Meghan Ecclestone, Rookie Librarian

My friend Ted

mjecclestone — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:25:29 +0000

I’m excited for an event coming up tomorrow (Saturday, June 25th). In a spin on those delightful Ted Talks, TedxLibrariansTO will be going down tomorrow on the UofT campus. The theme of the event is “librarians as thought leaders” and while I have some small seedlings of ideas about this provocative statement, I’m looking forward to getting some intellectual sun+water tomorrow so my ideas can grow a bit.

My initial reactions to the topic are this:

Are librarians thought leaders? We’re at a unique crossroads of worlds: We have the technological prowess and curiosity defining the planet/industry/creativity+art/everything, etc. combined with our core values/mission, which have always been, and continue to be, noble: making information findable and accessible to users. Lots of us are also user-focused, in the barracks, at the grassroots, at one with People. We’re already doing, and will continue to do amazing things at this intersection.
But, we’ve got an image problem. And a confidence problem. I don’t know how other professions talk internally about their craft. Like, I often wonder if occupational therapists and accountants and nurses and doctors and others sit around and Freak. Out. About. Everything. The death knell of librarianship has sounded so many times, it’s like white noise. And yet — here we all are. Still living life in libraryland. Huh. So who’s gonna come out in front as the librarian rock star that’s going to save us from ourselves? But wait…
The world is more disparate and niche-driven now than before Al Gore invented the Internetz. And this is true of what we do — no two jobs are the same in libraryland. Teaching students, teaching kids, making(?) metadata, designing websites, doing community outreach, developing new cataloguing standards, digitizing rare books collections, curating, publishing advocating, managing, cleaning up puke, negotiating contracts, etc. etc. There is no one Brilliant Idea that will Save Us All. But there are lots of little thoughts leaders with their heads down working their tushes off to make a positive difference in their little sphere of librarianship. Their stories are small, but they’re important, and if we celebrate those small stories, I think we’re better-off as a profession. It’s not all about the guy at the front of the auditorium with a Britney Spears microphone.
There are lots of forces that are going to define us and our lot in the world that are not in our control: Demographic, economic, technological, social, political, etc. We can’t change them, but we can help shape them. Everyone has the potential to be an advocate, but it starts with looking outside library land. Because we already know we’re awesome.

Those are my rambling 8am thoughts. It’s probably best to come so that you can hear some actual coherent thoughts from smart people. There may still be tickets… you can register here, if you’d like to spend a day with some thought-provoking people talking about some big-picture topics in library land. I’m excited!

I’m going to be here on Thursday, you should come.

mjecclestone — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:21:51 +0000

iSchool Bertha Bassam Lecture Announcement:

Date: Thursday, April 14th, 2011

When: 7:00-9:00 pm (talk and reception)

Where: Koffler House/Multi-Faith Centre, Room 108, 569 Spadina Avenue, Toronto (U of T campus) [Map]

Cost: No charge – everyone is welcome, but RSVP by April 13 to kathleen.obrien@utoronto.ca

Because it only happens every few years, the Bertha Bassam Lecture is always a highly anticipated event with a well respected speaker. The next Bertha Bassam Lecture will be held at the Koffler House/Multi-Faith Centre (U of T Campus) on Thursday, April 14, 2011. Under the title, Cultural Institutions and Cultural Courage, we are thrilled to have guest speaker Dr. David Carr. Led by Dean Seamus Ross and hosted by the Faculty of Information Alumni Association, Dr. Carr’s lecture will be introduced by Kelly McKinley, Director of Education and Public Programs at the AGO.

Abstract:

The formative legacy of any democratic culture or learning community is borne and embodied by its library. At its best, it is a living, constructive institution where experience and knowledge increase. The aspirations of a community — what it wants to become and what it hopes to give to its children — require a generative public conscience and provocative voices. More than a record of our time and place, the library is a record of us as we embrace or turn away from our challenges. We require a place that holds both pages and voices, electrons and arguments; and more: a place where thoughtful citizens will strive to become something together.

————————

An apt discussion during this election time. Also, I’m curious about the convergence between libraries and cultural institutions, and didn’t take the time to learn about such things in lie-berry school, and David Carr’s research, I think, does this. Yay for taking some time out to think deeply about stuff! And having a free glass of wine.

