Graduate school – Page 2 – Plum Librarian LLC

9: The Polar Bear Book

Secretly, I wanted something very specific from my degree: skills to manage library websites. At the Library of Michigan, I’d been the web site administrator since the early 2000’s, mainly because I was conversant with the software. I was still full-time in the Braille and Talking Book Library, where I had also created an IntranetContinueContinue reading “9: The Polar Bear Book”

8: Cataloging fact #2: Mohammedanism

Peace Be Upon You In 1988, I went into my local public library (in a progressive, university town), looking for information on Islam. I was very proud of my facility with the card catalog and I went straight for the “I’s.” Nothing. I went to a librarian who cheerfully led me back to the wallContinueContinue reading “8: Cataloging fact #2: Mohammedanism”

7: Admission

Yup, it’s true, I’ve never shelved a book. I also did not understand the difference between the Dewey Decimal System and the Library of Congress Classification System until cataloging. Chapter 8 of my cataloging textbook provided me with that answer, including philosophical differences between the two systems dating back to Aristotle and involving the likesContinueContinue reading “7: Admission”

5: Reference: The Chase Calendar, Pyramids of Sandwiches, and the Fear of Public Speaking

My reference class was a morality tale on adult education. I had one general reference class and it was taught by a local library director. She was so dedicated, so knowledgeable, so wise, so hardworking, and so kind, that I feel affection for her to this day. She brought tome after tome after tome ofContinueContinue reading “5: Reference: The Chase Calendar, Pyramids of Sandwiches, and the Fear of Public Speaking”

4: Cataloging mischief and adjunct profs

My cataloging class was both the most challenging and the most entertaining course I took in graduate school. Don’t let anyone tell you that cataloging isn’t sexy, or fun! Anyone without a glimmer in their eye when they consider a MARC record is willfully avoiding the obvious. And it was taught by an adjunct prof.ContinueContinue reading “4: Cataloging mischief and adjunct profs”

3: Management II: First big lesson of library school

I did more than make friends during my Library Management course. I decided how to focus my attention. Because ivory towers are not real. Our first big assignment was to develop an enhancement to a library with a budget of $400,000, write a paper about it, and make a presentation. My group chose to addContinueContinue reading “3: Management II: First big lesson of library school”

2: Management I: Defeated by a book report

My first class in library school was Management. I was very excited. I was Going to Be a Librarian. The first assignment was a two-page report on a management title of our choice. Yes, a book report. I chose what I thought would be a profound and instructive text from the Harvard Business School. IContinueContinue reading “2: Management I: Defeated by a book report”