Pals, colleagues, family members who may or may not be cyber stalking me,
Two big things.
First, great news. The orders with LibraryWorld and Gaylord were finalized after much hoop jumping here in SKN. Yippie! Now we're really rolling.
Second - DAMN! It is time consuming to get those records into the ILS. What I am doing is using MARCedit to convert tab delimited spreadsheets I am making into MARC records I can upload onto LibraryWorld in large blocks because I find data entry is easier on a spreadsheet than in the LibraryWorld interface. That's not a knock on LibraryWorld, it's just an admission of Excel's very, very simple interface, combined with MARCedit making it easy for me to upload a lot of records in one go.
Anyhoo, long story short, my boss is going to see about getting me some help for Data Entry. I've got spreadsheet templates for Books and Serials made in excel that I can quickly convert into MARC and upload in a second to LibraryWorld, so right now my main focus is on getting the remaining unclassified material classified. I actually have about half the collection (2000 items give or take 100) classified, but only about 200 Title records fully catalogued. With the expected two assistants I'll have filling in the 245$ 300$ 830$ 500$ (etc.) fields, all I'll have to do is get them to put the right info into the right Excel field and then I'll fill in the 650$'s and 090$'s and then I can upload them all and add the copy records.
Bing Bang Boom - It's a good plan and I think it will greatly increase our productivity. Then, once the Gaylord Brothers order comes in, I can put the assistants on task for labelling our material.
At this point, I'll have to raise the issue of shelving and a circulation desk, getting the right kind of signage, call number ranges, etc etc.
In personal news, since my trip to Brimstone, I've been staying home on the weekends and avoiding going out to build up a little capital to do another big trip, like zip lining or something fun like that.
I've also been taking work home with me in larger amounts to get the lead out getting the records made. I'm around 2 months and 2.5 weeks into my contract. Nearly halfway there. Where does the time go?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
A short one tonight
Hey folks, a short one tonight because I am beyond tired.
I'm as beyond tired as the X-Men are beyond humanity. And unlike them, I have no desire to co-exist peacefully, merely to co-exist sleepily.
So itemized things.
1. Still getting the ILS. Mr. Maynard and I have to go to Central Purchasing on Monday to request purchase of my processing supplies and ILS in person and then we have to walk the staff through the ordering process. I would have preferred it if we could move faster on this, but patience is a virtue, and I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer. Besides, still some cat n' classing to do.
2. We were supposed to go visit the secondary school libraries on Tuesday, but my boss called me before work that day and told me it got scotched. Apparently there was some thing that needed his attention elsewhere, so it's been postponed indefinitely. Boo.
3. I'm following @jambina on twitter now. I like her take on libraries, in that she humourously phrases things.
4 Started blocking out my draft for the CLA paper that UNESCO asked me to write. Marsh looked over my outline and gave it a high five with a few comments. Marsh is a PhD so in a way it felt like being back in school.
5. Congrats to all the new SIM graduates to be, incidentally. This week was their last week. Sigh, has it been a year already?
6. Remember how I said I like MARCEdit? Yup, still do. I love that thing.
7. Talked to Fred at LibraryWorld on the phone this week, he gave me a follow up call after all our email correspondence just to make sure I was on board, head above water and if I felt 100% on it. Yeah. I am pretty much. I've been trying to get this ILS for a while, so I'm just glad I'm getting it.
8. Going to the beach on Sunday. Love that beach man.
9. Bought some souvenirs for friends at Brimstone Fortress when I was there last Saturday.
10. I've made a decision, no alcohol at home for 2 weeks. That trip to Brimstone actually cost me a pretty penny because I had to secure a cabbie for the drive up and back, plus museum admission and it takes a little while to get there as well, so the fare was bigger. Plus, with some of the souvenirs I bought, I must have spent like $100 US up there. I went there with the express purpose of doing the tourist thing, but after awhile I felt... you know what, I like to have a beer at every dinner, but it's not essential and I should save a little bit of money while I am here.
11. I don't miss the Green Atlantic, but I am starting to miss my crew from 'Fax and the extended SIM 08-10 crowd.
I'll post more exact details on what is going on workwise later.
I'm as beyond tired as the X-Men are beyond humanity. And unlike them, I have no desire to co-exist peacefully, merely to co-exist sleepily.
So itemized things.
1. Still getting the ILS. Mr. Maynard and I have to go to Central Purchasing on Monday to request purchase of my processing supplies and ILS in person and then we have to walk the staff through the ordering process. I would have preferred it if we could move faster on this, but patience is a virtue, and I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer. Besides, still some cat n' classing to do.
2. We were supposed to go visit the secondary school libraries on Tuesday, but my boss called me before work that day and told me it got scotched. Apparently there was some thing that needed his attention elsewhere, so it's been postponed indefinitely. Boo.
