The Huff-And-Puff Syndrome

I was recently asked to speak to students in a reference class at the Catholic University of America, my alma mater. I had some talking points but I try to remember all the wisdom I absorbed from guest speakers in library school and it usually came in the form of one or two quippy pearls that either arose spontaneously or were stories whose morals were easy to grab on to and keep hold of. As much as I wanted to have good, well-planned and clear things to say about my job, I also wanted to give those students something they would remember, the way I remember the four most important things I heard in library school. (These are not necessarily the four most important things I learned, but things that I heard, and remember, almost verbatim.) Here they are:

• Gary Price: "Find out who has that information and call that place; if I could only have one print source it would be the Encyclopedia of Associations." (on the notion that the web will only get you so far)
• Kimberly Ferguson: "Have a wish-list of 'shovel-ready' projects at the ready in case of a funding surplus." (on being a good manager, and getting cool stuff sometimes!)
• Susan Fournier: "When in doubt, ask another librarian." (on what to do when you are stuck)
• Bruce Rosenstein: "Know what you can do. Tell them what you can do. Do it. Tell them what you did." (on self-marketing)

If I had had more time with these students, I would have shared all this, but I was on a panel and trying not to monopolize, so I told them two things.

Thing #1 was the story of interviewing for this job and having the fortuitous opportunity to quote Susan Fifer Canby when asked what the role of a special librarian is. (I proudly - and probably with a bit too much enthusiasm - replied that special librarians "work in the white spaces of the organizational chart.") I hope the students remember this story.

Thing #2 was my introduction of a short article I handed out. "Libraries in a Digital Age" was written by Rita Evans and appeared in the March-April issue of TR News, a publication for transportation research professionals (it begins on page 12 of the linked magazine issue). I told the students that for them (as opposed to the typical audience of this publication) the points Evans makes in the articles would not seem revolutionary (especially given their excellent preparation at CUA's School of Library and Information Science!). Know your users, anticipate their information needs, have a service-orientation. What is notable is that we still have to, and will continue to have to, communicate this message to our users. This will never go away. And acting as if it has gone away inevitably leads us to what I am calling the "Huff-And-Puff Syndrome."

When I was a library school student, which was not that long ago, I found it easy to be optimistic and idealistic about our field. I rejected with disdain the "angry librarian" T-shirts that said things like "Librarians: The Original Google" in favor of more encouraging and entertaining slogans such as "Peace Through Librarianship" and "She blinded me with library science." But here I am, not four months past graduation, and I sometimes feel I am becoming a "Huff-And-Puff" librarian who laments the passing of print and resents my users' (occasional) lack of appreciation for my work. Huff, Puff, Don't You Know What Your Library Can Do For You?! Well, maybe they don't.

Flying solo? I think half our time might be spent explaining the business of the library and the other half might be spent actually conducting the business of the library. But as Evans' article points out, if done well, these can be one in the same. Sooooo......the next time someone asks me to set up the projector, I might Huff And Puff and want to scream that that isn't my job. Or I might use that opportunity to teach. And maybe I will even draw up a little instruction sheet on how to connect the projector and slip it into the case so that the technology always comes with instruction. Brought to you by your library!

Get Your Gardener On

In an earlier post I described this job as "shoveling and gardening," affectionately of course. Today I had one of those pleasant convergence moments when three sources of information (one human, one analog, and one digital) were all telling me the same undeniable thing: Trying to do it all is not heroic; it is simply ineffective.

The first source was librarian James A. Jacobs, whom I heard speak at ALA in a session on Obama's information policy. In addition to all Jacobs' wisdom on how the "new" information must be able to be not only retrieved but also "used, re-used, and re-mixed," Jacobs said this very important thing: "A focused collection is an information service; an unfocused or overwhelming collection is a disservice to the user." The former is my new mantra; I don't think the latter refers to any collection in particular, but it may as well.

The second source was Bruce Rosenstein's new book, Living in More Than One World, in which Rosenstein quotes Peter Drucker as having said, "People are effective because they say "no," not because they say "yes."" The third, which I cannot quite connect the dots on yet, was a song by Adrienne Young and Little Sadie called "Plow to the End of the Row." But maybe I just like that song and I happened to be listening to a licensed digital copy of it when this all came together for me. The weeding is just as essential as the planting and don't let anyone tell you different!

