Farewell, HLS!
On May 29th, I successfully defended my dissertation (yay!) and now can make all those around me call me Dr. Skinner (seriously, with that name, how could I not?) Soon […]
Author Archives
Julia Skinner
Professional food historian and fermenter, PhD, social science researcher, public transit enthusiast, artist, traveler and outdoor nut. Love to build and create, and deconstruct when necessary.
Some Exciting Introductions
As we gear up for graduation season, that means we’re also gearing up for some turnover here at HLS. This year, that includes two of our senior hackers who are […]
Updates from the World of a PhD Student: Reflections on the Third Year
As a part of my ongoing discussion of PhD life, I wanted to share a wrap up post for the third year so you all can see what I’ve been up to (you can see the first and second years’ posts here and here). As always, I’m happy to answer […]
Why We Decided on the PhD
I have a lot of MLS students ask me why I decided to go on to a PhD, so I rounded up some of my PhD buddies to give you some answers! Everyone has different reasons for doing the PhD, and while it may not be the right choice for […]
HLS and LibraryLab Meetup at ALA!
Are you going to ALA later this month? We’re teaming up with LibraryLab to host a meetup on Sunday, June 30th from 8:00-10:00 at the Green Door. The meetup is a fun and informal way to hang out with us, network, and make some new friends while having a cocktail! […]
Updates from the World of a PhD Student: Finishing Up the Second Year
Hey everyone! I’ve been absent from posting as regularly as I used to, but I wanted to poke my head in and tell you all about how my PhD program is going. Hopefully it will be helpful for those of you considering a PhD yourselves! I’ve posted a bit about […]
Helping Libraries Rebuild After Hurricane Sandy
Like a lot of people, I’ve been devastated to see the impact of Hurricane Sandy and wanted to find ways to help. I’ve donated to a few aid organizations, but once reports started coming in about damaged libraries, I thought that it was an opportunity for folks in LIS to […]
HackLibSchool on Occupy Wall Street: How Do Libraries Fit In?
“I learned that the most important thing about teaching is not what you do in the classroom but what you do outside the classroom. You go outside the classroom yourself, bring your students outside, or have them bring you outside the classroom, because very often they do it first and […]
Subsidized Loans: A Relic of Our Past?
The other day, when I found out that graduate student aid had been heavily hit by the budget deal struck by Congress, the only thing I could think to tweet as I shared a link on the topic was “you’ve let students down.” The tweet came somewhat out of fear […]
Hack Your Program: University of Iowa SLIS
Note: like other posts in the Hack Your Program series, opinions expressed here are mine alone. I have grown so much and enjoyed myself thoroughly at SLIS, so the few items I offer as ‘areas for improvement’ should be viewed as constructive criticism and also understood through the lens of […]
Unpacking the Conference: Planning, Execution, and Afterthoughts
This post is a shared effort between HLS editor Julia Skinner and Katie DeVries Hassman, Sam Bouwers, and Gwen Persons, who were part of the conference planning team for Unpacking the “Library”: Exploring Works in Progress Across the Field of LIS. Other planners included Melody Dworak, Christine Mastalio, and Julie […]
[Series] Hack ALA: Library History Round Table (LHRT)
LHRT is an awesome organization for students to join because it’s fun, vibrant, and a great way to explore libraries of the past and see how they intersect with issues faced by libraries today. Best of all, there are so many ways for students to get involved that include running for […]
ALCTS Job Search Resources
Hi all! Recently, my awesome friend (and fellow Iowa alum!) Diana Symons shared this listserv discussion with me, and after talking to Tiffany Allen, I got permission to share it here. Since quite a few of us are graduating (our ceremony is today, in fact) and moving on either to […]
Tuscaloosa, and what you can do to help
HLS readers: I’m posting this on behalf of our lovely editor, Lauren Dodd, who is in Alabama for her MLS. Earlier today she posted an update on her own blog about the devastation there, and the HLS team wanted to share it here. Lauren is OK (yay!) as are the […]
LIS Education, Advocacy, and the Future of Librarianship
Note: I posted this a bit ago on my blog, but since it has a lot to do with how we approach LIS education as students and new professionals, I […]
Student Programming at Conferences
UPDATE: We caught the attention of ALA with this one and Jenny Levine AKA The Shifted Librarian posted the following comment – we encourage everyone to submit ideas and participate in the Civics Class. Hackers, great post. I’d like to encourage you to submit programs for the 2011 Annual Virtual Conference […]
So, Why Do You Want a PhD?
The title of this post is a question that I have been asked a *million* times (OK, slight exaggeration) over the last year as I’ve filled out applications, done interviews, and talked with friends, family, and colleagues about the process. Everyone has different motivations and experiences that lead them to […]
Diversity in LIS Education
This is a post I originally posted on my blog after being inspired by Micah’s post on diversity in LIS. I agree with Micah that the best way to start promoting diversity is to start talking, and I’ve already had some really great comments in response to this post. I’d […]
So how do I pay for all this?
One thing students and potential students in nearly every field stress out about is how to pay for their education, and LIS is no different. I’ve compiled a list of places to look for support. I’m sure there are some I’m leaving out, so if you know of an extra […]
Resources for New LIS Students
This post originally appeared on my blog here. The post is from August of 2010, and is a list of blogs that I’ve found to be really helpful and that I direct my fellow students to. Know of any resources I didn’t include? Add them to the comments! After going […]
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