Despite a deep seated conviction that I was completely wrong about having class today, I managed to drag myself from my cozy bed to prove that I was right about having class.
My very last class of the semester.
A review slideshow filled with stars! And yet, taking notes just felt so redundant somehow...
I was told that the TA is apparently not marking anyone's papers past the tenth page. But this was the class that gave no indication of how many pages the assignment needed to be, so I hardly think that's fair. This is why providing page maximums at the least is an absolute necessity. Regardless, I'm pretty sure the prof was marking ours, not the TA. So I guess ballet was the best choice after all!
Today's lesson was taken from our review. My family loves doing crosswords, so I'm surprised this didn't jump out at me the first time through the course material...
Lesson 61: People often call library reference desks when they're doing crossword puzzles or trivia.
When that happens, the resource that has been suggested to us is Credo which has a crossword solver which also functions as an anagram solver!
Honestly, I'm kind of worried about this exam, because it seems really hit or miss as to when she will or will not accept "Wikipedia" or "Google" as an answer, and when it's actually the answer she'd prefer...
Besides class, I also got some absolutely marvellous news, though I can't reveal it just yet, edited a friend's paper, and am more than a third of the way through the 2nd book from A Song of Ice and Fire. As well, I'm thinking about taking a fitness class at the Student Fitness Centre in the new semester... Kind of torn between "Stroke Improvement", because my swimming isn't as strong as it could be, and "Abs, Back and Bootie", which a few of my Quidditch friends are also doing and have taken before... hmmm...
Also, the strike is officially over! Thank goodness!
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label projects. Show all posts
Monday, December 5, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Day 57: Extensions R Us
My last project was meant to be due today, but the prof gave the entire class a two day extension last week, so it's actually due Thursday.
And I still have no idea why he gave the extension. Hrm...
Today was painful, yet productive.
First of all, who ever said that working in a library is safe? I accidentally stabbed myself in the hand with a letter opener and got two paper cuts, all within 15 minutes! And one of those paper cuts I didn't notice until after it happened despite the fact it's under my nail! Ouch.
That's not to mention me pulling muscles trying to retrieve "Medical Surgical Nursing" (a single textbook, which according to Amazon weights 4.8kg) from reserve for people, or getting my fingers/hand caught in scissors or between piles of books and desk. Because I'm awesome.
Second, figurative pain. And today's lesson.
Lesson 56: No matter how careful, conservative and gentle you are, everything needs to be replaced eventually. Like my favourite black purse. Poor purse...
But isn't it just my luck that everything needs replacing at the same time? I ran out of all my toiletries, all of my food staples, and clean clothes to wear within the same few days.
I know living isn't cheap, but having to buy/pay for all those things on the same day is just painful.
Though it did mean that I got some nice smelling new soaps, went to the bank, did my grocery shopping AND did my laundry all in one day.
Being all productive...
Like an adult!
However, it wasn't caffeine withdrawal that had me feeling hungover yesterday. The cough has been joined by a killer sore throat that appeared out of nowhere and within a matter of hours started affecting my ability to speak...
I'm sick.
Well, better sick for exams than sick for projects.
I guess.
And I still have no idea why he gave the extension. Hrm...
Today was painful, yet productive.
First of all, who ever said that working in a library is safe? I accidentally stabbed myself in the hand with a letter opener and got two paper cuts, all within 15 minutes! And one of those paper cuts I didn't notice until after it happened despite the fact it's under my nail! Ouch.
That's not to mention me pulling muscles trying to retrieve "Medical Surgical Nursing" (a single textbook, which according to Amazon weights 4.8kg) from reserve for people, or getting my fingers/hand caught in scissors or between piles of books and desk. Because I'm awesome.
Second, figurative pain. And today's lesson.
Lesson 56: No matter how careful, conservative and gentle you are, everything needs to be replaced eventually. Like my favourite black purse. Poor purse...
