Ah end of the week. The time for something inevitably to go wrong for the weekend. As I write I am running a verify/fix programme to sort out a bug that claims a student has 32 items out on loan, when they have 4. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will sort it out...
This morning I met with a member of IT to discuss a change I want to make in swapping our OPACs for cut down web terminals, that only allow access to the online catalogue. We've got an ongoing problem of the OPACs crashing which best efforts haven't resolved. So, switching to the much more stable (tough wood) web search seems the best option. I'm told it shouldn't be too hard to do, but I will await the results!
I've also checked the security tapes today and have employed the porters on a mini manhunt for a student I cannot identify. I probably only need to send an email to them, but at present they are a mystery to me.
I spent time working on an asset list, which has items we are retaining or discarding as part of the renovation. It is now rainbow colour-coded based on who I think needs to take any action. I can't wait to show it to those involved and possibly scramble their minds. I also feel slightly bad that one department has ended up a colour I can only describe as sludge :(
I spent some time this afternoon revising a list of children's authors. It is divided into two sections: the first lists current authors that we should be on the look out for new releases from. The second section lists popular authors (dead or alive) who I think we are missing portions of that we should have. For example, when Enid Blyton lost popularity for not being PC (about which I would happily have a separate conversation) pretty much all her books were removed from the Library. At least, that's what I assume happened, as otherwise the lack of Blyton seems unaccountable. So, slowly I am reinstating her because she is part of the literary canon, whatever.
**Maintenance update, the verify/fix has worked! Hurrah!**
Now to pack up for the weekend, lock the sample chairs in the workroom and email the weekend student helpers with any information or instructions they need. Libday8 done.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Libday8 - Thursday
Oh dear, the inevitable problem of trying to remember what I did yesterday... Luckily my outlook calendar can fill me in on the main interesting things.
The day started with emails as usual, though this doesn't often take too much of my time. I think I am lucky in being relatively new in post still, that not every company has my address to spam. We also have the generic library account which takes care of most communication with students.
Then we had a staff meeting to discuss the chair samples we've currently got in, and the suggested fabric colours for them. I'd been a bit worried about the reception one chair was getting, but more data has evened it out nicely.
Next we ventured on the bus to town for a meeting with other Librarians using Heritage in the local area. This is a great annual occasion, meeting up with lovely people to eat and discuss our likes/dislikes/plans and problems. It is always enlightening to hear how the same system is being used in similar libraries and to hear about innovations or solutions that otherwise I'd be unaware of.
The afternoon involved lots of bits of admin and discussing the proposed tables for the refurbishment with IT.
The day started with emails as usual, though this doesn't often take too much of my time. I think I am lucky in being relatively new in post still, that not every company has my address to spam. We also have the generic library account which takes care of most communication with students.
Then we had a staff meeting to discuss the chair samples we've currently got in, and the suggested fabric colours for them. I'd been a bit worried about the reception one chair was getting, but more data has evened it out nicely.
Next we ventured on the bus to town for a meeting with other Librarians using Heritage in the local area. This is a great annual occasion, meeting up with lovely people to eat and discuss our likes/dislikes/plans and problems. It is always enlightening to hear how the same system is being used in similar libraries and to hear about innovations or solutions that otherwise I'd be unaware of.
The afternoon involved lots of bits of admin and discussing the proposed tables for the refurbishment with IT.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Libday8 - Wednesday
Yesterday had a slight addendum after I'd left the Library. The porters asked for my help with identifying a postcard where the name of the recipient was in Cyrllic!
An interesting day today, but not actually one I can blog much about.
Most of my morning was spent in a meeting relating to the refurbishment. I don't feel I can say anything much at all about it since we're still discussing lots of things. It's not for the blogosphere at this stage. So, that was my entire morning taken up pretty much, in a single paragraph.
What I can say is that such meetings are exciting, challenging, stressful and enjoyable all in one go. And not something that every librarian gets to do all the time. I feel really fortunate to be trusted with the refurbishment of a space for the next 10 years at least. It's a big responsibility but a great one.
