Last day at work till the New Year today.

Needless to say, not a lot happening workwise (except the meeting earlier). Emailing a friend Christmas greetings, taking a lunchbreak to swap gifts with another friend, going skating in Second Life with former colleagues, joining in with the game of Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit the loans team had set up (in which knowing the books better than the films was a disadvantage) and staying till 5pm to show solidarity with those who weren't allowed to leave until then.

Meeting this morning to discuss how the Library should arrange our shared space on the university drives. Files we all access or teams need to work on together or archives of documents - the usual kind of thing.

Just for once I was the only person who'd responded to an email asking for comments on the matter so it was nice to feel I'd done my 'homework'.

Today the Library invited all the liaison officers we have in each department for an update on what we're doing, what we're providing, how to access it and so on. We ran a speed dating sort of thing where each of us did a 5 minute slot on a topic (I had ebooks) and the visitors moved round at the sound of a Tardis (I think it was) arriving. Went very well. The only disappointment being the low turn out. A dozen or so was less than a third of those who might have come (2 of my 6 came), but those who did attend seemed to enjoy and find it useful. The mince pies no doubt helped.

Invited to a 'focus group' this morning with a handful of other library staff to talk about the university's communications. I think the lady from corporate communications was a little taken aback by our enthusiasm for things like the printed newsletter that's produced and which we all admitted to reading. Evidently she hasn't had that response elsewhere. Being 'taken aback' moved to outright astonishment when someone mentioned we archived the things and would like both print and electronic copies. Well we are librarians...

The talk went went well. Some 30 turned up which surprised us. We just about had enough laptops and books to allow our 'activity' to work. (And I was relieved we'd put it in when one of the previous speakers who'd done an excellent session on engaging students through games decided to come to our session.) The discussion on whether we should be doing fun things like Facebook or blogs or SecondLife went well although I don't think any conclusions were reached. It was interesting to note that most of those attending (generally but not exclusively, academics) weren't even as far along in their thinking as the library evidently is.

The whole day was really excellent - from the brilliance of one keynote talk given by one of our own academics to the awesomeness of another given by the father of a well-known alternative (at one time)comedian/writer/playwright/generalfarty. It will be interesting to see if we're invited to turn our presentation into a paper.

Little bit apprehensive about tomorrow. It's the university teaching and learning 'bash' for all academics and I've somehow got involved in a 45 minute slot on making the library 'fun'. (And whether we should be.)

No idea how many will turn up. Could be 2, could be 20. There's five other options for people to choose to be elsewhere but the Head was very kind today to suggest that the other choices sounded very dull. (I didn't like to point out that possibly non-library stuff would think ours sounded dull!)

We've got a quiz for people to try (internet vs print resources), we've got discussion segments, and we've got me doing small bits on Facebook, blogging and Second Life. Let's hope the internet's playing ball...

Day off tomorrow so almost certainly no post.

I'm tired of feeling tired.
I'm tired of looking tired.
I'm tired of people telling me I look tired.

May a day under the duvet will help. (Fat chance, I've been given a list of things to 'do'...)

Waiting for the next ferry after just missing one this morning I slumped onto a seat (not that I'd dignify a bit of plastic barely adequate for the purpose with the word 'seat'), just as someone I know reasonably well rumbled up and said 'hello'.

He then made the mistake of asking how I was doing and I couldn't resist admitting that I was tired and depressed. (He knows about the lost diary etc.)

At which point a stranger next to me chipped in with the observation that was just how she felt.

It was a good reminder as we trundle through life in our private miseries that we're almost certainly not the only one! It was almost cheering...

Update:
a colleague looking through our seminar room bookings stumbled across two teaching sessions I'm booked to do tomorrow.

The good news is that she found it today and not, say, on Friday. (Plus, knowing I'd lost my diary kindly let me know.)
The bad news is that this is exactly the kind of thing that's hard to track down - particularly if it's over in the faculty where I can't check room bookings like that!

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

Encountered my first missed meeting today.

Sitting in a skills workshop waiting for (no) students (probably put off by the intricate route involved in getting past the work going on on an external main door), an academic wandered past and asked where I'd been on Monday.

The small project team I'm involved with making learning objects for Second Life had met for the second time.

Most likely I was still at our Christmas lunch, but I'd have still been at the meeting had I had my diary and known that it was happening.

Oh dear.

This isn't strictly true, but it tickled me anyway:
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20071110.html

Finally threw in the towel with regards to my diary this morning. Got a new diary, made a fresh start. Trying now to track back and work out what long term appointments/events might have been in the old one.

If I'm supposed to be somewhere - just give me a shout would you?!

Living without a diary.
There's a part of me that wants to scream in anguish as this really is one of my nightmares come true. There's another part of me that just wants to say 'stuff it' and enjoy no longer living under its tyranny.

I'm probably ok this week as, for the rest of my team's benefit, I transfer the week's events across to the electronic thing that resides with our email and can be accessed by the Floor Manager, assistants and science librarian etc. But as from next week I shall be into uncharted territory with meetings, training, events and so on that I won't know for sure are happening. But all of those I can probably survive. Meetings in the library I can be called for, training I should have email notifications of my bookings etc. Events I may well be able to miss without too much loss. But the two things that are much harder to 'lose' are the data the diary contains - from a book reading record which isn't the end of the world, to lectures that academics have arranged for me to give and which I may not have another note of.

And why don't I do this all electronically with my Palm? Well I used to at TheOldPlace and it worked a charm. Sync with the PC at least once a day and everything's backed up. But I've also whinged here before about the fact that thanks to the IT set up here I've not been able to ever get that working here. So have been forced to resort to paper again. I always knew I'd eventually come unstuck!

Day off yesterday so no posting, but it didn't really help improve a week that only seems to be 'septduum horribulus' (awful 7 days). Started at the weekend when some drumming went horribly awry (rehearsal had been ok!). Tuesday I've already posted about. By Wednesday the real disaster of the week was certain - I appear to have misplaced my diary rather seriously. And today, just to cap it all with managing to look stupid in front of friends, colleagues and the faculty, a researcher friend dropped into the Library to borrow some books. Whilst saying 'hi' she presented one to me and asked if there was any chance of borrowing it overnight despite it's being a reference only item as she pointed out it's yellow sticker on the spine.

Now super alert readers of this blog might spot what's coming.

As it wasn't in my subject area we went in search of the relevant Faculty Librarian and I introduced the pair of them. The researcher repeated her request and of course he immediately pointed out that there wasn't any difficulty as it was a seven day loan item.

I've written here before that one delightful confusion of changing jobs from TheOldPlace is that there they mark one week loans with a green sticker and reference with yellow. Here we reverse that. And in my treacle like brainstate this week - plus being primed by the initial question that mistakenly identified it as 'reference' - I just didn't twig that it was a loanable book.

As I say, how to look stupid in front of friends and work colleagues. Still, no real damage done. Now if only I could find my wretched diary...

Awoke early this morning (5ish) evidently stressed by the prospect of speaking to the cosmology researchers at lunchtime.

Turns out it was with good reason. I managed to embarrass myself thoroughly at least a couple of times demonstrating my woeful ignorance in front of about 20 of them plus three academics. The latter, sitting up at the front and engaging in lots of discussion which was good, were positive about the session but I couldn't help feeling that in the one thing I'm supposed to be as much of an expert as I'm ever likely to be, I was woefully inadequate.

On the upside, they did at least laugh at my dismissal of them starting four minutes late as not a problem and hardly surprising in the light of the billions-of-years timeframes they're normally dealing with.

By Blogger's reckoning this will be my 333rd post. I hope you think they've been (at least semi-) worthwhile.

Arrived this morning at work at 8:10 and decided NOT to turn my PC on. I would make a start on the terrible heap (or more strictly speaking 'heaps') accumulating on my desk. See how long I could go before I just had to turn the computer on to deal with something.

By putting aside things for scanning and saving up some bib checking (library jargon for 'bibliographic checking' or looking up the publication details of a book) to do later, I managed to get through to about 10:05. But really so much of my job requires access to PC/internet/library resources that it would be difficult to go much longer. Not to mention all the email rapidly piling up in my absence.

Still, I made a good start the desk now looks under control if not tidy!

Last faculty library committee I was at I ventured to suggest (in the face of some surprising ignorance from the most library oriented academics we have) to put together a maybe monthly briefing newsletter that would provide news and highlight 'old' stuff which might not be at the front of their knowledge.

Spent the afternoon putting this together (just one side of paper) and working out what we could include. I thought it might be sensible to broaden it to the Technology faculty and the Science faculty which the Science Librarian was happy with.

Getting back into Publisher though brought back strong (happy/frustrating?) memories of ten years at the typeface of a church magazine.

First course committee of the academic year this afternoon. Fairly unthrilling as ever. But I had a good moment when they were discussing the new 'technical masters' course. I had my laptop out to save printing all the paperwork and did a quick google on the subject - so when they got bogged down over a particular bit and I'd happened to find a briefing paper I could supply a quick answer. Never quite sure at that point whether to own up to what I've done or sit there looking very intelligent and on the ball!

Of course, I let myself down a little later when just for five minutes I popped into Facebook to take a Scrabulous turn at just the moment the academic nearest me asked to check something on the intranet! Ah well.

Day working from home today.

