DIY Librarian

This is the only day this week that I don’t have something scheduled in the evening. While I like being active and busy, I really need the break.

6 am. The alarm goes off. I get up and take a peak outside. It is all frozen slush in my parking area, so shoveling won’t do much good. I pray that I can get my car out, and go about making coffee and cereal.

8 am. I arrive at the office. The drive in was pretty icy. I check my email, briefly look at Twitter, and get to work on this search. I’m glad I checked my email and responded to a few APLIC things last night so I can get right to work this morning. I’m searching for active research grants on a topic, so a researcher can see what’s been funded recently before she submits her own proposal.

9:30 am. Finished part one of the search, which was needed by today. Taking a break to follow up on a document request and a few other things before starting on part two of the search, which is not as urgent.

10:30 am. Catching up on a few library blogs, including an ACRLog post questioning whether we put too much pressure on library conference presenters. (For the record, I don’t think we are the only profession concerned about the quality of our conference presentations. We just notice our own navel-gazing more. The genesis of my annual poster design workshop was a request from a faculty member for help improving the quality of posters at a conference he was involved in.) I am then prompted to update my web page on poster design.

Noon. Eat my PB&J while reading through emails. There are a lot today: more back and forth about the APLIC newsletter, SLA 2009 programs, a request to re-send a file that had problems, information about the LFO meeting I had wrong on my calendar, a question from a staff member about how to search for his publications. Heading over to the library to grab a cup of coffee to keep me going. I haven’t been getting quite enough sleep this week.

The afternoon gets busy: finishing up the search request, responding to emails, talking to a few staff members who drop by my office. I receive another search request, needed by tomorrow, so it looks like another busy day tomorrow.

5:10 pm. Head over to the library to say hello to my husband. It’s been a few days since we’ve talked in person (the problem with the night shift). One of our faculty researchers passes by, so I talk to her about the search results I just sent her. She seems happy. I love moments like that. While I’m at the library, I check out a book I want to read, then head out to run some errands (so much for an evening with no obligations).

6:45 pm. Arrive home. Let the dog out, cook dinner (burritos – my first real cooking of the week), eat, call my grandmother, give the dog a bath, and settle into the armchair with my laptop to finish up the APLIC newsletter and blog launch. Catch up with a few people on Facebook and answer some personal emails.

11 pm. I really need to start getting to bed earlier!

Snow days are rare at this university, so when I woke up to only  a few inches of snow and ice, I knew it was time to get to work shoveling my car out.

6 am. The alarm goes off, and I get up, make coffee, take care of the dog, and eat breakfast while reading the paper. Rushed morning or no, I need my paper. I shovel out the cars, take a quick shower, grab a snack and head out the door, about 20 minutes late. I decide to head straight to my 8:30 meeting, the Libraries Faculty Organization. Because I am classified as staff, not faculty, and because I don’t work for the University library system, I am only an affiliate member, but I try to attend meetings to catch up on what’s going on at the library and to talk to other librarians.

8:20 am. I call the office to tell them I’m heading straight to my meeting. One person is home with her child because the schools are closed today, but the other person is there and has opened the library. I arrive at the meeting, only to discover it’s next Wednesday. Oops. I head over to the office. On the way, I pick up the library’s New York Times, one of the duties of the person who is home today.

9:30 am. Both of my workshops are full. I’m trying to figure out if we can make waiting lists and maybe offer another section, or an online version, of each workshop.

10 am. I enable waiting lists for the workshops and email the students. I’m crunched for time, but excited there is that much interest in these workshops. I have a request to post two internal funding opportunities so I’ll work on that, finish up the APLIC newsletter, and hope to get to a requested search which is due tomorrow.

12:15 pm. I posted the funding opportunities and worked on the APLIC newsletter. The original code (probably generated by an HTML editing package) was a mess, so I ended up starting over with an embedded style sheet. Soon the site will be migrated to a CMS, so we are just getting by for now. I didn’t get a chance to pack a lunch with the snow shoveling this morning, so I ask our data archivist if he wants to go to lunch. We head down the the new Thai restaurant.

1:30 pm. Back at my desk. I have a voicemail, forwarded from the research center’s main line. It is from the man I spoke to yesterday afternoon. I determine it is from yesterday, and I have already answered his question. I explain to a student that we don’t have a copier in the library (it wasn’t generating enough income, so the copy company took it away) and show her a map of nearby copiers. Then back to work on the newsletter.

4 pm. I finally finish the newsletter, and email my APLIC colleagues and ask them to look it over. I think we are set to unleash this and the blog on the world tomorrow.  I’m glad that there weren’t any requests for copies of articles today – my staff person who was home today usually does them, and I just didn’t have time for anything extra. I look over a few emails I need to respond to.

