learned today

Today was the first day of my second semester in the MLIS program. I freely admit that I've been more than a little overwhelmed today, but I really do think I'll enjoy my classes. I'm taking Cataloging & Classification and Principles of Searching this semester. Cataloging is the class I've been looking forward to the most in the program - we'll see if I still feel that way as the semester progresses!

New word for the day: verso. The page right after the title page that has all the publication info on it and the basis for all cataloging records.

{Gutenberg's printing press, via}

Also, did you know that scholars in the 1600s were afraid that the printing press (and the subsequent proliferation of books) would lead to over-information? If they'd only known about the internet :)

I want 2013 to be great

Trying to think of something to write for the new year has been difficult. I want to say that 2012 was a great year and in many ways it was, but it was also a year of a lot of suffering and a lot of grief that I could have done without.

While everyone else was setting off fireworks, blowing horns and watching the ball drop, I sat there trying not to get emotional over the fact that 2013 meant embarking on another year without the mama. For awhile after she died I counted Fridays. After about 11 weeks of Fridays I stopped doing that. I don't know why, maybe it was the end of a grief stage? I just felt like I didn't need to keep track that closely anymore. The point is, maybe by the time 2014 rolls around I won't view the coming of the new year as a marker of how long it's been since I've seen her and all I haven't accomplished since then. 

I guess now it's time to figure out exactly what goals I have for this wonderful new year . . . 

written down . . .

{a small part of our group project . . . it makes me smile}

Maybe it's because I studied history in college or maybe I chose history because of it, but either way, I love reading the words that others have written. I've been working on a group project studying the information behaviors of scholars in the humanities and social sciences (how they use information sources, how things have changed with the digital age, what libraries/archives can do to help this group, etc.) and I realized that I fit the historian mold perfectly. I love technology and I use it every day, but nothing will ever beat a "real" book in my mind. Or the handwritten journal entry.

For the last 13 months I've been keeping a journal regularly. Sometimes it's been the only thing that has kept me sane. As I've been going through mama's stuff lately I've come across two journals and a lot of handwritten notes, cards, etc. and I keep thinking that if she hadn't written those things down, I wouldn't have them now. So, keep a journal. Write stuff down. Even if you don't write much, write something. Your kids or whoever gets left behind when you die will care. And they will love seeing your familiar handwriting and crazy scribbles, I promise.

I think the written word is powerful in a way that nothing else is (that is very historian-ish of me . . . ). Think about it. Heavenly Father made sure the scriptures were written down even though it was a daunting task back then to write anything. The conference talks are reprinted in the Ensign to be read and reread. Even professors making students write papers to show their grasp of concepts and express their thoughts on a subject. Writing makes you think. I love it.

And maybe, if we get a good grade on our project, I'll share it with you . . . I think it's pretty neat (and kind of funny too).