Never sure this is going to be a good idea with all the distractions available and fears over the internet being slow or my PC not being able to cope, but in fact I got a lot done. The Head apparently isn't keen on such practice generally but my boss okayed it when I explained that what with the dentist first thing and an online course in Second Life for much of the afternoon, it would be a vastly more efficient way of spending my time.

As it turned out email was a bit slower than normal but not impossible so, and by sitting still for most of the time, I managed all but about 20 minutes of the online course. (PC did give up when we were all supposed to go off from the classroom on a treasure hunt briefly).

Shame I can't do it more often.

Late night tonight. I've probably mentioned it before but it's infrequent enough I'll mention it again. TheOldPlace had me doing fortnightly 'late nights' but they were only for two hours at a time. Here I do four hours from 5pm which does seem a long stretch. Even with a short break. But it occurred to me today that of course it would seem like that - it's actually half a day of sitting at one enquiry point.

Anyway, it still seems preferable to do that once a semester or so than two hours every fortnight.

Besides, I could take the morning off in lieu and upgrade a drum kit.

I think I've mentioned it before, but this morning my biggest dreadfear in this job came round again the committe that the faculty put together to keep an eye on library things.

First up my presentation rather fell apart as they'd asked so many questions earlier in the agenda that I'd pretty much covered everything I'd planned (with a really neat PowerPoint slide split into quarters and cleverly linking to web or file as necessary).

Next we got enormously bogged down in intricate details over budgets - which when things are going well I find difficult. Now one department had a particulary gripe about apportionment and just wouldn't let it go - even after the fourth lap.

Unfortunately the chairman possibly didn't keep as tight a rein on things as he might. On the upside, he did an excellent job of defending the library and bearing the brunt of the unhappiness. So things could have been worse.

But three hours later I emerged utterly wrung out and with a to do list longer than my arm. If only there were time!

Maybe I'm more sensitive as answering enquiries is a good chunk of my job.

But this just doesn't seem right. Last week I had cause to email a company about a product I want to spend quite a large sum of money on. Fairly straightforward question. I finally had a response that appeared to come from a human being rather than being machine generated, but it was clear that at no point had my actual question been engaged with. It was though someone was half listening and decided to answer something they knew about rather than something they didn't.

Then today I finally had a reply from the university photographer. Actually, not the photographer himself whom I've emailed twice now, but his diary keeper. All I need to know is can I use the photographs he's already taken and I have on a CD to accompany an article in a professional magazine. So I was more than a bit irked when the answer told me all about how to book him for photographic projects.

Am I writing in Mongolian? Is my email going via AltaVista's great fun BableFish?

I was tempted both times to fire off rather sarcastic email replies, but I refrained. What if, just suppose, the answers I'm giving students are just like that? I "hear" what they say and go into my stock routines?

Not strictly work related but I fitted it into lunch break. Blood donation. Not done it for a while for various medical reasons so I had to go through quite a 'first' time rigmarole, but if they want my tired stuff they're welcome to it. Besides, if it gives me an official excuse to have a Cherry Coke, it can't be all bad.
Didn't realize that only 5% of people bother. Get out there and give!

At very short notice (but thanks for the tip-off) and just when I was considering going home after a busy day with few breaks, I heard about a discussion on Information Literacy in SecondLife. Following up on a conference that had taken place over in Germany.

Thought I'd drop in and was glad I did as I picked up a variety of things that I want some time now to go off an explore.

What was most surreal about this session though was not the usual weirdness of SL that you slowly get used to. Not sitting around in 'comfy' chairs, in my tails (with top hat in hand) with a couple of people I knew from Real Life, one I'd heard present in Real Life, another who I only knew from the course on Tuesday and other complete strangers. Not the way we all very carefully sat in the chairs in just the same way as we would have done in real life (at the ends of sofas), filling the space 'evenly' rather than sitting next to each other, etc. Nope, none of that.

It was the number of colleagues who dropped in to see what was going on - word seemed to spread that I was in SecondLife. I think I had six people 'lurking' over my shoulder - though not all at the same time. Some of them were interested in the content, some of them were interested in seeing 'work' in SL in action, some of them were just curious about me at 'work' in SL. And a couple just wanted to dare me to strip naked for some reason. (What is with that?)

Oddly enough I realized I was becoming quite protective of "my" avatar and given that I knew (to one degree or another) some of the people there didn't really want to act in any of the a- or anti-social ways that were being suggested.

I know there are 'griefers' in SL (people who just deliberately cause trouble) - but clearly not in the libraryland ghettos of the virtual world!

To a lunchtime session on 'motivating students'. Bit heavy on the research and light on 'solutions'. Indeed, by the time we'd been encouraged to spend fifteen minutes sharing our own experience I think we were all ready to shoot ourselves.

But I came away with a couple of ideas:
chocolate apparently is a good motivator (despite what the head of library said earlier in the week about trying to wean subject librarians from the idea that food and drink solve most problems)
the electronic voting systems (again!) came warmly recommended
extra-curricular stuff for those who are more motivated - hmmm, not sure that will work in the Library, but it's a thought
Good to hear it wasn't just the library that turns students off though. All the academics there could tale horror stories.

Was supposed to be teaching at 1 but that's been postponed a week so fortunately I'd made of a note of something I was interested in but had figured I couldn't get to - a lecture on the 'dynamics of spin'. So I pitched up at that instead and was glad I could as it was rather fascinating. A mathematician who had a gift for communicating (and some great toys!).

The head of the math department was there so he took the opportunity of telling me about a talk he was giving to prospective students in the afternoon on the beauty of fractals. As it happened my diary was free... my mind curious... Also very interesting (plus a brown paper bag lunch to go with it!).

Back in my Second Life course today (yes, I actually managed to do my homework!) it wasn't quite such a great session, but I continue to enjoy both the content and the meta-learning (about how it all works and how people use the space and relate to each other). I feel very smart in my top hat and tails.

First meeting of a 'documents group' today to look how we use a shared drive. We make much more use of such a thing than we did at TheOldPlace but that can raise issues about how and who organizes the thing.

The biggest obstacle is that our IT folk give us just 2 gig to use. I'm allowed 4 gig in my personal space so it seems rather ridiculous we have to spend so much time talking about. What does a 1 terabyte or 500 gig hard drive cost these days? We've asked for more and been turned down - apparently we might fill it up.

One project I've been on this week is to see what blogs I can collect up from around the university which are written by university staff. Found a few and the idea is that we gather them together on a page headed by the two 'library' blogs we do.

One academic came over to show me the half dozen he has and also showed me some nifty software which I'm going to have to investigate further called 'Star Tree'. Looked fun - more later.

Oh, and apparently the new Chancellor came for a visit today. But she wasn't brought anywhere near the likes of me!

Another of our Wednesday morning training sessions this morning. Only they've moved to Thursday due to staffing issues.

Today on YouTube. And great to see not only a junior member of the loans team doing the presentation (and doing it very well), but the Head of library in attendance and learning new things.

That's one thing I do like about here over TheOldPlace, not so much the equality that exists in that way which probably isn't so different, but the visibility of senior staff.

Supposed to be helping out in a cafe style drop in centre today for a couple of hours but had so many students (and others) dropping in at the office that I never got over there.

University of Illinois virtual librarianship course starts again today. This time the 'intermediate' level. Knowing I hadn't been into Second Life for a bit meant I started early to download the software (as ever), get it installed, make sure I could login in etc. Then I met a former colleague who took me on a shopping expedition - so I'm now the proud possessor of a top hat and tuxedo which I think makes for elegant outdoor class attendance! (The bunny pyjamas and big fluffy slippers were fun but possibly too much of a statement.)

Unfortuanately, with that and some other movement around the place I found my motion sickness was back (perhaps exacerbated by tiredness) but fortunately the class was pretty static so I could sit still, and try and keep up with three or four conversations at the back of the class. (Two former colleagues were chatting and two class members I didn't know from real life).

My resolution for this time round though is to make more time to use and interact with the associated virtual learning environment. Assuming I can login which was part of the problem last time.

From a low start to the day to a flat end to the day via an unexpected high at lunchtime - I'm beginning to feel like a drug user - it is at least good to see a week in my diary that doesn't look quite as manic as the last few. Unfortunately evenings are still looking a bit dense. But the latter's not helped by the book group which was postponed from last week because so many had not yet finished the book. I don't know, I make the effort...

Seemed to spend a fair bit of this morning's senior team meeting hearing about TheOldPlace. They're putting out a tender for a new library management system, or the head had been to visit, or was it really so difficult to put floor locations into the library catalogue here? (Apparently so, on the last one).

Still, at last the 'other blog' is going to be allowed to go ahead with a revised strapline. No calls for it to be abandoned. phew.

The new math students had a great lunch time event today. In 10 groups of 7 or 8 they had to make posters around the theme of math and buildings. All sorts of interesting ideas and designs and content. Everyone attending the event could vote for the best or their favorite or whatever and outright bribery was encouraged. One lot had a cake with a great photo on it, one lot were offering candy, another group had come up with an engaging game (8 years and 8 photos of pyramids to attach to them - from the Egyptian Great pyramid, through examples from the Romans and Aztecs to the Transamerica Tower in San Francisco and the Louvre in Paris. You got a chocolate for playing and another for getting it right.)

I have to say I was so engaged by the game, I had to vote for that poster. The fact that I not only got two chocolates for getting it right but another when I helped one of the academics who was struggling a bit was, of course, nothing to do with it. I think I learned some mathish stuff as well.

