Funny how life works... frequently, something will come up in one part of my life, and then later that day or week will appear elsewhere. This week, that "thing" was the topic of theory and practice - and I'll add the technology part.
In my student affairs class last week, many of our readings were around the topic of how theory and practice play into each other within higher education. We learn many theories as students in higher education, but then the question is how those are used once we start to practice. Inquiries arise: how do we use theory in practice? Can we? Should we learn theory first and apply it to practice, or wait until an issue comes up to go back to the theory? (You can see how this quickly becomes a "loop"...). So, during the three hours we had to discuss this last Tuesday, our professor decided we should make a collective model of our thoughts on theory-practice. And we did... it was messy, but on the whiteboard, we took turns adding, modifying, editing a model that showed how our class thought of theory and practice, and how we thought both should be used.
I was struck by this model - it was comprehensive, slightly confusing, but surprisingly clarifying. The 11 of us really came together to create something that - while not pretty - incorporated many of the ideas of theory and practice that show how our work can and should use both theory and practice in meaningful ways. So, I took a photo of it on my iPhone, and sent it to the class. Why waste our thoughts by erasing them?
And then... in our staff meeting at work last week, the question arose... would we want to start a "book club" style group to read theoretical articles and discuss how we can use them in our practice? Why, of course! And, why not? It was so exciting to hear the same question that I was pondering in class come up in my workplace. So, I sent the photo of our model to some of my co-workers... connections being made between my theoretical learning and my practical practice.
I've realized in my short time at my job, we use theory in our practice. I've also realized that UM uses theory in its teaching and learning practices all the time. When I first started studying higher education, I wasn't sure how much there was to learn about supporting students and what goes into that. It's a lot. And it's so awesome to see theory play into practice and be able to reflect on how it's helped me become a better student and a better professional within higher education.
Showing posts with label university of michigan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label university of michigan. Show all posts
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Biggest Presentation of My Life
If you've been reading, you know it's been a busy few weeks after teaching two Enriching Scholarship sessions last week, and preparing for what I'm calling the biggest presentation of my life this past Tuesday. Oh, and there's the MLA Technology and Trends Conference presentation tomorrow.
But, this week's post will focus on the biggest presentation of my life. The presentation was the culmination of my 18-month internship experience at the University of Michigan Library as the University Library Associate in the Knowledge Navigation Center. More specifically, the 15-minute presentation discussed my second year project at the Detroit Center where I helped set up meetings, created a Library Research Guide, and laid the groundwork for the collaborative initiative between the UM Library and the Detroit Center.
I have never worked so hard on a presentation. To be honest, for most class presentations, I'd outline my presentation in a Google Doc, then copy, paste and edit the text into PowerPoint. I'd maybe add an image or two, but then I'd read it over, practice maybe once, and give a decent presentation. However, since this was what I considered to be the biggest presentation of my life, I did quite a bit more work, and I think it paid off.
First, I worked to find images that represented my ideas so that I could decrease the amount of text, or remove it all together. This was both fun and meaningful, as I realized that a picture can be worth 1000 words, and that the words were more beneficial to my remembering what to say, than to the audience. Consequently, I realized that if I practiced enough, I didn't need the words on the screen to remind me what to say. What a revelation that was....
Secondly, I practiced. I practiced alone, in front of others -- edited -- alone again -- edited -- one-on-one -- edited -- and then had my supervisor review my presentation -- and edited again. Lots and lots of reviewing, tweaking, editing. And I was still nervous! I had notes printed below my slides, but.... when I got in front of the 60+ library staff members, I found I knew what I was talking about. Not only did I work on the project for 15 or so weeks (and thus, knew what I'd done) but the countless hours I put into the presentation had caused me to know my stuff. Nervous at first, I found that by the end of the short presentation and during the Q & A, I was comfortable speaking and answering questions from the audience.
It was a great lesson learned that putting the greatest amount of work into the biggest presentation of my life was a good idea. And I learned that its much more fun for me, and constructive to the audience, if I add images and edit both the ideas and structure of the presentation. Finally, and this lesson - no matter how many times I learn it - is most important to me... the work is never done and I can always improve what I'm doing. And that is relevant for anything.
