Monday, January 31, 2011
ALA Future Perfect Presidential Task Force
ALA President Roberta Stevens has charged a task force to look at the following question: "If there was no governing body currently in place, what structure would you envision that reflects ALA's goal of an engaged and collaborative membership, the effective use of new technologies and the changes in outlook and expectations occurring with the new generation of people working in libraries?" This group has been asked "to undertake a "blue sky" approach to envisioning a governing body of the future. Their work is intended to be the starting point for "potential alternatives for the governance of ALA in the 21st century." The task force's draft report should be released in the spring so the ALA Executive Board, Council, divisions, and round tables have an opportunity to review.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Library Day in the Life: January 30
It's been a productive day of working from home. I read and sent a lot of work email, and queried colleagues on Facebook for a little help on a project. It's been nice to make progress on some projects and chip away at various tasks. There's still plenty more to do, but I definitely picked up some momentum this weekend. My to do list did not really shrink, but I'm definitely in a better position to cross some items off that list in the next couple of weeks.
Today is the last day of the Library Day in the Life project round 6. I had a really great week documenting my activities for others to read, see, and hear. I've also enjoyed the tweets, blogs, and video posts from others. Even when it seemed like people had similar positions or similar types of days, each one was really very unique. I learned a lot from documenting the experience and reading about others' experience. I still have quite a few entries to read, but I'm getting there.
Thanks so much for reading this week. I hope you'll continue reading. I already have some ideas for future entries. Plus you never know what else might come up.
Today is the last day of the Library Day in the Life project round 6. I had a really great week documenting my activities for others to read, see, and hear. I've also enjoyed the tweets, blogs, and video posts from others. Even when it seemed like people had similar positions or similar types of days, each one was really very unique. I learned a lot from documenting the experience and reading about others' experience. I still have quite a few entries to read, but I'm getting there.
Thanks so much for reading this week. I hope you'll continue reading. I already have some ideas for future entries. Plus you never know what else might come up.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Library Day in the Life: January 29
It's Saturday. While I'm not at the office, I'm still doing the library thing. Today's work was mostly via email. I had plans to work on my part of a presentation for the upcoming ACRL National Conference in March, but did not get around to it. I also planned to do some ALA work. The planning counts as work, doesn't it?
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Library Day in the Life: January 27
My commute to work was slow this morning. There was some issue getting through the Squirrel Hill tunnel. Over each traffic lane was a big red X and the traffic light was red.
After sitting for a bit that truck on the right made a u-turn, the lights turned green, and traffic was moving again.
Once I got in I logged into my calendar and email. I responded to a lot of emails, a pretty even split between work-related and ALA-related. I also spent some time talking with my LIS intern about her classes this week and a project for YALSA later this spring.
My afternoon was filled with meetings. I attended the campus' faculty senate meeting. One of the reports did duplicate a report I heard at yesterday's Library Faculty Organization meeting, but the rest was reports from standing committees and other business. Next was another quick check of email and then a meeting with my reference librarian about a campus event the library collaborated on last year. I offered advice on how to make our involvement better parallel the other units participating. It was a really good meeting.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Library Day in the Life: January 26
I started my morning viewing our Libraries Faculty Organization meeting via MediaSite Live. This type of participation is very important when you are at one university geographically dispersed. I am a member of the University Libraries faculty and that is my tenure home. Despite our multiple locations, it is important for my colleagues and I to participate as a member of the library faculty. The agenda included introduction of a new campus librarian (who happens to be filling the vacancy I created when I took this position), a report from the Dean (Barbara Dewey), reports from the University Faculty Senate, and some constitution and bylaws changes we'll vote on next meeting.
There were a number of campus tours on campus. I suspect students from one or two high schools were checking things out. I saw three or four tour groups go through the library. One of them was led by one of our work study students. She's actually interested in becoming a librarian, so I'm always excited to talk with her about the opportunities. She waved and said hello as she went past my office with her group, which meant that the generally disinterested groups of students looked into my office, smiled, and waved.
I spent most of my day in the office working on a variety of tasks. A meeting scheduled for the afternoon was canceled so we could use that time working on the subcommittee's task of recommending changes to our "Advice to the Untenured" document. I made good use of that time and worked through my part of the document. I also completed the agenda for Friday's Virtual Reference Team meeting. It's a bit more full than normal, but that's okay. It's nice to have a lot to talk about for the first meeting of the semester. By April we're all pretty worn out. I'll talk more about our meetings on Friday.
I also responded to various emails and made a couple of telephone calls. As a new supervisor it is expected that I will take the University's Mastering SuperVision certificate program. It will be offered this summer at a campus here on the western side of the state. The dates all actually fit into my schedule and I've confirmed my travel will be supported, so I'll plan to take that from late April to mid-June. I travel so much during the fall and spring semesters, not to mention the unpredictability of winter weather, it was hard to figure when I might take the course.
I did a little more unpacking of my office when I needed a break from the computer. I'm waiting for the order of hanging file folders to come in so I can finish. As I was flipping through some of my stuff, I found this note. Talk about a blast from the past. I also must have been in a hurry, that's some messy handwriting.
