In my first year of library school, I worked as a library assistant. A plum job, to be sure, but I never looked forward to shelf-reading time. Imagine if I could have just done this (I stole this video from Jessamyn West’s blog):
Amazing, right?!?! mShelf Reading: The way of the future. It sets my heart aflutter.
So I think it is high-time that I come out with it. There is news people. NEWS. And here it is:
As of February 25th, I wrapped up my gig as a Management Librarian at the University of Ottawa. Which was sad. I loved that place. I loved my boss. I loved my students. I love my office.
However, as of March 1st, I magically reappeared as a Collections Development Librarian for YBP Library Services. Which rules. I could not be more excited.
Yes you read correctly: I left the comfy, fun, altruist world of academic librarianship, to go work as a sales rep for a vendor. The Meg of my undergraduate years — the one that wore Converse sneakers and read New Internationalist — is dying a small death.
Why, you ask, would I make such a move? Well a whole bunch of reasons. Here are a few:
As a reference librarian, I got small peeks into the technical services and acquisitions worlds when I did collections development. But just peeks — I still have no idea how the acquisitions processes actually happens. It’s a fascinating world that’s undergoing some enormous changes, and I want to be a part of that. So, what better way to do that then join the organization that helps set-up acquisitions work flows for university libraries? I’m super stoked to really understand what the heck is going on back there, behind the scenes.
Have you met me? If you have, you know I love to meet new people and just CHAT. I really do. You know those people who are like, “God I HATE small talk!”? I’m like, are you serious? I LOVE small talk! This is, I’m told, a useful skill in a client-based setting, wherein I have to go and meet new people all the time, and just chat. “How are you liking your selection profile?” ” What books do you think are missing from your collection?” “How’d your mom’s hip replacement go?” Gosh, I can’t wait. Seriously. I love chatting.
I’m not really selling out. You guys, I’m still going to be working with academic librarians all the time.
In fact, my new boss Heather was a part of OLA’s Human Library last month, and her little blurb actually pokes fun at this very topic:
Heather Berringer – Director of Sales, Canada, YBP Library Services(Selling Out or Buying In? My Career in the Library Vendor World)
Heather has been working in Sales at YBP for the past three years, starting out as Collection Development Manager for Eastern Canada and then graduating to the Director level just a few months ago. She began her career in academic libraries… before she decided to jump ship and explore the corporate universe. Heather is based in New Hampshire, remains an avid conference junkie, and maintains that she continues to answer reference questions for a living, but now does it in her pyjamas. She has more Aeroplan points and hotel status than any of her friends.
See? Funny! Insightful! Still very librarian-y. Still very much embedded in the community. It’s not like I’m leaving academia to go sell slam-chops or something.
Team Awesome: I left a wonderful, wonderful team at the University of Ottawa. BUT I am also JOINING a wonderful team by going to YBP (In case you didn’t notice, my new boss has a healthy sense of humour!) Great work teams can be hard to come by — I will now have the incredible luck of leaving one, but joining one too. I feel really lucky to be able to say that. *sniffle*
Two words: Home. Office. It was -100 when I walked to work last month, so I really don’t feel like I need to say much more on the topic.
And on a personal note: My boyfriend. He is a software developologist, and I am an information scientician, so if ever there was a couple that could do a web-mediated relationship, it’s us. We are a power couple of the Internetz. We have matching smart phones. And while there are precious few things the Internet can’t do for us these days, HUGS is one of them. Long live hugs! So, I’ve moved back to Toronto and back to the normalcy of in-person hugs. Cause those virtual hugs were starting to make my laptop feel a little bit uncomfortable. *awkward*
So that’s the news! I will be responsible for the Eastern Canada region, so if you area lie-berrian in Ontario and all points East, let’s hang out! In the meantime: I’m headed to Lulu Lemon to stock up on yoga pants — the official uniform of the work-from-home professional.
Posted in At Work
*A cross-posting from the Re:Generations blog*
With the Winter semester in full-force, I’ve been doing the usual information-literacy tour. We usually show students some key library resources, give them a little virtual tour of our LibGuides, and then hone in on a few tools and resources we think are going to be useful for their work in that class. This isn’t a perfect model for teaching, but it seems to hold the attention of most of the class, and then often have a question or two. Continue reading
Recently I figured out one of the most empowering things on my office computer. I know you’re thinking the same thing: usage statistics reports. I KNOW.
