I am enjoying my courses as a student
San Jose State's School of Library and Information Science. Prior to this, I felt proficient using a handful of databases, but I'm learning just how much I do not know about databases... From ones I've never used to learning how to develop one... At times it is overwhelming, and my blog posts are definitely impacted by my need to study and get homework done.
Today, I'm sitting at the
Pueblo of Pojoaque Public Library, using their computers for some surfing. Next week I'll deliver an online lecture to Minjie Chin's class at
UIUC's Graduate School of Library and Information Science. I enter both spaces as a person with more knowledge about libraries than I had prior to beginning my coursework. You might say I've added another pair of eyeglasses that I'll be using from now on.
That said, I highly recommend Mitali Perkin's
How to Write Fiction Without The "Right" Ethnic Credentials. She's speaking directly to writers but much of what she says can be used by anyone who is thinking about books and American Indians. Reading her essay, and AICL, can give you another pair of eyeglasses, too, to use as you work with children's and young adult literature.
