• Aunt Sommy’s First Essay • Aunt Sommy’s Evaluation of an Information Retrieval System • Bankie’s Blog • Aunt Sommy’s Research Paper • Aunt Sommy’s In-class Exercise • Aunt Sommy’s Heuristic Evaluation Exercise • Aunt Sommy’s Team Project • Aunt Sommy’s Reflection Essay • Aunt Sommy’s Site Map • Aunt Sommy’s About •

A Conversation Between Bankie and Me Regarding the Second Assignment for LSC 555

One day after having received the second assignment for LSC 555, I was discussing the requirements for Creating a Personal Web Page on the CUA Server with my nephew, Banquo, or Bankie as he is lovingly known to our family, and who, by the way, just so happens to be a Hedgehog. After hearing my tale of woe, he enthusiastically agreed to help me create a web page. Breathing a sigh of relief, I said, “Great . . . I could use all of the help that I can get! After all, this is the first time that I am creating a web page.” I also explained to him that I wanted my web page to be unique and interesting.
“No problem,” he uttered with an air of confidence,” I am so full of creative ideas they call me ‘Mister Creativity’. I am sure that together we can come up with some very creative ideas and unique aspects for your web page.”

I told him some of the items (some easy, some hard) which would need to be included on my web page. I will first mention the easy ones:

• My name − Aunt Sommy (aka Samantha Saporito)
• My email address − ilovehedgehogs@hotmail.com
• An image − it could be of me or anyone else

My nephew recommended that I should include either a picture of him and me or, if I was not comfortable putting my own picture on the World Wide Web, just him. You may think that this is a simple statement. The only problem is that I have 221 pictures of Bankie actually printed as a hardcopy in addition to almost one thousand pictures which are stored on various cameras belonging to me, Bankie’s Mommy (aka my sister), and Bankie’s Grandma (aka my Mom). Definitely NOT an easy task-deciding which picture to select. I may have to choose a new picture every day, possibly even twice a day. We will come back to the picture selection later.

Bankie in his house looking straight at the camera! He is such a ham! He loves it when people take pictures of him - he is so PHOTOGENIC!

Now for the tougher items (the items which are going to require a lot of thinking):

A paragraph or two describing aspects of my academic background

As an undergraduate I attended The Catholic University of America (CUA); I received my B.A. in Classics with minors in Philosophy and Theology/Religious Studies on May 16, 2009. My interest in Classical languages (Greek and Latin) began in High School (Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, Maryland) where I studied Latin for all four years. In my freshman year at CUA, I started Latin at the intermediate level while I started Ancient Greek at the elementary level. “My Aunt Sommy actually wrote her Senior Thesis on two Greek texts (Xenophon’s Agesilaus and Xenophon’s Hellenica); it was titled ‘Xenophon on Virtue: The Agesilaus as an Ethical Model for the Hellenica.’”

Presently I am enrolled in two courses (LSC 841, Rare Book Librarianship, and LSC 555, Information Systems in Libraries & Information Centers) while working full time in the Religious Studies and Humanities Services at the Mullen Library. I was fortunate enough to be selected into the Graduate Library Preprofessional (GLP) Program which requires working full time in the Mullen library and taking two courses in the School of Library and Information Science, affording me the opportunity to gain experience while learning the academic aspects of Librarianship.

Another paragraph describing my goals of taking LSC 555

Although the obvious reason is to fulfill the requirement of taking one of my four core courses (other core courses are LSC 551, LSC 553, and LSC 557), my goals in taking LSC 555 are much more diverse. I am excited to learn and to create a web page (this is my first time). After only three weeks I have really learned a great deal about Information Systems and I have enjoyed the first three classes tremendously. I am sure I will enjoy all of the other LSC 555 classes for the remainder of the semester.

Although it is extremely challenging, I am also really enjoying my other course − LSC 841 (Rare Book Librarianship) − which is so cool! So far we have learned the different parts of a book, the history of paper, the manufacturing process of paper, the difference between binding and casing, the difference between paste paper and marbled paper, and the different illustration processes. But that class is another story, maybe even another web page!

Additional paragraphs detailing my goal for pursuing a LIS degree:

My primary goal for pursuing a LIS degree is to gain knowledge and expertise so I can eventually become a librarian in a Federal, County, or Academic setting. However, this is liable to change as I navigate through my future courses in the SLIS program. Another personal goal is to help others to become familiar with all of the resources which are available in the Mullen Library and in any other libraries in which I will work. I find it sad that many individuals are unaware of the numerous resources and services available through the Mullen Library.