Tagged: cultural institutions, Faculty of Information, social context

Shelf Reading, revolutionized.

mjecclestone — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:25:21 +0000

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.

Tagged: mobile, technology

“The best piece of career advice I received is…”

mjecclestone — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:56:55 +0000

Thursday night I participated as part of a panel set up by the SLA Student Chapter at the University of Toronto’s iSchool. The theme of the night was, “What’s the best career advice you’ve ever gotten?” One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to take more risks, and this dovetailed a bit with what I told these fledging information professionals: Stop being scared. A wise and sage librarian told me this recently, and it stuck.

Man, I was so intensely terrified in my second year of grad school — scared I wouldn’t get a job, scared I wouldn’t get a good job, scared I’d have to make lattes for a living, scared I’d be bad at everything, all the time. And then, when I took my new job, I was scared of the business world, scared I’d suck at this new gig, scared of the professional and lifestyle changes, scared I’d hate Sales. No more being scared, Meg! I’m not dodging bombs or performing brain surgery blindfolded. There really is no reason to be so scared. Also, everything worked out, I love my job and the work I do, and I haven’t had to make a single latte in years. All that fear was really unjustified, and didn’t get me anywhere. Silly.

I spoke with three other librarian people, all of whom had some really valuable things to say as well. One important theme that arose was the need to have, and to be — a mentor. Mentorship is huge, and it’s so key to passing on insights and good judgement from one generation of librarians to the next.

Another theme that came up was the myth that you have to figure out what type of library sector you want to work in for the rest of your life right now and go with it, because you can never ever leave that field to go do something else. Um, what? That’s just crazy talk. Transferable skills are easy to come by in our profession, and organizations love to hire people with an outsider’s perspective. Stay engaged with the profession, know how to talk the talk (one library’s company research is a other library’s prospect research is another library’s competitive intelligence), and you’ll go places.

Another important thing we discusses was the need to always advocate for yourself. Ask questions, be confident of the value you bring to your organization, show off your achievements, let people know how keen you are and what good ideas you have. Good things happen when new librarians speak up and assert themselves in the field.

It was a great evening, and I learned a lot. There are some really smart, dynamic, creative students coming out of the iSchool right now, so watch out. And if you’re in a position to hire new librarians — take note!

UPDATE: My friend (from the Internet, we’ve concluded that we don’t think we’ve ever *actually* met) Graham Lavender posted a refined view of my original statement. He says, you can’t stop being scared. But what’s important is this: “Don’t let being scared stand in your way.” Read his response here. Thanks, Graham for your insights!

Tagged: career advice, i-school, professional associations, sla

When real life hits Library Land

mjecclestone — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 13:20:13 +0000

Geeze — I just logged into the Library of Congress’s Classification Net, and this message was displayed:

As of Saturday, April 9, the Library of Congress will be temporarily closed until further notice due to the general U.S. federal agency shutdown. During this period, the Library will not be responding to any communications received. Classification Web will continue to be available but no customer service or technical support will be provided.

I guess when the U.S. government is threatened with complete and total shutdown, it can effect even me, a lowly librarian up in Canada, trying to look up some call numbers. Luckily, the government managed to avoid such a shutdown — good job, guys!

Tips for vendors, from ARCLog

mjecclestone — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:50:06 +0000

An interesting post on the ACRLog, from Amy Fry (Electronic Resources Librarian at Bowling Green State University. I shall be sure to heed her advice!

“When I was in library school, Lynn Wiley (who was at that time head of interlibrary loan at UIUC) said something about library vendors that made a big impression on me. She said that vendors are our partners – we could not do what we do without the content and service products they provide, and they could not do what they do without us, either – we provide an audience, an infrastructure, and end-user education for them. Throughout my career, first as an interlibrary loan librarian and now as an electronic resources librarian, I have let this idea be a guiding principle for me. I sincerely try to take time to talk to my sales and service reps and respond when they contact me, and one of the major reasons I never miss an ALA is because I feel like it’s essential for me to spend time on the exhibit floor touching base with vendors and publishers to learn what’s new. I easily get 100 e mails a day because I try to sign up for every vendor update list I can – it’s my job to know about database upgrades, downtime, content changes, etc., and I try to be conscientious about passing that information on to my colleagues. I have learned so much about what’s going on in the information services industry, and – just as importantly – what’s going on with other libraries in my region and in the country from my vendor contacts, and I truly value my relationships with them.

