During that semester I have taken 2 classes in UH-Manoa's Library and Information Science (LIS) program.
The first one was LIS 612 - History of Books & Libraries
This was the last class to be taught by Dr Rebecca Knuth before she retires at the end of the semester.
The class starts off before there were books and libraries. We went way back into cavemen times, where the first attempt at written communication appeared via cave art. The scientists who studied it don't think it's just random art of what caveman saw, instead they noticed patterns. These were patterns of trails, animal movements, land and water forms, etc.
We then learned about early civilizations in Mesopotamia. They preserved their writings (done in cuneiform) on clay tablets. These were hard to break and many have been preserved to this very day.
The Egyptians used papyrus (an early form of paper) which was very delicate and didn't last.
The Greek, and later the other Europeans, used parchment which was made of animal skins. It was much more durable than papyrus, but not as heavy as clay tablet.
Paper as we know it today, came from China. So did the early form of printing. However, the printing revolution didn't really come into full bloom until German entrepreneur Johnannes Guttenberg added the wine press to the printing machine, which made printing much more efficient.
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Within many civilizations, librarians had much prestige and the scholars lived the good life ..........................................until the next set of conquerors came in.
And that leads us to another aspect of history --- vulnerability of written records, books, archives, museums, etc.
Once a new regime or a new conquering group comes in, much of the cultural artifacts gets destroyed. There is much gaps in our knowledge of the past due to this.
The professor even wrote 2 books about the destruction of books & libraries. One of them "Burning Books and Leveling Libraries" was covered in another class (LIS 611: Intellectual Freedom). For this class, we covered "Libricide, which discusses government sponsored book destruction in the 20th century.
The class then went over many of the other developments related to the history of books and libraries including
- various writing systems
- Reinassance
- development of the modern university
- scriptoriums (I did a presentation on this)
- Library of Congress
- Melvil Dewey
- preservation of books and other formats
- early computers
- saving of artifacts during wartime
- and much, much more
You can check the papers and power-points I have done for this class at http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-612-projects/c1czm
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Partial screenshot of LIS 612 projects page
The other class was LIS 615 - Collection Management
This was an online class.
I would've preferred an in-classroom class, however, this required course is only offered online.
I prefer being in a classroom, having discussions, asking questions, presenting projects, etc instead of just hiding behind a computer (which is how online classes are done).
[note: the professor already knows how I feel. The professor is a nice person, so I don't want to talk trash about him. We just have a difference of opinion on online classes, that's all!]
Anyways, back to the topic of the class -- Collection Management. This is a class about how libraries organize their items, starting from figuring out what books to purchase to figuring out what books are so old and outdated that it's best to get rid of them.
Factors that come into play of those decisions include
- what the surrounding communities are interested in
- suitability to age groups being served
- what books are available to be purchased
- making sure all the relevant topics are covered in the library
- making sure the book collection doesn't reflect the librarian's personal bias
Within the life-span of the book, libraries also have to focus on preservation of books. In very humid places (like Hawaii), books are very vulnerable to mold. This is why libraries tend to be air-conditioned 24-7 , which ends up costing a lot of money.
It's not just about books. Libraries also collect periodicals (magazines, newspapers, journals), audio & video materials, and are now in the electronic resource business (ie. e-books, database access, etc).
Issues related to those issues include
- having the latest formats available
- what to do with outdated formats (ie Betamax)
- licensing agreements for database access
- copyright issues
- do we keep print periodicals if the online versions are available
- much, much more
Even posting links on the library's website is a collection management activity. The library needs to post a credible link that is still working. Very few things are more embarrassing to a website than "dead links". [Just look at some of the links I posted in past blogs. Some of them don't work anymore]
You can check out some of the writings I have posted from this class at http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-615-projects/c1x1q
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Partial screenshot of the LIS 615 projects page
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Special Activities
Being in the LIS programs, I was able to take part in some special activities. I wasn't able to do all that was offered, but I did a few including
Dr Knuth's retirement party
Dr Rebecca Knuth (who I mentioned earlier) had her retirement party last month. I wrote about in the following blog post.
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2014/04/my-speech-at-dr-knuths-retirement-party.html
Guest speaker
There are several guest speakers who came, but for most of them, I wasn't able to make it.
