Phases, or, Thoughts on Syracuse

December the 15th marks the conclusion of my studies for my MSLIS at Syracuse. I suppose that means that it's time for me to think about my experiences there, and perhaps share a few of those experiences with you. A year and a half ago, I applied to several schools for my library degree (I call it that as I think they all give them different acronyms). In no particular order, I applied to the University of North Texas, Rutgers University, University of Washington, and Syracuse University. I was accepted at North Texas, Rutgers (on a wait list), and Syracuse. Of all these universities, Syracuse was simply stellar in talking to me and getting me up to speed. That (as well as their reputation) had a great deal to do with my choice to pursue my MSLIS there.

Job Search Update

Readers,

As you might know I have been searching for a professional position as a librarian over the past month. After approximately 50 applications and several interviews (with a few different places), I am excited to share with you that I have accepted a position at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art as the Cataloger & Technical Services Librarian. Jen and I are both thrilled about the job, about the institution, and to explore an all new area. I just want to tell you that you'll see lots of updates about the move and our experiences moving and discovering a new place.

So, what does the position entail? Well, here is the official description:

The Cataloger/Technical Services Librarian’s primary responsibilities are cataloging, managing the library automation & e-resources technology, and receiving & processing materials for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Library. The Catalog/Technical Services Librarian will also support the museum’s general operation by participating on teams and projects, and serve as a reference librarian as needed.

So, I get to catalog and do reference - two of the things I love to do as a librarian! I will also have a hand in the creation, cataloging, and implementation of a new library collection, which is really thrilling. Any other questions? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!!

(Here's an image of the museum under construction as of February 28th of 2010. Click the museum's name above for recent photos!)

In Defense of the Museum

Last week in one of my classes, a discussion arose about whether or not digital libraries are "the great equalizer" in the "battle" between museums and libraries. As you can imagine, I had some things to share on this point, and so I want to share with you the original post, followed by my response.

Visual Explanations and Classification

Remember my previous post about Edward R. Tufte and Classification? Well, my presentation was well-received, and I would like to share it with you.

What is a Digital Library?

As I discussed earlier this week, my final semester at Syracuse as an MSLIS student started on Monday. During the course of the semester, as I have done in the past, I want to share with you discussions that arise from class, as well as questions that come to mind. This week, I (and my fellow students) have been asked to answer this question:

What is a Digital Library?

Fall Semester, 2010

Today marks the beginning of my final semester as an MSLIS student at Syracuse. It is frankly a bit odd to say that, but it is true. I will have been in graduate school for about a year and a half, much shorter (it seems) than many of my fellow classmates. I hope this semester is a great conclusion to the degree, as I am certainly taking some interesting courses:

Higher Education and Me

As I have mentioned in the past, I read most of my updates and such through Times for iPad and Flipboard. I recently discovered (through Flipboard) this article, which was fascinating to me:

Meritocrats, by Tony Judt

Though not explicitly mentioned in the title, this post was all about the merits and purposes of higher education. And though I did not attend Oxford or Cambridge, I share many of the same thoughts about higher education as Mr. Judt shares in the article - and reading that article inspired me to write about what my higher education has meant to me.

Conclusion of Summer School

Remember when you were in High School, and the term "summer school" had strongly negative connotations? It's where the bad kids went - and the good kids were threatened with it if they didn't "get their act together." Well, I never wanted to go to summer school in high school, but I confess to you that I love summer school in my undergraduate and graduate work.

Spring Semester Reflections

As of Friday of last week, I have completed my Spring semester at Syracuse in pursuit of my MSLIS. I have Summer and Fall to go, and I plan on completing my degree in December. Honestly, you probably already knew that, so let’s get right down to it - what was my semester like now that it has passed?

This was the busiest academic semester I have ever had, frankly. I don’t want to whine and moan about it, but I will tell you why in the course of this post. If you’ll allow me to toot my own horn a bit, I will share that I earned a 4.0 this semester, and have received very positive feedback on all my assignments this semester. Of course, I am still just a fledgling librarian, but I cannot say that doing well in my classes is injurious to my career.

That said, what did I take this semester?