Lunchtime included some unscheduled car maintenance after my windscreen wipers packed up on the way to work. One fuse change later (plus a broken nail and freezing hands) and I am fully functional to get home.
The afternoon was spent setting up a number of sample chairs for students and staff to try, setting up a feedback system and then encouraging people to start commenting. Plus kicking off a few things on the to do list after the meeting this morning.
Last thing today I set some reminders in my calendar for things to do on Friday. Tomorrow is quite booked up already, so a couple of things that will take some time and thought won't get done until Friday.
An interesting day today, but not actually one I can blog much about.
Most of my morning was spent in a meeting relating to the refurbishment. I don't feel I can say anything much at all about it since we're still discussing lots of things. It's not for the blogosphere at this stage. So, that was my entire morning taken up pretty much, in a single paragraph.
What I can say is that such meetings are exciting, challenging, stressful and enjoyable all in one go. And not something that every librarian gets to do all the time. I feel really fortunate to be trusted with the refurbishment of a space for the next 10 years at least. It's a big responsibility but a great one.
Lunchtime included some unscheduled car maintenance after my windscreen wipers packed up on the way to work. One fuse change later (plus a broken nail and freezing hands) and I am fully functional to get home.
The afternoon was spent setting up a number of sample chairs for students and staff to try, setting up a feedback system and then encouraging people to start commenting. Plus kicking off a few things on the to do list after the meeting this morning.
Last thing today I set some reminders in my calendar for things to do on Friday. Tomorrow is quite booked up already, so a couple of things that will take some time and thought won't get done until Friday.
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Libday8 - Tuesday
Every day begins in a similar way for me really, picking up my emails and sorting through them with what I can delete, what I need to deal with immediately, what I need to pick up on during the day, and what I can just file for reference.
Then the visiting scholar from yesterday arrived, so I signed her card up, sorted out her door access and gave her a rundown of the Library. She was very interesting and interested in everything, one of those people it is very easy and pleasant to talk to. Meeting enthusiastic people is one of the things I enjoy most at work, so that really was a pleasure.
Tea break time and we all get some cake to mark the end of a section in the Voyager cataloguing project. Any excuse!
With the post came some invoices to process and send onto finance.
I then had to fill out our film licensing report for the previous 3 months, and check the proposed films for this term to ensure they all fall within the license. This is one of those jobs that isn't necessarily in my remit, but the library understands the licensing and copyright of materials better than anyone else, so it makes sense. I also quite enjoy it.
Finally before lunch, looking up some items potentially for purchase, including some Enid Blyton to add to our children's literature collection. When she fell out of fashion a previous librarian got rid of practically everything. I've rebuilt the Famous Five over half way, and have begun on Noddy, but it's the long haul to completely reinstate her! With Noddy, we also want to get both recent and older editions as the Gollywogs have been completely redacted from new editions.
Lunch!
A bit more catching up and getting my head round the potential collaboration opportunity, and a query sent off about a possible alteration to our catalogue terminals.
Lots of meeting prep this afternoon - a refurbishment one tomorrow morning, and another with all the Heritage library staff on Thursday. Doing the Heritage thinking today as tomorrow's meeting may take some time. Cross-checking my refurbishment requirements one more time, and looking at the current costings.
Then I began cross-checking journal lists for a planned discard to ensure nothing had slipped onto the discard list or been missed off. Checking this sort of thing isn't my favourite job, but it's so important to ensure everything goes smoothly.
I emailed an archive visit to one of my library assistants who has a strong interest in that area, and did a few more withdrawals found by our Voyager cataloguer.
Then the visiting scholar from yesterday arrived, so I signed her card up, sorted out her door access and gave her a rundown of the Library. She was very interesting and interested in everything, one of those people it is very easy and pleasant to talk to. Meeting enthusiastic people is one of the things I enjoy most at work, so that really was a pleasure.