5:05 pm. My other staff person has asked the student who is working in the library to lock up when he leaves. Our one-room library is only open when we are here, 8-5 weekdays, but many students have ID card access to use the library after hours. We don’t have any security, and yet theft among our small user community has never been a problem. Sure, we get a few lost books now and then, but not at a greater rate than any other library, and we’ve had students who graduated and forgot to return their books mail them back to us from all over the world. This system wouldn’t work in every situation, but for us, it’s great.

5:45 pm. I arrive home, after a rather harrowing drive through fields of blowing snow. I change quickly and head over to a friend’s house for our Wednesday evening yoga practice.

8:30 pm. I’m home again. Let the dog out, feed her, and make myself a quick dinner. Eat dinner while checking up on Facebook, Twitter, and email. I’m exhausted and know I’ll be shoveling a bit more snow tomorrow morning, just to make sure my car doesn’t get stuck in all the stuff the snowplows have dumped in our parking area during the day.

Another cold day, and we’re supposed to get snow tonight. Probably not anywhere near enough for the university to close, though.

5:45 am. The alarm goes off. I get up, make coffee, and take my time reading the newspaper and eating breakfast. The Sixers lost so I’m glad I didn’t stay up to watch the end of the game. I take the dog for a short walk, shower, and I’m on my way.

8 am. I arrive at my office, put my lunch in the fridge, and open my email. No meetings today and no new requests, which is good because I have a lot to do. First, I’m making a sign advertising my two workshops for grad students this semester: poster design, and searching for funding opportunities.

10 am. The sign is done. Before I start work on the search, my library assistant asks about a document requested by a faculty member that she is having trouble finding. I do some searching, without any luck, so I email my APLIC colleagues and also try an interlibrary loan (ILL) request.

11 am. I help my data archive assistant prioritize her work. Then I realize that if I am going to get the APLIC newsletter published by the end of the week, I need to get in touch with the rest of the communications committee and start setting up the web pages.

Noon. Track workout on campus. Having a locker room, track, and lots of runners close by is one of the advantages of working on a large university campus.

1:30 pm. At my desk with a hot chocolate and lunch, plus a cookie leftover from a meeting in the building. Check my email, respond to a few things, and get back to work on the APLIC newsletter. I am hoping to finish that and at least get started on the requested search by the end of the day. Everyone is talking about the big storm we are supposed to get tonight.

4:00 pm. Got the APLIC blog set up (almost forgot we are hoping to announce the blog in the newsletter!) and started work on the newsletter. The newsletter pages were designed without CSS in some kind of authoring software. Everything is in tables and the HTML is a mess. I may need to start from scratch. Followed up on a couple leads on the document we are trying to locate. Got a call from someone in a state representative’s office looking for one of our working papers, and directed him to the published version available from the state data center. Answered a question from a student about one of my upcoming workshops.

5:30 pm. Spent the last 90 minutes trying to clean up the newsletter pages and catching up on Facebook, Twitter, and email. Ate some carrots and a piece of cheese to tide me over. Heading to the grocery store, then to a meeting for a race I’m helping out with.

9 pm. Finally arrive home. There is a bit of snow on the ground already, and the dog is very happy to see me. I take the dog out, feed her and myself, put on some music, and catch up with a few things online (including my husband). Trying to mentally prepare myself for shoveling snow tomorrow morning.

Specifically, a day in the life of an Information Core Director. I manage a small library, a sizable data archive, and a lot of information services for faculty researchers at a research institute that is part of a large state university. This is part of the Library Day in the Life project.

It’s very cold this morning, and I have two meetings and a big to-do list on my plate.

6 am. The alarm goes off. I let myself sleep a little later than usual, so the dog gets a short walk, but I still get my quality time with coffee and the local newspaper.

8:10 am. There was a lot of traffic, and an accident on the way to work, so I am a little late. Checking my email, deleting spam, looking at my to-do list. Start with entering new funding opportunities into our database.

10 am. Meeting to discuss our data archive. We agree on some longer-term goals and set project target start and completion dates.

10:30 am. The conference room was chilly so I make some tea, start listening to XPN on iTunes, and check my email again. Answer a few questions, fix a problem with workshop registration, and get back to entering funding opportunities.

Noon. Monthly lunch meeting with core directors. (Our service units are called cores.) We welcome our center director back from her sabbatical and update her on what we’re doing. Topics include software licensing, installing a projector in the computer lab, preparing for our funding renewal application, staff time records, organizing documentation for the data in our data archive, workshops for graduate students, library weeding, and identifying research projects for publicity. The Information Core (my unit) is involved in most of these projects. Lunch is a bit too greasy for my taste, and there is no dessert, but who am I to knock a free lunch in times like these? Now back to working on funding opportunities, and a brief chat with my husband (he works nights so we don’t see each other much during the week).