Now I will recount two different experiences which I had with regard to the Mullen Library − one of which was unfortunately negative while the other one was extremely positive. In my Freshman year at CUA, when I sought assistance from a librarian I had such a negative experience that I ultimately avoided the Mullen Library for the next two years (a decision which I now regret). If I could re-live that undergraduate experience again, I would have definitely asked another librarian for assistance after the first librarian failed to help me. I also would have liked to have made greater use of all of the resources of Mullen Library from the beginning of my four years at CUA not just from my Junior year. In my Junior year, however, I once again had no choice but to use the resources found within the Mullen Library. Much to my surprise, this time my experience was dramatically different; the librarian was awesome and extremely helpful. As a result of his support, during my Junior and Senior years, I became a frequent patron of our library, more fully appreciative of all its resources. As a result of these two experiences, not only have I recognized the impact each librarian had on my perceptions, but, more importantly, I have come to realize that the individuals who work in the library system are pivotal in the preservation, organization, and acquisition of this information and I would like to be a part of this amazing field whose impact is extremely far reaching and encompassing.

As an undergraduate, I have experienced first-hand the impact a librarian can have and I would like to make sure that others are able to share this positive experience in the future. Becoming a librarian would be my way of thanking all those librarians who have helped me by allowing me to help others recognize the numerous resources and benefits available in libraries.

Ironically, I actually wrote a paper on Pliny and Libraries and gave a presentation in Latin 465 (Latin Senior Seminar). When I was researching and working on my paper and presentation my only thoughts were that libraries have been in existence for a very long time and that their history is extremely colorful and vibrant.

I would still make the same statement even after learning of all the technologic changes which have occurred in the 20th and 21st centuries since these have had a profound impact on the operation of libraries as well as the various ways patrons use their libraries and the resources and services which are provided by libraries. One particular aspect which I have liked very much is learning the different categories of libraries which reflect their willingness to integrate the various new technologies.

“Then I will need to include a few links − one link to the SLIS web site (School of Library and Information Science) and another link to CUA web site (The Catholic University of America) and finally a link to my first essay (Aunt Sommy’s First Essay).”

Just as I finished saying this, Bankie enthusiastically prolaimed, “Don't forget, Aunt Sommy, I still want to tell the whole world the story of how I came to live with my Mommy, you, Grandma, and Grandpa.”
“You will be able to tell your exciting story as soon as I finish making this web page assignment!”

As I pondered what I should put in a table, my brilliant nephew shouted, “I know! You can put the numbers, names, day of the week the course meets, the duration of time, and teacher’ name in a table. So the table would need to be 5 by 3.”
“Oh, Bankie you are so smart!”

Aunt Sommy’s Two Classes for the Fall 2009 Semester

Course Number	Course Name	Day the Course Meets	Duration of Time	Teacher’s Name
LSC 841	Rare Book Librarianship	Saturday	9:30 AM to 12:30 PM	Ms. Lenore Rouse
LSC 555	Information Systems in Libraries and Information Centers	Saturday	1:30 PM to 4:00 PM	Dr. Youngok Choi

“Bankie, I will need a list of the classes I have taken so far too. Since this is my first semester in the Master’s Program of Library Science at The Catholic University of America, this would be limited to the classes in which I am currently enrolled this semester. This list of courses can be either ordered or unordered.”

1. My first course

LSC 841 Rare Book Librarianship, Saturday 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
2. My second course

LSC 555 Information Systems in Libraries and Information Centers, Saturday 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM

“The date and time of my last update on the page will need to appear as well. I guess it would look something like ‘this page was last updated on September 20, 2009 at 2:00 PM.’ Now the problem is figuring out where to put this − probably at the end.”

“I must use two different heading tags and two different character tags. Heading tags mean H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6 (H1 is the biggest and H6 is the smallest) while character tags mean italics and bold.”
Looking somewhat nervous, Bankie uttered, “This is getting a tad complicated, Aunt Sommy.”

“Last but not least, I need to make sure that all of the required tags are inserted into my HTML documents.”
“That’s a lot to remember to do in order to create a Web Page. I guess we better get started, Aunt Sommy,” directed Bankie.

“Bankie, I just thought of something else which we will need to make a decision about − the background color of my web page and the color of the text.”
“I already have some ideas. How about #FFB6C1 which is the color Light Pink for the background. For the color of the text lets pick #000000 which is Black.”
“I like that idea!”
“I thought you would, Aunt Sommy.”

I hope you have enjoyed reading my website and found it to be somewhat entertaining, particularly the dialogue that occurred between my nephew and me with regard to the second assignment for LSC 555 − Creating a Personal Web Page on CUA Server. There is only one thing which I want you take away with you as you leave my web page − Having a Hedgehog as a nephew is a great pleasure and priceless treasure!

this page was last updated on December 16, 2009 at 6:00 AM

Bankie blowing bubbles while he is swimming in the pool!

• Aunt Sommy’s First Essay • Aunt Sommy’s Evaluation of an Information Retrieval System • Bankie’s Blog • Aunt Sommy’s Research Paper • Aunt Sommy’s In-class Exercise • Aunt Sommy’s Heuristic Evaluation Exercise • Aunt Sommy’s Team Project • Aunt Sommy’s Reflection Essay • Aunt Sommy’s Site Map • Aunt Sommy’s About •