Flying solo? Choose a focus. Better yet, ask your users what you should focus on. I spent a little time weeding our print library today and was trying to think of an interesting way to write about it for the "Library Day in the Life" initiative. The print library usually leaves me uninspired and daunted because I have never devoted the time to it that I think it deserves. Plagued by the notion that my predecessors kept the print collection in tip-top shape, I often wonder why I have relegated it to something I only do on overcast Friday afternoons when I need to get up from my desk and do something physical to make it to five o'clock. But while I was in there I realized that there is no way I could maintain that collection perfectly and still be out and about in all the ways that have helped me get to know my users. There are entire weeks when I never even go in the library because I work in my office, in other people's offices hearing about their projects, and in my team's weekly meetings and conference calls.

If I had one piece of advice for another solo librarian it would be this: Know your users. If the print collection does not serve them (or if they are just not interested) then you are not only allowed to "neglect" it a bit; you probably should. Be where they are. I have never shied away from asking people, "So, what are you working on?" and my boss tends to think this is a strength! Figure out which things you need to say no to today and it will reveal the YES opportunities very clearly. Lee LeFever wrote about this in terms of "being lightweight" and contemporary Buddhist writings often refer to this as having more "white space" in one's life. There is also a great passage in Romancing the Ordinary where the author recommends "losing something every day." I highly recommend it!

A Word of Warning About Web 2.0

Librarians are agog about Web 2.0 and this is a double-edged sword. Yes, we should embrace these tools for what they are worth, but that requires knowing what they are worth. Try everything, but be a skeptic. In other words - be a skeptic, but try everything. (Put the emphasis wherever you like.)

Don't like Twitter? That's fine, but find out about it in case someone asks you how it works or whether your organization should be using it. The same goes for Facebook and the like. Blogs are a technology that have finally been seen as independent of the content they were first used to communicate (i.e. rants). "Blog" is no longer a loaded term that sends people into fits. I think we are in a similar transition with Twitter, and it takes longer in some communities of users than in others. Twitter has enormous potential, especially for use in conferences, but we will have to get past the initial enthusiasm and opposition, listen to the skeptics, and then all sit down together to say, "Yes, this is cool, now what?"

Flying solo? Do not take it upon yourself to single-handedly convert your organization into a Twittering mass or to set up a Facebook presence without a clear goal in mind and a plan to sustain your page's activity. What you should take upon yourself is the responsibility of knowing that these tools are considered "the new books" by some - a way of transmitting information, so by all means the librarian should be knowledgeable about them.

The best way to be a resource to your organization is to know your organization, know these tools, and then be able to explain all sides of the application of these tools to your organization's mission. In our case, I am drafting a proposal for using Twitter heavily at our next annual conference but I will be sure to include all the potential disadvantages, such as how to appropriately launch this with our rural audiences for whom broadband access and mobile devices are not as ubiquitous as they are in DC (and how to establish Twitter etiquette in conference sessions).

Remember, don't use a Web 2.0 tool if it's not the best tool for the job. Also, make sure all your social networking tools are fully accessible. See the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s white paper on this topic for model policies.

Knowledge MicroManagement

Welcome to Knowledge MicroManagement 101! I don't know about you, but the "unit of analysis" of the information I organize is not usually at the book or journal article level. It is very often at the level of an email, a conversation, and sometimes even a Tweet!

Flying solo? Add value by tracking and documenting everything. If your mantra is, "I am here to make people's job easier,"** then you will find tons of ways to make lasting contributions. Just remember that the knowledge you are managing is often bite-sized.

Exhibit A: It occurs to me that I never blogged about one of my shining moments, because it seemed lackluster at the time and because I was not blogging very regularly. I was helping one of our workteams edit some documents and they had been comparing color samples side by side on sheets of paper (!). I taught them about RGB color recipes (skipped the hexadecimal web safe color lecture because people don't always want to know all that), and looked up what the exact color balance was in their logo. Then I made a document for them (at left, click to enlarge) with the color values, sent it to everyone, saved it in a logical place, and inserted the filename and path on the document itself so anyone finding a print version of it in a pile somewhere would be able to instantly call up the electronic version.

