Sleeping in the Library: QUT vs UQ.
It seems an odd topic to talk about but I've started to stretch for topics related to libraries this week so I'll look at this one. I've been a student at university twice now, once at UQ and once at QUT, where I'm studying now. I preferred the campus at UQ because it was a small contained little city which I didn't mind hanging out at. However it also sucked because it was so miserable getting a carpark or a bus to the university most days, I think that might be over now that the CityCycles are there, anyone can catch a train to Toowong and bike the rest of the way to university, but access was a major problem and also once my friends started graduating I started to really hate the lonely empty parts of the university with a passion. QUT I've enjoyed a lot more, mostly because I actually made some friends on Campus this time around and will every now and then talk to people and catch up on their lives and my own, it could be that I've learnt from my past mistakes and am trying to be more sociable this time around or that my class load is more conductive to making friends this time around(having the same core group of people in all my classes has helped this considerably as opposed to UQ where I was in a random mix every semester). However QUT isn't as good a campus as UQ, I've been to the food court maybe twice in the last eighteen months, I've been to the subway a lot however. The library I've practically lived in for the last few months, mostly because I love having a decent internet connection for once and because I can't study at home because I tend to get distracted by all the shiny objects in my house as well as the thousand hours or so of crap on my computers and spare hard-drives. I did spend a lot of time at the UQ library as well during my time there, not as much because I tended to drive to UQ and thus couldn't stay very long if I wanted to avoid a parking ticket. But on the rare occasion I did spend time in the UQ library it was more for study(with books because I didn't have a Laptop and UQ at the time didn't have many computers available for people to use in the library(each school had their own computer labs, the quality of which was variable)).
The other reason I used the library there was for sleep, I worked out a nearly perfect system for sleeping on Campus during the day, I would collect about six random books, shove bookmarks in them, stack them around the cubicles they have in the SSH Library at UQ and then put my head down and sleep for about twenty minutes before inevitably my body would oppose the decision to sleep sitting up and I'd suddenly wake up with an urge to burp for about five minutes straight. I wasn't the only person who did this by the way, it was pretty common to catch a few dozen sleepers in the library at UQ on an average weekday. I think it was the fact they did provide us with the cubicles instead of the tables they have at QUT that prompted this kind of behaviour. I liked the cubicle set-up they had at UQ over the open plan system at QUT, if they had power-points in every cubicle then I'd probably never leave the university if I were going there. Just plug in, use the internet and pray that you can find free soap when you need to wash.
In comparison to UQ I've spent less time sleeping at QUT, but I have spent more of my nights at QUT's library, this is because the 24 hour lab is my second home right now, actually I already live in two houses, the 24 hour lab is my third home right now. I know what time the last trains and buses leave heading to my car or my house and if I miss them I have to wait it out till the very first one comes along the next day or catch a taxi and I hate Taxis.
I've found it very difficult to sleep at QUT, but I did pull it off once in the last year for about half an hour, it was in the 24 hour lab at the beginning of semester which meant no-one was in there, I actually tweeted that I was all alone and thus had become the Highlander("There Can Be Only One!")and I put my head down on the desk and was woken up about an hour later by the security guard who wanted to check my student ID. Thankfully I had it in my pocket and he woke me up in time to rush to catch my train back to my car which was a relief I can assure you.
Overall I'd rank UQ as a better environment for sleeping. By extension this makes it a better library for study. It has always been a quieter place than the QUT library. If you're working by yourself it is nearly a perfect space for study and assignment writing. People do still talk a bit but it isn't as communal as QUT's library. Now I've enjoyed using QUT's library a lot in the last year and a half but I think UQ has it beat here. I can't remember the number of times I've been at QUT and had someone making some kind of noise or a low-level grumble that just moves through crowds of people.
The question is now: Does having a quiet library mean you have a good library in an academic sense? I prefer silence but then again I prefer doing work on my own as much as possible. A lot of people prefer to socialise and collaborate in the library now compared to my first degree, it could be that QUT encourages this more than UQ or that UQ has more free space available so that students don't need to huddle in the library to do group projects. I'm sure that whoever set up the current QUT library thought all these things through when they decided on the current layout.
My Day Today:
I spent the day at home mostly, I got up at 10am and had to go and do some work on the pool, originally I was going to drive to Toowoomba with my dad to pick up his stupid horses but that was called off for some reason or another. Thinking I was going to finally get a nice sleep in in my own bed I went to sleep only after I'd ripped a mountain apart in MineCraft, so about 3am. I got a nice 7 hours of sleep out of the whole night before my parents work me up by yelling. It is an effective method of waking me up I guess. I had to sweep the floor of the pool because all this sediment had settled at the bottom of it which made the water look dirty. So I grabbed the extended broom thing that pools have and got to work, it took about thirty minutes because the stuff was stuck to the sides of the pool as well. After that was done I had to pour chlorine granules into the water as well. Once this was all done I was going to go back to bed but decided to check online instead, I saw a new episode of Video Game Highschool, which was pretty good this week. Last week, as I mentioned at the time, wasn't as much fun but I could see why they'd need an episode like that in the story. This week it was a lot more fun, plus they killed Games Dean, who was just a prick of a character all around.
