It's been a while since I had to go to a hospital - I hate being cut - at least the doctor and the nurses had great bedside manner.

My undergraduate career spanned from Fall of 1998 to Spring 2003 yielding me a BA in Computer Science, a minor in Italian and a quasi minor in German (I decided that I wanted to graduate already and decided to not do the course in German Literature that was my last requirement for a full German Minor) - so that was five years. After a small break of eight months I went back to school, this time grad school.

I've been in Grad school since Spring 2004, it's now Spring 2007 - it's only been three years, but I think I am starting to lose steam. It's only the fifth week of the semester but I am starting to get that nagging child voice in my head that keeps incessantly whining are we done yet? When will this semester be over? oooh my God! Now don't get me wrong! I like my classes, and I like my professors and classmates. I can talk ad-nauseum about certain subjects (usually the subjects that I study) and I like going to class, but I think that I have grown tired of homework and exams.

This leads me to the following question: am I done with school after I finish my second masters? Or is it that I need a bigger break between structured regiments of study? I do want to learn more about subjects such as instructional technology and linguistics, heck - one day I would like to have a doctorate - but recent feeling of are we there yet have me wondering whether I just need a break to get more energy - or whether I've just lost interest. I guess time will tell

I've got a class where homework is really optional. You can do it an hand it in, if you want, but if you do not there is no consequence.
The rationale is this: you learn the materials by dissecting the problems in the book, and doing them yourself. Therefore, doing them and handing them in gives you the ability to practice, and free feedback from me (the professor).
I've done the first few homework 'assignments' and handed them in. However as the semester is progressing and I have more work to do, I am questioning the whole do them, if you want, and hand them in. Honestly I am tempted to not do them now, but do them later, before the exam, with solutions to them on hand, so I can practice for the exam. I think I will be the only person doing this which would single me out. To do the homework (now)...or not to do the homework (now).... that is the question!

I have a presentation in 2 days that I completely forgot about!!!
I think it's best now to start crankin'....

I've been working on a project for one of my IT classes this semester.

I've discovered that library websites are more or less static. Libraries should be a place for innovation, but have quite honestly been left a bit in the dust. Taking the Healey Library for example we see that on-demand instructional videos are just thrown together, databases are and indices are just all thrown in together without any way of showcasing content that is relevant to the person that just logged in! For example, I am in the college of management, in the information science program. When I log into the website, content should be tailored to my needs. Now, being the complex person that I am, if I want to look at other sources, they should be available to me, but they should not clutter my screen! Now don't get me wrong, the webmaster of the Healey Site has done miracles since he came onboard! The website was in a far worse state before and he's done a superb job making it not only prettier, but also more usable! Having said that, the website needs to be redesigned.

So what is my idea? A Google-Homepage-like environment for libraries! A lot of people talk about Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 but no one is making it happen! So in my concept web 2.0 meets library 2.0. There will be widgets that provide information tailored to the user that logged in. Here are examples of some library specific widgets:

myAccount: shows you what books you've checked out (through the catalog, virtual catalog and interlibrary loan), when they are due back (color coded and date coded), and it shows how much money you owe in fines, and provides for a way to pay online.

myStatus: a small widget that shows you what you have access to (for example in our library if someone has fines over $5 you can't use ILL, but you can still take out books)

myReserves: shows you what eReserves and what Physical reserves have been placed for your classes

myeResources: eJournals, Databases and Indices that pertain to your field of study. This provides a link to add more resources on-demand.

myTraining: on-demand library training materials that pertain to your field of study. This provides a link to add more resources on-demand.

Campus Late Breaking News: Late breaking campus news - examples of school events and closures

New Library Books: General showcase & link to OPAC record of books that just arrived to the library (within the last month I would say)

New for you: New articles, journals, books, resources that pertain to my course of study and interests

Of course there will be other general widgets such as: RSS readers, myWeather, Local News (in this case Boston news), and more. The idea here is to make the library homepage your homepage. Other ideas will be to implement a library forum, and a library wiki replacing static pages maintained by a handful of people to dynamic pages enriched by the wisdom of many.