Exhibit B: I mentioned last week that I was helping with a file management survey to help plan a tech training. This type of survey would vary greatly from one organization to the next, but here is an image of what I was using. (Click to enlarge or email me for a copy.)

The big stuff: Our accessibility statement is up! I am happy to report a BIG VICTORY FOR THE WHITE SPACES! I successfully navigated the revisions and approval process for this statement and its linked web accessibility resources page, and I am helping to adapt it for use on other sites we manage. It is not perfect, so please let me know if you notice anything that could be improved.

And keep smiling!

**There was a long discussion on the SLA Solos list-serve about "other duties as assigned." More on that later.

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

SLA motivated me to recommit to this blog and perhaps make my second attempt to restructure it to facilitate a more regular posting schedule! What have I done as a solo lately?

1.) I helped eliminate some of the administrative tasks I resent by volunteering to restructure our phone tree, with the miscellaneous calls ("Dial 0 for assistance.") being rerouted to someone other than me; this was in the works - either as a complaint or a legitimate request for the higher-ups to approve - for quite some time, but I finally sat down, listened to the outgoing announcements over and over and mapped the current phone tree, then made a chart of "Current and Proposed" routing of calls by topic and got it all approved. Today we began recording the new announcements so that true reference questions still come to me but I no longer have to deal with employment verifications, sales calls, and various and sundry other secretarial business that NO ONE should have to deal with, especially not the information specialist, even if she be flying solo.
2.) I continued to revise the accessibility statement I hope to have posted on our websites; reviews and various approvals are still pending.

3.) I made "Display copy only; for information on how to obtain a copy please contact..." stickers for our information booth at our annual conference; small but significant. I was horrified by how many vendors at SLA had scribbled "last copy do not take" on their display copies. This is a situation that should be anticipated, so I found myself thinking, "C'mon, a little class, please!"

4.) I successfully got 3 staff members Tweeting at our annual conference to demonstrate the rich potential this has for experiencing an event virtually. I am going to submit a Twitter proposal for our next annual conference mapping out exactly what the costs and benefits are and what we should think about in terms of training and publicity between now and next May to make it happen.

5.) I led "Finding Your Way Through the Internet Wilderness," a tech training session at our annual conference and even managed to fit in screenshots of the previous days' tweets to show people its potential for conferences (and real-time transit updates for that matter!). Google Alerts were also heavily encouraged in this session.
6.) I am experimenting with "lists" in Facebook so I can appropriately integrate my professional contacts into my personal space without subjecting them to, for instance, "Eileen had applesauce for breakfast and is listening to Morrissey." Does anyone know how to do this?? (The lists, I mean, not applesauce and Morrissey.) I now have four lists I can add friends to, but I cannot figure out how to make varied security settings correspond to each list.

7.) I have learned how to add and arrange content in our web system.

8.) I am taking an online course called "The Power of One: Information Professionals Working Alone" and I will definitely report back!

9.) I made a file management quiz for staff in preparation for a training I am organizing on file naming conventions and file management best practices in order to find out what they are currently doing before I plan the training.

10.) I am now tracking my "Google Alerts Sent," thanks to inspiration from Jim Byerly, Electronic Resources Librarian, at the Minnesota DOT Library. Thanks, Jim!

Resurfacing

By popular demand, I am resurfacing. I may not be embedded, but I am still solo and going strong. Stay tuned for more news from the "Fourth Corner." Grassroots knowledge management, tagging experiments, budding web development skills and more Task Management 101 tips coming to you soon from www.embeddedlibrarian.blogspot.com!

Peace.

Get to know ASCLA

Since its inception thirty years ago, the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) has sought to provide outreach to communities that may not already enjoy equal access to information, as well as to individual librarians in need of professional development and networking. While these two important goals may seem too different from one another as to constitute one association’s purpose, they are unified in terms of ASCLA’s commitment to consolidate and coordinate the many library networks that exist at both the state and national level, and streamline these networks for the benefit of all library user groups.
ASCLA accomplishes its dual purpose through the following action areas: standard-setting for state library agencies and consortia regarding professional development of librarians, advocating for special needs populations, and publishing and disseminating information about the specific needs of these populations. Special needs populations include individuals who are blind, deaf, or physically handicapped; non-native English speakers; individuals with cognitive impairments and/or learning disabilities; the incarcerated and imprisoned; and people who are elderly or homebound. By providing leadership to library professionals, ASCLA ensures that training on inclusivity permeate the professional development materials of many library associations that look to ASCLA for guidance and best practices.