I don’t know how many librarians approach their relationships with vendors this way, but I imagine lots of us do. However, some vendors make my job easier – others don’t. I try to remind myself that sales reps are working in the business world, not the world of academia, and they have MBAs and quotas and deadlines that are probably getting harder to meet as our budgets shrink. I try to be forgiving when I feel like they’re pestering me, and remind myself they’re just doing their jobs. But a recent trial has produced a sales rep who’s really trying my patience by calling once a week, pressuring me for a decision, and sending “follow-up” e mails to my department chair and even dean. I have tried to respond to her queries with helpful information about our process and where we are in it, but I’m finding myself hoping sincerely our collections librarians decide not to buy this product because I don’t want to end up in a long-term relationship with this vendor at all.

So as spring trial season begins, I would like to offer some tips for vendors who want to partner with librarians and make our jobs easier, because making my job easier is the best way to ensure my long-term good will and a mutually beneficial relationship.

E mail is the best way to reach me. I have probably been sitting at my desk in my office by my phone less than a dozen hours in the last two weeks. Instead of in my office, I have been at the reference desk, in a million meetings, and doing research for a conference paper I’m presenting this month. In those dozen hours at my desk I was working hard in software I can’t access wirelessly or from home. Getting a phone call during that time from a vendor who wants to sell me something is just poor timing for the vendor. A lot of times when I’m at my desk I don’t even answer the phone unless the call is coming from someone on campus for this very reason. E mail me. I hate the phone, it’s a terrible way to reach me, I don’t necessarily get to check my voice mail every day, and I will respond to your e mail.
Libraries are on an annual budget cycle. That’s right. We usually make major purchasing decisions twice a year – once at the end of the calendar year (because we love those end-of-the-year deals vendors offer) and once in the spring, before the fiscal year begins in July. We may trial your product at any time, but we are only likely to make a purchasing decision one of those two times. Thus, while vendors may feel pressure to get us to make a decision, we feel no pressure at all, because we know the money doesn’t exist until the new budget cycle starts and now, with all the cuts going on, budgets never even come out on schedule, so we’re always behind. Therefore the decision process is long, is often delayed, and will not happen until the last possible moment. I do not tell my colleagues in reference and collection development when we need to get something. They tell me. They set the schedule. No matter how often you call (or, preferably, e mail), that schedule will never be in my hands.
Make sure I get information I need. I think vendors should start combining sales and service. Maybe some do. But I feel like sales reps who want to sell me something are always figuring out how to contact me, while service information like database updates or downtime or content changes – vitally important information that I need to receive – often doesn’t get to me, or isn’t released in a timely manner. I have signed up for every e mail list I can, and every time we purchase something new I make a point of contacting the vendor and asking to be added to the list of people to receive technical and content updates, but I still feel like I have trouble getting that information. Vendors: libraries are truly interested in service and content. If you provide me with great information about that in a timely way, I am way more likely to listen when you have something new to sell.
Make my job easier. I want to promote your products. There is nothing I would like to see more than our usage statistics for databases rise. Send me posters, pens, binder clips. The latest update to the OCLCPerceptions survey tells us patrons notice in-library flyers and promotions. If you send them, I’ll put them up. If you send me information in e mail, I’ll forward it to my subject liaison colleagues. If we buy something new, offer an in-person training or webinar for our librarians – I’m likely to take advantage of it.
Inform me! I want to know what other libraries are doing, and I want to know where you think information services are going. What trends are you noticing in use statistics, in patron queries, in research patterns? Vendors have rich data and wide contacts. If you share that kind of information with me, I’ll eat it up, I promise, and I’ll listen to you when you have something to tell me.

If any vendors are reading this they might be thinking, well, what’s in it for me? I hope they think that my good will and influence with my students and colleagues is reward enough, because I certainly don’t have direct purchasing decision-making and I am not a subject liaison and I can’t guarantee we’ll have any money any time soon. Which is another problem, perhaps, with the way e-resources librarians’ jobs are structured, and perhaps a topic for another post.”

Tagged: vendors

Change is in the air, can ya feel it??

mjecclestone — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:09:04 +0000

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.

