Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the "core" baking recipes (at least in my opinion) is chocolate chip cookies. That melt-in-your-mouth, gooey chocolate, warm soft center yumminess brings a smile to my face. I can't be sad while munching on a freshly-made chocolate chip cookie (with a glass of milk!). I'm actually surprised that I haven't yet posted a recipe for this treat. It just seems like one of those recipes you can find in any general cookbook you pick up.

So I'll rectify that now. Since we are coming up on the holiday season--during which many of us bake and share sweets with friends and family--here's a great chocolate chip recipe to add to your goodie basket. I actually just made some this last weekend. The original recipe says that it will make about 60 cookies. I don't know what universe the original authors are living in, but those 60 cookies must have been made for mice (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie just popped in my head--great children's book). I would estimate that you'll more likely get between 2-3 dozen. If you make super big cookies, obviously you'll get less.

What you'll need:
3/4 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1 12-oz pkg semisweet chocolate chips

What you'll need to do:
1. Preheat your oven to 375.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and shortening with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Continue beating with the electric mixer until thoroughly combined. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.
3. Continue to use the electric mixer to beat in the eggs and vanilla until completely mixed. Add the flour and use the mixer to combine the batter as much as possible.*
4. Use a spoon to stir in the chocolate chips. You can also add 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.) if you like nuts.
5. Use a teaspoon to drop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I find that my cookies form better if I also smooth the dough into a rough ball shape. My cookies come out slightly fatter when I do this.
6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are a light brown. More time will be needed for larger cookies. It's ok for cookies to be soft in the center; personally, I like them better that way. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes or however long you can resist the smell of fresh-baked cookies (and be careful when handling/eating hot food!).

*Here the original recipe noted that you may not be able to use the mixer to mix in all the batter, however I didn't have a problem using my mixer the entire time. If you can't get it all combined with your electric mixer, just use a spoon to stir in any remaining flour.

Fear not if you're only making these for yourself and you think a full batch is too much. You can store the dough in the fridge in a sealed container for 1-2 days. Or, you can store extra cookie dough in the freezer in sealed air-tight containers until you want more (but use it within 1 month). Defrost in the fridge overnight.

Scooter and I are hosting our first ever Thanksgiving dinner next week. We're gearing up this weekend for all the cooking we need to do. I've been asked to take pictures, so I'll likely post some here after all the fun.

Libraries Should Help Your Information Stay a Little More Private

Yesterday I received my copy of the latest issue of a journal I subscribe to. On the front cover is an abstract image with the caption "under surveillance." As one might imagine, this is a nod to the ongoing government surveillance scandal (I think at this point, the term "scandal" is appropriate). So far, I've kept my discussions on this issue to verbal conversations with my fellow citizen, but the image on the cover of a scholarly journal about librarianship led me to wonder: "what role do libraries play to maintain patron privacy and what role should they play?"

To be sure, this is a topic that has been discussed at great length, and not just in the recent past. And for those that know and understand librarianship, this comes at no surprise; after all, as this ALA explanation of privacy shows, patrons have an right to privacy implied in the Library Bill of Rights (a document that defines policies all libraries should follow). However, in light of the recent revelations of the NSA's surveillance activities, one's actual level of privacy engaging in any activity is now suspect. This thought process is what spurred me to ask my question.

An interesting result of the NSA "revelations" has been seen in the consumer market. Products are now being evaluated and/or promoted based on their ability to protect consumers from NSA surveillance. The latest iPhone, for example, has a fingerprint reading security feature that stores the fingerprint information on the phone, not on Apple servers. This means that Apple will never have that data, so it would never be able to turn that data over to the government. John McAfee, a name known in the computer industry as the developer of a popular computer anti-virus software, has also announced a new product in the works that will supposedly protect people against NSA surveillance. Since libraries are big advocates for their patrons' privacy, what effort are they putting into keeping their patrons' information as private as possible?

For answers, I turned to the policies of three libraries I am familiar with. Two of the three are public libraries (Alameda County Library and MCFL), and one is an academic library (SJSU). I use all three fairly regularly. I was surprised to find no mention of patron confidentiality or privacy policies on the policy section of the Alameda County Library website (which is worrisome since this is the one I use the most). The MCFL policy was quite explicit in what information the library collected, how it was used, and in some cases how long it was kept. The SJSU library also has a confidentiality policy that outlines what information is collected, including what specific confidential information is collection, but no mention is made of how long the information is kept (which can imply it's kept indefinitely). What's interesting is that the MCFL and SJSU policies are years old; one was first instituted in 2003, the other in 2006. Existing library privacy/confidentiality policies are well-established.

So where does this information leave us? Well, we can assume that many libraries (but not all) are aware of and take pains to inform their patrons what information the library collects and how it can be used. Both available policies do explain that they will release information required by subpoena or court order, which put them in the same boat as many other law-abiding companies and organizations. In other words, there may not be a lot of "extra" protection that libraries give their patrons.

Except when they do. The MCFL policy notes the length of time that the library will keep certain kinds of information. On the list of information collected are materials that the patron has checked out, the information on who last checked out an item, transaction details for fines owed and late items, and transaction details on fines paid or waived. Each of these pieces of information is only kept for a limited amount of time, not indefinitely. If a patron returns an item on time and that item is checked out twice more (or up to six months pass before the item is checked out again), there is no record to link that patron to the item he or she borrowed; for a popular title, that information will disappear quite quickly. Because the library doesn't keep the information, the library would be unable to pass it on to, say, any government agency asking for it.

If we're going to talk about best practices, I would suggest that MCFL's policy become the ideal for libraries. I understand that libraries have to keep statistics on things like circulation, web usage, and other measures of use, but there are ways for the library to collect and maintain that information anonymously. Logically, MCFL has to be doing so to some extent since transaction details are deleted after a set amount of time, and if MCFL is managing other libraries probably are as well.

Libraries can be and should be the model for transparency and privacy. At the very least, all libraries should be openly providing access to their policies on what information is being collected from patrons. If such a policy does not exist, why not and how soon can that be recified? More libraries need to adopt of level of confidentiality and refrain from keeping patron information indefinitely. This will allow patrons to assume some anonymity and safeguard their privacy.

And now I will (temporarily) step down from my soap box.

(Leftover) Chicken Soup

As promised, here is the recipe that I used for making chicken soup out of roast chicken leftovers. This is a great follow-up meal to use up all your leftovers and keep from letting things go to waste. As a bonus, this is perfect cold-weather food.

What you'll need:
Roast chicken carcass
1-3 frozen chicken breasts, as needed (to augment the amount of meat)
1/2 c. sliced carrots (use roasted carrots if you can)
1 c. onion, cut into chunks (again, use roasted if you can)
1 c. chopped celery
1 bottle Guinness beer
48-60 oz. chicken broth (you'll want enough to cover the soup ingredients)
salt and pepper to taste

What you'll need to do:
1. In a large crock pot, add the chicken carcass (with bones), frozen chicken breasts, carrots, onion, celery, beer, and chicken broth.
2. Cook on LOW setting for 7-8 hours.
3. With a fork, shred large pieces of chicken and remove any bones. Add salt and pepper if needed.
4. Stir and serve with french bread or dinner rolls.

When you add the chicken carcass, you'll want to also include anything that roasted inside the chicken (herbs, garlic, etc.). This will bring great flavor to your soup. I actually didn't have to add any additional herbs or spices (not even salt and pepper) when I made this. You can also add pasta, barley, or other similar things as you like. I highly recommend eating your soup with a fresh loaf of sourdough bread if you can get it.

Sharing Sunday Dinner

I made roast chicken Sunday night for dinner, perfect comfort food for the cold weather. I used a slightly different recipe than the one I shared here. This time, it was like my mom makes at home with onion, garlic, and herbs stuffed inside. The veggies sharing the roasting pan are onion, carrots and yams. I had to share pictures because it looked so good. Here's a "before" and "after" of the bird of honor.

Before the roast

Ready to eat :)

Roasted vegetables are sooooo good! I'll be making chicken soup (recipe to come) with the leftovers tomorrow night, so stay tuned.

LibGuides: Into the Nitty-Gritty

I've posted about LibGuides before (see this post from several months ago). It's a content management system that allows librarians--or others--to present information to users in hopefully meaningful and useful ways. Often, LibGuides is used to create subject-based guides that are essentially digital pathfinders (tools to guide patrons or other users to where they can find information on a topic).