ASCLA’s mission as formally stated is, “to represent state library agency employees, staff members in multitype library cooperatives, special-population librarians, and librarians who work outside of traditional library settings.” ASCLA has four professional divisions which represent various aspects of its mission: the Interlibrary Cooperation and Networking section (ICAN), the Independent Librarian’s Exchange (ILEX), the Librarians Serving Special Populations Section (LSSPS), and the State Library Agencies Section (SLAS). Additionally, online forums such as the Virtual Library Discussion Group help round out its offerings to the field of librarianship.

ASCLA completed a large-scale project last year wherein they collected data on library networks, cooperatives and library consortium organizations. This project was undertaken with the ALA’s Office for Research and Statistics through a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Studies (IMLS). Another significant contribution to the field is ASCLA’s joint task force, which it co-facilitates along with the Public Library Association (PLA) and the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA), to develop a list of nine professional competencies that delineate the recommended skill set for a post-MLS management-focused curriculum.

In its most recent strategic plan, ASCLA highlighted its ongoing commitment to continuing education for library professionals, standard-setting for outreach to special populations, and collaboration with other library agencies. The plan stipulates that ASCLA’s leadership embrace inclusivity at all levels, and that its officers, programs and policies seek to help individual librarians “navigate the profession” by developing the leadership potential of ACSLA members. These endeavors are key to realizing the vision of current ALA president James Rettig who, in his address to the Bridging the Spectrum research symposium January 30, 2009 at the Catholic University of America, noted the sometimes disparate organization of state and national library agencies, as well as the need for leadership that unifies and motivates the profession as a whole.
ASCLA gives several coveted annual awards including the Exceptional Service Award, the Leadership and Professional Development Award, the Cathleen Bourdon Service Award (named for ASCLA’s past Executive Director), the Francis Joseph Campbell Award (for outstanding library service to the blind), and its well-known diversity initiative – the Century Scholarship – for students with disabilities. The Century award is intended to “promote the entry of individuals with access needs into the library and information science profession.” ASCLA also partners with the National Organization on Disabilities to give the Keystone Library Automation System Award.

To address the evolving roles of librarians, ASCLA administers the Certified Public Library Administrator’s licensure, as well as coordinating other continuing education opportunities for librarians and sponsoring numerous events at professional library conferences. Last year at the annual conference of the American Library Association, ASCLA hosted an intensive day-long preconference session titled, “Sustainability Means Never Having to Stay the Same.” ASCLA is currently promoting its upcoming online professional development course entitled, “Selecting Spanish-Language Materials for Adults.”

ASCLA’s quarterly newsletter Interface recently featured an accessibility toolkit consisting of fifteen tipsheets focusing on different aspects of how to better serve library patrons with special needs, such as how to assist a visually-impaired patron using a screenreader, and how to appropriately interact with a hearing-impaired patron. Its other noteworthy publications include Library Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions (1992), The Americans With Disabilities Act: Its Impacts on Libraries (1993), Guidelines for Library and Information Services for the American Deaf Community (1996), Multitype Library Cooperation: An Annotated Guide to Working Documents (1996), Library Services for People with Disabilities (2001), Standards and Guidelines of Service for the Library of Congress Network of Libraries for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (2005), and Library Accessibility—What You Need to Know (2008). These titles are available for purchase through the ALA Store.

Do the white spaces have wheelchair ramps?

When I started this blog I built on the inspiration of Susan Fifer Canby and Karen Huffman of the National Geographic Society's Library and Information Services division who taught me that special librarians work "in the white spaces of the organizational chart." After a year in this position I have arrived at what I think the white spaces here need: wheelchair ramps. I mean this metaphorically, as the wheelchair has come to be known as the international symbol of accessibility. I have developed a special interest, in web accessibility, that seems to be enough within my organization's mission that I can spend work time on it, but enough outside the realm of my stated responsibilities that I consider it a move into the "white spaces" that Canby said are always in need of attention from special librarians.

