Classes!

I am in College--specifically, the Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program at San Jose State University. It's super fun, super interesting! My 3 current classes (Fall 2026) are:

INFO 200 - Information Communities

Classwork: The class centers around a research paper on a chosen "information community". For my paper, I've chosen amateur genealogists. (I worked at Ancestry.com for about 3 years before Google.) I keep getting sidetracked working on my own family tree...

Favorite paper so far: THE DESIGN OF BROWSING AND BERRYPICKING TECHNIQUES FOR THE ONLINE SEARCH INTERFACE by Marcia J. Bates

INFO 202 - Information Retrieval Systems

Classwork: This class is about metadata and search systems, with a side of archives! It's a mix of group projects and discussions. Our first project was to come up with a small data structure for indexing and searching a collection; we chose fragrances. I've never thought so much and so deeply about perfume.

Interesting tidbit: The professor's (Dr. James A. Hodges) area of study is the history of computing and software interfaces. He's writing a book on how 60s/70s counter culture influenced 80s/90s software design.

INFO 204 - Information Professions

Classwork: This class is about different types of information organizations (e.g. public libraries, school libraries, university libraries) and the work of information professionals (e.g. librarians) in those institutions. It's some amount of reading and discussion with a group project to evaluate a specific information organization. My group chose the Los Angeles Public Library, which is an absolutely phenomenal public library system.

Recommendation: The Library Book, by Susan Orlean