Friday jams (07/10/2015)

Erin:
Yesterday the good people of Toronto made lemonade out of lemons when Animal Services took more than 14 hours to pick up a deceased raccoon from a city sidewalk. They made a makeshift memorial to the raccoon including flowers, candles, and a donation box. Buzzfeed captures the story well, and with a tone befitting such an event. Hat tip to Cecily for pointing me to the story.

Anyway...here's to you, #DeadRaccoonTO

Rachel:
I listen to the same music over and over and over again. As you might imagine from my classic weirdo indie hits on the Jams. I've taken, the past few weeks, to listening to Richard Thompson's Across A Crowded Room, an album from my parents' record collection.  The whole thing is really fantastic and I can't recommend it enough. Richard Thompson may be best known to you from the cover of Oops, I Did It Again that was part of his one-man show chronicling the history of music. (gotta love a man with ambition, right?)  For today's jam, I Ain't Gonna Drag My Feet No More.

In Your Own Back Yard

As I mentioned, I have just recently bought a house and put all of my stuff in the house or adjacent to the house. People keep asking me about the house. I'm always tempted to respond, "it's gonna be great... once I change everything." It's not that the house is bad. The house is entirely serviceable and serves its housely functions admirably for the house it is. I'm telling you, though, I have plans for this place. It's gonna be so great and so amazing and so perfect. When I'm done replacing everything. I mean, everything is possible.

Thing about my grand goals is that there is no way that I can make them all happen at once. I don't have the time or the money or the will to make it all happen right this moment. What I can do is plan, do what I can right now, set the stage for the future. For instance, after I paint and put out the room-sized carpet, I'll feel a lot better and be able to move in. Even that, though, is a temporary solution, because I'm going to have to move everything out to put in the wood floors later. I'm getting new appliances, but I might have to get different things when I remodel the kitchen. Each step, though, each step, even if it seems slightly off direction, is a step toward the goal, toward the Great House which I've got my target on.

The same happens in our organizations. We have great plans for our programs, our institutions, even our organizational culture. It's impossible to take it all out and put in a new one. We work with what we've got, and there are always limitations. But one step at a time we make changes to ourselves, our plans, and the circumstances. I see three main things that I, personally, have to focus on to keep my heart happy and my eyes on the prize.

1) know your capacity
Part of what we have to do to live with what we've got right now is what Erin talked about, knowing what we can and can't do and setting the stage for success where we're able. I (probably) can't fix everything in my house. I really don't want to spend a week in my crawlspace changing the plumbing. But I can make my goals clear to a plumber. I can also talk to the strategic planning committee about what I think would work best for our organization, and let them do the rest.

2) do what you can; track progress
Just because you can't do everything now doesn't mean you can't do anything. It is essential to keep moving forward with intent. Even if you keep running (sometimes literally) into walls. Take small steps. When things go exactly like you'd planned they'd go in the ideal library, shout for joy and tell the world. When I finish the new deck you know I'm having a big big party. Look at what we've done, how far we've come. More to go, but much has been done.

3) be patient
Things. Take. Time.
You can't do everything. You are one person. You have to sleep.
I remind myself constantly to be patient with, well, everything.
People take time, thinking takes time, changing takes time. Figure out how to work on it in a way that builds, but also builds capacity for more change. Figure out how to reward yourself or your organization for the progress you've made. Know that you can only do so much, and that that is okay. Because if you fail trying to do too much, you're further behind than when you started and heartbroken too. So do what you can. And take a deep breath.

I found myself staring at the piles of things in my garage for who knows how long the other day. I have almost no idea how I'm going to get to the house I see in my mind from what exists in reality. I know that I will get there, though, because I mean to. It will take a while, but it is starting now, and I get to be here to watch it happen.

Keep Rockin'
Rachel

The best you can is good enough

I recently began my year-long tenure as Chair of the Continuing Resources Section of ALCTS. I am really excited about this opportunity and l hope we can produce programs and initiatives that are relevant to your interests, dear reader.

There are a bunch of committees, interest groups, and award juries that work in the Section. And as Section Chair, I'm ultimately responsible for the work those groups produce. The way I figure it, the buck stops with me. As the Section Chair, I feel like it's my job to provide those volunteering in CRS the support and resources they need to be successful. But it's also my job to step away after I've done that and let them do the work they want to do, trusting that the volunteers I placed are capable of doing amazing things.

When the buck stops with you, it's easy to feel the pull toward inserting yourself in every. last. detail. of whatever process you're responsible for. And the tighter the deadlines, the more it feels like it would be easier to do a job yourself than delegate it to other people.

In some ways, I don't think that pull toward micromanagement isn't as different in cataloging as it is in leadership.

We often pull records into the local catalog from the national database and begin tinkering with the metadata because it isn't recorded in a way that suits us. We reformulate notes or change capitalization because we want a record to look pretty, even though the majority of the fields in metadata records are formulated in such a way that they can be indexed by our library software.

Shana McDanold blogged about this topic back in April and I think her advice is sound. When editing metadata records locally, put your efforts into fixing what is wrong and adding value in the form of controlled data elements. Tinkering with records to "make them pretty" should be given lowest priority.

I think catalogers feel a pull toward editing records because we feel that what we put in our local library software reflects on us. The buck stops with us, and we want the metadata we present to our users to be of the highest quality. Accepting records that do not contain incorrect information as-is gives us more time to add value to those records or, if no value can be added, focus on creating metadata records for resources that have no records. And I think that uncovering hidden collections is one of the most compelling pieces of value that a cataloging department can add to a library.