2:30 pm. I try to help fix a CSS problem, but I can’t figure out what is causing the problem. I finally finish the funding announcements and send them out. Checking on a few things for professional associations (SLA and APLIC) and trying to finish up a requested search by the end of the day.

4 pm. Finished one search, compiled results and emailed to requester. Making a conference registration form for APLIC. Setting up registration for another workshop for grad students.

5:10 pm. Got the workshop registration set up. Didn’t get to start on search #2, so I will have to focus on that tomorrow. Leaving work as night descends. I’m grateful for my staff member filling in for another staff member who was on vacation today, because I just didn’t have much spare time.

6 pm. Meeting some friends for a night trail run. What a beautiful way to end the day.

8 pm. Finally make it home. Bring the mail in, let the dog out, check on the snakes.

8:30 pm. Eating dinner while reading Library Journal and watching basketball.

I have returned from the frozen south (below freezing in Savannah and 16 degrees in Atlanta) to the frozen north. SLA usually does a nice job of picking warmer climates for its January meetings. They just didn’t count on my ability to bring cold weather with me wherever I go.

The locals might have complained a lot about the cold snap, but attendees at the Leadership Summit from the north seemed quite happy with sunny skies and temperatures in the 40s. The agenda at the summit was pretty full, so you had to be creative to get out in that sunshine, but you couldn’t beat the hotel location between the river and the historic district.

This was my first attempt twittering an event. It would have gone better if the hotel’s internet had been more reliable, or if I’d set up my phone to send tweets. Between three of us, though, I think we did a pretty good job keeping our Social Science Division members informed about what we were doing at the summit.  Lots of new member benefits and incentives were announced, as reported on the NJ Chapter’s blog.

I was involved in several good discussions about the future of SLA and the profession. I often get very tired of those discussions, but there seemed to be a lot of good energy at this meeting. It’s difficult to say what will come of this, but the report from the SLA alignment project was much more concrete and received a much warmer reception than last year’s report in Louisville (where it was also unseasonably cold).

I’m not a huge fan of leadership speakers in general, but I liked Stephen McGarvey, and especially his thoughts on communication. Tell people what you want them to do – not what you don’t want them to do. What’s the first thing you think when you see a “no food” sign? If you’re me, you definitely think, “I could really go for a sandwich.” How about, “Help keep your library clean and protect the collections”?

As John Dupuis said, “the Twittermonster has claimed another victim.”

I once said I’d never join Facebook. Now I pause during my day and think, “That thought would make an excellent Facebook status update.”

I said I didn’t see the point of Twitter. If Facebook is too much information, surely Twitter is way too much information.

However, I am starting to see the point of Twitter in some situations. For example, I’ve followed the conference Twitter feeds at SLA conferences and gotten lots of good information–like where to go for a quick lunch, and which speakers are really good.

So, when the chair-elect of SLA’s Social Science Division said she was going to post Twitter updates from the upcoming Leadership Summit, I decided to try creating an account for myself so I could help her put the Twitter feed up on the division’s web site.

Naturally, I announced this momentous occasion on Facebook, and promptly picked up a follower on Twitter. So, now I am twittering. And, I suppose, ascending the Twitter Life Cycle curve.

Next week I’m escaping the gloomy central Pennsylvania winter and heading to Savannah for the SLA Leadership Summit. I’m looking forward to seeing my SLA colleagues again, and to taking care of some final details in program planning for the 2009 conference.

My division (Social Science) chair-elect will be Twittering the summit, and I helped her get the Twitter posts on the division web site for our members. I may even jump in with a few posts. I’m usually too caught up in the conference itself to do much conference blogging (and at SLA there are usually many others doing it much better than I could) but maybe I can do conference Twittering.

Back in December, Walt Crawford asked the PALINET Leadership Network Challenge group what conference besides ALA offers the most value as a leader or future leader. John Dupuis, a science librarian, suggested that librarians should go to the conferences their users go to:

I hope there’s room for a dissenting idea–that we should go to the conferences where our users go and not just to library conferences. I’ve been to three non-library, science conferences this year and they were really valuable experiences because they helped me understand where my user community is coming from.

I couldn’t agree more. One of my favorite library conferences is the very small APLIC conference. It is so small, in fact, that it is a pre-conference event of the academic conference that most of our users go to (the Population Association of America), which makes it relatively easy and inexpensive to stay for the academic conference. When I attended my first PAA conference, I found myself nearly bored to tears, in part because so much of the material was beyond my understanding. The faculty and graduate students I saw seemed surprised to see me at “their” conference, which made me feel uncomfortable.

By the end of the conference, though, I’d begun to realize its value.

My users were surprised to see me there in a good way. The same way we get excited when faculty take an interest in the library, they get excited when we take an interest in their research. I got to know many of them better through the social parts of the conference, too.

