Internet access and blogging

Sorry about the lack of blog upkeep, the problem ought to be solved by Thursday which is when I have been Promised, nay guaranteed, that I will have my internet installed at home, finally.

If you've been wondering what's been keeping me so busy, it's work..I've been continuing with the marathon of instruction, my final class to teach is this Friday, and then that's it...until next term that is.

I've also been working here and there on my own little project, which is, you guessed it...another blog.

I'm crazy, but this one is for my students and my departments and people seem to be responding well:

Carleton Library: Art History, English, Comp lit & Philosophy Blog

http://carletonlibrarian.wordpress.com/

When I have more time, I'll post more mundane details of my life here in o-town, I promise!

~ Michelle

Ottawa Librarian Education

For those with an interest in the capital region, or in library school....

OttawaU has posted its webpage for their Soon-to-be-approved, brand spanking new MIS program: Master's in Information Studies, University of Ottawa

~ Michelle

a post mostly about furniture

I got a love seat/couch/seating for my living room area, this is what it looks like, only it's a 2 seater:



I also finally got a bookshelf, liberating my books from the piles on the floor, it is not exciting looking, white, 3 shelves.

I'm definitely settling in and I've decided that I will embrace the snow, as far as my deck at least, I plan to build a snowman, or snow family depending on the winter we have, on my deck, for my and my neighbour's amusement.

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Wet snow today, not my favourite at all. My hair gets all fluffy when it dries out and I'm already experiencing the glasses fog ups.

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Work ought to even out...by Dec...busy isn't the word...and there is so much waiting for me on Monday...I shall deserve my Christmas break this year.

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~ Michelle

dispatches from ottawa

I have moved into my new place, I'm not unpacked yet but it's getting there; the kitchen is fully functional and I have a place to sleep.

I really like it a lot, it's cozy and just the right size for me, I think.

I have a few things to get: a proper bed, bookshelf and cable/internet.

Also, food, this is the current state of my refrigerator:



I had eggs for dinner, quel surprise.

But, I do have my tea all lined up and set out:



Don't be fooled, that timmies coffee tin = full of tea.

My street is quiet and quite nice, lots of old houses the kind with original stained glass in the windows and I'm just a block or two away from Elgin st, which has a bunch a shops and places to eat.

I'm also a 4 min walk from the canal, which is quite picturesque:



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Work is good, I have instruction tomorrow and then a bonanza of it next week, I shall be a pro before October is out.

A co-worker and I have been bouncing around ideas for a paper, which is kinda exciting, I'll keep you posted if that comes to be.

Students have started to come in and ask for me, which is great, it means the word is out that I am around and willing to help; each of these interactions teaches me something different.

I continue to order books, happily.

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Ottawa is getting cooler, but I have all my coats and scarves here now, so I can bundle accordingly. I need to go exploring in my neighbourhood downtown a bit, talk a few walks so I can see what is around.

I do also need to give the athletics center a try, there has just been so much to do and frankly, the gym always takes last place.

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I will post more photos of my apt and my deck as it comes together..thanks for all the good wishes...once I get my internet at the apartment, I'll be much more communicative. :)

~ Michelle

gypsy no more

Have an apartment, *finally*, it's in a lovely location, and is very cute. It's a walk-up on the 3rd floor of a converted house, and I have a rooftop deck. Apparently, I'm going to be living in a neighbourhood called the 'golden triangle', so either it'll be really classy, or all my belongings will mysteriously disappear ala Amelia Earhart.

We'll see. I move on Saturday (should all go according to plan) and will be unpacked sometime..next week maybe...hopefully.

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Having been doing lots at work; I have been doing a great deal of collection development work, looking into ordering for my subject areas, replacing books, working with my approval plan and looking at our special collections as we have quite a depth of resources in art history and french revolutionary subject matter.

I've had three instruction sessions now, I think I'm getting better, and more experienced as I go and the end of October will be quite full.

I do feel like I've helped a few students every time and I have been working with a few students individually on their own projects and that has been very rewarding.

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That's all for now.

~ Michelle

Happy Oct or 'Instruction Month'

Scholarly books, with a collection of essays or articles that do not contain an index of any kind really, really irritate me.

I am 'detail-oriented' to a degree at which I was unaware until now.

The 'Did you mean...?' search result in a library catalogue is mourned when one is without it; this clearly illustrates my own personal googlefication and/or googledoctrination.

When a database has really good subject searching and/or an excellent thesaurus function, it honestly makes me pretty happy, because in the end, it will make everyone's life just a little bit easier.

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Yesterday, at a seminar, I learned that dealing with anger and conflict in clients is really just a matter of tone, body language and vocabulary.

We also chatted about the difference between sympathy and empathy, which is interesting since I was just having the same discussion in my non-work life the other day.

It's important yo know your anger triggers, one of mine in particular is lack of respect for my position or me, because of my apparent youth, also calling me names = not cool; I'm also not a fan of chaotic disorder, and people who are closed off and unwilling to to hear anyone else's opinion or side of things.


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To read: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey

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I have resigned myself to the fact that I will be moving in Nov, since A) Today is Oct 1st and B) I want a half decent place. And so the search continues.

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I have, approx 15 sessions to teach this month, powerpoint is about to become a very close friend.

~ Michelle

Passing thoughts about the library

Library Notes:

* RefWorks can be really clunky. It is not the most glamorous interface and not especially intuitive. Write N' Cite also sometimes feels like more work than manually typing out citations.

* Book covers are lovely and it's a shame we can't preserve them at the academic library, along with the book.

* Library lingo always needs translation.

