First Semester Completed!

I woke up early this morning and decided to add graphics and additional links to my LIS 2600 portfolio - my last project due this term! It hasn't really hit me yet that this semester is over. It will be so nice to have a month to catch up on chores and pursue other projects. And just maybe the sun will decide to visit western PA for a few weeks in August. Wouldn't that be nice?

I'm also going to start volunteering at my community library soon, which I hope will help me decide if I want to work in a public library setting. I'm going to help out with the web site, which will be fun.

I registered for the next two required courses in the program for fall 2009 (6 credits). They are LIS 2005: Organizing and Retrieving Information and LIS 2700: Managing Libraries and Information Systems and Services in Changing Environments.

I want to give a shout out to my good friend and former University of the Virgin Islands colleague Merritt (pictured on the left), who introduced me to Pitt's MLIS program. I just talked to her yesterday and told her to check out my blog. Merritt was one of the USVI cohort students on St. Croix. I thought she was crazy to pursue a graduate program while working full-time managing the university bookstore, but she completed the program. I wasn't interested in library science at the time, but I did think the courses sounded interesting. It wasn't until this year that I looked into the program for myself. So thanks, Merritt!

Struggle with External CSS

I had a terrible time over the weekend creating an external style sheet and getting it to work. I finally broke down and asked my husband to help me.

When I first started assignment 8 I couldn't figure out how to get Nvu to open up the .html file I created for assignment 7, so I tried with KompoZer. It worked, and I continued using that program.

For the CSS file I couldn't find a text editor in my Mac applications that worked (TextEdit wouldn't let me save the document as .css). I downloaded a program called CSSEdit, which was very helpful because it color coded everything. You can also click on "verify" to see if the code is correct. If there is an error, it will tell you which line is the problem.

To upload the files to the unix server I used a program called Cyberduck my husband suggested since I was having trouble with FileZilla. I guess trying out a bunch of free programs was all part of the learning experience.

Now on to the final assignments for LIS 2000 and 2600...

Cohort 9 Rocks!

Even more enjoyable than seeing my old hang-out spots at Pitt was meeting my fellow MLIS students (cohort 9 is pictured on left), faculty members, and our SIS librarians.

It was helpful to experience face-to-face classes with Dr. Alman and Dr. Tomer. I also enjoyed learning about the history of the University of Pittsburgh, the Cathedral of Learning, and the library science program from Dr. Biagini. She is the new chair of the department and is very enthusiastic and interesting to listen to.

The guest speakers representing the different types of librarians (academic, archivist, public, school, and special) was a highlight for me. I am still undecided between academic, public, or special libraries, so I am glad there is an individualized option. At least I can rule out archives and school librarian.

Spending time with other MLIS students was definitely the best experience. At Sunday's dinner I enjoyed meeting Amiya, Lori, and Pasha, who all work at the public library in Cleveland. When I travel there, I will need to stop by and visit. Lori Sheetz and Becky also sat nearby and we all had a great time.

I also went out to dinner Monday with Jenny P., which was really fun. We have a lot in common. We went to Peter's Pub - mainly because it was close and we needed a drink. I wish we had more time to go somewhere outside of Oakland (like Station Square, South Side, or even Shadyside), but we both still had so much reading to do and were still working on our group project.

I feel bad for those who didn't get to experience Pittsburgh outside of Oakland. There was an afternoon set aside for exploring the city, but many people used that time to meet with their groups, read, and work on assignments.

Our "hot topic" group presentations were held on the last day. My group (pictured, from left: Laura, Jen P., me, Jillian, Becky, and Sam) worked well together. We were scheduled last, though, and our presentation (as well as others) ran over the 30-minute time limit so we had to stop and then finish after the faculty members visited. I wish we had gotten those over with earlier. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again in October!

Cathedral of Learning's Nationality Rooms

I loved spending time on campus at Pitt. It was exciting to visit the historic academic buildings again in Oakland, especially the Cathedral of Learning.

After lunch in the basement food court (worse than I remember, unfortunately), a group of us hoped to check out the nationality rooms, but they were locked and we didn't have time to get a key for the self-guided tour. We did get in the Russian room, which was unlocked. I had a few classes in them as an undergrad and really wanted the group to see more rooms. I later heard from someone that they were closed during the afternoon set aside for exploring Pittsburgh. That's a bummer. Perhaps the faculty could arrange a group tour for another time.

