Where does the time go

Today I have scanned more letters from the Obrebski Jamaican papers. I am half way done with the correspondence box and plan to be done by the end of this week. Next week I will be processing manuscripts; I hope to find a few key chapters to include in the digital collection, as well as some other excerpts. Over the weekend I will be putting the metadata into blog entries for all the correspondence and creating thumbnail images of the documents for the brief entry. Open Office, which I use at home, can not open the MS Access files for the Obrebski item database. In order to work on the project at home I exported a report from the database in RTF. I’ve been having fun learning about style sheets and have been practicing basic web page functions by posting photomicrographs for my neuroscience lab.

Happy St. Patties Day

Today is a holiday on two accounts! I have reached the 20 item mark in my digital collection; twenty items with full sized images ready for thumbnail images to be made and fully processed into the database with MODS elements. I’ve started writing blog entries to supplement the basic abstract for each item and today I restructured the tags and categories so they will be closer formatted to the materials. At first I knew the basic topics, but not a precise term for tagging purposes. Tomorrow I will keep processing the correspondence and I hope to complete it this week (if not tomorrow!).

And of course, for the second reason, Jared and I will be celebrating the Irish holiday with corned beef, cabbage and stout.

Breakfast on Friday

I’m not usually a breakfast-at-breakfast-time kind of person. I like Benedict at 1pm or 4am or cereal as an afternoon snack. But the past few Friday’s when I get on campus I’ve experienced a rumbling in my stomach. Before lecture I have scarfed down an entire bagel and cream cheese and been ready to eat again a few hours later – it is a satisfying feeling.

Today I scanned documents again. I found a letter from an acquaintance of the Obrebski’s who wrote jokes about Jamaica. Mail services created difficulties for the research team in being able to communicate effectively through the Jamaican villages, sometimes letters would lag and a newer letter would reach the location at the same time as the back-log. The spotty mail delivery also made it slower for staff or supply requests and created a strain on the time frame of the research.  These reflections make me grateful for computers and being able to digitally transmit research across the world.

“One very important thought”

In my consciousness seminar we are discussing qualia, “the way things seem to us”. Its my job to help lead discussion tomorrow. I have a habit of making my coursework more personal than it was ever intended – I find it easier to remember things I relate to my own experience. We have hundreds of pages in required reading from a book with tiny double-column text and thin paper which makes the process of reading even more tedious. I have a hard time not shutting the book and reclaiming the way things seem to me for myself. I don’t feel like it’s up to a debate, this is where I am.

I like to use Pandora while I study because on a list I’ve tweaked enough I can just let it play. For some reading and coursework I can listen to my Daft Punk, Specials, Ween, Cut Chemist or Brazilian Girls list. The reading for the seminar takes another level of auditory stimulation. I remember first listening to Boards of Canada on vinyl, around the time I was homeschooling and learning to stay up until the morning. The copy was not mine, and I didn’t go out of my way to grab an album. But first at the HCC radio station and now, years later, I find myself listening to hours.

The slow recovery

Dear self,
In order to get better from the cold it is necessary to rest. Please take this into consideration when you edit web pages and stay up late playing Hotel Dusk. On the other hand, watch as much of the History channel as you can, it is good for your brain.

My interview with Terry Plum at Simmons West went quite well. I did not expect such a long bus ride, however it was scenic and relaxing. We talked about full time versus part time enrollment, and it looks like I can complete the program in 1 1/2 years if I attend full time. I like this choice because it would not require me to find flexible full time work while in school still and allows me to commit to a full time position much sooner. To complete all the digitally oriented archives courses it looks like it will be necessary for me to take courses in Boston as soon as my second semester . I like the community and fresh air in Amherst, so I intend to continue living here for the time being and take public transport to Boston when needed.

Now that the interview is over it is my turn to wait. In the meantime, I have plenty to keep me busy. Work at the Jones library is medium paced and steady. There is plenty of new non-fiction to peruse while checking in; I have placed a hand full of staff reserves already. So far at SCUA I’ve been writing “Capstone Project – Senior Honors Theses” on almost 500 folders and watching the reading room help desk. In my physiological psych lab we have moved on from sheep and rat brain dissection to histology and are using microscopes; they have a tendency to make me nauseous! It is a relief to know I will be working in an archive and not using microscopes other than my free time. It is awfully hard to create an argument with the material we are reviewing in my consciousness seminar. I have been able to use a number of examples from the cognitive psych lecture material, and am working more on understanding the debates.