Archive for the 'work' Category

Day 14

Published on 14 June 2010 in ruminatin', librarianship and work. 12 Comments

Summer flowersHad coffee with my old boss the other day (he who got me looking into blogging), and was reminded of some of the things I have learned over the last ten or so years as a librarian.

  1. “No one’s going to die.”
    This was said to me by a very wise library technician who’d seen it all. I had just become her supervisor. I had no experience in supervising anyone and had just learned how the circulation system worked and was realising that there was a lot more to the library than the reference desk roster. I can’t remember what I had gotten myself in a flap about, but she stopped me, looked me in the eye and said, “It will be fine. NO ONE’S GOING TO DIE.” These days this phrase always comes back to me when something unexpected and undesirable happens at work and helps me stay calm and not take myself too seriously.
  2. “All staff are not equal.”
    I had the privilege* of observing a manager who treated all her staff exactly the same, from the fresh, enthusiastic, full-of-ideas recent grad, to the is-it-morning-tea-time-yet, seen-it-all-before, been-here-forty-years veteran. This does not work well. Oh, of course everyone has the same rights, and so forth, but staff members at different stages of their careers need different things. If you only ever work to the lowest common denominator (”You bothered to come to work. Yippee”), it has a horribly demoralising, dulling effect, not just on the bright young things, but on the whole team. *privilege, because from her I learned a lot about what not to do.
  3. “Be bold.”
    I’ve also been fortunate to work with a librarian who was creative and interested in trying new things, right until the day she retired. When she left, she actually told me to “Be bold.” Mal is right, many of us in libraries tend to be afraid. Our first reaction to a new idea is to immediately worry about what will go wrong. “A library blog? We’ll get negative comments!”  “A new service? Let’s do some environmental scans, a lit review, talk to people, visit some libraries, write a report, present it to a committee, discuss, consult, another review, report again, committee…” I have to admit, it’s way too easy for me to forget this one. Much easier to not ruffle feathers and just go with what everyone seems to want. Or is it?

What are the useful messages, adages, mottos, that have influenced your world view, and that you try to live or work by?

My lessons

Published on 4 March 2010 in ruminatin', lists and work. 1 Comment

This post is inspired by Kalgrl’s great reflection on what she’s learned over the past year.
Self Portrait

Things I’ve observed and been pondering over the last few weeks:

  1. People are unpredictable.
  2. Patience is the key. I never realised how impatient I am.
  3. Self-awareness is essential. Mood can play a big part in what I achieve (or don’t).
  4. Listen. Both to what people are saying and what they are not saying. (I am not trying to be zen here.)
  5. Details are important. (My natural preference is for the Big Blue Sky.)
  6. Don’t take anything (or anyone) for granted. Be clear about what you want.
  7. Did I say patience is the key? Focus is the other key. This is tough. I want to do it ALL.
  8. Training is hideously dull, but necessary, if only so you learn what the party line is, what beliefs the organisational culture is based on.
  9. Don’t jump to conclusions. (See #2, above.)
  10. There’s always more to learn.
  11. I have an amazing network of colleagues to learn from. Thank you!

One day in the life

Published on 26 January 2010 in librarydayinthelife, 2010, librarianship and work. 3 Comments

I’m posting this one day late but I did make a note of my day yesterday.

The idea is that anyone who works in a library can participate, by sharing what you did on 25 January 2010.

I am the new Manager, Library Services at Edith Cowan University Library. Very new - only started work at ECU on 11 January 2010.

5:00 The alarm goes off. Look at tweets (iPod Touch) and listen to the radio. Take the dogs outside for brief morning constitutional.
5:30 Cup of tea. Switch computer on. Look at feeds and Twitter and write a couple of emails. Facebook.
6:00 Make breakfast. Noodles and fruit.
6:45 More tea.
7:00 Wash vegetables and fruit for lunch. Fill water bottle.
7:15 Shower.
7:25 Get dressed. Read. Currently reading The talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar.
8:10 Give the dogs something to chew on.
8:15 Leave the house with M. Have-a-good-day kiss at M’s stop. I walk on, another 10 minutes to bus stop. Bus arrives as I reach the stop.