Those participating seemed to be really enjoying it as well and had bonded well as groups. No wonder they do quite well for student satisfaction on the national survey.

I don't know. Maybe I'm in the wrong job. Or at least doing it the wrong way.

I had 2 one hour sessions with 140 computing students in total today. Which was fine (postponed from last week due to being off sick). Third years.

Spend the best part of an hour explaining the ins and outs of databases, searching them, how to develop keywords, other electronic resources of the library. Fairly third yeary stuff which ought to help them with their projects.

Then at the end, one bright young thing in the front row, without a trace of irony or concern ,asked:
"So... where is the library?"

Off work today keeping an eye on daughter who's escaped school for a day and awaiting delivery of a bed. So only a bit of work related stuff to do in the morning before setting to with a giant mechano set.

In the meantime, I can reflect on a (not very work related) conversation from Friday.

In the morning we'd met with another team and a lady I didn't know complimented me at the end as she left saying "I like your sense of humor." Which was kind. Although I really can't work out what on earth I said or did to provoke that.

Later on, in the afternoon, right at the end of our Friday team meeting when we'd finished with 'business' and it was becoming more social, this comment was brought up.

I expressed my usual complaint that women *say* they like a sense of humor in a male and rate it highly (see personal ads and GSOH) but in my experience this just wasn't true and that looks or fitness still outweigh that as a consideration.

OK, let's rule out boarding school which was 'all boys' in my case (aside from the two daughters of teachers who were of course goddesses that moved well above any circles I might inhabit). [1] But subsequent college, university, travelling the world, and living in close confinement with 350 (mostly young) people from around the world definitely led me to believe that it didn't matter how good my sense of humor might or might not be. Without looks or fitness I'd only ever be 'friends' with the opposite sex. Particularly if they were suspicious that I did think more of them than they wanted: they would almost invariably mention or introduce me to boyfriend casually at just that moment.

Funnily enough, back in our rapidly degenerating team meeting, and after some initial protest, not one of the ladies present could or would refute it.





[1] Curiously I happened to bump into one of these 'goddesses' several years later when I was at university. It was at an event which in itself demonstrated that we had more than a little in common. She was as stunning as I rememebered - if not more so for being an adult. It was great meeting her again, mutually recognizing each other (just!), and realizing that I could relate quite normally with vastly transformed confidence despite my prior experience!

Sad news at lunchtime that a senior colleague who is generally as calm as you could want, for the first time in 27 years of doing this actually threw a class out of the seminar room where he was teaching them. They'd been behaving atrociously and ignored warnings that he wouldn't go on if they continued.

Met with our 'friends' from across the street who help students with various academic skills (writing, maths, referencing, etc) this morning. This was a two hour meeting to meet, find out what we'd been up to over the summer, share good practice and knowledge. Great meeting. Should have more of them - especially as their hospitality with drinks and cookies is great! I even learned lots from the presentations of my library colleagues, never mind from our opposite numbers.

Revisit of my session on Web 2.0 stuff that I did in the summer for a library staff development day. This was for all those who didn't make that one. I left my dressing gown at home this time, but still used the theme and had added some new material since June or whenever it was. Went down very well.

But highlight of the day was taking 12 year old daughter and 7 year old nephew to the theater in the evening. Marvellous seeing their delight and jumping at the pyrotechnics and loving the sheer spectacle of it all. And a much better show than I expected which is always a bonus!

Nasty little virus has laid me low for a few days, so I trust you'll excuse the lack of posts. Shouldn't really be back at work today but having cancelled - or rather postponed as I wasn't able to get my assistant to do the sessions - two lectures yesterday, the two teaching sessions I had today were much trickier. So I dragged myself in. In the event the both went well - or was it the medication I dosed myself up on?

The first lot were students from the Middle East only in the country for a few days and flying back tomorrow so I had to see them.

The second lot were those from a 30+ strong lot of computing second years - but only those who'd chosen to sign up. So the 7 that came were really enthusiastic and keen. I'd thought we'd spend about half an hour looking round physically and electronically, but no, they wanted everything. 50 minutes looking at electronic resources and then a half hour tour. However, ill you feel you can't baulk at such enthusiasm!

A chain letter circulating reminded me that I'm having a week protesting about dodgy statistics or math. I finally rebelled in a faculty Learning and Teaching Committee when I saw some data for the umpteenth time culled from a survey of students. It's a bar chart showing student satisfaction across some 30 or so subject areas at the university. (e.g. the civil engineers doing well on the left with high student satisfaction, mechanical engineers in dead trouble on the right with 'low' student satisfaction.

But if you look at the axis up the left side (I can never remember if it's X or Y), you'll see that it doesn't run from 1 to 5 (which is what the students can tick), it runs from 3.0 to 4.8. Which of course makes any minor variations look really large.

I've been in several forums (fora?) where this chart has been discussed from very local library things to university wide conferences and the like. And no one has pointed that out. So it was with some trepidation I dared to say anything in a committee particularly as it included the head of the mathematics department! So I was quite relieved when he backed it up as a good point and they decided to take it up with the powers that be. I think the Mech Eng head almost managed to look relieved over them for a change. I mean really, how much do one lot on 3.8 have to flagellate themselves because they didn't achieve the 4.2 of another lot?

I meant to mention that the new book group had its second meeting last Thursday. We've all been reading _The Kite Runner_ which I really can't recommend. It was just too harrowing - though very well written. (About a boy (then man) growing up in Afghanistan (then California)).

Last time I was in a minority of three amongst twenty or so. This time I was a lone voice as everyone else loved it. Had a quick look at the new book that was handed out and by page 4 had found my faith being called an "invention". (This from an author I've had a previous run in with not liking).

Maybe I'm in the wrong book group!

Let the head settle in and then talked to him about the blog.

Fully expected to be pulling the entry *despite* the bright idea my assistant had had which suggested adding to the blog entry with some interesting URLs that counterbalanced the main entry in an 'informationy' sort of way. Which I did.

But to my surprise, and all credit to the head: he was keener to avoid 'censorship' than to immediately pull the entry. Though he did decide to meet with some of the principle parties which won't be for a few days - so things may change again then.

In the meantime, he came up with his own very sensible suggestion. I'd been using first person (as I do here) and would probably have continued doing on that blog. Only he pointed out that it just wasn't clear who the 'I' was and if we were going to own the thing - even if I take responsibility for much of its content - then it should feel more like the library speaking. Easily fixed through the edit function.

Of course, I hope I'm *not* the sole source of content. I'm hoping others join in as well.

OK, not long before the new library blog was causing trouble. The point of it is to 'engage' students and provide the possibility of dialogue with library related stuff/staff without being too formal.

So the first suggested link that I get, I take a look at and decide to use. But it is a bit bizarre.

Deep unhappiness in certain quarters that this maybe presenting the university/library in a bad light and what if the powers that be came across it?

One deputation to persuade me to remove it, then their head coming to see me to suggest the same. While not the very first in line to defend censorship (if I really didn't like a suggestion I'd not post it!), it seemed particularly churlish to refuse the first bit of 'engagement' and 'dialogue' that had happened. Of course, with hindsight I might have waited a week or two till the blog was more settled.

Anyway, after some forty minutes of hassle at the end of a long day when I really couldn't face it and had an appointment elsewhere that was now being eaten into, I said I'd sleep on it and see the head of the library in the morning. If he wants me to remove it (and as his deputy said, being a bit staid, it's likely), it'll go. Then I'll just need to decide whether I want to keep going with the thing.

In the meantime, thank goodness this blog is anonymous and unknown in these quarters.

I had a really great post in mind which I wrote in my mind as I walked homewards last night.

And of course, it's gone now.

Can't recall what it was about.

So this will have to do. For reasons I won't bore you with it was decided at a Library team meeting we should have a Library blog that was 'fun'. I'm not sure I'm the master of fun but I was volunteered to do it. Then our IT lady suggested we should do it on Facebook rather than as a blog and there was some discussion about that until I suggested that we could easily do it as both. I'd run the blog and come up with or collect contributions, a colleague much more familiar with Facebook would take the same content and deal with it her way.

The idea being that those who relate to blogs better can join in that way, those who'd rather use Facebook can participate that way. And we'd get some interesting information (we hope) on who finds out about it in which format.

I'm not going to link to either from here, but if you can't find it by searching, drop me a line and state a preference, and I'll tell you how to get there one way or the other.

Only day in my diary for a while with nothing formal in it.

Gave me a chance to catch up a little on the complexity in professional learning seminar I'd been a part of.

The speaker's basic thesis was that we need to get used to things being complex, realize that not everything can be simplified, and understand that we may have to hold competing ideas and trains of thought in our mind simultaneously. Some of my non-work learning has been leading in this direction a lot of late (possibly kicked off a few years back by a former colleage - so thank you S).

One of the references mentioned on Thursday was to Da Vinci and creativity which I had to look up. She'd quoted him as saying "to be creative you have to have constraints", which I rather liked though the closest formal quotation I could find was: "Art lives from constraint and dies from freedom."

The other reference she mentioned led me to a book in which I found the following quote which was interesting:
"An ambivalent stance toward past wisdom makes adaptive sense. Organizations that both believe and doubt their past experience retain more flexibility and adaptive capability." Weick, Karl (1979). _The Social Psychology of Organizing_. 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, p.7.

