Another Week in the Life

Welcome, dear reader, to the end of #libday7. I haven't been able to post as much as I'd like this week; it's just been wild.

Today I got to do a couple of things related to my job as a university archivist (or archivist in a university, which isn't exactly the same thing). As part of our "facultyness" at MPOW, librarians (and yours truly, as the archivist, or special collections librarian) are expected to participate in professional development activities. This may include writing articles, presenting papers, serving on committees, or whatever we do to further our academic careers while trying not to embarrass the university.

I'm currently serving as the Secretary of my state archives organization, and we had a board meeting today. So I was able to take a day off work to further my professional development. The group has a terrific, enthusiastic board, and taking the minutes isn't difficult. It's a good way to stay involved and to keep current with what's happening in archives in GA.

After the meeting, I came home and reviewed applications for job vacancies. That's another part of my faculty life, helping to recruit for our library faculty positions. This is the first time we've formed a search committee to deal with all the applicants (we have a lot, and we have two jobs available). It's definitely easier to be on the hiring side of the table when it comes to job searches!

I hope all of you have had a good week and have enjoyed seeing some of the diverse activities librarians are involved in. We don't just shelve books, you know!

What a week!

I'm behind on my Library Day in the Life posts. It's been a zoo of a week, and it's not over yet. Some highlights include:

• getting workouts loading an archives collection into and out of my car on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively,
• sorting out the duties of MPOW's first ever search committee for a library job (actually, two jobs),
• attending a campus wellness "lunch and learn" program on gardening,
  
• printing out a large number of job applications for the above-mentioned positions,
• hosting a research team working on another college's 150th anniversary plans,
• showing one of my great staff members how to log in to our archives blog,
  
• keeping up on new writings about QR codes,
• and a whole bunch of stuff I've forgotten!
  

Another exciting round of "Library Day in the Life"

Yes, friends, fiends, and fans, it's time for another exciting week of "Library Day in the Life" posts! Follow the fun on Twitter by searching for #libday7, or see more at http://librarydayinthelife.pbworks.com.

My own day thus far:

• Before 8:00am - stop to pick up lunch and some cookies for today's going away party for two colleagues.
• 8:15 - 8:45 - check in with colleagues to find out what I missed by being out for professional development on Friday.
  
• 9:00 - 10:00 - check email and voice mail to discover an urgent reference request for a campus department. Start digging. Find out from assistant he is working on same question. Email campus department and learn that they have already answered one part of their question.
  
• 10:00 - 11:00 - library management group meeting. Discuss fall plans (we're short on reference and subject librarian help) and brainstorm ways to survive. Deliver report from library communications committee on next steps.
• 11:00 - 11:30 - open snail mail from Friday, delegate contents of some envelopes, put other items in box for student to file.
• 11:30 - 11:45 - start blog post on #libday7. Talk to circulation desk about fall student hiring.

That's it for now!

Pork Chop, Pork Chop, Not So Greasy

With mad props to Mary Puskar, I present to you her recipe for Spicy Pork Chops as found in the first Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. This is far and away my favorite way to eat pork chops.

5-6 center-cut loin pork chops
3 Tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, cut into strips
8-oz. can tomato sauce
3-4 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1.5 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1. Brown chops in oil in skillet. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add remaining ingredients to cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
4. Serve over rice.

A few modifications from Chez Superstarchivist: when we were out of tomato sauce, we used a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes. Equally yummy! We've also added extra peppers and onions just because we like them. Also note, these aren't really what you think of when you think of "spicy." A better name might be "Sweet and Sour Pork Chops." Regardless, though, enjoy!

Baptist History Resources

These resources were gathered from Taffey Hall's article, "Saving Grace: Baptist Archives and Historical Collections in North America," in the Baptist History and Heritage journal, volume 44, no. 2, 2009. This blog post was prepared in conjunction with Telling the Old, Old Story: Research Opportunities for Minority Baptist Groups, presented at ALABI 2011.


Links to a Variety of Baptist Institutions and Repositories

ALABI: http://alabi.org/related-links/

BaptistHeritage.com (includes Starr bibliography): http://www.baptistheritage.com/resources/resources.htm

BHHS: http://www.baptisthistory.org/bhhs/

BaptistLife.com: http://baptistlife.com/

Baptist Studies Online: http://baptiststudiesonline.com/links/

SBHLA: http://sbhla.org/links.htm


Specific Baptist Groups

Baptist General Conference Archives
http://www.bethel.edu/bgc-archives/

Conservative Baptists
http://www.westernseminary.edu/Library/PDX/index.htm
http://www.denverseminary.edu
http://www.worldventure.com

Free Will Baptists
http://abacus.bates.edu/muskie-archives/
http://www.fwbbc.edu/
http://www.moc.edu/?freewillbaptisthistoricalcollection

General Association of General Baptists
http://oak.oak.edu/

General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
http://www.garbc.org/

Independent Baptists
http://bbfimissions.com/
http://www.gobbc.edu/library/
http://centralseminary.edu/

Landmark Missionary Baptists
http://www.mb-seminary.net/
http://www.bmats.edu/library.htm

Neo-Calvinists
http://www.arbca.com/
http://founders.org/library/
http://www.reformedreader.org/
http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html
http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html

North American Baptist Conference (former German Baptist Conference)
http://www.nabarchives.org/

Primitive Baptists
http://www.mountzionpbc.org/
http://www.carthage.lib.il.us/community/churches/primbap/pbl.html
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/library/
http://www.pb.org/

Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society
http://www.sdbhistory.org/


Print Sources

Hall, Taffey. "Saving Grace: Baptist Archives and Historical Collections in North America." Baptist History and Heritage 44, no. 2 (2009): 31-46.

