IT knows all!

I was doing my morning browse amongst the 'What's New' of blog stacks when I came across "What's Your Dewey", posted to Hedgehog Librarian. I tried it myself.

Here are the results. Pretty damned close, too, especially the 'nerd' bit. Myself, I think I tend more towards 'geek' personally....

LegLib's Dewey Decimal Section:

519 Probabilities & applied mathematics

LegLib = 905614 = 905+614 = 1519

Class:
500 Science

Contains:
Math, astronomy, prehistoric life, plants and animals.

What it says about you:
You are fascinated by the world around you, and see it as a puzzle worth exploring. You try to understand how things work and how you can make them better. You might be a nerd.

And...

LegLib's Dewey Decimal Section:

187 Epicurean philosophy

LegLib's birthday: 2/21/1966 = 221+1966 = 2187

Class:
100 Philosophy & Psychology

Contains:
Books on metaphysics, logic, ethics and philosophy.

What it says about you:
You're a careful thinker, but your life can be complicated and hard for others to understand at times. You try to explain things and strive to express yourself.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

OK, if you actually try this out with "LegLib", you will discover the results are slightly different. This was done to protect the privacy of the innocent librarian. Regardless, the results for LegLib were 549 and 187. Not bad, huh? Like my IT guy says, "Technology can do everything. It will eventually replace the need for librarians, too."

I have another IT story for you, but it will have to wait a wee bit. I have to go now to set a bear trap outside the IT guy's door. No, actually, my new library is nearing completion and there's a tonne to do. I was so shagged out yesterday that I actually went straight to bed when I got home from the office. It was 8pm! Now, which is worse, the 12-hour day, or in bed by 8pm?

Today's a big day. Enjoy!

The Job Search Continued....

During the past seven days, I've submitted ten application packages to professional librarian postings within Canada. An additional five packages will be submitted by month's end, based upon current postings. Also, I am preparing packages for international positions located in the US, UK and France. The tally of packages submitted over the past three-month period is 60-odd.

I'm keeping on top of this job search monster despite the surprises and disappointments experienced recently. Indeed, recent feedback from one interview stated ... yes, stated ... that I am not employable because I am not currently employed. Apparently, it's about "Hiring on the fly" and it's all the new HR rage. You see, a company wants what another company already has. If one is not with a company, then another company doesn't want you.

Other feedback indicated that, due to my 3-month lack of full-time employment, (yes, I maintain a PT position as a Reference Librarian), my skills are now too rusty and I require additional academic time to bring my skills up to date. I believe this plays into the "Hiring on the fly" trend in HR. (Yes, I agree that maintaining currency is vital to our work. Indeed, as a professional in my field, I actively strive to remain current within and beyond my profession. After all, this is my profession. I am a professional librarian.)

This is a frustrating experience.

What are your experiences, insights, suggestions, observations?

The Quick Fix

Business is based upon the timely analysis and application of relevant and precise information. With this in mind, how are financial shortfalls resolved in the corporate world? With responsible consideration, foresight ... and due consideration afforded the on-site information professional, of course.

CFO: "We're in financial trouble."

Executive Office: "Why?"

CFO: "Because we've mishandled our accounts. We don't have enough money."

Executive Officer: "It's time to get rid of unnecessary expenses. What do you suggest?"

CFO: "Stop the daily flower delivery; delay staff paycheques; close the library and fire the librarian. You know, the 'frills'."

Executive Officer: “What ever. Do it.”

It's true. It happened on Friday. I see elements of Slippery Slope or even Avalanche happening here. With such responsible consideration and foresight, it's no surprise the corporate debt goes unpaid.

Incidently, as I write this, I've received a call from the company asking that I come to negotiate an independent contract for my services. Now, as an independent contractor, do I wish to enter into an agreement with a company that exhibits an inability to honour its financial responsibilities?

I'll write a bit more about it in the coming days. In the meantime, this librarian has resumes to prepare.

Which kind of librarian are you?