However, I was able to see Gail Dickinson, the president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
She talked about how some schools are laying off librarians, yet other schools are scrambling to find new librarians.
She also mentioned how we always talk about "preparing our students for 21st century learning" but that we need to prepare the new generation for the 22nd century, being that they will be the ones who will set the foundation for 22nd century life.
Afterwards, we all took the following picture
Oh yeah, when they were about to take this photo, I was just coming out of the restroom so I ended up rushing towards the group. That explains why belt was hanging in that photo. Embarrassing.
Tours
I took several tours of LIS related tours this semesters
The first one was a tiny on-campus library, Sunset Reference Center, which was to serve UH-Manoa's Travel Industry Managment (TIM) students. There were various travel journals and reference sources.
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The second one was for the newly completed Information Technology Center on the UH-Manoa campus. This is the new headquarters for the UH system's info-technology services.
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Pablo Wegesend's photo
Information Technology Center
Due to the sensitive nature, most of the building is off-limits to the general public. But the public was invited to take a tour on 3/11/2014.
Pablo Wegesend's photo
Just one of the many rooms inside the
Information Technology Center
There were conference rooms, tech training rooms, emergency management rooms, and much more.
Pablo Wegesend's photo
The smartboard in the Emergency Management Room
Hopefully, there will be another tour of the Information Technology Center, so a new set of students can mark the smartboard like that :)
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The third tour was an off-campus tour sponsored by the Na Hawaii Imi Loa (a student organization dedicated to preserving Hawaiian information resources). This was the Kamehameha Schools archives tour. The archives is in the bottom floor of the high school library.
We watched a video about the school's history, then we checked the old pictures from the past. I got to see pictures of some prominent Hawaiians from their high school days at Kamehameha. They included Kimo Kahoano, Roland Cazimero, Keola Beamer, Vicky Holt Takamine, and Walter Ritte.
I also enjoyed the ride to and from the tour. I won't reveal details, but we had a great conversation during the ride with two people I rarely have the chance to meet outside of class. That's probably the best thing about out-of-class activities :)
"Wild About Reading" story telling
This was a program at the Honolulu Zoo where people could read animal-related storybooks to children. I was under the supervision of a prominent children's librarian and I read a few stories for about a half-hour.
I do some story-telling as a substitute teacher, which I think is harder than doing it at a public event. As a sub teacher, you are probably the only adult in the room, so you have to keep order. In a library (or other public places) there are other adults there, so I don't have to worry too much about keeping order nor do I have to worry about the children being tested on what I was reading.
Children's Literature Hawaii book sale
This was on the UH-Manoa campus. While it might seem strange to have children's books being sold on a college campus, let's remember that professors and students are parents too. Plus, the younger college students have younger siblings they can buy books for. Plus, going through the children's books collection can give you memories of your childhood.
I only volunteered for a few hours and I wish I had more time. But it was a very fun experience. I get to meet new people and talk about stuff I'm interested in.
Hamilton Library shelf-reading
Actually, this was shelf-reorganization. Some of the books got disorganized due to the renovations of certain sections of the library when the air-conditioning got reformatted. So me and a few other LIS students helped re-organized a few shelves. It was major fun.
Research reference help at Sinclair Library
The week before Final Exam week, a table was set up to help patrons with research.
I was one of the LIS volunteers at the table. A few patrons did ask research questions, though most ask general questions (ie "where's the restrooms", "how long is the library open").
While I have worked in the libraries in the past, this was first time I did any reference desk work. My previous library jobs were mostly organizing books and other items.
The Banquet
At the end of every semester, the LIS program has a banquet to honor the latest group of graduates.
This time, it was at Willows. And of course, there was a buffet, and as usual, I ate more than you can eat .............which isn't always a good thing, since I had "to go" twice during the speeches. Not a good feeling.
But what was a good feeling is having conversations with classmates (and their significant other), professors, alumni ............... and of course, congratulating the new graduates. This might be the last time we have a conversation, so it was a time to treasure the moment before they move on to the next phase of life.
As for me, I have about a year (and maybe a half?) more to go! I'll keep you updated!
