Doing the Access Shuffle

I feel a bit like I've gone back in time, even as I've sort of catapulted my career a bit. I'm in the midst of my second week as the Associate Head of Access & Delivery at NCSU, and already loving it. I started in Access back in 2004 at the University of Kentucky, and once I had my MLS I bounced to reference and instruction, the "fun" side of library work. Not, of course, that Access isn't fun. it's just a different *kind* of fun...sort of like rugby and baseball are both sports, they're just different. And in one, you're more likely to get heavily bruised. *grin*


Anyway, my initial reaction has been: YES! While I was in reference and instruction, I got to stretch my creative side, I loved teaching, I didn't have the headache of supervising folks, and other than refdesk time, I had nearly complete control over what projects I worked on and how I spent my days. I will say, that sort of thing is handy if you want to get research done, get published, pitch presentations, and motivate yourself to keep up with a kind of momentum for your career. It helped that the environment I was in was completely supportive - of my desire to teach, of my ideas, of my traveling for various conferences. While I like to think that I contributed to the good image of the library on campus with my work at UTC, I also simply had a ball. It was *fun*. And while occasionally I would stress out due to saying "yes" to too many things, my time in reference and instruction was largely composed of rainbows and unicorns, and the occasional cotton-candy cloud. Reference and instruction wasn't work to me - for the most part, it was play. Which of course means it was my dream job.


Which seemed entirely too easy, so I left.


Heh, well, that's not entirely true. A too-good opportunity came around and swept me up, and that's why I've landed back in Access. I almost forgot how much work there was to do, and how interesting supervising others can make life! And having never been quite this high up on the food chain before, I was unaware of the amount of time spent in meetings. I'm already shucking my buns to keep up, but I'm loving it - the frenetic pace, things that can be fixed, dealing with people and their unique needs and quirks. I feel like a part of a larger process-at-work, though much of that is getting re-accustomed to being at such a large library - UTC was small compared to both UK and NCSU. I'm excited about starting new projects, finishing old ones, and polishing our service even as we enter tough financial times, as most universities are.


And so here I am, in my dress shoes, on the floor and re-learning the Access Shuffle. Expect to hear more soon...

Comments

Anonymous said…
Glad to see you made it to NC and all is well and you're liking the new job! Cool :)

Jeremie
9:47 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Impressions & Customer Service Failures

We all know how important first impressions are, right? It's sort of like how Anne McCaffrey's dragons "impress" on new dragonriders-to-be. (Yes, I'm feeling nostalgic with a new herd of freshmen on campus.) First impressions are essential, particularly when you're talking about freshmen, wet behind the ears, completely disoriented and overwhelmed by being at a state school for their first college experience, and stressed out by trying to find their classrooms and last-minute add/drops on their schedule. I usually don't think of them this way, because I'm not a fundraiser or in the alumni office, but the University at large should also think about the fact that these are the kids we hope will call this university 'home' even after they leave. (That could be my small liberal arts college experience shining through, though.) If nothing else, due to UTC's abysmal retention rates, you'd think the entire university would be bending over back
Read more

On the Great Myth of the Librarian Grays

Lately, there's been a lot of discussion (and bitching) about the promised graying/retirement within the library profession that was supposed to open up endless job opportunities for new librarians. The LITA-L email list, a recent American Libraries article , and a post by Peter Brantley calling for an overthrow by the young'uns have all been pretty popular topics of late. January 15, 2004, Rachel Singer Gordon published a piece in Library Journal titled "NextGen: Get Over the "Graying" Profession Hype" . I say again: this was 2004. It would appear no one took the advice, given that today - despite very obvious evidence to the contrary, American Libraries just printed an ill-advised article on recruiting undergrads to the profession , citing the graying of the profession as a reason for folks to sign up for library work. Jessamyn West, in her recent post "show us the numbers re: new librarian jobs" , calls for more than the ever-present empty a
Read more

Jobseeker Tip 1: CV/Resume Objectives, And A Contest!

**This blog post is first in a series about job search advice as discussed by my happy band of fellow library hiring managers, and is not related to any particular individual applicant from actual past, current, or future searches. All objectives included below are largely fictional, and any resemblance they may bear to actual CV objectives is the fault of the CV writer** Let's talk about the "Objective" section on your CV or resume. (Or, I'll write, you read.) Delete it. No, really. It's a waste of precious page real estate, and while it offers you the opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot, it doesn't offer a similar-sized boon if you get it right. If you make it library-department and library type specific: "Objective: To obtain a technical services position in an academic library setting" you'll look like a fool if you forget to then tailor that line when you start applying for reference jobs and public library positions. (Don't laugh
Read more