Tea break time and we all get some cake to mark the end of a section in the Voyager cataloguing project. Any excuse!
With the post came some invoices to process and send onto finance.
I then had to fill out our film licensing report for the previous 3 months, and check the proposed films for this term to ensure they all fall within the license. This is one of those jobs that isn't necessarily in my remit, but the library understands the licensing and copyright of materials better than anyone else, so it makes sense. I also quite enjoy it.
Finally before lunch, looking up some items potentially for purchase, including some Enid Blyton to add to our children's literature collection. When she fell out of fashion a previous librarian got rid of practically everything. I've rebuilt the Famous Five over half way, and have begun on Noddy, but it's the long haul to completely reinstate her! With Noddy, we also want to get both recent and older editions as the Gollywogs have been completely redacted from new editions.
Lunch!
A bit more catching up and getting my head round the potential collaboration opportunity, and a query sent off about a possible alteration to our catalogue terminals.
Lots of meeting prep this afternoon - a refurbishment one tomorrow morning, and another with all the Heritage library staff on Thursday. Doing the Heritage thinking today as tomorrow's meeting may take some time. Cross-checking my refurbishment requirements one more time, and looking at the current costings.
Then I began cross-checking journal lists for a planned discard to ensure nothing had slipped onto the discard list or been missed off. Checking this sort of thing isn't my favourite job, but it's so important to ensure everything goes smoothly.
I emailed an archive visit to one of my library assistants who has a strong interest in that area, and did a few more withdrawals found by our Voyager cataloguer.
Libday8 - Monday
I've participated in libday before on Twitter, but perhaps this year I can conjure up a blog post each day - please note I am already late with Monday's (!).
So, what did yesterday hold for me...
Well, I was off with lurgy on Thursday and Friday so my first job of the morning was catching up with emails and my team. Luckily my inbox was lighter than I might have feared, and a lot of those were quite easily deletable.
Of the more noteworthy ones were some messages about our refurbishments plans (more on them below), and a visiting scholar requesting access. So one quick email exchange later and the scholar can be signed up to access our children's literature collection for the rest of her time here.
Next to tackle the refurbishment bits. A final query about the carpet we've chosen, and a double check that the samples we were sent matched the sample building services had (on closer inspection, phew, they did). Then a quick phonecall about a sample chair that had arrived with a damaged base.
Lunch!
A few student queries, and then onto catching up on a collaboration meeting that I missed on Friday. Reading the documentation so far and some notes kindly sent through to get me upto speed.
Checked all of the alarm alerts from over the weekend. Happy to see that the students are behaving, and not setting the alarm off too much.
Started to compile a list of items for the Library Committee agenda, and then a few bits of withdrawing and general catalogue housekeeping.
So actually, a fairly typical day for me at the moment!
So, what did yesterday hold for me...
Well, I was off with lurgy on Thursday and Friday so my first job of the morning was catching up with emails and my team. Luckily my inbox was lighter than I might have feared, and a lot of those were quite easily deletable.
Of the more noteworthy ones were some messages about our refurbishments plans (more on them below), and a visiting scholar requesting access. So one quick email exchange later and the scholar can be signed up to access our children's literature collection for the rest of her time here.
Next to tackle the refurbishment bits. A final query about the carpet we've chosen, and a double check that the samples we were sent matched the sample building services had (on closer inspection, phew, they did). Then a quick phonecall about a sample chair that had arrived with a damaged base.
Lunch!
A few student queries, and then onto catching up on a collaboration meeting that I missed on Friday. Reading the documentation so far and some notes kindly sent through to get me upto speed.
Checked all of the alarm alerts from over the weekend. Happy to see that the students are behaving, and not setting the alarm off too much.
Started to compile a list of items for the Library Committee agenda, and then a few bits of withdrawing and general catalogue housekeeping.
So actually, a fairly typical day for me at the moment!
