nirak.net - Musings of an LIS Student

I’m happy to send out a big congratulations to Heather on her new job. It sounds super drool-worthy, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous.

I have been thinking and rethinking my contrary post from the other day, wondering if what I said was too harsh, if there’s more of a problem than I think, if I should, in fact, be worried about my job prospects. I was mulling this over in my head when I listened to the podcast from “The Ultimate Debate” (watch out for microphone squeals- there’s three of them) in which Joseph Janes and others talked about the kind of people that apply to library school, and whether that stifles our innovation. Janes said that he has seen a change in the people applying to library school - away from the “I like books” crowd to the “I’m an information person” crowd. (I’m happy to say I was one of the “troublemakers” he referred to, though I’m not quite sure where that came from.) I wonder, sometimes, if the people having trouble finding a job are part of the “I like books” crowd. That’s just one theory.

I am still optimistic for myself. I’ve had several (if three counts as several) people contact me and ask me to apply when I graduate, all due, surprisingly enough, to various online social networking efforts. I’m keeping a close eye on really cool jobs posted and I’m adjusting my classes and outside learning so that I meet the qualifications listed. I hope to do a really cool practicum, and have several ideas in mind.

I had this project triangle type idea about jobs- the job triangle:

So you can have a job that, say, pays decent and is satisfying, but is in completely the wrong place. Or, you can have a job that pays well and everything is perfect- hours, location, office temperature, but the job itself is somewhat boring and doesn’t stretch you. Or, you can have the PERFECT job in every way, but it pays next to nothing.  I fully realize that many people (people that are very near and dear to me, even) can’t even say they have one of these dimensions. (please note that “pays well” for me is in the $35,000 range, at least for this area- your mileage may vary)

Anyway, I always figured I’d make a trade off somewhere, and I still kind of do. I don’t know where the trade off will be. Maybe I won’t have to make a trade off, though. Wouldn’t that be grand?

karin :: Jul.19.2007 :: Library, School Stuff :: 1 Comment »

It’s been really interesting reading everyone’s reactions to the summertime grad student blues. Mark’s reply to my post made a lot of sense- “I wonder how much being a student accounts for some of this trend to overextend ourselves?” … “I have the feeling that you and I are just the kind that want to taste so much in life that we end up overextending ourselves. But perhaps the added “permission” we give ourselves as students contributes to this problem?”

I think I’ve talked before on this blog (though I am too lazy to look it up right now) about the fact that I feel like I found my career a little later in live than I would have liked. As a response, I’ve thrown myself head on into the profession. Being a student is certainly helpful- I get opportunities to meet people, I get to learn about new concepts and then take action on them (hopefully), and, perhaps most importantly, being a student means constantly being bombarded with the best, most hopeful view of the profession. My fellow students are, for the most part, excited about librarianship. This isn’t just a career for them, it’s a calling. My teachers are the same way. It’s hard not to be wrapped up int he excitement.

Kirsten posted about Sustaining Academic Momentum over on her blog, and linked to a list of Essentials for Tapping One’s Full Potential as a Masters and/or Doctoral Student on her college’s web site. I found this list interesting, and surprisingly good. Kristin is right that there’s only so much you can realize before you have started school- you have to get in it to really understand what they mean by “Don’t isolate yourself” and “Seek advice, listen and learn from others.” (I found “Understand and follow the rules and regulations” to be funny, in a rolling my eyes kind of way.) Kristin ends her post with “Maybe, by the end of summer, I can re-convince myself that this is fun.”

I’m actually really enjoying my class right now. I think I’ll enjoy the majority of my fall classes too. I’ve been incredibly lucky so far- my stress levels have not come from doing stupid, inane, or boring work (usually) but simply from the fact that I usually have too little time in the day. Couple that with my bad time management skills, and you have a recipe for disaster. There’s always a nagging thought in the back of my hear that if I could just concentrate more, if I could just focus, if I could just manage my time better, it wouldn’t be stressful. I think, if I did everything right, I could get everything done with lots of time to spare. I could improve my time management skills (losing a couple of hours in the evening to aimless web surfing is common), but it’s not going to fix all of my stress.

The truth is, I don’t think I could function without some level of stress. I need it to motivate me. I have found that, for myself, structured procrastination* works best - if I have 1 thing to do, I’ll just put of doing that one thing. If I have 30 things to do, I’ll put off one thing by doing another.

