Doom and Gloom

The unthinkable has happened. My employment contract has not been renewed, and I have failed to get one of three permanent positions offered.

So, what do I do now? I have come up with a handy list. :)

1. Make sure that all my work projects are either completed or tidied up and carefully handed over to someone competent. I want people to remember me for how well I did things, not for all the jobs I left unfinished in the ether.
2. Keep a copy of all those bouquets I receive from happy colleagues and clients. I may need these later for answering a selection criterion with evidence.
3. Thank all the beautiful, brilliant and wonderful people I have worked with and spend some time letting them know how much I appreciate them.
4. Contact the all most experienced people I know for advice and other useful "know-how".
5. Look for any position for which I satisfy all the essential selection criteria and apply for it.
6. Repeat steps 4. & 5. until a satisfactory state of employment is reached
7. Don't stuff it up, Teg!

There are a lot of people in a similar situation right now. Good luck to all of you in finding something that challenges you and enriches your life, where you are valued and your unique skill set is appreciated.

Hugs.

ALIAQLD "Innovate, Evolve, Create"

Super Social Media Mastery (Mistress-y?) for Librarians

Freaks and Geeks :P

A personal post, which is mildly library related...

As well as being a mum of four and working part-time, I am also the Secretary of the Ipswich ASD Parents/Carers Support Group. ASD meaning Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

One of my children is diagnosed as Austistic, and my baby is diagnosed as having an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. It is not sad, or a shame. They are awesome, and smart, and interesting.

Now, having worked for a little while in libraries, I have noticed a massive over representation of people on the Autistic Spectrum, particularly those with Asperger's Syndrome. Everyone seems to have a child, or two, or three, on the spectrum, or are Aspies themselves.

Have libraries always been full of "freaks and geeks"? Is it only academic libraries where this is the case? Or is it something to do with the increasing importance of IT? I am very curious to see what you all think.

PS. I do consider myself a "freak" and a "geek", and therefore intend no slight by those terms.

P.P.S. I am not someone who believes that ASDs are some sort of modern disease. Although there do seem to be some environmental factors for some people with ASDs, my family history suggests that it occurs largely due to genetic factors.

Ebooks... awkward.

My position on ebooks in the library is… awkward (kind of like I am squatting on one foot - with my elbow in my ear –under a desk).

The excited, early-adopting techie in me loves the idea, while the open-access, liberal-thinking idealist hates the limitations and prices that the current models place on libraries and users. 

The recent tension between librarians, the American Library Association, and Publishers has made me feel like librarians may need to rally together to describe what we think is a fair and reasonable price.

I agree with ANNOYED LIBRARIAN that 3 times the price of a print book for an ebook allowing access to three simultaneous users seems a fair and reasonable price for a library to pay for an item. Would the library then have access to this item indefinitely, though? That would seem fair.

Current models for ebook packages allow the vendor or publisher to cancel the availability of any individual item in the collection purchased, without notifying the purchasing library. This is like a bookseller coming back three years after selling you a book and stealing it from your collection. The catalogue record remains, but when a library patron goes to look for it, it’s missing.

I am particularly frustrated with ebooks that cannot be read by text to speech software. Digital items should increase accessibility, not decrease it!

What is with vendors/publishers charging more than twice the print price for a single concurrent user?!

The Value of a Library.

Here in Queensland, there has been drastic action taken with the decommissioning of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Library, the QLD Emergency Services Library, and the QLD Corrective Services Library.

I do not know how these departments are going to meet their need for information resources in the future, and neither does anybody else, it seems. Also, what will happen to all the Librarians?

Libraries may cost money to run, but they provide vital professional services and valuable information resources to other professionals, researchers, scientists, and the community. These things, I'm afraid, are not able to be found elsewhere.

In an ideal, world, perhaps, the information (at least) would be free, but you will always need people who can efficiently order, filter, select and deliver information. Or someone to teach people how to do these things themselves...

Thanks for the "Thank you"

Perhaps I am generalising, but Librarians do their job because they want to help people find information. We don't get into the field because we think we are going to get rich quick.

So, when you teach a class in searching databases, and someone stops afterward just to say how much your class has helped them, it really makes your day.

Thank you for saying thank you.

Am I a hipster now?

So, I have started using the ios operating system. My kids still think I am a giant dork.

We are lucky enough at my workplace to have the choice between Windows and Mac when we sign in every morning. I was always a Windows user (kind of by default), until I tried to start making videos and capture footage of my desktop to create info lit tutorials.

The windows software package we have doesn't allow me to edit video or capture desktop video. I tried. I found the software that I needed was available for free on the web, but, of course, I cant download any software or updates for software without "administrator permission". That is not me.

The ios software package available to me, however, does contain video editing and QuickTime capture technology, which does exactly what I need.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying desperately to get used to doing without my keyboard shortcuts, and I think I am winning!

Occasionally I find my use of Mac is kind of clunky, but only because I am so "Windows socialised". I am hoping to become a fluent Mac speaker within the near future, but am dismayed that I have not yet become any more trendy or "down with the kidz".  :(

The story.

Born just outside Nimbin, NSW, outside a brewery, in the morning on the 1st day of April 1983.

I have been a cleaner at a middle school, a host in dubious bars and nightclubs, a nanny, a model, an elected student representative, a Greenpeace fundraiser, and a research assistant, before finding my calling and completing a Grad.Dip. in Info and Library Studies in 2008.

I have worked in the Public and Academic Library Sectors, and am now Faculty Librarian at a Regional Australian University. I <3 it.

When I am not at work, I am wrangling 4 kids, 3 pythons, 2 lizards, and a dog!

Oh, did I mention I drink a lot of coffee?

I proved you wrong, Mr C-!

WTF!

There is obviously something going on because people keep asking me to talk about the stuff I am passionate about. In public. Must be charisma.

In the last three days I have had three separate people recommend or suggest that I speak at three separate events. Things are looking up for this humble and previously unheard of little librarian.

My most loved pastime appears to have become my profession.

I proved you wrong Mr C-! Serves you  right for telling me that eventually one day I would end up doing something I didn't enjoy. And lets face it, I was right! Copying out endless figures in Business Studies IS tedious!