I saw this on slashdot the other day

It's more than 10 years since people started making a living writing web page markup, yet the job title (and role) has yet to settle down. Not only that, but there are different types of people who write markup: those that approach the craft as essentially an integration task, and those that see it as part of UI design overall. The situation is further complicated by the existence of other roles in the workplace such as graphic designer and information architect. This is making recruitment for this role a real headache. So, how do you describe people who 'do HTML' (and CSS and maybe a bit of JavaScript and graphics manipulation)? Some job titles I've seen include: Design Technologist, Web Developer, Front-end Developer, HTML/CSS Developer, Client-side Developer and UI Engineer. Do you have any favourite job titles for this role?

So what do you call someone who does this? I always called them web developers simply because about ten (eleven? twelve?) years ago was when I first started this website and I didn't have a title (well I wasn't getting paid either). I called myself a geek, a web-enthusiast and a webmaster (since I mastered my own website I guess). But what do you call it when you do it for other people and you don't dabble in .NET or PHP, when you do old school HTML?

Tags: technology, work, HTML, coding

I read this article today in the incoming section of my Google Reader.

// Begin quote //
One particularly revealing moment in his discussion is his day 60 post in which he describes a series of questions that he poses to his graduate students to get at the "fundamental things we do."

The Question and Conclusions

Can doctor still be a doctor without a hospital? They usually answer -- of course. Can you be a lawyer with out a courthouse? Again -- affirmative. Now the money shot -- Can you be a librarian without a library? Dead silence.One would hope that the questions prompt a discussion and don't just end in "dead silence." Although John doesn't tell us what the discussion, if any, was, he does give us his conclusions: possession of "material" might have once been central to the purpose of libraries but, in the digital age, possession is much less important part of what libraries do.

// End quote //

It is quite an interesting read, so you should have a look at the article, if you are in the library field at least.

My take on this:
Yes, there will be a place for librarians (I call them Information Scientists) in a place where there are no libraries (as we see them today).

The first thing here is that library school does not teach you specific skills, unless you so choose to focus on reference or cataloguing, thus your skills of information sleuthing are already transferable o not only other information jobs, but also to this upcoming reality of more virtual information hitting the library.

I personally think that this is a good thing because it will get qualified individuals into the library field without the MLIS (masters in Library and information science). As has been written by me and other on lisnews and alatechsource on the subject of librarianship, the profession needs to be more inclusive in its hiring practices and who it elects to call a librarian. People without MLIS degrees have a lot to bring to the table, for the profession and the patrons it serves, and this new information reality has the potential to change libraries and the profession for the better.

Tags: work, education, libraries, librarian, pondering

Recently Google reader recommended an RSS feed for me. This blog is about the everyday frustrations of librarians and library patrons and it’s called the society of librarians who say mofo. I have to say that initially I was skeptical about the site, but I find humor in the every day absurdities that occur in the lives of these individuals mostly because I’ve seen or heard something in my immediate circles.

One story that’s caught my attention is this whole surrendering of the library card to access the AV collection and the constant monitoring of PC terminals in the library. Now I am not a schooled librarian, but I consider myself a librarian at heart, MLS or no MLS, and I have to say that as someone who interacts with librarians and has two management degrees, I cringe at the tactics that the library in the blog story is using. Furthermore I am surprised at the apparent complacency of most of the townsfolk.

Tags: blogs, libraries, work, humor, officeSpace

I was reading on LISnews a short time ago about a critique on web4lib regarding the future or libraries (and librarians). I’ve noticed that every time there is critique of the profession (or the MLIS degree requirement to be a librarian), it’s like someone spills blood in shark infested waters. This isn’t the first debate of this kind that I’ve seen (or read through) and probably won’t be the last. Quite entertaining, and informative.

Tags: technology, work, listserv, web4lib, MLS

OK, so the monthly public transportation experiment begins!

The rising cost of fuel, tolls and parking is costing me $90-$100 per week to go into work. In contrast, public transportation would only cost me around $40 for unlimited travel. That is a sizeable chunk of change!

