People are watching

So many times we take what we do for granted and don't think about its impact. Some formal feedback arrives via evaluation forms for library workshops or classes and that is useful for assessment. The true gifts are those that come in casual conversations or unsolicited notes of appreciation like the 2 I just received about the Today@Fairfield posting Do Students Study for Exams. After yesterday's post about holiday reading and the new audio books, 3 immediately circulated (and not to library staff!). Each one of us can help to keep the library at the center of campus intellectual life by mentioning some of the great things going on here when chatting with others on campus--or beyond.

Thing #9 Feeds

I used Topix.net to add a feed about Fairfield U news. It was easy to do and worked on my first attempt. I wanted to use feedster.com but it appears to be down for new improvements. Technorati was chock full of info and somewhat overwhelming.Syndic8 was so slow in responding that I gave up. Probably not a good site to search at the heavy traffic noon hour.

Thing #8 Blogs, RSS

I looked at the suggested feeds and some are ones I am familiar with but I didn't know about the cartoons! I look at my Chronicle of HEd feed when I fall behind on the newspaper and want to be sure I didn't miss any pertinent news. I find checking my blog a hard habit to add to my daily routine. I use it more as a back up plan.

In the near future a new library home page will be launched and it will use an RSS feed from the DNL blog to populate the News section. This saves time by writing the news once on the blog and then having it automatically appear on the library's home page.

I am very pleased to read that 15 people are working on the 23 Things program. I'm so proud of each of you who are taking the risk of exploring new technologies.

Thing #7

I find myself getting lost in some new applications! There are so many to explore that are very cool. Of course, I am particularly looking for applications to connect with library users and expand service areas. Some of the things I tried were pretty easy, while others were definitely vexing and it was good to work with a partner and figure it out together.

Exploring Mashups--Thing #6

I looked over some popular mashups and chose Yahoo's My Trip for my upcoming ski trip to Park City Utah. I was able to make a trip and gather info, maps and photos from trips by others. This gave me info about nearby restaurants, attractions and a visual on the map for locations.

Grand Stair again--Thing #5

This is grabbing a picture in Flickr by starting in Blogger. The picture is larger because in Settings it was set to medium. The other setting was set to small. I have to remember to check the settings when uploading a picture.

Choice cover

Choice cover
Originally uploaded by Overfido

Here's my first attempt to select a public photo in Flickr and move it to my blog.

Social Events

It's been a busy week for social activities. Last Thursday night I had dinner with the students who live in Gonzaga, a freshman dorm. Each year each dorm has a special dinner in the Oak Room and faculty and administrators are invited to join the students. Most tables had 2 of us and 6 students per table. I learned a lot about dorm life and student activities. I met one young woman who is on the Equestrian Team (there are 17 women). The stable is in New Canaan where they ride 2X/week and compete every Sunday. Fr. Doody, University Chaplain, is the resident Jesuit in GNZ and he told me about when he was a student and the library was in CNS.

I attended Professor Bolger's memorial mass at the Chapel on Monday. Afterwards the family greeted friends and we shared a meal in the Oak Room (more chicken!). The mass was a beautiful tribute to Bob and his 51 years teaching math. Many of the retired faculty turned out and I chatted with them over lunch. It was a great opportunity to speak with Prof. Walter Petry about his Sandinista collection that he would like to donate to the library to support the Latin America and Caribbean Studies program.

Tonight is Fr. von Arx's Holiday Party for President's Circle members and Trustees. It's a great opportunity to talk with some Trustees about the library and with several faculty and key administrators. Tasty hors d'oeuvres and no chicken!

Students and Finals

There are some plans underway for the library to help students over the next few weeks as we enter the exam period.

The Outreach Committee is holding a Wii De-Stress event on the first Reading Day (12/13). Jackie is lending us her own Wii gaming system and students can relax and have some fun in the Multimedia Viewing Room 101.

Each night before an exam day the library will be open 24/7. Public Safety officers will staff a desk near the door closest to the Circulation Desk and check IDs when our usual staff leaves (1 a.m. - 7:30 a.m.) They will also be able to view the security monitor to scan the building and make sure that everyone is safe. Of course, computer lab 250 and the cafe are open 24/7 as usual. We tried this for the first time last spring and over 600 students took advantage of our extended hours.

Beginning Friday, Dec. 14, the library is offering free tea and coffee daily at 4 and 8 p.m. in the cafe. I worked with the food service contract administrator, who supports our efforts, and the food service is providing this for us at cost which is a huge help in budgeting.

I work with a representative from FUSA who sits on their Academic Senate and they asked for both the coffee and the 24/7 access again. They consider both to be extremely valuable to students. That's in line with grateful comments students made to library and Public Safety staff.

The 7.5 habits

Of the 7 habits, I found #3 to be the easiest and #6 is the hardest for me. I have a lot of intellectual curiosity and love to turn what some may think is a problem into a challenge. I work from the position of "there must be a good solution for this" and challenge myself to explore various options to find a solution. I actually enjoy working with the library's budget (and Banner) and consider it a exciting challenge to provide the most resources and services with the funds we have available or can obtain.

Habit #6 or "using technology to your advantage" is a huge challenge. There are so many wonderful tech tools and applications available, that I find it hard to make the time and explore as much as I'd like. I am excited about offering this 23 Things program at the library, because it gives all of us a chance to play with some new technologies at our own pace and when we have time available.

What's in this blog?

Wondering what a library director does all day (and some evenings)? I'll be blogging about some of the meetings and events I attend, new projects or service enhancements in the planning stages or underway, and some university or professional information I want to pass along to my library staff colleagues.