Different types of libraries find them useful for different things. Libraries for K-12 schools may use them to create a guide with information on a single topic like mythology or Algebra. Academic libraries that provide services for college-level students may take this concept one step further and create a guide to assist a single class; in this way the guide supports the specific assignments and curriculum for the class and becomes an additional resource the instructor can point students to. Public libraries seem to be the most varied in the use of LibGuides, and I've seen everything from subject guides on topics (similar to what academic and K-12 libraries do) to guides that outline library policy. Many libraries of all types will include their available databases on their guides.

Having been building and using LibGuides myself for some time (over 2 years now), I see some definite benefits to such a resource--if it's made to be meaningful to the intended audience. If you take some time to browse through the guides, you'll note that some are put together and just left, kind of a "fix it and forget it" mentality. I can see this as an option if it's for a class and the class never changes in terms of content or assignments, but for a lot of LibGuides I imagine that not actively maintaining them equates to a slow death as the resources become less and less viable for the intended audience. As with anything online, using LibGuides to create guides for your patrons is a commitment--one akin to keeping your library website up-to-date. As the needs of the audience changes, so too should the LibGuides. Once again, the needs of the user becomes a paramount consideration.

So why bring this up? It all ties in to my next two assignments for my Advanced Reference class. We've moved from providing reference services for a hypothetical reference question to analyzing databases to analyzing LibGuides and creating our own. We are in the process of currently learning about best practices for online subject guides in order to examine two published LibGuides made for the same topic and writing an analysis on how they each present the topic's information. I found two LibGuides created to provide information and resources on mythology, and while the amount of content is similar I'm already noticing some big differences on organization and the type of information/resources that are included. I'll probably be discussing more about LibGuides as I start the creation of my own guide (topic to be determined). As another kind of content management system, it does share some characteristics with other CMSs like Drupal (although Drupal has far fewer limitations and several other bonuses).

If you're interested in seeing how different libraries have used LibGuides, you can check out the community site for LibGuides published by subscribers.

Veal Marsala

Time for another recipe! I made this last night using a recipe from one of my Italian cookbooks as my guide (and of course added my own interpretation). I know some people have objections to using veal (it's a personal choice, I get it), so you can substitute thinly sliced beef or pork if you wish.

What you'll need:
6 Tbs. butter
1 lb. veal scallops (or thinly sliced beef or pork if you prefer)
flour to coat veal
2 shallots, chopped
1 c. Marsala wine
10-12 mushrooms, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
chopped fresh parsley to garnish

What you'll need to do:
1. Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
2. Dredge the veal in the flour and shake off any excess flour.
3. Place the veal in the pan and lightly brown on one side. You'll probably only be able to do 3-5 pieces at a time, depending on the size of your pan. Don't crowd the meat; this will allow it to brown evenly. Turn veal over and lightly brown on the other side. Remove from pan as it finishes and set aside. Continue until all veal has been cooked.
4. Add the shallots and cook until slightly caramelized. Turn heat to high, add the Marsala to de-glaze the pan, and boil rapidly to burn off the alcohol. Reduce heat to medium and add the mushrooms and the salt and pepper. Cook briefly to blend flavors.
5. Return veal to the pan and carefully coat with the sauce. Remove from heat and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.
6. Serve immediately with your choice of side dish.

This goes well with potatoes, white rice, or (if you're ambitious) a simple risotto. If you choose to make a risotto with this, I would stick to a basic recipe and add mushrooms or shallots to it to match the flavors of the veal Marsala.

Yay for YA!

I have recently discovered the wonder that is YA literature. Well, I say that but it's only partially true. Perhaps I should rephrase that. I have recently discovered how much I enjoy YA books by many different authors. Yes, that is more accurate.

I have been a fan of Tamora Pierce for many years. I received my first of her books, Wild Magic, for Christmas when I was a teen and loved it. I have since become a regular reader of all her books, and I own just about all of them. I tend to reread them a lot, and more than one is starting to wear along the binding. Other than Tamora Pierce, I had never really given YA books much thought. In fact, it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I made the connection that her books fell into the YA category. Since then, I've sloooooowly started exposing myself (in a G-rated way) to YA literature. I read and loved (and bought) the Hunger Games trilogy, and somewhat to my chagrin bought and read the books of the Twlight Series almost as soon they came out. Hey, everyone has a guilty pleasure. And besides, the books were way better than the movies.

And now, over the last few months, I've been diving into YA and reading almost anything I can get my hands on. Some of what I've chosen I picked because of its popularity, some of what I've chosen have been serendipitous finds that were sitting on the library shelf as I was browsing. It's been an eclectic mix of YA distopia (would that be considered a genre?), YA fantasy/sci-fi, and YA fiction. I'm a fantasy/sci-fi girl at heart, so my favorites have of course been from that genre, although I've very much enjoyed books from other genres too. I'm well beyond my teenage years, but I find the emotional and physical struggles of the characters to be interesting, compelling, and mirrors of some of my own struggles. Some challenges we face as teens never really go away and continue to come to the fore over and over again, so I find myself relating to the feelings and thoughts of many of the protagonists. And some of these books are just awesome stories in their own right.

For the other fantasy/sci-fi folks out there that might be willing to take a dip in the YA lit pool, here are a few titles you can try out to see if YA would appeal to you.

Graceling and Fire by Kristin Cashore (Fire is a companion to Graceling, not a true sequel)
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Controversy of RA

In my last post, I talked about RA and mentioned discussing more the controversy in RA. But first, I want to briefly explore an idea that has percolated to the surface of my mind since yesterday.

RA (Reader's Advisory for those unfamiliar with the acronym) is a type of service that connects readers with books they would enjoy. Active RA (see my previous post) falls in with more general reference services and librarians use similar tactics in an RA interview as they would in other reference interviews. In addition, there are tools for RA--just as there are for other types of reference work--to assist librarians with connecting their patrons with another book (or DVD, magazine, etc.) that they will like. The idea of RA made me think of Ranganathan's 5 Laws (a very good discussion of them can be found here), and the second law in particular, "Every reader his or her book." During my class in which RA was the topic last week, I came to understand more about RA and the importance it plays in the service libraries provide to their patrons. However, this morning I realized that it is necessary to provide RA in the context of Ranganathan's second law. The second law justifies reference services in general and RA services in particular because it defines the purpose of connecting patrons to the items or information they desire. This is what a library does; how it happens may manifest differently in different libraries, but at the heart of every library's operation is the help library staff give patrons to find what they're looking for. General reference works to connect patrons with information or items they know they want. What is RA but helping patrons find a book they don't yet know they want? General reference and RA are two sides of the same coin (aka the second law).

Now so far, RA sounds like a pretty awesome and important service, right? So how can there be any controversy about helping people find a book? Well to start, not everyone--even within the profession--see RA as a necessary service to provide. Controversy can build when a few librarians are fighting to keep their RA resource subscriptions going at a time when libraries are having to slash budgets and work with less funding. A lot of librarians don't understand or are apprehensive about RA. Feelings can include "I don't read a lot of genre X, so how can I do RA?", "I don't like genre X, so how can I do RA?", "There's no real answer to RA questions, so how can I provide an accurate response?", or even "I don't know how to talk books" (Trott, p. 63). It's hard to get support for a service (even an important one) if the voices of dissension are loud.

In addition to controversy and conflict on the part of librarians, there is also controversy and conflict on the part of patrons and others outside the library. Why? Because of the types of materials patrons are looking for and are connected with. One of my classmates proposed a very thought-provoking hypothetical example. In it, a teenaged boy was looking for a hypothetical movie with lots of nudity and violence for a "guy's night." The library didn't have the exact item he wanted, so the librarian fielding the boy's question recommended another movie about a classic character in horror stories (Dracula) that was rated R for nudity and violence. This kind of situation of course would raise concerns with parents who would be worried about the fact that the librarian recommended an item with mature content to a teenager. However, our professional ethics dictate that we connect patrons with the materials (or types of materials) and information they want, as long as the materials or information can exist within current US law; if you want to see one of our most core tenets, check out the ALA Bill of Rights (particularly articles III and V). Also, as much as parents and guardians would like surrogate parents in librarians for their children, the responsibility of assuring children and teens don't borrow materials their parents would object to ultimately falls on the parents. Many libraries have policies that state they do not censor materials or refuse to check out items based on a patron's age. To see how this might look, here is the Access to Materials Policy of my local library:

"All staff members will respect every patron's right to choose his/her own library materials.

