So Long, 2011!

Greetings, friends! It's time once again for a little bit of reflection and some goal-setting as we kiss another year goodbye.

From last year's post, these were my 2011 goals. Let's see how we did, shall we?

1. ...because another archivist saw my QR code post and asked if I would like to be part of a session she was proposing for the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in 2011. We got accepted! Yay! So 2011 will mark my first presentation at a national meeting. Gulp!
2. That meeting will be in Chicago in August. Additional travel is planned for Houston in March and, I hope, Dallas/Ft. Worth in May. I'm already chatting up online friends about possible get-togethers!
3. What else do I want to do next year? I'd like to read more C.S. Lewis, so that's definitely a goal. I also hope to read more books from my library that I discover while browsing the shelves. They may not be current best-sellers, but they'll be things that catch my eye in the stacks.
4. Also, I still have a number of unfinished goals from 2010, and we'll see how those progress in the coming year.

Goal 1: Survive the SAA meeting and my presentation therein. I did! I was part of a terrific panel on using technology in the archives. I met some great folks from other institutions, and we enjoyed learning from each other. The audience had some good questions for us and seemed to enjoy the session. 

Goal 2: Go places. Went to Chicago, Houston, and DFW as planned. Also went to Pennsylvania five times (with New Jersey included once) for a total of three funerals. As much as I enjoy traveling, I could do without the funerals in 2012. On the up-side, I was able to hang out with a variety of my internet friends and met some for the first time. 2011 included visits with (in no particular order) Jim, Joy, Will, Patricia, Heather, Scott, Janet, Joe, Kristin, Kirsten, Harvey, Yolanda, Zulema, Daryl, Kesha, Anne, Maria, and Marcia.

Goal 3: Read stuff. I didn't read as much C.S. Lewis as I intended, but I did finish The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity. Hopefully I'll read more in 2012. As far as reading diverse books from the library stacks, those ran the gamut from Mary Roach's Packing for Mars to Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and from Jon Gordon's The No Complaining Rule to Robert M. Edsel's Monuments Men. If you'd like to keep up with my reading, feel free to add me on Goodreads.com.

Goal 4: Keep meeting old goals. Well, let's just say I'm a work in progress!

So where does this leave me as I stare down the barrel of 2012? What would I like to be looking back on this time next year? Hmm. More travel, as usual. I'm hoping to hit Austin, TX (maybe with some time in San Antonio), again in March and to take my first trip to San Diego, CA, in August. If I can work it out, I'd also like to hop over to the UK in the spring to visit a friend who will be teaching a study abroad course there. That will mean renewing my passport, so I'd better get on that.

Professionally, I did receive my promotion to Associate Professor this year (yay!), but there are always areas in which I can grow. I'm still the ACA Webmaster, and I've enjoyed serving on the board. I'll also be finishing up the second year of my term as SGA Secretary. At this point I don't have any speaking engagements scheduled, but you never know when that could change. (Need a speaker for something? I'd be glad to consider it!) 

Beyond that? Who knows? We'll just have to see where we end up. Happy 2012 to you, dear reader! I hope it's a good one!

Cheers!

Getting a head start on 2011 resolutions!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I want to read more C.S. Lewis in 2011. I've gotten a head start by beginning with Mere Christianity, which I already had at home. I also said I wanted to read more books that I find when browsing the shelves at work, and I selected the first one today. I decided to start with the "A" call numbers, of which there aren't very many. I chose Enigmas: Another Book of Unexplained Facts by Rupert T. Gould (1966 printing).

We'll see how this goes!

A Year in P/Review

(in which our intrepid archivist attempts to kill two metaphorical birds with one blog post)

'Tis the season for posting lists of what we've learned/done/survived in 2010 and what we hope to improve upon in 2011. There are a number of wonderful bloggers out there doing this, including my friends Colleen Harris and Aden Penn, and they have inspired me. However, y'all know I'm lazy -- errrr, efficient -- so I'm going to do mine all in one post.

2010 in a Candy-Coated Shell (tastier than a "nutshell")

Let's see...

1. I did a good bit of traveling, and I had a blast! I added two new states to my list of places I've been: Arizona and Arkansas. I also went to Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Alabama, Mississippi, and Washington, DC. I visited Memphis, TN, as a tourist with my friend Pam. If you ever find yourself there, go to the Stax Museum and the National Civil Rights Museum. GO DIRECTLY TO THESE MUSEUMS. Do not pass go; do not collect $200. Just go. You won't regret it. (And you can get a combo ticket for the two and save a little money.) I also saw Pat Benatar and REO Speedwagon in concert in Minnesota. :)
2. I met new old friends! I have terrific online friends, and nothing pleases me more than meeting them in person. This year I was fortunate to add to my IRL* list (in alphabetical order) Abigail, Aimee, Amber, Becky, Carmen, Cecily, Colleen, Dan, Greg, Jason, Jim, Julian, Ken, Laura N., Luis, Marge, Mathew, Michelle, Rochelle, Scott, Tony, and Will. And I got to see Harvey and Iris again! Yay!
3. There was professional development fun! I submitted an article to a journal (still waiting for publication, but it should be out soon), gave the devotional at one meeting, attended a conference on undergraduate research, and was selected as the webmaster for the Academy of Certified Archivists. I also supervised an MLIS capstone intern who digitized some of our Civil War materials, served on the committee for the library's new student research award, and gave short talks at meetings of our public services department and the campus Faculty/Staff Christian Fellowship group. Busy times!
4. I spent a good bit of time working on my promotion application for work. Even though librarians are not tenure track faculty at MPOW**, we have academic rank. Although I was eligible to apply for promotion last year, it was just entirely too busy to even consider it. This year things were a bit more manageable, so I went for it. I'll keep you posted (I won't hear anything for a while yet).
   
5. I experienced the yucky part of management: dealing with layoffs. Although there was nothing pleasant about it, I did learn some things. And I'm glad that that was the first time I've ever had to deal with it. I hope it was the last.
   

And where does this leave us as 2010 winds down? Has your friendly Superstarchivist learned anything this year? Hrm. Well, I've learned:

1. that even though I didn't know anything about Joomla or being a webmaster, with some training and patience, I can make it work. (In the words of Mr. B, I can "smack it until it cries.")
   
2. that although I may not know a ton about social networking, I can put together an informative and reasonably entertaining presentation for others about it.
3. that posting something about QR codes was smart because...
   

Looking Ahead: 2011 from This Vantage Point

1. ...because another archivist saw my QR code post and asked if I would like to be part of a session she was proposing for the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in 2011. We got accepted! Yay! So 2011 will mark my first presentation at a national meeting. Gulp!
2. That meeting will be in Chicago in August. Additional travel is planned for Houston in March and, I hope, Dallas/Ft. Worth in May. I'm already chatting up online friends about possible get-togethers!
3. What else do I want to do next year? I'd like to read more C.S. Lewis, so that's definitely a goal. I also hope to read more books from my library that I discover while browsing the shelves. They may not be current best-sellers, but they'll be things that catch my eye in the stacks.
4. Also, I still have a number of unfinished goals from 2010, and we'll see how those progress in the coming year.
   

As Aerosmith says, "Life's a journey, not a destination," so I shouldn't feel bad about not doing everything I wanted to do this year. I'm a work in progress!

Thank you for reading, and happiest holiday wishes to you and yours. I look forward to seeing you in the rest of 2010 and all next year!

:)

LB


*in real life
** my place of work