3. I'm following @jambina on twitter now. I like her take on libraries, in that she humourously phrases things.
4 Started blocking out my draft for the CLA paper that UNESCO asked me to write. Marsh looked over my outline and gave it a high five with a few comments. Marsh is a PhD so in a way it felt like being back in school.
5. Congrats to all the new SIM graduates to be, incidentally. This week was their last week. Sigh, has it been a year already?
6. Remember how I said I like MARCEdit? Yup, still do. I love that thing.
7. Talked to Fred at LibraryWorld on the phone this week, he gave me a follow up call after all our email correspondence just to make sure I was on board, head above water and if I felt 100% on it. Yeah. I am pretty much. I've been trying to get this ILS for a while, so I'm just glad I'm getting it.
8. Going to the beach on Sunday. Love that beach man.
9. Bought some souvenirs for friends at Brimstone Fortress when I was there last Saturday.
10. I've made a decision, no alcohol at home for 2 weeks. That trip to Brimstone actually cost me a pretty penny because I had to secure a cabbie for the drive up and back, plus museum admission and it takes a little while to get there as well, so the fare was bigger. Plus, with some of the souvenirs I bought, I must have spent like $100 US up there. I went there with the express purpose of doing the tourist thing, but after awhile I felt... you know what, I like to have a beer at every dinner, but it's not essential and I should save a little bit of money while I am here.
11. I don't miss the Green Atlantic, but I am starting to miss my crew from 'Fax and the extended SIM 08-10 crowd.
I'll post more exact details on what is going on workwise later.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Lot of stuff and Good News
Yup it's been awhile, but I've been quite busy.
This past week has perhaps the most productive one I've had so far.
1. I've almost got my ILS. I've got a guarantee that we're getting the system I want. Yes!
2. We've got the Secondary School Libraries on board to share it with us.
3. My request for processing supplies will be approved, I'm submitting it on Monday and just have to wait on the paperwork.
4. I was able to get a opensource MARC software to convert all the excel files and all the Secondary School Libraries excel files converted and compiled into MARC files for quick upload into the ILS. There were a lot of excel files. Thank goodness that Geoff Brown, head of tech services at Dalhousie, introduced me to MARCEdit and I'm very thankful for youtube tutorials! Days of work converted to under an hour!
5. Got some Classifying done, not a lot, but some.
6. We're getting some synergy done with the local libraries to help them get furniture, shelving, processing supplies and for one library, BOOKS! I know! I know! It's a collection without items! The library infrastructure here is so overloaded with the amount of work it has to do and what is expected of it. The fact that they've been able to achieve as much as they have has been due in no small part to the extreme work ethic and energy they have piled into their libraries. It is extremely inspiring.
It was a good week. A busy week. Now we need to sustain this level of activity and keep on going and getting these partnerships formalized and worked out. I also need to stay on task and remember that my collection is the priority which my contract states I need to finish. That could be a tough one seeing as how I'm one of the few library professionals here and I'm sure they'll all want a piece of my time.
Never thought I'd spend this much time writing policy and cataloguing.
Things to do this week: Go visit all the partnering libraries on Tuesday and see what they need that we can provide. Continue to Classify! Get my processing supplies ordered and hopefully a copy of Dewey Decimal Classification. Get the ILS integrated. This last point is most vital.
See you later pals.
This past week has perhaps the most productive one I've had so far.
1. I've almost got my ILS. I've got a guarantee that we're getting the system I want. Yes!
2. We've got the Secondary School Libraries on board to share it with us.
3. My request for processing supplies will be approved, I'm submitting it on Monday and just have to wait on the paperwork.
4. I was able to get a opensource MARC software to convert all the excel files and all the Secondary School Libraries excel files converted and compiled into MARC files for quick upload into the ILS. There were a lot of excel files. Thank goodness that Geoff Brown, head of tech services at Dalhousie, introduced me to MARCEdit and I'm very thankful for youtube tutorials! Days of work converted to under an hour!
5. Got some Classifying done, not a lot, but some.
6. We're getting some synergy done with the local libraries to help them get furniture, shelving, processing supplies and for one library, BOOKS! I know! I know! It's a collection without items! The library infrastructure here is so overloaded with the amount of work it has to do and what is expected of it. The fact that they've been able to achieve as much as they have has been due in no small part to the extreme work ethic and energy they have piled into their libraries. It is extremely inspiring.
It was a good week. A busy week. Now we need to sustain this level of activity and keep on going and getting these partnerships formalized and worked out. I also need to stay on task and remember that my collection is the priority which my contract states I need to finish. That could be a tough one seeing as how I'm one of the few library professionals here and I'm sure they'll all want a piece of my time.
Never thought I'd spend this much time writing policy and cataloguing.
Things to do this week: Go visit all the partnering libraries on Tuesday and see what they need that we can provide. Continue to Classify! Get my processing supplies ordered and hopefully a copy of Dewey Decimal Classification. Get the ILS integrated. This last point is most vital.
See you later pals.
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