But isn't it just my luck that everything needs replacing at the same time? I ran out of all my toiletries, all of my food staples, and clean clothes to wear within the same few days.
I know living isn't cheap, but having to buy/pay for all those things on the same day is just painful.
Though it did mean that I got some nice smelling new soaps, went to the bank, did my grocery shopping AND did my laundry all in one day.
Being all productive...
Like an adult!
However, it wasn't caffeine withdrawal that had me feeling hungover yesterday. The cough has been joined by a killer sore throat that appeared out of nowhere and within a matter of hours started affecting my ability to speak...
I'm sick.
Well, better sick for exams than sick for projects.
I guess.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Day 56: OMG? Nope! OMP! One more project!
Handed in my group's Bibliographic and Factual Sources report today.
What an interesting experience.
Let me sum up:
Some information necessary to answer our question (we chose a question about ballet) was 100% not available. We asked the source directly; they haven't even released it yet. I hate red herrings.
Equal division of labour does not always wind up equal. We split the questions in a way that should have been exactly equal and made complete sense, and yet, I feel like my end wasn't nearly as intense.
No page count was listed, but apparently, we were potentially 4x longer than the limit.
So here's a lesson for any future MLIS students in Bibliographic and Factual Sources...
Lesson 55: Ask about the page limit.
Our paper was 15 pages long, plus 3 pages of references, just to answer all the questions put forth in the assignment. I honestly don't think there was much we could have cut out. Between the topic summary, methodology and search strategies, and all of the answers to our hypothetical client's answers, we could have maybe cut a page without sacrificing something that was directly asked for in the assignment.
However, apparently two of our classmates had asked what the page count should be. One was told, emphatically, by the prof "Please don't make it too long!". The other was told by the TA that it should be 5-7 pages.
That would have been good information to have.
Our M.O. was "as long as it needs to be to contain all necessary information".
But ya, awesome.
On the other hand, I only have one more project to do! Then it's exams! Then I go home! *happy dance*
What an interesting experience.
Let me sum up:
So here's a lesson for any future MLIS students in Bibliographic and Factual Sources...
Lesson 55: Ask about the page limit.
Our paper was 15 pages long, plus 3 pages of references, just to answer all the questions put forth in the assignment. I honestly don't think there was much we could have cut out. Between the topic summary, methodology and search strategies, and all of the answers to our hypothetical client's answers, we could have maybe cut a page without sacrificing something that was directly asked for in the assignment.
However, apparently two of our classmates had asked what the page count should be. One was told, emphatically, by the prof "Please don't make it too long!". The other was told by the TA that it should be 5-7 pages.
That would have been good information to have.
Our M.O. was "as long as it needs to be to contain all necessary information".
But ya, awesome.
On the other hand, I only have one more project to do! Then it's exams! Then I go home! *happy dance*
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Day 53: Old man yells at cloud
Or more accurately, young woman yells at internet.
Same difference.
My internet has been generally uncooperative all day. In fact, it has been for a couple weeks, it's just gotten worse. I'm not sure if this is a sign that my computer is dying, or that the internet quality in my area is just that bad. Could just be both.
In any case, as a result, I probably won't be able to publish this until tomorrow. But them's the waters.
Today's lesson is actually entirely unrelated to my rage against the (interconnected) machine(s).
Lesson 51: Google keeps a fully accessible archive of all its past Google Doodles, including the interactive ones, so you can go revisit, and play with, the best of the best in perpetuity. Including the PacMan one, and one of my all-time faves.
And this is totally MLIS related! First of all, I found this while doing my Dialogoogle project for Information System Design while googling halfheartedly for Google. Which kind of makes me wonder if googling Google on Google is like dividing by zero... But also, archives! Even fun, seemingly frivolous things need archiving! Particularly when they're as gorgeous as a lot of Google Doodles have been.
In fact, Google Doodles are so pretty, the Google store will even sell you some of them on t-shirts.
