Author: Robin

links for 2010-08-04

Categories
AWeekInTheLife

A Week In The Life

Last week, I participated in the Library Day In The Life project via Twitter. I used the #libday5 hashtag from Tuesday through Friday, commenting on my activities throughout the day. Those tweets have already been posted to this blog, so they are available to scroll through if you want a blow-by-blow of my week. I also wanted to do a narrative form of discussion about what I do here at MRRL though, because just listing out my activities each day doesn’t really give any context to my duties.
First off, let me say that I don’t usually take 2 days a week off. I was actually here on Monday, but I was tired from a soccer game outing to Kansas City the day before and I wasn’t prepared to spend time to document what I was doing while I was doing it. Thursday I was off for part of the day because I was back in KC on Wednesday night for a dinner with Kendra Levine, Royce Kitts and Doug and Tab Patterson. I don’t see Kendra and Royce that often, so it was a nice treat and worth taking some time off to recover…
As for while I was here, Tuesdays are my heavy desk days, so I spent that day working with the public in the Public Computer Center. I tweeted about the individual interactions -the kinds of questions that I get – at the time but I would like to say that I find working with the public – especially in the computer center – really helpful for my particular job. I’m in charge of all the social networks as well as the library’s website, so any insight I can get into 1) what social networks my patrons are using and 2) what kinds of problems they have with websites in general just make my job a bit easier.
Wednesday I spent working mostly at my desk. My day was taken up with a lot of fixing stuff – the websites *always* need something – and creating a slidecast to go with the podcast we did with local author Charlotte Hubbard. I have a tendency to not be able to just listen to something alone – audiobooks are strictly “in the car” or “while knitting” activities for me, I can’t just listen to them. Assuming that other people are like me, I like to give them something to look at, so I create a PowerPoint slideshow of book cover images, pictures of the author, links to things the author has discussed in the podcast and other interesting images that I then upload to Slideshare and sync up into a slidecast for our more visual patrons. The podcast is still available as an MP3 by itself, however. Once I get a few of these up and going, they will be cataloged and will come up during author searches through our OPAC. Right now, I have 4 up. Other activities on Wednesday included professional reading (both online and off – I have a stack of mags on my desk that I really need to carve some time out of my schedule to read), email and the monthly Management Team meeting that we have on the fourth Wednesday of each month. After all that, I worked on a class that I’m doing this month for patrons. I don’t generally do the patron training any more, but our trainer really hates Excel and so I told her I’d do this month’s class for her.
Thursday I was supposed to be off all day, but I was coming home via Columbia (where our ISP/Upstream helper is), so I stopped off at MORENet to pick up a couple of firewalls that they had received, upgraded and configured for me. While I was there, I got a quick crash course in managing the new firewalls and an introduction to the firewall management software. I came back to the library to drop that off and to cover 2 hours on the Circulation desk that I’d told a colleague I’d cover for them a couple of months ago. He’s on vacation and I said yes before I knew about the previous night’s dinner. I worked those two hours – again being glad that I can get some face time on the desk to keep abreast of what the staff are doing and what kind of technology hurdles they routinely face while working. It makes me much more able to do my job of supporting their technology use if I know what that technology use is. I also get to field different kinds of questions from patrons and get a different sense of what they are looking for – very useful for my work on the website!!
Friday I spent the morning on email, blog reading and coordinating tech for our upcoming state library association meeting. We’ll have a meeting sometime this week to go over everything and see what we’ve missed… I also did a bit of work on an upcoming workshop/presentation and then, after lunch, was back on the Computer Center desk for 3 hours. Again, I did a blow-by-blow of the kinds of questions I get while on the desk on Twitter – if you are interested, you can check it out in the post previous to this one.
All that is fairly typical (with the exception of all the time off). This week is shaping up to be fairly typical, too. I came in on Sunday afternoon to fix a problem with the web server, then came in early this morning to install the new firewall here and in our branch library in Linn, MO (about 20 miles away). Once I got that done, I came back to the library to catch up on email, blogs and to a BUNCH of questions (about editing contact information on the staff website, about creating lists in Google mail and about how much a computer would be, prorated for use, if someone wanted to buy a laptop that they had been assigned as a work machine). I left early again (though I was here by shortly after 6am and I ate lunch on the road between Linn and Jefferson City, so leaving at 2 was actually my full 8 hours) to get my son registered for school.
All that is what I did last week for my first job… it was limited because I’m between classes in school right now, so I didn’t have homework to do and I didn’t mention the time I spent at home working on two upcoming webinars and two presentations that I’ll be doing in Saint Louis at the NAGW conference. I also didn’t get into what goes on at home, with a 15 year old son and a boyfriend and two dogs – all of which depend on “Mom”. All that aside, this is what I do in a fairly typical week at the Missouri River Regional Library.

