Friday 4 December 2009

A Week In the Life - Friday

Woke at 6.20am anxious about the missing USB and thinking through where I would look for it. Decided just to get up and go look for it. Arrived at work at 7.40am and looked everywhere logical with no joy. My manager arrived at 8.20am and together we tore the place apart looking in ridiculous places and eventually found the USB in a very odd place. I'm feeling a bit worried about poltergeists but nonetheless am so relieved that we found the thing! We've agreed that USBs aren't the way forward and I've backed up everything on it.

Left work at 8.50am (I'm on annual leave today) and confused a lot of students who saw me leaving as they were walking in!

Now time to finalise and post this week's blogs and get ready to go to Berlin!

A Week In the Life - Thursday

Opened up at 8.30am. Started with my usual tasks: stats, journals.

Spent the morning on the Circ Desk, inbetween serving users I got some admin jobs done. Contacted The Reading Agency about ordering more diaries, certificates and bookmarks for the Six Book Challenge - we've got 50 places and after 4 days of registration we've got 30 participants already! Looks like my publicity campaign has worked.
Sent round my weekly All Students email bulletin about the week's new journals and newspapers.

One of the English teachers sent round an All Staff and Students email about getting more contributors to the college blog. After speaking with my manager I contacted her about the LRC putting up blog entries on new stock, events, promotions and book reviews. I'm quite keen to push some of our 6 Book Challenge participants to write book reviews that we can put up, I'm also going to speak to some of our keen readers that come in - that's something to work on next week.

Today's Student Assistant came in at 1.15, I sent her to strict shelf tidy in the study centre next door. From the library I kept hearing a lot of noise coming from the study centre and popping in to check she's okay - I think she thinks I'm a bit odd! Also spent time on the desk with her shadowing me.

Sorted out next week's Student Assistant rota after checking that other LRC staff don't have any tasks to add to it, and discussed with my manager what jobs to give the assistant who'll be in tomorrow as I won't be in.

Typed up a set of Till Procedures to go in our new staff shared drive. Adapted one of the info skills powerpoints to make it specific to science for a session we are running next week. Started work on procedure/training notes on cataloguing as there is nothing in place already!

In the evening I had a meeting with the other owners at my block of flats as myself and another owner manage the flats. Stressful stuff. In the midst of it received a text from my boss, the Info Skills USB is missing. Hardly slept for worry.

A Week In the Life - Wednesday

Started work at 9, did my usual tasks (stats, journals etc) while on Circ Desk then started on some admin tasks. Had a good look through my work for Friday and Monday to work out how I'm going to get everything done before I go on leave (I'm going to the Berlin Christmas Markets from Friday-Monday). Looked through the Info Skills presentations that'll we'll be doing next week to check all hyperlinks work. Rescheduled the 6 Book Challenge talk that was missed yesterday for next Tuesday. Finally got our secure LRC staff area set up in the All Staff shared drive - up until now we've been storing work on USB sticks or in our own areas. Have discovered that our IT department respond well to the promise of Fruitellas :)

Spent about 20 mins working one-to-one with a student helping him with his English coursework. This isn't strictly part of my job, but I'm happy to help if I have the time and it's a subject that I'm confident with.

At 11.15 I had a slightly belated induction meeting with the principal and a few other members of staff that started since September.

I left work at 1 and went down to the Online Information Show at Olympia. I was a bit disappointed with it this year to be honest as there was a lot of content management and hardly anything for education. Although I did have an interesting chat with British Standards so I hope they send me some info on their free resources. I also had a chat with the lady at the CILIP stand about chartering - I've been advised to send a CV of what I do in my role as there is some uncertainty whether I qualify to charter. My role doesn't require a library qualification but I undertake work that is usually done by qualified librarians so there is a slight grey area. Hopefully I'll get that done on Friday when I'm on leave.

In the evening my team had a bowling match: I won one, lost one. Not that happy with my own overall pins scores, but it was good to see my team.

A Week In the Life - Tuesday

Started work at 9am. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays the other library assistant is doing the course I've just completed so I'm always happy to see her and hear what's happening.

I did my regular tasks first such as doing yesterday's stats. The post is coming really late at the moment but once it'd arrived I inputted and stamped the journals and took them round the study centres.

I spent most of the morning on the circulation desk unpicking some of the cataloguing problems. We have a situation where a lot of people have been cataloguing over the library's 2 year history - most of them unqualified library assistants with no previous experience of cataloguing and no training. Once we get our LMS update in a few weeks I can really get stuck in with some block changes but for now I'm just trying to unpick a few things. At the moment it isn't a massive problem as we have a small collection and no dedicated OPAC so the only people who search the catalogue are LRC staff, but we're hoping to change this with the Info Skills sessions and getting an OPAC PC in the new year.

Had a group of media student taking pictures in the LRC this morning without asking the manager for consent, or asking consent of the individuals they were photographing (myself included) and refused to delete images when requested. As my BA was Photographic Arts I find it really frustrating when students don't appreciate the ethics around these things. That said we have a digital native/immigrant divide between the staff and students and these students' attitude to questions of privacy and representation reflect that. I had a quiet word with the Learning Mentor for Creative Arts who took the problem back to their teacher - seemed like a more political approach that sending a pointed email to All Staff.

I went to speak to an ESOL class about the 6 Book Challenge at 11.15 but found that the class was cancelled as the teacher wasn't in, which was a shame as I'd psyched myself up!

After lunch a Student Assistant came in to do her rotaed hour so I spent some time with her, showing her the tasks that need doing and spending some time with her shadowing me on the counter. Another Student Assistant came in to make up the hour that he missed last week. These kids are so enthusiastic and efficient that they get the work done in no time at all - sometimes I have to be a bit creative finding something purposeful for them to do!

I was expecting to go to help present Info Skills class at 1.45 but that had to be cancelled. Bit disappointing but we've rescheduled for next Tuesday.

We had an informal team catch up before shutting the library early as we had a larger meeting with the learning mentors
which went well.