A new semester

After a month of organization I feel like I can jump into a busy semester, and busy year to come, with less ‘stuff’ (literally) on my mind!  Reeves and I decided to reorganize our two additional bedrooms and pretty much switch all the contents so we could utilize the space more efficiently.  I have also plowed through about a dozen projects including photo albums, file purging, closet reorganization, memorabilia consolidation and a few decoration projects.  It feels great to have had the time to get some of these things done!

BUT, school started last week and there goes all my free time! I have a strict study schedule (with small breaks for things like blogging) – in fact I spent 7 straight hours yesterday reading and doing research.  It really is going to be a busy semester! This semester I have 3 classes again including:

1)       The History of Books and Libraries (of which I am very excited – I know, I know, I am a geek)

2)       Collection Management

3)       Cataloging and Classification (very bizarre class – all about how one transcribes the bibliographic information you find on the verso side of the title page of a book – we learn were to put every space, comma and colon!!  There is more to the class than just this, but after flipping through our new cataloging ‘bible’ which is the 3 inch-think binder of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules [used by the Library of Congress], I think my brain hurts already!]

I have also taken on the responsibility of being the Chair of SJSU’s Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists.  The title is much more impressive than what I have seen of the position so far, but I am going to try and change this….in fact I have already been meeting with people to try and get our chapter more active both locally and nationally – we will see how it goes!

As excited as I am about a new semester again, it is tempered with a bit of a black cloud from the quality of the program and my feeling like a solitary student. I have one class that is totally online, one class that met for 2 days last week and now is all online and a third that attendance at the lecture-only class is optional (all the lectures are digitally archived on the web and can be accessed at any time) - I am starting to really crave some in-person interaction.  I have taken the attitude that you get out of the program what you put in, but the more I talk with other students and discover on my own, the more frustrated I become with SJSU and specifically with the SLIS.   Now the million dollar question….. how long do I push through this program to just get done, or find a program that is higher quality and has a director that actually care about the future success of their students! 

Well, enough distraction for today, the books are calling me back…..