You can check out the presentation here, on my website (it's the first bullet).
But, this week's post will focus on the biggest presentation of my life. The presentation was the culmination of my 18-month internship experience at the University of Michigan Library as the University Library Associate in the Knowledge Navigation Center. More specifically, the 15-minute presentation discussed my second year project at the Detroit Center where I helped set up meetings, created a Library Research Guide, and laid the groundwork for the collaborative initiative between the UM Library and the Detroit Center.
I have never worked so hard on a presentation. To be honest, for most class presentations, I'd outline my presentation in a Google Doc, then copy, paste and edit the text into PowerPoint. I'd maybe add an image or two, but then I'd read it over, practice maybe once, and give a decent presentation. However, since this was what I considered to be the biggest presentation of my life, I did quite a bit more work, and I think it paid off.
First, I worked to find images that represented my ideas so that I could decrease the amount of text, or remove it all together. This was both fun and meaningful, as I realized that a picture can be worth 1000 words, and that the words were more beneficial to my remembering what to say, than to the audience. Consequently, I realized that if I practiced enough, I didn't need the words on the screen to remind me what to say. What a revelation that was....
Secondly, I practiced. I practiced alone, in front of others -- edited -- alone again -- edited -- one-on-one -- edited -- and then had my supervisor review my presentation -- and edited again. Lots and lots of reviewing, tweaking, editing. And I was still nervous! I had notes printed below my slides, but.... when I got in front of the 60+ library staff members, I found I knew what I was talking about. Not only did I work on the project for 15 or so weeks (and thus, knew what I'd done) but the countless hours I put into the presentation had caused me to know my stuff. Nervous at first, I found that by the end of the short presentation and during the Q & A, I was comfortable speaking and answering questions from the audience.
It was a great lesson learned that putting the greatest amount of work into the biggest presentation of my life was a good idea. And I learned that its much more fun for me, and constructive to the audience, if I add images and edit both the ideas and structure of the presentation. Finally, and this lesson - no matter how many times I learn it - is most important to me... the work is never done and I can always improve what I'm doing. And that is relevant for anything.
You can check out the presentation here, on my website (it's the first bullet).
Monday, March 19, 2012
Explaining what we do
I have probably not talked much about my current position here, but I do often write about the types of activities in which I participate including outreach and instruction. For me, it's fairly simple to write about one event or class, but the idea of explaining what I do as a whole is slightly more difficult. Compound this with trying to explain what others in my same job do, and we've got a real challenge.
Next week, I'm presenting a poster with some of my colleagues at the School of Information expoSItion, which provides a chance for students to show off a project on which they've worked to potential employers. This can include a class, work, or internship experience and allows students to highlight an important part of their time at the School of Information.
So what do my colleagues and I have in common that is worth presenting? Well, we hope it's the idea of our entire collective experience as University Library Associates (ULA) and the lessons learned from that experience. As ULAs we've all been given the opportunity to work in a professional capacity (part-time) at the University of Michigan Library while completing our graduate studies full-time at the School of Information.
The ULA positions are competitive and require us to manage our time and connect our education with our work experience. The positions require a second-year project, which includes digging into an unknown territory of the library and producing a deliverable (more on that later this spring). The job requires reflection and flexibility, and truly is, I believe, a great way to learn what it is like to work in an academic library.
So, the other current ULAs and I have been working together to find out what our positions really mean for the School of Information, the Library, and for us in our professional development. One of our group members presented on this at a conference (read her reflective blog post here), we're completing a poster for the expoSItion, and our goal is to write a paper on our findings.
It has been an interesting learning process trying to work together to pull our experiences into something that is meaningful and useful for academia and the library field. And it will be great to get reactions on our work from employers and fellow students at expoSItion next week.
Next week, I'm presenting a poster with some of my colleagues at the School of Information expoSItion, which provides a chance for students to show off a project on which they've worked to potential employers. This can include a class, work, or internship experience and allows students to highlight an important part of their time at the School of Information.