I was invited to lunch by my friend Jeremy but I was lead to believe I had a lot of jobs around the house to do today so I passed on it, which was a mistake because my parents ended up giving me next to no-more jobs after that one. I was meant to drive my dad to the doctors and back, but he elected to walk home instead of driving and my mum, for some reason, drove him.
After they left I ended up driving to Indro to get some money, deposit a cheque and get some Chicken Terriyaki, sadly the Terriyaki was out so I had a curry instead. I was going to go and see if there were any books on sale at Dymocks, but I keep forgetting that they moved that store so I usually get to where it was and then move on. I checked out the ABC store and once again stared at the Doctor Who Merch they have there. I really want to buy more Who stuff, but I can't, I mustn't, I eventually shall.
After that I left and drove through the hellspawn that is rush hour to get to Matts house, this wasn't such a bad trip because I stuck entirely to backroads once I got off the bridge. I went over there to make sure his dinner was okay because unlike previous months I wasn't there this morning to prep everything, but James had it well in hand so after I tried to make a phone call to a friend in the area(to try and play Mass Effect 3 tonight online or at his place but his phone wasn't even turned on, I don't know how that's possible these days) I ended up leaving and again throwing myself to the mercy of the traffic gods on the Western Freeway. I got home to find my mum had bought Fish and Chips, which were great with some salad. I got an email just an hour ago telling me that on Sunday we only have 11 players for the game, I'm one of them and I'm going to be in a world of hell if I have to play a full 90 minutes. I'll do it I'm sure, but it will not be fun, the last time I played a full game I nearly died the next morning from being so shattered physically. Still all exercise is good.
I also got a letter in the mail telling me the government is giving me a cheque for $250 to help with the Carbon Tax, I'm going to put that and my annual $1000 cheque which they give me for being a carer together and get myself a new road bike. $1500 should get me a decent ride I hope. The only problem is that it will actually cost the same as my most expensive car so far if I manage to find a bike for that price.
Once I'd eaten and sorted out my days correspondence I started to write this blog entry up, I've actually fallen asleep while writing this tonight which was odd, I think I'll get an early night tonight. I'm also struggling to think of topics to discuss next week.
I also literally just got my INN530 marks back, all in all I got 68 points for the subject, but my presentation wasn't very good for the video. From what I've read in the feedback most of the fault was in my slides. But it was a pass so I'll take it.
This means, as far as I can tell, I have passed everything this semester except Professional Practice which I need to finish up soon.
The Rest of the Week:
Saturday: Short Story Saturday. The Most Wonderful Time of the Space Year.
Sunday: Using Free Wifi and loving it.
Monday: Libraries are like Parks for people who don't want ants.
Tuesday: Piracy and the Library.
Wednesday: Authors I love to read.
Thursday: Graphic Novels and Comics, why I have so many of them.
Friday: Cycling in the city.
YouTube Clip of the day: Katie Herzig - Lost and Found. I'm officially addicted to this song today. No idea why, it was used in the background of the Wedding in CougarTown last season and one reviewer pointed out that it really really pushed the scene into some kind of epic feeling. And now I hear it whenever I kill things in Mass Effect 3.
The other reason I used the library there was for sleep, I worked out a nearly perfect system for sleeping on Campus during the day, I would collect about six random books, shove bookmarks in them, stack them around the cubicles they have in the SSH Library at UQ and then put my head down and sleep for about twenty minutes before inevitably my body would oppose the decision to sleep sitting up and I'd suddenly wake up with an urge to burp for about five minutes straight. I wasn't the only person who did this by the way, it was pretty common to catch a few dozen sleepers in the library at UQ on an average weekday. I think it was the fact they did provide us with the cubicles instead of the tables they have at QUT that prompted this kind of behaviour. I liked the cubicle set-up they had at UQ over the open plan system at QUT, if they had power-points in every cubicle then I'd probably never leave the university if I were going there. Just plug in, use the internet and pray that you can find free soap when you need to wash.
In comparison to UQ I've spent less time sleeping at QUT, but I have spent more of my nights at QUT's library, this is because the 24 hour lab is my second home right now, actually I already live in two houses, the 24 hour lab is my third home right now. I know what time the last trains and buses leave heading to my car or my house and if I miss them I have to wait it out till the very first one comes along the next day or catch a taxi and I hate Taxis.
I've found it very difficult to sleep at QUT, but I did pull it off once in the last year for about half an hour, it was in the 24 hour lab at the beginning of semester which meant no-one was in there, I actually tweeted that I was all alone and thus had become the Highlander("There Can Be Only One!")and I put my head down on the desk and was woken up about an hour later by the security guard who wanted to check my student ID. Thankfully I had it in my pocket and he woke me up in time to rush to catch my train back to my car which was a relief I can assure you.