May, Lynn E., Jr. International Directory of Baptist Archives/Libraries. McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Heritage, 1990.

Sumners, Bill. "Baptist Archives." In Baptist History Celebration, 2007: A Symposium on Our History, Theology, and Hymnody, 244-251. Springfield, MO: Baptist History Celebration Steering Committee, Particular Baptist Press, 2008.

My Dewey Classification

Superstarchivist's Dewey Decimal Section:

007 [Unassigned]


Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works


Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.



What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

God Is My Travel Agent

This week I did something I don't think I've ever done before. I attended the funeral of a person I never met. And it was awesome.

First, a bit of background. Frank was the brother of my good friend Jim, whom I met online (via FriendFeed) a couple of years ago. Frank was diagnosed with sarcoma last spring and battled cancer courageously until succumbing to it on January 19. The FriendFeed community had been following Frank's journey through Jim's posts, joining as virtual members of "Team Frank" and trying to support the family through our prayers and good wishes. We even had specially designed logos that a number of us used on FriendFeed:


and



(Kudos to FFer Jeremy for his great designs. The extra F in Frank is for FriendFeed, by the way.) Eventually the Team Frank movement even made its way to Facebook, where a number of Frank's real life friends and supporters used the logos, too.

And now, back to this week. We knew Frank was fading fast, but all of his virtual fans were still shocked and saddened when we found out about his passing last Wednesday night. We mourned with his family and friends, crying and posting messages of support for his family and each other. We shared posts and photos from his sister Maria's Facebook page as well as songs and videos to encourage everyone involved.

Some FFers were even closer to the situation.

Jim is a pastor, and Frank had asked him to conduct the funeral service. Jim requested and received help from his pastor friend Will and from a FriendFeeding nun, Heather.

Over the weekend, my husband and I were talking about the funeral plans. He said he didn't mind if I wanted to go; he could stay home with the dogs. Well, of course I'd love to go, but how on earth could I manage it? I'd have to get from Georgia to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and last-minute plane tickets aren't cheap. I looked at some tickets online and found some reasonable prices, but that didn't take into account getting from the airport in Philadelphia to the funeral in New Jersey or finding a place to stay. Was I really up for renting a car or trying to find some kind of shuttle service?

Cue FriendFeed. On Sunday afternoon, I posted that I wanted to fly to PA/NJ for the funeral but was having trouble with the logistics. Heather and her husband, Scott (yes, she's an Episcopal nun, so she can be married), were driving up and offered to meet me at the airport Monday night if I needed them to. Patricia, another FriendFeeder, was planning to drive up Tuesday morning for the funeral and could also get me from the airport. Pastor Will was on the road when I posted but said he would call from home. I updated FriendFeed with the possibilities.

At that point, Heather commented: "Be not afraid - your path will be made clear." And you know what? She was absolutely right.

• Will called me and said he could pick me up from the airport and even provide a place to stay.
• The cheapest flight I had seen on Travelocity that afternoon was from United. It had disappeared, and I was getting nervous. The next time I logged in after talking to Will, a new flight was there from Airtran. And it was four dollars cheaper than the missing United flight.
• I was pretty sure I could get time off work, but I needed to go to a Monday morning meeting. I texted my boss to see if I could take Monday afternoon and Tuesday off. Yes, no problem.

I made my reservations, firmed up plans with Will, and made the trip. The service was wonderful, and I got to meet Maria as well as Jim's parents and family. After an amazing lunch at Cafe Antonio's, Will and I said our goodbyes to the family and headed to the airport. Will apologized for dropping me off so early, almost two hours before my flight, but said there wasn't really any place to hang out at the Philadelphia airport. I told him that was ok, thanked him for his kindness, printed my boarding pass, and went through security. When I got to my gate, there was no flight information on the screen and no customer service representative there - it was too early. I walked to the next gate just to make sure my flight hadn't moved, and I saw the screen there read "Atlanta, 5:38." Hmmm. My flight was scheduled for 7:03.

I asked the Airtran employee if they had any available seats. She asked if I had a seat on the next flight, and when I told her I did, she said she had some available. She changed my reservation, handed me a new boarding pass, and sent me down the ramp. No charge.

I ended up getting to my house at the time I should have been landing in Atlanta.

Every single thing about that trip worked out perfectly. I couldn't have asked for anything better. So I leave you with this thought:

If a nun ever tells you, "Be not afraid - your path will be made clear," you had better believe it.

Rest in peace, Frank.