I'm in my first week of my new job as Electronic Access Librarian at a University in Maryland. So, far the job is off to a very good start. It has probably been one of the best welcomes to a job that I have ever had. After my previous job, I'll admit, I was probably a bit paranoid.
One of my first projects is too look at and update the electronic resource usage stats. If you've read this blog before, you'll know I'm terribly intrigued by usage statistics. This project also allows me to become familiar with the holdings of my new library.
Over the past few days, I've come to realize that what I started out looking for, Searches, doesn't necessarily answer the big usage question. What I'm seeing more of, especially for products which host electronic journal subscriptions, is fewer searches than sessions. I've come to realize this is probably from the SFX linking (which I didn't have at my first library job) and accounts for how folks can hit the system but not search. So, now I try and look at the statistics for both Searches and Sessions. I don't think I can truly define a products usage anymore by the volume of searching; those "hits" coming in from the article linker also need to be included.
September 05, 2008
September 04, 2008
CECS 5210 Week 1 Question...
Given what you have read about instructional design, how important is it to what your future work goals are?
My career thus far has always contained a course design and delivery function. My true love is delivering technology education to librarians. No matter how I intend to accomplish this in the future, instructional design is one of the foundations of success to a good course. Making sure to analyze no only the material to be presented but also the audience which will be attending has often been the key factor to the quality of the knowledge transfered. Additionally, I have found that evaluation and closing the feedback loop to be instrumental to improving the effectiveness of not only my teaching style but the reference materials the students retain. I'm looking forward to learning about instructional design in a formal manner, as most of mine has been JIT or on-the-job training.
My career thus far has always contained a course design and delivery function. My true love is delivering technology education to librarians. No matter how I intend to accomplish this in the future, instructional design is one of the foundations of success to a good course. Making sure to analyze no only the material to be presented but also the audience which will be attending has often been the key factor to the quality of the knowledge transfered. Additionally, I have found that evaluation and closing the feedback loop to be instrumental to improving the effectiveness of not only my teaching style but the reference materials the students retain. I'm looking forward to learning about instructional design in a formal manner, as most of mine has been JIT or on-the-job training.
Starting my PhD -- Instructional Design Class
I am pursuing my PhD in the Information Science department at UNT. I live in Austin and will be in Denton two to three days a week. This year I've left the "real world" and dedicated myself to being a full-time student and Graduate Library Assistant over at the Willis Library. I've been in the "training" and "library" worlds since 1994 and am looking forward to formal instruction in Instructional Design. All of my knowledge has been through trial by fire or those professional development course I've been able to take along the way. I've done everything from Corporate Training, help desk support, IT management, to course development, professional development delivery, conference presentations, and website maintenance.
For those of you who have been following this blog a while, you'll start to see weekly updates from me on Instructional Design topics from my course work. For those of you classmates, you'll see occasional non-class posts from me and posts regularly from my very insightful co-author. I encourage you to enjoy them all.
Happy Reading!
For those of you who have been following this blog a while, you'll start to see weekly updates from me on Instructional Design topics from my course work. For those of you classmates, you'll see occasional non-class posts from me and posts regularly from my very insightful co-author. I encourage you to enjoy them all.
Happy Reading!
August 16, 2008
Another job change....
I've been following threads on several lists regarding job changes and how long one should stay in a bad situation. Well, at 19 months in my current position, my last day was yesterday. It is not something I expected to do when I took the job, though in the end it worked out for the better for me.
I accepted the job with great excitement and anticipation. I was returning to Texas and would be able to buy a house and settle in and grow my career. It didn't work out that way. In fact, I walked into a situation that most people couldn't even imagine. I certainly didn't. I've worked for almost 20 years and in several different industries and in some toxic environments. None of them prepared me for the situation I walked into. I wouldn't term it toxic, but it definitely wasn't in my best interest. I bounced back and forth between sticking it out and making the best of it to stay in an area I enjoy or looking for another job and literally starting over again. Fortunately, I don't have anything to hold me back in the moving department, so that was an option.
Then, I saw the job. I knew it would be a great job for me and as a bonus, would allow me to return to Civil Service. So, I applied. And, got the job! There is always the fear of walking into something worse. I worried about that when I took this job and it proved to be true. Actually, my concern was giving up a relatively enjoyable work environment for something that could prove to be worse. So, this time I'm cautiously optimistic and very much looking forward to starting my new job, in Maryland, at the beginning of September.
My advice to those in "bad" jobs. Take a good hard look at the job. What exactly is bad about it? Does it allow for career growth? Do you like your co-workers? Are you challenged? Are you accpeted? Are you supported in trying new ideas or methods? Is your input valued? Do teams work well? What I learned comapring this job with my past jobs, is that any number of these things can be off and it's still not a bad job; there are worse out there, as I found out. However, if it's detrimental to you personally and emotionally, it's probably time to start looking, regardless of how long you have been there. If there is no chance of growth and you're not ready to retire (I've got more than 25 years before I can retire), then it's time to consider looking for another job.
I knew the first day of this last job, yes the first day, that I'd made a mistake. I didn't heed some of the the warning signs I saw when I interviewed and I paid for it. When you interview, remember to evaluate them as they are evaluating you. Look at how they interact with each other. Watch body language. Ask about projects between departments (especially if interviewing at a large university/organization). Ask if the position is new (mine was and it's not necessarily a good thing. Those duties came from somewhere and most likely, someone). My favorite question: "What do you like about working here." Pay careful attention to how this question is answered. Second favorite: "What don't you like about working here?" I've gotten some really honest answers to this question, which I appreciated.
