Saturday: Library Day in the Life

8:10AM: I arrive at work. Because of the power outage that closed the library yesterday afternoon at 5PM, I decided to proactively go into work this morning. When I arrive in the parking lot, I can see that the heat is working. Yeah!

Once I get into the building, I turn on all of lights on the first floor. I turn on all of the computers at the circulation, periodicals and reference desks, wake up the printers and go boot my computers (my office is on the second floor).

The good news is that most things boot up fine. One of the kiosk/opac computers on the first floor will not boot. This isn’t surprising given the age of the hardware.

10:00AM: The library opens and everything seems fine. I get ready to leave. As I walk downstairs, the circulation supervisor tells me that our library system client won’t load on one of the circulation computers. This is the same issue on the same computer that I got a call about last Saturday.

I definitely need to investigate this problem. I suggest that the circulation supervisor delete the printers and then try the library system software again. Once the printers are deleted, she can open the software. ARGH!!!!!  This is a sporadic problem that is now happening on computers that are not the same model nor the same configuration.

10:15AM: I head out to enjoy my weekend.

My Library Day in the Life

Originally uploaded by ScruffyNerf 

Some pictures of my day today for Library Day in the Life project. 

Computer equipment that I moved today:

 

My Name Plate

 

My Desk – See my Snuggie?

Lots of New Computers

 

High Above the Library Foyer

Friday: Library Day in the Life

My Friday:

8:40AM: I arrive at work. I kind of wish that I could have stayed home. It is frigid outside – highly unpleasant.

8:50AM: I sit down at my desk and go through my emails and myRSS feeds. I have an email from our cataloging librarian who worked a reference shift last night.

My boss replied to my email about keys for the new employee. He will put in a request for the keys that are needed.

She reports that she had problems opening our library system client at the reference desk. When she tried to open the client, an error message popped up with a message about print driver errors. The dialog box would not go away. The client did eventually open. I had a report of this problem from one of the circulation staff last Saturday. I had to to delete the printers on that computer to get the client to open.

I remember that our systems group is making changes to printers and print drivers. We had a discussion about this at our Thursday meeting. I need to do some investigating on this problem. It appears to be random. When I connected to the reference computer that had been problematic last night, everything was working fine – of course. I make notes about the problems and will continue to do so.

I start cleaning up. I need to clean up the systems office and the new person’s office. This is something that I will spend a good deal of time on today.

10:00-11:00AM: Staff coffee hour. I wear my Snuggie because it is cold in the staff room.

11:05AM: Back to cleaning up.

11:15AM: My boss drops by my office with keys for the new library systems technician. Wow, that was very fast!!

12:30-1:30PM: Lunch. I had my mother in law’s American chop suey. Yum!

1:35PM: I sat down at my desk and went through email and RSS feeds again. Fortunately, it has been a rather slow email day.

1:45PM: I unbox a new computer for the new employee. I am going to let him configure it on Monday, but I thought I would at least put it in his office. I continue cleaning up. I now have a large pile of old equipment by the back door that will need to be sent to IT.

2:15PM: I get an email from the HR person that I worked with in the hiring process. She sent me a bunch of orientation materials. As I was reading through the first one, the power shuts off. This always make me nervous. Some piece of computer equipment always dies when the power goes out. My office is fairly dark without lights. I head downstairs to see if there is any information. About half the buildings on campus are down. Eventually, we learn that a transformer at one of the major intersections close to campus caught fire. The electric company was working on it. No one had any idea how long the power would be out.

After two hours of doing very little, the library is getting very, very dark. We attempt to get more information. Sunset is at 4:53, and we can’t stay open in the dark. At about 4:20PM, the director decides to close for the evening. I felt as if I had to wait around for this decision. I tell the director and the circulation supervisor that I will come in tomorrow around 8AM to check on things. We aren’t supposed to open until 10:00AM.

