so what's this all about?

So now that introductions are out of the way and I've explained where I'll be doing my Capstone project, you're probably wondering what this project is all about and what "Objectifying Objects" means.  At least, I really hope you're a little bit curious! Let me describe the project and then hopefully the blog's name will make more sense.

The VRC has an expansive collection of slides that have been used by University of Texas faculty for a number of years. 

These slides are labeled with terms from an uncontrolled vocabulary of abbreviations determined by the slide's physical size.  For example:

N à North    S à South     S. à Saint     AELEV à Architecture elevation

There is no standardized vocabulary for these abbreviations. Punctuation and capitalization are not consistent throughout.  So before the slides are digitized into a web-accessible collection, it's going to be my job to develop a controlled vocabulary specific to the VRC that will replace these messy and inconsistent abbreviations.

hello my name is:

If you've stumbled across this blog this early on in its existence, chances are you already know me. But if somehow through the magic that is the Internet you've discovered Objectifying Objects by chance, let me take a moment to introduce myself.

My name is Alexis and I'm a Graduate Student at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information, commonly referred to as the iSchool. I'm working towards my Master of Science in Information Studies with a focus in Academic Librarianship.  I'm a Graduate Research Assistant at the UT Fine Arts Library and have recently started volunteering with the FAL's Visual Resource Collection.  It is this volunteer work that will be the primary focus of Objectifying Objects.  


Volunteering at  the VRC is part of my Capstone Project.  What is a Capstone? The iSchool describes it as a "capping" experience to your academic studies, enabling you to "integrate [your] professional education and the intellectual and institutional vocations toward which [you] are striving." This premise may sound a tad lofty but, in fact, it's a great opportunity for students to work on a "real world" project, gain some valuable experience, and then present on the topic to colleagues.  And I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to do so with the VRC.


I'll be updating this blog regularly, describing and musing about the project I'll be completing for the VRC. I'll describe that project and what hopes I have for it in the next entry. It's an interested project and I'm very excited about it! If that's not enough to entice you to check back in, I promise to explain the name of the blog then, too!