If they offer the job, how do they offer it? Can they tell you the salary and the benefits? Believe it or not, I was offered a job and the library director couldn't tell me the salary; told me to check the announcement, which was a range, then said it would be the first step, which isn't a range or what was implied in the ad. There didn't seem to be much enthusiasm. It was a job I would have enjoyed, however, given the vagueness of the initial offer and after a lot of consideration, I turned it down. Not an easy thing to do, but easier to do when you have a job, even if you desperately need to get out. If you're going to move for a job, make sure your comfortable with the offer and the organization. Listen to your little voice and don't be afraid to turn down a position. I'll reiterate - you're evaluating them as much as they are evaluating you.
No matter how bad your job is, there are worse ones out there. Carefully evaluate the jobs you interview for and keep in mind that the goal isn't simply to leave a bad job, but to find a good one - one that will make you want to get up in the morning and go to work.
I accepted the job with great excitement and anticipation. I was returning to Texas and would be able to buy a house and settle in and grow my career. It didn't work out that way. In fact, I walked into a situation that most people couldn't even imagine. I certainly didn't. I've worked for almost 20 years and in several different industries and in some toxic environments. None of them prepared me for the situation I walked into. I wouldn't term it toxic, but it definitely wasn't in my best interest. I bounced back and forth between sticking it out and making the best of it to stay in an area I enjoy or looking for another job and literally starting over again. Fortunately, I don't have anything to hold me back in the moving department, so that was an option.
Then, I saw the job. I knew it would be a great job for me and as a bonus, would allow me to return to Civil Service. So, I applied. And, got the job! There is always the fear of walking into something worse. I worried about that when I took this job and it proved to be true. Actually, my concern was giving up a relatively enjoyable work environment for something that could prove to be worse. So, this time I'm cautiously optimistic and very much looking forward to starting my new job, in Maryland, at the beginning of September.
My advice to those in "bad" jobs. Take a good hard look at the job. What exactly is bad about it? Does it allow for career growth? Do you like your co-workers? Are you challenged? Are you accpeted? Are you supported in trying new ideas or methods? Is your input valued? Do teams work well? What I learned comapring this job with my past jobs, is that any number of these things can be off and it's still not a bad job; there are worse out there, as I found out. However, if it's detrimental to you personally and emotionally, it's probably time to start looking, regardless of how long you have been there. If there is no chance of growth and you're not ready to retire (I've got more than 25 years before I can retire), then it's time to consider looking for another job.
I knew the first day of this last job, yes the first day, that I'd made a mistake. I didn't heed some of the the warning signs I saw when I interviewed and I paid for it. When you interview, remember to evaluate them as they are evaluating you. Look at how they interact with each other. Watch body language. Ask about projects between departments (especially if interviewing at a large university/organization). Ask if the position is new (mine was and it's not necessarily a good thing. Those duties came from somewhere and most likely, someone). My favorite question: "What do you like about working here." Pay careful attention to how this question is answered. Second favorite: "What don't you like about working here?" I've gotten some really honest answers to this question, which I appreciated.
If they offer the job, how do they offer it? Can they tell you the salary and the benefits? Believe it or not, I was offered a job and the library director couldn't tell me the salary; told me to check the announcement, which was a range, then said it would be the first step, which isn't a range or what was implied in the ad. There didn't seem to be much enthusiasm. It was a job I would have enjoyed, however, given the vagueness of the initial offer and after a lot of consideration, I turned it down. Not an easy thing to do, but easier to do when you have a job, even if you desperately need to get out. If you're going to move for a job, make sure your comfortable with the offer and the organization. Listen to your little voice and don't be afraid to turn down a position. I'll reiterate - you're evaluating them as much as they are evaluating you.
No matter how bad your job is, there are worse ones out there. Carefully evaluate the jobs you interview for and keep in mind that the goal isn't simply to leave a bad job, but to find a good one - one that will make you want to get up in the morning and go to work.
August 06, 2008
del.icio.us updated...
As mentioned in the previous post, one of my biggest complaints about del.icio.us was its very ugly interface. Well, I logged in yesterday to tag an item (it had probably been a couple of weeks) and lo and behold the interface has been updated.
It's a lot less haphazard in appearance, however, the font is a bit tiny, but that's generally because of my work monitor and the screen setting I have to have it on to not have things be blurry. I'm still trying to decide what I think of the new interface, but I will say that it's better than the old. The awful pink and pale pink highlighting is gone. It did take me a while to figure out that the "inbox" is now where I find things tagged for me (I will eventually read the information on the new interface), though the font color still leaves a bit to be desired. In this case, I say there's nothing wrong with black... the shade of blue they use can sometimes be difficult to read.
Overall, though, I'm glad to see it cleaned up.
It's a lot less haphazard in appearance, however, the font is a bit tiny, but that's generally because of my work monitor and the screen setting I have to have it on to not have things be blurry. I'm still trying to decide what I think of the new interface, but I will say that it's better than the old. The awful pink and pale pink highlighting is gone. It did take me a while to figure out that the "inbox" is now where I find things tagged for me (I will eventually read the information on the new interface), though the font color still leaves a bit to be desired. In this case, I say there's nothing wrong with black... the shade of blue they use can sometimes be difficult to read.
Overall, though, I'm glad to see it cleaned up.
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