8:35 Arrive at campus. Switch computer on.
8:45 - 9:00 Look at emails. Send email to Boss re staffing issue.
9:00 Phone rings. Talk to Student Services Manager about library involvement in beginning of semester orientation events.
9:05 Start filing, deleting emails. Add to personal kanban. (Trying this style of To Do list. Thanks to Dave Pollard for the inspiration.)
9:15 Call library user re his complaint - the library is too noisy. Thankfully he is no longer angry; we have a discussion about why libraries are now such noisy places. He says he can no longer use certain libraries because of noise. “I’ve even tried earplugs!” He makes a couple of suggestions and I thank him and assure him we will keep looking at how the library is organised. After he hangs up, make notes on the call.
9:30 Phone rings. Colleague from other campus library with idea about Summon (we’re calling it Library OneSearch).
9:35 Write email to HR re staffing issue.
9:40 Hello to team member just back from her holidays.
9:45 Walk across to cafeteria, get some milk. Make tea in staff room. Back at desk.
9:55 Phone rings. Same colleague, needing information. Provide it.
10:00 Begin on task I have been not-quite putting off: reading annual performance review and workplan documentation. Sidetrack myself reading university policies. Eat some fruit: cherries and apricot and plum.
11:00 Book self in for work planning training. Check about financial services training: “Yes, you need to do that training.” Book self in. Tell self not to grizzle about having to Do Training.
11:15 - 12:00 Continue reading performance review documentation. Email boss re team members’ work plans from last year. I need to see these so I can work on this year’s with each person.

12:00 - 12:30 Lunch, while reading feeds and tweets.
12:30 Email some links, discovered over lunch, to colleagues. Email from colleague at Old Place of Work, wanting to know where something is. Luckily I still remember and can tell her! Email, and more email. Reading. Pondering (how to…).
2:00 - 2:10 Get up, stretch, go outdoors for a quick walk around. It’s warm out, slightly muggy.
2:10 More email! Vaguely wish it was possible to get people to stop sending it.
2:20 Look up book using new Summon-powered search and find it. Locate it on shelf and bring it downstairs. This is reading for one of the tasks on my workplan for the year - preparing the library website for the new CMS. Start looking through book. Make notes on what I need to find out. “How do I… Who’s doing… When can we… ” (You don’t realise, until you are newly arrived in a workplace, how much you learn and eventually know and internalise about your workplace.)
3:00 Look at calendar, at the rest of the week’s tasks and meetings. Ponder a way to share information on my schedule with team members across three campuses. Finally just print off the next three weeks and stick them to my door. This will do for now. Wish my list of questions wasn’t so long.
3:20 Print off a couple of documents for reading and meetings at other campus.
3:30 File - emails and papers.
3:45 Log out and head for home.
3:50 Bus is at stop when I get there. Browse in neighbourhood op shop briefly.

4:15 Home. Ecstatic dogs. Package from Book Depository in letter box. Tea. Play with dogs. Loll about.
5:15 M home. More ecstasy from dogs. Read.
6:15 Go and get takeaway. (Naughty!)
6:30 Phone rings. Mortgage broker. He will come over Thursday evening. (We are planning to sell our house and upgrade.)
7:00 Feed dogs.
7:15 Read. Chat with M. Look at work emails. Emails from Boss, which I reply to.
7:45 Relocate to bed. Read. Write (notes, diary). Play games on iPod Touch. M brings me a cup of tea. Doze off.
9:30 Peppi wakes me with frenzied barking. Paco is unperturbed. Maybe Peppi had a bad dream? M comes and gets Peppi to keep him company (he’s watching a movie I think.) Read some more.
10:30 Lights out.

It will be interesting to see what my day is like a year on. 25 January 2010 was unusual in the lack of meetings and the fact that I was more or less closeted in my office. I did get a lot of reading done but having so much time to think is a luxury.

See also Jo’s and Kathryn’s and Michelle’s.

What was your day like?