Well, my final two required courses are out of the way now - the first of these required courses was IST 616 - Information Resources, Organization and Access. I called this class “basic cataloging and classification.” The course explored cataloging standards and formats (aka metadata) as well as looked broadly at classification schemes. I really enjoyed the broad view used in this class - I was exposed to many different standards and practices, making me a much more adaptable librarian. Here is a pretty good example of the “stuff” I did this semester:

















http://www.scribd.com/doc/30301737/Social-Tagging-Library-of-Congress%E2%80%99-Subject-Headings-and-Library-Catalogs
















The other required class was IST 613 - Library Planning, Marketing, and Assessment. The workload in this class was among the heaviest I have had, but in the end I produced a comprehensive project plan for a local library. As I know more, I will share it on here, but I have been asked to implement the plan. Fun! The course provided me with real-world project planning experience, which is very useful in my career.

And finally, what might have been my favorite class thus far, IST 604 - Cataloging of Information Resources. This class was an in-depth look at metadata creation, specifically with AACR2 and MARC. The class was very congenial, and it became more of a seminar type class rather than a normal class, with students and professor all working together and discussing.

Overall, I feel that I have really matured as a student and as a professional this semester, and have integrated many new concepts into my knowledge schema.

End of the Semester

Readers,

I know I haven’t been posting as much recently, but this and next week are the end of the semester. I am in the process of wrapping up a couple of major projects, and so I will be back writing then. In the meantime, if you want to know what the end of this semester is like, listen to this:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFq-HHA0k2E

Historical Maps Tutorial

Readers,

I just wanted to share with you that I just wrapped up another presentation about cataloging, and this one focuses on Historical Maps. I’ll embed it below, and here’s a link to it:

Historical Maps Tutorial

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Classroom vs Real World Experience

I’ve been thinking a great deal about all of the new knowledge I am assimilating in the course of my studies for my MSLIS. Mostly, it was because of this article by a newly minted librarian over at The Desk Set that gave me the catalyst for this post. I want to say first that in my experience, one is superior to the other - I firmly believe that the two are linked and are very much symbiotic.

I don’t know if I would call hands-on library education the “school of hard knocks” but it is certainly incredibly helpful to people earning their library degrees. Ideas, themes, lectures and readings can go only so far in education, and those ideas you are learning in class need to be tested in the real world so so you can discover how to best implement them, and if they even work for you in the first place. Interpersonal skills are very important in the library profession, and that certainly is not learned in the classroom. In addition, I would also say that there are some things best learned in a hands-on setting. Cataloging is a good example of this. No matter how much you look over AACR2 or MARC fields, you really need someone “looking over your shoulder” and guiding you along the path to the creation of “good” metadata and bibliographic records. To their credit, Syracuse does a great job of trying to integrate real-world learning with the topics you are learning in the classroom, much more so than what I have found at local library schools (please correct me if I am wrong). I do want to give a HUGE “Thanks!” to the staff of the Amon Carter Museum Library in giving me so much excellent, thoughtful, erudite, and patient instruction in my real-world learning!

However, based on my experience, real-world, hands-on learning should not be the only manner in which you learn skills and gain experiences. Nothing is a substitute for classroom learning. In the classroom, I am exposed not only to the things I know, but to other alternatives to the way I do things - methods which might be better than the ones I already employ. Also, in the profession, there is a certain jargon and preferred vocabulary that you only really learn through lectures, readings, and classroom discussions. Classroom based learning also exposes you to developing trends and ideas, allowing you to be very much up to date on key themes in the profession. Only with the classroom learning I obtained in my reference class could I be really good at answering patron’s questions at the Carter.

If you are in library school, I cannot urge you enough to find a library and volunteer so you can get real world learning along with your classroom instruction. As an added bonus, it makes you much more competitive in the job market!

Social Networking for Professionals

Every Wednesday, the American Library Association sends out an email titled American Libraries Direct. It’s a great summary of trends and topics in the profession, and usually has a few links in it I want to read more about it. The article Your Virtual Brand by Meredith Farkas was just one of those articles.

Ms. Farkas points out that for librarians (and I think more broadly, job seekers in general) having a professional online presence is important. She highlights several options - a blog, and an online portfolio. I would add to that (as she mentions in the article) Facebook, as well as the social networking site for ALA members, ALA Connect (which more librarians need to use - but that’s another post). This blog, for me, is part of my online presence, as well as my Visual CV, my Facebook, and my other accounts (Aardvark, flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo). That being said, social networking is not all fun and games, as Ms. Farkas points out - and this is something that is lost on many users of social networking sites (check out Lamebook (NSFW), for example).