So what do my colleagues and I have in common that is worth presenting? Well, we hope it's the idea of our entire collective experience as University Library Associates (ULA) and the lessons learned from that experience. As ULAs we've all been given the opportunity to work in a professional capacity (part-time) at the University of Michigan Library while completing our graduate studies full-time at the School of Information.
The ULA positions are competitive and require us to manage our time and connect our education with our work experience. The positions require a second-year project, which includes digging into an unknown territory of the library and producing a deliverable (more on that later this spring). The job requires reflection and flexibility, and truly is, I believe, a great way to learn what it is like to work in an academic library.
So, the other current ULAs and I have been working together to find out what our positions really mean for the School of Information, the Library, and for us in our professional development. One of our group members presented on this at a conference (read her reflective blog post here), we're completing a poster for the expoSItion, and our goal is to write a paper on our findings.
It has been an interesting learning process trying to work together to pull our experiences into something that is meaningful and useful for academia and the library field. And it will be great to get reactions on our work from employers and fellow students at expoSItion next week.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Creating Campus-Community Connections: The Event
Last Friday was the big event - the event between the Detroit Center and UM librarians. This event aimed to provide a space for in-person explanation of the collaboration possibilities and as a networking event between UM librarians and Detroit Center project leaders.
The event, held at the Detroit Center, did all of that and more. I arrived with my planning colleagues and we started setting up food, laying out placecards at the horseshoe shaped table (strategically placed so that librarians with an expertise would sit by project leaders of that topic), and preparing the little miscellaneous things that come with event planning (do we have cups? what about ice? what if so-and-so doesn't come?).
Finally it was time. The Detroit Center folks arrived first and chatted with one another until they found their seats. The librarians arrived shortly after, said a brief hello to one another and the Detroit Center project managers, and then immediately sat in their suggested place. The UM Outreach Librarian who is leading this effort gave welcoming remarks and then people got food, sat back down, and started networking. It was clear that there were some immediate connections; actually, in most cases it seemed there were.
The conversations appeared, by my observation, lively and engaged. No one seemed to say "why are we here?" or "I'm not sure the library can help me...." Before people were finished eating, the UM Outreach Librarian gave a short presentation on what the Library can provide (including a research guide) and then opened the room up for questions and discussion. This is where my previous assumptions were challenged.
The Detroit Center project managers had great questions, but they weren't - as I had expected - always about library resources such as journals or books. They wanted to know about the services the library could provide, how they could access materials, and they provided suggestions about how the Librarians could assist them. To me, this spoke loudly and clearly to the fact that these individuals see how valuable the library can be. Most of them had used the library previously, but many did not know how to get books sent to the Center, about the possibilities of using the Espresso Book Machine (with the ability to print student work), or Serials and Microforms (where they could view old copies of Detroit and other newspapers) or HathiTrust (where a collection of books about Detroit could be collected).
These were great questions, and it was great to have librarians there to answer the questions... but this also provided us clues about what these folks needed. Not what they thought we needed, but what they actually needed. This was a valuable lesson learned about creating strong collaborations and partnerships.
I look forward to seeing the work that continues to develop as these relationships grow.
The event, held at the Detroit Center, did all of that and more. I arrived with my planning colleagues and we started setting up food, laying out placecards at the horseshoe shaped table (strategically placed so that librarians with an expertise would sit by project leaders of that topic), and preparing the little miscellaneous things that come with event planning (do we have cups? what about ice? what if so-and-so doesn't come?).
Finally it was time. The Detroit Center folks arrived first and chatted with one another until they found their seats. The librarians arrived shortly after, said a brief hello to one another and the Detroit Center project managers, and then immediately sat in their suggested place. The UM Outreach Librarian who is leading this effort gave welcoming remarks and then people got food, sat back down, and started networking. It was clear that there were some immediate connections; actually, in most cases it seemed there were.
The conversations appeared, by my observation, lively and engaged. No one seemed to say "why are we here?" or "I'm not sure the library can help me...." Before people were finished eating, the UM Outreach Librarian gave a short presentation on what the Library can provide (including a research guide) and then opened the room up for questions and discussion. This is where my previous assumptions were challenged.
