GREed

[icepixie]

*shrug* Less annoying than I thought it would be. Over quicker, too. And you get your scores right away, at least for the verbal and math sections, which is nice. (670/600, respectively, which...is okay? I have no idea what the average is. The combined score is well over the minimum for UT's info. science program, which is all that matters to me.)

Now I'm bored. Maybe I should go read something. *wanders off*

Comments

[loud-raccoon.livejournal.com]

becca, it's jen. i'm at UT's info science program right now. just wanted to warn you that it is NOT KENYON down here. the department is jam-packed full of competitive people and UT itself is mega-state-school-a-licious.

if you're looking for a top-notch IS program, UI urbana-champaign (sp?) is the best in the nation. UMich is also very good. both of them have a warmer atmosphere than UT. don't get me wrong, austin's nice, but i wouldn't encourage anybody to come down here.

if you have any questions about doing the IS grad school gauntlet, ask away. i still read kenyon mail.

[icepixie]

Heh. Pretty sure we're talking about different UTs--I'm planning on going to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (mostly because for in-state students, it's only $3,500/semester).

if you have any questions about doing the IS grad school gauntlet, ask away. i still read kenyon mail.

I totally will. Thanks. What area are you focusing on, or are you?

[loud-raccoon.livejournal.com]

lol...yah, i'm talking about u texas.

i'm either an IT librarian, an archives/records mgmt, or both.

[icepixie]

What kind of records would you manage?

I don't really know what area I'd like to be in...reference librarian at an academic library appeals, but getting a second master's doesn't. I could do public library stuff, though--I'd like planning programs and things like that. And choosing which books to buy. *rubs hands togehter evilly*

[loud-raccoon.livejournal.com]

What kind of records would you manage?
really, the same papers i'd manage in an archives...two terms for the same thing.

you don't actually need a second master's for academic librarianship. lots of ac librarians have them, but you don't have to have one - depends where you work. tenure-track libaries are probably more snobbish about such things than employment-based libraries are.

kenyon's model of ac lib is really cool. each dept's librarian is responsible for buying books and doing traditional librarian stuff for their individual dept, so you get to do a bit of everything.

i won't be taking any public librarianship courses at all, but you do cool reading in them. there's a children's lit course that's reading all our favorite books from childhood...pretty neat stuff. keep in mind that there's a lot of GODLESSLY UNINTERESTING reading involved too in your core classes, no matter what your speciality is. library school is filled with boring hoops to jump through.

some career advice: if you decide to focus on cataloguing, you will have an easier time getting hired. most people find it kinda boring, so happy cataloguers are popular people. just something to think about as you go forward.

[icepixie]

I've been checking out ref. jobs, and there seems to be a 50/50 split between needing a second master's or not--although I think some of the ones that don't require it at the outset require you to get it within five years or something like that. Ack, I dunno. I have more than a year to think about it, though, since I don't think I'll be going until fall 2008.

Kenyon's model does sound fabulous.

library school is filled with boring hoops to jump through.

Damn. That's unfortunate. I'd hoped it was a relatively BS-free degree.

Oooh, cataloguing. You have no idea how much joy organizing/renaming/etc. my photos gives me. I could do that for all kinds of information.

[loud-raccoon.livejournal.com]

Damn. That's unfortunate. I'd hoped it was a relatively BS-free degree.
you have no idea how much that made me laugh.
it's professional school. of course there's bs. :)

[icepixie]

Well, I figured, professional school, there are set things you need to learn to function in a job, they'll teach you that and let you get on with your life. Unlike, I dunno, English, which as we all know from undergrad is run almost entirely on BS. ;) (Fun and interesting BS, sure, but BS nonetheless.)

[loud-raccoon.livejournal.com]

the only difference in professional school is that the bs is boring. you'll see. but it's just stuff you've got to get through to learn the job.

for instance, my courses this semester are:
managing and understanding users
lifecycle metadata for digital objects
information architecture and design

and i actually find them interesting, but there's sure as hell a lot of time-wasting crap involved.

[icepixie]

Hmmm. Ah, well. I suppose the degree is worth the hoops, anyway.

"Lifecycle metadata for digital objects" sounds almost like a programming course. Is it?

[loud-raccoon.livejournal.com]

nope. it's an archives course.

[icepixie]

So what on earth is "lifecycle metadata"?

[loud-raccoon.livejournal.com]

well, metadata is a complicated idea, but a simple (overly simple) explanation might be that metadata are classifications into which information ABOUT information is stored. examples: html, xml, library catalogue entries, etc etc. even hairstyles can be classified as metadata, which is something we talked about today.

the "lifecycle" component refers to the lifespan of the metadata.

even tho html is included in metadata, that doesn't make metadata programming because what we're talking about is the tags. also, html is a metalanguage, not a language, but that's a whole 'nother issue.

[icepixie]

Interesting. ...Sort of. ;) I can imagine why it's useful, though.