Not such a hot dog after all...

Dietz & Watson franks billboards: Dietz & Watson franks billboards - mcall.com

So, this article appeared in our local paper this morning and I couldn't help but post it on here since it's all about copyright. I drive past this billboard at least twice each day and, contrary to the woman in the article who blew the horn on the whole campaign, it doesn't make me think any less of Frank Zappa, Frank Lloyd Wright, or any other name they put on it -- it just makes me really hungry for a hot dog. Isn't that the point of the campaign? I think this woman took it way out of proportion, even if it is copyright infringement and is indeed allowing the company to make a profit when someone, like myself, buys a Dietz & Watson frank because the billboard made me hungry. This is an instance where creativity was thwarted for the sake of people who aren't among the living anymore. Granted, the estate of the two Franks would never had agreed to being a part of the campaign, which is just one reason why we have copyright laws, but I honestly don't see anything wrong with it. Thank goodness Benjamin Franklin is in the public domain now, so the campaign just may continue on...

I did it!!!!

I did it!!  I did it!!  Yay!!  Portfolio is done, complete with links to Jing video, blog, RSS for blog, Omeka link, Koha screen capture, and 'da Dickens.  Whew!  It took me a while and I had to play around a bit (and thank my lucky stars for my hero Tim and his CSS code share that I tweaked!), but it is finally complete!  I viewed the code on the website and my stylesheets are linked in, so we're good to go!  Hope I get full credit on this project -- I worked hard!  Here it is, in case anyone is interested.  Good luck, everyone!

CSS is not my friend!

I'm disowning kompozer and CSS, that's it!  I just can't seem to get them to work together!  I create the CSS exactly as THREE different tutorials say to, and the CSS overrides all of my pages' previous formats, however it does not apply the format I specified in the CSS!  I'm lost!!  Where's the life preserver!  I'll be so lucky if I can manage to finish with a "B".  Sigh... And the semester started off so well!

On a happier side note, I scheduled my wedding dress fittings!  Yay!  So excited!  I'm taking my bridesmaids and mother-in-law-to-be to a nice restaurant for Brunch on Sunday, August 8th, and then we're going to Alfred Angelo's to try on gowns.  Can't wait!

And the week just gets worse...

So, I just got a 16 out of 20 on my copyright essay for LIS 2000.  While this isn't bad, per se, I disagree with the grading on it and felt compelled to write the T.A. a very polite email asking for clarification.  I legitimately don't understand how my thesis of the need for change in copyright laws in order to keep libraries functioning to the best of their ability for their patrons does not apply to “the effects that copyright and other intellectual property laws might have on future library services.”  I seriously need this cleared up.  I'm gonna lose sleep.  No lie.  I've been working so hard all semester and now, between this and what will surely be a horrible LIS 2600 quiz grade, I feel like I'm losing it all.  The balls are starting to drop...   :(

Self-Deprecation

Okay, it's time for a bit of beating myself up here.  I was looking over my answers to the last quiz and realized that I totally bombed one of the questions.  An easy one, mind you.  I'm such an idiot!  And I KNEW what the question was asking but because I was so flustered not having known much about the first two questions and feeling like my answers weren't good enough for them, I rushed through this question in order to look up a bit more about the first two.  UGH!!!  I think I totally blew this quiz.  I'm so upset with myself!  What a rookie mistake!!

And now I'm all stressed out because I saw in LIS 2000 that we need at least a B (84-86) in both LIS 2000 and 2600.  I'm slightly worried about LIS 2000 just because I only got a 24/30 on my quiz, even though I have perfect scores on everything else, so I just hope I did well on the last essay.  Copyright is not my strong point (is it anyone's?!) and I am worried that I might have used a less formal tone in my paper to convey that, which Dr. Tomer might not appreciate.  (He's the one grading it.)  But I'm much more stressed about 2600 because I currently have a 91% (my only downfall was getting a 90.3% on the first quiz), so if I completely bombed this quiz, I might be in trouble.  I did the math but the points don't all add up correctly, so I'm not sure what I would end up with in "worst case scenario"-land.  Sigh...

