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June 2003 Contents:
MLIS
Students Should be Alotted Portfolio Credit Hours
The
Pros and Cons of Secure Storage Units
Pimping It Up: Answering Questions for the IPL
DFW at Lake Washington Technical College
KCLS Public Programming Office -- A Directed Fieldwork
Experience
Book Review: The Ascent of Rum Doodle, by W. E. Bowman
Living Dangerously: Tom Robbins Visits UW
Book Review: John Adams by David McCullough
David Boyle Gets Creative with the Creative Commons
MLIS
Students Should be Alotted Portfolio Credit Hours
Approaching the
final quarter of one's education gives many people feelings of relief
and satisfaction as they look back on a job well done. But for students
in the Masters of Library and Information Science program, the final
quarters bring a frantic scramble to meet the deadline for their final
project. The end of the program means "portfolio time," the
last project expected from MLIS students, which is similar to the MSIM
and Informatics Capstone Projects.
However, the MLIS
portfolio project differs from the Capstone Projects in that
MLIS students are not allotted official credit hours to perfect their
projects. Students have repeatedly brought up this issue in ALISS meetings.
There are compelling arguments in favor of changing the current rules
on allotting credit hours for portfolios:
- We are students
in a professional program, and many of us want to gain employment
right after graduation. The portfolio is a tool to achieve this goal.
If students have extra time to work on their portfolio, it is possible
they will be more appealing to future employers, which reflects positively
on the Information School and the MLIS program.
- We are all incredibly
busy people, juggling jobs, family time, and outside interests. In
addition, many of us take part in directed fieldwork and volunteerism
related to our future career paths. It would be a relief to have an
extra hour a week to refine our portfolios.
- The portfolio
hours could be a constructive way to keep students from becoming overburdened
in the quarter they complete their portfolio. Currently many students
must take ten class credits to fulfill financial aid obligations and
meet credit-number requirements. Students could instead spend the
time improving their odds of becoming gainfully employed after graduation.
- Many students
do not enter the program with the technological skills required to
create an online portfolio. These students could use the extra time
to give their portfolios a professional look.
- Finally, students
in the MSIM and Informatics programs are allotted credit hours to
work on their Capstone Projects. It seems consistent with this implementation
that the MLIS program should also allocate credit hours to the portfolio.
ALISS is interested
in MLIS student feedback on this issue, whether you support portfolio
credits or are against the idea. We would like to hear from students
who have yet to complete a portfolio, and from students and alumni who
have gone through the process. Please follow the link below to take
our five-minute survey. Thank you for your input in completing the survey;
your thoughts and opinions will shape future action on this issue.
Jennifer Carter
ALISS President
http://catalyst.washington.edu/webtools/webq/survey.cgi?user=jecarter&survey=1
The
Pros and Cons of Secure Storage Units
By Katy Shaw
For some students,
the information age has lightened their load for school-literally. A
laptop computer, a spiral notebook and a pen-what more does the savvy
student need to bring to school each day? Most students at the iSchool,
though, have found that just the opposite is true. The number of students
who actually own laptops is in the minority, and books, articles printed
from electronic reserves and personal items are heavier than ever...
FULL STORY
Pimping
It Up: Answering Questions for the IPL
By Michael Harkovitch
Ah, the Internet
Public Library. Where else can you answer some of the more bizarre,
inane, and vexing reference questions ever posed...
FULL STORY
DFW
at Lake Washington Technical College
By John Buell
Many who have
done Directed Field Work (DFW) will agree it is one of the most valuable
experiences offered by the iSchool. I am doing my DFW at the Lake
Washington Technical College Library and Media Center located in Kirkland,
about 45 minutes from UW... FULL
STORY
KCLS
Public Programming Office -- A Directed Fieldwork Experience
By Michael Harkovitch
When I sat down
to discuss my professional interests with Lynnea Erickson, I had no
idea that mention of my interest in public library programming during
our half hour conversation would lead to something so wonderful: my
directed fieldwork experience as a Public Programming Intern at the
King County Library System... FULL
STORY
Book
Review: The Ascent of Rum Doodle, by W. E. Bowman
By Joan Hutchinson
I appreciate mountaineers
who get out and risk their necks for my reading pleasure. And the more
thrilling or calamitous their accounts-i.e., Touching the Void
or Into Thin Air-the better. But, as I devour the results of
their daring from the warmth and coziness of my armchair, a nasty part
of my brain asks: Who are these idiots, and would I want to spend one
day in their company at sea level, much less roped to them on some god-forsaken
mountainside... FULL
STORY
Living
Dangerously: Tom Robbins Visits UW
By Michael Harkovitch
When Tom Robbins
was five years old, his mother gave him a Snow White and the Seven
Dwarves activity book. Instead of doing the activities, however,
the young Mr. Robbins wrote stories in the book. Because he was too
young to actually write down his own elaborate tales, he would dictate
them to his mother. But sometimes she would change the stories... FULL
STORY
Book
Review: John Adams by David McCullough
By John Buell
In my last quarter
and free from any course readings, I undertook some light reading in
something other than information science by reading John Adams
by David McCullough. Drawing on a wealth of correspondence from John
Adams, his wife Abigail, and various relatives, McCullough weaves a
rich and compelling account of a hard working but ordinary man who lived
in extraordinary times... FULL
STORY
David
Boyle Gets Creative with the Creative Commons
By Steve McCann
Each year the library
at North Carolina State University holds a gathering called the I.T.
Littleton Seminar. This series was established in 1987 to mark the retirement
of I. T. Littleton, the former director of the D. H. Hill Library. The
seminar series attempts to address major issues that are important to
libraries. This year the invited speaker was David Boyle, co-founder
of the Creative Commons, who colorfully outlined both the current state
of copyright and why there's a need for his organization's fresh approach
to copyright protection... FULL
STORY
Submissions
Requested
Are you interested
in sharing your knowledge with the rest of the student body? Have you
attended any conferences or taken an interesting or worthwhile class
outside of the department? Would you care to review nearby bars for
us? Send your Silverfish submissions to aliss@u.washington.edu.
Silverfish
content is protected by copyright law, and may not be reproduced, distributed,
transmitted, displayed, or otherwise utilized without the prior written
consent of the author. Copyright is retained by the author. All rights
reserved.
Edited
by Michael Harkovitch
Silverfish
Web Design by John W.N. Buell
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