As a user and consumer of social media, you need to be always cognizant of the people who can see the “stuff” you post online. Maybe this means setting up different groups on Facebook so you can better control who sees what information in your profile - a group for coworkers, a group for professional contacts, and a group for friends and family. Then, you can easily control the information you are sharing with certain groups of people. Or, you might not even want to post that questionable content online.

If done properly though, online sites like the ones I mention above are incredibly helpful in showing off your talents to prospective employers, but once again, you need to be cognizant of the content you are sharing. Not every single thing should be shared - only things that highlight particular skills you have. For example, on my Visual CV, I have two “portfolio” items - a video introducing my work in an online reference tool, as well as a presentation I created about bibliographic records. This will expand with the work I am doing for class this semester, as well as in my work at the Amon Carter and my internship. Like I mentioned before though, be selective - choose your best work from a skill set to share, and even then you might need to edit your work some. Have someone else look over it to make sure it looks its best.

Of course, you don’t have to do anything at all online. However, as Ms. Farkas points out, it really helps you to stand out in this competitive job market. I will tell you from personal experience that social networking and having an overall internet presence has allowed me to connect to and make acquaintances with people I am very happy to know but I would not have otherwise ever met.

What about you - any good tips for social networking online?

Open Source vs OCLC Paper

Readers,

As promised, here is my brief essay about OCLC and its open source alternatives. Enjoy, and if you have comments, etc, let me know!

Jason

OCLC vs Open Source by Jason Dean

Open Source vs OCLC

For my Cataloging course (I refer to it as advanced cataloging, as it is beyond the basic metadata class) I am required to examine a “special issue in cataloging.” For my topic, I selected the rise of open-source alternatives to OCLC. It’s not done yet, but to whet your appetite, here is the introduction. Let me know what you think!

Founded in 1967 as the Ohio College Library Center, OCLC was the world’s first highly successful version of a computerized network to share bibliographic data between libraries. Today, OCLC stands for Online Computer Library Center, reflecting its global reach and mission. The databases of OCLC hold “173 million bibliographic records that represent more than 1 billion individual items held by participating institutions.” These records are shared by the approximately 72,000 member libraries of OCLC, spread throughout the world. Why then would a library not want to be a member of this bibliographic juggernaut? This paper provides a broad survey of the positive and negative implications of using OCLC for bibliographic data sharing, as well as examining alternatives to OCLC, and their strengths and weaknesses.

ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition

Hello - I just would like to let you know that Jen and I will be attending the ALA annual conference in June - if you are going, we look forward to seeing you there! We are certainly excited to attend!

Link: Dear Steve Jobs, iBooks has me Nervous

Dr. Dave Lankes has posted his thoughts about the new iPad application, iBooks. I am a bit surprised by the lack of writing about this happening in the library blog community. However, Dr. Lankes has some great points, and to whet your appetite, here is a quote from his original post, as well as a link taking you there:

What makes me nervous about iBooks, the new eBook app from Apple targeted for their iPad, is not what you might expect. DRM, cost models doesn’t worry me. These are mostly imposed by the publishers, and we saw how this played out in music and MP3’s. It is certainly not that eReaders or the move away from physical books in some way endangers the future of the library. Libraries are about knowledge and facilitation, not artifacts and stuff.
No, what worries me about iBooks is that it is so damn boring. I actually found myself angry and disappointed after the big iPad announcement. I expected so much more. I was a little apprehensive about posting these thoughts because I haven’t actually seen the iBooks software. So for all I know, everything I am about to say is there, but there just wasn’t enough time to talk about them. So if that is the case, Apple, my bad. If not, what were you thinking?!
Link: Dear Steve Jobs, iBooks has me Nervous, by Dr. Dave Lankes.

Is Cataloging a Dying Specialty?

As a fledgling librarian interested in cataloging, the question “Is cataloging a dying specialty?” is one I have reflected upon at length. My answer to that question, is simply "no." Like so many emphatic statements, though, this one comes with exceptions and explanations. However, let me expound upon my “no” with three points.

First, someone has to catalog all these new items being produced, regardless of their format, etc. - that work has to be done by a person somewhere along the way. Irrespective of how automated processes become, an “actual person” will have to sit down and examine the item being cataloged, and then put that metadata into whatever form of record is used at that time.