You know, even despite this Dialogoogle project, which is designed to make us hate Google, I still love it.
Can't take away my Google love!
Another fun fact: Google actually works via Pigeon. But that doesn't mean displaying a picture of "parrots posing seductively in resplendent plumage" will have an effect on your site's ranking!
Same difference.
My internet has been generally uncooperative all day. In fact, it has been for a couple weeks, it's just gotten worse. I'm not sure if this is a sign that my computer is dying, or that the internet quality in my area is just that bad. Could just be both.
In any case, as a result, I probably won't be able to publish this until tomorrow. But them's the waters.
Today's lesson is actually entirely unrelated to my rage against the (interconnected) machine(s).
Lesson 51: Google keeps a fully accessible archive of all its past Google Doodles, including the interactive ones, so you can go revisit, and play with, the best of the best in perpetuity. Including the PacMan one, and one of my all-time faves.
And this is totally MLIS related! First of all, I found this while doing my Dialogoogle project for Information System Design while googling halfheartedly for Google. Which kind of makes me wonder if googling Google on Google is like dividing by zero... But also, archives! Even fun, seemingly frivolous things need archiving! Particularly when they're as gorgeous as a lot of Google Doodles have been.
In fact, Google Doodles are so pretty, the Google store will even sell you some of them on t-shirts.
You know, even despite this Dialogoogle project, which is designed to make us hate Google, I still love it.
Can't take away my Google love!
Another fun fact: Google actually works via Pigeon. But that doesn't mean displaying a picture of "parrots posing seductively in resplendent plumage" will have an effect on your site's ranking!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Day 38: A Day Late on Group Work
So far, my first year of Library school has been very nearly exclusively group work. Group presentations, group creation of authority records, group creation of a bibliographic database, group annotated bibliographies, group research... you get the idea.
Most of these groups have been small, easy to organize, voluntary and efficient.
However, that kind of luck can only hold out so long... in my case, that was until yesterday.
A larger group, chattering with nervousness, all concerned about completely different issues, is like hitching horses to a cart pointed in opposite directions. Everyone gets worn out quickly and no one gets anywhere.
Lesson 38: I can be a better leader than I ever give myself credit for.
This is something I need to remind myself of, and more importantly, it can be true of just about everyone.
Just breathe, and look at the big picture. That was the only way I was able to get our (supposed to be) half hour group meeting done in under 2 hours. The solution I found was to go through and write down everything that needed to be done without, and this is the part my group seemed to have the most trouble with, worrying about who was doing what. Every time we got sidetracked with that, the group energy would just shoot off into a worry spiral. But focusing just on what needed to be done, we got a whole picture of everything that we could then slice up between us and ensure that the work was divided equally.
I just wish I could have executed that solution sooner.
Add that meeting to the list of things that should be followed by a stiff drink...
Speaking of... apparently, grades for the database and the database quiz are up... I just really don't want to look at them. Some lesson this week will probably wind up related to that special kind of doom.
Turns out that's just for the other section. I get to live in ignorance and stay in the program just a little bit longer [/unnecessary theatrics, melodrama and exaggeration]
Most of these groups have been small, easy to organize, voluntary and efficient.
However, that kind of luck can only hold out so long... in my case, that was until yesterday.
A larger group, chattering with nervousness, all concerned about completely different issues, is like hitching horses to a cart pointed in opposite directions. Everyone gets worn out quickly and no one gets anywhere.
Lesson 38: I can be a better leader than I ever give myself credit for.
This is something I need to remind myself of, and more importantly, it can be true of just about everyone.
Just breathe, and look at the big picture. That was the only way I was able to get our (supposed to be) half hour group meeting done in under 2 hours. The solution I found was to go through and write down everything that needed to be done without, and this is the part my group seemed to have the most trouble with, worrying about who was doing what. Every time we got sidetracked with that, the group energy would just shoot off into a worry spiral. But focusing just on what needed to be done, we got a whole picture of everything that we could then slice up between us and ensure that the work was divided equally.