Try not to get into anyone's way (at least not impolitely), but find out what your organization is doing. Do you have a designated web accessibility compliance officer? Is accessibility a priority for your organization? I hope to share resources and tips for how to approach this if the answer is no.

I have recently worked with two other staff members to try to put together a Web 2.0 working group. Our first tasks are drafting a disability/accessibility disclaimer for the wikis we work on, drafting an accessibility policy for wikis and other Web 2.0 initiatives here, and comparing different wiki platforms to evaluate them for inclusive design and universal access features.

The resources on the sidebars of this wiki represent the beginnings of this journey, and hope to hear from readers who have more ideas!

Begin Where You Are

Accessibility is like that journey of a thousand miles that begins with one step. Daunting, yes, but not impossible. Begin where you are and take small steps toward your destination.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the DC Public Library's orientation to their Adaptive Services Division. This is a great local resource with state-of-the-art assistive technology and friendly staff who were very willing to share their expertise. This division is home to many attractive and sophisticated devices that enable users with disabilities to use a computer, scan and read paper mail, check out Braille and audio books, and share literacy materials in all formats with friends and family members who have special needs.

First we had a tour of the division's newly renovated space on the second floor of the downtown (Martin Luther King, Jr.) branch. We learned about their training programs for users and librarians alike who would like to become proficient in using screen reader software, accessible keyboards, and many other important tools.

The Adaptive Services division is available to train you and your patrons on using assistive devices. They hope to eventually develop a curriculum to certify users of this technology. They are also always in need of volunteer readers for their audio books program. (As part of our tour we had the opportunity to see and enter a soundproof booth for recording audio materials for the blind.) More information on this volunteer opportunity is at http://home.earthlink.net/~ghendershot/index.html.

Will the Revolution Have Wheelchair Ramps? Web 2.0 and the Illusion of Inclusion

For some time now, librarians and others have been touting the "new web" as the means to social inclusion, participation, and collaboration -- a means of building new communities that are prepared to take on the digital revolution. Indeed, Web 2.0 tools are characterized by their emphasis on contributions from those who are consumers of the content. Experience the content, and then share your experience with others. This happens through Facebook, wikis, blogs, webinars, social bookmarking, video- and photo-sharing, tag clouds, and many other forms of interaction that are enabled by web-based technology. Web 2.0 is a whole lot of fun, and has become second-nature to many who do not even know the term "Web 2.0" or who wouldn't notice that the web is now "new" or different from the old way of doing things.

I hope that Web 2.0 is truly the means by which the people's voices get heard and the promise of democracy and digital revolution that many foresee. My concern is that many of the barriers to entry of the old web persist, and the new web may come with its own set of challenges. Who might be left behind in this digital revolution, and what can we as librarians and information professionals do about it?

The library community in general has a strong history of outreach to under-represented groups, populations with limited English proficiency, and people with disabilities. We have demonstrated a commitment to service, and to providing access to information for all who want it, even before they ask or know it themselves. We have also demonstrated a willingness to jump into Web 2.0 with both feet and ride the digital wave lest it come crashing down upon us. My hope is that these two traits of the library world will converge to help us all tackle the old challenges of web accessibility, and the new issues that Web 2.0 presents. What is the experience, for example, of a visually-impaired person posting to a wiki, or of a hearing-impaired person participating in a webinar? What other questions should we be asking about Web 2.0 and accessibility?

I have struggled a bit throughout the last year to find my purpose and focus for this blog. I have decided that web accessibility should be my new theme -- to motivate me to keep this blog going, to keep it fresh with a wealth of helpful resources, and to garner more focused attention from my colleagues. I certainly hope I can deliver, and that this too shall be a forum for collaboration, contribution, and participation among all users.

Happy New Year!

Rethinking overthinking rethinking.....

It has taken me two months to decide that the most appropriate thing to post is this very simple tip, which I will share, and then I'll explain why it took me so long...

Do you find it hard to keep up on important issues if you have to regularly remind yourself to go looking for updates? Well, have the updates come to you! Want to anticipate your users' information needs, meaning know their needs before they do? Use Google Alerts as your foreknowledge. Suggested topics for alerts include the name of your agency, people or issues in the news you want to keep tabs on, and even your own name. Be sure to specify “Smith, Jane” and well as “Jane Smith” if you want a comprehensive list of what they are saying about you, as well as the acronym(s) for your organization. Google Alerts is a good way of keeping yourself up-to-date without having to “pull” information off the Web; instead, Google will “push” the information to you.