4:50PM: The moon is absolutely beautiful tonight. I head outside the library to take some pictures. I forget my mittens, and my hands feel as if they are frozen within 5 minutes. I go get my mittens and head back outside.

5:00PM: I head out.

Walking Across Campus

Walking Across Campus

Originally uploaded by ScruffyNerf

It was snowing rather heavily as I walked across campus today for my afternoon meeting. While the snow isn’t visible in this picture, this was my view as I set off from the library. The snow was actually beautiful, especially since it was not accumulating (and it wasn’t terribly cold).

Thursday: Library Day in the Life

My Thursday:

8:40AM: I arrive at work and get a parking spot. Yeah! I am happy that the parking situation should return to normal tomorrow.

8:50AM: I sit down at my desk and start to read through my emails. I also read my RSS feeds and think about the day.

I try and print a label on the new Zebra printer that I was configuring yesterday. ARGH!! It seems to be printing fine, but nothing actually gets printed on the label. Serisouly!! I hate label printing. Config sheets print fine.

I start putting together a spreadsheet of library staff computers with their original date of deployment. I have 9 more new computers for staff, and I need to decide where they are going to end up so that I can give this project to the new library systems technician.

9:25AM: I get an email from one of the reference librarians with a link to an article on Boston.com about an upcoming Snuggie Pub Crawl. I got a Snuggie from my mother-in-law for Christmas that I keep in my office. This is a great topic of conversation in the library.

9:30AM: I get an email from the person who is digitizing art slides on campus. She will be on campus next week and can meet. I respond with times that will work for me.

9:35AM: I start to get ready to walk across campus for a meeting. I remember to grab our library system backup tapes to bring over to IT in order to switch tape sets. I set out.

10:00AM-11:15AM: I attend my weekly system’s group, IT meeting. I report on the issues with our digital asset management system on Monday. One of our sys admins suggests to me that it might help to automatically reboot the server on a schedule. I write this down so that I can think about it and come up with an appropriate reboot schedule.

There is also a push to make sure that older records in various systems that might still contain social security numbers are purged. We used to have SSNs in our library system, so I need to discuss purging old patron records with our circulation supervisor.

11:30AM: I am back in my office. I debate about the efficacy of throwing the label printer off the balcony (my office has an door to an outside balcony). I decide that this course of action would only make more work for me.

I read through emails and delete most of them.

I continue to work on a schedule for computer rotation. There are several question marks. I think that I might want to discuss this with the Manager of Desktop Support. It might help to know whether or not I will be able to get additional desktops next fall.

12:00-1:00PM: I go have lunch. I decide to go out and get pizza. This affords me the opportunity to return my vehicle to the parking lot behind the library. The pizza makes me happy.

1:05PM: I return to an email from one of the reference librarians about editing web pages in the content management system. He is having a problem making changes. I send an email asking him to let me know when he is at his desk so that I can look into this.

1:10PM: I start a list of items that I will need to go over with my new employees next week. It comes to mind that I need to find out about getting keys, about getting his voice mail set up and about his schedule on Monday.

1:25PM: The reference librarian calls. He is at his desk. I ask him to log into the CMS and connect to his machine. I see the issue – a link to a survey does not display in the editor. I can see the link when I open the CMS, but I have the admin client. I look around and the link is there in the HTML. I start to walk him through editing the code when I have a thought. The link in question is actually an anchor or bookmark link. These types of links do not work well in our XML-based site. I go into the code and delete the anchor reference. Lo and behold, the link itself is now visible in the reference librarian’s CMS client. Very weird, but the problem is now solved.

I continue to work on training materials for next week.

I try the label printer again with no success.

2:40PM: I am copied on an email from the circulation supervisor about some transfer students that are not in our library system. This means they were not in the file of active students that we received from IT last week. The circulation supervisor requests a new file from IT. I’m included in the email because I am the one who uploads the files.