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Google Docs
Yay. I love Googledocs for collaboration. No sending millions of versions around between people and ending up with two differently amended ones. Just one master document that can even be edited simultaneously by contributors. What's there not to like. TeachMeet used this a lot in advance of our last event and it was invaluable, as the amount of face time we could manage prior to an event was limited. We wrote publicity, articles and kept lists, accounts and even passwords on Googledocs ensuring anyone could step in where necessary to help out.
In conclusion, Googledocs =
In conclusion, Googledocs =
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Google Calendar - no thanks
I am not the most organised of people. I guess that should make me a rubbish librarian, but I seem to be ok at that bit. I do, however, have to keep track of what I'm doing with lists and diaries or I would not know where I was or why.
So really, Google Calendar should be a useful tool at work and home. But I'm just not sold. Ok, I can share it with other people, but somehow it just doesn't appeal enough for me to use. I prefer my dates in a diary, or two, and my Outlook. Oh dear. I really should like Google Calendar.
At the moment, we have a physical diary at work that everything goes in. I then have my Outlook, which means appointments pop up as reminders so I can't miss anything. I then have my diary, which contains some of the same things as the work diary and Outlook, but also everything personal, and happening at weekends. I've used this same system for over 5 years, and I'm loathe to change it. It's taken me long enough to train my brain to this way of thinking...
So really, Google Calendar should be a useful tool at work and home. But I'm just not sold. Ok, I can share it with other people, but somehow it just doesn't appeal enough for me to use. I prefer my dates in a diary, or two, and my Outlook. Oh dear. I really should like Google Calendar.
At the moment, we have a physical diary at work that everything goes in. I then have my Outlook, which means appointments pop up as reminders so I can't miss anything. I then have my diary, which contains some of the same things as the work diary and Outlook, but also everything personal, and happening at weekends. I've used this same system for over 5 years, and I'm loathe to change it. It's taken me long enough to train my brain to this way of thinking...
Doodling
I like Doodle and I already use it. Organising librarians together for any reason is quite difficult, so using Doodle is a great way to arrange meetings that suit the majority. I do find more complex polls, with lots of options a little annoying, as I don't think the concertina is particularly helpful.
I also wish Doodle could be used for other types of poll as well. It would be great to be able to poll on date, time and location, or refreshments or whatever else. That may just be the completist in me...
I haven't used Doodle within the library, as organising meetings here is not difficult, but for things like TeachMeet get togethers, and even social events Doodle is an invaluable free resource.
I also wish Doodle could be used for other types of poll as well. It would be great to be able to poll on date, time and location, or refreshments or whatever else. That may just be the completist in me...
I haven't used Doodle within the library, as organising meetings here is not difficult, but for things like TeachMeet get togethers, and even social events Doodle is an invaluable free resource.
Friday, 26 August 2011
Thing 6 - I made this
Right, skipping Thing 5 for the moment, to do when I've got time to wrangle the download, onto Thing 6. Seeing as I wrote the blurb to this one, it should be fairly straightforward.
I like screencasting. I think it's an incredibly useful tool in circumstances when face to face training isn't possible, or isn't having the desired effect. And, since people have many different preferred styles of learning, this is a great tool for on demand education, and self-directing learners.
The biggest problem, and the one I had when writing the Thing, is sourcing a good programme. In the last couple of years quite a few good, free online products have disappeared and, depending on how the screencasts were stored, the screencasts may have disappeared too. I don't really understand why this is. Adobe Captivate proves there is a commercial market for the product, so the good free products should survive as well.
I am keen to do a number of screencasts for the Library here once the new College website is launched, although quite when this will be is not certain. A lot of material that is included in our library guide at the moment, might be better as a separate document, and some would definitely be more easily explained through a screencast demonstration than any number of screenshots.
What I particularly like about screencast-o-matic is the ability to save things to YouTube for other librarians to utilise, rather than keep everything squirreled away, when a lot of screencast topics can apply across libraries.