So, why did it take me so long to post this little tidbit? Well, suffice it to say that I was rethinking my role in the blogosphere, which led to overthinking it, and then rethinking it again. It's really no more complicated than my wanting to have something really important to say to other embedded librarians and failing miserably to squeeze anything out at the end of the semester (including the much-anticipated conclusion of my semester-long comparison of Digital Libraries with History of the Book). And then it occurred to me...

What is something simple I can share that makes my life easier here? In preparing for my annual performance review I wrote what I considered to be a risky but genuine paragraph about what I have contributed to our institutional knowledge simply by thinking to put Google Alerts on many phrases and names that we need to be "in the know" about around here. It is such a simple thing that makes such a big difference...and the feedback you get from people who think you're doing magic tricks is unbeatable.

There is a learning curve, too, to getting the most out of Google Alerts, even though it is immediately satisfying. After five months of practice, I am getting more savvy about which terms to follow, which items to pass along, which alerts to read more carefully than others. If you have used Google Alerts to your professional advantage, please share your experiences by commenting on this post.

And, as always, keep smiling!

Knowledge Management in Real Time

Flying solo? No documentation from your predecessor? Wondering if this job is for you? I know how you feel and I know what you can do about it. As a very structured thinker in a very unstructured job, I have a choice to make: do I love this place enough to continue when it is such an agitating challenge to my intolerance for ambiguity? (If I'm honest with myself, how much ambiguity do I really want to tolerate?) Do I want to commit to this place and these people long enough to make a semblance of order out of seeming chaos? Wouldn't my organizational skills be put to better user if I were a cog in a wheel somewhere managing metadata or creating MARC records all day? These were the questions I started asking myself after six months flying solo, as my MLS neared completion, and as job after structured job flew by on every list-serve I belong to. I took this job to get "experience" in information management while I work toward my MLS. And if experience is really what you get when you don't get what you want, then I'm getting it.

I have worked for five organizations since graduating from college and there never seems to be enough structure for me. This is what drew me to library and information science: STRUCTURE! ORGANIZATION! STANDARDS! The thought of taking a course called Organization of Information made my mouth water. Shortly after I began my MLS, I left a job working on No Child Left Behind. To my surprise, I had several offers (evidently there was a dearth of library students with other master's degrees in the marketplace). I turned down a highly structured and predictable copyright job to come here because I had such a strong instinct that I would love the people here--and not love the other guys--and I was absolutely right. (In fact the "other guys" were even going to pay my tuition, but somehow weren't going to allow me to have a schedule flexible enough to take classes.) I *knew* this job would be unstructured and that I would not have a master librarian to learn from.

Six months later nothing had changed -- still very unstructured, still loved the people. My uncertainties about how to do my job could no longer be attributed to my newness. My feeling that I didn't know what I was doing was not subsiding, even as my library skills developed and I completed more of my core classes. The bottom line is that I knew I wouldn't be magically more qualified for this job once I graduate. So.....I re-interviewed for my job to make my decision all over again. That's right. I asked my boss for a 2-3 hour block of time one Friday afternoon and said he didn't have to prepare anything but I was just going to ask him some questions about my job. I felt like I really needed some non-evaluative feedback in advance of my annual performance review in December. The meeting got delayed a couple of times for more urgent matters but I was okay with that, as it gave me a few opportunities to fine-tune what I was going to say.

We went to a coffee shop and I launched into a series of hypotheticals that my boss willingly entertained. First hypothetical: I leave after completing a year in this job - would they replace me? (Start small and don't assume anything.) The answer, of course, was yes, so I then asked a series of questions about how they would publicize the position, whom they would recruit, and what skills/talents/personality they would be looking for in the ideal candidate. That line of thinking confirmed that I was probably the right person for this job, but I had to ask tougher questions to really get the most out of this exercise.