So yeah - I claim stake to this idea.

Sometimes I feel like this at work


Brilliant, eh?

some people need to read this article and this article

Here are some excerpts of use:

Free up your help desk
Help desk techs spend a lot of time fixing the same obvious problems. The more no-brainer stuff you take off their plates, the more time they can spend on real dilemmas. For example, every two weeks, Richard Casselberry, director of IT operations for networking vendor Enterasys, meets with his internal help desk department to review the questions they get and brainstorm solutions. One quick fix: Increase the number of incorrect passwords users are allowed before they’re prevented from logging onto the network. By boosting failed attempts from 3 to 12, Enterasys was able to slash help desk calls for password resets without adversely affecting security.

Stop micromanaging
If you can’t get your work done each day, there’s a good chance it’s because you’re busy doing someone else’s job, says Chaco Consulting’s Rick Brenner. Inexperienced managers in particular are often guilty of taking their old jobs along with them to their new assignments, which leads to micromanaging and a host of other problems. Stepping in and doing the job for your reports only makes the problem worse, Brenner adds. The key is teaching your staff the skills they need to stand on their own. That may require outside training, allocating more resources, or finding ways to reward productive workers without necessarily promoting them into management. “A lot of IT managers tend not to delegate, either because they’re control freaks or they think no one else can do it as well as they can,” says Brendan Courtney, vice president for Spherion, a $2 billion staffing and recruiting firm. “They also tend to not hire people they perceive might be better than them. What they don’t realize is that if they hire people who are better and delegate authority, it will further their own careers.”

Think strategy, not tactics
“Most IT organizations are reactionary to some degree, and some are very reactionary,” Kirchner says. A good measure as to whether an IT department is reactionary or visionary is how often its top IT execs must leave meetings to deal with production problems or other emergencies. “The more often an organization’s leaders have to put out fires, the less mature it is.”

And of course: the productivity killers to note:

The Hero: Instantly fixing problems may be gratifying and earn you kudos, but it can backfire in the long run. “It is not always okay — or productive—to drop everything and solve any customer issue that comes up when it comes up,” says the Forsythe Group’s Chuck Kirchner. “It results in a reactive culture and creates long-term productivity issues.”

The Juggler: Some organizations believe it’s better to start a lot of projects at the same time to achieve “parallelism,” Brenner says. But high project count leads to productivity losses as people constantly switch gears. “We do better when we focus our resources,” he says.

I had never heard of this song before...but now - thanks to pepsi, it's stuck in my head!

...and I am Bill Gates.
Have a look:

I was in class a couple of nights ago, and we were presenting some linear programming models.
Once one of the groups was done, the professor threw them a curve ball and asked them why their model was correct.
Upon explaining their methodology - they end with '[microsoft excel] solver told us'.
The professor did not like the answer and questioned the validity of the software itself - the group had no argument for his argument (they appeared blind-sighted by the whole discourse.) One classmate suggested that they could argue that their model is correct because you can experiment with other figures and you will not find a better answer - try as you might. The professor agreed that that was a good answer, and solicited others. Someone said that linear programming models have a finite number of possibilities and solver goes through all of them and determines the best one (brute force attack in other words). The professor liked this answer better - so it seemed.

I questioned him on it because 'solver told me so' is the condensed version of 'linear programming models have a finite number of possibilities and solver goes through all of them and determines the best one.' You could STILL argue that the software itself is flawed. Then the professor argued that you could buy a software package that is accepted to be of high quality, run the numbers and if solver has the same answer - then solver is just as good. (paraphrasing of course) Then the professor went back to the 'try other numbers as much as you want, but you wont get anything better than what I tell you' argument - and here I had a flashback to my undergraduate mathematics days.

I was younger, and more naïve, and I was trying to prove that my answers to something were absolutely correct by using the 'try other numbers as much as you want, but you wont get anything better than what I tell you' argument. The professor did not buy it, and rightfully so, and went on to teach me how to prove my argument mathematically.

