Week 13: One Thing Led to Another...

Trust your intuition. But listen also to your counterintuition when it nags. My counterintuitive prospect of the week was this: enhance your job performance by volunteering elsewhere! I responded to an SLA solicitation for librarians to do volunteer data entry on the GoLocal project and, as you may have guessed, one thing led to another and I found myself in the white spaces again, making connections that were just waiting to surface.

GoLocal is a service for finding local resources for health-related issues. I answered the call for volunteers simply to get experience in librarianship outside the workplace, but as it turned out my GoLocal trainer, who had no idea my organization existed (nor I hers) was so interested in what we do here that I introduced her to some people here and everyone started trading contact names and URLs that will advance both our missions.

Spontaneous networking happens. Be open to it.
And smile!

Week 11: Perfection will not be tolerated!

In his book Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Marketing, Harry Beckwith devotes a whole chapter, albeit a two-page chapter, to the idea that perfection is not perfect (and another to the idea that failure is not failure). This idea has applications in fields as diverse as marketing, music, carpentry, and...librarianship! Beckwith introduces this idea in the context of sales and marketing: your clients do not necessarily want "the best" or perfection, but what they do want is competent, thorough work done. My brother who is a music teacher once said to parents in the midst of a concert, "Be proud of your children's progress...it is very hard to work toward something that you know you will never be able to perfect." My husband who is a carpenter said in his business the conventional wisdom has been, "Don't let the perfect get in the way of the very good," with the implication being (in each of these cases) that if you do, you will never move on.

My experience as a librarian so far has shown me that not only is perfection not expected, but it is often quite counterproductive. As I expressed in Week 6, much of this work is shoveling information. I use the word "shoveling" not to liken information to dirt (it's soil!) but to express the volume of it, as well as its granularity and precarious containment. You can do a great job shoveling, but there will always be residual spills, even tiny ones, and that's the bit that makes the difference between "perfect" and "very good."

I don't think I will ever find all the information I need, and even of what I find I may miss a link or two when I try to disseminate at the speed of light. It will never be perfect. Our goal should be "very good" - timing, coverage, depth, and attitude. We're capable of that, and it's a good goal. So put on a good smile, not a perfect one, and keep shoveling!

Week 10: Librarian Out and About

I've been away, but for good reason. My organization has seen fit to send me to the same professional development trainings offered to other staff. Last week we learned effective methods of focused conversation, action planning, consensus building, and other facilitation skills expertly packaged and taught by the Institute of Cultural Affairs. This training is part of the "Technology of Participation" training curriculum, a fitting phrase for anyone committed to both service and cutting-edge technology, as librarians tend to be. In addition to the great opportunity to spend more time with co-workers (extending my white space endeavors "off campus"), I was glad to be included in this training opportunity. My supervisors saw the value in this, so they can be congratulated for not trying to keep me in the library, but rather out "there" with everyone else in our office environment. The leaders of the training session, on the other hand, wondered what the librarian was doing out and about...I guess our efforts at redefining the profession's image have to happen always and everywhere.

I've also been asked to be deputy webmaster, another nod toward getting me involved and recognizing the contribution I could make to our web presence. Although I will not name my employer for reasons of anonymity, I want to salute their forward thinking in affording me so many important opportunities! I will continue to blog, if for no other reason than to serve as an exemplar not just for new special librarians, but also to chronicle what the ideal organization does to onboard a special librarian. Take this to your employer and demand inclusion! (And smile when you do.)

Week 7: Spinning Webs

What does it mean to process library acquisitions in a world of free information? My regular readers (I'm ever the optimist) will note that my Acquisitions Processed count to the right doesn't climb nearly as fast as my Research Requests count. So how do I deliver research results?

My organization's constituents want and need free, web-based information almost exclusively. In the rare event that we possess a document not freely available on the web, we put it on the web and then publish the URL, as long as the document is not confidential or proprietary. So, needless to say, this is not your grandmother's library!

My job is not so much acquiring documents as it is knowing what exists "out there" and then making sure others who need to know about a given topic get the appropriate resource alerts. Of course, URL listings periodically need to be checked and updated, so my responsibilities are much more in the realm of spinning and maintaining webs of information than tending to the physical library -- so much so that I feel our physical library should be renamed the "Resource Room" toward the aim of thinking of our "Library" as a set of services. This week those services included suggesting a webcast as one of the best ways to coordinate outreach to our partnering organizations on an issue for which they are desperately looking to us to provide leadership and guidance.