As part of the Reference interview, in recommending material to any patron, reference staff will consider the patron's reading capabilities, reading comprehension, and the specific question or interest at hand.

When material is not available at a branch library, reference staff will explain and encourage the use of Interlibrary Loan by both adults and children when it is appropriate.

It is not the responsibility of the circulation desk staff to question patrons about the materials being checked out of the library.

This policy applies to all formats of materials in the Library's collection and to patrons of all ages."

Before last week, I didn't realize how closely connected RA and larger issues like censorship and freedom to information are. I see RA in a much different light now. It is a vital service to patrons, but one that sees its fair share of objection from patrons and a lack of support from librarians. I feel like I have a better grasp of what it is and how it fits in both within a library and within our profession.

Trott, B. (2012). Reference, readers' advisory, and relevance. The Reference Librarian, 53(1), 60-66. doi: 10.1080/02763877.2011.596367

RA and Beef Parmigiana

In my advanced reference class, the topic last week was RA, better known as Reader's Advisory. Until now, this is not something that I've had much experience in, at least I didn't think so. However my instructor included information about both passive and active RA. Many library users and librarians have experience with active RA. This is when a patron walks up to a librarian and says something like, "Hey, I need another book to read, but I'm not sure what to choose. Can you recommend something?" What follows is a conversation (reference interview) resulting with a patron walking off with a new book to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

Passive RA is something that I see as a collective effort among library staff, and doesn't fall on one person's/librarian's shoulders--unless of course the library staff consists of one. Passive RA includes things like book displays, staff picks, featured items on the library's website, and even something as simple as shelving items by genre so browsers can find similar items. I took this one step further and noted that cataloging could then be considered a kind of passive RA because assigning call numbers then determines where on the shelves they go. Similar subjects/topics in non-fiction are grouped together and similar genres in fiction are shelved together because of that little number and effort to make things easy to find. So if cataloging can also be seen as a type of passive RA, then RA happens in every library that catalogs its materials even if there are no book displays or nice librarians that can offer recommendations. In a way, RA happens every day in just about every library, and I was a part of that and didn't know it until now. Perhaps a silly revelation, but one that's important to me because I had been feeling very apprehensive and unprepared for RA. Not so much now.

Perhaps I can post another discussion about RA--particularly the controversy that surrounds it--but for right now, I wanted to include another recipe: beef parmigiana. Brother Dear bought me a couple of Italian cookbooks for my birthday, and the original recipe (veal cutlets parmigiana) comes from one of them. I cooked this last night and it went over quite well.

What you'll need:
1 1/2 lbs. beef cutlets sliced about 1/4 inch thick*
2 eggs
3 Tbs. milk
3 c. dry bread crumbs
1/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 c. olive oil
1 jar red pasta sauce
6-8 oz. shredded mozzarella

What you'll need to do:
1. In a shallow dish or bowl, beat together the eggs and milk. Set aside.
2. In another shallow dish or bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and salt and pepper.
3. Dredge each piece of meat in the egg mixture, then coat with bread crumbs. Press down slightly on the bread crumbs to make sure they stick on both sides. Place each cutlet on wax paper to set.
4. Heat the olive oil in a medium or large skillet over medium-high heat. Oil should be shimmering before adding meat. Add cutlets a few at a time and cook 1-2 minutes on each side. Cutlets should be golden brown.
5. Remove cutlets and drain on paper towels.
6. Preheat oven to 375. Place cutlets in a baking dish and cover with pasta sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella over each cutlet and cook for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling along the edges.
7. Serve over pasta of your choice.

*If you can't get the meat sliced thinly enough, you can cover them with wax paper and use a rolling pin or mallet to pound them to the desired thickness.

Peer Mentor: A Final Reflection

My time as a Peer Mentor is now over. The final deadline for all coursework was last week, so all grading is done. No more weekly emails out to my students, no more responding to questions about the assignments, no more contacting students with work still left to do, no more leaving encouraging feedback on submissions. There was a lot of work involved--3 units' worth in a mere two months. And I'm sorry to see it end.

It was a packed seven weeks. In addition to helping run the course site and dealing with day-to-day grading and issues, I also hosted a webinar that discussed school and non-school resources SLIS students may find helpful and interesting and put together a screencast about the basics of Skype. I got very comfortable with different types of presentation and collaboration technologies, both of which will help in any position I go into (especially since I would love to get involved with any library-offered instruction programs).

All of the Peer Mentors were asked to write a reflection about the experience. Here is a brief excerpt from mine:

It’s hard to pinpoint one thing I’m proudest of. I think I was able to accomplish a lot, and I’m proud of it all. I think my greatest accomplishment was not something I created, but something I did: giving the new students a positive first SLIS experience. I’ve enjoyed my program so much and have gotten so much out of it that I wanted to help them get the same experience. To me, making their first impression of SLIS and the program a good one was the best reward and biggest accomplishment.

I also was able to create a list of what I've done as a Peer Mentor that supports some of the competencies for program completion. It seems that I have three competencies well in hand, which I didn't realize until I wrote the reflection. For those of you that may be in the same program, I would recommend doing a reflection after each class that lists the competencies of that class and the work you did to support those competencies. I would have most of my e-portfolio work done already if I had been doing that with each class. I'm not sure if any of my 203 students are reading this, but if so I recommend that you start doing this now! Especially you M, since you asked the question about e-Portfolios.

I also discovered a desire within myself to continue helping SLIS students, even after I graduate. Being a Peer Mentor has made me feel more connected to my fellow students and the program at large than anything else I have done, and I want to continue giving back to the department and the students. I'm hoping that there are opportunities for me to stay involved. I would recommend the Peer Mentor program to anyone who wants to take something other than regular classes. I learned a lot about myself and what I can do (and what I like to do), and I had a lot of fun doing it.

This post ends the focus on topics new students may find useful. With the end of my time as a Peer Mentor, my blog can return to other topics, recipes, and what I get into in my spare time.

Crock Pot Roast

Last week, Scooter asked to give more input on our dinners. Before then, I had been choosing what to cook and simply got him to let me know what kind of meat he wanted to have. He wanted to be more involved, so now our Friday night routine includes a recipe review with both of us looking over and choosing together what to have for meals--a dinner democracy.

This recipe is one that he and I picked out because the cook time was perfect for us since we're gone all day, involves not much in the way of prep time which is something I like, and features a roast that he really was in the mood for (he was looking for a "meat and potatoes" kind of meal, which this one is--literally). So here is a yummy pot roast recipe that you can fix in the morning and forget until dinnertime. Note that you will need a medium oval or large crock pot for this recipe.

What you'll need:
4-lb. boneless chuck roast
salt and pepper to taste
4 large carrots
4 large potatoes
1 onion*
2 bay leaves
3 c. water
1/2 c. cider vinegar

What you'll need to do:
1. Put the roast into your crock pot and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Peel and quarter the potatoes and add them to the crock pot.
3. Peel the carrots and cut them into 2-3 inch pieces.
4. Peel and cut the onion into large chunks.
5. Add the vegetables and bay leaves into the crock pot.
6. Pour in the water and vinegar, cover, and cook on LOW 6-8 hours.

*The original recipe calls for a yellow onion, but Scooter and I prefer red onion. Either will work, or you can use the onion you prefer.

After it's done, you can remove the meat and veggies and cook down the remaining juice in a pot. You can also add butter and flour to make a gravy or simply leave it as a kind of au jus. Serve with bread to help soak up all the good sauce.

King Library

Because I am in a distance program (everything is online), us students learn to rely on the online resources (databases, tutorials, etc.) and sources (articles, e-books, etc.) that our campus library offers for information and research. There is a lot available, and so far I haven't found myself struggling to find information in order to complete the papers, projects, and other assignments required in my courses. Anything that I needed to use physical resources for was accomplished by visiting my local public library branch. This is certainly a good thing, and has saved me from much hair-tearing.

But this really is no surprise. In order for any program (or any school) to be accredited, there need to be adequate resources available for students to perform the work required by the program (or school) for successful completion. I know, because I have looked over the accreditation criteria when I was working as part of a departmental committee on the program's self-assessment in preparation for SLIS's ALA re-accreditation next year. ACCSC, the organization that oversees the accreditation for the trade school where I work requires the same thing (funny enough, we're also preparing for a re-accreditation scheduled for next year). And the idea is logical; you can't require students to do things for a given program if you don't provide them with the (re)sources that will allow them to accomplish the assigned work.