In the past, I had used public transportation to come to school or work, but the overall cost at the time was more expensive than driving, and not as convenient! The train station was not near, busses took forever, and the cost was about the same as it is now. Back then I had no tolls (and when I did it was $2/day), gasoline was $20 to fill up for the week, and parking was $4/day for a grand total of $40-$50 per week. The speed/cost factor did not dictate a switch to public transport.

Now, on the other hand, it does. If this goes well, I may also trial it for the fall semester.

Tags: public, transportation, work

A few days back I was at an event where it was appropriate to give out a business card - it was a quick way to exchange information.

This however was my first time handing out my business card and it felt a bit weird, well...maybe not weird, but unnatural, or not second nature.

At moments I felt it may have been a bit forced, at other moments I felt a bit 'stop-and-go', trying to find the appropriate timing to exchange business cards.

So what was the lesson learned? The exchanging of a business card is an art that I have not mastered - time to practice!

On the upside, people seemed to like my moocards

Tags: personal, work, school, GIDA

Well, today was sticker shock day! I knew it cost me a pretty penny just to show up to work, but the costs are going up! In 2007 it costs me under $50 per week to drive into work. Today I went to get gasoline ($3.70/gallon), it cost me $47 to fill up my Beetle.

So I started pondering the updated costs.

$18.00 in tolls per week
$47.00 in gasoline per week
$35.00 in Parking costs per week

Grand total: $99

Now… rumors are that parking will go up to $12/day, and gas is slated to go into the $4/gallon range.

Update costs:
$51 Gasoline
$18 Tolls
$60 Parking

Total: $129/week

Jeez!


I think that over the summer I will trial taking public transportation ($163/month).
It adds 2 hours to my commute per day (4 hours of commute total), but the costs are insane!

Tags: money, costs, driving, work

so...very...busy....

Tags: work, homework, school, general

School has started again, and with the commencement of classes we are finally seeing life in the library: students, professors, and yes, even some parents coming to see what they are paying for. It’s all quite invigorating.

More importantly (for completely selfish reasons of course) I have started classes for the two Master Degrees that I have started pursuing. One in Instructional Design, and the other in Applied Linguistics. Some former classmates are scratching their heads as to why I would go back to school when I already have two Master Degrees. Well… It’s fun, it’s refreshing, I like to meet new people, and a great side effect of the whole learning experience is that I can apply what I learn to my job.

Tags: school, work, energy, general

Recently I finished going through Evaluating Performance (pictured on the left) and Communicating Effectively - both of which I found at my public library. Just like the books I read before (Motivating Employees and Managing People) the content in these two books is not rocker science, and it is not meant to be read quickly from cover to cover. Rather, it is meant to be used as a guide and to be consulted every now and then.

I found both books to be a great resource. Evaluating performance was something that was covered in my Human Resources class, but it was never something that we went extensively into. A lot of effort in the evaluation of performance is about communication - it's not just enough to fill out a piece of paper once a year to give (or deny) someone an annual merit raise - it's important to communicate with your employees in order to gauge what is happening, and to be able to steer the ship in the right course (if it isn't already).

The book on communicating effectively is a great companion to the evaluating performance. I have written (and co-written) a lot of papers during my management curriculum, and I have had many presentations. However, I never took a course on business communications. I found this particular book to be a good guide on business communications from the humble (but yet so hated) memo, to the more elaborate business report. There was also a section in the book on oral communication, which I found helpful as well.

I have a couple more of these books to read, but thus far, it seems to me that this series on best practices is quite a useful thing to have and consult if you are a manager or aspiring to be one.

Tags: management, work, evaluation, books, communication

A couple of weeks ago I was at my local public library and I was browsing through the new books that had come in. Two books stood out, both by Barry Silverstein. One was Best Practices: Motivating Employees: Bringing Out the Best in Your People (Best Practices)(pictured on the left) and the other was Best Practices: Managing People: Secrets to Leading for New Managers (Best Practices). These books are pocket sized books, so since they were 'light reading' I picked both of them up and checked them out. Anyone who's been through an MBA curriculum (at least one as rigorous as I have been through) will not necessarily find something really groundbreaking in these two books.