I like screencasting. I think it's an incredibly useful tool in circumstances when face to face training isn't possible, or isn't having the desired effect. And, since people have many different preferred styles of learning, this is a great tool for on demand education, and self-directing learners.
The biggest problem, and the one I had when writing the Thing, is sourcing a good programme. In the last couple of years quite a few good, free online products have disappeared and, depending on how the screencasts were stored, the screencasts may have disappeared too. I don't really understand why this is. Adobe Captivate proves there is a commercial market for the product, so the good free products should survive as well.
I am keen to do a number of screencasts for the Library here once the new College website is launched, although quite when this will be is not certain. A lot of material that is included in our library guide at the moment, might be better as a separate document, and some would definitely be more easily explained through a screencast demonstration than any number of screenshots.
What I particularly like about screencast-o-matic is the ability to save things to YouTube for other librarians to utilise, rather than keep everything squirreled away, when a lot of screencast topics can apply across libraries.
Monday, 22 August 2011
Foiled again!
by raysto I can't download Lightscribe at work, so efforts on Thing 5 have been temporarily suspended...
Let the great catch up begin... starting at Things 3 and 4
Ahh, RSS feeds. I am no luddite. I have been aware of RSS feeds for a long time and have indeed encouraged many students, colleagues and friends to use them for particular purposes. But I have never ever used them myself. I don't even know why. I use Twitter (more of that in a minute), I use Facebook, I use a range of media that act in a similar way to RSS feeds in gathering information and providing it in a feed. I have many friends and interesting library people that blog, but up to now I have always just clicked onto their blog now and again, or found out about new posts through Twitter etc. My bookmark list of blogs is quite long. I can only assume it is laziness. So now I have subscribed to all the Cam23 participants, and will work through my bookmarks list to add others.
Now I have to sit back and see whether RSS works for me. If it doesn't I suspect the problem will be with how often I look at my feed, and how many blogs I have on it. I oscillate wildly in terms of the amount of time and frequency I spend on social media (which I count RSS as in my categories), so I may miss so fab posts because they slide down before I see them. But we shall see... I've taken the biggest step by signing up.
So, Thing 4, what do you hold for me? Yay, something I already do!
I've been on Twitter personally for maybe 3 years, and coming upto a year professionally. I maintain two separate accounts in a bid to keep home and work apart, and to keep my professional account free of information on my friends' various shennanigans. My work account is @losbiblio and I'm happy for anyone to follow me, although my posts are at times sporadic, and may involve asking advice of other professionals on a range of subjects. Sometimes I just fill myself in on the latest news by reading my feed, without contributing back. I am definitely more talkative in person than online. I also don't follow everyone that follows me - I filter fairly strongly on @losbiblio to keep the amount of wasted time wading through cupcake recipes to a minimum (not that I don't appreciate the slightly 'offlist' nature of some Friday afternoons).
My personal account is also locked, so I can say whatever I want safe in the knowledge that only people I know and trust will see it. I don't ever go completely bonkers on there, but I like to have that bit of privacy.
We also have a library Twitter account, but don't use it as much as I would like. In my previous post, because I was working in a subject library, there were lots of things to tweet of interest to the majority of our students. College libraries are so varied that those sort of tweets don't really work in the same way. But we do use Twitter for service updates and reminders, both locally and around the University. At the moment I don't feel our students are particularly engaged with us through Twitter, but we'll keep going...
Now I have to sit back and see whether RSS works for me. If it doesn't I suspect the problem will be with how often I look at my feed, and how many blogs I have on it. I oscillate wildly in terms of the amount of time and frequency I spend on social media (which I count RSS as in my categories), so I may miss so fab posts because they slide down before I see them. But we shall see... I've taken the biggest step by signing up.
So, Thing 4, what do you hold for me? Yay, something I already do!