Next hypothetical: I agree to stay beyond the first give-it-a-year year but I say to my boss, "I don't feel this job is structured enough for me; what would you recommend that I do or think about to change this? What additional support or perspective should I seek from my coworkers? From the special library community? From the blogosphere?" This one got pretty interesting...leading down a road that I had sort of predicted but was glad to have confirmed: "This is the nature of the beast. This work is chaotic at best and no apt candidate would view it any differently."

Third hypothetical: I am the person interviewing for this job in the first scenario. So I asked a bunch of questions that I probably did ask in my interview last year, but which I could not possibly understand or act on in my first nine months here because I had no context. I asked things I would probably hesitate to ask in the office, not so much because I don't have AN answer, but to see what THE answer is -- do we have a print library? is it cataloged? what portion of the job is taken up managing the print collection? is there downtime in this job? what would I do during downtime? what is our work exactly? how do I answer specific phone inquiries? which staff members do I go to for specific reference inquiries? The third scenario led my boss and me from a set of hypotheticals to a useful knowledge management exercise. The "candidate" in the scenarios slowly became "I" when I was talking and "you" when my boss was talking. Over the next hour we generated a list of twelve subtopics to transportation that our firm works on, and then a list of the top three staff members to go to for each topic, which will come in handy when I am doing triage with reference requests. We also had a "safe place" conversation in which I could ask all my dumb (or perhaps just overdue) questions about how our non-profit interacts with our federal funders and how that relationship works. As we were approaching Hour 3 of this voluntary re-interview, I was beginning to see a clearer picture of my role within the organization, albeit a still very unstructured set of tasks. I was also starting to accept that even those who have been here twenty years have to make order out of chaos, but that it does get easier if you commit to this being your work and your workplace.

Near the end of our time together I asked some tough questions about how this job would develop my skills as a library and information professional and why I should stay here as opposed to finding another more "library-like" position. I was aware while saying this that if there were any DC/SLA members in Corner Bakery that day they would have shouted, "This is what it IS to be a special librarian! You're doing it!" My boss concurred with the voices in my head and I started to feel rather optimistic about moving forward, finishing out my first year, and then having some substantive things to say in my upcoming performance review about how I am doing and what I need in order to continue to be successful. [I have a not-so-secret plan to ask for two-thirds of whatever salary increase I am offered to be dedicated to professional development funding for me (pre-tax), rather than being allocated to me in my paycheck.] It was almost five o'clock, and it was Friday. I wanted closure, and I wanted to capitalize on this good conversation without pushing too far and taking more of my boss' time than I truly needed. So in the last five minutes I proposed an exercise: I asked my boss to list off, without thinking too hard, all the things I do in this job (concrete tasks) and I wrote this down to get a sense of how he sees my priorities and what I should be doing with my time. We were pretty much in line on that one, which was a good sign. Then I asked my boss, "And what tasks, if I commit to this organization, can I look forward to doing in a twenty-year career here, given the scope of our mission and organization, and taking into account staff turnover, legislative changes, etc.?" We generated a list that ranged from magazine writing to data analysis to public speaking and training to marketing and layout/design of publications, and more in-depth content work with transportation issues should I so choose.

I can't imagine advancing here, or even in (or I guess out of) my own head, without this valuable conversation, so I encourage everyone to try it.

Back to School Series Part II: Confluence

In an earlier post I waxed poetic about the ways in which my two courses this semester, The History of the Book (taught at the Library of Congress) and Foundations of Digital Libraries, might collide or coalesce in interesting ways. They have, although not in ways quite as obscure or dramatic as I may have imagined. In a very practical way, my expanding knowledge of these two subjects would be more than challenged by the good folks at the Semitics/ICOR Library at the Catholic University of America where papyri and ostraca are being digitized and cataloged in CONTENTdm.

The Catholic University inherited a large collection of ancient documents from Monsignor Henri Hyvernat, who founded the Semitics Department at the University, as well as the Institute of Christian Oriental Research (ICOR). This collection forms the core of the current library, now boasting some 45,000 volumes. Scholars of Coptic Christianity and other early Christian practices in the Near East have used and added to this collection since the 1940s. Now this collection is being digitized.