Perhaps you, like me, are not on the cataloguing side of things because perhaps you, like me, didn’t do so well in Intro to Cataloguing class and swore off cataloguing forever. If this is the case, and you do collections development, I would encourage you to befriend your Friendly Neighbourhood Cataloguing Librarian and ask about getting some usage statistics reports generated for your perusal. Those Cataloguing people — they really know things. Things that I know nothing about. How did I actually go to school with these people? It’s like they have a different degree than me.
My library uses Millennium as their ILS — hence the blog title – but maybe your library uses a different product (there’s a nice list of ILS products here). I have been forced to learn several modules within Millennium and I have to say: It’s really quite a nice program. Bravo, Innovative Interfaces. I must admit to having wasted an entire afternoon playing around with the module that generates reports. It is FUN! And INSIGHTFUL.
Ahhhhh the new year — A time to reflect on the year that’s passed, and look forward to the year that will be. I always think of this song, but for the record my New Year’s Eve was far more fun than the those in this video.
Do you have any New Year’s resolutions? I have a few, both personal and professional. My personal goals are to call people more (I am terrible at staying in touch) and cooking more (I am close to lots of tasty restaurants in Ottawa — so much temptation). However my professional goals include the following:
1) Find a flow: I need a better workflow. When I was a grad student (and sosososo busy) I had a work flow that was really effective for me; it included a paper agenda and a Google calendar, and some clever tagging in my Gmail account. It was based a little bit on the GTD principles (from the book Getting Things Done, which I — ironically– never finished reading), and it worked. But now I have several more tools that I need to use for work — an Outlook calendar and work e-mail account, several wikis (both personal and organizational) and others. It’s confusing and I still manage to screw stuff up. I need to find a workflow that flows a bit better.
2) Take risks: Being a librarian in a bureaucrat’s town is a double-whammy of risk-aversion. Plus, being a new librarian can make it scary to forge relationships, speak up in meetings, read the riot act to an unruly student (okay, I do find that last one deliciously easy). But I’m going to try to mute the nervous voice in my head that yells at me every time I start daydreaming about a neat info lit innovation, or put my hand up at a council meeting. It’s hard to see myself as an “equal” with people who’s kids are my age. Or to ask a favor of a colleague who’s won prestigious library awards. Or talk shop with someone who has a PhD. But of course lie-berrians are among the gentlest breed of professionals, and usually withhold harsh judgement. And maybe something I say will be useful or will be what other people were wondering about too… Surely worth the risk of opening my mouth and possibly saying something stupid.
3) Blog more: Hahaha, right??? I’m off to a good start, you gotta admit.
Let me tell you a story about a group of third-year marketing students who came in a few weeks ago, looking for help finding consumer attitudes and market information pertaining to smart phones and wireless chargers (yes, wireless chargers, specifically this one). I was able to help the students find some pretty great resources, created and sent an e-mail with a few links, and sent them happily down the path of successful research.
Posted in At Work, Library Issues
Fun times at the liberry!
My summer break stretched into a first-half-of-Fall-semester break because, as you can probably imagine, things were a touch busy during September and early October. However it’s now Fall reading week here at the U of O, which means things have quieted down significantly thank the GOOD LORD. No more twelve hour days okay, work? Ugh.
Man, is it ever IMPOSSIBLE for me to post on this blog during the summer months. I did a bunch of stuff — went to CLA, attended the FIAA AGM, moved to Ottawa, started a new job — but didn’t bother reporting on anything here. It’s almost like hot sunny weather is not conducive to sitting inside on a computer. Huh.
Aaaanyway, Ottawa is great so far! I’m moved into a little sunny apartment that’s about a 15 minute walk from work — joyous, since York was about an hour by transit. It’s really interesting to observe how different things can be from one university library system to the next. Particularly with regard to organizational structure and budgeting decisions during what has become a verrrry difficult time financially for Ontario’s universities. It sucks to go through budget cuts, but it’s an interesting lesson for a newbie.
My job tasks remain quite similar, but of course I’m still on an enormous learning curve. It’s going to stay interesting for sure, but will probably not be nearly as terrifying as last year, when I knew nothing. One year under your belt makes a huge difference (Librarians with 25+ years — you can chuckle now. Go ahead — chuckle away at my naivety).