So where am I going with this? Well, in my advanced reference class our first assignment was to answer a question made up by a classmate and provide them with both sources (print and other types) that would help them get the information they need to answer the question and some ideas on where to go to find more information. My question was from a classmate posing as a freshman college student looking to find information on Pompeii and Herculaneum. My professor told us that we could recommend print sources based on the available online information about them (such as in a catalog entry). Since the question I chose to work on was supposed to be from a college freshman (no college/university specified), I decided to use the academic library that I have access to--King Library. And because I could conceivably visit the library to look at print sources since I live within driving distance (rather than relying on the online catalog information which can be spotty), I did. This prompted my first ever on-site visit to my campus library.

Yes, I know. I'm able to travel to campus, and yet it took over three years before stepping foot in the library I know so well virtually. After visiting, I'm sorry that it took so long for me to go there. It's well worth going just to see it (if you're in to "library sightseeing"--yes, I am a library nerd). To give you a little background, King Library is not only the academic library for SJSU, it's also a branch of the San Jose Public Library system. So residents that go to SJPL can also get access to all that King Library has to offer. Lucky them! The building is a newer modern-looking building housing seven floors of resources for patrons (my undergrad campus library that I worked in was only a mere four floors and a basement). Escalators can take patrons beween the first four floors. There is one entire floor dedicated to reference sources. The first-floor circulation desk had a large counter on the wall above it; I couldn't figure out what the number stood for and there was no notation as to what it could be, but it was steadily climbing. The children's and teen areas looked interesting and I wanted to explore a bit; sadly, I was a woman with a mission on my visit so I couldn't linger and look around as much as I wanted to.

One thing that threw me off as I was looking for sources was that some of the collection is classified under the Dewey Decimal Classification system and the other part of the collection is classified under the Library of Congress Classification system. It took a minute to realize that the former is part of San Jose Public Library's collection, and the latter is the collection owned by SJSU. They must be able to keep it all straight, but I would find such a situation confusing. I can only imagine how much of a nightmare it would be to keep the different budgets straight.

To all SLIS students: if you're ever in the area and can visit King Library, take the opportunity to do so. It's fun being able to see the place from whence all our resources come, and I enjoyed seeing what a combination public/academic library looks like.

Is it too early to think about my E-Portfolio?

One of my students asked if I could talk about the e-portfolio. It is one of the two options students can choose as their culminating work to satisfy our MLIS requirements. I'm actually impressed that she's starting to think about it now, and I think it's a great question. So even though I did already respond in private email, I want to share what I discussed here as well for other students. So the answer to the title of this post is a definite no! Starting to plan now means you will be prepared when your time to work on your e-portfolio comes around.

First off, the e-portfolio must satisfy all the Core Competencies for the program; there are currently 15, A-O. One thing students can do to plan for meeting all the competencies is to check out which offered classes meet each of the competencies. You can do that here. Each student's academic advisor can also help plan out classes to take if a student isn't sure which electives to enroll for. Just a side note that students may be able to use additional experience outside their MLIS course to help satisfy the Core Competencies.

SLIS also provides an extensive e-portfolio handbook that has detailed information about the e-portfolio requirements and how to meet them. I encourage anyone thinking about the e-portfolio (no matter where in the program you are) to check it out since this will give you a really good idea of what to expect. Each student will be assigned an e-portfolio advisor when they enroll in LIBR 289 in MySJSU in their last semester; this person will not necessarily be the same as their academic advisor and in fact will likely be someone different. This person will guide students through the e-portfolio process, review their work, and give advice on what to improve as they work through supporting each competency with their work.

Students can complete their e-portfolio through the D2L e-portfolio platform or through another platform that they and their e-portfolio advisor agree on. I have heard of e-portfolios completed on a student-made website, for example. Students can enroll in the D2L e-portfolio site by following the instructions in this guide; they don't need to be taking LIBR 289 to do so. This gives students a way to check out the e-portfolio interface provided by SLIS, and they can start uploading their work as they go.

So now that all this information has been thrown at you, what should you do now? My recommendations--aside from reviewing any e-portfolio information you can--would be to make sure and collect your work as you progress through your program and assign it to a competency. I've kept final drafts for all of my work over the course of my program, and I have copies on my laptop, my thumb drive, and in my D2L e-portfolio platform (that's another thing--back up your work!!!!). I also created a folder for LIBR 289 and created subfolders for each competency (A-O). I've put copies of my final drafts into the competency's folder that I feel each one satisfies. To help figure this out, each class (and sometimes each assignment) lists the competency that it satisfies on its greensheet. I've also gone so far as to create a document that lists each competency and notes each of the classes I've taken that fulfill it underneath. This gives me a great visual to see which competencies I have securely under my belt. Doing so actually helped me to plan which two classes I would take this semester (I was in need of some competency K work).

The e-portfolio is a big project, and one that ideally you want to plan for during your whole program. Organizing as you go will mean that your work is easily accessible and less chaotic when it comes time to put it all together!

Easy Beef Recipe for Your Crockpot

Now that I have a bigger kitchen to work in, I've been doing a lot more cooking lately, even during the week. Planning my meals has become part of my weekend routine, and I've been cracking more of my recipe books open to choose what Scooter and I will have for our dinners. Last night's dinner was a recipe I've had my eye on for about a week and a half, and the original came from my Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly cook book. Here's a hearty and healthy beef stew.

What you'll need:
1 c. uncooked wild rice
1 c. celery, chopped (about 1 1/2 - 2 stalks)
1 c. carrots, chopped (about 2 medium carrots)
2 4-oz. cans mushrooms, drained
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 c. slivered almonds
3 beef bouillon cubes
salt and pepper to taste
2 lbs. boneless round steak
1 Tbs. Worcester sauce
3 c. water

What you'll need to do:
1. Rinse and drain the wild rice, then put it into the bottom of a 5-quart+ crock pot.
2. Add the celery, carrots, mushrooms, onion, almonds, bouillon cubes, and salt and pepper.
3. Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and place in the crock pot on top.
4. Add the Worcester sauce and water.
5. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.*

*If you forget to prepare it in time to allow for normal cooking time, you can also cook on low for 2 hours, then cook 2 hours on high.

This was actually a lot tastier than I thought it would be. The wild rice has a great texture, and the beef bouillon and Worcestor sauce add great flavor. Scooter wants to try this recipe and substitute some of the water for Guinness to add even more rich flavor.

I hope you enjoy it too!

Oh no! I have graphophobia!

The title doesn't refer to me, but some of the new students that may be coming into the MLIS program. Graphophobia is the fear of writing, and while many students may not be literally scared of writing, many still don't like it. The dislike can come from a number of reasons including:

• I have nothing to write about
• No one wants to see my work
• I'm not any good
• I don't know where to start
• I can't take the criticism
• I prefer to say what I want, not write it

Does any of this sound familiar? You're not alone by any means if it does. I don't claim to be an expert in writing, but I do like to write, so I will add my two cents in the hopes that my students will perhaps be a little less apprehensive.

Some students may think you have to be born a good writer, but good writing is not really an inborn talent. You have to learn how to write, and then you have to practice. I was lucky enough to have a great high school English teacher that understood the writing process and how to help her students develop writing skills. You don't have to start big; in fact, you want to start small. In English class, we started with paragraphs before we moved on to whole essays. In our MLIS program, there are two classes that will help you build both research and writing skills. You won't be starting as small as a paragraph, but you will be starting with smaller assignments that will build on each other before you create the final project.

In LIBR 200, which many of my students will probably be starting tomorrow, students will learn about and create various types of writing assignments; while many of the assignments vary by instructor, each section does seem to require a final/major paper. These assignments all teach an aspect of research and how to write a particular type of work; even though each assignment requires writing, each one is approached differently based on the type of piece required. In LIBR 285, students explore the formal research paper writing process step-by-step over the course of the semester. The assignments build on each other and while the student produces a research proposal (rather than a publication-ready paper), the class supports building writing skills along with research skills.

By now, my students may be asking themselves "Oh no! How much writing will I have to do then?" Other than what's required by the core classes, it really depends. The core classes are fairly consistent in the level of writing required between sections, but when you get to the electives it's completely dependent upon the course content and how the instructor chooses to present/teach that content. There will be other classes that require writing assignments, but the assignments would be in line with the content of the course and the SLOs (Student Learning Outcomes). What this means is that a writing assignment may demand something much more informal than a research paper. I would like to point out that not taking a class you want to just because it may require a lot of writing is folly; one of the best ways to overcome a dislike of writing is to write about something you like or love. If the class interests you and it will support your librarian/information professional career goals, take it; you want to get the most out of your program, and you only have 43 units to do so.

