What is that jumble of words, you say? That's called a word cloud. You can make one for yourself in Wordle. I made that word cloud from an introduction I wrote (about me) for the on-line class that I'm taking called Social Media for Information Professionals. It's taught through the WISE (Web-based Information Science Education) consortium at the University of British Columbia. That's right, Canada, and not just Canada but West Coast Canada. I'm trying hard not to let that interfere with my on-line experience but it already has. I'll spare you the gory details but just trust me, it's been frustrating. As usual, I will "suck it up" and do my best and get all the work done in a timely manner and likely receive a good grade for all that.
The other class I'm taking this summer is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It's called History of the Book and it's taught at Smith College in the Mortimer Rare Book Room. Our instructor is Martin Antonetti, curator of the Rare Book Room at Smith College. I've been very excited, almost to the point of giddy, about taking this class. Not just because it's at Smith College (a mere 7 miles from home), and not just because it has received rave reviews from other students, but because it's taught in the Rare Book Room at Smith College which is comprised of approximately 30% manuscripts and books written in Latin, 30% in French, and 30% in English and 10% in other languages (like Ethiopian). Plus the room is chock-full of EARLY, like really OLD stuff. It's amazing! The craftsmanship that went into the production of books in medieval times is mind-boggling at times. We've had the opportunity to look at absolutely stunningly gorgeous 15th and 16th century illuminated Bibles. I'll stop gushing about this class because the on-line class pales in comparison and I don't want you to think I'm not enjoying the other class but it's just different in a very 21st century social media kind of way.
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