Wed. Aug. 2

I officially finished all of my work for the semester today!!!! I wrote my final discussion posting for the final reading list. I'm so glad that the semester is over. Now that I made it through the first, I feel slightly more confident about the next 5. After leaving Pitt I was very confident about my future after hearing about all of the different job opportunities for MLIS grads. However, now, I feel like I'm in kind of a slump, probably because there are no job prospects for me NOW, and I don't know what to do with myself for the next two years until graduation. I just wish I could catch a break somewhere so I can get a job and move out of my parents' house before I graduate......

Mon. July 31

I can't believe July is over already. Where did the month go? Where did the summer go? I posted the first half of my final discussion today. I finally had some time to sit down and write out some thoughts on the reading. I find the issue of copyright to be very interesting. With so much new technology being created - MP3s, digital cameras, scanners, etc. - it is difficult for the laws to keep up. One thing that I always think of when this topic is mentioned is a comment by a student of mine when I was student teaching. She wanted my cooperating teacher to burn a cd for her, and he wouldn't because it was illegal, she said that no one made such a big deal about making copies of cassette tapes when that technology was invented, so why is everyone getting their panties in a bunch now? I thought then, and now, that it was a good point. Everyone who was around in the 80s had at least one mix tape that they made or had made for them, now it's just a cd instead of a cassette. I'm still not sure exactly what my thoughts are considering copyright, I can see both sides of the arguement. I think, though, that with any problem, the source of the answer will be found in compromise.

Fri. July 28

I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote in my blog!!!! I guess I didn't find too much time on the computer on vacation. Now that I'm back and took a little side trip out east for an interview I can hopefully get back into the swing of things. At least I was able to get my netvibes assignment done tonight. Now I just need to get reading (or skimming) the books for the final discussion. I'll be so glad when I can just relax and not have to worry about anything for just one day. That will be so nice. Until then....

Thurs. July 20

I am enjoying my second full day in sunny Winnipeg. I survived the two flights to get here, with only a nosebleed 5 minutes after takeoff in the first flight. My mornings and early afternoons have been productive, finishing up readings for the last formaol book review and getting my draft written. Tomorrow will be proofreading and adding works cited, then it will be sent out so it will be off my mind. Then some time to skim through the other readings for the discussion next week, and maybe play around with netvibes to work on my final assignment. It's so nice to know that there's only two more assignments I have to do for this semester, then all of August will be my time to focus on finding a job and look into joining prof. associations. Hopefully the later can aid in the former. Well, off to dinner and a night out in Winnipeg.

Fri. July 14

Yay, I'm so proud of myself that I have a third posting this week!!!!!! I officially have my personal webpage done, but I'm still trying to figure some things in using Nvu. I actually did better than I thought I'd be able to do, so I'm so proud of myself. However, I could not have done it without the help of the other cohort members. Thanks to a great group of classmates!!!!!
I've made it through three days of on-campus festivities so far. It's nice to finally get the truly meet the members of the cohort face to face. I wish we had more time to spend with each other. The classes are so long, and the lectures not that interesting. I wish we had class time to work on our group projects so we have a little more free time to work on our individual work (although the review extension is HUGE relief) and to socialize with the cohort members. So far, the only thing that I feel I really got anything out of (other than the guest speakers) was the group discussion of the "The Wealth of Network" yesterday. I didn't read much of the book, but still felt that I got more out of that than anything else. This being my first stint as a student again after spending the past few years as the teacher, I feel I am a lot more critical of teaching methods now. I feel that as we are taught in college, student centered activities usually offer the most benefits to students, and that is my overall impression so far of the on-campus experience.

Wed. July 12

I am on campus awaiting the fast track festivities to begin. I got my loans fixed, my student ID (never do I take a good picture) and have signed in to the fast track center (for lack of a better term). While I have a little extra time, I found a comp lab to spend this precious moments productively. I was hoping to print out some info on the readings for this week, but am not finding a printer in this tiny comp lab. Hopefully one will be found, so that I can read the book for tomorrow's discussion. If I make it through the next 5 five days with without pulling out all my hair or killing myself, it will be a miracle. I will be so glad once all this is done with. While on vacation, I hope all I have to worry about is the reading for the last book review and doing that monster of a config. assignment. Hopefully I can figure out what I need to do for it while here, and then get Monte's sister to help me with it while we're in Winnipeg. I hope she understands all this better than I do, or else the cohort will be hearing stupid questions from me 24/7.

Mon. July 10

I finished my book review on the access principle a little while ago. I'm glad to have that done with and out of the way. I also think I may have my entire personal webpage assignment complete, but I'm not really sure. I think I did everything, but I don't know if I did it right or not. Guess I'll have to wait and see for that one. I'm looking forward to this week of being on campus....to an extent. I'm anxious to meet everyone and the professors, and hopefully get some direction on the final config. assignment. I would understand that just as much if it were written in Latin. However, I'm not looking forward to getting all of the reading done for the next book review, which is due in only a week!!!!! Of all the reviews to only have a week to do it, it is the week we are on campus, when we have classes to attend, presentations to do, a quiz to study for(???)!!! Talk about laying it on thick. OK, now that I have my webpage complete (I hope) hopefully I can not keep forgetting about adding to my blog. Time to prepare for Pitt!!!