"So what do I do if I can't write well?" I hear you asking. Well, there are writing resources provided by SLIS that I strongly recommend you to check out. First, check the Writing Resources for Students page. You'll find a lot of sources there to help guide you through every aspect of the writing process. And for those students that need additional support, online tutoring is available. SLIS provides tutoring services so SLIS students can get help from tutors that are also SLIS students. So struggling students can work with those that understand from first-hand experience the types of assignments and writing demands they face. And to round out the writing resources SLIS students have at their fingertips, there are recordings of past writing workshops that students can watch to help build better writing skills. So fellow students, if you are timid when it comes to penning your work, fear not! Take advantage of the help available to you and you too could be writing better and more confidently.

Not being able to write (or disliking writing) is not the end of the world. With a little practice and support, you may find that you actually enjoy it.

Class Information

One of my students asked me a question about the core classes. And while it's not absolutely vital information, I think it's a great thing to discuss and expand on, and make sure other new students are aware of it. Depending on what classes you've signed up for in the coming semester, you may or may not be taking LIBR 202. This class will require you to create a database, and you will be doing so as part of a group. Don't panic! Read through this post and check through the pages I mention if you wish to get more information.

Back when I took 202, the database program we used was called DBTextWorks, and it was one that we had to install on our computer. Since then, it seems that the program has switched to WebData Pro, a web-based system. So, fellow students, you won't need to worry about installing a new program on your computer for class. If you want to get a head start and find out more about WebData Pro, you can start with the tutorials provided on the department website: http://slisapps.sjsu.edu/libr202/webdatapro/tutorial.html. This is also the page you'll need to go to in order to get technical support for any issues with WebData Pro (the technical support form is at the bottom of the list), so I recommend bookmarking the page just in case.

The student also asked about system requirements. You can check the requirements outlined by the school here. My student asked if all of the requirements on the page are actually necessary. Well, yes and no. The official policy is that yes, students do need to have a computer that fulfills all the requirements listed on this page. In my experience, some of the items can be fudged a little. For example, I have yet to come across a class where a CD/DVD drive was needed (although that's not to say they don't exist). And I don't know that you'll need the RAM noted on the page (slightly lower would still work). Things that you will for sure need: an Internet connection, speakers and a microphone for Collaborate sessions, a printer (if you're like me and like to print out articles to review or papers to edit and revise), and storage and back-up storage for all your course files. Most computers that you would buy now have everything and more than is listed on the system requirements. But don't feel like you have to go out and buy a new computer if you have one that's two years old or less. To give you some perspective, my three-year-old laptop can still handle everything flawlessly. So the requirements are not unreasonable.

I would also like to point out briefly the software requirements as well. Yes, Microsoft Office is a requirement. Yes, instructors will require submissions to be specific file types, so Microsoft Works will not--ahem--work. I know, it does mean more money that you have to spend on school costs; but you can use student loans to help since it is required for your academic program, and discounted pricing is available for students (see the Microsoft Office and Pricing page for more information).

And if you're wondering what kind of group work you'll have to do and what your weekly assignments might be, check the course syllabus. There are two things you'll want to keep in mind with syllabi: 1) Be sure you're looking at the syllabus for the section you have registered for because different sections can have different syllabi and 2) Keep in mind that the syllabus may not have every detail on it. You'll get all the details about everything on the first day of class, but if you really want to find out ahead of time you can always email your instructor and ask him/her if they can provide more information on what you can expect. You can check the course syllabus page for any classes you signed up for this semester, not just 202.

I hope this information helps! You can ask more questions about the classes here or contact me through D2L, email, or Bb IM.

A More Recent Reflection on Teamwork

When I first started my MLIS program three years ago (has it really been that long?), one of my first assignments was to reflect on being an online student and working as part of a team. The class that the reflection was for is the one that, three years later, I am acting as Peer Mentor for. The assignments from when I originally took the class haven't changed much other than to be updated to match the changes in both the program's learning management system and a set of tutorials that ground new students in using the online databases provided through the campus library's website. In fact, the presentations on teamwork that my students are watching in the personal skills unit are the same ones I viewed three years ago. The concepts and ideas in the presentations are just as relevant now as they were then. How do I know? Because today, after completing my group's meet-up for the new students, I can look back at our work together and identify a lot of the team "should do's" I remember from my 203 class.

While I was the one that initially proposed the topic for our meet-up, my two teammates helped develop it into a workable presentation. They helped to come up with ideas of what to include, how to organize it all into distinct sections, and figure out what presentation medium to use. Without their work, the final product would not have been so well-thought-out. This is definitely one of the benefits of teamwork. I don't remember who it was that said this, but the line "greater than the sum of its parts" comes to mind here. We all had different areas of "expertise" to add to the presentation, and we each got to present the part that we contributed so each person was familiar with what she was talking about and was comfortable with presenting her part--a logical division of labor, if you will.

We did have a team leader for this project. She was never officially named as such, but she took on the role with much finesse and ability. I had no qualms about having her take the lead in this; with everything that was going on as we were developing and executing our ideas, there was no way that I would be able to take on the role myself. I was hardly going to be able to keep a group organized if I was having such difficulty keeping myself organized! So what did she do well? She kept us on task. She kept up team communication and sent reminders letting us know deadlines we agreed on, what we needed to do, etc. She oversaw putting our separate parts of the presentation together. She
encouraged us, and we encouraged her and each other in turn.

Now each team will be different, and not all team leaders will have the same responsibilities. But one thing I think all team leaders share despite their duties towards their team's goal is that they set the tone of the group experience. Someone in the team leader role that is not suited to the task will set a negative tone with ineffective leadership. Teams are formed to accomplish something; how can that happen with a leader that can't lead? How can they get the respect they need in order to foster the trust that teammates must have for the leader and each other to be successful? We respected our leader and trusted her to guide us; we trusted each other to do our part of the work to achieve our goal (the meet-up presentation). She set the tone for the entire experience: positive, encouraging, productive, successful.

I wish all of my students their own successful teamwork experiences while in their program.

Making the Most of Your Program

As an online student, what is your routine? Log on to the course site, complete your readings, post to the discussion board, respond to a classmate's post, turn in your assignments, and repeat the process. Well, okay, that's not all there is because some classes do also include lectures and other resources to "spice it up." Now, if you want to go through your program and just take your classes and nothing else, that's fine. You'll still end up with your degree. But the market right now for librarians is not the best (just check the ALA LinkedIn group for all the stories of librarians who are still unemployed or who had to submit dozens of resumes before getting one interview). As a student, you'll want to make yourself stand out, and just doing the minimum and skating through your classes won't help you do that. So what are some of your options?

Internships or special studies opportunities can be one way to boost your resume. These "classes" do give you units towards your degree, but they offer real-world experience that you can't always get in the traditional classes that discuss library theory. Now I'll be the first to admit that many of the projects and assignments I did were mock-ups of possible real-world scenarios. One that immediately comes to mind is the collection policy manual I worked on with a group over the course of the semester. The end result was a working collection policy manual that could have been used in an actual library (and in fact, we did base some of the statistics and budget on an actual library). But an internship gives that extra edge of having done something for an actual library or other organization. And special studies (which can include projects or research or even being a Peer Mentor like I am now) can give you other valuable experiences. My internship allowed me to help develop a real library's website, create tutorials for staff that will actually be used, and learn from people that are working in our profession. My experience as a Peer Mentor is providing me with leadership and management experience. That can all be put on my resume as examples of my work and how successful it was in a real setting, rather than assignments turned in for class.

Publication opportunities are also available for us, even while in school. The Student Research Journal is a scholarly peer-reviewed journal published by our program. Graduate students from our school and from other graduate programs can submit papers for review and publication. You will write at least several research papers during the course of your program. You could use this publication opportunity to have one of your papers published. If you don't feel the peer-reviewed track is for you, there is a more informal publication opportunity in the SLIS Descriptor. This online publication allows students to submit their own articles on topics that are of interest to them. I submitted an article on my experience with designing a website for another organization and had it published in a past issue. Having your work published is another great way to boost your resume. Having and maintaining a blog is not quite as impressive because you can post whatever you want. Getting your work accepted and published by another party shows that there is value in what you've written.