Second, from an art library perspective (and one that actively collects photography monographs) a great deal of art publishing is moving to a "self-published" model, meaning that these items are not widely held, and nor would they typically be collected by the Library of Congress, or any copyright deposit library, leaving them uncataloged. This leaves the cataloging to the library which acquired the work, namely an original cataloging record. The photographer David Bram talks about this some, and highlights this in his blog post:

Book Publishing.

Third, even if there are records for the item being cataloged, the cataloger might need to make changes to the record in order to comply with the rules for their library, or a differing edition of the item. Even changing a cataloging record requires a decent amount of knowledge about standards and formats for cataloging.

In the course of my work at the Carter, I have found a myriad of older items that either lack a cataloging record, or have outdated (pre-AACR2r) records. These items must have records created for them, or need to be updated on a need-based system to integrate them into the catalog.

Is cataloging a growing field, though? I would say no to that as well - but not one that is dying.

Class Update

Next semester, I will take 9 hours of class credit. At the end of the semester, I will have 22 of 36 credit hours required for my MSLIS. It’s exciting to be over halfway through my degree program, and even though I don’t feel like I have learned a great deal, when I actually think about it and reflect upon it, I have learned so much. My classes so far, for the most part, have been great. So, let’s recap, shall we - as of December, here are the classes I have completed:

IST 601 - Introduction to the Library and Information Profession: A broad overview of the field and an orientation to the School of Information Studies. Describes the past, present, and future of information studies.
IST 511 - Information and Information Environments: Key components of the field and its relationship to other fields and professions. General structure, issues and problems, research, and literature.
IST 605 - Information Resources, Users, and Services: The discovery and use of print and electronic resources and delivery of services in libraries to meet information needs of varied patron communities in a broad range of contexts.
IST 600 - Library Budgeting
IST 600 - Library Marketing
IST 600 - Library Fundraising
IST 618 - Survey of Telecommunications and Information Policy - Public policy issues of the digital environment, including freedom of expression, intellectual property, economic regulations, privacy, security, access, standards, and dissemination of public information. Application of economic, legal, and political science concepts to policy analysis.

All in all, that’s 14 credit hours so far. Next semester, I will be taking:

IST 613 - Library Planning, Marketing, and Assessment: User-focused planning, marketing, and assessment of activities that support core functions of libraries, such as collection development, systems, and public services.
IST 616 - Information Resources: Organization & Access: Introduction to theories, tools, and standards for information organization and access, including cataloging rules and formats, content analysis, indexing, classification, and fundamentals of information retrieval systems.
IST 604 - Cataloging of Information Resources: Cataloging rules, standards, and metadata schemes; bibliographic utilities; formats of print and nonprint materials; cataloging software; management issues.

I am thrilled about what I am going to learn next semester. In my work at the Amon Carter Museum Library, I have already done some assessment, as well as cataloging - two areas (especially cataloging) that interest me very much. 604 means I get to become very familiar with two things - MARC, and AACR2. I’ll explain more about these standards soon, so stay tuned.

Educational Thoughts

I was reading Barack Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope earlier this week, and came across a thought-provoking quote about education, appearing on pages 192-193.

If we’re serious about building a twenty-first-century school system, we’re going to have to take the teaching profession seriously. This means changing the certification process to allow a chemistry major who wants to teach to avoid additional expensive course work; pairing up new recruits with master teachers to break their isolation; and giving proven teachers more control over what goes on in their classrooms.

It also means paying teachers what they’re worth. There’s no reason why an experienced, highly qualified, and effective teacher shouldn’t earn $100,000 annually at the peak of his or her career. Highly skilled teachers in such critical areas as math and science - as well as those willing to teach in the toughest urban schools - should be paid even more.

There’s just one catch. In exchange for more money, teachers need to become more accountable for their performance - and school districts need to have greater ability to get rid of ineffective teachers.

So far, teacher’s unions have resisted the idea of pay for performance, in part because it could be disbursed at the whim of a principal. The unions also argue - rightly, I think - that most school districts rely solely on test scores to measure teacher performance, and that test scores may be highly dependent on factors beyond any teacher’s control, like the number of low-income or special-needs students in their classroom.

But these aren’t insoluble problems. Working with teacher’s unions, state and school districts can develop better measures of performance, ones that combine test data with a system of peer review (most teachers can tell you with amazing consistency which new teachers in their schools are really good, and which are really bad). And we can make sure that nonperforming teachers no longer handicap children who want to learn.

Let me say, I am not endorsing this, nor asking you to accept it - I simply thought it was a thought-provoking article.

- Jason Dean