Well, I survived my "web institute" in Denton to jump start my MLIS program with them Eagles at University of North Texas. If that doesn't sound very impressive, let me just let you know that this institute consisted of four days straight of meeting and listening to 8 hours of power point lectures. The auditorium was full of about 200 other people and we all sat together learning about all the assignments we will have (it turns out to be lots) and hearing the professors go back and forth with the "you are going to absolutely die in the course" to the "oh don't worry - lot's of people have done this and so can you". I'll go ahead and say that it was actually helpful at first. You may even say there was some "synergy" in the room on the first day but that fades after going through the perpetual cycles one starts in those settings: eat, sit and drink, sit and drink, freeze from the AC, break - go to the bathroom, walk around outside, overheat and get a bit sweaty, return, sit and drink, sit and drink, freeze, lunch and so on. It was pretty cruel towards the end but I made it through. I think it may have even prepared me for the semester ahead in such courses as "Introduction to the Information Profession", "Public Library Management", and "Information Access and Retrieval" (why can't they just call that last one "Reference Work"? They seriously make us all sound like nerdy jerks when we call it that around other people.) The classwork will be pretty cool as I have a boatload of interesting sources to make into "annotated bibliographies". I also get to do these weekly "quests" for the reference class where I look up repudiable sources to find answers to questions like what a SAFFIR-SIMPSON DAMAGE-POTENTIAL SCALE is and how a HURDY DURDY instrument is played (if you're interested browse here under "stringed instruments"). Yep, it turns out that info science was a good choice for me. Despite the Medieval Club-soundingness of a quest, it turns out to be loads of fun. I'm not kidding. If you're interested in doing some yourself. Let me know and I will make up one for you. Heck, I'll do it right now. You can refer to this Super Duper Resource List my professor gave me. You won't be able to access the UNT sites but I'll make up a question that doesn't depend on those sources.
Okay let's see...
Try this one:
#1 Using an encyclopedia only (either print or electronic), find out who is the wife to the Norse god Thor. Who are his parents? Cite your source(s) used (either URL or title and page # of book used).
Did you like it? Here's one more and then I have to start actually doing my homework. (Only Swirly Patterns can tell me if this one is really true).
#2 Using a dictionary only (either print or electronic), find out what term(s) the British use to refer to a Senior Citizen. Cite your source(s) used (either URL or title and page # of book used).
Aren't you jealous you aren't in library school? Hey, you can still come up with your own quests though! Post any that strike your fancy while exploring that Super Duper List of mine. Research is fun!
2 comments:
I know what the traffic signs called them, and I know what the restaurants (offering the British equivalent of senior citizen discounts) called them, and they were two different things.
My sources: The Road sign on Mastrick Road and Friar Tuck's Fish and Chip shop, both in Aberdeen.
I won't post them in case someone else wants to guess.
It was these kinds of searches that made my reference class such a treat. Or was that the opposite of a treat?
You decide.
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