2:44PM: I get another email from the circulation supervisor about a new laptop that the tutors in the writing program on campus use when they are working with students in the library. The laptop will be kept behind at the circulation desk. The circulation supervisor wants to know if the laptop can be stripped. I reply that I will get back to her about this later.

2:50PM: I get ready to head across campus for my 3:00PM meeting. I walk through the snow which is actually rather pretty.

3:00-4:30PM: I attend a meeting of our campus’ portal implementation team. We launched a portal for finance employees last July. The portal will be launched to students this semester. We are working on finalizing content for the portal.

4:30PM: The meeting ends. I go downstairs to the help desk to pick up the IT welcome letter for my soon-to-be employee.

4:50PM: I head home.

5:10PM: I arrive home to find that my mother in law had stopped by the house today with American chop suey and tortellini soup. I am very excited because I love both of these – and more importantly, I don’t have to cook dinner. Yeah!

5:47PM: I remember about the emails that I needed to send regarding employment issues for my new person. I get out my laptop and do this.

6:02-6:30PM: I see an email from the reference librarian who I worked with earlier saying that he finished editing several web pages. Because of the time invovled in publishing changes, I decide to approve and process the updates tonight. I vpn into the CMS and approve the changes. Now, I am really done for the day.

Jerks Rule The Earth

I was rather fascinated by Clay Shirky’s blog post, A Rant About Women. I wholeheartedly agree with Meredith Farkas’ comment about the provoking title of Shirky’s post. But then again, I certainly understand that controversial titles (and subject matter for that point) garner more notice than politically correct ones. Plus, if one follows Shirky’s advice, the path to success is generally found by those to behave like an “arrogant self-aggrandizing jerk.” I don’t know Clay Shirky and am not sure if I want to actually imply that his choice of title is indicative of the arrogant self-aggrandizing jerkish behavior that he suggests us women indulge in or not (ok, maybe I do 🙂 ).

Overall, I can’t argue that I have noticed that men tend to push the envelope and promote themselves more than women. But, I do feel compelled to note that this is a generalization and is not true across the board. I also have to say that I am guilty of being the type of woman who will do almost anything to avoid self-promotion. I don’t ask for anything if I can help it. This is how I’m wired. I was raised to always think of others first and then worry about myself. There are times – many times – when I realize that I need to step up an speak for myself. But, this is difficult for me. I understand that I should be better at it – and I should try harder.

To me, the bigger issue is a societal one – what this says about the values of our society.  I was troubled, very troubled, by Shirky’s admission that he actually gave the male student a better recommendation because the student had overstated his abilities. That isn’t so much self-promotion to me as it is lying. And, Shirky rewarded the student for overstating his abilities? I don’t get that at all. This is very problematic for me.

I certainly understand the fact that successes are often driven by perception, and that perception isn’t always based on reality. However, it seems to me that the reason that “arrogant self-aggrandizing jerks” succeed is because we allow it. Shirky is suggesting that we continue to perpetuate this societal structure that rewards people who are willing to break laws and risk incarceration to succeed (the incarceration thing is from Shirky’s post). I am not willing to do that.

Like Meredith, I am proud that I am not willing to compromise my beliefs in order to collect accolades. I do not want to be an arrogant self-aggrandizing jerk. I do not think it is appropriate to ask someone to write me a letter of recommendation and then overstate my abilities. Does that make me the type of woman that Clay Shirky is complaining about? Maybe – ok, yes, it does. And, I’m okay with that. Chances are, I’m not going to push myself to the top of anything that I do. As I get older, I find myself growing into myself a bit more. I’m getting more comfortable with who I am. But, I’m getting there on my terms. And I don’t think there is anything wrong with choosing not to play the game of life the way that Clay Shirky sees it. I think people need to start questioning why they are willing to say yes to people who ask for something even if they may not deserve it.

In My Office

A Self-Portrait in My Office

Originally uploaded by ScruffyNerf

In honor of Library Day in the Life, I thought I would share a picture of myself in my office. My office is extraordinarily hot in the afternoons these days, so short sleeves are currently a must.