The Detroit Center project managers had great questions, but they weren't - as I had expected - always about library resources such as journals or books. They wanted to know about the services the library could provide, how they could access materials, and they provided suggestions about how the Librarians could assist them. To me, this spoke loudly and clearly to the fact that these individuals see how valuable the library can be. Most of them had used the library previously, but many did not know how to get books sent to the Center, about the possibilities of using the Espresso Book Machine (with the ability to print student work), or Serials and Microforms (where they could view old copies of Detroit and other newspapers) or HathiTrust (where a collection of books about Detroit could be collected).
These were great questions, and it was great to have librarians there to answer the questions... but this also provided us clues about what these folks needed. Not what they thought we needed, but what they actually needed. This was a valuable lesson learned about creating strong collaborations and partnerships.
I look forward to seeing the work that continues to develop as these relationships grow.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Story Collider: Community + Campus Collaboration
Last Thursday evening I witnessed an amazing example of a community/campus collaboration: The Story Collider. I heard about this event via Open.Michigan and decided to check it out.
The Story Collider is a group out of New York City that brings stories of science to real-life situations. This is vague sounding, yes, so let me try to explain. The Story Collider event I attended was produced through a partnership between Open.Michigan, the Ann Arbor District Library, and The Story Collider group. This was not the first time The Story Collider had been in Ann Arbor, but it was the first time I had seen the performance, so I'll speak to that event.
Last Thursday's Story Collider featured two emcee's; one was a founder of The Story Collider Brian Wecht, the other was University of Michigan staff member Erik Hofer. The emcee's introduced six different speakers who told a story about their life and science. Now, let me preface the rest of this entry by saying I am not a "science person." I've taken science, yes, but am by no means an Chemical Engineer, or a Cosmologist, or an English professor, like a few of the speakers were. Yet, through their storytelling, I was taken to a place where science made sense, in the real world that we all live in.
One storyteller explained how she became to realize why she felt the way she did about science, another told about a time when they had an ephiphany about science and was able to express that to a professor, before they were even in college. Another speaker talked about wikipedia editing, and yet another about a wild trip to Haiti to do relief work. The other stories reflected the speaker's interactions with science then and science now (how could a museaum be wrong about something?), and about what it's like to live with a real, live scientist.
These stories touched me, and made me realize that events such as this can bring together the unlikelist of partners. I would love to know more about how this collaboration came together, but it showed me that the opportunities for outreach are endless.
You can read more about the speakers, and check back for the podcasts of their stories. And, if The Story Collider comes your way, be sure to check them out!
The Story Collider is a group out of New York City that brings stories of science to real-life situations. This is vague sounding, yes, so let me try to explain. The Story Collider event I attended was produced through a partnership between Open.Michigan, the Ann Arbor District Library, and The Story Collider group. This was not the first time The Story Collider had been in Ann Arbor, but it was the first time I had seen the performance, so I'll speak to that event.
Last Thursday's Story Collider featured two emcee's; one was a founder of The Story Collider Brian Wecht, the other was University of Michigan staff member Erik Hofer. The emcee's introduced six different speakers who told a story about their life and science. Now, let me preface the rest of this entry by saying I am not a "science person." I've taken science, yes, but am by no means an Chemical Engineer, or a Cosmologist, or an English professor, like a few of the speakers were. Yet, through their storytelling, I was taken to a place where science made sense, in the real world that we all live in.
One storyteller explained how she became to realize why she felt the way she did about science, another told about a time when they had an ephiphany about science and was able to express that to a professor, before they were even in college. Another speaker talked about wikipedia editing, and yet another about a wild trip to Haiti to do relief work. The other stories reflected the speaker's interactions with science then and science now (how could a museaum be wrong about something?), and about what it's like to live with a real, live scientist.
These stories touched me, and made me realize that events such as this can bring together the unlikelist of partners. I would love to know more about how this collaboration came together, but it showed me that the opportunities for outreach are endless.
You can read more about the speakers, and check back for the podcasts of their stories. And, if The Story Collider comes your way, be sure to check them out!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
What the new year shall bring - Detroit-based work
The winter/holiday break that academics and students receive is much needed, but the itch to get back to work is just as important. As such, 2012 is shaping up to be a fantastic year.