I just wish I could have executed that solution sooner.
Add that meeting to the list of things that should be followed by a stiff drink...
Turns out that's just for the other section. I get to live in ignorance and stay in the program just a little bit longer [/unnecessary theatrics, melodrama and exaggeration]
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Day 34: Feelin' pretty Charlie Brown
For those of you who don't know me personally, or at the least, haven't seen a picture of me, I have very curly hair. As in, I'm planning on being River Song for Halloween. Actually, I'm going to a mad scientist Halloween party, and archeology=science therefore, a sociopathic archeologist is a 100% valid costume.
But I digress, easy enough to do with my current mental state. Waaay too stressed for focus... which brings us to the lesson.
Lesson 34: My hair is a very accurate indicator of my stress level.
The frizzier and more Einsteinian my hair looks, the closer to the brink of dissolving into a blubbering mess I am.
And that is where I am right now. I had a major database project due at noon today, and I was fine until last night. But last night, my partner had finished the last of the work on our major database project when her netbook fell to the floor, crushing the poor USB stick protruding from its edge. The very same USB stick that contained our entire completed database.
Luckily, we had a backup on the school computers, but we still lost a good chunk of the work. So I went over to her place with my iPad and documented the damage, emailed the professor with photographic evidence to beg for mercy, tried to repair the stick, ordered us pizza and polished up the accompanying documentation so that she could blast through restoring the database without worrying about silly things like meals...
I mean, who needs food? Am I right? [/sarcasm]
This morning the professor got back to us, giving us a few extra hours to fix the damage before handing it in. Hallelujah! Mission accomplished.
But still, this morning every single hair on my head has decided it has a mind of it's own and is sticking straight out. And I could really care less. I have bigger fish to fry.
Like tomorrow's midterm. For the very same class we just handed in our database for.
:|
But I digress, easy enough to do with my current mental state. Waaay too stressed for focus... which brings us to the lesson.
Lesson 34: My hair is a very accurate indicator of my stress level.
The frizzier and more Einsteinian my hair looks, the closer to the brink of dissolving into a blubbering mess I am.
And that is where I am right now. I had a major database project due at noon today, and I was fine until last night. But last night, my partner had finished the last of the work on our major database project when her netbook fell to the floor, crushing the poor USB stick protruding from its edge. The very same USB stick that contained our entire completed database.
Luckily, we had a backup on the school computers, but we still lost a good chunk of the work. So I went over to her place with my iPad and documented the damage, emailed the professor with photographic evidence to beg for mercy, tried to repair the stick, ordered us pizza and polished up the accompanying documentation so that she could blast through restoring the database without worrying about silly things like meals...
I mean, who needs food? Am I right? [/sarcasm]
This morning the professor got back to us, giving us a few extra hours to fix the damage before handing it in. Hallelujah! Mission accomplished.
But still, this morning every single hair on my head has decided it has a mind of it's own and is sticking straight out. And I could really care less. I have bigger fish to fry.
Like tomorrow's midterm. For the very same class we just handed in our database for.
:|
Friday, October 7, 2011
Day 28: Everybody's workin' for the weekend... BUT NOT ME!
I was stressing so much about the assignment that was due today (having been extended from Wednesday, thank goodness). I mean, this week has been so tumultuous and overwhelming, between getting ridiculously sick on Sunday, and getting engaged on Wednesday, having assignments and tests and blaaaaaaaargh.... Anyways, as a result all my plans to work on this paper have been intended and dashed so many times I was worried it would never get done. But...
Lesson 27: Don't worry! Be happy!
Once all that stress and uncertainty is forgotten in the urgency and crush to complete it... All of a sudden it's completely doable, and all of a sudden... it's just done.
And so my break begins!
Turkey Time!
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