Wednesday: Library Day in the Life

My Wednesday:

8:10AM: I arrive at work. I actually remember to park in the lot on the other side of the library. There is a service in the chapel today and the parking lot that we normally park in is closing at 2PM. I feel confident that the fact that I remembered bodes well for the rest of the day.

8:20AM: I am sitting at my desk starting to go through email, RSS feeds etc. Earlier this morning, I had read and email that one of the night circulation staff wrote about problems with the college and library web pages.

I investigate the web page issues. There is definitely something wrong with the college’s home page. Most of the links are pointing back to the home page itself. It looks like the site control was corrupted or something like that. The library home page is working fine. The issue is that no one can get there from the college home page. I email people to give them the direct URL for the library web site. One of the reference librarians calls to discuss because she has a 9:30AM instruction session across campus. I give her the lowdown.

I also call the web person to either report the issue or get more information. I leave a message. The person working last night did report the problem to the Help Desk, but I figure I should check on that as well. I can IT and talk to one of the techs. He will follow up to see if anyone is aware. Shortly thereafter, the web person calls me back and we discuss for a bit. She has to call the CMS vendor for troubleshooting.

There was a log file issue. The problem can’t be fixed until the site publishes again (that takes a LONG time). The web site is restored sometime before lunch.

9:45AM: Our interlibrary loan librarian calls to report a problem with her computer. I can connect fine. It looks like this may be another monitor issue. While we are on the phone, the everything returns to normal. Because she is getting a new computer soon, I decide to swap out her current monitor for her new one. I tell her I will check on her computer throughout the day. If the situation continues, I may have to get her new machine ready this week rather than next.

10:00AM: The IT manager of desktop support calls me to discuss new computers for Archives staff. The Archives is part of the library organization, and I do support them. I tell the manager that if IT will image the new computers, I will add the additional software, do the configuration and then deploy the computers. He will have the new computers sent over the library after they are imaged.

10:10AM: I start working with a new Zebra label printer that I want to use for spine label printing in our cataloging department. I have tried to get this working before, but ran into problems with print drivers and file formats on my Windows Vista computer. I am now running Windows 7 and am optimistic that I might have more luck.

I get the printer installed fine. I then need to install software to edit print templates that our library system can use. This project is one of those 1- step-forward-2-step-back types. It takes me quite a while to just be able to successfully print to the printer from my computer. I spend time looking for print templates that people have already used. This is a headache!

I finally get a new print template which works uploaded into our library system. I successfully printed a spine label. I do a bit of a victory dance before thinking about the fact that it isn’t formatted correctly. I spend more time trying to get the margins and the spacing correct. Eventually, I get it the way I want. Then, I realize that the ribbon is not going to cut it. I do some research and see that most libraries are using wax or resin ribbons. I put this on my list of things to buy.

It is almost lunch time. I still have some issues. I would really like the labels to print out sideways, but figure that I have had enough of this for today. I can deal with that issue another day.

12:40-1:40PM: I decide that I need my full lunch hour today. I take a book with me in order to forget about label printing (which makes me crazy sometimes).

1:45PM: When I return to my office, I see emails stating the my new employee’s account has been created. I talk to one of the women at the help desk to request that his letter be sent via campus mail to me, so that I can put it with a letter from me with his library-specific application passwords. I then create accounts for him in our library system, our ILL system and others. I add his name to our web pages and create the document with all of his account information.

2:05PM: I have a voice mail from my boss about a file he can’t open. I have him forward me the link. I call him back to tell him that I think it is the file. It appears to the a temp version of the document rather than the document. When I do open the file, it is all gobblygook.

2:10PM: I call the person in IT who does our library system backups. I generally swap out tapes with her on Wednesdays. However, my weekly IT meetings are now on Thursdays. So, I call her to say that I think I will switch the day to swap out the tapes to Thursday. It was much easier to walk across campus several times a week in the summer. Now that it is cold, I like to try and minimize the number of times that I have to go over to IT.

