Aberystwyth Update: Wenesday
Apr. 8th, 2006 07:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pandopAs I had already had my personal tutorial, I had a nice leisurely start to the day, and managed to get my LJ update about my weekend away done on the *very* slow library computers.
Developments in IS Electronic Resources
This was quite a useful session, as it was good to have a reminder about what Aber provides (I am far more familiar with what Leeds provides), and they do seem to have their open-source Athens Authentication working better than ours.
Principles of Information Retrival: Indexing Workshop
This was a little better than the first two sessions we had with ML, as we did actually get to have a go at indexing something, which is what I was hoping for. I am still not impressed with his teaching skills though, as he made a very poor job of explaining things to us. There seemed to be a lot of restrictions on what we could and couldn't index, but a lot of us struggled to understand the reasoning behind it, even after he had explained it again. Things did become somewhat clearer with the handout he gave us at the end, but he should have been able to explain the concept a *lot* better. I do hope there is a better explanation of this in the module, as it is an area I am really interested in (so, again, it was really frustrating to not be enjpying these sessions).
National Library of Wales Visit
I was really disappointed with this visit, I had the feeling that they weren't really prepared for us (which was the case, as Marianne later told us), and the tour really didn't show us any of the things I was expecting to see. In fact we didn't really see anything. It was also a disappointing to find out that the different groups were shown different things. I will go back there and have another look at the public areas when I can. I was also extremely disappointed to discover that I couldn't buy a bookmark with 'National Library of Wales' on it.
There was a good thing about the visit though, not for nothing is the view from outside the library said to be the best view of Aber:
(Also, didn't we have glorious weather? It was like that for most of the week, we were so lucky)
We were left to our own devices to get back to campus from the library, so Joe and I joined the walk back to the Llanbadarn Campus, but we stopped off at Llanbadarn Church, which Catherine had told us was worth visiting. I was very glad we did, as she was right. It is a lovely church, some parts date back to the twelfth century, and there is some wonderful Arts and Crafts restoration, like this:
There is also an excellent small display about the history of the church and the area - better than I have seen in more famous places.
I managed the walk back up the hill ok (so I must be getting fitter), and only needed my inhaler near to the top of the hill - although I didn't realise that it was the top of the hill. Several people had mentioned that the last 300yds were 'a killer', but I didn't think they were that bad, so I was expecting more hill!
Social Buffet
The social buffet was fun - the food and wine were good, although there could have been more chances to go back for more of the main course, as it did feel rather rushed. The speech by GE was quite good, but the 'research' element did drag on a bit by the end. This was followed by another good evening in the pub (and one of *those* conversations with Lisa andninox)
Developments in IS Electronic Resources
This was quite a useful session, as it was good to have a reminder about what Aber provides (I am far more familiar with what Leeds provides), and they do seem to have their open-source Athens Authentication working better than ours.
Principles of Information Retrival: Indexing Workshop
This was a little better than the first two sessions we had with ML, as we did actually get to have a go at indexing something, which is what I was hoping for. I am still not impressed with his teaching skills though, as he made a very poor job of explaining things to us. There seemed to be a lot of restrictions on what we could and couldn't index, but a lot of us struggled to understand the reasoning behind it, even after he had explained it again. Things did become somewhat clearer with the handout he gave us at the end, but he should have been able to explain the concept a *lot* better. I do hope there is a better explanation of this in the module, as it is an area I am really interested in (so, again, it was really frustrating to not be enjpying these sessions).
National Library of Wales Visit
I was really disappointed with this visit, I had the feeling that they weren't really prepared for us (which was the case, as Marianne later told us), and the tour really didn't show us any of the things I was expecting to see. In fact we didn't really see anything. It was also a disappointing to find out that the different groups were shown different things. I will go back there and have another look at the public areas when I can. I was also extremely disappointed to discover that I couldn't buy a bookmark with 'National Library of Wales' on it.
There was a good thing about the visit though, not for nothing is the view from outside the library said to be the best view of Aber:
(Also, didn't we have glorious weather? It was like that for most of the week, we were so lucky)
We were left to our own devices to get back to campus from the library, so Joe and I joined the walk back to the Llanbadarn Campus, but we stopped off at Llanbadarn Church, which Catherine had told us was worth visiting. I was very glad we did, as she was right. It is a lovely church, some parts date back to the twelfth century, and there is some wonderful Arts and Crafts restoration, like this:
There is also an excellent small display about the history of the church and the area - better than I have seen in more famous places.
I managed the walk back up the hill ok (so I must be getting fitter), and only needed my inhaler near to the top of the hill - although I didn't realise that it was the top of the hill. Several people had mentioned that the last 300yds were 'a killer', but I didn't think they were that bad, so I was expecting more hill!
Social Buffet
The social buffet was fun - the food and wine were good, although there could have been more chances to go back for more of the main course, as it did feel rather rushed. The speech by GE was quite good, but the 'research' element did drag on a bit by the end. This was followed by another good evening in the pub (and one of *those* conversations with Lisa and
ninox)![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 12:40 pm (UTC)You should also realise that pub conversations generally devolve into one of *those* conversations though. I did feel sorry for the barmaid, who just shook her head and said exclaimed "But you're Librarians" lots. I think we made her re-evaluate her perceptions.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 12:42 pm (UTC)Oh I know about pub conversations becoming *those* conversations - my friend K and I have them a lot. I just didn't expect it at Aber for some reason
I feel sorry for the barmaid too ... although I never understand why people think that librarians are 'quiet' - I haven't met a quiet one yet
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 05:17 pm (UTC)I know what you mean, though. I used to work systems support in an academic library and was sent to a couple user-group conferences. Will Manley(sp?) spoke at one.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 05:19 pm (UTC)