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.