So what is the difference between math and business? In math you don't beat around the bush in an attempt to tire your opponents - you provide a full mathematical proof - even if it is beyond the comprehension of you audience, whereas in business you tango (figuratively speaking) and try to tire out your opponents. At least that is what I got from those presentations - in solver we trust and if you don't, feel free to plug in numbers and test it out yourself

Back in October I setup the Apreso Classroom Capture System with a little help from an anystream consultant, and a little advice from my friend Jeff (the media guru) from Media Services. The technology enhanced classroom that I setup the Apreso system in was really poorly implemented to begin with, so I did my best to frankenstein the Apreso system in as best as I could with the resources I had. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I did a pretty good job at it.

I don't really remember, but I think that there was a PC audio problem entering into the sound system, but I might have resolved that - I don't remember, honestly.

Once the system was setup, I left enough cable slack however I told people involved TO NOT MOVE THE PODIUM! Moving the podium, despite the cable slack, could damage connections and cause things to not work! Both I am my boss reiterated this point many many times.

Now, fast forward to yesterday afternoon:

Jane and Gregory are doing presentations in that room. Jane requires audio from the PC, and according to her and Gregory's accounts the PC audio worked yesterday morning and the day before yesterday with all things that they were doing yesterday afternoon - but now they don't! (I guess this means I had fixed the initial PC audio problems back in October).

So what is different between yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon you ask?
Someone...moved...the...podium! Yes, my friend! The very same podium that we had said many, many, many times do not move!

Maybe I should apply crazy-glue to the podium and stick it to the ground...

I was about to post that no one commented on my two library specific blog posts:
1. it it looks like a duck....
2. "10 positions I would like to see"

but Jeremy saved the day - I look forward to more debate and views to come forth

First presentation of the semester is on tonight!
It's my data modeling class - not the hardest class in the world (at least I hope it doesn't get too hard) - but still getting a bit of the pre-presentation jitters.

...and it quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck....is it a duck?

I am glad that Laura from Library 2.0 responded to my previous library related post.
What I would like to bring up next as a conversation topic is the topic of what is it that constitutes a librarian. If you know people with an opinion and cogent arguments on the subject, please invite them to read my previous post, and this one, and comment on them - the more the merrier.

To quote Laura, from her comment on the previous post:

Interesting comments on my ideas. I've been an MLS-holding academic librarian for a dozen years, and can tell you that librarians are already doing these types of jobs. The difference is that they are folded into existing positions. I myself am doing pieces of most of these positions, as part of the evolution of librarianship over the past decade. 

Among my most rewarding responsibilities is my work supporting remote users. Most librarians in my library system have a hand in supporting remote users. In my case, this has become something of a specialty because I run my library's proxy server.

From Laura's comments we see that the positions are really nothing new to the library world, just an evolution of the job, a response to the technological evolution and the patron expectation - at least this is what I see in the library that I work. Now taking this into consideration, if someone is supporting remote users, let's take for example the remote services librarian mentioned in Library 2.0 - Do they need to be librarians? Does this by association mean that they need an MLS?

When you look at other jobs, even higher up directorial jobs, they don't generally require a specific degree, but a degree in a general category. Most of the jobs that I have been looking at are technology related and are management oriented, so they generally require a BA/BS in computer science, information technology, engineering, or related field. The MBA is not even required! Experience (usually 3-5) can be substituted as equivalent to a degree.

When looking at jobs where the title librarian is attached, the MLS is unequivocally required - at least in all the positions that I have seen at the MBLC job site. Why is this? Should we succumb to naturalistic fallacy, or should we question why this is the case, rethink the criteria defining a librarian, and demand change? A lot of library jobs today are increasingly technology oriented, and as I pointed out in my previous post can be done by someone without an MLS. Should talented people be denied a job because they do not have an MLS? Should they be paid less because they do not have an MLS?