My fiance keeps insisting that I not let this ruin my weekend, but I just don't know when to let go sometimes.  It's like in the movie Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (just watched it again this weekend -- LOVE IT!), "I chew on a problem until all the flavor runs out, and then I put it in my hair."  That's me, alright!

I blew it

Yep, I really did it this time.  I totally did terribly on the quiz for LIS 2600.  I was not as prepared as I should have been, which is completely all my fault.  And let me tell you, it's not easy putting technospeak in your own words.  I need to focus and keep my head in the game -- we're not quite done with the semester yet!  Sigh...  Just gotta keep being the "little engine that could"...

Blackboard and Barnes & Noble Partner to Streamline Access to Digital Content

Blackboard and Barnes & Noble Partner to Streamline Access to Digital Content

So, my two worlds collide again. Blackboard has just announced that they are partnering with Barnes & Noble to offer online higher education students the ability to work more seamlessly in their courses. Apparently, this new partnership will allow online students, us, to browse e-textbooks straight through Bb, which I would think would be dependent on how the facilitators are using Bb, but I guess we'll see.

I'm excited to see what this partnership will mean for our program, if anything. I am also waiting for the launch of NOOKstudy, which will allow college students to buy and browse e-textbooks on their PC or Mac, and they can make notes and highlight, among other features. Can't wait!

Insanity + school work = EXHAUSTION

Okay, so my fiance and I are pretty athletic people (although I'm terribly out of shape since we haven't worked out since April) and we are staunch advocates for the P90x program.  It really works, as long as you put in the time and effort, and make sure to alter your diet.  However, we've done the program at least three and a half times already and were looking for something else to get us motivated.

Enter Shawn T's INSANITY!  It's a crazy-hard workout -- think interval/circuit training but instead of a few minutes of hard work followed by a few minutes of rest, it's like 10-15 minutes of hard work non-stop with just a 45 second break in between.  Dang!  We did the "fit test" this afternoon and wow, was that difficult!  We made it through but it was tough!  Combine that with a full-time job and a bunch of school work and I'm bound to be exhausted!  I'd post a link to the program here so you could catch a glimpse of what it's about, but I'm worried about copyright infringement.  Hehe...  ;o)

Surprisingly easy

With just a bit of direction and some playing around, I managed to complete the fragment assignment in a mere hour.  Here's the link, in case anyone's interested:  http://www.pitt.edu/~sks55/

Good luck!

What the Dickens

Yeah, I made a lame joke, too.  I've been seeing a few funny ones around and thought I'd add my two cents.  I'm going to attempt to make the web page and Dickens fragment now, so wish me luck!

Fast Track weekend was so great and it was awesome meeting everyone!  I honestly didn't realize how important that visit would be until I was actually there.  The campus was gorgeous and, although I visited Pittsburgh many times because my mom had transplant surgery at Pitt's own UPMC so I've walked around the campus before, I had never been in the Cathedral for Learning before.  It was so beautiful!  I would love to live closer to campus so I could actually be an on-campus student.  I am liking the online program just fine, but the visit made me realize how much I miss seeing classmates and professors face-to-face.  I'll just have to settle for memories for now...  ;o)

Old School Strikes Again!

So, as I posted earlier, I had a field trip at my store yesterday with about 35 third and fourth graders.  One of the activities was a book talk where I introduced them to a bunch of neat mystery books (their day camp had a "Night at the Museum" theme and they wanted mystery incorporated into the FT).  I told them about some new stuff but I made sure to include good 'ol Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.  To my complete surprise, more than half of the students left with the "updated" Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys super mysteries!  I was so excited!  All those books to choose from and they went for the characters that have been around for longer than I have.  Sweet!

So, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm having a really hard time getting through The Wealth of Networks for LIS 2000.  Between the extremely hot weather (it was 101 degrees where I am yesterday and promises to be again today) and the fact that my house doesn't have A.C. (just window units), it was quite a struggle to get through 100 pages last night.  It is already hard to concentrate and the language the book uses make it so much harder to even get through a sentence.  I can't even tell you what I read last night -- I don't think I retained anything!  Let's hope tonight goes smoother...

