“What kind of person actually sits down and decides that no one should be allowed to end a sentence with a preposition? Not even decide what ideas you should or shouldn’t talk about, but to actually make rules about what order to put your words in… It’s such an amazing kind of petty tyranny.”
Having a Presidential in prep for the #SOTU
Obviously, academics read professional literature at work. It isn’t so obvious for academic librarians. Even less so for academic librarians without a tenure track.
At MPOW, librarians are eligible for promotion under a process that mimics tenure in everything but name and includes “conducting research [and] developing creative projects”. So it seems only reasonable to spend some at-work time reviewing the professional literature, conference proceedings, recent webinars, etc. Nonetheless, I have trouble sitting in my office (or anywhere else) to read. Too many other things battle for my attention (like students!).
Academic librarians: how do you overcome this feeling?
“Thinking of a library in broader terms, I am reminded of a quotation: that a library is never made, it grows. And putting it in another context: better to inherit a library is to collect one. And those that follow will have the opportunity to make this library grow and how it grows will determine if it is to be a great library or just a good one in a great building.” – Richard Nixon at the dedication of the Bonnie Bell Wardman Library in 1964.
There are some things I’d like change about our reference desk… like the 1-ton Columbian press
APA
LaBeouf, S. [thecampaignbook]. (2014, January 10). In light of the recent attacks against my artistic integrity, I am retiring from all public life. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/thecampaignbook/status/421577950342160384
MLA
LaBeouf, Shia (thecampaignbook). “In light of the recent attacks against my artistic integrity, I am retiring from all public life.” 10 January 2014, 1:43 a.m. Tweet.
Chicago*
LaBeouf, Shia. Twitter post. January 10, 2014, 1:43pm. https://twitter.com/thecampaignbook/status/421577950342160384.
*Not sure on this one, but close enough.
I had a meeting with the person who heads up visitor tours at MPOW to discuss ways the library could make the campus a more welcoming environment. Between now and April, we are in that crucial period between when high school students have received their college acceptance letters and when they will decide which institution to choose (or whether to go at all). It’s also the first opportunity the library has to make an impression on students so if we only get their attention for 60 seconds, I want those 60 seconds to count. I want it to be perfect.
I am starting to become comfortable with the fact that I cannot accomplish everything that needs to be done in the time that I expect it should be done (excepting those action items with deadlines). The devil of productivity has decided to take longer lunch breaks and given me a reprieve from his incessant tapping (“did you do that yet? did you do this yet?”). So I’m more in inclined to spend time chatting with colleagues and my student workers than before and I’d like to think I’m better for it… though I’m told I still come across as “antsy.”
Lemon date scone with coconut milk au lait
Apparently, I am working at the wrong campus. I had 5 students signed up for one of our drop-in workshops on Evaluating Resources this afternoon. No one showed. So while I was killing time, I took a look at the enrolled students’ profiles in the CMS. Turns out they all attend Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa (about an hour away). Some digital detective work discovered that my all-student email went out to both campuses by mistake. It also went out to the Board of Directors of the college… who are welcome to attend, if it please them. =)
