Section LC05

10/20/09          1:30PM – 2:00PM in the library

This workshop was quite useful, and it was also concise and to the point. I learned about how to search databases for articles using the Bearcat search engine. I learned that there are many databases for numerous subjects that are available for search. Bearcat is similar to the New York Public Library database search engine. Both are useful for finding scholarly articles and other articles. This workshop introduced me to a very useful tool that I can use for doing research papers. Compared to Google, Bearcat provides more relevant and reliable sources. There are many search options, and I can be as specific or as general as I want to when I search for sources. Overall, this workshop was very worthwhile because I can use the information I learned for the rest of my college years.

The Academic Enrichment I attended was called “Bearcat: The Other Google” and took place in the library on Tuesday, Octover 20, 2009, from 1:30-2:00PM. I learned information that would benefit me for the rest of my academic career. There is a site engine called Bearcat, where one could type words (much like in Google) and get results. But, instead of just getting any unreliable sourse, Bearcat gives reliable articles and books. These resources are necessary for research and would make writing papers so much more efficent.

This workshop exceeded my expectations. When I came into the library, I thought that I knew what was going to be said. I thought that Bearcat was just a search engine like Google without many differences. Sure, there are similarities but Bearcat is much better for research and gives useful sources that are good to use for papers. From now on, I will use Bearcat when I am going anything related to academia.

Ok first I would like to say the projector was way too off focus so it was hard to make sense of the projected image (I was standing no more than ten feet away). The good thing was that the speaker used a mic in order to project his voice (thumbs up). I did not find this workshop to be very useful because if you think about it, google, yahoo, online encyclopedias are our database, and Baruch Database is a great addition but I dont find much of a reason to depend on it. One thing that i could take from this workshop is that “words matter” – that the word choice we choose to search should be specific enough that it relates not only to your topic but even narrower, but that was already something i knew.

This is probably my first ever art gallery tour. For this workshop we were basically following a staff member as they discussed the landscapes of various photos. I have to say this workshop was  insufficient. I felt that the overall workshop was too fast to end, and the amount of time spent on a photo was too long, when there were plenty more to cover. However the photos were quite fascinating, if you look at one compared to the  others, they are major differences not only in the portrayal of  the image itself but by the technique used to capture the image.  Surprisingly the room  was quite small, if i were to view all the pictures with enjoyment a larger space between each photo would truly capture the significance of the visual (its like standing next to another photo while focusing on one).

CATEGORY: ART

10/6/09 1PM, 22nd St Gallery

In this workshop, we were given a tour of various landscape portraits taken by different photographers. These landscape shots were from all over the world, from NY to the remote desolation of Antarctica, and really were interesting, though some in the group would beg to differ. Although this was a good tour, the woman giving the tour only talked about a very select few of the photos, and there was not enough room in the gallery to do a self-tour. She also seemed to hurry through the photos she did talk about, and the tour was over in 10 minutes. Overall, this workshop could have been MUCH better, especially if it was just a little bit longer and in a bigger location.

And my second workshop in three days… well, I had to because it looks like the next and last Personal Enrichment workshop will be at 6PM on a Wednesday and I do not want to be anywhere near that.

The workshop is sorta informative. I’m pretty sure I heard most of this stuff before, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it again so it becomes stuck in your head lolol. The speaker also introduced a networking site called linkedin.com and called it “a facebook for adults” and said it’ll be useful and everyone should have one by the time we graduate. Well yea, that’s all.

I went to the Gallery Tour: The Nature of Landscape & Photography today with a few friends, since photography is one of my interests and I’m always open to seeing good photographs. The tour felt rushed; the lady showed like four photos out of the 30+ that were displayed. I thought she could’ve talked a bit more in-depth about the techniques and stuff, but most of the people were just there for the signature so I guess they wouldn’t be interested. It was still a pleasant experience though, and I’m gonna go back and take my time to enjoy the photos a bit more.

PS: Our block’s blog is like so dead compared to some of the others; those people write about like everything, not just workshops.

Baruch Club Fair on 9/24/09 at 12:30pm

I attended the club fair because I wanted to check out all the clubs that were available at Baruch. I wanted to join a club that involves something that I seriously have an interest in and feel passionate about. I knew that the clubs offered in college would be different than those in high school because no one joined the college clubs in order to fulfill a graduation requirement (which was mostly why people joined clubs in my high school). After attending the club fair, my assumptions were justified. The club officers and members all seemed very passionate about the clubs they were involved in, and I could see that they love what they do. The club fair made me feel more enthusiastic about student life at Baruch in general. I was able to learn more about some interesting clubs and I may end up joining one of them. The club fair was the most useful workshop I’ve been to so far.