I just read two articles, linked below, that suggest that creativity plummets when in a group setting. I have to agree with this, mostly. I think there are times when group meetings are good and generate synergy. I also think there are times when maybe the wrong people are in the group, which may lead to good ideas being ignored or never voiced. Something to think about.
Meetings make you stupid on Yahoo! Tech
and
Meetings make us dumber, study shows on MSNBC.com
February 28, 2007
February 19, 2007
Being a team member....
Two positions have recently been posted at my former place of employment, including the one I vacated.
First, I'd like to say that I truly enjoyed working there. I liked the job and the people. I moved for a promotion and to return "home."
Having said that, the job description includes the following statement:
The successful candidate will be someone who is open minded, has a flexible personality, strong social skills, the ability to function as a team member, and a dedication to the profession of academic librarianship.
I dare you to address that in your cover letter and/or resume. I've seen some vague statements on job ads, but this really jumped out at me. I'm not going to talk about open minded, flexible personality, or social skills, as everyone's definition of that will vary. I am going to talk about the ability to function as a team member, i.e. being a team player. The reason - I'm not to sure my definition matches theirs.
It is an awesome place to work, but as with any organization, it does have it's short comings. I've always believed in pitching in and helping, especially after working in a brand new library in a recently opened career college - I did more than my share of non-librarian duties. However, at former workplace, this isn't necessarily the case. As an example, reference librarians release print jobs among other things. "Where's the bathroom" may be the bane of a public library reference librarian, but at former workplace it was "I don't have my id and I need to print." So, if the students didn't have their id, we had to release the prints for them. This required walking to the printer and swiping a card. No kidding. Well, there is only one reference librarian on at a time and some students do actually have real reference questions. During peak times, the line could get long, with a good number of those waiting simply wanting their print jobs released. Circulation and reference face each other. Hard not to know when the reference librarian is handling a boatload of students. However, should a student ask at the circ desk for a print job to be released, they would send them to the reference desk, regardless of the length of the line (not a problem if I'm not helping others or it's a slow day). I personally helped each person in order of appearance at the desk, so if you had to wait for a print job while I helped a student locate a resource, so be it. The circ personnel had a print card, but they rarely popped over to help us out. You see, it wasn't their job. On average, there are three people at the circulation desk to one reference librarian, but it wasn't their job, so they sat there and continued to send people over to the reference desk. If you absolutely were drowning, you called another reference librarian. The librarian over that department once said it wasn't beneath her to release print jobs. I'd have to agree; it isn't beneath me either. However, apparently it was beneath the circulation personnel. I could go on, but hopefully you get the point.
A couple of other things: it's a small library. And, I am defining team in this case as the whole library. In larger libraries, it may not be feasible, but this library only has about 14 librarians, including the director and two coordinators. And, obviously two of those positions are vacant.
Being a team player is pitching in and helping out when it isn't your job. Going in and just doing your job doesn't make you a team player. Or at least not a top notch team player.
First, I'd like to say that I truly enjoyed working there. I liked the job and the people. I moved for a promotion and to return "home."
Having said that, the job description includes the following statement:
The successful candidate will be someone who is open minded, has a flexible personality, strong social skills, the ability to function as a team member, and a dedication to the profession of academic librarianship.
I dare you to address that in your cover letter and/or resume. I've seen some vague statements on job ads, but this really jumped out at me. I'm not going to talk about open minded, flexible personality, or social skills, as everyone's definition of that will vary. I am going to talk about the ability to function as a team member, i.e. being a team player. The reason - I'm not to sure my definition matches theirs.
It is an awesome place to work, but as with any organization, it does have it's short comings. I've always believed in pitching in and helping, especially after working in a brand new library in a recently opened career college - I did more than my share of non-librarian duties. However, at former workplace, this isn't necessarily the case. As an example, reference librarians release print jobs among other things. "Where's the bathroom" may be the bane of a public library reference librarian, but at former workplace it was "I don't have my id and I need to print." So, if the students didn't have their id, we had to release the prints for them. This required walking to the printer and swiping a card. No kidding. Well, there is only one reference librarian on at a time and some students do actually have real reference questions. During peak times, the line could get long, with a good number of those waiting simply wanting their print jobs released. Circulation and reference face each other. Hard not to know when the reference librarian is handling a boatload of students. However, should a student ask at the circ desk for a print job to be released, they would send them to the reference desk, regardless of the length of the line (not a problem if I'm not helping others or it's a slow day). I personally helped each person in order of appearance at the desk, so if you had to wait for a print job while I helped a student locate a resource, so be it. The circ personnel had a print card, but they rarely popped over to help us out. You see, it wasn't their job. On average, there are three people at the circulation desk to one reference librarian, but it wasn't their job, so they sat there and continued to send people over to the reference desk. If you absolutely were drowning, you called another reference librarian. The librarian over that department once said it wasn't beneath her to release print jobs. I'd have to agree; it isn't beneath me either. However, apparently it was beneath the circulation personnel. I could go on, but hopefully you get the point.