I was earning my 'plant' thinking money this morning.

Our senior staff meeting (chaired today as part of a new scheme by boss rather than the head of library) had a bit of a puzzle.

Cutting a rather long and tedious story short our library system needs to be taken off line for half a day. Very frustrating that the work had not been fitted into the summer as planned but there you go. You can imagine that this time of year it's really difficult to take half a day out of a system that's so vital to all that we do.

Must be done between 9 and 5. Must be done on a weekday. (There's long and involved reasons as to why.)

Lots of discussion as to whether it was necessary (yes), could it be delayed say till Christmas (no), and all the other ins and outs of what it would mean.

One of the biggest issues over the exact timing is the colleague that has inordinate amounts of training she's doing with students on how to search the catalogue (if only my students cared!). One solution I thought of was to simply use screen shots, but I held my tongue as I guessed that she was doing 'hands on' sessions. Unsurprisingly, someone did suggest that and the idea was shot down because the sessions were 'hands on'.

After a little while of this, I finally had my bright idea: TheOldPlace had a library system bought in from a small European country and we were the only ones in the country to use it. (Despite it's widespread usage in Denmark). The aim had been to sell it wider.

However, that is not the case with the system used here in this library. So why not do the searches on another university catalogue that looks all but identical? Check beforehand the books you want exist there and simply explain to the students why you're doing it and that the shelfmarks might look a bit different. A nicly lateral solution.

Only, because I thought it was a bit off the wall and have been trying to tone down such ideas since learning that they wind other people up [1], I didn't dare produce it on my own but had to suggest it to the e-guru next to me and get him to put it forward when he didn't laugh out loud at the thought.

Perhaps I shouldn't self-censor so much.


[1] A couple of weekends ago my wife and I were trying to solve a basically intractable problem and I came up with at least three possible solutions all of which she dismissed as 'off-the-wall' and found really irritating. Trouble was I'd already discarded several of the solutions I'd had which really were a lot more strange. Wish I'd started with them now and wound back into the more sane ones...

Weird thing happened today.

In amongst all the ordinary induction I've had to fit in, moving the Dalek back to the fayre, and playing at Dr Who some more (not sure I could look another jelly baby in the eye), I went to a lunchtime thing on complexity in learning and teaching. Which was fine except the presenter (a visiting academic from another university) was doing a rather hands-on and interactive session with the 30 of us attending. (Cards to scribble on, sharing ideas, you know the kind of thing).

At clearly point it was clear that she wasn't happy with the plain list of audience generated ideas/thoughts/words that she was getting on the screen and really wanted a mind map. Unfortunately, I'd already blown my cover and she'd seen the mind map I was generating on my bit of card. So I optimistically thought it would be easy enough to run Inspiration (a mindmapping tool on the screen and do what she wanted). Only Inspiration wouldn't run for some networky reason. But PowerPoint worked and I knew you could do a similar thing there, if less simply.

Anyway, I ended up mindmapping her session live in front of everyone using PowerPoint and not being very sure about the topic of complexity in the first place. And without the ability that I have in other arenas to 'hide' what I'm doing until it's presentable. But it was a good challenge and I felt as though it went well and it seemed to go down well.

In fact so well the presenter was wondering out loud as I did a tour round the Library for her, whether she could headhunt me! That was nice as I don't think I'm ever likely to be actually headhunted. Not sure the world of uni librarians is like that.

But highlight of the day was helping move the Dalek back to the Library at the end of the day. Having had to move it four times now I finally made those running the show give up on their "no one's allowed to molest it or get inside it" (fair enough really as it's obviously precious and a very generous loan from the Faculty). So I got to be a Dalek for 10 minutes - and yes - all the rumors you may have heard from those involved with Dr Who are true - it's horribly uncomfortable. 'specially for someone my height. Hot, cramped, limited visibility, a killer on the leg muscles. But marvellous fun!

A not to be missed moment.

It's that time of year again and I'm utterly exhausted.

Started the day moving the Red Dalek over to a marquee not far from the Library. Couple of hours promoting the Library to freshmen and women. I've probably said this before but how many other jobs pay you hand out candy to young ladies (and men too it must be said)?

Then a talk to all the PHD students in the Technology Faculty. [1]

Then back to play Dr Who some more. The hat and scarf and coat did make me feel the part. I believe there'll be photos on facebook this evening for anyone who cares to look.

I can't help feeling TheOldPlace misses a trick by not participating in this yearly event. It's a great way to be made to feel enthusiastic about what you're doing again, great way to meet students and find out what they're up to and interested in, and a great way to promote the Library in a really positive and imaginative way that the students really respond to. (Once they're worked out what's going on!)

One more day tomorrow and then I really will be ready for a sit down.


[1] I sat through the presentations that went before me and revised my presentation to suit and follow up some of the things they said. For example, the Dean, welcoming and introducing the induction event mentioned an inspirational book, so as I sat there with laptop and a live internet connection I was able to check it was in the Library, grab a picture of the cover, and as the last presenter refer back to it at the end and 'bookend' as it were the whole 'inspirational' bit. Not to mention bung in some images and screenshots that had not occurred to me before. Am I maybe going to far? Or is that helpful to people? Kept me occupied at any rate.

Woke up in another cold sweat this morning, but this time, more mysteriously, over being unable to save two boys from drowning in a deep ditch where I'd managed to miskick the ball they kicked my way and I was vainly trying to return. What's that about then?!

Some interesting new training today that I've not had to do before. A mixed group of 70 masters students doing: property development, heritage and museum studies, ecotourism, coastal management and more! But they were friendly enough, if late.

Lots of excitement around the Library about the arrival of a bright red dalek ready for the freshers fayre. It's rather a good one actually and quite makes up for the art faculty not letting us have their life-sized wooden Tardis.

Woke up in a cold sweat very early this morning. Convinced it was a little after 2pm and I'd completely forgotten to go to my 11am training session. No reason at all. Just forgot. Boy, was I relieved when I realized it was a nightmare and that I had the day to live again and could get to the training session after all.

It went ok - though in my excitement I was perhaps less interactive than I'd have liked.

Well, that's it. Summer's done. The students are back next week.

If I've got it right TheOldPlace is a week ahead of us (or we're a week behind) and have already had their week of lots and lots of tours for new students.

As we're not offering tours this year - well aside from my newly minted audio and virtual tours - but attempting to have serious 'rovering' (enthusiastic members of staff possibly in t-shirts saying 'Ask me' or something), I guess I get to escape the endless round of wondering whether you've said a particular line to the group you're in front of that looks remarkably like the group you've just seen. But I can't say I'm going to grieve over the loss.

Whether I count as 'enthusiastic' for rovering purposes is a good question. I know it's the end of the day at the end of a long week, but I'm feeling very tired and lacklustre.

Still, daughter's birthday to look forward to this weekend with various family and friend events.

International students being welcomed today.

I didn't get to give a presentation as I did last time round - they've changed the format. But I did have to stand at a Library stall with leaflets, candy and a laptop. Generally enthuse about the Library which is easy enough to do. Even if I am vaguely surprised that anyone stops when there are other more interesting stands to see.

But it is the one chance in the year that I get to really go to town with all the fragments of phrases that I know in all sorts of languages. It seems to make the students feel a bit more welcome (and impresses my Library colleagues!). The Finns, for example, are always astonished anyone can say anything in their language, never mind "If you hear the sound of butterflies laughing, you know the taste of clouds."

But ironically my business librarian colleague and I spent most time talking to three young ladies from Minnesota who were enthusiastic about everything - one even wants to come and work in the Library.

As I'm team leader for the ground floor for the next couple of years, one of things I thought might be nice was suggesting lunch for the dozen or so of us at a nearby cafe. Better yet, I could delegate the actual organization of that to the floor manager. We decided to go mad and invite not just the core 6 of us, but also two weekend people and the two or three who support us from technical services. A wider team that almost never meets as a 'team' unless we get together like this.

But there was a slightly bitter taste to my otherwise excellent food when I realized that the list of people in the team was slightly out of date and the floor manager had missed someone out in the invitations. Unforgiveable - and it most certainly should have been me who made sure that list was accurate.

Humble pie for dessert then - though the forgotten colleague was very gracious about it.

Off today to an internal conference - well, 'forum' it's labelled - for heads and course leaders.

Why am I going you ask, as I'm neither? Well, it's actually a bit broader than that and I was invited last year when I didn't have a clue and got a lot out of it, and have been invited again. So I went. In actual fact, it's only a morning as the after lunch events really are just for new course leaders.

But once again, I learned about things going on in the University that I wouldn't have otherwise heard about, I learned about issues of current concern to academics (and others), and I had a couple of opportunities to promote things going on in the Library. (Like the new virtual tour!) Not to mention several chances to meet staff who were new to me and catch up with staff I might not otherwise easily meet.

So very worth while - even I was the only one there from the Library aside from my boss who was doing a presentation.

Bit suprised to discover the Library's virtual tour which I've been working on (and passed to the web guru to put on a server for testing) has gone live!

Hold on!
What about the couple of errors I know need sorting?
What about the tweaking I wanted to do?

The idea was that other Library staff could take a look and comment this week for it going live next week. Ah well, never mind. There's nothing too critical.