This morning I read fellow blogger Library Bitch’s posting entitled Check The Meaning, in which he shares an astute perspective of the current state of morale in libraries. Via this short response, I wish to note that his observation is one with which I agree. Whether "Petty Fiefdoms" or "Empire Building", call it what you will, I suspect that the ongoing resistance to change observed in libraries comes down to the individual's need to feel secure in a profession experiencing high flux.

Historically, librarians have been the keepers of the books, those rare and valuable tomes of knowledge. A challenge to the librarian's position has arisen over the past years in the form of computer technology, most markedly when the kid with an IT diploma from the corner community college was determined by accountants and CFOs to provide a greater and more identifiable return on investment than that provided by the librarian. Return On Investment, folks. This is business, at all levels of librarianship, and our profession is scrambling to maintain, if not re-define or create our place within the professional information field.

Some librarians identify the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skill base to better meet challenges, to personal, professional and client/patron benefit. They are moving outward, beyond the traditional roles recognized within librarianship. Other librarians recoil from opportunity, entrench and defend an antiquated approach that is no longer wholly relevant to our profession, our business, or our client/patron relationship. The world is changing; so must our profession to maintain relevance.

I don't know the cause or understand this almost ‘parochial’ smugness to which LB refers. However, I do understand the several violent slaps I received from established, old school librarians when I entered professional librarianship.

Indeed, I was once told by a head research librarian in mid-2006 to not use email to deliver requested research reports as attachments to clients (though the clients requested such), but rather to use a fax machine. In weaker moments, the head research librarian confided a limited knowledge and understanding of computers, stating that they made her “feel uncomfortable”. She was greatly disturbed by my use of current technology to maximize client service, and chose to convene a committee of senior librarians to review options for document delivery. Eventually, the ‘new’ technologies already employed by myself and other research librarians were formally adopted into library document delivery policy; however, I was (very) strongly reprimanded by the head research librarian.

Since then, I have been informed by insiders that I threatened the position of the head research librarian with my knowledge of current information sources, technologies and practices, and ... most unbelievably ... because I am male. My star was rising too quickly and I had come to the positive notice of the powers-that-be; 'noted in dispatches', as it were. Also, because I am male and knowledgeable, confident, well-spoken, well-dressed ... aka 'professional' ... clients assumed I was the manager. The situation became untenable, a toxic work environment, and I am no longer with this library as the result of this and several other events of similar nature.

I suspect that many librarians believe, as they "Keep Sentinel at the Gates of Knowledge", that they have an expert knowledge and understanding of the content of the tomes jealously guarded beyond those metaphorical gates. What an unfortunate and presumptuous error! Still, take heart. I recently read a statement by Winston Churchill, made at some time or other, that is useful in maximizing this opportunity to the benefit of our personal and professional endeavours:

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Which kind of librarian are you?

The Corporate Tumult: Comes with Mouth-Breathing Morons & Knuckle-Dragging Idiots

My apologies for the delay in posting a new scribble to this blog. I had to fly out-of-province for some family business. Now that I've returned, I'm in the process of negotiating a contract with my present employer. Things are a wee bit hectic.

However...

There've been some interesting happenings afoot in the professional life of this librarian. Most of it revolves around the misunderstanding of what we librarians contribute to the corporate organisation. Throw in an IT consultant ("I've been coding since the '70s!") who feels that librarians "don't know nothin' about nothin'"; directors who believe that the library/librarian are simply administrative assistants and, in this case, should fall under the direction of the Business Communications department (Isn't that Marketing, etc?); the fumbling micro-management of the 'certified' Communications manager who insists upon hand-held instruction to get his head around this librarian's Master's degree-in-practice before determining what this librarian is to do; and, the CFO who really doesn't "understand why the librarian is involved in any way, shape or form with this company's information. Aren't there serious disclosure issues here? Our secretaries can do the same work for less money!" So let them. (See: Let's set the tone... for a description of my role within the company.)

It's frustrating and I'm looking for a new job, but we're heading into the Holiday and winter months in a professional field that really seems to be drying up in Canada on the best of days. I can see where this is heading, unless the stars are in my corner & I employ some of that professional savvy...

KA-BOOM!!!