One of the initiatives on which I'm most excited to work is at the Detroit Center. There are many connections to make, many collaborations to develop, and many people to meet. The UM Library is just starting work there to connect librarians to the projects at the Detroit Center. Many of the projects are health-based, social work and leadership based, connected with urban planning, engineering, and much more. There are many ways that librarians can assist this work; as UM is a research institution, the projects it supports need to be research-based. UM librarians can work with the project coordinators to inform their work so that it can benefit the UM community, Detroit community, and citizens worldwide.
The University of Michigan is dedicated to working in Detroit. Just today, as I was searching for UM-based Detroit work, I came across a very interesting website from The Office of the Vice President for Communications at UM entitled The University of Michigan and Detroit: A Parternship for Progress. The website details UM's commitment to work in Detroit and discusses the "base of operations" (the Detroit Center) and lists projects associated with UM's work in Detroit.
The Partnership for Progress and the Third Century Initiative are just two of the many reasons that the Library should forge forth with creating a partnership with the Detroit Center. The possibilities for collaborations are abundant, and it will be exciting to see and be a part of what's to come.
One of the initiatives on which I'm most excited to work is at the Detroit Center. There are many connections to make, many collaborations to develop, and many people to meet. The UM Library is just starting work there to connect librarians to the projects at the Detroit Center. Many of the projects are health-based, social work and leadership based, connected with urban planning, engineering, and much more. There are many ways that librarians can assist this work; as UM is a research institution, the projects it supports need to be research-based. UM librarians can work with the project coordinators to inform their work so that it can benefit the UM community, Detroit community, and citizens worldwide.
The University of Michigan is dedicated to working in Detroit. Just today, as I was searching for UM-based Detroit work, I came across a very interesting website from The Office of the Vice President for Communications at UM entitled The University of Michigan and Detroit: A Parternship for Progress. The website details UM's commitment to work in Detroit and discusses the "base of operations" (the Detroit Center) and lists projects associated with UM's work in Detroit.
The Detroit Center is the base of operations for many of U–M’s Detroit–focused programs. Established in 2005, the 10,500 square–foot facility provides space for offices, classes, meetings, exhibitions, lectures, and collaborative work while serving as a home base for students and faculty working on projects in the city. The U–M Detroit Admissions Office is also located here.UM's work in Detroit also relates to UM President Mary Sue Coleman's Third Century Initiative which I learned about through Arts of Citizenship's Associate Director, Elizabeth Werbe. The Third Century Initiative aims to, "use $50 million in existing funds during the next five years to develop innovative, multidisciplinary teaching and scholarship approaches to such topics as climate change, poverty and malnutrition, energy storage, affordable health care and social justice challenges. It will encompass teaching, research and service efforts" (http://www.ur.umich.edu/update/archives/111005/thirdcent).
(Source: http://vpcomm.umich.edu/issues/detroit.html)
The Partnership for Progress and the Third Century Initiative are just two of the many reasons that the Library should forge forth with creating a partnership with the Detroit Center. The possibilities for collaborations are abundant, and it will be exciting to see and be a part of what's to come.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
e-book chapter, and 2011 wrap-up
It's been an exciting week. Today I am "done" with work until the new year, and it's looking like an exciting 2012.
Here's a quick rundown of the past 10 or so days:
1) Went to the Detroit Center last Wednesday to "float" during a grants workshop hosted by the UM Library and the Nonprofit Enterprise for Work for local non-profit organizations. It was exciting to see how library and database resources can be used for organizations who are doing such important work. My days at the Mott Foundation came back to me as we moved fluidly through the Foundation Center's website looking at funder's and grants that applied to the non-profits missions. It was a really cool experience to be there and see yet another facet of what the Library does.
2) Almost have finished "dscribing" part my Community Information Seminar from last semester. Dscribing means taking the lecture slides from the course and ensuring that all of the content and images are "open" for use by others. We collect lecture slides from our guest speakers, they decide the level of licensing they want (Creative Commons) and we publish it. When we're finished, you can view the course here (http://open.umich.edu/education/si). Topics included information technology development, the Open.Michigan movement, social media use in Egypt, local informatics, and more!
