I just finalized my travel details. I'm heading to
DigCCurr 2007 rather than going to Computers in Libraries. It was a tough choice. I went with DigCCurr because it's about training people for digital curation. The cataloging departments of yore no longer serve our purposes, IMHO. I'm currently charged with thinking about new directions for the bibliographic access services department at MPOW. I suspect that the description and preservation of locally produced resources will be our focus as we move to shelf-ready monographs. DigCCurr is simply more relvant to me at this point.
Transforming cataloging departments is difficult. The cataloging departments I've observed (including MPOW) are filled with legacy staff who've worked for the institution for 10+ years. The staff are incredibly process-driven. Without step-by-step procedures they can feel lost. They are taught not to think for themselves. This is the complete opposite mind-set from what's required to build new services.
You could fire people or lay them off, but that's a morally icky choice as far as I'm concerned. You can transfer them to different departments, if those opportunities exist. Otherwise you need to reframe and retrain. Breaking that I-must-ask-my-superviser-about-every-step culture won't be easy. I think many cataloging departments avoid the problem simply because the human resource issues are so overwhelming. I probably need to think about this more carefully rather than making from-the-hip judgements like those above. I do believe that a radical overhaul of how cataloging departments do business is necessary, I just haven't articulated the arguments too well.
I've been catching up on work-work since giving my presentation to the Cal State University senior research officers last Friday. I finally managed to put the presentation up at my work web site. I present for your reading pleasure:
"
Supporting scholarship: issues, opportunities, and service development" Feel free to steal whatever you'd like from it. I know I borrowed liberally from the papers and news I've been reading lately (with attribution in the notes).
To provide context: The CSU research officers are provosts and vice-presidents.
They recently drafted a white paper about the role of research within the Cal State system. The gist of it is that they want to promote research more since it's integral to our mission as a teaching/learning centered institution. I gave them a lot of feedback on their draft document. The officers know there are impediments to expanding research and they are trying to address those issues. Go them!
I'm sorry the presentation is in PowerPoint. I know I said I was going to take a more demonstration-based approach. As I got into writing the presentation I realized there was a metric ton of material to discuss which necessitated the slide-based approach. I'd like to get into using slidy or something more webbed. It's a matter of balance. Do I want to spend time on the newer applications when the old familiar software does the job adequately? Yes, but I don't get to dictate what my priorities are on any given day. This week I'm dealing with some campus committee deadlines. Ultimately this campus committee work assists me in marketing and filling my repository so the effort expended is worthwhile. I'm sure that some day I'll join the cool-kids in eschewing PowerPoint.
I've been playing with
Macromedia Adobe Captivate with an eye towards putting the presentation into an audio/video format. No promises as to when I'll get to that.
The headline says it all. The California Faculty Association membership has voted. 94% of voters said yes to taking strike action should we fail to get a settlement (81% turn out). The news blackout on the fact-findings will end March 26, I believe so the rolling strikes are likely to happen in April.
that 5 nonLIS blogs meme
I just checked my aggregator. I'm kind of surprised to find that I have no feed which could be considered non-LIS related. Dang. I need to get a life.
I'm trying to decide if I'll attend Computers in Libraries next month. It's expensive. I know it's free if you present, but I haven't felt like any of my work has been worth presenting. The repository I'm shepherding is moving along rather slowly since I'm the only person working on it. I should have something worthy of sharing by fall (keeping my fingers crossed).
I have some air miles, so the flight would be free. I can stay with my friend B. and get a nice visit in as a bonus. I still can't convince myself that I can afford the registration. I want to attend mostly for the networking opportunities. I haven't hob-nobbed with the blog people for awhile. When I go to ALA I've been too busy with RDA meetings.
I should throw caution to the wind -- it's only money after all. I did submit a proposal for Internet Librarian. I don't want to get caught in that pay-for-admission thing again. I make a good living but I do not receive support for my professional travel beyond release time.
I continue to ponder presentation outlines for the research officers talk. I'm presenting at the end of the day, at the end of the week. Obviously I'll need to hold their attention.
I get cheeky ideas. I imagine myself saying things about the pending strike at MPOW and how the best way to support research within this particular university environment is to ensure that your faculty can live comfortably and ensure that real learning -- as in teaching for transfer--is taking place. It would probably be too impolitic to bring up labor issues when I'm supposed to be speaking about research.
I'll be open, I support the union fully as a matter of principle and religion. I voted to strike. It's a complicated situation, far too nuanced for this wee post. I'm ok with whatever happens. It is what it is.
The situation juxtaposes with another situation -- I have an opportunity to educate people in positions of influence. My heart is with the union rant, but my head is with my must-deal-with-digital scholarship mission. I'm a journalism grad. I know when to stay on message.
I've got the outline of my talk completed. Now is the time to flesh it out with facts, metaphors, illustrations.