My last question revolves around education:
If you have individuals that have a master's degree in something that relates to the evolving library jobs (technology, innovation, education, etc) - and you absolutely won't budge on requiring someone to have some sort of library education, would an ALA accredited CAGS (certificate of advanced graduate study) suffice? You take 6 classes (CAGS are generally half a master's degree), core courses in librarianship: cataloging, general reference, acquisitions/collection development, book preservation, information organization, etc - or whatever mix of courses your library school or the ALA decide are the quintessential courses for librarianship. When you are done - can you be called a librarian and can you apply for those jobs that require an MLS? Would job providers make jobs available to people with an MA + CAGS?

There are some jobs - a doctor comes to mind, that I absolutely won't budge on certain requirements - I want them to have gone to medical school, have done their residency, have gone through all the hoops. If you get a computer scientist - no matter what - there is no overlap with medicine, so someone with an MA in computer science can never be a doctor unless they get their MD. However, in certain jobs, like library jobs, where there the overlap between fields continues to increase, should the librarian field be progressive and embrace non MLS candidates? - you obviously know my thoughts on the subject, how about you?

If anyone responds, please note if you have an MLS and what year you received it

...oy... I hate feeling sick...darned cold!

I was recently browsing through Library 2.0: An academic's perspective and I saw this entry titled:
10 positions I would like to see.

I've been looking at library journals, blogs, and other sources to deduce What constitutes a librarian. I am currently in the process of gathering research on the subject for a paper that I plan on writing. Anyway - I ran across this aforementioned blog post and wanted to respond to it before my paper comes out. The objectionable points are jobs that are "librarian" jobs, but clearly do not need to be nor should they be strictly 'librarian' jobs.

Questionable Position #1: Social Networking Support Librarian.
Description: Assists students with their research on third-party social
networking tools, including use of IM and chat rooms. Promotes library resources and services on these
networks. Mounts library podcasts, videos, photos, presentations and other documents on social networks.
Works with reference librarians and bibliographers to set up collections of topical bookmarks on social
bookmarking sites. Tracks developments in social tools, and promotes and recommends their use to
faculty, students and colleagues. Provides training on the use of these tools. //


I'm sorry to break it to you, but you do not need a librarian for this position. Qualified candidates need only have a background in one of the following in order to be successful in this position: information technology, instructional design, computer science, media production, or other background in such area. An MLIS (master in library science) gives you no skills for this job given that you work with bibliographers and reference librarians to produce such materials!



Questionable Position #2: Collaborative Publishing Librarian.
Description: Coordinates blogging, wiki and RSS publishing for the library.
Coordinates the effort to develop a library Web site based on wikis, blogs and regular Web pages to create
a community-based Web presence. Initiates user-participatory folksonomies in the library's online spaces.
Assists with the university's efforts to implement an institutional repository that includes features of social
networking tools such as comments, tags, RSS feeds and social bookmarking. Incorporates local and
remote RSS feeds into the library's Web presence, including e-journal TOC alerts. Must be an expert in
designing interfaces optimized for mobile computing. //


Again...why do you think you need a librarian for this? The individual you are describing already has a name! This individual is called a Web Developer!
What will an MLIS bring to the table that an accomplished web developer does not have?



Questionable Position #3: Multimedia Publishing Librarian.
Description: Creates podcasts, videos, Webinars, Flash and other multimedia presentations to support teaching, research, and use of library services. Creates multimedia tutorials to
assist students in using the library and its resources. Assists instruction librarians in using these technologies to create interactive, customizable training materials, with the goal of phasing out in-person credit courses and moving the instruction program online. Establishes a library presence on iTunes U. Establishes an in-house multimedia publishing center to support students' creation of their own presentations and their publication; also serves as a resource center for downloading library and other educational multimedia from library and third party sites. Must be an expert in instructional design. //

Yet again...what does an MLIS bring to the table? The person you are looking for is an an instructional designer, or someone who's got the knowledge of an instructional designer.