A third way to stand out is by getting involved in student organizations. There are many leadership opportunities to be found in our student organizations for those that want to run for them (many of the offices are filled by individuals getting voted in). Check out our ALASC, ASIS&T, and SLISConnect groups. Having a position of responsibility is another great point on your resume and shows definite leadership potential in a work setting. This was one opportunity I couldn't really take advantage of due to time constraints, although I did get involved in one of our department's governance committees (which was awesome because I got to help the department prepare for our program's re-accreditation that will be happening next year).

I'm not trying to suggest that every student needs to do all of this. But I think that each student should try to plan at least one of these opportunities into his or her program. It will create a richer student and program experience than just taking regular classes. You'll be glad if you do!

What classes do I take?

This is a question that I'm sure all (or almost all) new students in our program have. For those of my new students that have looked at the class descriptions, you'll see that there are six we must all take (the sixth being a choice between an e-portfolio and a thesis). But that still leaves you with *calculating* 27 units that are up for grabs. If you take classes that are all 3 units each, that gives you nine classes you still need to decide on. How do you make those decisions?

If you have a decided interest, one place to start is to look at the Career Pathways on the program website. The department has kindly listed the various classes that students will likely want to take if they have a particular career path in mind (academic librarian, YA librarian, library management, etc.). You don't have to follow any of these career pathways, but they are a good starting point to get an idea of classes that will interest you. I actually started my class planning by using this method and initially looked at a combination of management and academic librarianship classes. I'm the solo librarian where I work, so I reasoned that this combination would assist in the work I do in my library daily. I have deviated somewhat from my original plan, although I have taken many of the classes that were on my original list. If you change your mind on classes, that's OK too. My interests and personal goals have changed and evolved through my program, and what I want now is not the same as what I wanted when I first started. As I've learned about the profession and its possibilities, I see myself in a different place than I did in Fall of 2010.

Another resource is your academic advisor. It is this person's job to advise you on the best way to reach the outcome you want from this program. Do you want to be in charge of a public library's archives? Do you want to be King or Queen of the reference desk? Do you want to plan and implement the children's or adult programming at a library branch? Do you want to branch out to an information management position at a corporation? If you have questions, talk to your advisor about your plans for your future and he or she will help you to plan out which courses would be the best to take.

I suggest taking this first semester to settle into the program and get some of those required courses out of the way. Some may need a second semester too. You don't have to have your entire program planned out perfectly right away. Take the time to ask questions. Explore your options. Don't be afraid if you change your mind about the direction you want to go in the profession.

And if you are interested in reference or web-development classes, I have a few recommendations.

Even I Had Questions as a New Student

When I need to think through something and plan, I write things down. I write down lists of what I could decide on, questions I have, things to consider--basically anything remotely related that I think of gets written down. When I was trying to figure out the logistics of my program (and everything that entailed), it was no different.

I even went to visit my advisor. Since I live within driving distance of the campus and she is also within driving distance, I was able to meet with her on campus one day before the start of my program. I had a list of questions that I took in with me. Now, mind you, I had done some research on the program and MLIS programs at other schools before applying at the campus where I now attend. And I was working full-time--as I am now--so I knew I couldn't speed through my program as fast as I would like. When I took my first steps on the campus on my way to her office, I already had a general idea of how I expected my program to go (which I find hilarious because I've drifted somewhat from my original plan).

So here are the questions I asked my advisor on that summer afternoon and her responses:

1. Which of the 200, 202, and 204 classes should I plan to take my first semester if I only plan to take one of them? Take 200. It will fulfill the writing requirement.


2. Is there a limit to the amount of time that a student can take to finish the MLIS degree? 7 years.

3. Regarding internships, are they a mandatory part of the program? If so, can I consider my current position as librarian for internship credit? They are not required. There is a database of internship opportunities. One credit is equal to 45 hours in an internship. There may be weekend internship opportunities. (I don't know if this was before virtual internships, but those work well for those with full-time positions or that won't be able to be on-site due to geography.)

4. Can students exceed the 43 unit requirement for the program? No.

5. In your experience, how often should online students plan to be "online"? Approx. how many times a week do students typically log on? To be successful, plan on logging on every day. Also, be active on the discussion forum!

6. How accelerated are the summer courses? 10 weeks instead of 14 or 15 weeks.

7. Does the schedule of summer courses change from year to year or are there some courses that are always offered at this time? Check the class rotation list.

8. Do the "seminar" classes work any different than the other classes? No, they are done the same.

9. Can students who have earned their MLIS degree from the SJSU program come back and take other courses offered after they graduate? No. (This was before the department began offering the Post Master's Certificate Program.)

Some other advice my advisor gave me was to follow the new student checklist and read it carefully. She suggested becoming organized by using a calendar for important things and logging in frequently. She also mentioned scholarships available through the school and possible grants from ALA. The last piece of advice she gave me was to get involved. Being a distance student is hard (we are so isolated at times it seems), and getting involved in the program or the school in some way can help to build connections. Joining and participating in some of the student organizations--SLISConnect, ALASC (ALA Student Chapter), etc.--would be great experience and are ways to build your resume. I ended up becoming the Student Representative on one of the department's governance committees and got to help with the self-assessment for the program for next year's accreditation!

To all my new students, we all have questions when we first begin. Don't hesitate to ask yours!

To the New Online Student -- How Do You Do It?

For the new online student, becoming a student in a virtual classroom--while still keeping up life and work obligations--may seem like a huge undertaking. Back when I first started my online program I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle school on top of everything else I had to do, despite my determination to succeed. For many of us that enter this MLIS program, we aren't coming in fresh off the BA/BS boat; it's been some time since we last were in school, be it a few years or even a few decades. We have jobs that we can't leave for school because, let's admit it, we need that paycheck. We have families that all require time from our day. And sometimes we just need to take a break and spend an hour or two reading, playing another couple rounds of Mario Kart, gardening, crafting, cooking, walking, or whatever else it is that we enjoy. So in our already busy lives, is it even possible to do it all? Today, I can tell you IT CAN BE DONE!

Three big things come to mind when I think of how I made it all work for me: motivation, organization, and scheduling. Motivation is what keeps me going, the drive to check in with my course several times a week (and sometimes at least once a day) and complete all reading and assignments on time. The amount of reading you'll do varies from course to course. Some have a lot of reading--textbook, articles, additional content--and some have less just because of the nature of the course content (such as LIBR 240, where you learn how to code in HTML and CSS). The assignments also vary from class to class. Some classes have several papers or assignments due over the course of the semester. Others have one big project that you work cumulatively on over the entire semester. Finding a way to stay motivated will help you to stay on top of everything you need to do. My motivation is getting my diploma in May of next year (which will open doors and give me more options of where I can take my career from here). Why are you in this program? What do you hope to do after you finish? Answering these questions can help you find a reason to be motivated and do your best.

But motivation isn't all you need. There's a lot to keep track of: deadlines, readings, assignments, lectures, discussions, etc. Online students also would do well to find a way to stay organized. I use my calendar in Outlook to record class lectures and deadlines, and set up reminders so that I don't forget them. Each course gets a binder or manila folder (depending on how much I have to keep track of) where I can put the course syllabus, articles (I'm someone that needs to print them out so I can highlight and write on them), assignment descriptions, and any other notes I may have. I use post-its to mark important sections in my textbooks. If I'm feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work it seems like I have to do for an assignment, I make a to-do list and break it down into smaller tasks; each task I accomplish gets checked off and I'm much less likely to forget something. I log into my course site regularly to make sure that I don't miss important information. It sounds like a lot of work (and it is!), but doing some work each day helps to keep it all under control and prevent you from falling behind. Courses seem to go by really fast, so it's hard to catch up if you fall behind.

Scheduling your time can work really well to make sure you're giving everything (including job and life) enough time and attention. For me, I would schedule time to work on school during my lunch hour, at night when I get home from my job, and on the weekends. Sometimes I find other opportunities to work on school; but even if I don't, I know I have enough time for course work because I've scheduled it in. I also schedule time to do something fun--I need breaks/downtime, too! My scheduling method is really informal (I tend to just note down general times), and others may find that they need to put together a day-by-day calendar where they can fill in exact times for things. This is fine, but keep in mind that things can change; assignment deadlines could be pushed back, readings could be switched around, or unexpected things in life could come up--all of which might affect your schedule. So schedule away, but be flexible.

There is a learning period when jumping into an online program. You're not necessarily going to get everything perfectly balanced when you first start. Find your groove, be as organized as you need to be, build a schedule that works for you, and stay motivated!