But the bigger problem is that the web guru (who is only part time in any case) is now off till next Tuesday! And yes, you've guessed it. No one else has access to the servers.

Getting the audio tour (which is also now finished) posted will have to wait till next week as well.

All a bit disappointing and frustrating. And reminds me that TheOldPlace used to ask us not to take annual leave during freshers' week (next week) or the week before (held for a Library training week).

Sauna and swimming pool look inviting enough (end of the day before dinner, I think) - but yes, this hotel has a network I can connect to as well. (For 10 hours at least.) Definitely a first for me - although it helps that I've brought my laptop along with me as well.

'Retreat' going well - bit of an adventure getting here via public transport but managed to arrive on time. I've been introduced to the idea of World Cafe conversations and far from my fears of what on earth I could contribute in such an atmosphere (I thought) of rarified research and centers of excellence, I find that it's both useful and informative, but that there are also things I can bring to the discussions.

Just had a session on blogs and wikis which was remarkable mostly for the range of skills (from none at all to pretty much experts) and yet still proved to be useful.

Wow! I actually got a fair bit done today. Must be the effects of being so stressed about trying to get everything done that I sat on the bus this morning and made a to do list on my Palm for the first time in ages. It was quite satisfying ticking things off as I went through the day.

It's just a shame that things continued to pile up faster than I could deal with them through the day despite all the activity and achievement. :-(

Never mind, I'm off to a 'retreat' run by one of our centers of excellence tomorrow and Friday. In a very posh hotel I understand in a forest. Must pack my gear for the pool and sauna! Just wish I felt better about whether I should really be attending or not. Don't bank on any posts as I've no idea if there will be 'net access.

Learning to do the cryptic crossword with a couple of like-minded colleagues in lunch and coffee breaks goes on apace. Last couple of weeks we usually get to the end of it by the end of the day. Sometimes just with a couple we can't quite work out. But much improved over a few months ago. None of us can quite do it regularly by ourselves. Just occasionally. So there's still some way to go.

Meanwhile, for those who sometimes ask what librarians actually do (aside from in their breaks) I've been wading through a spreadsheet today listing ebooks. Now this particular list is from a supplier who have had a particular publisher decide that they're going to remove all their books and only place them back with the supplier if we pay for them. Again. (We've already bought them in the job lot we paid for from the supplier.)

Now is it just me or is there something rather shady in being made to pay for something twice like that?

Of course I don't have to buy the books (back). And I won't be buying them all. But I have usage statistics on all the books and while I can ignore the 'dusty ebooks', some of them warrant the cost of making sure they're still available.

One thing that surprised me in the last year is discovering that I now work at the university which has the highest usage figures for ebooks in the country.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

My boss returned from vacation today and her first words (just about) were:
take half a day and go up to the storeroom with your laptop [to finish the article I'm supposed to be writing].

I had thought I might keep the fact that it had been accepted just before I went off for two weeks something of a secret, so I didn't immediately respond that not only was it 'done' (some revisions to make actually) and sent off but I'd had a reply and that it should be appearing at some stage.

So I let her carry on and negotiated up to a whole day and at home rather than upstairs in the garret.

But then my conscious wouldn't allow me to go any further and I had to 'fess up!

Still, my boss was not only amused but very pleased too.

But stupid, stupid, stupid. I don't have time for it - but a day at home is always welcome! (Especially when you've already done the work you're supposed to be doing!)

Put the finishing touches to the virtual tour today and it's now with the web guru. So it will be interesting to see what she does with it. I'm not overly happy with the photos I took - mainly due to a lack of students in them - so I may yet have to go with the more professional ones that are kicking around. But I'd rather use my own if I can.

Meanwhile, for those who asked, my profile page is finally up - it's only taken them a year (!) and there's a photo too FWIW! Can't help feeling it might have been more fun to the Simpsonized version of myself (http://simpsonizeme.com/) which I'm told looks uncannily like me (well, except for the yellow skin).

I guess it had to happen. But so soon?

TheOldPlace had a redesign of the library's website which went live on Monday. Not bad - makes it fit in more with the university as a whole. So in that respect identical to the makeover our site has just had.

But I couldn't help but notice - as I worked on a virtual tour for here - that the tour at TheOldPlace no longer has a link and perhaps sadder, nor does the Alternative Library.

Now it maybe that the links haven't been put on yet, or the pages are being redesigned to fit the 'style' (although what's the point of an alternative library that's not, umm, alternative?), but my guess is that they may have had their day.

So it goes...
I can't help feeling there should have been a ceremony. :-(

Nothing changes.

I found, on the printer, a sheet designed to be put by the power socket of a data-projector. The usual warning about turning the projector off properly so it can cool down rather than switch it off at the wall. Expensive bulbs. TheOldPlace had long since installed such warnings and we've even got one at church (or rather had till recently when the three projectors all went on a proper overhead circuit out of harms reach).

Nor does my propensity to foul up change. I realized today that I'd double booked myself for a day course on Google (to creatively swipe stuff on how to google well for our own course on the subject!) and a residential conference for two days. Neither could be changed. But the day course fortunately will allow a colleague to swap onto it and, as I realized 9 days before the event, wouldn't actually charge if we'd cancelled. (Their fees kick in a 7 days before!)

Too much to do!!!
(Not helped by the fact that I'm off at 4pm today to sort daughter out while wife is on a course)

OK, that's weird.

I can't remember when I last visited the Library Catalog of TheOldPlace - I know I was at the website last week - but I've just popped in to remind myself what Richard Feynman books they hold and it's very different.

I know such things probably wouldn't even be noticed by non-librarians but that I found it so disconcerting was, well, disconcerting.

Sixth and final class of the online course I'm doing on Second Life which takes place in Second Life. Run by the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, it's been very interesting. Both in content and at a sort of meta-level as I look at online learning and how I interact with a distance/virtual course like this.

As I expected, the class sessions were fine for my attendance (barring missing one whilst on vacation) and concentration and engagement. But as usual, I found the self-directed ("I'll fit it in when I have time") participatation in the Virtual Learning Environment difficult. I need to learn to schedule time but what is clear to me is that I do benefit from attendance with people as it were.

And in fact, I'm sure I got a lot more out of this course because I was attending 'with' a couple of colleagues from TheOldPlace who are also interested in the possibilities of SL for library provision to students.

If there were downsides to the course, it might be the slight frustration in not meeting the rest of the class in reality. Somehow SL still seems 'second best' in terms of reality despite the advantages that it conveys. I had expected to learn to build things, but apparently that's th Intermediate course which I'll have to sign up for. Then, too, I think the classes could have been a bit more interactive and hands-on but I didn't mind the sitting in class too much - perhaps because I made my own fun by Instant Messaging others in the class to keep it interesting. Sometimes it would be about class issues, sometimes it wasn't (such as today when the subject of the advert for the job of my former boss at TheOldPlace coming out).

One curious thing I noticed was that reading the transcript of the class I missed was NOT the same as being there even in SL. You'd have thought it would be very similar given that you're just reading on the screen (no one attempted using voice as it's still so iffy for so many people - even just hearing voice apparently). But no, I'm not quite sure what it was, but it's not the same. Although you could read the session much faster than the two hours they took, you just didn't get the pacing and the understanding of what people were saying - particularly when conversation was going on - in such a clear way. Obviously, you couldn't contribute as it was after the fact, and obviously you couldn't look at the instructor(s) - or the other participants - as you might in a real SL class. But I was still surprised at how different it felt.

I think the quote from the forums, however, that summed the whole experience up for me best was something I'd been thinking but which was said much more succinctly by S, than I'd have ever put it: (I trust I can use the quote verbatim - if not let me know and I'll paraphrase.)

"I've been wondering about the role of academic libraries in SL. Initially I was thinking of it mainly in terms of what we could build and link to. A sort of 3D website concept. Since I've been in SL longer I've been thinking of it more in terms of community and social presence and communication. What goes on in the space in terms of interaction between people."

Just so.

One thing I noticed just before going on vacation were two advertisements as I travelled the last mile to work.

One advertising the university I'm at now, the other advertising TheOldPlace.

No question of which was better / more interesting / more attractive.

Ours is completely white with a corporately colored single word in the middle. There are three versions with three different words. 'Potential' is one of them - I can't recall the others - and the uni logo makes up two of the letters. Looks like the kind of thing I might have come up with made to produce an advert in some 'hands on' workshop or other.

TheOldPlace, on the other hand, had a really attractively colored, lively poster that while it might have been a little 'busier' at least made you stop and look again. Based solely on the adverts themselves I know which university I'd be picking if I were a student!

Today I revisited familiar ground from TheOldPlace.

Took senior colleague, S, over to a studio where we recorded half of the library's audio tour. Yes, you read that right, just half. At TheOldPlace it seemed a trivial task to get two of us in front of microphone and record the text. ISTR it took a little over an hour (and that included learning the PC software as we were left to get on with it ourselves).

Here, trying to get two members of staff in the same place at the same time seems to be harder than herding the proverbial cats. Mainly down to the recording engineer's availability it must be said.

But with the engineer doing all the work, me directing fairly lightly, and S being a natural performer (he does have a radio show on a very very local station after all), we were done in half an hour and I can only hope it's as straightforward getting A to do her bit next week.

At least the project's moving forwards once again after something of a hiatus with people on vacation.

Today was rather exhausting and somewhat surreal.

