Summer Learnin’: Attending Conferences

Here at Hack Library School, we are pretty firm believers in the value of attending conferences.  We’ve talked about why you should attend conferences, how to hack academic conferences, and presenting at conferences.  Now that the academic year has ended for many of us, conferences are a great way to continue our library education during the summer months!

Conferences provide us with opportunities to network with other librarians and information professionals and learn about things that may not be covered in library school classes.  As an added bonus, they are usually significantly less expensive for students, so now is a great time to take advantage of them! There are a variety of conferences taking place this summer, ranging from the all-encompassing (ALA Annual) to those that are much more specialized in terms of discipline and geographic location.  Here are a few conferences you might want to think about attending this summer:

Getting Through the End-of-Semester Slump

The end of another academic year is upon us.  Here at Syracuse, we have a little more than two weeks left in the semester, and, as usual, that means that things are coming together in a perfect storm of final projects, presentations, and other end-of-semester tasks.  I’ve been running around like a crazy person, trying to finish projects, schedule webinars, attend campus events, and see classmates who will soon be graduating or leaving for the summer.

All of this end-of-semester craziness has sent me into a serious slump.  I find myself lacking the motivation to work on projects, putting off routine schoolwork until the last minute, and avoiding anything that requires making a decision.  Recently I’ve had to resist the urge to curl into a ball and cry because of the pressure to just do all the things.

Despite all of my wishful thinking, though, these things aren’t going to disappear.  Projects need to be finished, classes require participation, and I still want to do what I can to become a great librarian, even in the midst of my slump.  So how can we make it to the end of the semester without suffering a nervous breakdown?  Here are some thoughts:

Online Classes: A Non-Love Story

So here’s the deal, HLS friends: despite the fact that I am a documented introvert, I like to do my learning in an actual classroom.  I know that many library school programs are online, and that this format is convenient for people who don’t want to leave good jobs, or who can’t pick up and move to a new location, or who have to take care of their families.  There have even been several posts here at Hack Library School in support of online education.  But I made the decision to leave my job and move to a new place and go to school full-time because I wanted the experience of an on-campus program.

So what, exactly, is the problem?  Well, there are many things I love about my library school program.  However, enrollment in my specialization is small, and many of those who are enrolled choose the distance program; as a result, the majority of our classes are online.  Last semester, I took only core classes, so this semester is my first experience with online courses.  And I am going a little bit crazy.

Library School Resolutions

Happy New Year, hackers!  I hope that everyone had a nice, relaxing holiday break, and that you’re all refreshed and ready for a new semester.  With classes starting next week for me, I thought I would take some time to come up with a few resolutions to guide me through this next year of library school.  So without further ado, here they are:

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Media

I’d like to start my tenure here at Hack Library School with a dose of brutal honesty: I’m not a huge fan of people.

Ok, to be fair, it’s not that I don’t LIKE people.  It’s just that, as an introvert, I find them exhausting, and the prospect of seemingly endless conversations with strangers gives me serious anxiety.

As a grad student who would, one day, like to find a full-time, paying job, I realize the importance of networking.  I know that going to conferences and seeking out new connections in the library field is an excellent way to learn new things and perhaps even procure gainful employment.  I also know that I rarely have the desire to walk up to strangers, awkwardly introduce myself, and attempt to make library-related small talk.  So what’s a library student to do?