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In this issue... No Gnus is Good Gnus Some Notes on the Necronomicon Don’t Judge a Book by its Movie: Jane Eyre Read your way through the Zombie Apocalypse! |
Letter from the outgoing Silverfish editor: On my first day of library school, a librarian whom I respect and admire gave me two sage pieces of advice (I’ll paraphrase, to the best of my memory):
Now, I’ve always been suspicious of the first piece of advice. Grades don’t matter? Really? My suspicions were confirmed when I was recently asked to submit both my graduate and undergraduate transcripts as part of an initial job application. Besides, the perfectionist in me, my inner Lisa Simpson, could not abide the idea that grades don’t matter. So I did my best to tackle my iSchool career as if grades DID matter, very much. But finally, last quarter, when I was facing down LIS 531 (Cataloging, for those who haven’t had the pleasure), and the damage that it was going to do to my precious GPA, I took a deep breath, remembered the words of my mentor, and managed to pass the class without shedding a single tear of frustration. The second piece of advice was, as it turned out, unnecessary. This is not because I never had moments of doubt about my decision to become a librarian...I’ve had plenty. Rather, it was because the support system that I built around myself at the iSchool was so extensive that I was never more than a phone call, an email, a Facebook message or a trip to MGH away from someone who would “talk me down,” whenever I needed it. I did the same for quite a few of my colleagues. So now, as the class of 2011 prepares to graduate, and the class of 2012 gears up for their second year, I want to extend the same advice to my iSchool friends. Don’t sweat the little stuff. Take deep breaths. Done is better than good, and sleep is better than done. And when you think you’ve had enough, call me. I’ll talk you down. Chloe Horning Letter From the Editor Elect One year down, one to go. Hello, iSchool, I’m the Editor Elect for your neighborhood Silverfish. I’m not entirely certain how I got this position. I like to think that it wasn’t because mine was the only name on the ballot. In fact, I like to think that I was selected for this position because I was lucky enough to find our newsletter. No one else put their name in for Editor, and I didn’t want our newsletter to fade. We were all overwhelmed—I hope we all were, at least—during our orientation. There were many things in which we could become involved. Most of the tables were packing up, and I happened upon a bug. The Silverfish. The name makes my skin crawl because the bug is rather disgusting. The newsletter, however...to put it in a way that has become a running joke with some of us: I serendipitously found The Silverfish. I am a firm believer in needing a creative outlet. That’s what The Silverfish was for me when school started last fall. I am always in need of a way to unwind that doesn’t have anything to do with schoolwork. It is no secret that I am a huge Harry Potter fan, nor is it secret that I am active in online, story-based, role playing games based on the Harry Potter world through insanejournal.com. I had my games as a creative outlet, but it is one thing to make characters to play out stories. It is a different thing altogether to share one’s opinion regarding books, Shakespeare, and movies (not necessarily in that order), with my classmates and new friends. As the year draws to a close, I couldn’t be more thankful for my spot with The Silverfish. I wasn’t looking to join anything. I was certain I would be too swamped with school to have an extra curricular of any kind. I’m glad I went to that first meeting, though. Our newsletter gave me an excuse to go to the movies or get off my soapbox. I don’t yet know what’s in store for next year. There are some ideas percolating and developing, and y’all will know as soon as we get things in order. Be prepared to be hounded, though. I believe that everyone has a story to tell, an opinion to write, or an issue to discuss. That’s what The Silverfish is for. I encourage each and every reader to try your hand at this. It can be quite rewarding to be able to say, “Yeah. I wrote that. How cool.” It’s almost as rewarding as being given the opportunity to keep this going. Erin Mettling Missive from the Webmaster: Well, it’s been fun, it’s been great... I’ll see you next year! I’ve signed on for another year, and I’m looking forward to getting into it, but in the meantime there is the summer time for replenishing our depleted vitamin D reserves and catching up on our reading. So, while you are on your way out, snag a copy of the SLS: The Silverfish Literary Supplement. This rag features the creations of your fellow iSchool students and alumni, and it’s some pretty wild stuff. You can download that here, or find actual, giant-size, printed copies in the iLounge. We do hope you like the SLS, but if you read it and say, Pfthah! I could do a better job than that, then we would love it if you did! Send us your stories, poems, or visual art and we’ll make you famous. We invite you to enjoy the spring issue as well as our backlog of podcasts over the summer break...and beyond! Yours in nerdy wordiness, Karl Eckler The Silverfish Blog: Twitter: Facebook: Podcast at: |
March 21, 2011
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