Focus? Me?

So my library recently went through a restructuring, and on the Undergraduate Services Team where I work we’re gaining two former science-engineering librarians, and losing one of our outreach librarians as well as our graphic designer. I am one of two new permanent librarians on the team, just hired a month ago. To help facilitate the transition, we had two days of teambuilding where we broke down all the work our team does and organized it into categories – outreach, instruction, training, reference & information commons, and the website. We were each placed in one or more of these categories based on our experience; I was put in outreach, reference & information commons, and training. Surprisingly I wasn’t put in instruction even though my job description is very heavy on instruction (I actually was put in there then removed because we had too many people there as it was & I was in too many groups). Then we went off in our groups to discuss that work and come up with a plan for how it’s going to get done.

So now I find myself being pulled in all different directions. Officially, just because you’re in the planning group for a certain category of work doesn’t mean you’ll actually be doing that work. But it’s hard to avoid it. And outreach is huge. There are 3 of us in this group and it looks like the 3 of us will be doing a lot with outreach. (Not to mention the fact that we’re changing seating arrangements in the office based on our work and I’m in the “outreach” group). Which I don’t mind because I really enjoy it, and actually even asked in my interview about if I would get to participate in outreach and was told “probably not.” Ironic, since this appears to be turning into my primary function. And while I’m not in the instruction group, I am teaching two sections of the Skillful Researcher this fall and have heard rumors my name is being proposed for a number of instructional types of work that needs to get done. I’m definitely big on the educational technology and have worked a lot with this in the past 8 months which I’d like to continue to do; I also love being in a classroom. And I am also interested in taking on a new role of looking closely at learning spaces and ways we can improve them. Not to mention reference & information commons & training.

Pretty soon our team leader will be sending out what all the groups have come up with for their categories of work, and team members get to share which ones they are interested in. The ultimate decision for who is doing what is being coordinated by the team leader. I realize I need to focus my energies, especially as a new librarian. And I want to avoid getting overwhelmed and losing quality in my work. At first I thought outreach was what I would most enjoy. Then I got into instruction and really liked it, and applied for this position believing instruction is what I was going to do. Reference and training is a place where I have a lot of experience and the background to do pretty well, and I can see how these can be improved which is really exciting to me. So now it’s time to do some soul searching and figure out how I want to focus, and I need to do it fast… yikes!

Meebo for Chat Reference

We’ve been having discussions in the library lately about replacing our Docutek VRLplus software that we currently use for chat reference.  Theoretically it’s a great software because in addition to the instant messaging, it has the ability to co-browse, or capture the screen so that you can demonstrate to the user what they need to do (on the website, in a database, etc).  Unfortunately, when I first started working the reference desk and asked about this feature it turns out no one uses it.  Because it breaks down and doesn’t work.  This really is a shame because it would be so helpful.  I spent 10 minutes the other day explaining to a student through chat how to find an article through a library database, step by step.  Having a visual demo would have made things much easier.

In addition, this software requires the library user go through several steps then fill out a form to connect.  The chat service is used regularly, but I wonder if it were much simpler to use if it would be used much more.  There is definitely a demand from our customers to keep things simple.

I’ve been familiar with Meebo for a couple years now, and finally today created an account so that I could embed the widget on this blog (see it, to the right?).  The webmaster for LSO placed one on their blog as well as their website over a year ago and it works well because it’s so very easy to use.  It doesn’t require creating any sort of account or filling out any kind of form, you can be anonymous if you like or type in your name.

Libraries throughout the United States and in Canada have started using Meebo as an alternative to other software: the University of Iowa, Florida Atlantic University, University of Calgary,  Eastern Michigan University, University of Waterloo, and American University Library, just to name a few.  See the LIS Wiki for a comprehensive list of libraries using chat service and the types of chat services they’re using.

There are disadvantages to using Meebo.  For one, when you’re just using the widget (“Meebo Me“), the links aren’t live, you have to copy and paste.  I’ve also heard rumblings of privacy issues but I’m not sure what exactly those are; definitely something to consider.And of course, you won’t have high level features such as saving and e-mailing conversations, keeping statistics, etc.  But I found out today that you can actually send files through Meebo, which I thought was very cool and could come in handy.
I do think it’s definitely worth exploring, since a whole lot of libraries have found it to be successful.  It’s fast, simple, and absolutely free, so why not give it a shot?

My First Week as a (Real) Librarian

I just completed my first week in my new position as a reference & instruction librarian. Overall it went well – although I managed to get terribly sick on Tuesday night and missed 2 days already (I really should have missed 3 but forced myself to show up on Thursday…), but I’m hoping I’ll be back to normal tomorrow and ready to take on the job with a healthy state of mind.

So here’s a summary of the 3 days I actually spent on the job:

• Hauled a book cart of my things from my old desk in the circulation area to my new desk in the basement offices. Organized the new desk, new files. Got the computer organized with the right software. It’s smaller and the ceilings are lower, & I have suspicions the confined space is what made me prone to getting sick – there’s not much air circulation down there. But hopefully my immune system will get stronger because of it.
• Shadowed the reference desk for a few hours. Got to help a student find murder mysteries that weren’t made into plays or films (first official reference question!); also helped a librarian answer a circulation question
• Assisted in two instructional sessions for English 102 students. One was great fun and I even learned a couple things (CQ Researcher is your friend). Remembered being one of those students not that many years ago and sympathized with their confusion over database searching.
• Joined the other instructional librarians in a class for new English Composition Grad Assistants (the ones who teach these classes). Interestingly it was much like the sessions for the students themselves, although half an hour longer, with more handouts and a few suggestions for teaching the material. There isn’t currently any assessment for these sessions. Wondered what the teachers walked away with. (At this point it was the end of the day and I was running a fever, so I didn’t come to any significant conclusions.)
• Met with our instructional design librarian who wants me and Yvonne (the other new Assistant Librarian) to work on creating two online tutorials – one for narrowing down a research topic & one for evaluating the relevance of search results. We’re going to look at a few software options (including Camtasia & Wink) to see what might work best and then work together on establishing the content.

It was a good week, despite the getting sick in the middle of it all. I think I’m most excited about working on creating tutorials & getting to do some instruction. I just need to take my vitamins and get plenty of rest. Because being a real librarian can be so intense it can make your body shut down, apparently. But now I’m getting the hang of things… I think… I’m sure things will be looking better next week

Fancy Librarian Job Here I Come!

This morning I was offered a position working as an Assistant Librarian with the Undergraduate Services Team at the University of Arizona! The position will involve primarily reference services & undergraduate instruction, but I will also get to work on various assignments and projects with the instructional and outreach librarians on the team. It is a temporary position just through the summer, but think it’s a fantastic opportunity for me to get experience doing this kind of work which is really the sort of thing I want to do. I love reference, and really want to get more practice with hands-on instruction & working with students.

I am still waiting to hear back on another opportunity (a permanent position) but those searches take much longer and rather than hold out for it I want to grab the UofA opportunity while it’s there.

This will be a three-day weekend of celebration, that’s for sure! I start my new position on Jan 28th.