2:15PM: Back to working on accounts, etc for my new employee. I need to decide what I want to do for a new computer. I think that I will have him configure his own computer when he starts on Monday. I make sure that I mark one of the new computers for him.

3:00PM: I remember that I still have to type up the notes from yesterday’s meeting. I make myself do it now. When I finish, I email the document to all of the library department heads asking if they want to make any changes, etc.

3:40PM: I go through emails that I have gotten throughout the day that I saved for review later. None require responses. Mostly, the emails were from various listservs that appeared to have helpful information. I print out some documentation for a meeting tomorrow afternoon and review it. I go through my RSS feeds again

I check on the web sites for our digital asset management system. It crashed on Monday, but has been working fine since. I cross my fingers and throw some salt over my shoulder.

4:15PM: I head out for the day. I make a mental note that the library parking lot will be closed again tomorrow.

On Letting Go – Or Not

Jessamyn West wrote a rather thought provoking post on librarian.net recently entitled on heroism. In essence, she withdrew from a project that she was managing because she was “trying too hard to be the hero.” In the post, she references the essay “Don’t Be a Hero” by Alex Payne. Payne writes that:

Heroes are damaging to a team because they become a crutch. As soon as you have someone who’s always willing to work at all hours, the motivation from the rest of the team to produce reliable, trouble-free software drops. The hero is a human patch. Sure, you might sit around talking about how reliability is a priority, but in the back of your mind you know that the hero will be there to fix what doesn’t work.

It sounds as if West wanted to avoid becoming a human patch and believed the best way to do this was to remove herself as lead on the project.

Ultimately, this post made me think about my own experiences as my library’s technology expert (which is indeed part of my job description). In this position, it is natural for me to often be the lead on those projects that rely heavily upon technological expertise – or even just the lead on specific parts of projects. This means that my job responsibilities often change with each new technological initiative – as I become the owner of some specific task or system. It naturally follows that people continue to look to me to answer questions and/or to fix things.

But where does one draw the line? I definitely struggle with this issue. There is a fine line between becoming the expert (as opposed to the human patch) and creating an atmosphere which does not encourage others to step up and take ownership. For most technologies, I do become the expert and then depending on the situation either become the owner or pass along the reins to another individual designated as the owner. The end result depends heavily on not only the personalities involved, but also upon their workloads.

Letting go of things is not easy. I can admit to being a bit of a control freak – and as such, I have created situations where I am the only person who can deal with certain situations. Maybe it wasn’t apparent who should be co-owner of an application; maybe the people involved were not technical enough to take responsibility; maybe I was too rigid in my expectations. I suspect that the reasons why these things happen aren’t always clear cut or easy to untangle. Either way, it wasn’t healthy for me or for the library as a whole. And, I really can’t pretend that the situation doesn’t still exist.

However, I have made letting go a priority over the past couple of years. Has it helped? Sometimes yes, but very often not. I have felt as if the decision to let something go has come back to haunt me because it has on occasion impacted service to our students, which for me is the worst end result of any decision. This is one of the reasons that I feel as if our systems department needs a bit of an overhaul. It isn’t as simple as taking on all the responsibility or letting it all go. There has to be a middle ground where we are the technology experts, but also help people develop enough confidence and skill to be able to fix their own problems. And I admit that I need to find better ways to help people achieve this level of technical confidence.

As things stand, I am very often a human patch in my day-to-day work life. I’m starting to actually think we should not consider this a bad thing. It is all about balance. And, I have learned that people often feel better just knowing that there is someone in the building that can help if need be. Sometimes, this gives people the confidence to try things themselves. So, my goal is to let go just enough to let people become their own heroes every once in a while, but not let go so much as to frustrate the library staff or our students.

Time Under Desks

Where I Spent My Day

Originally uploaded by ScruffyNerf

This was where I spent a good part of my day today when I was deploying a new computer for one of the library staff.