I’m Paying School Loans to Do What?!

When I read this, I just knew I had to throw in my 2 cents because, goodness knows, there are a lot of things that I work on that have very little to do with what I learned in library school. 

1.  Paper Jam Clearer - One of the first classes potential librarians should take should be How to Clear a Paper Jam from the Friggin Printer because that is what you will spend most of your time doing.  We’re not talking just open up the panels and pull out some papers that somehow got all crinkly…we’re talking about massive paper jams that bring down the whole system causing a backlog of print jobs that have to be cleared and resent.

2.  Hole Punch Maintenance – Yes, I’m serious.  No matter how many times I tell people they cannot stick more than 5 or 6 sheets of paper in the hole punch, they insist upon sticking 20 in there and then being absolutely stunned that the hole punch got stuck. 

3.  Tech Support – Um, yeah.  The computers never seem to go down until the evening shift.  After IT has gone home.  And turned off their cell phones.

4.  Social Networking/Web 2.0/Mobile Platform Guru – Ok.  I have to admit, I LOVE this part of my job.  I remember the first time I tried to use a computer (thank you, Mr. Engbrecht), I looked at my teacher and said “No one’s going to use these things.”  Seriously.  Now my BlackBerry Storm is never more than an arm’s reach away.  And I am in the process of trying to learn how to use RefWorks on my phone so I can show the Reference Staff.  Not a difficult process, I just want to be sure I can do everything before I attempt to teach.

5.  Cruise Director – There are times when I feel a bit like Julie McCoy on “The Love Boat”, directing people to where the “magic happens.”  Whenever there’s an event, people always come to the library wanting to know where to go…Yay!  We provide information so that’s what we’re here for….Boo!  Whoever’s putting on the program sometimes forgets to tell us what’s happening, which leaves us in the dark.  But, hey, we’re information professionals, we find the answers and point people in the right direction.

One thing I can honestly say about being a librarian, every day is different.  And I love it….even if it doesn’t fall in line with what I learned in library school.

 

You Found Me How?!

Monkey in the Stacks

Every now and then I like to take a look at the search terms that people used to find my blog and some of them are pretty funny and some of them are scary (ok, I really don’t know why but whenever I see my actual name in the search I get paranoid….are the black helicopters going to start circling the house?).  Anyway, I’ve noticed that recently people have found my blog by typing in “dancing monkey.”  That, to me, is hilarious.  Especially since I have madcrazyinsane love for monkeys.  So to all of you who find me via the monkeys, much love!  And thanks for the chuckle.

 

I Keep Stumbling Over “Stuff” to Get into My Office

For academics, summer is the time to clean their offices and send the stuff they’ve collected throughout the year over to the archives.  How do I know this?  Because for the last few weeks I’ve had to stumble over people’s “stuff” to get into my office.  As in I keep finding random boxes of material without any sort of identification sitting in front of my door when I arrive in the morning.  I don’t know who the little fairies are that keep leaving this “stuff” for me but I have a couple of things to say to them:  1.  I sincerely appreciate your efforts to contribute to the history of the University but (and this is big) 2. if you don’t ID the material I can’t give you proper credit (and if you’re embarrassed to admit the material is yours then, um, you probably shouldn’t send it to the archives  ).

Oddly enough, I had read this post a while back and thought, oh you poor thing, I am so glad I don’t have to deal with that.  *sigh*  I spoke too soon.  Anyway, this random dumping of material caused me to throw out a question to my friends in the Twitterverse about how they deal with unidentified material being left at their office and there seemed to be a lot of differing opinions.  First of all, let me clarify that I am talking about records transfers from an office on campus to the archives, not donations from community members or alumni. 

The prevailing answer seemed to be that I should do nothing and allow people to continue sending material to the archives because to do otherwise might discourage them from sending anything at all.  While I do understand this argument (and, believe it or not, I do consider it to be a legitimate argument as I have been accused of living by the “all or nothing code” on way too many occasions), I don’t think it’s acceptable to just leave stuff at the door of the archives either. 