That’s about all I can report on so far… Lots of introductory stuff last week and getting signed-up for the right stuff (workshops, collections platforms, French classes…).
I don’t know when I’ll be reporting back… Perhaps we can say that I’m going to go on a small hiatus until the new school year? It’s difficult to find blogging time when there are so many patios to go sit on. I’m sure you understand.
So I’ve made a REDICULOUS decision and taken a job in Ottawa for a year.
There.
I said it.
I’m leaving Toronto to go to Ottawa for a year.
My contract at York ended last week, and I’ve been busy trying to figure out what to do with my life. As it ends up unemployment rules big time, but I’m told it isn’t a sustainable life plan. I’ve been doing lots of yoga, and balcony gardening, and hanging out with friends. But there’s no librarian-ing in my daily coming’s and going’s, so what good is that???
So, to Ottawa I go. The job is going to rule big-time. I’m a Management Librarian at the University of Ottawa’s business school (recall: this is my job at York, plus French. And a delightful downtown campus. And a canal. This is why it’s going to rule big time). I’m very excited to start, and I think it’s going to be absolutely wonderful professional experience. And already having a year’s experience under my belt makes all the difference. I know what I’m going to work on in terms of subject specialization (Oh hai financial data! I’ve been ignoring you for the last year, but it’s time we went out on a date and got to know each other), teaching (and the general insanity that accompanies September and October), where I want to contribute to committee work, and where I want to focus on my research. It’s amazing how professional experience makes you better at your job! Crazy, eh??
The rediculous part of all of this is:
1) I’ve turned into a huge Toronto jerk over the last three years, and Toronto jerks never leave Toronto, unless it’s to go to the cottage. I will have to watch my tongue in Ottawa, and not start any statements with, “Oh really? You don’t have that here? Because in Toronto….”.
I love Ottawa lots too. It’s a beautiful town, with lots of patios and bike paths and good friends of mine – I just don’t want to alienate the locals.
2) Listening to me speak French hurts my ears. I used to rock the French language in a big way. Quebeckers used to ask me what part of Quebec I was from. I was the REAL DEAL. But that was ten years ago, and now it sounds like I’m just mangling the language every time I open my mouth. I’m going to work hard over the next year to rectify this, because I have to teach instructional workshops in French! Oh mon dieu. My interview was half in French, and I could literally feel the sweat dripping down my back as I was answering those questions. I’m hoping this will better better with time, because being extremely sweaty for year is not appealling to me, or my wardrobe.
3) I’m taking on two rents. It’s like I have a pied-a-terre in Ottawa, without the income bracket or executive position that justifies a pied-a-terre. I wonder how my future boss would feel about me sleeping in my office for the year… ? I could shower at the athletic centre…
As I get more used to the idea of moving, I’m getting more excited at the prospect of getting started with work, and getting to know a new group of (likely fabulous) co-workers, faculty, and students. Is it weird to call your future employee ahead of time and ask which committees have openings? Yes? M’kay, just checking.
K, I realise I have not posted on this blog since JULY. But I have a good excuse: I am so GD BUSY. Who are the jerks that spread rumors about librarians going home at 5pm? They are big liars!
ANYWAY: I have been prepping for instruction-season at York, and it’s lots of fun and students are adorable and all but it’s ALOT OF WORK. Here’s an example of a web guide I put together that will go along with a presentation I will be giving for a class in a few weeks. I earns ma pay! (See where it says, “The handout provided in class is available here.”? CLICK ON IT. My infamous clip-art skillz live on!) (Okay, I could resist including an image of the handout. I luuuuv ma handouts!)
Clip Art Awesomeness
Also, I am taking part in a few associations.
1) FIAA: Faculty of Information Alumni Association. It’s fun! I am on the social media committee (Ooooooh!). I’d like to point out that to organize the group, Kim (Elle Presidenta) created a Huddle space. From what I can tell, Huddle is a project 
management application, and the functionality is really hot. If you’re interested in an PM app, Huddle is worth checking out.
2) I am the newest blogger for the Re:Generations blog, which is a blog hosted by the Re:Generations committee — the branch of the Canadian Association of College and University Librarians that is for the lil’uns (read: New and Emerging Librarians). I’m also the New Professionals Rep (or something to that effect), so I get to like… professionalize. And such. I just had a conference call with the group, and I’m pretty stoked!
