Librarian by Day

That’s right round two will kick off Monday January 26th. It looks like we have enough people interested to schedule round two.

Its easy to play along, 1) just blog your day or week which ever you prefer. Add your information to the wiki and 2 ) be sure to tag your posts librarydayinthelife. The original idea was to give people and potential LIS students an idea of what the average day in the life of a Librarian or Library-fill-in-the-blank was like.

I’m looking forward to seeing the new posts from new people and the difference between the previous round and this one.  Ready, set, go!

I know I could be busier but right now it’s hard to imagine how. Between the regular duties of my work week (including working this weekend) I’m putting finishing touches on the 4 day workshop on Web 2.0 that I’ll be teaching next week. Four days is a long time to talk, even for me, even as a cohost. Despite that I have to take some time to acknowledge some amazing coworkers.

Our Collection Development Librarian / Reference Manager / Teen Services Manager has started blogging for the Day in the Life Project! She was first introduced to blogging back in Learning 2.0 so she had a blog, but didn’t really have a use for it. Yesterday we reviewed everything and she’s already started writing. I warned her it can be addictive!

Several weeks ago our Humanities Program Coordinator / Librarian volunteered to make some videos to promote some of his movie programs. He hosts several movie series programs that are wildly popular, so a mini movie to promote his movies seems perfect. He shot this video at home on his own time! I know the sound is a bit faint, I’m not sure what to do about it. At this point there isn’t any money in the budget for video software. Does anyone have any tips, tricks, suggestions on free software?

As of writing this (10:30 am central time 7/19/08 ) there are over 30 people signed up on the wiki (thank you again Lori for having the smarts to make one!) I hope this can be an ongoing project with new people continuing to sign up and maybe people who participated now can do it again. 

I’ve read some really great posts and I’m not even though them all yet.  I do have to point out somone who took a different approach to the  Project. 

One of the other Librarians at MPOW has agreed to do a series of guest posts about her week July 28th – August 1st.  She is our Collection Development Librarian, so you’ll be getting a completely different view of my work place. 

Some information that probably should have been included in my first post - My job title and what it means. I’m the Digital Services Librarian at the Missouri River Regional Library, a public library in the Midwest serving about 85,000 people.  So what does that mean?  You’ve seen from the posts what I do some days, here is a more official run down of my duties

• Identify, investigate, and use emerging technology to enable easy access to information
• Anticipate changing community needs and interests
• Participate in the creation and provision of information in digital media formats
• Support online learning
• Enhance the effectiveness of library information and instructional services
• Explore new technologies for delivering services and information
• Train staff and the public in new technologies for delivering services and information
• Act as manager on nights and weekends to address patron concerns and issues
• Provide reference and reader’s advisory services
• Serve on various committees for the improvement of patron and staff services
• Select materials and managed funds designated for subject selection

This post is part of The Day in the Life project, if you’re interested in reading more  please visit the wike or if you’re interested in documenting your own day, please add your name and blog.

Friday Technically I’m off because I work this coming weekend.  I cleaned the apartment, cooked, went to the gym. 

I also check  all email accounts and see a request from one of the other Librarians, she needs someone to cover the Reference Desk for her Monday, I was planning on taking Monday off, but I tell her if she can’t find anyone else I’ll do.  I end up doing it for her, which moves my day off to Friday

Time to work on presentations! 

I’m cohosting a 4 day workshop (pdf) coming up that is hosted by MOREnet & the Missouri State Library teaching Librarians about how they can use web 2.0 at their library.  We did a similar workshop in February and it was so popular that they asked us to come back and tripled our talk time. 

I’ll be doing two presenations at our upcoming state library conference in October and even though it’s early I put some time into both of these. 

I have three patron training classes left this year.  We’ve been doing series of classes including basic and advanced (I teach the advanced ones).  They have been really popular with the patrons.  I take a look at what I have left and get to work taking screen shots.

All together I worked about 5 hours today. 

Saturday  I work the Reference Desk alone & I’m the Manager on duty.  In the morning it’s a quiet day, I read blogs.  Then at 11:30 things start to get a little crazy.  One the circulation employees has to leave for a family emergency. I eat my lunch in 15 minutes then fill in at circulation until 2:00, waiving people over from the Reference Desk when they queue up there.  

Back to the Reference Desk, more blog reading where I come across Amy Kearns poll on Library Garden.  the rest of the afternoon is pretty standard, answering reference questions until I get a call from the Public Computer Center Clerk about some teen patrons misbehaving.  I head downstairs to find out what’s going on.

At 5:00pm the library closes, I count money & make sure everything is locked up then head home.  I’ll be back tomorrow to do the same thing!

This post is part of The Day in the Life project, if you’re interested in reading more  please visit the wike or if you’re interested in documenting your own day, please add your name and blog.

Thursday 7/17/08

7:30 coffee in hand I hit the computer to see what happened while I slept.  I check my email accounts, Twitter, & FriendFeed.  One of my Twitter friends lets me know the Day in the Life project made it into American Libraries Direct. Sweet! But I feel a bit nervous.

8:30 Now I’m just playing around, on the net, checking blogs etc.  I don’t have to be to work until 11 today, I work till 9pm tonight.

8:50 Time to get ready for work!  I’ll be back when I arrive at the library.

Cool gift from coworker!

10:40 arrive in the office, check voicemail; I have a message from another librarian about a program he’s canceling.  I got his email about the same thing last night after I got home, so I’ve already updated the blog.  Turn on computer and get the blue screen of death. Not good.  I have to be at the Reference Desk in a few minutes and I don’t have time to deal with this so I head across the street to the main library building.  I chat with the Circulation Manager about what times they need me to fill in over there, since they are short staffed.