I think it’s perfectly acceptable to lay down some ground rules for a variety of reasons, here are a few:

1. I am dealing with limited space so storing material until I can get around to processing it is really not an option
2. If the person leaving the material cannot answer the 4 Ws and the H, how can I?
3. Leaving material without at least letting me know where it came from destroys provenance

Therefore I’ve proposed that at our next manager’s meeting we discuss instituting a records transfer policy that would include a little bit of paperwork (nothing too time consuming but something that will help me to answer the 4 Ws and the H).  I’ve looked at the records transfer policies for Drexel University and the University of Texas at San Antonio and I think these would be terrific jumping off points.

I also like what Linda Benedict said:

• If it’s in a picture frame, remove it from the frame before sending it.  I really don’t have a lot of space for frames and things like that. 
• Include as much information about who is in the picture, what the event was and the date.  While I realize that sometimes not all of this is known, it would really help if there is a tiny bit of identifying information even if it’s just the office where the material originated from, sometimes that can spark a memory for others.
• If you have absolutely no information, you can keep it.  I won’t go that far but I would say think like a researcher before you send unidentified material to the archives, is it really relevant?  Does that random picture tell a story?  Is there a connection to the University?  If not, then don’t send it.  If there is, send it and let us determine whether it’s a keeper or not.

*Just a note, italicized words are my own random musings.

 

Alumni Weekend 2009

So Alumni Weekend was last weekend and, let me tell you, this year was sooooo much better than last year.  First of all, the weather could not have been any better.  Don’t let anyone fool you, good weather is essential to a successful Alumni Weekend – last thing you want is a whole bunch of cold, soaking wet people manhandling the yearbooks.  Secondly, I had an incredible turn out.  And by incredible I mean more than the handful or so that I had last year.  And this time people weren’t coming by to reclaim their stuff.  Ok, I did have one person ask for her stuff back but that was because she loaned it to another department and they gave it to the archives (this was before I started). 

So let’s go over some of the highlights:

• One alum from the class of 1959 spent about 20 minutes regaling me with stories of her time spent on campus and the pranks they used to pull
• Another alum spent time talking to me about how she was a history professor for the Department of Defense over in France where she met an alum from the University who so touched her that she has often thought about her over the years and has wondered what became of her.  (I am in the process of trying to locate the alum; she is also from the class of 1959)
• A mother and her daughter (both legacies) came to view the yearbooks from their respective classes; when the mother found out that I did not have a yearbook from her class, she returned the next day with her personal copy for me to scan (in return, I printed pictures of her mother as a student back in 1954)
• A group of alumni came to the archives wanting to know why some books that were written by their classmate were not in the library’s collection.  I explained to them that I do not have purchasing power, but I would check into purchasing the books for the collection and get back to them.  (I have since checked on the books and they are no longer in print.  I have a request out to the publisher and I hope they get back to me soon)

I didn’t receive any donations (but I didn’t get any last year either and couple that with the people who wanted their material back and I’m ahead), however, I did get to meet a lot of interesting people who shared their memories of their time here at Misericordia University.  And in listening to those stories, I was able to take the opportunity to try to make a couple of people’s wishes come true.  So I think the success of the weekend comes not from what the alumni gave to me but from what I, hopefully, am able to give to them.

 

NEPA Library Camp 2009

Yesterday, I attended the NEPA Library Camp 2009 at Marywood University and, first, let me say, I had the best time evar!  I had never been to a library camp before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was also serving as a moderator for one of the sessions on Archives.  gasp I ended up having a terrific time. 

First of all, I got to meet @shelitwits.  Finally, this girl and I have been talking on Twitter for like a year, which isn’t bad EXCEPT that she lives like 20 minutes away from me so you’d think I would have just hopped in the car and driven up there….  She is as funny and fabulous in “real life” as she is on Twitter.  I also got to see @elidavis and @kristenyt, two of my other favorite twitterers.  And I cannot forget @bgfulton, who proved to be incredibly funny (he acted out the words to the sing-along at the end of the day – priceless!).

I have a few pictures posted (unfortunately I haven’t learned how to work my camera very well yet so there aren’t a lot of pictures).

The camp began with registration and breakfast.  Thank you for the coffee and muffin or else I may not have been able to survive the first half of the day.  I was so nervous I couldn’t eat.  Then the keynote speakers talked about grant writing and how to build and maintain relationships with potential givers as well as established givers.  