There's a conference for cartographers going on elsewhere in the uni and ages back the Head asked if there was anyone who would lead some of the delegates on a tour of a nearby naval library. OK, so, I didn't have to show them round the actual library. Just get them all to the dockyard gate where we'd be met by the librarian who'd escort us in.

Yes please, I thought. Be quite interesting, I thought. Not very hard, I thought.

(The map librarian I should note was also leading a tour of yet more delegates to a nearby island, which is why he couldn't do it.)

Anyway, I confirmed all the details, printed them out, took them with me, and set off.
Slight panic when the four people who'd chosen this particular tour weren't where I'd been told - but not to worry, they were nearby in a lounge. We set off for the gate and were good and early - despite the slightly older chap who wasn't up to much walking - so I said I'd wait while they looked round the souvenir sellers of nearby naval history ships on display.

No problem there, they were all back in good time and we waited for the librarian. No sign of her. Five past the hour I'm getting a little edgy but we give her a few more minutes before I go and ask at a nearby ticket office if they can contact the library and let them know we've arrived. No, but they suggest we try the naval museum a short walk into the dockyard.

Off we go, keeping a look out for a harried librarian racing to meet us, but no such luck. At the museum we're directed 'round the corner' to the library but can't just go there as there are two guards keeping an eye on a gate. We check with the guards and they confirm we're on a list of visitors and they send us off to the library 'just round the corner'.

In there, we meet a pony-tailed chap who tells us that we're not where we're supposed to be. Despite it looking rather like a naval library and despite the guards thinking that's where we're supposed to be, there is apparently somewhere else that we've been invited to look round and we need to find Building #24. Just as we take our leave of the guy I suddenly realize somewhat out of the blue that he's the author of a reasonably obscure and completely unwork related, unlibrary related blog I read. We didn't have time to stop and talk so I thought it would nicely wind him up just to say: "You're Q, aren't you? I read your blog." as we scuttled out through the doors. He was suitably shocked and bemused!

Anyway, that's when it all started going wrong. Back to the two guards to get directions and they weren't at all sure. But they did have a map of the dockyard. Now maybe alarm bells should have started ringing when I looked at the age of the map, and maybe I should have got the cartographers to take a look for historical interest. But after some searching we found Building #24 and they gave me explicit instructions to walk down a particular road, turn left, turn right etc. and off we went.

10 minutes later we were where we'd been told and it did say #24 on the corner, but it looked like a rather grand residential block than a library. Still, I rang the doorbell and then noticed a sign saying 'Deputy Commander - Fleet'. Oh dear. It might only be the middle of the afternoon but who was going to be pleased at having an afternoon disturbed? Fortunately no one answered the door so I could run away very quickly and pretend I knew along it was the wrong place. Meanwhile, a couple of the (younger, fitter) cartographers had wandered down to the other end of the block and determined it was accommodation all along. No sign of a library.

In a bit of a quandary we noticed a very grand and newly fronted building opposite (and across a courtyard and car park) - can't say the Navy doesn't do things in a grand style - so we thought we'd try there. I left the group outside while I went in and found a very nice reception desk. Evidently all refurbished recently but no one in sight, just a blowup doll sitting in a corner. Then I noticed the small sign directing me to an office down the corridor if there was no one there. I set off with ever more of a sinking feeling but desperately hoping we were somewhere near our goal.

In the office - a large open plan thing with room for at least 8 - there was just one lady and she at least, and at last, knew the name of the librarian. She directed us 'just around the corner' (though inexplicably giving us explicit instructions to avoid an underpass which would have cut five minutes off the walk). We take off once more and get to where we think she meant but there's absolutely no sign of a library. Just another nice entrance - as we'd been told - which led into a stairwell and elevator lobby. No reception, no clues - till I start climbing the stairs and spot a floor directory. Still no sign of the library so there's no point climbing further.

Getting hotter and hotter and more and more bothered and somewhat stressed, back in the lobby I saw a phone. The cartographers were very patiently waiting outside but were happy for me to try and call in help. Obviously an internal phone and no phone numbers at all except an emergency one for security threats. I was desperate. Voices at the other end were not overly enchanted to find I wasn't a security threat just a lost librarian but they did at least suggest an operator number. Which I tried only to find there was no such number.

Back outside I regroup with the patient tourists and have to admit defeat. The elderly gentleman is ready to give up. I'm out of ideas. But at that moment two guys come running past and as luck would have it, one knows not only where the librarian is but shows us - now if only someone had been willing to do that earlier!

A mere 45 minutes late we arrive at the library where the head man who emerges to welcome us specially before handing us over to the librarian asks if we had trouble with security at the gate?! We all nearly throttled him. We never learned why we'd not been met at the gate.

Now at that point I'd decided that no visit on earth could be worth all the stress and embarrassment. But I was wrong.

The librarian had dug out of the archives a host of precious maps and atlas volumes and books for us to peruse. And then we had a long tour round the archives themselves (mercifully air conditioned to protect the stock). And finally a drink!

But some of the things we saw - and were allowed to touch and hold and 'flick through'. 400 year old books. Ortelius' atlas of which there are only two English translations - and we were holding one. Maps from Capt James Cooks' voyages. Ancient Chinese maps from before the printing press. A vast, beautifully bound Russian volume containing plans of every fortress in the country (which had then been swiped by Bonaparte and so had gained lots of French translations neatly next to the cyrillic and a stamp from the Biblioteque Nationale; and then been swiped by the Germans who'd added their own layer of annotations and library stamps; and then been swiped by the Brits... and so on). And perhaps my favorite of all: one of Mercator's original world atlases. Still with gorgeous colors and preservation.

In the end, no one was sorry that we'd persevered to find the place. Everyone was thrilled with what we'd seen and learned and although I could live without the adventure next time, I think the visitors will take back a good report to their conference!

We were even all given a gift of some surplus items they had. It's obscure enough and I thought I'd have no interest - about mine laying in World War II - a volume of text and a separate volume with all the charts - but I started reading the text and it was really quite fascinating and exciting! Just hope the map librarian actually wants it.

Oh dear - I thought I'd mentioned that I'd be off for two weeks vacation. If I did I can't find it - so my apologies to anyone checking in to see what's new. Not a lot.

Still, a couple of weeks away from it all has been refreshing [1] and although there's lots to do on return I did at least manage to not be completely overwhelmed with email by logging on once or twice to delete the junk and answer some of the personal and/or fun things that had arrived.

The only snag with that is that it leaves all the dreary worky drossy difficult stuff to deal with. Only 50 to go now after a day at it but it doesn't look as though I've missed a great deal while I've been away.


[1] wore a wet suit for the first time and am sold on the things. For protection against cold and sun and severe sand exfoliation - not to mention buoyancy and pose value - they can't be beaten.

Staff Development Day today. Supposed to be an 'away' day but it turned into away to the new teaching rooms in the part of the new extension that doesn't belong to the library. Not bad but another time it would be great to go further afield.

We'd filled in various self-assessment sheets before the day so the two guys leading the session could report back to us on our Belbin profiles - interestingly I came out much as I had the first time round a few months back even though I tried to answer the questions in a slightly different way. Of course, I'm still as 'planty' as ever
http://www.belbin.com/downloads/Belbin_Team_Role_Summary_Descriptions.pdf
but when we were lined up according to our preferences was surprised to find that almost everyone one else was at the other end of the room from me (I didn't actually have to go and stand in the corridor for that axis as some suggested!). Still, apparently you don't want too many plants as they're liable to wind other people up. Perhaps less surprisingly almost all of us showed a strong team-worker preference. Well, that's librarians for you. Generally.

Meanwhile it was one of those days full of 'activities'. All of which were interesting, some of which were harder. (Write 6 statements beginning "I am..." that would be helpful for your team to know. And then share them with everyone.) Even the curmudgeonly recalcitrant couple who didn't want to play joined in which I was impressed with.

I got to be planty in the very first team exercise when we were split into three groups (each of the library's three floor teams) and given an exercise to do for half an hour. I'd listened carefully to the instructions and when I realized that we could 'solve' it much quicker with the three teams working as one suggested this to our team leader. She wasn't very convinced but we established from the leaders that no, they'd not said we couldn't do that in the 'rules'. So I persuaded her (the ultimate 'completer finisher') to at least try asking the other teams. But they all wanted to be competitive and 'win'. (I wanted to 'win' just as keenly but saw winning as either breaking out of the assumed rules or doing it quicker than other groups the leaders might have encountered). Of course, the leaders picked up on this at the end and wanted to know why we'd not worked together and then got an excellent teaching point when they asked what we might have done in a real life situation. Lights went on my head when they said that.

One long standing colleague ventured the opinion that of course in real life we'd have worked much more as a united effort across the three teams and it was only in this artificial situation that we'd been competitive. I nearly spluttered. That has not been my experience and before I thought about the fall out ventured to say so. I'm not sure it went down very well.

But at a break H came and found me and thanked me for speaking up because it had been her experience as well. General lack of enthusiasm for new ideas, or a feeling they'd be too difficult, or a decision to pass them up to management where they get lost, or else a decision to adopt the idea from one floor team that's not taken up by the others. Ah well.