Overall I'd rank UQ as a better environment for sleeping. By extension this makes it a better library for study. It has always been a quieter place than the QUT library. If you're working by yourself it is nearly a perfect space for study and assignment writing. People do still talk a bit but it isn't as communal as QUT's library. Now I've enjoyed using QUT's library a lot in the last year and a half but I think UQ has it beat here. I can't remember the number of times I've been at QUT and had someone making some kind of noise or a low-level grumble that just moves through crowds of people.
The question is now: Does having a quiet library mean you have a good library in an academic sense? I prefer silence but then again I prefer doing work on my own as much as possible. A lot of people prefer to socialise and collaborate in the library now compared to my first degree, it could be that QUT encourages this more than UQ or that UQ has more free space available so that students don't need to huddle in the library to do group projects. I'm sure that whoever set up the current QUT library thought all these things through when they decided on the current layout.
My Day Today:
I spent the day at home mostly, I got up at 10am and had to go and do some work on the pool, originally I was going to drive to Toowoomba with my dad to pick up his stupid horses but that was called off for some reason or another. Thinking I was going to finally get a nice sleep in in my own bed I went to sleep only after I'd ripped a mountain apart in MineCraft, so about 3am. I got a nice 7 hours of sleep out of the whole night before my parents work me up by yelling. It is an effective method of waking me up I guess. I had to sweep the floor of the pool because all this sediment had settled at the bottom of it which made the water look dirty. So I grabbed the extended broom thing that pools have and got to work, it took about thirty minutes because the stuff was stuck to the sides of the pool as well. After that was done I had to pour chlorine granules into the water as well. Once this was all done I was going to go back to bed but decided to check online instead, I saw a new episode of Video Game Highschool, which was pretty good this week. Last week, as I mentioned at the time, wasn't as much fun but I could see why they'd need an episode like that in the story. This week it was a lot more fun, plus they killed Games Dean, who was just a prick of a character all around.
I was invited to lunch by my friend Jeremy but I was lead to believe I had a lot of jobs around the house to do today so I passed on it, which was a mistake because my parents ended up giving me next to no-more jobs after that one. I was meant to drive my dad to the doctors and back, but he elected to walk home instead of driving and my mum, for some reason, drove him.
After they left I ended up driving to Indro to get some money, deposit a cheque and get some Chicken Terriyaki, sadly the Terriyaki was out so I had a curry instead. I was going to go and see if there were any books on sale at Dymocks, but I keep forgetting that they moved that store so I usually get to where it was and then move on. I checked out the ABC store and once again stared at the Doctor Who Merch they have there. I really want to buy more Who stuff, but I can't, I mustn't, I eventually shall.
After that I left and drove through the hellspawn that is rush hour to get to Matts house, this wasn't such a bad trip because I stuck entirely to backroads once I got off the bridge. I went over there to make sure his dinner was okay because unlike previous months I wasn't there this morning to prep everything, but James had it well in hand so after I tried to make a phone call to a friend in the area(to try and play Mass Effect 3 tonight online or at his place but his phone wasn't even turned on, I don't know how that's possible these days) I ended up leaving and again throwing myself to the mercy of the traffic gods on the Western Freeway. I got home to find my mum had bought Fish and Chips, which were great with some salad. I got an email just an hour ago telling me that on Sunday we only have 11 players for the game, I'm one of them and I'm going to be in a world of hell if I have to play a full 90 minutes. I'll do it I'm sure, but it will not be fun, the last time I played a full game I nearly died the next morning from being so shattered physically. Still all exercise is good.
I also got a letter in the mail telling me the government is giving me a cheque for $250 to help with the Carbon Tax, I'm going to put that and my annual $1000 cheque which they give me for being a carer together and get myself a new road bike. $1500 should get me a decent ride I hope. The only problem is that it will actually cost the same as my most expensive car so far if I manage to find a bike for that price.
Once I'd eaten and sorted out my days correspondence I started to write this blog entry up, I've actually fallen asleep while writing this tonight which was odd, I think I'll get an early night tonight. I'm also struggling to think of topics to discuss next week.
I also literally just got my INN530 marks back, all in all I got 68 points for the subject, but my presentation wasn't very good for the video. From what I've read in the feedback most of the fault was in my slides. But it was a pass so I'll take it.
This means, as far as I can tell, I have passed everything this semester except Professional Practice which I need to finish up soon.
The Rest of the Week:
Saturday: Short Story Saturday. The Most Wonderful Time of the Space Year.
Sunday: Using Free Wifi and loving it.
Monday: Libraries are like Parks for people who don't want ants.
Tuesday: Piracy and the Library.
Wednesday: Authors I love to read.
Thursday: Graphic Novels and Comics, why I have so many of them.
Friday: Cycling in the city.
YouTube Clip of the day: Katie Herzig - Lost and Found. I'm officially addicted to this song today. No idea why, it was used in the background of the Wedding in CougarTown last season and one reviewer pointed out that it really really pushed the scene into some kind of epic feeling. And now I hear it whenever I kill things in Mass Effect 3.