Next we broke out into different sessions.  I attended the Web 2.0 session that was moderated by @shelitwits with the assistance of @elidavis and @kristenyt (notice how I use their Twitter nicknames  -Twitnicks- instead of their names?  I’m so goofy that way).  The discussion was lively with lots of focus on Twitter and how to manage the time workers spend on Twitter versus the time they spend doing “real” work.  There seemed to be a generational divide in the responses.  Younger librarians tended not to think in time allotments, but in terms of Twitter being a conversation that is part of the job.  People don’t go to work each day saying I’ll only allow 15 minutes for conversation today and spend the rest of the day cataloging material.  Older librarians tended to see Twitter as additional work responsibility that needed to be regulated and allotted x amount of time.  Other librarians viewed Twitter as a marketing tool only rather than as a place for dialogue.  For example, some librarians (or, rather, their institutions) have followers but they do not follow anyone.  This raised the question: Is Twitter for conversation or is it just a marketing tool?  We also talked about Facebook and @shelitwits showed everyone how to interact with and send messages to fans.  She also showed us how she uses social networking sites to develop relationships with people in her local community.  And @elidavis talked about how she has used Twitter and Facebook as a way of helping people to overcome their negative perceptions of the library by offering to be a friendly face when they walk into the library and resolve issues such as fine problems.  Last, @kristenty told everyone that she will be giving a talk on smart phones and libraries at PALA this year.  Now there’s something to look forward to, especially since many campuses are becoming laptop or computer mandatory (and many students are showing up on campus equipped with smart phones).

After lunch, we went to our next break out sessions.  I moderated the session on Archiving.  This was really an extension of @shelitwits Web 2.0 session because I wanted to focus on archives 2.0 and what archivists can do to make their material more accessible.  Ok, now, first, I have to say this was my first time participating in something like this as a moderator and my first time attending a library camp.  I had no idea what to expect, so I was overly prepared.  Yes, the instructor in me came out, I had slides and everything!  Embarrassed.  Next time, I know, treat it as a conversation amongst colleagues.

So here is the presentation that I used to facilitate our discussion:

The discussion centered on accessibility and the pros and cons of making materials available online.  The biggest positive  was visibility.  People don’t know what you have unless they see it.  Before the web, researchers had to go on a scavenger hunt to find information.  With the web, especially online finding aids, researchers can find exactly what they need without the expense of travel and time constraints.  One of the biggest negatives appeared to be unauthorized use.  How do we control who uses our information and how they use it?  It was an interesting and fun discussion, if I may say so myself.

All in all, I had a very fun time and this is definitely something I would participate in again.  However, there are a couple of things that I wish that I had done differently (you know I always sit back and critique myself, so here goes):

• Asked the participants about themselves and where they work – made a connection
• Been less formal – camp is supposed to be fun
• Said thank you to everyone who showed up – gratitude means a lot (If you read this, please understand that I was not being rude yesterday, I was just so incredibly nervous and when things ended I tumbled off my adrenaline high)  So here it is….

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ATTENDING MY SESSION!!

@elidavis has posted pics

 

Who am I? Or Oh No! I Branded Myself without Even Considering the Consequences

The other day I was thinking about changing the name of my blog or, more specifically, dropping the “Curious Child” portion.  Why?  Because this is not a blog about being a children’s librarian or anything remotely having to do with children.  I don’t even like children.  Just ask my, um, children.  I also want the blog title to reflect other aspects of my job.  I am the University  archivist and an history instructor as well as a librarian.  But, ugh, coming up with a title for all of that?  Who has the time or the energy?  What with the children and all?

So how did I come by the Curious Child thing to begin with?  Long story.  And I really hope this does not lead to a lawsuit by His Royal Purpleness (because I so totally heart him and it would kill me to think that he thinks this is anything less than flattery).  Anyway, I had registered for a course on social networking with Meredith Farkas through  InfoPeople and as part of the course we had to set up a blog.  At the time, I was seriously going through an I-love-Prince-so-much-I-can’t-stand-myself phase so I decided to put my celebrecrush out there and include it as part of my blog title.  I honestly had no intention of keeping the blog or having it develop into what it has become (a place for me wax poetically about all things library related).  But I have kept the blog and it did grow into something more than I expected.