I might have got negative points for speaking up in the morning, but redeemed myself in the afternoon when we were doing another half hour exercise to fit jigsaw pieces together. Very early on I clicked what the 'edge' pieces were and as I passed on the information suddenly saw how we could solve the puzzle and just sort of 'took charge' of doing so as there wasn't really time to discuss it. We just managed to solve the problem in the alloted time which pleased everyone no end and gave us a high to finish the day on. Phew.

Two center trip to a film institute library and the attached (but housed in a separate location) film archive today. 8 of us went in two cars.

Couple of hours each way was a bit daunting. But my car companions and the visits themselves were actually great fun and well worth doing as both a social thing and in gaining a better understanding of the facilitites that are available there. We have film students and it's good to know.

Highlights of the day for me were seeing a nifty Lektriver system for storing loads of periodicals in a small space (sad librarian that I am) and being allowed 20 whole minutes at some outdoor secondhand book tables that my family always drag me past when we're in the city without even stopping.

Definitely on displacement activity today as I try to get inspired about writing my article. I really must get on with it.

Our internet connection failed for much of the day which has left a curious sensation of being unplugged.

Had a funny day visiting SL yesterday.

Usual hassle of having to download the latest update. I see voice communication has arrived but I think I prefer typing.

I then spent most of lunchtime chatting with a professor from a college in Florida. I'd been thanking him for returning my 'lost' motorbike when we fell to talking about weather, second life, languages, students and so forth. One of my best encounters there - hey and just for a change not library related! (Nor purely social or somewhat dubious!) After half an hour of instant messaging he offered to teleport me to where he was and we both sat on mats meditating. I liked his 'Sophocles' look - dressed in what appeared to be a white bed sheet.

Then spent some time trying to sort out my inventory and the like which is a bit tedious.

And *then* made an effort to discover where I can get on my bike (or the rocket pack I seem to have acquired). Not everywhere allows you to get it out of your inventory. But it's further confused by the fact that once you're riding it you seem to be able to take it places you couldn't remove it. Or am I just really confused about the whole issue?

The sad thing was that with all the riding and flying (and I didn't do a lot), or maybe it was just tiredness, I got very motion sick. Worse than I've ever had it before. Such that I very nearly was ill and even last thing at night I still felt it a bit. Settled down by breakfast though fortunately.

I'm not entirely sure what use I will make of this, but I thought it was interesting and, I think, largely unknown.

If you use Google's image search as normal and then add "&imgtype=face" (without the quotes) to the end of the URL for the results page, and press , you'll just get images with faces in. Try 'libarians' (scary) or, say, 'astronauts'.

You can also add &imgtype=news to get images associated with news items.

Have a good weekend!

I know I don't often post URLs in this blog, but posting these yesterday round library staff made me think that perhaps there was a wider audience for those who've not already seen them. Both are links to videos, both are videos I've got a lot out of. One I've known for some time. One I'd not seen till yesterday.

The first is Epic 2015 and definitely worth 9 minutes of your time. It's a look to the future and what might happen with technology and the internet. You may have come across its 'Googlezon' idea before. Very imaginative and well done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-auoYsPJ014

And on a completely different note, if you're overwhelmed by email, the other video is a 'Tech Talk' given to Google employees by Merlin Mann (of 43 Folders http://www.43folders.com/ fame):
http://lifehacker.com/software/email/merlin-mann-presents-inbox-zero-282544.php
It's just short of an hour, but only 30 minutes of presentation (well worth it) and then half an hour of questions (maybe less valuable, but some good tips and quite amusing). Very motivating.

If you really can't spare the time, CW - a librarian in Australia - summarizes:
http://blog.flexnib.com/2007/07/31/back-from-the-brink/

I'm off to have a go at implementing that today. Now.

Also today, it's the beginning of my term as a team leader (something I share with the science librarian). We switch every two years.

Again not sure about the whole process particularly as it's all about to change as I think I've mentioned. But it was interesting and perhaps useful to run across this today:

http://blog.flexnib.com/2007/07/27/why-would-anyone-want-to-be-led-by-you/

which I should probably pin up somewhere.

Appraisal this morning.

Never quite sure about these things and they were a bit of a mixed bag at TheOldPlace.

Still, they seem to take them quite seriously here so it will be interesting to see what comes of it. I'm never absolutely I'm not far too candid in the things, which of course my new boss is kind of new to.

Well, they can't get rid of me now! (Well, not so easily).

Just received notice that my probationary year has been signed off. Apparently I'm 'satisfactory'.

I did say to my boss that if I was only 'satisfactory' that I was happy to leave now, but she pointed out I could only be 'satisfactory' or 'bad' - so be happy!

I think I will.

Met an academic for the first time today. I think she's been here for a while but is new to the faculty as she's doing one of those crossover subjects that as much design as engineering.

She's keen on getting me doing something with mindmaps which was a fun session I developed at TheOldPlace with S.

Be nice to revisit them.

Though the visit did throw up some issues with what my laptop has - or rather doesn't have - access to while I'm out and about. So another email fired off to the IT help desk.

Met up with H for coffee again today. About the third time we've managed that in a year I think. Still, it was good to find out that some of the issues she's facing on her second floor are much the same as down here on the ground floor. It's surprising sometimes, how little contact there can be between the floor teams sometimes.

And as from the 1st we become team leaders for our respective floors. The Faculty Librarians do two year stints which are just finishing now. Snag is the senior colleague I'm taking over from is so laid back and 'handsoff' in his approach that it's rather hard to know what to emulate.

And the structure/location of the team is changing anyway with our floor manager taking over the systems post.

I'm not even sure I know who the team consists of. Senior colleague just mentioned and our new(ish) assistant. The floor manger and his assistant. That's the 'core' and easy enough. But there's also three ladies from the issue team who come and help with shelving (and our current big summer move). I'm not even sure who two of them are. Plus assorted student shelvers. I think.

Not to mention all my uncertainties/fears/noviceness at 'leadership' in any case.

So, all in all, it could be fun.

Back in my virtual course in Second Life today. Similar to last week with us sitting around in an (open air) auditorium, still going through the basics of the place. This time with the added twist that we had two presenters because one was actually teaching the same thing in real space in front of real people as well (who could see us) and the other typing in what she was saying. I'd love to have known how edited it was and how much we missed!

Meanwhile, a further difference was the lead teacher being possible the most attractive (for want of a better word for a set of pixels) avatar I've seen in SL. With a necklace that was specially designed, created from hundreds of prims and looked fabulous. Of course, fantasy took a bit of a knock when she revealed in the session that she'd been a librarian for 30 years.

Once again there was chat via 'notes at the back of the class' (or IM as most people know it). This time with another former colleague who's also joined the class and also the course organizer - who at least recognized me this week after last week's decline of friendship. It must be the Harley jacket wearing, aging 60s rocker look I've worked hard at developing!

As ever I'm being chucked out of the building as the class ends, but this time I managed to grab my laptop and sit on the back doorstep which is still within the network bubble and log back in for the last few minutes. A (real life) discussion earlier in the day (in as much as email is real life) had reminded me about the selection of motorbikes in my inventory, so when class did finish I couldn't resist jumping on and roaring off into the sunset. Which would probably have looked more impressive had the bike actually roared (it doesn't) and had I known how to control it accurately!

Rare empty day in my diary and been marvellous to catch up (hah! who am I kidding), ok, it's been marvellous to make a slight dent in stuff that piled up while I was off. Short lunch and coffee breaks have helped. My desk may be no clearer, but the stress alarms over what I might be missing have been helped.

One assignment for yesterday was to try and find six people to fill in an assessment about how they perceive me. Tricky when I've not even been here a year. But I've asked some from TheOldPlace to have a go. (Thanks if you're reading this!)

It's for a development day next week. It's all going to be analyzed and I'll probably be found out for the disaster/psychotic/uselessness I currently feel. But 'observers' will be glad to know I don't get to see what they've written about me. (Drat!)

Went to an interesting presentation today from a couple of excellent salesmen. Telling us about and demonstrating Primo
http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/primo.htm

The idea behind this product (and other similar but not as good that I've seen), is to provide a one stop search. Instead of students (and academics) having to search the library catalogue, search various databases (possibly several), search the university's repositories, search this, search that - never mind the web and Google Scholar etc.

There are certain difficulties with such an approach (speed is often one as proprietary databases can't be pre-searched as Google does with the web), but Primo seems to address many of the other issues that are often raised (too many results on general searches, too limited search features).

It also has a lot of the social side of Web 2.0 stuff - tagging, rating, reviewing items. This could be particular useful as it's likely to be far too long before library management systems catch up with this.

Particularly new students want the social side and don't want the complexity of what they now face. They're used to Google and Flickr and the like. They're not used to (and don't seem to warm to) having to face an hour's training on where-to-begin-to-get-the-information-you-need-oh-and-by-the-way-this-isn't-half-of-it-but-we-don't-have-time-for-more.

We fear that the product is going to be horribly expensive (the salesmen have gone off now to work out a cost based on our particular details), but I'm increasingly of the opinion that we can't afford NOT to be buying into something like this or we're going to become increasingly irrelevant to and unused by students.

They're not interested in search like librarians. They're interested in find.

I've, for reasons I'm not entirely sure about, signed up for a virtual course run by a major mid-western university. It's a course on Second Life in Second Life. For Librarians. Not entirely sure what it's going to be like - and the one time I did a virtual thing like this before I hated the lack of f2f interaction - but want to give it a go and the library's forked out the $200.