While much of the conference was still over my head, I was learning–both about the subject matter and the way research works. The best part, for me, was hearing the discussion during conference sessions, because I started to understand how scholars develop their research and interact with each other. I also began to develop an understanding of the publication process and the concerns scholars face at various points in their careers.

I got to see firsthand what a poster session is like, so I can better advise graduate students when they come to me for help putting together their first poster.

I can’t afford to go to an academic conference and a library conference every year, so I try to replicate these experiences as much as I can when I’m on campus. I go to brown bag lunches and seminars. I read my users’ journal articles. I go to department social events (it helps that I work for the research center and not for the library, so I get invitations).

Even if you have no hope of getting the funding to diversify your national conference experience, there are surely local events you can go to to meet your users on their own turf.

If you’ve read this blog at all, you won’t be surprised that I’m not a big fan of PowerPoint. Yes, it is sometimes useful to have slides for your talk, but I hate that since the advent of PowerPoint slides have become almost mandatory.

I was happy to see this post on using images to help convey stories on Notes from a Corporate Life. It’s a good exercise to help you prepare a talk, and the images will help your audience remember your story better than a slide full of words (which might just put them to sleep).

I’ve done something similar with many of my talks, and many have ended up with only a handful of slides containing useful illustrations, or no slides at all. My favorite of my remaining PowerPoint files is a series of illustrations of poster design concepts. I think the illustrations help the students understand why some things work better than others on posters.

It occurs to me now that this would probably be more effective without the border and logo. At this point in the presentation, most people have probably figured out who I am and where they are. Let the further minimalization commence!

I spotted this on Walt at Random and thought I’d do it – partly to make up for not finishing SLA’s 23 Things, and partly because I want to post something fun on this last day of work before the winter break.

THE 99 THINGS MEME

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.

2. Slept under the stars.

3. Played in a band.
Concert band, jazz band, improv band, and now (debatably) rock band.

4. Visited Hawaii.

5. Watched a meteor shower.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity.

7. Been to Disneyland/world.
I enjoyed it at the time, but have no desire to go back.

8. Climbed a mountain.

9. Held a praying mantis.

10. Sang a solo.
I was permitted to audition for a solo once. I didn’t get it, but I sang in front of about 15 people for the audition. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done.

11. Bungee jumped.

12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.

15. Adopted a child.

16. Had food poisoning.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.

18. Grown your own vegetables.
I accidentally grew two pumpkins outside my front door once.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.

20. Slept on an overnight train.

21. Had a pillow fight.

22. Hitch hiked.

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.

24. Built a snow fort.

25. Held a lamb.

26. Gone skinny dipping.

27. Run a marathon.

28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.

29. Seen a total eclipse.

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.

31. Hit a home run.

32. Been on a cruise.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
Grandparents count as ancestors, right?
35. Seen an Amish community.

36. Taught yourself a new language.

37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
Money can’t buy me love.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.

39. Gone rock climbing.

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.

41. Sung Karaoke.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.

44. Visited Africa.
Moroccocounts as Africa, right?

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.

46. Been transported in an ambulance.
Not an experience I’d like to repeat.

47. Had your portrait painted.

48. Gone deep sea fishing.

49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.

52. Kissed in the rain.

53. Played in the mud.

54. Gone to a drive-in theater.

55. Been in a movie.

56. Visited the Great Wall of China.

57. Started a business.

58. Taken a martial arts class.

59. Visited Russia.

60. Served at a soup kitchen.

61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.

62. Gone whale watching.

63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
Despite my not-so-subtle hints…

64. Donated blood.

65. Gone sky diving.

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.

67. Bounced a check.

68. Flown in a helicopter.

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.

71. Eaten Caviar.

72. Pieced a quilt.

73. Stood in Times Square.

74. Toured the Everglades.

75. Been fired from a job.

76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.

77. Broken a bone.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.

80. Published a book.

81. Visited the Vatican.

82. Bought a brand new car.

83. Walked in Jerusalem.

84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
The first time, I think, was when my dad was a reporter and used a picture of me for a feature on blueberry picking. Now it happens once a month when my column appears.

85. Read the entire Bible.
Excluding the “begat” sections.

86. Visited the White House.

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
Unless you count the fly I killed and encouraged my dog to eat.

88. Had chickenpox.

89. Saved someone’s life.
I’m not sure whether this is entirely true or not, but it’s best not to take chances.

90. Sat on a jury.

91. Met someone famous.
Mick Foley, Joe Paterno, Jason Ringenberg, Warner Hodges.

92. Joined a book club.

93. Lost a loved one.
Until two years ago, this was only true if you counted pets as loved ones.

94. Had a baby.

95. Seen the Alamo in person.

96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.

97. Been involved in a law suit.

98. Owned a cell phone.

99. Been stung by a bee.
On the bottom of my foot – very unpleasant. Though I guess things were worse for the bee.

See, I have done more than 23 things.