I've been on Twitter personally for maybe 3 years, and coming upto a year professionally. I maintain two separate accounts in a bid to keep home and work apart, and to keep my professional account free of information on my friends' various shennanigans. My work account is @losbiblio and I'm happy for anyone to follow me, although my posts are at times sporadic, and may involve asking advice of other professionals on a range of subjects. Sometimes I just fill myself in on the latest news by reading my feed, without contributing back. I am definitely more talkative in person than online. I also don't follow everyone that follows me - I filter fairly strongly on @losbiblio to keep the amount of wasted time wading through cupcake recipes to a minimum (not that I don't appreciate the slightly 'offlist' nature of some Friday afternoons).
My personal account is also locked, so I can say whatever I want safe in the knowledge that only people I know and trust will see it. I don't ever go completely bonkers on there, but I like to have that bit of privacy.
We also have a library Twitter account, but don't use it as much as I would like. In my previous post, because I was working in a subject library, there were lots of things to tweet of interest to the majority of our students. College libraries are so varied that those sort of tweets don't really work in the same way. But we do use Twitter for service updates and reminders, both locally and around the University. At the moment I don't feel our students are particularly engaged with us through Twitter, but we'll keep going...
Monday, 4 July 2011
Creeping guilt
Feeling a bit naughty that I haven't caught up my Things yet - 3,4,5 and 6 to go, but going to see Take That scuppered any plans I had at the end of the week, and then I had to write Thing 6! (Not that I'm making excuses you understand).
I've also been MIA on Twitter for a good couple of weeks due to holiday and important stuff at work, so apologies to all the tweeps, particularly when I want to be engaging about this programme. Hopefully normal service will resume by the end of next week...
I've also been MIA on Twitter for a good couple of weeks due to holiday and important stuff at work, so apologies to all the tweeps, particularly when I want to be engaging about this programme. Hopefully normal service will resume by the end of next week...
Friday, 1 July 2011
Post 1! Or, let's start at the beginning
I've set up this blog to record my efforts and experiences participating in Cam23 2.0 over Summer 2011. I arrived in Cambridge just after the end of the original Cam23 and the level of buzz, and the legacy I've seen it have over the past year made me regret missing out on it.
So, Things 1 and 2 (in typical fashion I went on holiday as everything started, so am playing catch up!).
Thing 1 was to get up an iGoogle account. I already use Gmail and Googledocs a fair bit for various work and leisure activities, but I'd never fully set up the iGoogle page. I can see how it could be a useful tool. Unfortunately, at work our homepage is consistently reset to the work website, so I can't use iGoogle for that, which would have been good. But, we might be able to use it as a library resources page if we wanted too, which might help circumvent the difficulties in getting the library web pages updated. I also couldn't help adding a pointless hamster to my page, which I can feed and watch run in its wheel. It's the simple things :)
Thing 2 was to create this blog. I've dallied with blogging before, almost exclusively for personal use, and never overly successfully, as I haven't kept them up very well. I'll be really interested to see whether the impetus to blog each week for Cam23 will finally get me in the habit of doing it generally. Blogger is certainly a simple way to get started. If I find some time I definitely want to look at Extra Thing 1 about making it look better.
So, Things 1 and 2 (in typical fashion I went on holiday as everything started, so am playing catch up!).
Thing 1 was to get up an iGoogle account. I already use Gmail and Googledocs a fair bit for various work and leisure activities, but I'd never fully set up the iGoogle page. I can see how it could be a useful tool. Unfortunately, at work our homepage is consistently reset to the work website, so I can't use iGoogle for that, which would have been good. But, we might be able to use it as a library resources page if we wanted too, which might help circumvent the difficulties in getting the library web pages updated. I also couldn't help adding a pointless hamster to my page, which I can feed and watch run in its wheel. It's the simple things :)
Thing 2 was to create this blog. I've dallied with blogging before, almost exclusively for personal use, and never overly successfully, as I haven't kept them up very well. I'll be really interested to see whether the impetus to blog each week for Cam23 will finally get me in the habit of doing it generally. Blogger is certainly a simple way to get started. If I find some time I definitely want to look at Extra Thing 1 about making it look better.
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