Neat reads round-up

mjecclestone — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:29:09 +0000

I almost never get through reading an entire blog post or article online. My eyeballs start out really disciplined. The they slowly begin to scan words… and the paragraphs…
And then I just get distracted and somehow end up on Etsy, cruising for crafts (hey, how’d that happen?).

So when I find a link where I actually read to the last line, I feel like it speaks volumes about the interestingness of the article, and the author!
Here are a few links from this past week that I actually read to the very end:

Michael Stephens: Office Hours: Can We Handle the Truth?

Just a very brief overview about how what we’re doing is broken. And then a few tips on how we can fix it. No biggie! Just moving some mountains, nothing to see here, folks.

Kim Stymest: On Being a Ninja

You be careful out there — librarians have death stars and they’re not afraid to use them. If there is one small thing that librarians can do to improve library instruction, it would be to stop making crappy slides and start being a PowerPoint ninja.

Zachary Osbourne: “less sane” core library services

This is a story about how Zach Osbourne went to the OLA Superconference and attended an amazing session, and then blogged about it. But you know from his closing sentence (“Beyond thinking differently, let’s start making changes to meet our users’ needs and put an end to the “less sane” services that, although we’ve gotten very good at doing, simply aren’t realistic or sustainable”), that the story’s a lot more complicated than that.

John Dupuis: A stealth librarianship manifesto

“The jobs of faculty comprise research, teaching and service. We [academic librarians] must stealthfully insinuate ourselves in those areas. We must make our laser-like core focus our patrons.” And here is how.

What all these have in common is the assertion that what we’re doing right now — particularly in academic libraries — is not working. Luckily though, there’s hope! Each article has it’s own little suggestion for changes and improvements that will ensure a sustainable model of success for the lie-berry within academia. Happy reading.

Making students care about IL: Mission Impossible?

mjecclestone — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 18:49:21 +0000

*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.

This past week, at the request of the instructor, I switched things up a bit and focused less on tools, and more on higher-level thinking. I discussed concept of critical thinking, information literacy, and the application of these concepts to their real-world information seeking, be it for their assignments, or down the road as professionals in the field. It was one of the trickiest presentations I’ve ever put together, because I too had to step back and figure out what exactly we’re all doing here — librarians, professors, students — and why any of this matters.

Frankly, I thought it was awesome. I even used a tasty analogy: ” You can’t have a delicious meal without starting with high-quality ingredients. Similarly, you won’t be able to write a good paper — no matter how smart you are — without high-quality resources. Think of wikipedia as the Taco Bell meat of the research world.” That’s cute, right?!

Well, I have never seen a class of more bored-looking 18 year olds in my life. And I’ve seen a lot of bored 18 year olds in my day, lemme tell ya. It was really dissuading and I vowed never to bother trying to integrate concepts of higher-level thinking into my teaching again. Then I went home and ate some ice cream. My bruised ego has recovered, but I wonder: Is there any point it trying to force students to care about information and research, beyond what they need to get a decent mark? Are there better ways to impart these complex concepts that doesn’t induce total boredom?

Libraryland tends to be critical of tools-based information literacy, but I’m a pragmatist: If tools are going to keep them from literally putting their heads down and going to sleep during my presentations, then tools they shall GET.

Have you ever successfully (or unsuccessfully!) integrated discussions of higher-level thinking into your teaching? Do you think it’s something to reserve for students in third or forth year? Or perhaps there are programs that are more hospitable to such discussions than management (i.e. philosophy)?

Tagged: academic experience, information literacy, social context

You guys, I think this Internet thing is gonna be around for awhile.

mjecclestone — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 14:27:52 +0000

As I mentioned awhile back, I’m participating in a CLA session called “Getting on (tenure) track: New Professionals and Academic Librarianship (Friday, May 27 from 8:30 – 10:00 am — be there!). Each presenter is going to try to do a bit of homework on various topics related to getting, and keeping an academic lie-berry job, and I thought it might be neat to bring up the topic of creating an professional online presence for yourself. Getting yourself set up on the Internetz is pretty much free, which makes it a great option for new and aspiring librarians, but it also shows a whole lot of initiative and even a bit of tech savvy. Which employers like. Of course this is an unconference-style session, so we don’t actually have any idea what’s going to happen, and what the attendees are going to want to talk about. Even still, here are some of the things I might bring up.