What I need more than a reduction in stress is the ability to give myself some down time- time when I don’t have a list of all the things I have to do ticking away like a bomb in the back of my mind. It’s that brief stress free me time that I desperately need to cultivate- because if I don’t learn how to do that, no vacation will ever really be a vacation. In the end, all my talk of being stressed comes down to one very simple fact: I don’t know how to relax.

*A little story: I read the “Structured Procrastination” page before but couldn’t remember what it was called (other than something procrastination, not a useful Google term). I looked in my delicious links, no luck. I searched the websites I though I was most likely to have seen it, no luck. Where’d I find it? I went to the Wikipedia article on procrastination and there it was. PS - I find it funny that one of the most popular tags in delicious for the structured procrastination page is “toread.” PPS - If you go to the Structured Procrastination page, be sure to read the note way down at the bottom, under the copyright notice.

karin :: Jul.17.2007 :: Library, School Stuff :: 6 Comments »

Heather has a nice post congratulating me over at her blog. I said in the comments that my deep dark secret is- I’m exhausted.

Considering the burnout I’m feeling right now from just one class (albeit a fairly intensive class) and full time work, I’m starting to get worried about my plan to take three classes in the fall and spring next year.

So I’m thinking some things will have to change, if I don’t change my school goal (which is entirely possible, but I really, really want to graduate by 2009.)

I have been having a blast participating as much as I could this year, both online and off. I presented, went to my first ALA conference, made a whole lot of contacts, and learned a lot about what it means to be a librarian on the profession side (I still have a lot to learn about the actual JOB of being a librarian.) Next year, I’m going to try not to over commit myself, which means, probably, not seeking anything else out. I’m already running for two positions in the NLA next year, and I’ve volunteered to help with booth design for the Nebraska Library Association New Members Round Table.

Other things that need to change lie in my personal life: I need to get more choosy about personal engagements, and not feel guilty for taking a day for myself. I need to structure my own time more carefully, and not lose as much in the time sink that is the internet.

Mark Linder had a nice post recently about his need to find balance - “I truly need to discover what balance is for me in my life. Then I need to pursue it.” he adds later that “I could be wrong, but the last real vacation I remember having was in 1984 or 1985.” Now, that’s just wrong. Of course, that’s par for the course for Americans - a recent Lifehacker post asked about reader’s vacation habits, and a week of vacation is about all most people get and/or take. (Compared to European posters, who get 5-8 weeks. erg.) (I had a lot more here, but it was ranty and doesn’t necessarily belong here. I’ll just say that lots of people I know don’t get near enough vacation/sick time.)

I have been scheming to take a vacation - a real vacation - after I graduate. If the past is any indication, though, I will dive right into another full time job, or I’ll be moving. sigh. It’s not work - I only get 12 days right now, but I’m fairly sure that if I needed it I could get unpaid time off. I just have a hard time taking time for myself.

Part of my problem is that my husband has been supporting me lo these many years I’ve been in school - not completely, but he pays the majority of the bills, without ever complaining or giving me a hard time. After graduation, it’s his turn. I want to get a job where I make enough that he can explore any dreams/careers he wants. (If, that is, he ever decides what it is he wants.)

At the very least, after graduation, I’ll be down to “just” a full time job. Which, right now, seems like vacation enough to me.

karin :: Jul.13.2007 :: Library, School Stuff :: 3 Comments »

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I don’t post a lot in the next 4 weeks. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if I post a lot either.

  My Computer Supported Collaborative Learning class is off to a running start - in 4 days, there have been a total of 219 posts in the forums. It took me forever to read the first two articles (I’m a slow reader anyway, and one of these articles in particular was somewhat dense) and I’ve got 5 more for the next few days. All have been in PDF format (boo) but I have been able to finagle the ones that have text into HTML so I can use Zotero to highlight and annotate, which is by far my favorite way to make notes. (even if Zotero is having issues un-highlighting.)

This class is bringing up some nice questions, like “how important is collaboration, anyway?” “Does computer supported collaborative learning represent a whole new era in teaching, or is it simply another tool in the bag, so to speak?” and, the all important “what do you do about the luddites?”

Seriously, I’m having a great time, and I really wish this course could have been an 8 week course as intended. My fellow students are interesting and come from a variety of majors, which is refreshing. My only problem is the time issue, which is making me seriously question my intent to take three classes each semester next year. But that’s another post entirely…

karin :: Jul.12.2007 :: School Stuff :: 1 Comment »

My article, The satellites in the farmland: a visit to SCOLA has been published in the Nebraska Library Association Quarterly. I’m working on a few other articles, so I hope to have more news like this soon.

karin :: Jul.10.2007 :: Asides, Library :: 2 Comments »