Pork Tenderloin With Apricot Jam

I love apricot jam. It is the one jam that I always have in my fridge. I don't even need to make anything to eat with it; just a small piece of sliced bread from the bag is enough for me. My mom makes the best homemade apricot jam, and I just got two jars from her over the weekend. I had a pork tenderloin that I had been meaning to cook, and what could go better with pork than apricot jam? Okay, you may have another preference, but I like combining sweet substances with pork (for example, bacon tastes outstanding with maple syrup).

So here is a recipe for making a pork tenderloin with apricot jam. And even better, it's for a slow cooker.

What you'll need:
1 pork tenderloin, about 2 lbs. (can be frozen)
2 c. baby carrots
1 med. red onion, thinly sliced
1 c. chicken stock
1 jar apricot preserves*
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 large spring of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

What you'll need to do:
1. Place the onions and carrots into the bottom of a slow cooker (not sure how big it needs to be, but mine is at least 4 quarts).
2. Season the pork loin with salt and pepper and place on top of the carrots and onions. If using a frozen pork loin that's on the large size, you may have to partially thaw it in order to fit it into the slow cooker.
3. Mix the chicken stock, apricot preserves, and Dijon mustard together. Pour over the pork loin and add the sprig of thyme.
4. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. If using a frozen or partially frozen pork loin, increase cooking time by 1-2 hours.

*There are jars of different sizes out there, so find one that is at least 12-14 oz. Otherwise, you'll not be able to taste much apricot.

You may need to add more salt and pepper to the dish before eating it. I found that I needed more than what I seasoned my pork loin with; I got a mostly sweet flavor, rather than a balance between sweet and salty that I prefer. You can serve this with rice (my preference) or potatoes. Or just use a couple thick slabs of bread to soak up the sauce!

Embarking as a Peer Mentor

Over the next couple of months, the focus of my blog is going to shift. In my last post, I mentioned that I am going to be a peer mentor for new students starting their SLIS program this fall. I will be a resource, a coach, and a TA all wrapped up in one package. While a little nervous (it's been a long time since I was in charge of a class as a teacher or TA), I'm looking forward to the prospect of helping these students get a firm foot into the door of their program. Online classes are not easy, and any guidance I can give them to get them acclimated to the online learning environment translates to less stress about where to go and how to do things.

During the course of the class, I will be posting regularly on my blog (I seem to be getting a lot of use out of it for my classes this year), but these posts will be tailored more to the taste of new online students. My goal will be to address questions or concerns they may have, and my blog will be filled with my answers and advice for them. I will still sprinkle it with recipes (I can't wait to get cooking in my new kitchen!), and of course dear reader you are welcome to read all of the advice I give and the questions I address. But all in all, expect to see more activity here, at least until late September when this particular class ends.

I did want to also mention this fun list of websites provided by the ALA. It's called the Best Websites for Teaching and Learning. The ALA makes a new list every year. These sites are fun and creative and have the potential for so many uses outside the classroom. Tagxedo, the site I used to create the word cloud in my last post, was on the list in the past, as was Glogster and Prezi. I invite you to go through the list and check out some of the sites listed, even if you are far from a classroom (physical or virtual). I did some exploring and found a really fun presentation-type site called Smore. You can create flyers (for free!) that are much more than your run-of-the-mill, stapled-to-a-lamppost flyer. These flyers are interactive. In addition to text, you can add pictures with captions, embed videos and audio, and list links that visitors can click on. It's a creative way for businesses and non-profits to get their names out, to be sure. But students can use it for organizing report summaries and resources, instructors/teachers could use it for posting weekly assignments or resources relating to class, or (as in my case) TAs can use it to introduce themselves to the class they are working with. It's fun, try it!

I definitely want s'more Smore.

Technology Is Fun!

Really, it is. There's no reason to be afraid of it, and a little practice will have you using it like a pro.

I am about to start my second-to-last semester as a peer mentor for new MLIS students who will be starting their very first classes in the program. My job is to help make them comfortable with the online learning environment, learn about and become familiar with the various types of technologies they will use as part of their program, give them an idea of what to expect in their program, and help alleviate worries they may have. This is a class I've wanted to take for awhile, and this semester is my last opportunity to do it, so I'm very glad that I was accepted for the peer mentor program.

Us peer mentors have a bit of preparation before the beginning of the class that we will be mentoring in, which opens before the official start of the semester to give those new students that want to the opportunity to begin settling in the online learning environment before the additional pressures of their other classes begin. As we (the peer mentors) are introducing ourselves to each other, we're being encouraged to incorporate other technology into our introduction to make it a little more interesting. So far, someone has used Spice Nodes, Glogster, and YouTube. I decided to make a word cloud using the words of my blog. And since it's blog-related, it only seems appropriate that I share that here too.

If you want to make one of your own, head on over to Tagxedo.

Bachelor Surprise and Refrigerator Soup

I was able to spend a good part of my weekend with K and her husband (and my adorable godson of course), and once again they so generously invited me to stay for a meal. Saturday was pulled pork tacos (the pork was made by K, and very well done I might add) on homemade corn tortillas (a la Z), and Sunday was Bachelor Surprise. K doesn't like to cook much, even though she can and does make good food like awesome red velvet cake; most of the tasty food in the household can be attributed to her husband Z. Z is very much a do-it-yourselfer in the kitchen; he comes from the same school of thought that homemade from scratch is best. He even roasts his own coffee (something Scooter hopes to try after we move); it's because of Z that I discovered and have come to love the "city roast," a roast of coffee that I can't find in the store since it has a much shorter shelf life than the whole bean or ground coffee you can buy. I wish I could accomplish some of what he's able to do, but alas with a shoebox-sized kitchen (that is to say a "galley") cooking everything from scratch is not always possible because I don't have enough workspace or can't fit the appliances into my (microscopic) kitchen. I love eating over there because even if I don't recognize the dish, I know it will be good.

On Sunday when we were eating his latest batch of Bachelor Surprise, he explained what it was and how he made it. He started making it years ago to use up leftover food. It's an amalgamation of the leftovers in the fridge--whatever they might be--seasoned with complementary spices. Because leftovers inevitably change (and the spices he then chooses do too), the dish is different every time he makes it, and sadly there's no real recipe for it. K fondly remembers him meeting her at the airport with a bowl of Bachelor Surprise many a time before they got married.

When she was alive, my grandmother would do something similar with soup. In her house, soup was a staple every day for lunch, except on Sundays when she would make brunch. Every few days, Gramma would make Refrigerator Soup. She would start with a soup starter (a brand that you can no longer find around here) and add leftovers from the fridge: sauteed zucchini and squash, giblets she saved from a chicken she pan-fried, leftover chicken, cut-up cooked string beans, sometimes even pasta, anything that needed to be used before it got too old was fair game. Despite the hodge-podge of ingredients, the end result was always a thick, hearty soup that she was well-known for among family and friends. Her Refrigerator Soup was relished any time of the year regardless of the weather, usually with a small sandwich or two on the side.

Both Z and Gramma didn't work from a recipe--the mixing of ingredients and spices is done by inclination, by feel. And even though no version of Bachelor Surprise or Refrigerator Soup is ever the same, it's still really good. It is the measure of a true cook to be able to create something delicious by just throwing things together sans recipe. Z and my grandmother have/had the idea down, and I would like to think that Scooter and I are coming along with that kind of cooking too. We'll get in a lot more practice once we have a bigger kitchen to work in.

Do you have something you make that you just "throw together?" Feel free to post about it in the comments.

Friday Fireworks

It's tradition in this little coastal town to set off fireworks for Independence Day, although they aren't always scheduled on the actual holiday. Apparently, this is a much bigger local event that I thought. I have seen the fireworks here before, but that was at my great-uncle's house which had the perfect view from the glass-fronted covered deck next to the living room. All the viewing pleasure without having to go out in the cold. And with the TV on and family laughing and joking, we could easily ignore any traffic going by the house.

This time, we were outside on the deck (wrapped up in warm clothing and a blanket) in a house that faces the only access road to the fireworks' ground zero. We had a great view from the house and didn't need to drive anywhere--and good thing too. Apparently, people want to be as close to the fireworks as possible because cars were driving by the house all day. I can only imagine what kind of creative parking people were doing to fit their car in so they could watch the show. I assume that there was much parking on grass and at angles only a protractor could replicate (that is my poor effort at a math joke). To give you an idea of how many people there were, the line of cars after the fireworks stretched all the way to the other side of of the harbor past where we could see (a couple of miles at least). There were still cars going by after 11pm, more than a hour after the show ended. So yeah, it's a popular show in this area.

