Head Tale

I’ve had a couple chances to plug my blog in front of the new semester of students in the last couple weeks (and have had a few compliments on the content from people who’d checked it out – thank you very much!) 

But obviously not everybody’s going to take the time to browse or search through the whole thing going back to February to see every little thought I’ve had about this program.  So I thought it might be helpful to make one central post that collected links to a sort of “Best of” my thoughts on library school and libraries, maybe even link to it from the sidebar so that it’s always front and centre for any future students who may be looking for information.

Jason’s “Best of” Blog Posts About The University of Western Ontario’s Library School and Libraries in general

• 5 Easy Ways To Improve Library School
• 5 Things You Can’t Say About Libraries, Librarians and Library School
  
• 10 Reasons You Should Read at the FIMS Freedom to Read Event in February
  
• 10 Tips For New Library School Students
  
• 10 Things I’ve Learned in Library School (So Far)
• 12 Library Student “Types”
  
• 50 Great Things About FIMS – if the one below this is the granddaddy of all lists, this is the baba of all lists – warm, embracing, good-natured.
• 50 Ways To Improve FIMS– the granddaddy of all lists about the program
• A Day Without Thoughts of Library School (While Hanging Out With Library School Students Discussing Library Related Topics All Day) – some general musings on the program
• A New Name for Patrons? – in response to the growing prevalence of the term “customer” in place of “patron”, I make an alternate suggestion.
• A Week of Learning at FIMS – an overview of a typical week (such as it is) at FIMS
• A Typical Day At Library School – my attempt to break down how I spend the 36 hours there are in the day
• Distance Courses: The Good and Not So Good
• FIMS Groups and Forums – message boards and other places to find more info online about FIMS
• Five Minute FIMS Survival Guide – some practical suggestions
• Freedom To Read Week 2007 – I did a week-long series on various aspects of Freedom of Expression during FTRW 2007
• Frequently Asked Questions – an FAQ about FIMS from the student perspective
  
  
• Hypothetical Reality – an attempt to define library school in a single pithy phrase (and 22 comments must be close to a record for a non-grad/non-baby announcement post)
• Interview Questions – some interview questions I was asked when applying for jobs after convocating.
• Library School Bondage – other than being my favourite post title of all-time, this is actually about some ways to bond with your classmates right away (although I guess actual bondage might work too )
• Library School Slogans – some humourous suggestions for your class t-shirts
• My Top Ten Memories of My Year at FIMS – my final book zine submission
• My Perfect Program – classes and professors I’d suggest to give you the maximum amount of knowledge and exposure to great instructors
• My Statement of Intent – the piece I wrote to get into the program.  This entry also leads to three other students’ Statements of Intent who posted theirs in response to mine.
• Notes from a Q&A Session with Acting Associate Dean, Lynne McKechnie in Summer 2006 – a very candid talk Lynne did with students, answering any questions we had about the program and other related issues giving very forthwright answers to many common questions, complaints and urban legends around the program.
• One Thing Every LIS Student Needs To Know – I asked my blog readers to contribute to this thread to give a wider range of suggestions than I might come up with by myself.
• Pamphlet for Incoming Students – a brochure a fellow student council member and I did on behalf of Student Council that could be sent out with the incoming student information package.  (No idea if this ever happened and I make no warranties that any of the things listed still happen.)
• Reading Library School – some thoughts on what you might actually read while you’re here (besides the required readings of course)
• Slogans for a New Librarian
• Tips For Designing A Web Page
• Tips For FIMS Professors
  
• Tips For People Not Going On Co-op
  
• What Library Schools Still Aren’t Teaching Us – I riff on a list Jess Nevins wrote for “Revolting Librarians Redux”
• When Is The Best Time To Start Library School? (Winter, Summer, Fall)
  

 

You can also scan through the category and keywords for “library school” for less specific but hopefully still relevant posts.

Here are some posts, both re-posted on my blog and found elsewhere, of relevant library school-type information:

 

• 10 Rules for New Librarians – Web 2.0 Guru, Michael Stephens

 

 

• Advice for Library School from an (Almost) Librarian
  – Student Council President and Spirit of Librarianship winner,
  Michelle L. posts some advice for incoming students as she nears the
  end of her program. 

 

 

• Final Thoughts on Western’s MLIS Program – Warren L, Libre-arian
• Job Hunt Skills For Recent Grads – by Florence H., recent grad
• Mike’s Top Ten Ways to Astonish and Annoy Your Professors
  – one of our more shit-disturbing classmates (and I say that with a
  slightly envious tone) submitted a Top Ten list to our Book Zine
  comprised of some outrageous things he’d said or done in class.
  
  
• Random Facts and Opinions About FIMS – my classmate Lauralee G. has posted an FAQ-type entry over on LiveJournal
• What I Wish ‘They’ Had Told Me When I Started Out In Library School – By former CLA President, Wendy Newman

 

Hmm, this is probably a good place to link to the assignments I’ve been brave enough to upload as well. 

Selected Library School Assignments I’ve Uploaded

• My Statement of Intent – I know I linked to it above but it fits in both categories.  Again, it also leads to three other Statements of Intent as well so you can see the different ways people approach it.

 

• The Tyranny of Marks – a bit of a rant about marks and a list of the grades I received in each of my 15 FIMS classes
• 501 – Useless As Tits on A Bull: User Fees in Alberta Public Libraries – topic essay for Information Policy week of Perspectives on Library & Information Science
• 503 – Which of P. Dewdney’s Articles Has Been Cited The Most? – Reference Question for Reference Services & Sources (As you’ll see when you follow the link, I got a good mark on this assignment but you probably don’t want to do your RQ’s this way.)
• 504 – Is Wikipedia A Useful Initial Resource in A Public Library Setting? – final research proposal in Research Methods
• 525 – My Experience With Secure Public Access Computing – weekly topic report in Managing Internet Information
• 532 – The Universal: Television, The Internet and the End of Space & Time – a presentation for a joint journalism/library class. I’ve uploaded the presentation to Slideshare.net but without my notes and some of the transitions/audio, it might not be as clear as it should be.  Sorry about that!
• 566 – The Experiences of Male Patrons in a Children’s Library – “Choose Your Own” essay topic in Children’s Lit
• 697 – Standing Order: The Relationship Between Book Publishers and Public Libraries in Canada – independent study

 

And here’s a link to the page that Sabina and I made for the Spirit of Librarianship Award.

Finally, here’s a list of posts that are relevant to life as a working professional librarian…

• Five Things I Learned in Library School That *Actually* Helped Me (And Five Things I Wish I’d Learned)
• My Five Most Useful Classes of Library School
• Take The First Thing Offered v. Holding Out For A “Real” Librarian Job – advantages and disadvantages of each option