, answering questions and hosting seminars for patrons about various computer and technology related issues. I just finished an internship at a local college and was surprised to learn they eliminated the head of their cataloging department in lieu of someone to do web development and programming and tech projects for them, hence the reason why I signed up for this class. The wave of the future in libraries and all that…

An unusual factoid about me…hmmm…I guess the fact that I live in one of the coldest states in the country and yet have a terrible allergy to cold is unusual. Ice, snow, and cold winds give me hives and makes my skin burn. Totally treatable with an antihistamine though so that’s good! I still enjoy skiing with my families on the weekends and taking my girls sledding, just not the parts when I fall down and the snow touches me!

I hope everyone has a successful semester!

-Angela

Greetings!

chat1cat1 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:20:24 +0000

My name is Contrano Evans and I live in Southern California in the San Fernando Valley area. I’m in my third year in the SLIS program attending on a part-time basis. I hope to complete the program by spring 2013. My undergraduate degree is in Psychology from Woodbury University in Burbank, California. My library experience: I currently work as a library technician in the periodical department at a local community college library. I’m responsible for ordering and tracking the library periodical subscriptions and I also help out at the circulation desk. I’ve worked in libraries for over 20+ years, in both academic and public libraries.

I have very limited knowledge/experience with programming, having taken only one dBase class many years ago. I would like to learn programming so I can develop my own webpage and more importantly to help with redoing the website at the library I work at.

One usually factoid about me is my secret love for my friend two cats. One year ago I moved in with my friend who has two cats Henry & Irma. Until that time, I did not like cats or

Hello all!

Joshua Shulman — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:48:58 +0000

Greetings from Whittier, CA -

My name is Joshua Shulman. I am currently enrolled in the second semester of my MLIS program, and I hope to graduate in Spring of 2013.

I have absolutely no programming/web development experience whatsoever. I have familiarized myself with certain concepts and I am not entirely without knowledge of html or css, but I have yet to put my inquiries into practice. As such, I am very much looking forward to this class.

Unusual factoid: As a result of several substantial knee injuries, my legs are held together with pins and screws. As a result, I occasionally omit geriatric complaints of pain, despite my mere 33 years here on this planet. Whether or not I walk with a cane, people often comment on my resemblance to Dr. House. Furthermore, I have been known to set off alarms at airports.

I look forward to the class curriculum and I send my best wishes to all of my remote classmates. It is a pleasure to work with you.

Regards,

Joshua Shulman