I love my work; there's a reason why I became a librarian. However, time & time again it's an uphill battle for basic recognition and respect for our professional contribution. (That's our ongoing 'Library Advocacy' in Pro-Speak.) I know that I'm not the only librarian with such frustrations; librarians meet at the pub for a reason. I'm fast reaching the conclusion that the ROI (yes, 'Return On Investment' in Corp-Speak) is too low to continue with this schlep.

I'll let you know what happens in a day or two. In the meantime, I have a mail merge to do. No one else in-house can figure out MS Outlook and imported Excel address lists. Lucky me, as the result of my efforts towards Information Literacy, I'm now in charge of the company's mail. (The degree of information illiteracy in the corporate sector is stunning.)

LegLib

Recognize my Optical Character, dammit!

Every now & then, we're faced with a day of grunt work. Today, mine is OCRing a stack of e-docs, double quick, to make them searchable within my online document repositories.

A joy of OCRing using Abobe Acrobat 7 is revealed when the documents contain 'renderable text'. This type of text prevents the OCRing process from completing. The quickest solution I've discovered thus far, but one which is highly labour intensive, is to TIFF each document to strip out the problem coding, then re-assembling the doc into .PDF for OCRing. It's dirty and time consuming, but it works. At least I can Batch OCR once all the files are reassembled.

Now, I have 53 contracts of 50 pages each waiting to be processed in the afore-mentioned manner. Time to hire a tech.

A resource I've found useful with this matter is Acrobat for Legal Professionals / Troubleshooting Acrobat OCR. I will retain the homepage link on my sidebar for future interest.

Life as a librarian: "Bringing easy access to you!"

Let's set the tone...

A good friend & colleague, the Library Bitch, suggested that I kick off a blog of my own. The L-Bitch generously went so far as to suggest that I re-post, as my initial posting, a piece I'd previously sent to the Library Bitch blog. So, following that very sage advice, here I go.

With a Bitch of a blessing, I am re-posting that afore mentioned piece. It is as good a place as any to start. Please join in and have your say, too. Above all, let's acknowledge the real knee-knocking chaos, lunacy & idiocy that defines our professional world of supposed order.

Now, without further ado, a bit about myself....


I am a librarian.

The librarian at work: For the past several months I have been building Extranets to house financial and government documents relevant to mergers & aquisitions. This has involved my development of taxonomies and a cataloguing system, according to a foreign government regulatory standard suitable to the materials and circumstance, to facilitate access to a specific user group. I have processed many thousands of documents to date, carefully placing each into refined matrices. I grant user access to the Extranets, monitor activity levels, hand-hold or firefight as necessary, continue to develop new document warehouses and process content as it is presented for my ministrations.

The librarian at home: The house needs to be vacuumed and groceries haven’t been done in weeks. The dining room table has a disassembled computer gathering dust, stacks of magazines and various useless flotsam. The bathroom is gross. My bedroom is a mess, with clothing hanging from chandeliers. The cat is threatening to leave unless things shape up. She motions to the old furball she created and I did not clean up. The furball is collecting dust.

The librarian’s concern: In this seeming balance between the highly structured work environment and the completely disorganized home life, I am aware that some latent obsessive-compulsive trait might be rising within my personality. I recently found myself perceiving cleaning duties at home as I might develop and organize at work. This upsets me deeply.

The librarian’s solution: I will keep my work and personal lives separate: order at work/disorder at home. I will listen to my collection of late-70s UK punk at every opportunity. I will not count stairs as I climb here & there. I will not count the number of black Jettas I see during a walk, nor will I sub-group them into model years. I will not avoid cracks or lines on the sidewalk, but I won’t make a point of avoiding them. I will clean my bathroom, eventually, because it’s just gross. Indeed, I will wash my hands after cleansing the bog, but I am aware that I must avoid doing so repeatedly. However, I will not count the number of times I wash my hands because that will just make the OC fear rise again like so much coffee-stomach bile.

G, I am a librarian ... and it's pissing me off....

(Originally posted to Library Bitch, October 24, 2007 12:15 PM)