A couple of other things: it's a small library. And, I am defining team in this case as the whole library. In larger libraries, it may not be feasible, but this library only has about 14 librarians, including the director and two coordinators. And, obviously two of those positions are vacant.
Being a team player is pitching in and helping out when it isn't your job. Going in and just doing your job doesn't make you a team player. Or at least not a top notch team player.
February 16, 2007
New job learning curves....
As mentioned in an earlier post, in January I moved to accept a new job. The new job is in the state I lived in prior to accepting my first full-time librarian position, so the area is familiar and comfy. As in a previous career, job changes are kind of wonky. You know how to do the job, but you have to learn the "way" your new organization does it. And, in my case, it's hard not to compare the two. I'm learning to take on functions in different ways and to let go of things I did in my previous job (and enjoyed) while acknowledging that it is somebody else's job here. A key difference for me is the new position is in a much larger library. So, more departments and more distinction between groups and the role they play in the overall scheme of the everyday running of the library.
One of the biggest differences is in the collection development aspect itself. Here the librarians do the selection. Faculty requests are almost always purchased, but the main selecting of materials is done by the librarians - both by "manual" selections and with approval plans. Some will nod their heads and say "yeah, isn't that how it's done?" In my previous position, the majority of the materials budget was given to the departments, thus the majority of the collection development was done by the faculty. We weren't alone in this approach. Some say they are in a better position to choose. Recieve a couple of list from Amazon's Listmania and you'll start to wonder about that. Another downside is some faculty will select based on their research interests and not necessarily to support the courses being taught. I had come to the conclusion that, at a minimum, a combination of the two approaches should be used. So, I'm looking forward to doing the process from the other side.
One of the biggest differences is in the collection development aspect itself. Here the librarians do the selection. Faculty requests are almost always purchased, but the main selecting of materials is done by the librarians - both by "manual" selections and with approval plans. Some will nod their heads and say "yeah, isn't that how it's done?" In my previous position, the majority of the materials budget was given to the departments, thus the majority of the collection development was done by the faculty. We weren't alone in this approach. Some say they are in a better position to choose. Recieve a couple of list from Amazon's Listmania and you'll start to wonder about that. Another downside is some faculty will select based on their research interests and not necessarily to support the courses being taught. I had come to the conclusion that, at a minimum, a combination of the two approaches should be used. So, I'm looking forward to doing the process from the other side.
February 08, 2007
At your service....
The below articles reference the growing trend for government agencies to place forms online only and then send the users of their services to the library to access and recieve help with these forms. I haven't worked in a public library, just academic, but this came as no surprise to me. The forms may be different, but in many ways, academic libraries fill these roles for their students.
In my time at the reference desk, especially at the beginning of the semester and in the summer, we frequently had students coming in to complete financial loan paperwork and other student aid paperwork. Many with slips of paper with the wrong information - bad URL, erroneous password, a step left out, etc. We also helped students enroll in classes - it's all online now and many don't have computers. And, I've helped a few get in and do their taxes online.
The good was that our computers were newer (upgraded about a year ago and about 20 were added), the bad is the same as for the public libraries. Lack of training or just no information about what's going on and who's going to be coming over. I'm happy to help, but that help would be better if I know they're coming.
Drafted: I Want You to Deliver E-Government in Library Journal (August 15, 2006)
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6359866.html
Librarians expected to become our e-government service in The Florida Times-Union (January 31, 2007):
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/013107/nen_7610167.shtml
In my time at the reference desk, especially at the beginning of the semester and in the summer, we frequently had students coming in to complete financial loan paperwork and other student aid paperwork. Many with slips of paper with the wrong information - bad URL, erroneous password, a step left out, etc. We also helped students enroll in classes - it's all online now and many don't have computers. And, I've helped a few get in and do their taxes online.
The good was that our computers were newer (upgraded about a year ago and about 20 were added), the bad is the same as for the public libraries. Lack of training or just no information about what's going on and who's going to be coming over. I'm happy to help, but that help would be better if I know they're coming.
Drafted: I Want You to Deliver E-Government in Library Journal (August 15, 2006)
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6359866.html
Librarians expected to become our e-government service in The Florida Times-Union (January 31, 2007):
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/013107/nen_7610167.shtml
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