The thing I liked about these two books was that they both were good summaries of what I had learned, and they both offered a convenient place for Do's and Don't's, as well as some red flags to look out for (just to prevent things from going south). The books were a really fast read, however I don't think that this is the kind of book that you pick up, read and then put it back on the shelf. I do believe that this is the kind of book that you pull out for a quick reference when you need some help in these two areas. I would say that these books are akin to the in a nutshell series of books that are written on technical subjects.

Tags: management, work, motivation, books

I was at my public library last week, when I noticed a book called "Send - the essential guide to email for office and home." I thought to myself, eh, why not get it? After all it seemed like light reading, and like something that I would enjoy. I am glad I borrowed this book from the library, because not only did it give me insight into some aspects of email (and other non-verbal, electronic forms of communication) that I had not stopped to consider (even though they were in my subconscious...somewhere), but it also re-affirmed things I either knew to be true, or my gut was telling me were true. Here are a couple of things I learned or were re-affirmed:

1. At a previous workplace - my last few days in fact, we had a new director. His first decree was to give everyone a blackberry, because voice communication was inefficient, email will speed things up (i.e. make things more efficient). At the time, both I am my colleagues disagreed (and still do). Voice communication is not inefficient, email is. If you take your time to craft a well worded, properly spelled email that does indeed convey what you want to convey, you will spend more time than actually talking to someone. Email's perceived speed is based on the fact that you can type five words, click send, and believe that the recipient knows what you are talking about. I've had many of these emails where I needed to either ask for clarification emails, and there have been many times I had to call the sender to ask what they meant in their email!

2. The cover you own behind emails - also known as CC everyone (or even worse, put everyone in the TO line). Again, in a previous work environment, most emails were relevant to my work. They were emails from my boss, colleagues and vendors. There were of course a few 'ha ha' emails and a few 'delete this' rumor emails (both no-nos in send), but the great majority were relevant. At a more recent work environment, there are a lot of CYOA (cover your own behind) emails, where people send the email TO everyone at the work-site, even if they do not need the information. This has contributed to many emails just being tossed without looking at the information, which in the end causes a lot of confusion and disorganization. I've hated CYOA emails, and I tried resisting the CYOA type of email, but unfortunately it is being imposed on me...

All things considered, this is a good book to read whether you are a rank-and-file employee, or a manager (somewhere in the managerial food chain).

Tags: books, englighting, entertainment, work, technology, email, annoying, thought

It has been a rough year at work maybe I will elaborate further in another post - but maybe this post is sufficient to underscore certain tones and themes. Anyway, about a month ago, one of my colleagues sent me an email, after I told him of a few of my work-woes, suggesting that our place of employment should purchase the book called the no asshole rule. I smiled at the title, given that the place had sucked me dry and made me a miserable human being, and I bookmarked the Amazon product listing page so that I could look at it when I went home.

When I came home, I looked on LinkedIn, as a few of my invitees has accepted my invitation, and I saw a plug for the book, and a related blog post by Guy Kawasaki. It peaked my interest more, so I went to Amazon and I read an excerpt from the first chapter (or what it the introduction? I can't remember), but it felt like the book was written for me! A few days later the book arrived via UPS and I started reading it. While going through the book, reading it made me feel like I was not alone. There were other people out there tortured by assholes in their workplace, be it bosses, clients or co-workers, the net effect was the same: high turn over, low job satisfaction, and low returns for the company (among many other things). It made me feel good that I was not alone facing such problems, and that there are businesses out there that really don't take any shit from these assholes. They, in effect, have a no asshole rule - if you are one, you are out!

There were a number of tips in the book (after all it does say it is a survival guide) that made sense, and I feel like I might be able to apply to my situation. The book was fun an interesting to read, and I feel like I got something out of it - the most important of which is that there is indeed hope. I sort of which that more people, at least where I currently work, would read this and have a good self-evaluation and see that others do see them as sadistic assholes, at least when they are within the confines of the company walls. One amazing statistic is that the effect of an asshole in a group is five times greater than the effect of a positive person. This means that it takes 5 cheery people to offset one asshole. This would explain the transformation I have seen from people entering the organization from high energy social go-getters, to locked-in-your-office low energy pessimists.

Anyway - in conclusion, it is a good read, I would recommend that people buy it and read it (or get it at your local library)

Tags: books, englighting, feel good, assholes, work, survival