Kurt Groetsch @ OldTasty.com

It’s been so long since I updated this site that I hardly know where to start. So we’ll start at the very beginning, which is indeed a very fine place to start:

• Classes wrapped up the first week in May, and despite not having taken an exam in ten years or so (aside from a driving test when I let my license expire a couple of years ago), I cam out unscathed. Not that any of the finals were particularly difficult — my Reference and Information Services final was more of a quiz, and the Cataloging and Classification final was open-book. The Libraries, Information and Society final was the only one that I was worried about, only because of the amount of reading we’d done and the amount of synthesis required, but it turned out to be less of a problem than I’d anticipated. While I’m happy that finals were as easy as they were, I’m a little surprised that my first semester’s classes weren’t more demanding. Yes, there was a lot of coursework, but I never felt like I was being seriously challenged by my instructors. I’m not complaining because I still got a lot out of the classes, but I guess I expected a little more academic rigor. We’ll see if the same holds true for the fall when I’m scheduled to take Preserving Information Resources, Bibliography and Information Organization and Access.

• One positive outcome from this past semester was my introduction to cataloging, which I really enjoyed, to the point that I applied for and got a cataloging assistantship over at the main library. It’ll be a welcome break from my current assistantship in GSLIS User Services, where I do a lot of desktop troubleshooting for faculty, staff and students — it’s not bad work but it has very little to do with my areas of interest in the program.
• In totally unrelated news, I’m headed back to China! This time it’s only for a visit, but I’ll still be there almost a month, leaving July 14 and returning August 11. Kai and Stacy are putting me up while I’m in Beijing, and we’re in the early stages of planning for a trip to Kashgar in Xinjiang Province. I also want to head down to Suzhou to see Sheena, and would love to squeeze in a trip to Wuhan if possible. We’ll see how much of that works out. Can’t wait to have duck so much!

That’s about it. I’m spending the summer working hourly and trying to stay cool in the miserable midwest heat and humidity. It may be a while before I update again, but be sure to check out my Flickr photostream, where I’ve been more active. The next time I get around to posting, I may be in China.