Totally exhausted

...and I haven't even left yet!  Busy week:  Had 35 kids in for a field trip today and since our Children's Department lead quit last week with no notice, I was left to run the show -- good practice for becoming a school librarian; we have another field trip coming in tomorrow (gotta love summer school programs); local minor league baseball game to go to tomorrow night; packing and leaving Thursday afternoon; driving 5 and a half hours to my brother's house; then it's Fast Track weekend!  All while studying and reading in all the free minutes I can find, which unfortunately is not many.  I hope the midterm goes well.  I'm worried...

I'm excited to meet all my cohorts and professors, though.  Should be fun!  See you all soon!

Piece of cake

Well, after the immense help of a classmate and Dr. Tomer's tutorial, I managed to complete the Koha assignment.  It was really quite easy once I knew the basics of the program.  I had no idea what the z93.whatever button was for, and apparently that was the biggest piece of the puzzle.  I look forward to using programs like this once I am working in a library, now that I know how it works!

Off to watch the lecture on HTML, go to another baby shower, then a 4th of July picnic.  The rest of my 3-day weekend will be spent reading for LIS 2000.  Joy...

What a kill joy...

Not really, though.  Here is an interesting article by Michael A. Stackpole on The Huffington Post, titled "Will Ebooks Kill the Joy of Reading?"  Spoiler Alert! -- No, they won't.  Stackpole makes a great argument for why books are enjoyable in any format and also why staunch anti-ebook readers are actually already ebook readers and they don't even know it.  My favorite line: "The advent of ebooks is no more going to kill the pleasure of reading, than the introduction of the internal combustion engine made horses extinct."  Nicely done!  Don't get me wrong, I'm an avid real-paper-reader, but I do have to agree that people who are treating the advent of ebooks as the first sign of the apocalypse need to take it down a notch and get a new hobby.

Another weekend gone...

Welcome to Summer, everyone!  Enjoy the sunshine!  I tried reading The Meaning of Everything for LIS 2000 while laying out in the sunshine today, but that didn't last too long.  It was too hot and the book was not doing a good enough job of distracting me from the feeling of the sweat coming out of my pores.  Sorry, that was a wee bit too descriptive.  However, point made.

So, I was really hoping to complete the Koha assignment today.  I haven't been able to find the "rubric" and the "more detailed instructions" that the syllabus eludes to.  Does it exist?  If so, does anyone know where it is hiding?  I've been stalking the discussion boards all weekend but it is surprisingly quiet over there.  The calm before the storm?  I've been a lot less stressed and over school-worked lately, which leads me to believe I must be missing something.  And now the paranoia sets in...  (Insert creepy music here)

Google interest

All this talk about Google lately has me curious about how the searches really function.  Our required readings touch on the subject but, working in a bookstore, I have quite the selection of Google books to choose from for my research.  That's right, folks!  I'm going to read about it instead of just looking it up on the internet!  I just wish I had more time to read for enjoyment.  Oh well, such is the life of a grad student!  I'll be purchasing Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know tomorrow.  When I'll actually get to read it, who knows.  Perhaps on vacation in August.  Here's hoping!

I was quite pleased with my quiz grade -- 90.5 out of 100.  I think I know where the half point came from.  I'm not sure about anyone else but when I took the quiz that Friday night, there was a verb missing from the extra credit question; it didn't specify whether they wanted a comparison or the differences between or...  So I gave a blanket answer which included my idea that they were related and that I thought the question might be missing a vital component that would allow me to give a complete answer.  Perhaps they were kind enough to give me a bit of credit for my observation skills.  Oh, and there was one question that I totally didn't know the answer to.  I honestly think they put it there to see if anyone was cheating because, after jotting it on my napkin during the quiz, I went back to check the answer later and I can't recall having ever heard the term.  If we did, it might have just been in passing.  I had no idea what the answer was when I took the quiz and I wrote exactly that in the answer box.  Maybe that half point was credit for my sarcasm!  Hehe...  Anyway, I think they put a lot of what they said they were going to on the quiz, so I really wasn't surprised by anything other than a few of the terms we had to define, which were easy except for the one I had never heard of, and the extra credit question.  That said, I look forward to making more flashcards to study for Round Two!