Spinning these web often feels like spinning plates. It takes a lot of energy but it is also energizing. Keep spinning and smiling!

Week 6: Shoveling and Gardening

You'd be amazed what you'll find when trolling the AARP discussion boards! This week I provided some key information to our overall efforts by noting a somewhat buried comment posted months ago and then politely inquiring if my boss or his boss or "we" as an organization were aware of it. As it happens, this was not on anyone's radar and I got to deliver the news personally to some of our board members. This week I have earned the title "Information Specialist."

Much of what I do feels like shoveling and gardening. I probably get as much mail as the CEO and accounting department combined. I categorize it, I pore over it, then I dissect it into web blurbs, resource alerts, quick updates in the hallway, and notes to file away in the white spaces. As librarians we need keen radars, need to cast a wide net, and need to be able to zero in quickly, accurately, diplomatically, and instinctively. I shovel newsletters from one inbox to another, to another, to the library throughout this process. I had to weed flowers a lot growing up (and hated it!), and the best parts of this work feel like weeding. There is so much information out there, and we have to pare down all the useless bits so the flowers will bloom.

Keep weeding, keep shoveling, and smile.

Week 5: Other Duties as Assigned

This week I was invited to be a member of the Tech Team here, which is a victory for special librarians everywhere. I have wanted to be on it since I heard about it, and would have invited myself after about 6 months, but I am very glad I was invited by the Team leader. I will be helping with software decisions and training, and any other tech issues that come up in our 30-person office. One of the major roles of the Tech Team is to keep our Blackberries running. We all have Blackberries, and there are no real phones here. It's a very interesting way of communicating both in and outside of the office.

There is a certain amount of meeting planning involved in my job. I don't mind this. I feel it is a natural outgrowth of being service-oriented, forming relationships with all the key players (and the lesser-known worker bees), and making sure that information flows freely. Just being in charge of the sign-in sheet is a big advantage in my quest to know who's who and keep the right people informed on the right topics. This week I attended a federal meeting as notetaker and was just as captivated by the content as I was by the dynamic among feds and non-profits coming together.

The research requests keep on coming and I am happy to help. I have also started a Strength/Weakness/Opportunity/Threat marketing analysis of the library on my white board in my office. I'm a bit sheepish about it, just in case someone who comes into my office asks what it's all about, but I know they need to be included and I have to open up my thought process to everyone else's ideas and scrutiny. After all, it's their library!

Week 4: Library Matters

This week I have had the opportunity to do many things I am learning about in library school including many annotated bibliographies, intelligent web research, processing TONS of acquisitions and tracking down an article when all you have is a vague idea of the date, author and subject (this one was my favorite)! So far it feels very much as my professors have told me: I have to be flexible, alert, polite, patient, a counselor at times, a hostess at times, and always "at your service."

I had the opportunity yesterday to participate in my first webcast for librarians in my subspecialty. It's a "roundtable" that shares ideas, tips, and materials requests through a list-serve and also holds monthly presentations online to showcase various work in this area. I intended to just be a lurker, but it's a pretty tight-knit group, so they knew I was new and asked me to introduce myself. I was warmly welcomed and several people followed up with me "offline" to introduce themselves and see if they can be of assistance to me. Based on my limited time in the profession, I would have to say that in general, librarians are kind people!

I continue to develop good relationships with new people in the office and have so far succeeded at every random task and goose chase I've been asked to undertake. The Easy Button hits just keep on coming. The physical library is also taking shape as I gradually remove materials that don't belong there and wade through the ones that do. My vision for making it a user-centered and handicap-accessible library is slowly forming and I made several new year's resolutions in this vein. Stay tuned for news of a planned needs assessment and soliciting input from the white spaces! And, of course, smile.

Week 3: Alive and Kicking

Although I hope never to average 20 pages in a week again, this week was wonderful! I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have answering the phone be part of your job -- hones your customer service skills and gives you the best on-the-spot training for random questions. Some of them end up being scavenger hunts all over the web or through the physical library -- a good reason to go in when the room has become a dumping ground for materials and supplies and you've told yourself you'll wait til the new year to confront the mess.