I attended a pre-conference at ALA Annual about real world applications of linked data. Our first speaker, Jenn Riley, talked about this desire to locally tinker with metadata. In the linked data world, libraries will be linking to data that we didn't create. And we won't have the option of tinkering with that data to make it "pretty." So, as Rachel reminded us back in April, you have to get used to this.

In my role as CRS Chair, I have committed to not micromanaging my Section's volunteers. I will give them everything they need to be successful and then give them the space to be awesome. I'm certain it won't be easy, but it's what I've committed to do. I will also make sure I am not micromanaging metadata. I will fix errors and add value and then move on. Maybe you would consider joining me?

Stay positive,
Erin

Housekeeping (7/2/2015)

Happy New Year!

Erin is busy recovering from the ALA Annual Conference, and preparing for her rule of terror as Chair of the Continuing Resources Section of ALCTS. (look, it is for real).

I am busy moving house and wrapping up fiscal close at work, and have literally no thoughts to spare.

Other than this one:
Please fill out the Librarianship and Critical Theory Learning Community interest form. You know, if you're interested in the Librarianship and Critical Theory Learning Community. Otherwise cool. I'm really excited about it and thinking really hard about it and am probably going to post a thing about it soon.

Until Then:

THURSDAY JAMS

Friday Jams! (6/26/2015)

It's Rachel today, I've been designated to provide you some #alaleftbehind jams.

Did you know that I purchased a house yesterday? yes indeed. I'm excited to chop down a tree this weekend. Thankfully, there is a tree that needs chopped down so it won't be in vain.

This is what ALA attendees don't want to know. Life is great when you're gone at ALA. So much catching up on email and just not being interrupted by colleagues. So much of it.

And now, our jams.

Jam the first:

Jam the second:

Jam the third, generally referred to as the "Bonus" Jam:

OMG IT'S NEW ROBYN THAT ERIN TOLD ME ABOUT EARLIER LOOKOUT

Communities of Being Awesome

I came home from ACRL with a huge reading list. I have a huge reading list in my twitter favs. I engage in discussions about all kinds of things knowing I don't have the appropriate technical or theoretical background to have really solid positions. I worry about what to do to address all of this reading. If I just try to tackle it on my own, I know I don't get the fullest measure of learning out of my reading -- I have no one to challenge me. If I try to tackle it on my own, it stacks up in the upper left hand corner of my desks -- at home and at work.

What we go on and on about here at the Unified Library Scene is that (1) everything is about relationships and (2) we're not alone. So the solution to taking knowledge and integrating it into my work life and personal life is... people. together.

Anthropologists who like to study that kind of thing are already on it. The idea of a community of practice introduced by Lave & Wegner in 1991 and has spread broadly because it is such a helpful framework. You know it's our jam because Erin's list of exciting sessions at ALA Annual is a good set of examples of communities of practice. So is your technical services happy hour or your weekly lunch with instruction colleagues. These groups share expertise and provide social and professional support to new professionals. Another type of community of practice that I'm a part of is a recently formed reading group formed by some folks who attended the session Sustainable organizational change: It's about the people at ACRL15, and based on the presenters' reading list provided. We'll read together and apply together within our organization.

A related idea is a Learning Community, which focuses on a more academic setting, setting up a course-like structure but operating in a similar way to a community of practice, with an express goal of praxis. I'm into the idea of reflective practice in all kinds of learning environments, so these ideas really resonate with me.

What happened was that the very excellent and wonderful Derrick mentioned learning about queer theory, race, and identity as it relates to librarianship. You and me both! With that reading list I brought home, with all of the times I feel like I should already know about some theorist a #critlib poster is talking about, with all of that, we need a team to get ourselves up on it! Then the very excellent and wonderful Emily Drabinski mentioned the Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies Colloquium in April 2016, and I thought this is amazing. See, especially with a focus, we can learn together, drive some real ideas for application, and then party together with our awesome ideas. IN VANCOUVER! After the Colloquium, we'll have an opportunity to pick a new focus and new target.

So, I put a little form together to see if folks are interested and I named the group the Librarianship and Critical Theory Learning Community. Fill out the form if you're interested in joining us. There's already a lot of interest and I've got a million thoughts on how to make LCTLC a space that is safe and welcoming and just exactly what each person in it needs at that moment.

We'll build a reading list together, choose focus together, and generally be a Community of Awesome Librarians. A Community of Awesome Librarians is interested in Becoming More Awesome, and Building the Unified Library Scene.

Keep Rockin!
Rachel

Housekeeping (06/24/2015)

A couple of random things...

Thing #1:
Rachel is organizing a learning community. The Librarianship and Critical Theory Learning Community will organize its learning around various themes, the first one of which is Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies.

If critical theory and learning in community are your jam, indicate your interest via this online form.

I won't write more about this in case Rachel decides to blog about it.

Thing #2:
I'm headed to ALA Annual in San Francisco tomorrow. I am always a bundle of nerves the day before I travel and today is no exception.

If you're San Francisco-bound, I'd love to say hello. The best way to find me is to send me a friendly 'Where are you?' tweet. I'm @erinaleach.

A couple of programs I'm looking forward to:
Telling your story: why technical services matters:
http://alaac15.ala.org/node/29756

Cataloging and Classification Interest Group (featuring Emily Drabinski and Amber Billey talking about gender and RDA):
http://alaac15.ala.org/node/29207

And a couple of programs I'm involved in:
ACRL Undergraduate Library Section's Mid-Level Manager Discussion Group (I'm co-presenting with Michelle Millet on strategies to engage disengaged and difficult staff):
http://alaac15.ala.org/node/29407

Creative Ideas in Technical Services Interest Group (I'm the IG Chair):
http://alaac15.ala.org/node/29217

If you're ALA Annual-bound, what are you excited about? What programs have I missed?

Stay positive,
Erin