Grad School

[close] Professor Mary Wilkins Jordan founded the GSLIS Book Group in February 2011. Its purpose is to bring GSLIS students together once a month for something the vast majority of us enjoy - reading and talking about books - while also giving us a chance to practice readers advisory and other skills that librarians can use. This semester we are trying a new format. Rather than focusing on one book per meeting, we will focus on a theme! How does it work? Each month, we’ll select a theme and suggest a few titles based on that theme. At our monthly meeting, we’ll start with a discussion on those books, but encourage everyone to bring your own book suggestions that incorporate the theme. If you cannot make the meeting feel free to post a note on the forum!

[close] This is a group for students taking courses in Salem State University's LMS grad program. All are welcome, regardless of official matriculation or current career. As this is a new group, we are finding our way. I imagine we'll use this space to both discuss books that we personally enjoy, and books that we recommend for a school library. If you would like to be a moderator, please let me know! Also, this group is private but not secret. Please feel free to invite your classmates in other Salem State LMS courses.

[close] We're in grad school, so we are clearly intellectuals and intellectuals are almost always drunks. Well, the fabulous ones anyway (Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, Capote, etc). So let's get together under the guise of a literary discussion to blow off some grad school induced steam and throw back a drink or two. As our literary heroes have demonstrated it is possible to both drink like a fish and be insightful, but be sure to read the book!

[close] The conversations researchers wish someone had with them before starting a PhD. A PhD is often presented as an intellectual journey. What is discussed far less are the unwritten rules that shape the experience: Navigating uncertainty when progress feels invisible. Dealing with imposter syndrome despite years of achievement. Managing difficult supervisor relationships and academic politics. Surviving burnout, isolation, and research fatigue. Building resilience in environments that constantly test your confidence. Making sense of academic culture, expectations, and career decisions. The Unwritten PhD is a community for honest, thoughtful conversations about the realities of research life that rarely appear in textbooks, university orientations, or methodology courses. Whether you are: considering a PhD, currently navigating graduate school, writing your dissertation, completing a postdoc, or reflecting on your journey beyond academia, you are welcome here. This is a space to share experiences, lessons learned, challenges, failures, victories, and the insights that only emerge through lived experience. Our goal is simple: To help researchers navigate academia with greater clarity, resilience, and self-awareness—while remembering that behind every publication, thesis, and experiment is a human being. Welcome to The Unwritten PhD.