Categories
Web 2.0

The week in Tweets

  • Lunch with @mstabbycat, @xorpheous & my family! (@ On the Border Mexican Grill) http://4sq.com/bYjdny #
  • @MarcDrummond *blushing* Thanks, Marc – I'm looking forward to seeing you again!! #nagw2010 in reply to MarcDrummond #
  • Yesterday was a bust (too much soccer fun the day before) so my #libday5 contributions will be for today… #
  • Came in early to reboot and restart VPN access from our branch to our main library, open the PCC & then check email/FriendFeed #libday5 #
  • Pressing emails (MLA CIT-SIG vols, branch VPN and webinar info for September) taken care of, now time to clean and open the PCC #libday5 #
  • Fixed a printer issue, counted money and cleaned & turned on PCs for start of day in the PCC. #libday5 #
  • Spending my extra few minutes b4 we open this morn finding reading material for my Dec. TechSource webinar. #libday5 #
  • The library is open & folks are streaming in to use our PCs! I've also cleaned up an old profile off of the domain, while I'm here #libday5 #
  • Still working the desk – no questions yet! I did fix a print separator page issue for someone though… #libday5 #
  • Finally! I got questions! Helped someone get to their email and told someone that they couldn't log on because of fines #libday5 #
  • Another question (people just needed to wake up, apparently) about word processing & printing. #libday5 #
  • After another 2 questions (email and PCC policies on time extensions), it's time for me to be off the desk. Brunch!! #libday5 #
  • Soccer Buds [pic] http://ff.im/omn1Z #
  • I consulted with the OPAC guy on a problem, ate lunch and dealt with invoices. Now I'm back on the PCC desk after a chat with Nikki #libday5 #
  • Only one question so far from the PCC (another fine issue), reading @griffey's tech trends and considering… #libday5 #
  • @lilaclee Absolutely – we cleared a huge backlog of fines when we put a limit on the amount of money they can owe & still use the PCs! in reply to lilaclee #
  • A question about our scanner, 2 new cards needing PINs and I spent some quality time with my GReader #libday5 #
  • I've set up more PINs, answered a phone question about USB drives, helped with 2 printing projects and *shushed* some loud talkers #libday5 #
  • I just helped a man who had never used a mouse with a Yahoo! solitaire game to improve his mouse skills. We have a waiting list! #libday5 #
  • Assisted lady with printing *only* what she wanted, grabbed an old Excel class sheet to start working on a new one for the patrons #libday5 #
  • Finished outline of Excel presentation and now I'm off the desk for the day. Time to check on some computer issues & go home #libday5 #
  • In early again after dropping the boy off for band practice – checking email and phone messages now, getting ready for the day #libday5 #
  • Fixed issue with online incident reports not showing dates – permissions issue in custom content type for Drupal. #libday5 #
  • Starting work on the slidecast for Charlotte Hubbard's podcast interview from last week, since it's still relatively quiet here. #libday5 #
  • Pausing in my work on the slidecast to attend the monthly Management Team meeting. #libday5 #
  • Finished the slidecast (found at http://bit.ly/d7EAuu) and now on to a conversation with MORENet about new firewall configs. #libday5 #
  • Firewall configuration conversation interrupted by a talk to police about a patron issue. Email sent to MORENet finishing the talk #libday5 #
  • Charlotte hubbard http://ff.im/oqiY2 #
  • I've cleared my "daily" folder in Greader and mostly caught up on my email. time to grab lunch at my desk (working lunch today…) #libday5 #
  • Lunch eaten and I've caught up on FriendFeed & sent my bio for the WJ webinar in Sept. Next up – Excel screenshots for class #libday5 #
  • Excel Ppt is finished, with a pause to discuss the patron from this morn (screenshot of her tweets req'd), now professional reading #libday5 #
  • @drupalninja I think so – i'm using a date field in 2 different content types and it works OK for me! #drupal in reply to drupalninja #
  • If you don't measure, you can't analyze. if you don't analyze, you can't improve – Lars Johansson (Website magazine) #
  • Interesting idea – make staff justify Office upgrades, now that they have access to Google Docs. Upgrade only those that need it! #
  • I've killed off 3 of the many, many magazines in my "to-read" pile on my desk and am now going to catch up on email and feeds! #libday5 #
  • Reading http://bit.ly/aKMa03 #libday5 #
  • Off today at 3 and am heading to KC for dinner with @kendrak, @mstabbycat, @xorpheous & Royce Kitts. Off most of tomorrow, too! #libday5 #
  • On the road to KC (again) for dinner out with library peeps! #
  • Dinner with Royce, Tab, Doug & Kendra! Excellent food & even better conversation. (@ Blue Koi w/ @mstabbycat) http://4sq.com/cRpKBn #
  • Yummy coffee!! (@ JavaNaut w/ @mstabbycat) http://4sq.com/4xenid #
  • Went to MORENet for the firewalls and got 'em, now on the Circ desk, giving people something to do over the weekend #libday5 #
  • @joshuamneff She's still there! Of course, she's probably finishing up at the Nelson now and getting ready to head to the airport… in reply to joshuamneff #
  • I have checked out LOTS of books, helped 2 people get cards, sold some .25 cent paperbacks and made LOTS of folks happy 😉 #libday5 #
  • In to work early again today – checking Twitter and FF while waiting for my PC to load default tabs in both browsers I use. #libday5 #
  • RT @laurasolomon: It's Sys Admin Appreciation Day. Quit bugging your sysadmin for 5 mins and bring him/her #caffeine http://bit.ly/11jQ6q #
  • Read @kgs's take on the OCLC thing, got a staff member's GCalendar working again, posted meeting minutes to staffweb #libday5 #
  • Wrestled email into submission, still working on that daily GReader folder, but I have faith… #libday5 #
  • Took short break to add some items to RTM shopping list and to place order for 32G 3G+WiFi iPad #libday5 #
  • Email sent about tech support for state conf, WordPress sites checked (need to post soon to one of them), squee'd a bit at iPad. #libday5 #
  • Working on an upcoming presentation for a bit, then lunch, then PCC desk at Noon. #libday5 #
  • On the desk – created a PIN, got someone some scratch paper, pulled up my email to work between patrons. #libday5 #
  • Created a couple more PINs, provided a phone book to a patron, helped 2 patrons print & sent one to get a card. #libday5 #
  • I also found out that my Sept workshop is up and ready for registration! http://bit.ly/arE5Ox – it's with @baldgeekinmd and will be awesome! #
  • Helped a man list an ad on Craigslist, had a talk with a lady about paying attention to her crying baby and did some prof reading #libday5 #
  • Looked for a cooking mag we don't have, found the recipe online for a patron, sent out an email about firewall switch on Mon. morn. #libday5 #
  • Little old lady who *always* needs help in PCC came & went without probs. Happy dance for teachable patrons!! #libday5 #
  • Fixed a computer problem, asked a cell phone user to move (talking where the entire convo was echoing thoughout the PCC) #libday5 #
  • @WeatherZach SEVERE TSTM WATCH for most of MidMO until 9pm-I love Thunderstorms! I hope it's really thunderboomy!!! With no damage, natch… #
  • @mstephens7 have kids? That's what I did… in reply to mstephens7 #
  • Created lots of PINs, got bandaid for kid whose knuckles were bleeding (hope that wasn't a fight), found sprint txt email address #libday5 #