Questionable Position #4: OPAC Transformation Librarian.
Description: Coordinates the effort to create a next generation catalog. Conducts research on next generation options. Works individually and within relevant consortia to propose
enhancements to the library's ILS vendor. Explores and helps to implement third-party solutions to enhance the catalog, as well as create in-house ehnahcements [sic]. Works closely with the Programming Risk- Taker [see blog post] and Testbed Technologist [see blog post]. Must have expertise in user search behavior, Web site usability, the search engine scene, information retrieval, Web 2.0 interfaces, and mobile computing interface design. //

Here again, I fail to see what an MLIS brings to the table. The job description posted here really describes someone with a background in: Computer Science, Web Development, Database Technologies, Information Technology.



Questionable Position #5: Digitization Librarian.
Description: Identifies and selects materials of local value for digitization. Applies for digitization grants. Oversees in-house and outsourced digitization projects. Works with Web programming staff to make digitized materials available on the Web site, institutional repository, third-party sites, etc. to achieve open accessibility. Plans for the time when most scholarly materials will be digitized by dot-coms and other publishing entities, and digitization of local materials becomes a prominent part of an academic library's contribution to cultural history. //


Here, an MLIS brings some value, but quite honestly - a non-MLIS candidate can do this job and not be a librarian. Historians with a technical background, Archivists with a technical background, and to a large extent MBAs can be successful in this job. Individuals that have never stepped in a library science class a day in their lives.


Questionable Position #6: Remote User Librarian.
Description: Ensures that library services are optimized to meet the needs of remote users. Enhances current services to meet remote users' evolving expectations. Provides technical and other types of support for these users using IM, e-mail, phone, social software tools, virtual worlds, etc. Creates online FAQs, videos, podcasts and other types of presentations to assist remote users. Trains and supports colleagues in serving users remotely, both in library spaces and on third-party sites. Also works with colleagues to move services, library documents, and research, training and support materials online. Plans for the eventual near-ubiquity of anytime, anywhere use of the library and increasingly diminished on-site use. //

I laughed my head off when I read this one. Quite honestly, WHAT does and MLIS provide that is useful for this job? What you describe here is someone with knowledge of instructional design, computer science, information technology, and media production and troubleshooting experience.


Questionable Position #7: Exploration & Training Librarian.
Description: Does what all librarians should do but will get to do it full time: read, experiment, play, develop skills, listen to conference and training broadcasts, imagine and ruminate.
Will develop a seminar program to present colleagues with the results of these efforts. Will assist colleagues in determining new ways of doing things based on these explorations. Will recommend readings, Web sites, podcasts, RSS feeds, etc., to assist in staff education. Establishes a culture of fun-loving, beta- craving, humorous attitude toward change. //

I don't know what universe the author comes from, but the librarians I know don't do this - we have to kick and drag them into the new millennium (don't get me wrong, they are nice people). Of course, the librarians that I have had contact might not be the shinning example of what a librarian does and does not do. In a nutshell the job is to get paid to be a beta tester and find new an innovative new services that will enhance a certain business or industry (in this case the library) - oh wait! There is already a job like this one! It's called an Innovation Manager! This Job is not new, and it does not require a librarian! The MLIS brings some understanding of what a library does to the table however you don't need an MLIS - Anyone who's worked at a library for a year knows what a library does and how it operates.



Conclusion:
The author of the original post lists 10 new positions they would like to see.
7 of these are "librarian" jobs - or so they say, however none of them really require an MLIS - thus they should not be librarian positions! - Go figure

I read this article this morning about how software is hard
The title should really be "making software is hard" but anyway...

I would personally like to know what they drank/smoked/ate to come to this conclusion - who thought that coding was easy?
There are some people that are talented and make it look easy - but this can be said about other professions --> mathematicians, astronomers, physicists, doctors, and the list goes on and on and on...

Another pearl of wisdom: "programmers are programmers because they like to code" - again - what a shock!
The crux though is to look at other people's code, figure it out, and make it better - that is why you are paid the big bucks.
If you don't like to look at other people's code and improve on it...move on! It's like saying "I like being a doctor, but I don't want to take on cases from other doctor's"