The first of the two hour sessions was this afternoon and was kind of disappointing and interesting at the same time.

Disappointing because it turned out to be very much like a lecture with us sitting in an open air auditorium listening to the speaker for the day. Disappointing because the first hour really did cover the very basic basics of Second Life, the second hour some of the relevance to libraries - but felt as if it were just getting interesting as it was time to go. Disappointing because we learned that building things for example, was not part of this course but an intermediate one (still, I could sign up for that I guess).

Interesting because it was curious attending class in this kind of environment. Interesting to see how others (maybe 25 class mates?) behaved and reacted. Interesting because I was attending with a former colleague from TheOldPlace and we could IM each other through the class - just like passing real notes but not as obtrusive - which provided a virtual commentary on the virtual class that proved highly amusing and was really the saving grace of the whole two hours. (Everything from rude remarks about the session/session leader or people's avatars, through how we were supposed to be responding or not to the session, to completely non-course related chit-chat).

On the downside I didn't manage to avoid my real life problem of just being that bit too eager to chip in with something or make a smart remark before I can help it. (e.g. feeling like I was the class nerd after we had a break one hour in and I used it to go fetch from our real life shelves a book that had been recommended)

On the upside I did learn a couple of useful things: about mouselook, about silencing objects, and about the recommended book. And, just maybe, by interacting when it didn't seem like many bothered, made the class tutor feel better about the session.

Not a long post today as so much seems to have piled up while I was away last week (or occupied with tours or virtual classes).

But, completely offtopic, I have finished Harry Potter already. Tremendous story and a fitting conclusion to the series - even if it didn't answer every loose end. Sad to think there's no more.

And a chance to formally thank someone at TheOldPlace who persuaded me to persevere with Potter (I nearly gave up early on because of depressing reminders of my own school days) and who introduced me to the marvellous John Granger: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Granger

Back to work after a few days off using up annual leave, but to be honest if it hadn't been for the one event in my diary I might have stayed home. I'm feeling so under the weather with a cold and have broken my toe to boot (swimming would you believe it?!).

But the diary event couldn't be changed and has filled the day. The other half of the visitors from TheOldPlace were due for a repeat of a month back. Although one had to leave early so she came a couple of hours early. It really did fill the day and give me a sense of deja vu as I lapped the library for the second time.

Still, the visit itself seemed to go as well as last time - despite the Head of the library not being around to do his little introduction. The schedule was pretty much the same (refreshments, tour, tour of the website, lunch in a nearby cafe, campus tour) and again charged me up pretty well. But now, having said farewell, I'm utterly exhausted and wondering if I have the strength to travel home.

Bit nervous about posting this for reasons for which may become clear, but as I'm aware I'm going to be off for a few days, it'll be something to mull over. I think I've decided it shouldn't matter posting it. Or that I don't really care! Take your pick.



I often read reviews or comments in the real world media that suggest Second Life is "just" a red light district or that you'll only find perverts in there, or that none of it is "safe" for children (or adults for that matter). In a workshop a few Fridays back, I pointed out to those in the room that although I've not spent a lot of time in Second Life, that that had not been my experience. Perhaps I'm more wary of clicking on things that 'look' dodgy or have merely led a sheltered life in there. But it was pointed out to me by a former colleague afterwards, when I mentioned the discussion, that actually the same was true of the real world as well. I don't frequent, hang out in, or even encounter very often such 'dodginess'. OK, so I was once was propositioned by a prostitute in Malaysia in the middle of the night but given that she appeared to be about 90 it wasn't exactly tempting. Besides I took my nightwatch duties guarding 350 people too seriously to abandon them even for a moment.

Reflecting on the observation, however, I thought it was probably true and I wasn't so much 'stung' by that, as decided in an oh so rebellious moment that I would rectify it immediately. What if I tried to find something less than wholesome?

I clicked on the Second Life map determined to see what I could find and scrolled around until I saw 'Exotica Erotica'. Now that sounds like it's not going to be a teddy bear's picnic exactly. Here goes...

I teleported in and found what amounted to a pole dancing club. Immediately one of the three female avatars said 'hi' and at the same moment my PC display went all blocky and the machine crashed. First time that's ever happened to me in Second Life. Much amused by either divine protection from such a place, a really nifty university IT security protection system against visiting such a place, or else just random chance, I eventually logged in again.

I realized I'd teleported onto the dance stage and there were clear messages around and about saying that the dance stage was only for performers. I backed off as quick as I could and was, now I was moving again, welcomed once again with a 'hi hapter' from the same dancer as before. I apologized for my crass entry (though quite how you avoid it I don't know) and was told that it wasn't a problem and got an apology myself once the dancer realized they'd missed the first letter of my avatar's name.

Down on the floor proper I saw that I could sit on one of the many stools round the dance area at the feet of the dancers (some marked 'chill', some marked 'entertain me'), I could wander around various 'cells' round the perimeter of the room, or I could look at some of the wall displays which were like large computer screens each of which without exception seemed to have some fairly grainy but graphic pornographic image which changed periodically. Here and there were various pink and blue balls usually labelled with a sexual position and it didn't take much observation or thought to realize that they mostly came in pairs and seemed to relate to whether you wanted to be (or were) male or female.

Dotted around were a handful of avatars - all male except one I noticed. (not counting the three dancers). Two were naked - one very obviously so as he'd clearly paid for and was proud of an anatomical enhancement. (For those who aren't familiar with this aspect of Second Life it might help to know that a standard avatar can be stripped naked like a Cindy Doll or Action Man but is just as sexless underneath the clothing). None of the avatars on the floor were actually doing anything or saying anything except wandering around with a very occasional interchange with the dancers on stage from one of the avatars who seemed to be known to them.

The cells enhanced the feel of a, well, dungeon would perhaps best describe it. There were no windows or skylights. Some cells were equipped with chains and manacles and rack-like devices and some of the pink/blue balls were labelled 'tie me'. There didn't appear to be any obvious entrance/exit. I teleported in, I eventually teleported out.

Meanwhile the three dancers were pole dancing in a fairly reasonable simulation of what I would expect had I ever been to such a venue in real life, the one who welcomed me was dressed in a bikini type outfit, another was dressed a bit more flamboyantly, and the other appeared to be naked but covered in zebra stripes I guess. Clearly they'd all paid for enhancements to movement, body shape, hair, clothing etc to make them more attractive than run of the mill 'free' avatars out-of-the-box as it were.

Now, so much for the description of the place. I'm a reasonably red blooded male, I think, and I tend to respond well to visual input but I have to say that the place did nothing for me whatsoever. After walking around for a bit I sat on a stool - one of the ones marked 'chill' - I wasn't entirely certain the other stools mightn't involve paying Linden dollars - I've only got 24 of the things (about 10 cents). I'm quite able to find avatars 'attractive' in the sense that the pixels are clearly representing attractiveness or cuteness or whatever rather than actually being intrinsically attractive. I'm quite able to use my imagination to bridge the gap between Second Life and reality. I'm quite able to get lost in the virtual world (in all three senses of the expression!). But I really really couldn't see the point. And I don't think it was just because you've no idea if the avatars you interacting with are actually male or female in real life. And I don't think it was because the chains and dungeon like edges were unappealing. Much of Second Life is much more surreal than that. I suppose that had I been there with a friend and chatting and using the pink/blue animations balls it might have been different. I suppose that had I attempted to chat someone up and use the animation balls it might have been different. I suppose that had I just been there chatting suggestively with someone it might have been different. But I don't think so. It comes back to what I say about watching sport on tv. I'd rather be out there playing than just watching. And just watching in Second Life seems even more removed from reality.

Overall it seemed a peculiarly dispiriting and depressing sort of place. But then again, I suspect that I'd find a real life club of that sort exactly the same. Frankly, porn has never done a great deal for me. I don't think it's because I'm not wired that way, I think it's because I've very deliberately not dwelt on it/pursued it/used it.

I gave it quarter of an hour or so (if that) which seemed a fair experiment and then randomly checked out a nearby island just to leave a better image in my mind over the weekend. I stumbled across a beautiful island with a bandstand just behind a beach. There were two balls in the bandstand, one pink and one blue. Perhaps they're right I thought, and it is mostly like "that". But this turned out to be somewhere you could tango with a partner. Now that I would like to try! Two left feet in real life. Down on the beach was a lovely camp fire surrounded by logs, the waves were washing up and down, two boats were moored off a jetty, and there was the occasional cry of a gull. Now that's more like it! I waded in the water for a moment - though as ever this kind of thing just isn't the same as doing it in real life - and sat by the fire. Artificial though the view and the waves and the sounds were, it was very relaxing. I decided to leave myself there for the weekend and log out. I hope the owners of the island didn't mind - but I'll collect some firewood for them if they like.


Of course, all this was in work time and although I've been expected to explore the place and find out what use we can make of it to help students, I did wonder if I could possibly justify visiting a pole dancing club/dungeon. But in fact, I learned something about Second Life and its denizens, etiquette and environment. And I learned quite a powerful lesson that has immediate relevance to any provision of library space that we might offer. I wonder if you spotted it? The power of that immediate and friendly welcome. I'm sure the dancers are being paid, I'm sure that's exactly what they're supposed to do. I have no idea if they're supposed to 'do' anything more and I could have, I'm sure, pursued conversation with them. But all the same, even just that welcome into a strange space was very, well, welcome.