Dreaming of Springtime

What else would you do the day after Christmas? I'm keeping warm with thoughts of Web Design & Collection Development. Here's the official description of what my life will be like until April. (This semester has already wrecked one weekend, we'll see how extensive the damage will end up being.) LIS...

Under My Belt

This is where I'm placing Research Methods & Preparing Instructional Media--under my belt. This Semester ...was the hump semester. Sometime during September I celebrated the half-way point of my Graduate career. But all that celebration would be worth nothing if I didn't follow through &...

No Other Way: A Book Review

Image Courtesy of B&N Book Title: No Other Way Author: Roger Real Drouin Guess what, I know a real-life, bonafide, published author! His name is Roger Real Drouin & he has officially busted into the publishing world with this full-length novel. Sure, it came out in June. Yes, it...

Preparing Instructional Media

I know my avid readers are clamoring for my latest experiences in the world of Graduate Studies in Library and Information Science. So here's a bone. Actually, it's a web-portfolio of my projects and reflections for LIS 6303: Preparing Instructional Media. It is my final project and should be completed by the end of this week. It has all the interesting things we learned to use in a pedagogical...

It's Hard to Call it Quits

A slight exaggeration, but how I feel When to hang it up So. It turns out I was unable to write the next great American novel during the month of November in the year 2012. I got thrown off a week ago & have not been able to recover. I plan to continue plodding through it at my own pace &...

NaNoWriMo: A break from writing

National November Writing Month Last year, at around Veterans Day I first heard of nanowrimo. I thought it was an awesome community of writers trying to scratch out their little novel in an action-packed, mondo-caffeinated, no-shuteye sort of way. The idea is to write a 50,000 word story from Nov....

The Christopher Jimenez Show

Listen to me, for real! As you know, I posted a podcast which I had to do for LIS 6303: Preparing Instructional Media. I was my review of Visions of Gerard. Well, I enjoyed the experience so much that I decided to try my hand at podcasting for real. I created a profile on Spreaker which feeds into...

Visions of Gerard -- Podcasting, Baby!

Dive in there! I have finally taken the plunge into the world of podcasting. We shall see how long this lasts. My first podcast has been prompted by my current class "Instructional Media-LIS 6303" & it was first posted there. I decided to refresh my previous review of Visions of Gerard for this podcast. Enjoy! Visions of Gerard: Podcast (FYI, if you like what you hear, go ahead & save...

Are Libraries Like Achillobators?

My First Quora This question popped up in my inbox, since it is a hot topic in Library Science, I have pondered this question & read research ad nausea, so I decided to contribute. If you like it, please consider going to Quora and voting me up! (I already have 2 votes from people I don't even know.) Enjoy! Read Quote of Christopher Jimenez's answer to Will public libraries become extinct? Why...

Parks & Recreation

I don't have much time to write, but you must watch P&R, season 2 - episode 8. It features a run in with... The Library. "Whenever she laughs, an angel dies, but the worst part is she works for the library." ...

Visions of Gerard: Book Review

The Book Title: Visions of Gerard Author: Jack Kerouac I picked this title off a used bookstore shelf in Bryson City, North Carolina along with Dharma Bums. I have always been mildly interested in Kerouac's work since being introduced to him in the Eleventh grade. Dharma Bums was a good read, but...

I Read a Few Books

I have been busy during this intermediary period between Summer C & the beginning of Fall 2012. I have read & written several book reviews, all of which are on Religious topics so I will not be posting reviews here. However, if you're interested in a full review, feel free to click on my links! Everything You Know About Evangelicals is Wrong by Steve Wilkens & Don Thorsen A Grief Observed...

Why I Hate Summer

Semester C is a Bad Word I'm not sure how this is possible It's been quite the semester I took the classes Organization of Information I (LIS 6711) & Information Management Systems (LIS 5937) during summer C. I found that I was able to keep up (& stay interested in) the pace for about...

@stickyJesus: A Book Review

The Book Title: @stickyJesus: How to live out your faith online Author(s): Toni Birdsong & Tami Heim I came across this book as I was shopping for my week of camp (which just ended). Our (my wife & my) theme was @VOne2012 - I Like Camp Horizon. It was basically...

Kind of a Big Deal

Serving the information needs of the patron: A discussion of metadata in librarianship 19/20 & 10/10 I got an "A." Maybe it's not that big of a deal in grad school, but don't burst my bubble! Side-note: Librarians are the most sarcastic, pessimistic, patronizing group of people I have ever...

Twilight: A Book Review

The Book Title: Twilight Author: Stephenie Meyer I read this book a a challenge. One of the girls at youth group (High School) began raving about this book--mostly about this Edward guy--and insisted that I read it. I told her that I would read the entire saga if she would read one of my...