3) I'm published! As part of my SI 641: Information Literacy for Teaching and Learning class, we had to observe 20 hours of instruction, teach two face-to-face lessons, and create a project related to information literacy. Then, we were asked by our Professor, Kristin Fontichiaro, to write a chapter for a book about one or more of our experiences. The book, Information Literacy in the Wild, was edited by Kristin and includes a forward by School of Information Dean Jeffrey MacKie-Mason. You can download it free via Smashwords or in .pdf format. Please feel free to share widely!
4) Finally, I'm going to take a break next week and start blogging again after the new year. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season and best wishes into 2012!
Here's a quick rundown of the past 10 or so days:
1) Went to the Detroit Center last Wednesday to "float" during a grants workshop hosted by the UM Library and the Nonprofit Enterprise for Work for local non-profit organizations. It was exciting to see how library and database resources can be used for organizations who are doing such important work. My days at the Mott Foundation came back to me as we moved fluidly through the Foundation Center's website looking at funder's and grants that applied to the non-profits missions. It was a really cool experience to be there and see yet another facet of what the Library does.
2) Almost have finished "dscribing" part my Community Information Seminar from last semester. Dscribing means taking the lecture slides from the course and ensuring that all of the content and images are "open" for use by others. We collect lecture slides from our guest speakers, they decide the level of licensing they want (Creative Commons) and we publish it. When we're finished, you can view the course here (http://open.umich.edu/education/si). Topics included information technology development, the Open.Michigan movement, social media use in Egypt, local informatics, and more!
3) I'm published! As part of my SI 641: Information Literacy for Teaching and Learning class, we had to observe 20 hours of instruction, teach two face-to-face lessons, and create a project related to information literacy. Then, we were asked by our Professor, Kristin Fontichiaro, to write a chapter for a book about one or more of our experiences. The book, Information Literacy in the Wild, was edited by Kristin and includes a forward by School of Information Dean Jeffrey MacKie-Mason. You can download it free via Smashwords or in .pdf format. Please feel free to share widely!
4) Finally, I'm going to take a break next week and start blogging again after the new year. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season and best wishes into 2012!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Connecting Developments - Detroit Center
Last week was busy and exciting for many reasons. On Wednesday, I visited another library, which I wrote about here and Thursday I had a chance to go to the Detroit Center, a UM-sponsored center downtown that houses UM projects such as UM Semester in Detroit, School of Social Work Technical Assistance, the Ginsberg Center, and many more that you can read about on their website.
The work at the Detroit Center is something in which I'll be engaged through May 2012. As part of my internship, I'm required to commit to a project in my second year of my graduate program that not only enhances my own professional development, but also helps fulfill a need in the library. I've always been interested in outreach and knew that the outreach librarians here at UM were doing interesting work. Once I learned more about their goals and projects, and started thinking more about my higher education degree, I was even more excited to work with them.
The library is at the Detroit Center to provide research assistance to the projects. Part of the work we're doing now is thinking about how to connect the correct librarian to the appropriate project. It's exciting to see things coming together. Other goals for the library at the Detroit Center include providing resources for grants, and helping the project leaders think about how they can use library resources to enhance their work.
This relates to my visit to the nearby academic library last week in one direct way. One of the Dean's visions was to create more partnerships and collaborations. UM is not perfect and thus one of my career goals is to create more partnerships between university libraries, university resources, and the surrounding communities that need them. The Detroit Center is a great example of how this is happening NOW and has a lot of potential to develop further.
The work at the Detroit Center is something in which I'll be engaged through May 2012. As part of my internship, I'm required to commit to a project in my second year of my graduate program that not only enhances my own professional development, but also helps fulfill a need in the library. I've always been interested in outreach and knew that the outreach librarians here at UM were doing interesting work. Once I learned more about their goals and projects, and started thinking more about my higher education degree, I was even more excited to work with them.
The library is at the Detroit Center to provide research assistance to the projects. Part of the work we're doing now is thinking about how to connect the correct librarian to the appropriate project. It's exciting to see things coming together. Other goals for the library at the Detroit Center include providing resources for grants, and helping the project leaders think about how they can use library resources to enhance their work.