Oh, and if you’re not sure what the Internet is, Bryant Gumbel understands how you feel:

The most gigantic resume ever: Your professional blog.

First word of advice: Get a blog! I have one, have you heard of it? It’s at www.meghanecclestone.com, check it out!

Okay, but seriously: For every job I’ve ever gotten in Library Land, the boss-person has told me they had checked out my blog and thought it was impressive. Of course it’s NOT impressive — it’s just my ramblings and shameless self-promotion — but I think when people are looking to hire someone, they appreciate being able to get into a candidate’s head a bit more. I also like to post successes that might not fit on the ol’ C.V., but which I’m still proud of, and want people to know about. Be savvy with the web persona you create, and you can really use a blog as an extension of your resume. And in fact, my blog link is ON my resume — that’s how forward I am about the whole thing — and that really hasn’t steered me wrong yet. The people who are hiring new librarians want to see that your web-savvy, curious, and engaged with the professional field. Oblige them.

However saying is always easier than doing. Sometimes I really struggle to write, which is part of the reason I force myself to blog in the first place: To get pen to paper (you know, minus the pen and the paper) and sort out my thoughts about all things professional. To give myself some more wiggle room, I have placed a moratorium on posting during the summer months, and have allowed myself to sometimes write shorter, more superficial posts.

Recently I came across a great article from the WordPress blog called “Want to blog better in 2011? We’re here to help.” If you are struggling for inspiration, or not sure how to get started with blog posts, this is a great article to read. Here’s a quote on how to think of new ideas for posts:

Check out The Daily Post for a daily dose of writing tips and encouragement, or browse the Freshly Pressed posts or tag pages for inspiration. You can also combat writer’s block by tackling a thought-provoking Plinky prompt.

Keep in mind that the some of the best blogs are focused on one main subject and often target a specific audience. If you feel like you’re losing your focus, think about the reason why you started blogging in the first place, and how you define blogging success. Still feeling lost? Give these brainstorming exercises a shot.

Great stuff — thank you WordPress!

little things add up.

There are also neat little tools to help get your name out there. Some I’ve come across:

Visual C.V.: I have mentioned Visual C.V. in the past but it bears mentioning again. Visual C.V. is easy, and allows you to have a nicely formatted, functional online resume. Obviously, this program lies right at the intersection between resumes and the internetz, though I wish there was a bit more flexibility in terms of display and formatting. If you do have a blog with your resume already available on it, Visual C.V. can be redundant. But if you DON’T… This can be a nice start. Mine’s here.

About.me: It’s all about.me. Yes, that’s right. About.me’s tagline is, “to quickly build your personal profile page that points users to your content from around the web.” I created a little about.me profile in about 30 minutes, while watching Village on a Diet. http://about.me/mjeccestone. Fun? Sure. Useful?… I guess? Pretty? Definitely.

I tried to make this a bit smaller, because this is a whole lotta Meg, but it wouldn't display properly. Just so you know.

I think they have a long way to go in building up their functionality, but for now, the free+easy combination means you should have one.

Moo cards: Design your own (cheap) business cards using Moo Cards’ sassy little layouts and fonts. Hands those out at conferences, networking events, and job fairs. I would be impressed if someone went to the trouble of making these and making them pretty, regardless of their skills, talents or personality. Maybe someone in a position to hire you might feel the same way.

On a similar note, my pal Megan found a great example of how librarians have used business cards as social media calling cards. A great way to make the connections from in-person exchanges to that fabulous professional web presence you went and created (right?). Maybe throw the links from your blog, Visual C.V., and about.me profile on there? Just a thought!

Not for the feint hearted.

Finally, my friend Kim shared an article from Mashable about creating video resumes. Um — intense! That takes some courage and some mean video editing skills. I can’t do that, and probably won’t, but I do wonder… what would lie-berry land make of such a thing? Do you think the average hiring committee would be cool with it, or think it’s weird?

Here is my favourite example from the Mashable article:

So that’s my little list of fun and pretty easy things you can do go build a web presence. As I have learned: You don’t just get to have a job because you have a library degree. It’s important to stick out in as many ways as you can, and this is something you can do in your jammies, so it’s a good place to start!