Quiz Grade

Okay, so has anyone else received their quiz grade yet?  I'm so anxious to find out -- shocker, I know!  I'm just worried because there was one short answer question that I might have totally blown, another definition/acronym question that I had absolutely no idea what it mean (I even wrote "I have no idea" as my answer), and I didn't know the answer to the extra credit question.  In my defense, there was definitely a word missing in the question when I took the quiz that Friday night.  I wasn't sure if they wanted a comparison or if they wanted to know what the two had in common, or...  Oh well, I guess I got what I got.  Now I'll just have to wait and see.  Perhaps they are going in alphabetical order as they grade -- this is when it really sucks to have an "S" name...  Hope everyone did well!

Am I missing something?

Wow, for once I feel like I'm finally on-pace for LIS 2000 and 2600.  I must be forgetting something.  Granted, I still need to catch up on some readings but that can't be all, can it?  I've posted on the LIS 2000 discussion board and I've watched both lectures.  I have to be leaving something off the agenda.  Oh well, I'm sure by the time I figure it out, it'll be too late.  Or perhaps I'm finally figuring out how to manage my time.  Nah, I'm probably missing something.

So, I'm reading The Access Principle for LIS 2000 and it's really not a bad read.  Not as interesting as I found some of the other titles, but not too bad.  I'm definitely happy the ePrints assignment was scratched.  Don't get me wrong, I actually like doing the technology assignments (for the most part), but it is great to have a break, so to speak.  I have a rough work week ahead -- a lot of physical work (not usually my department but I'm a team player so...) and I have to be in 7 am everyday and 5 am on Friday.  I'm used to 8 am days, so it's going to be an adjustment to say the least.

Oh, and a small side note, my fiance and I are going to get back into P90X this week.  Well, actually we're going to do some light cardio this week and then next week it's off to the races!  The program really works but it is such a butt kicker!  Sigh...  I'm tired just THINKING about it!  How am I going to do all of this?!?!

Done and Done

Okay, Omeka done and I completed the quiz on Friday evening -- figured I'd get it done before I started second-guessing my study efforts.  Hope it didn't backfire on me!  I made flashcards and everything!  My fiance hated quizzing me with my bright pink flashcards; apparently they were too "bright" for him.  Haha!

Omeka wasn't that difficult once I figured out what I was supposed to be doing and where to get it from.  It took quite a while, though.  Omeka is not nearly as user-friendly as Zotero and some of the other programs we've been using.  Glad to be done with this one!

Love and Rockets,
Sandy

Omeka

Okay, I have no idea how to do the Omeka assignment.  HELP!  I'm going to "google" it now, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to figure this one out...  Where are we supposed to get the resources from?  Is there an easier way then to fill out everything on the Dublin form???  Sigh...  And I thought I was doing so well...

Check out this great MSN Video: Librarians Go Gaga

Check out this great MSN Video: Librarians Go Gaga

It's too funny!!! A hilarious rendition of Poker Face, but instead it's Catologue!!! Awesome! ;o)

Study Time!!!

Okay, the essay for LIS 2000 is submitted and out of my hands (even though I keep obsessing about it, second-guessing just about everything I wrote), and the Zotero project for LIS 2600 is done.  Now it's on to studying for the LIS 2600 quiz this weekend.  I've made my index cards to study from and my fiance is going to quiz me later.  What fun!  I'm a little nervous because there are supposedly only six questions (and an HOUR to take it!  Sheesh!!  What kind of 6 q's are these?!) and with the quiz weighing as much as it does for the class, I don't want to screw up one of the questions.  What are the 10 reasons for not using Windows again???