I published my first edition of the company newsletter highlighting this month's library acquisitions, and although it's quite formulaic, more than one person congratulated me. YAY! I guess they knew that was a big deal. I celebrated my success by personalizing my office (even more) because hitting that milestone really made me feel like I'm here, and here to stay. Evidently this place has had some trouble retaining librarians because it's a non-traditional setting...but I look at this as a blessing in disguise: my lack of experience in a traditional library is actually an asset. The most important skills I came in with (since I knew virtually nothing of the subject matter) are my phone skills, my attention to detail, and my attitude. Is attitude a skill? Well, no, but I am finding that maintaining my attitude does require skill. All those Easy Button hits don't come for free, and they wouldn't come at all if I were grumpy or cross. Tis the season for smiles and cheer, whether as a librarian or not, so I guess December is a good time to start a job like this.

Whether you're dealing with simple minds or complex issues -- listen, be patient, get to know people, and always smile.

Week 2: Reality Settles In

The fun and games of Week 1 have continued. Work has also arrived, and some of it is tough. One of my first real research requests was turning up Nothing...and although the customer may not have minded, a librarian never wants to respond with "no results." I redeemed myself by finding some materials after the customer's deadline had passed, but it was a lesson in "ASAP Librarianship," which is not always possible, especially in one's second week. I took all the right steps of asking the gentleman his deadline, and what sources he had already consulted, but he basically wanted something right away and it just so happened that I was virtually alone in the office with no one to ask and no electronic catalog.

I started with some "grassroots librarianship" -- sitting on the floor of the physical library and feverishly combing through dusty old legislation to try and put some ideas together. Between that and the Web there was a missing link. So I closed the loop by telling the man that we had nothing, but if this information gap actually exists, perhaps we would be the ones to fill it. To deliver on this promise, though, I'll have to diligently continue my pursuit of the white spaces.

Some staffers here are keen enough to invite me to their meetings, which is key to my doing my job, and helping them do theirs better. It became apparent to me yesterday that there is no formal mechanism here for members of different work teams to communicate what they are accomplishing. Granted, it's an incredibly friendly place, and quite small, so much of what people can collaborate on gets shared around the proverbial watercooler. But still, how, in an organization that prides itself on its very small and non-corporate atmosphere, can one impose a formal mechanism for such critical information sharing? Simple, embed a librarian.

I will not try to take on everything at once, but I already have an "in" with at least three working groups...and I was just filled in on some institutional history critical to next week's holiday gift exchange...so there's another opportunity to forge connections that could pay off later on (you never know).

I know it doesn't suit everyone's personality to be a jokester, but joking is certainly part of the culture here, so I anticipate that my humor will be my greatest asset in developing unlikely relationships that the organization doesn't even know it needs to work on internally. Start small. I try to go to the other side of the building as often as I can just to avoid the possibility that I only ever see my half. I need to know everybody and everybody needs to know me. I'm working in the white spaces. And smiling...

Week 1: Getting Started

I have managed to insinuate myself into the "white spaces of the organizational chart" so quickly and thoroughly that I even played a practical joke on someone on Day 4 and it became the office joke this morning. I'm a hit! How did I do it?

Meet everyone. Use everyone's names. Find out what they do. Listen. Write down every acronym and if there's no list, start your own and post it on the intranet (and the website if appropriate). Go to people's offices to ask questions (if appropriate) instead of sending email. Tell them what you need and want for the library. Go to meetings inside and out. I told them I have to accompany them each time they go to the Hill so I can do my job better when I'm at my desk. Listen.

Spend time in the physical library even if it's chaos, especially if it's chaos. Meet the CEO. Commit to not being mousey. Ask which mailing lists you should be on. Read everything that comes across your desk as well as anything lying around the lunchroom. When you are CC'd on a message from the outside, look at the domain name and then go read that website. Introduce yourself. Ask pointed questions about your role. Be proactive. Search all electronic files you have access to for keywords that you know will be part of your content specialty. If there is a phone you can answer, answer it and find out who is asking what. Get the answers. Listen.

And most importantly, listen. And smile.