11:00 I’m at the Reference Desk and I’m  hoping it’s slow and I get get some ordering done, I order for the 800 & 900s. I get distracted listening to an interesting conversation the Circulation people are having, the minute I drift back to the net they start talking about a tail!. This gets my attention again, of course I’m hoping there is a monkey involved.  Nope back to the net.  Craving a cheeseburger and I have an hour to go!

12:00 Check my email start working on an email from the Technical Services Librarian who wants recommendations for magazines for some areas.

1:00 back to my desk, I scored some free pizza from the break room which solves the lunch problem.  Then I talk with one of my fellow librarians about a couple of internet/blog stories from yesterday and how great it is to be able to share all of this stuff.

1:45 check voicemail, message from a patron who wants to sign up for next weeks computer class.  I check the sign up sheet in google docs, add her name and call her back to let her know she’s all signed up. Which reminds me I need to get the presentation and handouts finished. (I’ll post these when they are done, but I”m not sure what interest they’ll be to anyone who doesn’t use my library)

3:00 Time to start ordering again!

4:15 Chat with my boss who’s been in meetings all day, we mostly talk about what we’ll need to work on next week.  Then I check my email.  Uh-oh one of the databases isn’t working right, I walk next door to talk with the Librarian who originally alerted me to the problem then back to my desk to send an email to IT.

4:45 I head across the street to work the reference desk and supervise.

6:01 It’s been a pretty quiet night so far and I’ve had time to rewrite this so it (hopefully) makes sense to someone other than me.  Now to work on the Friday/Saturday post.

7:00 off the Ref Desk and head down stairs to give the Computer Center Clerk a break.  While I’m there we have a problem patron situation to handle.  Then upstairs to give the Teen Center Clerk a break.  It’s nice and uneventful up there tonight!

7:45 Back to the Circulation office.  My office is across the street and since I’m supervising I have to stay in the main building so I use someone else’s computer to write up these notes.

7:55 I just noticed there is a back log of new books that need to be shelved.  The circulation department is short staffed and we’re a small library so most everyone pitches in.  I’m going go shelve those before I have to start closing up.  Also checked and locked some DVDs, the person who does this is out sick and they pile up really fast.  Even though I did it for half an hour I’ m not even sure I made a dent.

8:40 Time to start closing up the library!  I should be out of here by 9:15, if all goes well.

10:00 Home!  I’m off tomorrow for working last weekend, so I get a 3 day weekend.  Tomorrow I’ll be working on presentations!

I took these notes today as part of The Day in the Life project, if you’re interested in reading more or documenting your own day, please add your name to the wiki.

Thursday- Another late day.  In the morning I check all my email accounts from home, nothing major happening so I head to the gym.  I’m in the office at 12:30, first things first check my voicemail Message about needing stats on Computer classes for board meeting I find them and hand deliver.  I pop in my bosses office to talk about the Computer Classes are going and the stats for them.  I need to get started writing the final report for the grant that allowed us to get the laptops and have the classes. 

In the interested of full disclosure, unfortunately I became pretty ill last Thursday and had to leave work.  I’m going to document my day today as replacement and I’ll publish it late tonight.  Sorry for the delay!

I took these notes last Thursday as part of The Day in the Life project, if you’re interested in reading more or documenting your own day, please add your name to the wiki.

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demonstrating Google chat to patrons

Wednesday 7/9/08

Tonight is one of my late days because computer/internet classes are tonight.  Nikki & I take turns teaching a series of classes that vary from basic to advanced.  Tonight Nikki is teaching Microsoft Word so I get to be Vanna, assisting, troubleshooting & helping patrons when they run into a problem. 

I get up and after making coffee, check all email accounts from home. Then since I don’t have to be at work until this afternoon I try to relax so I a play video game.  When I get too frustrated because I’m dying I check FriendFeed and Twitter and see Lori Reed has created a wiki for the Day in the Life idea.! awesome! Apparently I do have the ability to start a meme. 

I pretty much waste the morning though, it’s hard to be productive in the mornings when I work that night. 

At noon I arrive in the office, check my email again, send replies, forward etc.  I send an email to a database vendor thanking him for the personal training he gave our staff last month and ask him about database stats,

Then I head across the street, (library staff work in two different buildings) to talk with the Head Reference Librarian.  Just general how are things going?  Anything new happening in the Reference Department? Anything I need to know for my shifts on the Reference desk? 

currently on display in the Art Gallery

Since the Day in the Life wiki is filling up I spend some time trying to convince my coworkers to write guest posts for The Day in the Life as none of them keep their own Library blog.   None of the Librarians here have the same title or duties so I think it would be interesting so see a perspective from within one library. 

Next I check Missouri Libraries group I created on Facebook, acknowlege that I spelled “libraries” wrong, hope tech support fixes, mark this down as public humilation for the month. 

Then it’s time to check the digital camera for new pictures.  We keep a digital camera that anyone can use in the main library, a couple of times a week I download images from it and upload them to Flickr. I took some pictures of the new Art show in the Art Gallery then uploaded the pictures, title and tag them. 

Nikki & The Director pushing the mobile computer lab cart

At 5 Nikki comes by my office so we could push the mobile computer lap across the street to set up for the class.   We set up for class, Nikki teaches and I assist patrons.  We also demonstrated some things patrons wanted to know about that were not related to the class, like email attachments and the gmail chat feature.  Around 8 patrons leave and we take down the computers and talk about how the class went.  I head home around 8:30 pm.

I took these notes last Wednesday as part of The Day in the Life project, if you’re interested in reading more or documenting your own day, please add your name to the wiki.