So skip ahead and I am now wondering Who am I?  Not just who am I as a person, but who am I as a professional and is this an image that I want to maintain?  Honestly, I think it’s a bit late to think about changing everything (again with the whole time/energy thing and my lack there of) so I did the next best thing, I changed my tagline.  It now reads:  ”Random musings on my life as Queen of the Histolibrarianivists.”  And I think that about sums it up. I’ve made a change without changing the brand that has become me.

I didn’t consciously go about developing a personal brand, it just sort of happened.  And now that I am aware of me as a brand, I want to make sure that I am careful about cultivating and maintaining my image as both a professional and as an individual.  There are a variety of tools available for helping you to monitor your brand and see how others view you.  Try them out and see which ones work best for you.

 

I’ve Done It Now

A couple of weeks ago, I asked the library director if I could start a blog for the archives because our library page is,well, static.  She told me to put together a couple of ideas so the other department heads could take a look at them and see which one they liked better.  I agreed and being the biased person that I am, I only sent out the link for the mock up on wordpress.  *gasp*  So by default and, perhaps, a bit of subconscious planning, I got what I wanted and have been authorized to use wordpress.  *smile*

The Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle Archives now has a blog.  The purpose of the blog is to inform members of the University and Back Mountain communities about what’s going on in the archives.  It will also be a place where I can discuss upcoming events for the Back Mountain Historical Association, which currently doesn’t have anything more than a photographic presence on the web.  

I realize that I have created more work for myself but I think this is a much needed opportunity to move the Archives into the wonderful world of web 2.0.  Finally, archives are starting to see the value in putting themselves out there and I think, especially in these economic times, it is even more vital that we find ways to make our material much more broadly available while broadcasting our institutional/historical value to the community.  

No longer can we archivists be content with sitting in our dusty little offices waiting for the public to come to us, we must now find ways to go to them.

Now to discuss the value of Twitter to the Archives and to the Library as a whole….

 

And the Winners Are…

Big giant fist bump to ArchivesNext because I didn’t know  SAA  had announced the winners.  *sigh*

Congratulations to:

Helen Tibbo – Vice President/President Elect

Aimee Felker – Treasurer

Scott Cline, Tom Frusciano, Brenda Lawson and Deborra Richardson – Council

Terry Baxter, Amy Cooper Cary And Daniel Santamaria – Nominating Committee

For more information about the winners, you can check SAA.

 

2009 Best Archives on the Web Awards

The winners have been announced:

Best Institutional Blog

Winner: Historical Notes from OHSU – Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Historical Collections & Archives
Winner: Peeling Back the Bark – The Forest History Society
Honorable Mention: Brooklynology – Brooklyn Public Library

Best Archives Website

Winner: Archiefbank – Amsterdam City Archives
Winner: Mapping Our Anzacs – National Archives of Australia
Winner: Seeking Michigan – The Library of Michigan and the State Archives of Michigan
Honorable Mention: The Archives of American Art – Smithsonian Institution

Most Whimsical Archives-Related Website
Winner: Derangement & Description – Dee Dee
Winner: Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century – University of Kentucky Archives
Honorable Mention: The Fictional World of Archives, Museums & Art Galleries – David Mattison

Congratulations to all the winners!

For more information about the awards, see ArchivesNext

 

Worlds Connect @ Your Library

Mary Kintz Bevevino Library: Worlds Connect @ Your Library

This year, National Library Week 2009 will be celebrated 12-18 April with the theme “Worlds Connect @ Your Library.” National Library Week celebrates the contributions of our nations libraries and librarians.

Different libraries celebrate with different events and our library is no exception.  Beginning Tuesday, 14 April, the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library will begin hosting different activities centered around the connections that our students, faculty and staff have made in different parts of the world.  For a schedule of events, check here.

Each day of NLW, I will post a picture and a snapshot of that day’s event.  For those of you unable to celebrate at our library, please go to your local library and find a way to connect through free access to books and computers, help with homework and job searching, music, movies and other programs. 

For information from the American Library Association about National Library Week, check here.