Friday, August 07, 2009
Printing Improvements
Instead of making people sign up for computer time to print from their flash drives, why not just let them plug in the flash drives at another computer and send the print job to the printer? If a patron is technically savvy enough to be prepaired with their flash drive ready to print, they won't take any longer at those stations than a patron who needs coaching just to make a reservation.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Was A Me Meme, but is Now a Time Capsule and a Rocketship
This is the kind of draft I find that's over a year old and makes me say, wow, okay, yes, I still feel this way. Although now I've been through two Teen Tech Weeks, presented on Twitter twice, become a semi-official resume helper in our branch. I've angsted over the fact I'm not helping anyone with their website design or the UI on any of the systems we have here. What can I do now? Keep learning new things and keep looking for where I might fit in with my skillset.
I really should go to Computers in Libraries next year but am I just going to be cranky and depressed to be around people with real tech responsibilites?
Do I ask too many questions?
Do I want to make too many improvements?
Do I care too much about the users?
The fact is, I truly believe that successful IT companies (and libraries are companies that deal with information and technology) have those concepts at their core values.
Curiosity, innovation, the end user.
So with much ado, here is the bit of the "Me Meme" I started to answer in March of 2008 but put aside until I could think about it a bit more.
**********************************
How I became a librarian
* Wrote an article in my zine promoting stealing from libraries and was chastized by a friend so bad that I ended up finding out how awesome public libaries are and started volunteering.
* Accepted various paraprofessional jobs for 8 years after graduation and whined about the need for a library school education to do my job.
* Woke up alone in a hotel in SF, hungover and depressed and asked for a sign. The phone rang and Drexel was begging me to apply to their MSIS program.
Why I'm still a librarian
* I'm new to the title
* I love public libraries but am still hoping for something more IT related. To this end I've joined the Young Adult Social Web Committee, helped plan Teen Tech Week, and occasionally remind my trainer in HR that I'd like to be mentored by a librarian that is invovled in IT for the library.
******************'
A few more answers to Why I'm Still A Librarian
* I love the people I work with both at my branch and at the system
* It's way better than being unemployed
* I love organizing events for teenagers like arts and crafts and video game afternoons
* I'm really, really good at remembering book titles and authors
* I can remember a lot of online resources and find answers quickly
* I like that people appreciate what I do
* I love that the little kids appreciate what I do
* I like having a short commute
* I like the hours
* I like being part of the community and being a community resource center
* I like reading books
* I am entertained by the goings on in the branch
I really should go to Computers in Libraries next year but am I just going to be cranky and depressed to be around people with real tech responsibilites?
Do I ask too many questions?
Do I want to make too many improvements?
Do I care too much about the users?
The fact is, I truly believe that successful IT companies (and libraries are companies that deal with information and technology) have those concepts at their core values.
Curiosity, innovation, the end user.
So with much ado, here is the bit of the "Me Meme" I started to answer in March of 2008 but put aside until I could think about it a bit more.
**********************************
How I became a librarian
* Wrote an article in my zine promoting stealing from libraries and was chastized by a friend so bad that I ended up finding out how awesome public libaries are and started volunteering.
* Accepted various paraprofessional jobs for 8 years after graduation and whined about the need for a library school education to do my job.
* Woke up alone in a hotel in SF, hungover and depressed and asked for a sign. The phone rang and Drexel was begging me to apply to their MSIS program.
Why I'm still a librarian
* I'm new to the title
* I love public libraries but am still hoping for something more IT related. To this end I've joined the Young Adult Social Web Committee, helped plan Teen Tech Week, and occasionally remind my trainer in HR that I'd like to be mentored by a librarian that is invovled in IT for the library.
******************'
A few more answers to Why I'm Still A Librarian
* I love the people I work with both at my branch and at the system
* It's way better than being unemployed
* I love organizing events for teenagers like arts and crafts and video game afternoons
* I'm really, really good at remembering book titles and authors
* I can remember a lot of online resources and find answers quickly
* I like that people appreciate what I do
* I love that the little kids appreciate what I do
* I like having a short commute
* I like the hours
* I like being part of the community and being a community resource center
* I like reading books
* I am entertained by the goings on in the branch
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