Zotero Project

Here is the video I made using Jing and Screencast for the Firefox add-on, Zotero.  This assignment was not nearly as difficult as I was expecting, which was nice.  Although I am having a bit of trouble with the sizing issue.  So here's the link to view the video, should this embed be too small.  The biggest challenge I had is my ever-failing internet connection.  It's okay, I'm switching internet providers on Wednesday.  Our current company has been very unreliable -- in March alone we had 200 unwarranted disconnects.  Grr!  Anyway, enjoy the video!

The skills are back!

I am so excited!  It's been a great week:  had a fun BBQ on Monday for the first event we've hosted at our house (even though I should've been doing schoolwork), received some great grad school advice from a friend who is not only a grad student but her aunt is a grad school professor, my sister gave birth to my new nephew this morning (and he's adorable!), and I received some great feedback on my Double Fold essay in LIS 2000.  It's been a while since I've done a scholarly essay of any kind, so I'm very happy that I haven't lost my skills.  I'm actually looking forward to doing my next few assignments now that I feel much more confident in my abilities.  Totally needed this...

Feeling a bit behind...

I was really looking forward to online learning but I'm starting to feel like perhaps I am missing some information.  I am going to be honest here -- I might have to take notes on some classmates' Zotero projects.  I've never used Jing or screencast before and I will attempt to do it myself, but I am totally going to spy on other people's work when it's on their blogs.  Forgive me.  ;o)

I'm anxious to find out how I did on my LIS 2000 Double Fold paper.  I agonized over it since it is the first scholarly piece of writing I've done since graduating in 2006.  I'm a bit out of practice.  At first, I didn't think I'd come up with even 750 words but once I got started, it was hard to stop!  I had to go back, reevaluate my thesis, and start over again, copying and pasting because I started rambling at times.  I edited my paper down to 799 words but I'm worried that I left out pertinent substance.  Here's hoping...

Technology is not my friend

You know, I used to think I was so good with technology.  That is, until I tried the latest assignment for Intro to Tech.  Scopus was being mean to mean and was not very user-friendly at first.  I'm not sure what I was going wrong, but I finally got everything to go where I needed it to.  Huge thanks to Tim for the how-to document!  Whew!  I have to say, though, that I did not see any way on Google Scholar for adding citations to RefWorks more than one at a time.  For a project such as this, which required 50 or more citations, it took me a little while.  Not very convenient considering I haven't gotten a mouse device for my laptop, so I had to do everything on it's tiny "mousepad".  I survived.  (obviously)

I have to admit, I cried a little bit last night.  After watching the Intro to Tech lecture and starting the RefWorks project and having Scopus time-out on me (losing the list I had created), I was just so done.  My wonderful fiance came through for me and rubbed my back for two hours while I went back to work.  He's the best and I don't know what I'd do without him.  I'm worried that I'm neglecting our dog, though.  Poor Jo-Jo.  There's so much schoolwork between these two classes and I'm afraid I can't catch up...

Rough Week

Okay, so this week is starting off pretty rough.  We confirmed our wedding venues this weekend, which is great, but I spent all of yesterday (sans about 4 hours to shower, eat two meals, and go food shopping) reading the rest of Double Fold for Understanding Information.  I will attempt to write the assigned essay tonight and hope to be in bed with my first real draft by midnight.  Here's hoping!  Work was very hectic today and promises to be for the next three weeks, so things are going to get a bit hairy.  I already snapped at my fiance yesterday because he said my overflowing bookcase was clutter.  I even used the line, "Books are not clutter!"  Sigh...  I hope this gets better...  The good news is that I'm still on-task for Intro to Information Tech, which makes me feel like perhaps I'm behind and I'm missing something.  Ugh!

Starting to come together

I don't want to jinx anything, but I think things are really starting to come together after having a very rough first week.  I was able to actually understand the main points in Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, I enjoyed Meredith Farkas' keynote speech that we were assigned to watch, and I am really getting into our latest book for Understanding Information -- Double Fold.  Plus, on a personal note, our permit for our wedding ceremony venue at Sandy Hook National Park beach in NJ is almost completely confirmed (I received a fax of our permit that I had to sign and send back, and they've confirmed receiving our deposit check), we get to go see our hopefully soon-to-be reception venue on Saturday, and we have a phone consultation scheduled with a possible minister next Thursday.  Exciting times!  I hope everyone is starting to settle in, as well.  Let's all hang in there!