This relates to my visit to the nearby academic library last week in one direct way. One of the Dean's visions was to create more partnerships and collaborations. UM is not perfect and thus one of my career goals is to create more partnerships between university libraries, university resources, and the surrounding communities that need them. The Detroit Center is a great example of how this is happening NOW and has a lot of potential to develop further.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Another Interruption
It's been quite a summer. First, I threw off my few readers with not blogging for a few weeks and then I apologized and did it again. Well, to put it slightly, I am out of the office for yet another three weeks - unbeknownst to me prior to the knee surgery.
It's been interesting - trying to get back in the swing of things between when I arrived back in July knowing that I'd be leaving at least for a week in August. And, trying to cover chat shifts and work online from home in between an intensive home rehab program that literally takes as much time as a full time job. It's frustrating to not be able to work and dig into the projects that are so rapidly approaching as the year begins. It's hard to leave colleagues short-handed when so many transitions are upon us. I'm resigned to think right now that it's a part of life, and a part I'm grateful to experience as a 27-year-old grad student without a family, before the school year begins, and in the hands of very capable medical professionals. I'm resigned to think that "it happens" and that people can hopefully see the effort I'm trying to exert and that I can still be a valuable part of the library when I come back. I can only hope that at times like these people remember the other things that I've done and will still want to include me on teams, knowing I am reliable.
I actually have little doubt about these things - my co-workers and superiors are very understanding, gracious people and I can only say how lucky I am to have them as a part of my life as I resign myself to the couch 8+ hours a day instead of living the full, intensely busy life that usually is.
It's been interesting - trying to get back in the swing of things between when I arrived back in July knowing that I'd be leaving at least for a week in August. And, trying to cover chat shifts and work online from home in between an intensive home rehab program that literally takes as much time as a full time job. It's frustrating to not be able to work and dig into the projects that are so rapidly approaching as the year begins. It's hard to leave colleagues short-handed when so many transitions are upon us. I'm resigned to think right now that it's a part of life, and a part I'm grateful to experience as a 27-year-old grad student without a family, before the school year begins, and in the hands of very capable medical professionals. I'm resigned to think that "it happens" and that people can hopefully see the effort I'm trying to exert and that I can still be a valuable part of the library when I come back. I can only hope that at times like these people remember the other things that I've done and will still want to include me on teams, knowing I am reliable.
I actually have little doubt about these things - my co-workers and superiors are very understanding, gracious people and I can only say how lucky I am to have them as a part of my life as I resign myself to the couch 8+ hours a day instead of living the full, intensely busy life that usually is.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Another reason I love my field and the people in it
Librarianship is part of a professional field - the field of information - and while we have the ALA code of ethics it is often up to librarians themselves to to determine their level of professionalism. In any field this is a balance, but working at a large, liberal, academic library, there is a certain level of freedom in this area. However, professionalism comes with balance. In an attempt for a somewhat comical post today, I'll tell my story of how I balanced professionalism. But the story goes beyond that; it speaks to the good of librarians, the people who use libraries, and the amazing atmosphere of U of M and Ann Arbor in general.
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On this past beautiful Wednesday evening, I was participating in my recreational women's soccer league as I do every Monday and Wednesday in the spring, summer and fall. Three quarters of the way through the game, the unexpected happened. With my toe planted in hopes of scoring our team's first goal, a completely legal side check sent my quad to the left and my shin to the right, with my body immediately withering to the ground in black-out pain. Having played soccer for 12 years as a teenager, then taking a several year break before picking it up last spring, I was finally feeling strong and good on the field. So ironically this knee injury would happen now.
However, the irony continued. I not only live near one of the best research hospitals in the nation, but my primary care physician works in that hospital. And not only would I try to get an appointment with her that next morning, but I was already scheduled to be in the hospital that next morning at 9:00 sharp - for a website consultation for my job. Now, while my job is partially instructional technology, we don't often make office calls. It just so happened that I needed to be at the hospital that following morning, so I decided I would still do the website consult as long as it didn't overlap with an open doctors appointment. All of my friends thought I was crazy. "Why are you going to a work meeting - your knee is the size of a grapefruit?" "Everyone will understand if you cancel..." I agreed with them, but seriously, if I didn't already have to be at the hospital, I wouldn't have gone to the consult!