* Students are kinda afraid of the library.

* Comparative Literature does not get its fair share of love in the academy; Academe’s stepchild (University Affairs).

* Libraries will never be paperless.

~ Michelle

New librarian checks in

Whew, it's been quite the week, I've been working away.

Instruction

I had my first teaching experience on Tuesday, I did an instructional session about the library, the catalogue and our databases, for 1st year English students.

It was a bit nerve wracking but I made it through just fine, some of them looked a little tired and/or bored but I had to remind myself that not Everyone gets jazzed about keyword searching and it was 4pm. :P

The prof had positive feedback for me and I think there were definitely quite a few students who were going to follow up with what I had taught them.

My powerpoint went off without a hitch, the projector worked and my live searching was quick and painless (I had nightmares of slow or non-functioning internet, even though I of course, had back-ups).

I've got lots of requests for more sessions from other profs in all my subjects, with one class asking for 12 sessions. I'll be keeping busy and I think it will be easier to put together presentations now that I can adapt the one I've already made.

Collection Development

I've been ordering books! I've already ordered on three special/Rush requests, I am looking at a limited edition print of a well-known Canadian author tomorrow and I ordered books to complete our collection of Giller Prize short listed books for the last 4 years.

It's a strange feeling being able to order with my 'discretion', this responsibility thing can be kinda fun from time to time.

Reference

I haven't been on the desk much, I am shadowing right now, and once I do get out there, in a month or so, it will be quite different, simply because Carleton has one library with Every discipline, where Mac had 4. There are also a few subject areas I've never dealt with before, like Architecture and Industrial Design.

Things I'm learning:

I sit funny at my desk and my back kinda hurts.

Collection Development is a lot about instinct.

Kids today, they want everything to be searchable, with tags and possibly tag clouds.

Librarying, means a lot of paper work and emailing.

Buses are always the same, in every university town.

No one knows what to call the librarian "um...miss librarian...um."

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The housing hunt is still ongoing, will update when there is more to tell.

~ Michelle

Day Two

Hi again,

I've been working as a capital L Librarian for two full days now, which gives me enough material for a blog post.

I have a cube, I've never had one before, I have 3 and 1/2 sorta walls!

I will also have business cards And a big timey name plate for the front of my cube!

My computer and phone are all set up, although no one has called me yet and I spent a little time personalizing the computer today.

I've been learning a lot, tons of info coming at me about procedures, the building, the staff and today, collection development.

I learned about approval plans (which means, basically, that books are purchased automatically for each subject area and sent to the library, the other side of that are slips, which come for potential books in each subject area, which each librarian reviews and decides to purchase for the library or not).

So, sometime soon, I'll be spending some library money.

I also have my first instruction session on Tuesday, which will involve teaching the library resources to 1st year students from one of my subjects...I'm a bit nervous, but it will be very introductory, which is nice.

I'll have to decide on a really good 'librarian outfit' for that day.

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Ottawa is cold, already!

Sweaters!

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The buses in Ottawa are almost exactly the same as the buses in Hamilton, full of students, standing room only...more about that in the future.

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I have discovered the secret of Carleton, not only do they have an intricate tunnel system, which will be very handy in the winter months, but it is the kingdom of the neverending staircases.

I will be fit as a fiddle in only a couple months!

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Food variety seems pretty good on campus, I've sourced out the best spots for tea already.

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I'm still looking for a place, but may have some potentials, I'll keep you updated.

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Big difference between Mac and Carleton, all the disciplines are in one place at Carleton, and there are quite a few departments/specialties that we did not have at Mac, so there will be a learning curve there in terms of the desk.

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Today I also learned about SmartLibraries, which is a partnership in the Ottawa area of libraries and museums sharing their resources, basically, if you are a patron in good standing, at say, OPL, you can get a card to borrow at Ottawa U, or Carleton and can view the collections at places like the Museum of Civilization.

This is a great consortia project.

More about it on their website: SmartLibraries

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That's all for now, thanks for reading!

~ Michelle

Housing Update

Alright, that might be a misnomer, as there is still currently no housing.

The new plan:

Stay with my very kind and generous friend who lives in O-town, while I start work and continue to look for housing.

I start next Tuesday, September 9th. I'm hoping I'll be able to find something before the month is out and until then, it is bunking in a lovely guest room, with my clothes, hairbrush and computer. :)

This means I won't have updated contact info for a while yet, but I am still always available online. I'll keep this blog updated as much as possible through my search, oh and that new job of mine.

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Currently, I am figuring out what to pack..

Work Clothes - yes
Complex tea set-up and accoutrement - no

I'm also doing my 'so long for now' visits...as I am not going forever, or even leaving the province.

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Until next time.

~ Michelle

Well, hello, welcome *waves*

Hi, I'm Michelle and I'm a Librarian...

"Hi Michelle. The first step is admitting it."

Just Kidding!

I have a couple other blogs, but I was thinking, why not throw another one into the mix to intrigue, and annoy, my readers??

Also, it came to my attention, that my other blogs can sometimes be..absurd? random? strange?

And so, I've created the Capital *L* Librarian to talk about my adventures, specifically as a librarian, in the "capital region"..omigoodness..I'm so clever. ;)

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Beginning of the journey:

Finding an apartment.

I have not yet.

The End.

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I promise this blog will become a much more interesting read very soon.

As I am about to take a position as an academic reference librarian for the next year, I'll do some instruction, reference, collections work and liaison.

I'll be getting back to my undergrad roots by working with the English and Comparative Lit departments, as well as Philosophy and Art History.

Until next time,

Michelle