I'll recycle the original and preserve the photo.
There were a number of campus tours on campus. I suspect students from one or two high schools were checking things out. I saw three or four tour groups go through the library. One of them was led by one of our work study students. She's actually interested in becoming a librarian, so I'm always excited to talk with her about the opportunities. She waved and said hello as she went past my office with her group, which meant that the generally disinterested groups of students looked into my office, smiled, and waved.
I spent most of my day in the office working on a variety of tasks. A meeting scheduled for the afternoon was canceled so we could use that time working on the subcommittee's task of recommending changes to our "Advice to the Untenured" document. I made good use of that time and worked through my part of the document. I also completed the agenda for Friday's Virtual Reference Team meeting. It's a bit more full than normal, but that's okay. It's nice to have a lot to talk about for the first meeting of the semester. By April we're all pretty worn out. I'll talk more about our meetings on Friday.
I also responded to various emails and made a couple of telephone calls. As a new supervisor it is expected that I will take the University's Mastering SuperVision certificate program. It will be offered this summer at a campus here on the western side of the state. The dates all actually fit into my schedule and I've confirmed my travel will be supported, so I'll plan to take that from late April to mid-June. I travel so much during the fall and spring semesters, not to mention the unpredictability of winter weather, it was hard to figure when I might take the course.
I did a little more unpacking of my office when I needed a break from the computer. I'm waiting for the order of hanging file folders to come in so I can finish. As I was flipping through some of my stuff, I found this note. Talk about a blast from the past. I also must have been in a hurry, that's some messy handwriting.
I'll recycle the original and preserve the photo.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Library Day in the Life: January 25
It's damp and dreary today in Western Pennsylvania. Traffic this morning was terrible. I've been averaging a 45 minute drive to campus, today it took me about an hour and ten minutes. I wasn't the only librarian affected. A number of librarians on Twitter and Facebook noted their commutes were as bad and, in the case of one, worse (45 minutes turned into 3 hours).
Not far from the campus is a billboard. Since I started here in September there's been an attractive ad up for the campus. After the winter break, they changed it. A red light and this project motivated me to snap a quick photo.
It reminds me that as the head of the campus library, I need to keep in mind ways to tap into this selling point.
Once I got into the office, I spent some time reading and responding to email: agenda items for the Virtual Reference Team meeting on Friday, a collaboration with two student learning units on campus, and a request for a smoke detector in the building since we still have a smoking issue in the main stairwell.
Tuesday afternoons from 12-3pm ET I staff the University Libraries' Virtual Reference Service (VRS). I've been working this shift since I joined our VRS Team during the Fall 2004 semester. Statistically it is our second busiest shift. If memory serves me right, in 2009 we received 22% of our questions during this day/time slot. I also conducted 305 sessions that year. During a lull in my shift, a LIS student I recently became friends with on Facebook messaged me there with questions about his career path and attending ACRL. I find myself doing more and more mentoring, talking about the profession, and career goals via Facebook. I still do quite a bit of this via email as well.
Virtual reference and lunch this afternoon
I rounded out my day by meeting briefly with my reference librarian. We just checked in on two things. I'll meet with her on a more substantive topic later this week. I also went through more email, and was pleased to find a conference call scheduled for tomorrow was canceled so we could use that time to work on what we were planning to discuss. I intend to use the time precisely in that way.
A highlight of the day was to see a tweet from Spacesaver about their ALA Mid-Winter Wrap Up blog entry. There I am! I completely forgot they took a picture when I claimed my prize. I feel like a winner all over again.
Not far from the campus is a billboard. Since I started here in September there's been an attractive ad up for the campus. After the winter break, they changed it. A red light and this project motivated me to snap a quick photo.
It reminds me that as the head of the campus library, I need to keep in mind ways to tap into this selling point.
Once I got into the office, I spent some time reading and responding to email: agenda items for the Virtual Reference Team meeting on Friday, a collaboration with two student learning units on campus, and a request for a smoke detector in the building since we still have a smoking issue in the main stairwell.
Tuesday afternoons from 12-3pm ET I staff the University Libraries' Virtual Reference Service (VRS). I've been working this shift since I joined our VRS Team during the Fall 2004 semester. Statistically it is our second busiest shift. If memory serves me right, in 2009 we received 22% of our questions during this day/time slot. I also conducted 305 sessions that year. During a lull in my shift, a LIS student I recently became friends with on Facebook messaged me there with questions about his career path and attending ACRL. I find myself doing more and more mentoring, talking about the profession, and career goals via Facebook. I still do quite a bit of this via email as well.
I rounded out my day by meeting briefly with my reference librarian. We just checked in on two things. I'll meet with her on a more substantive topic later this week. I also went through more email, and was pleased to find a conference call scheduled for tomorrow was canceled so we could use that time to work on what we were planning to discuss. I intend to use the time precisely in that way.
A highlight of the day was to see a tweet from Spacesaver about their ALA Mid-Winter Wrap Up blog entry. There I am! I completely forgot they took a picture when I claimed my prize. I feel like a winner all over again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)