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Categories
Web 2.0

The week in Tweets

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links for 2010-07-22

links for 2010-07-21

Categories
31

links for 2010-07-15

Categories
Web 2.0

Tech Set Books Available!

The Tech Set books have been published – including mine, on Twitter, FriendFeed and Tumblr (Microblogging and Lifestreaming in Libraries, to be precise). I got my author copies yesterday and was just silly for at least an hour with the thought that I was holding my book in my hands… Anyway, the books are being shipped if you’ve pre-ordered and are available for ordering if you haven’t!

Categories
Web 2.0

IT preventing work?

I just returned from the Social Media In Government conference in Dallas where I made the statement during my presentation that IT’s job is to support the work that the staff of an organization does. If IT is blocking access to work-related tools (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and actively getting in the way of folks who are trying to use these tools for business purposes, then they aren’t doing their jobs. Our job, as IT folks, is to provide access to the network resources that folks need, while also keeping that network safe. If the network accepts emails and web pages, then there is no excuse to not allow Facebook, YouTube and Twitter traffic (bandwidth considerations for YouTube, especially, aside). Of course, I should also stress that it is important for staff members to “surf safe” – clicking on every dubious link and not staying informed about what is happening in the tools that you use for work is not terribly professional – but IT should not be standing in the way.
I enjoyed the conference – the folks who attended were amazing and smart and doing really cool things – and then I came back home to this article: 96% Of Indian Firms Prohibit Social Networks At Work. That’s the attention-grabbing headline. What got me, though, was the first sentence:

Cisco recently released figures that show that roughly half (52%) of IT decision makers say their company has a policy prohibiting use of social media applications or collaboration tools.

Collaboration tools, too? Seriously? Ugh. I come from IT – I understand the urge to protect the network and keep the bad guys out – but that has to balance with giving staff the tools to do their work – and I’m seeing way more terrified IT folks blocking everything than I am diligent IT folks allowing what is necessary and keeping their virus definitions updated, their user base educated and their staff working the way they need to work.

Categories
Web 2.0

The week in Tweets

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