In the basement of Mullen Library, down several halls and around several corners is the tiny Semitics Library. You would never know this treasure trove existed unless you were trying to find it, which my class was doing last week. Inside there are two small offices and a reading room filled with ancient treasures displayed in glass cabinets. To say it looks like something out of Indiana Jones would be spot on: Curator Monica Blanchard told us the Discovery Channel once filmed there for this very reason. Blanchard deftly handles the ostraca and papyri collection with soft white gloves as she explains the restoration and digitization process. The collections are being cataloged in CONTENTdm through a collaborative agreement with Brigham Young University, and their Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS) is made available online through Columbia University.

Tech Fair 2008: How to Get Users Excited about SEARCH

I am a proud member of my organization's technology team. In the past I have done trainings on Web 2.0 basics, advanced search strategy, and social bookmarking. I usually give out Google posters with search tips as prizes and incentives. Our team's upcoming training (which was supposed to be a "back to school" activity but will now have a Halloween theme) is a "Tech or Treat" afternoon with five tech stations and trainers throughout the office to help staff with various technology or research tips and strategies. Here is how we're planning it...

In late August, each member of the tech team decided on a specialty and then started keeping notes on FAQs about that topic among our 25 or so staff members, as well as popular shortcuts and tips. We will be covering web searching, Microsoft Office, preparing web-ready content, Blackberry troubleshooting (we do not have real phones), laptop tuneups and Constant Contact, our mass mailing software. 

Next, the tech team met to decide on a few key points to emphasize about each topic. In the coming weeks we will be doing informal "walk-around" surveys to ask staff what they feel their comfort level is (low, medium or high) with each topic, and we will use this information to group teams for the Tech Fair, which is now scheduled for October 28th. Luckily, we have the endorsement of the Executive Director, so we expect that all staff in town that day will attend. 

The event is scheduled for 2-5 PM. We will all meet together in our main conference room to kick off Tech Fair 2008 and introduce staff to our new tech wiki, which features links and FAQs for all equipment and software that we use. The staff will then split up into their pre-assigned teams and go station by station on the half hour. Each team will have to ask and answer key tech or search questions to compete for some final prizes, and we will have Halloween candy at each station.

By integrating search training into general tech training, and by having the librarian on the tech team, I feel that our office is growing toward being more savvy with information AND technology, and all of the various ways that they go together. It's an easy way to get people excited about search.

Reflections on the 2008 National Book Festival

On Saturday I attended the 2008 National Book Festival. Overall I found the Festival to be an event about inclusion more than reading, but with a good message that everyone should have access to books and authors, and anyone can write a book about anything. The most striking thing about this event is that it is the polar opposite of what some would think a literary festival would be. If one imagined the festival based on book stores, book reviews, book magazines, and people known to be bookish types, one might expect the Festival to have an air of affluence, scholarliness, seriousness, formality, entitlement, historical purpose and authority. (Read Heidi Julavits' March 2003 Believer piece as a case in point.)

Instead, the Festival seemed to me to be a big, muddy party on the Mall. It brought to mind Emma Lazarus’ 1883 poem The New Colossus, of Ellis Island fame and now in the Statue of Liberty. As I was walking the Mall Saturday, I thought of Lazarus’ words, "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Instead of aloof, pensive, coffee-house intellectuals hanging on a writer’s every word, I felt I saw the diversity and breadth of American readers, and for that matter, American citizens. 

The Festival was casual, with people undaunted by three days’ mud on the walking paths. People ate during the presentations, stepped out of tents to take cell phone calls, or camped out in Harley Davidson T-shirts to get a glimpse of popular children’s authors. People got up to ask Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison questions without preparing their remarks or removing their hats or introducing themselves. I think this is great: the proximity, both literally and figuratively, that Americans have to great writers via the National Book Festival is generous and ingenious. ANYONE can ask a question of a U.S. Senator this way, or of Salman Rushdie. And when Daniel Schorr was asked about the role of the media in presidential politics by a less than nonpartisan attendee, the attendee was booed and yelled at from others in the audience screaming that he should ask his question and get out of the way. The Library of Congress organized the Festival, but the People were in charge. 

The Festival mirrored the same inclusion and acceptance that Lazarus spoke of, which I believe is the most treasured value of Americans. The fact that this value is manifest at a book festival was a bit surprising, but it makes me hopeful for the future of books and democracy in America—two freedoms that are inextricably linked.