So I went. On the way to the meeting, I called for a doctors appointment. They had an opening at 9:30 am. Perfect; it was 8:35. I got to the hospital, where apparently you can just grab a wheelchair if needed, hopped into a seat, asked the volunteer where I could find the location of my consult, as he cheerfully wheeled me up. The appointment went just as planned and the woman I was working with even offered me coffee and a ride to my doctors appointment right down the hall. She really stood out as a person who was willing to help someone else out and helped me balance that work and life stuff that inevitably happens.
There was no good reason not for me to go to my consult; it was at the hospital where I needed a doctors appointment. But I wouldn't have been able to do both the work consult and the doctors appointment without good people. I know librarians are good people - wanting and willing to work with others when they need something - but this story is really telling of the people who use our services. This woman went out of her way to make me comfortable and help ME out, when - while it may have looked like I needed it - I could have been OK on my own. The people at the hospital were all so kind and helpful - making lighthearted jokes and offering to help. OK, so helping is their job, but the joking and caring tones are not in their job description.
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This all goes to saying that we learn things every day - I am learning what it's like to be less able. But the moral of my story is that it is wonderful to be a part of a city and University setting where people use their resources and their privilege for good. UM is such a large - yet small - community where what goes around comes around. Over the last two days, I've experienced that first hand, and couldn't be more grateful.
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On this past beautiful Wednesday evening, I was participating in my recreational women's soccer league as I do every Monday and Wednesday in the spring, summer and fall. Three quarters of the way through the game, the unexpected happened. With my toe planted in hopes of scoring our team's first goal, a completely legal side check sent my quad to the left and my shin to the right, with my body immediately withering to the ground in black-out pain. Having played soccer for 12 years as a teenager, then taking a several year break before picking it up last spring, I was finally feeling strong and good on the field. So ironically this knee injury would happen now.
However, the irony continued. I not only live near one of the best research hospitals in the nation, but my primary care physician works in that hospital. And not only would I try to get an appointment with her that next morning, but I was already scheduled to be in the hospital that next morning at 9:00 sharp - for a website consultation for my job. Now, while my job is partially instructional technology, we don't often make office calls. It just so happened that I needed to be at the hospital that following morning, so I decided I would still do the website consult as long as it didn't overlap with an open doctors appointment. All of my friends thought I was crazy. "Why are you going to a work meeting - your knee is the size of a grapefruit?" "Everyone will understand if you cancel..." I agreed with them, but seriously, if I didn't already have to be at the hospital, I wouldn't have gone to the consult!
So I went. On the way to the meeting, I called for a doctors appointment. They had an opening at 9:30 am. Perfect; it was 8:35. I got to the hospital, where apparently you can just grab a wheelchair if needed, hopped into a seat, asked the volunteer where I could find the location of my consult, as he cheerfully wheeled me up. The appointment went just as planned and the woman I was working with even offered me coffee and a ride to my doctors appointment right down the hall. She really stood out as a person who was willing to help someone else out and helped me balance that work and life stuff that inevitably happens.
There was no good reason not for me to go to my consult; it was at the hospital where I needed a doctors appointment. But I wouldn't have been able to do both the work consult and the doctors appointment without good people. I know librarians are good people - wanting and willing to work with others when they need something - but this story is really telling of the people who use our services. This woman went out of her way to make me comfortable and help ME out, when - while it may have looked like I needed it - I could have been OK on my own. The people at the hospital were all so kind and helpful - making lighthearted jokes and offering to help. OK, so helping is their job, but the joking and caring tones are not in their job description.
---------------------------------------------
This all goes to saying that we learn things every day - I am learning what it's like to be less able. But the moral of my story is that it is wonderful to be a part of a city and University setting where people use their resources and their privilege for good. UM is such a large - yet small - community where what goes around comes around. Over the last two days, I've experienced that first hand, and couldn't be more grateful.
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