We also got to enjoy another American summer tradition: smores. Nothing like a good smore washed down with a glass of milk for a little pre-show treat. For those who don't know what a smore is (I do get some international readers apparently), it's made by sandwiching a roasted marshmallow--it needs to be gooey for full effect--and a piece of chocolate between two graham crackers. It's really sweet, but still really good.

There is always a risk that the fog will come in and cause the fireworks show to be canceled. Luckily, that didn't happen last night. The sky remained clear and I could see still see stars when we went back inside. I looked outside this morning and there is a healthy cover of fog over the water. Good thing the fireworks weren't scheduled for today. And I think my sunbathing may be over. The heat wave has broken.

July Travels

I spoke to my mom yesterday. She's dealing with some minor medical issues, and to speed her recovery and keep them from becoming major medical issues she has adopted a personal mantra of keeping things stress-free. Thanks, Mom for the inspiration because at least for this weekend I am doing the same.

Scooter and I have escaped to the coast, back to my aunt and uncle's summer home in the coastal village I love so much. The uncomfortable heat at home means that for the first time ever (at least since I started bringing Scooter up here), the weather is warm enough to spend time enjoying the deck. Last night, after getting into town late, we sat out on the deck for quite awhile, enjoying the quiet and looking at the stars in a clear night sky that should have been shrouded in fog. We relaxed and talked and just were. A drastic change in my chaotic routine, and one I have desperately needed. Stress-free, just like the mantra says.

This morning, we cooked a simple breakfast and ate while sitting in the deck chairs with a chorus of morning bird calls and the harbor's foghorn. I hear the gulls off in the distance at one of the wharfs calling out for food. The sky is a perfect color of blue, although there seems to be a fog bank out in the direction of the ocean that is fighting with the sun and losing. I can see boats coming into the harbor right up the Channel, turning the calm water into white froth. Turkey vultures are soaring through the sky, using the wind to lift them without a single flap of their wings. The warm wood of the deck is soothing on my bare feet and the slight breeze that's making the tree branches gently sway feels delightful. It's really the perfect, idyllic morning and I'm sorry it's taken a few years of coming up here to finally win the weather lottery.

The rest of the day will likely be more of the same. I brought up some of my old art supplies, something I've been wanting to take up again after having been away from sketching and drawing for years. This place inspires me, and I want and hope to somehow capture the kinship I feel with this place. I still think this town would be the perfect setting for a fantasy novel, for it possesses a quiet mystique if you only know how to see it.

Yep, definitely a stress-free day.

The Month In Review, Part 2

I don't talk about my work much on this blog. For one thing, I have to be cognizant of keeping various "company secrets" confidential, and sometimes it's hard for me to determine how confidential something must remain. So I keep mum about everything just to be sure. But I would like to break the code of silence to discuss a project that I've been working on that's been six months in the making. Nothing mentioned here would compromise confidentiality, and this has been a major part of my workload (and subsequently stress) this month.

The trade school that I work as librarian at is one of several sharing the same name that are located across the nation. The project I've been involved in is to create an online resource for students and faculty that will be available at all the campuses. There are only two of us working on it: myself, and another librarian that oversees resources for all the campuses. The interface that we're using is LibGuides, a system that many libraries use in order to create guides for their patrons. It is used by public, academic, and other types of libraries. I was actually called on to help create a complex LibGuide resource for an online university prior to this project, and I used LibGuides to create a pathfinder for one of my MLIS classes--so I am very familiar with creating and editing pages and content. For the resource in this current project, we will be providing some general resources (dictionaries, encyclopedias, research/writing guides, etc.), student success resources, career resources, and resources that are directly related to and discuss concepts that are part of the various academic programs that the schools provide. For the most part, all of the resources we chose to include had to be freely accessible with no login or passwords required. The only exceptions to this were the online databases that the schools subscribe to; landing pages and overviews for the databases were created to provide students with easy access.

I've looked at many other LibGuides, and they run the gamut from sparsely populated and out-of-date to complex and well-maintained. For the most part, I see very little dynamic content on LibGuides; to me, it seems that the general attitude is one of "create it and forget it." This seems like it would be short-sighted; having dynamic content that changes would encourage users to keep coming back to see what's new. With the LibGuide that we've created, we made it a priority to include things like RSS feeds, embedded YouTube channels, and Twitter and Facebook feeds (where appropriate). By doing so, we hope to spark student and faculty interest in the content and see users returning multiple times.

Once again, the needs of the user became one of the forefront concerns when determining what content to include and how to organize it. In the LibGuide that I helped to create for the online university, we included a number of resources for college-level General Education subjects because those courses were offered by the university. For this current LibGuide project, we're not including anything like that because the campuses do not offer those types of courses (however we are including high-school level General Education resources since several campuses offer GED prep help). We also didn't include as much on research and writing as we did in the online university LibGuide because the trade school students don't do an excessive amount of either for their programs. I gathered input from students at the campus where I work so that we could also include resources that would interest them. The LibGuide is being created to be used, and we want to utilize all possible outlets to make that happen.

This month has been spent adding a lot of content and finalizing the overall organization of the LibGuide. Finally, we will see the fruits of our labor and the LibGuide will be going live within the next few weeks. If I can share the actual guide here, I will post a link when it's available.

The Month In Review, Part 1

Do you ever have the feeling that you're drowning? Not actually drowning in water, but the sensation of drowning because life is throwing everything she's got at you and you can't keep up. I had thought that once the Spring semester was over, things would calm down and I would be able to take a deep breath and relax a bit. I'm still waiting for that to happen, and I feel like I'm trying to tread water in a fast and treacherous current. To help explain what has been going on, this will be the first of at least two posts about life, the universe, and everything. And no, the answer is not 42 (bonus points if you get the reference).

I went to spend some time with family after the passing of another great lady in my family (see my last post). It was a time spent talking and eating good food, and once again I was inspired by the healing that can be accomplished with family and a wonderful meal. It really is amazing how food can bring a family together. A meal becomes a time to share laughter, love, pain, sorrow, and joy. In its own way, family meal time can become a therapy session (although the success of such really depends on the family--a family divided may not find meal time to be very pleasant or healing). The first night I was at The Ranch, we went to an Italian restaurant in a nearby town. As proud Italians ourselves (on my mom's side of the family), we know good Italian food. This was good Italian food. The restaurant has this outside seating area that's a wooden structure with wooden tables and benches, and potted plants on the ground, the tables, along the walls, and hanging from overhead. In the evening, it's a truly lovely place to eat a meal as the sun dips behind the trees and darkness starts to fall. You can hear the breeze and the birds as you sip your wine and reminisce about old times. Which is exactly what we did.

And because the menu looked so good and it was so hard for us to pick, we chose several different things to taste--and boy did my taste buds have fun! Here's a look at what I got to try:

The roasted beets had such a wonderful and delicate flavor.

This is cuttlefish. Before this dish, I had never had cuttlefish, and I actually had to look it up to figure out what it was. What it was was tasty!

These are anchovies--not salty like the ones found in a can, but fresh and cooked with tomato, potato, and other fresh ingredients. It was surprisingly good!

Gnocchi and rabbit, an excellent pairing if I do say so myself.

Now this may not cater to everyone's tastes, but I found this tripe to be very tender and tasty.

This tiramisu was the only disappointment. My mom makes the best tiramisu that I've ever had, and I've never been able to find a restaurant that makes tiramisu that's as good or better than hers, not even at this one. However, I did like the presentation--having it served in a jar is a cute idea.

We lingered over our food and even though we got there long before the dinner rush, the sun was starting to dip behind the trees before we finished and left. It was calming to the body, mind, and soul to eat this wonderful meal in a charming setting and talk about Zia, the "good old days," the food, and anything else that came to mind.

The next night, we ate a wonderful home-cooked meal. My mom made baccala with olive oil, Italian herbs, and garlic, and polenta to go with it. Our cousin made chicken livers, and while I had only ever had liver in pate form, I did tentatively try them--and they were excellent. Our homemade dinner was just as good as the one we had at the restaurant, and once again our table was filled with not only incredible food but love and stories of the family told by Zio, our resident old-timer (who also wrote two books about his father, my great-grandfather).

It was good to be around family, and I returned home with a much lighter heart.