The emergence of technology in a profession that has been somewhat lacking...

I can still remember a time when "fanfiction" was considered nerdy and creepy.  Now, it can be seen as one of the biggest steps towards how to handle books in technology.  Granted, the concepts of fanfiction and ebooks are decidedly different, I can't help but notice how what used to be an outlet for fans of TV shows, movies, and even books, has helped spawn the age of whole books in the digital format.  I haven't done any research (yet) into the connection between fanfiction and the advent of ebooks, but I wouldn't be surprised if my coursework in either Introduction to Information Technologies or Understanding Information leads me there.

What I can say from my readings so far is that there seems to be quite a bit of discussion on the subject of ebooks and what it means for libraries.  Working for Barnes & Noble (even though I work in Community Relations as opposed to the actual sales floor) has given me a significant amount of information on the subject.  It is certainly a topic that is not going away any time soon and will make a serious impact on the ways libraries are run.  Like Professor Tomer discussed: how do we take a culture that is used to "googling" a topic into coming to a library to do their research instead?  Is it a matter of convenience, immediacy/instant gratification, or user-friendliness?  All of the above?  Or something else altogether?

Anyone else feeling just a wee bit overwhelmed?

Okay, I've browsed some other classmates' blogs and I've noticed a bit of a recurring them -- a sense of being overwhelmed.  I have to say, it reassures me like you wouldn't believe!  Please don't judge, I'm not one to take pleasure in other's misery, but like they say, "misery loves company".  I'm not miserable but I am most definitely feeling quite overwhelmed at this point.

I'm at a point in my life where working full-time is not a luxury but a necessity.  I am so excited about the prospect of becoming a school library/media specialist, but I'm losing confidence in my ability to complete these courses and survive this program.  The professors are great (and I'm not just saying that because they're reading this blog as one of my class assignments), and I'm enjoying the lectures I get to watch on Panopto every week.  But when I saw the supplemental reading articles on Bb, I was really quite worried.  The good news is that the issue has been cleared up and it was explained that the readings are just that, supplemental; if you cannot get through everything before the class, it's okay because the articles are meant to give students a better understanding of content and issues related to the course.  Good to know!  I was about to have a heart attack!

Hope everyone is enjoying their first week even more than I am!  ;o)

Love and Rockets,
Sandy

Gotta start somewhere

Welcome to my blog!  I'm new at this, so bear with me as I explore the depths of the world wide ocean.  Yeah, that sounded terrible but I'm corny so I'm leaving it in.  Okay, a little bit about me:  I have a Bachelor's degree in Communications from East Stroudsburg University and have spent the last few years working as a Communmity Relations Manager for Barnes & Noble, acting as a personal shopper for schools and libraries, hosting bookfair fundraisers for schools and various literacy organizations, facilitating special events in our store, and hosting author signings.  I am priviledged enough to have met Chris Bohjalian, Janet Evanovich, Glenn Beck (I'm a democrat, but he was a really nice guy in person), Governor Mike Huckabee, and many local authors, as well.  One of my favorite experiences was the release of Stephanie Meyer's Breaking Dawn -- I coordinated a midnight release party at my store and to have over 400 teenagers so excited about a book was just amazing.

My wonderful fiance, Paul, and I are planning our wedding for May 13th, 2011 -- Friday the 13th, actually.  We're very excited about it and I cannot wait to finalize all the details.  We have the best little dog, Jo-Jo, a black and tan cockalier (cocker spaniel - king charles cavalier mix), who's an absolute delight to have.  He's our "little man"!

So, while working full-time, planning a wedding, raising a dog and building our family, I am pursuing a Master's in Library Science through the University of Pittsburgh's online program.  Working with schools on a daily basis has made me realize how much I would love to work in one and, since I am an avid reader and I love technology, becoming a library media specialist seems like the perfect fit.  So follow me down the rabbit hole for what promises to be quite an adventure!