Class in Tampa! Yay

Live, From the CIS Building I presented on Metadata today. It was relatively painless & completely awkward. Oh well, that's how it goes! We're learning about Main Entries & Added Entries & I can't seem to take my eyes off the subject matter, so I'm going to pay attention to class now...

Most Taxing

I just did the most taxing thing of my graduate career. I wrote 2,000 words about metadata in 14 hours. It was as horrible as it sound...

Never Underestimate MS Word

The Challenge I finally passed a Word & Excel test for a "Librarian" position that I applied for at Baptist Hospital. I failed both tests on Monday & studied my booty off all week to pass it today. (I ended up only getting one question wrong on each test.) I was not surprised that I failed Excel. I never use Excel. Excel intimidates me. Given that, I was encouraged that if I'd gotten one...

New Semester - First Summer

I am embarking on my first Summer C ever. I have avoided classes offered during this semester like the plague during my educational career. Yet, I find myself forced into this predicament by the fact that I do not want to post-pone my graduation.  The classes I am taking are as follows: LIS 5937 Information Management Systems LIS 6711 Organization of Knowledge 1 My eyes will be scouring...

Lit Style Mother's Day

Let the Rumpus Begin! Where the Wild Things Are So I have been mourning Maurice Sendak's passing since I heard of it. My lovely wife bought me these Where the Wild Things Are cuff links for my birthday. (She bought them before Sendak passed) I decided to wear them this Mother's Day because...

The Hole in our Gospel: A Book Review

Book Review I just finished another religious book and have posted my review on my other blog. The Hole in the Gospel, by Richard Stearns: http://jmnz.us/KOl...

Book Review of Fall to Grace

The Book I just finished reading another religious book for my "summer week off" from classes. I salvaged this book from a Borders liquidation sale. Sad to see Borders go down, happy to grab a cheap book. You will find the full review of Fall to Grace, authored by Jay Bakker at my religious blog:...

hArsh with A cApitAl A

My last post was harsh. A little too harsh, actually. I ended up scoring 29 points out of a possible 30 on my research paper. That ticks me off because my prof. neglected to let me in on the error that cost me a perfect score. So, despite what the title of this post may indicate, me writes go...

Harsh

Harsh In light of my personal criticism, I think this comic is in order. At least it makes me feel better...

2 Semesters Over

I just submitted my case study for Library Admin. I put together a budget for a surplus of money! Wow! I wonder when I'll be able to put those skills to use in the real world! Probably never... I aced my Reference class. In fact, my Pathfinder project co-earned top score with some other classmate. I ended tops in my class. Does anyone else like the sound of me tooting my own horn? No? Oh well. That's...

Final Paper - Leadership Librarians

I am currently writing my paper on leadership in library administration. Well, currently I am blogging about writing about leadership in library administration. I'm about halfway through and hating most of my words. Things should look up eventually. Ever wonder how much crap people go through when they try to lead a group of people? I do, and it seems if you don't really believe in the thing you...

Pathfinder Project = Finished

I just submitted the most practical & informative assignment I have been tasked with in my Graduate career up to this point. I created a pathfinder on the topic of my choosing. In the process, I learned how to use the HTML 4.01 markup language to create a webpage. I also learned how to use FTP to upload the assignment to my web page. It's pretty sweet. A pathfinder is a resource that librarians...

Mere Christianity: A Must-Read For the Thinking Man

Mere Christianity  (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics) [Kindle Edition] C. S. Lewis (Author) Get it here! A must-read for the thinking man This blog post is a carbon copy from my religious blog entitled: We Talk of Holy Things. I just finished teaching Mere...

Library Student, FTW!

In our discussion board, we were talking about continuing education after school. Most of my classmates sided against continuing education. Here are my comments followed by my professor's comments. I am fairly certain that most, if not all professional-class careers continue their education. Teachers must be re-certified. Medical professionals must take classes. I believe lawyers must keep their...

Library Technology

This is an interesting poll that asks the question: Which new technology(ies) do you think will have the most impact on libraries in the next 2-5 years? http://polldaddy.com/poll/5996592/...

Important Stuff

I haven't posted much lately, mostly because I have been pissed with my professor who does not know how to communicate effectively. I just read a chapter in my book for Library Administration. It was about the human resource frame of management. Basically it talks about how a lot of companies screw their employees over for the sake of short-term profits, then they lose out in the long run because...

Values Are Always Applied

Question: In management, does one size fit all? Can you come up with a set of principles and apply them uniformly in all circumstances, or do you have to adjust your principles to the people and circumstances involved? The evidence is overwhelming that there is no single-size solution for successful management. It is clear that managers must assess their situation and respond accordingly in...

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story [Paperback] Donald Miller (Author)  Get it here!      My wife gave me this book as a birthday present in May. I started reading it right after Thanksgiving. I give it...