ref module II

traffic was really bad this morning; it took 10 minutes to go 10 blocks in my neighborhood. ever since they changed the directions of some streets and put in a new light, it's been screwing up traffic -- making it worse instead of better. it's funny cuz i actually went to a few math talks about the effect of putting in new roads to alleviate traffic but actually produces the adverse effect. they need to get rid of that light or make it better streamlined for turning vehicles.

anyway, i went to the second cohort session for the reference module. there were only 4 of us, evelyn and tim. i bet people forgot or thought it was tomorrow morning since the last one was wednesday morning. we talked about the shadowing and did some more reference scenarios. two weeks ago i felt like i knew nothing. today, i still feel like i know nothing. BUT i do feel like i've learned a lot about reference. it will take a lot of practice and a lot of repetition to get it down. today, we addressed controversial reference questions (ie race & intelligence; info on building bombs, etc). i definitely feel more confident about doing reference now. evelyn made a good point: "it's not just about knowing the sources [aka where to look] but also about the whole process." because most of the time, i felt like i couldn't answer a question because i just didn't know the sources to use.

hence, i feel like i should've taken the reference class this semester. bad bad planning on my part. i'm taking cataloging instead, which wont be addressed till next year's set of modules. next semester's module is collection services -- for which i have not taken michael stoller's collection development course yet!! i'm taking that next fall because it's not offered in the spring... wow, really bad planning on my part. i should've done intro, reference, and collection development this semester then. but then i'd only have time to take one math course, which i could not have done... wow, this is really bad. ok, so it's not that bad, but i wish i had a more structured course to back up the practical part (module). at least for next year's module i'll be ahead? if i can remember anything from cataloging... lol.