Another option, if you cannot visit the Nationality Rooms in person, is to take a virtual tour online. It's pretty cool, actually.

I also enjoyed seeing sites of personal interest, such as my old dorm and apartment complex, the restaurant where I worked, as well as a visit to Peter's Pub, one of many bars I frequented when I wasn't studying or working.

Awful Library Books

The blog Awful Library Books catalogs the worst books found on library shelves. Yesterday's post was "I Want to be a Librarian" from 1960. The blogger wrote: "Thanks to anonymous submitter for this wonderful relic from the past! Submitter says there is lots of information about the card catalog and finding good books. (I wonder if this counts as a good book?) I quickly breezed through the WorldCat holdings and A LOT of public libraries are hanging on to this title. Please do the profession a favor and get something more current." I found this blog through a Times article article about it. It also has a presence on Facebook and Twitter. Good for a laugh now and then.

Need Motivation? Watch This.

This is a great motivational video.

Schoolwork and Babysitting

I'm going to help babysit my niece and nephew tonight. They are a handful! This photo of Lexi and Zach was taken at a 4th of July picnic.

I'm also working on school work today. I already know HTML so I was going to use a free WYSIWYG editor for the technology assignment to get it done faster and spend more time reading. I created a page using iWeb, which is part of iLife which came with my MacBook, but I can't figure out what to do next. To upload it, it appears you have to subscribe to Apple's MobileMe service. You can get a 2 month free trial, but you have to sign up using a credit card and unless you remember to cancel, you get charged a $99 annual fee. I don't want to take that chance. I couldn't find the HTML code in iWeb (I thought maybe I could copy and paste it), so I guess I'll have to do the assignment again using HTML in NotePad unless I can find something else to use online.

Update: NotePad is not free, so I ended up using Nvu Web Authoring Software, which was free and very easy to use. Uploading the html page to the host using Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) was more challenging. I used FileZilla after reading the comments on the discussion board. Thank goodness for the course discussion board and Tim the TA.

My final webpage is not very exciting but it meets the assignment requirements (to recreate the look and feel of an early edition of the work): http://www.pitt.edu/~afg17/thoreau_fragment_1.html

Now on to more reading...

Jackson Funeral Shown at Baltimore Library

(This is a good example of how public libraries are becoming more focused on community and social events.)

BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― As millions watched the memorial on TV around the world, hundreds of people gathered at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, where the memorial was streamed live on big screens. Gigi Barnett reports what it was like to be with that big crowd.

It was a part of history they couldn't miss, a chance to say goodbye to the King of Pop for dozens of Enoch Pratt Library visitors.

"People really don't have a chance to show their remorse and how sad they are and this is the one chance they get," said Library Spokesman Roswell Encina.

Some brought their children. "It felt weird without him around," said Elizabeth Woods.

Others saw the simulcast as a chance to remember the past and the music. "His whole life span just intrigued me," said Rodney Franklin. "He was more than just what everyone sees him on the screen and the entertainment world. He was a human being."

The library says part of the reason it decided to simulcast the memorial service is the increase in Michael Jackson's popularity since his death. All of his CDs and books are checked out.

"Every time something like this happens, people want to learn more. From books to CDs to movies to everything and we're happy that they're coming to us," Encina said... (full article)

Still Reading . . .

More reading to do, plus a technology project. I hope I can finish everything in time. I'm looking forward to being on the Pitt campus again. I really enjoyed my undergraduate years there. It looks like we will have good weather, too!

Reading . . .

I'm trying to finish the 3 books and assigned articles and write the essay due tonight for LIS 2000. This is the hardest writing assignment yet. Then I need to work on the group project and read another 2 books for the classes at Pitt. This is a challenging week.

Koha is Done - Finally!

The Koha assignment was taking me SOOOO long the last two days. It was very frustrating. I watched the video tutorial a few times to get the hang of it, but it was just taking so long and I had to restart the Firefox browser several times. I kept getting a message saying that a script wasn't working. I think it had to do with the Google toolbar. Today I used a different browser, Safari, and it was much faster.

Now on to the essay assignment...