Monday, January 25, 2010

Library Day in the Life, round 4

It's time again to see what those crazy librarians are up to! Hooray!

Library Day in the Life wiki

Thursday, January 7, 2010

"C is for Challenge" at "T is for Training"

Maurice at "T is for Training" has issued a challenge to the TifT Google Group to answer each of the following questions in a sentence or less.

Here goes nothing!

1) Your One Sentence Bio
I'm a zany archivist in the middle of Georgia.

2) Do you blog? If yes, how did you come up with your blog name?
Yes, I found "superstar" when looking for "words ending in -ar" that I could add to "archivist."

3) What is your professional background?
Music librarian/archivist at a music museum, archivist of popular music collection at a state university, now a university archivist.

4) What training do you do? staff? patrons? types of classes?
I'm not really a trainer, but I do work with student assistants in the archives and teach the occasional instruction session for undergraduates.

5) What training do you think is most important to libraries right now?
I'm a big fan of anything that takes trainees (in my case, students) to the next level of independence and helps them find things on their own.

6) Where do you get your training?
Workshops and listening to the "T is for Training" podcast.

7) How do you keep up?
I don't; I do use RSS feeds and other people's FriendFeed links, though, to see what's happening.

8) What do you think are the biggest challenges libraries are facing right now?
Lack of financial resources and a fear of change among some of our leadership.

9) What are biggest challenges for trainers?
See number 8.

10) What exciting things are you doing training wise?
Nothing I can think of, but I'm looking forward to going to a workshop next month on undergraduate research.

11) What do you wish were you doing?
Right this minute, I'd rather be sitting on a beach.

12) What would you do with a badger?
I would feed it very carefully.

13) What's your favorite food?
Anything chocolate.

14) If you were stranded on an island, what one thing would you want to have with you?
A potable water treatment system.

15) Do you know what happens when a grasshopper kicks all the seeds out of a pickle?
Seven redheaded unicorns, because a ladder goes two ways.

16) Post it notes or the back of your hand?
Post-its; I have a thing for office supplies.

17) Windows or Mac?
Windows.

18) Talk about one training moment you'd like to forget?
Can't think of anything right now.

19) What's your take on handshakes?
I prefer hugs.

20) Global warming: yes or no?
On a cold day like today, I say, "Bring it on!"

21) How did you get into this line of work?
I've posted about it before.

22) Why is the best part of your job?
I'm guessing Maurice really means "what" instead of "why," and I'll say it's the wide variety of things I get to do.

23) Why should someone else follow in your shoes?
If you have a passion for connecting researchers with sources, archives are a great place to work.

24) Sushi or hamburger?
Hamburger, please, with cheese.

25) LSW or ALA?
LSW, of course!

26) What one person in the world do you want to have lunch with and why?
My friend Angie in Colorado; I haven't seen her in almost 20 years, and we need to catch up.

27) What cell phone do you have and why?
A Samsung Juke; I wanted one I could use as an mp3 player, and I really like it.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Happy New Year from A to Z

Inspired by recent postings from the Hedgehog Librarian and the Guardienne of the Tomes, this is my first inspirational blog post for 2010. I liked what both of them had to say, and while I don't claim to possess their ways with words, here is my own feeble attempt. I'm stealing the Hedgehog's idea of "A Year of 'Up.'" Thank you, Ms. Hedgehog!

My 2010 "Up" Alphabet

Ante up: commit, follow through, and finish tasks.

Back up: provide support.

Call up: stay in touch with friends.

Dig up: scan and scrapbook photos from the past.

Eat up: try to have more fruits and veggies.

Fire up: get enthused about projects, and encourage others to see things in a positive light.

Give up: donate stuff I don't need.

Help (someone) up: be aware of others' needs, and meet them when possible.

Irish up, don't get my: stay calm.

Jump up: volunteer.

Kick it up: try something new - learn a new crochet stitch, listen to new (to me) music, etc.

Look up: spend time in prayer and meditation.

Move up: set and meet professional development goals.

Neaten up: keep the house and office under better control with a little effort each day.

Open up: share what I know. Be available. Listen.

Push up: try to get more exercise.

Queue up: arrange, organize, and prioritize tasks.

Rest up: get enough sleep.

Saddle up: travel somewhere new.

Talk it up: promote ideas and events at work and church.

Use up: don't buy new things until the old ones are gone.

Vacuum up: tackle the dog hair more often.

Wake up: get moving a little faster in the morning.

eXpect "up": forgive me; I just couldn't find one for X, so I'll just go for anticipating positive things!

Yuk it up: laugh more!

Zip it up: shut up and listen.