What’s that you say? Librarians aren’t meant to be so quiet?!?
I started a position back in July with Ontario Ministry of Economic Development & Innovation (formerly the Ministry of Economic Development & Trade, but the ministry merged with the Ministry of Research & Innovation after the October election). I have drafted this post several times over, as I want to let the world know where my career has been taking me.
I was accepted. I signed the paperwork. And on my very first day, I affirmed.
I affirmed to not talk about work! Me? Not talk?!? It’s true; public servants swear an oath that’s a little like a non-disclosure agreement. I’ve even done one of those before. But this left me a little hesitant about what to write on a very public blog…
Here’s what I know I can tell you…
I do not work out of Queen’s Park.
I work somewhere around…
Hearst Block via Emporis
I am a solo-librarian here and have learned so so so much since July. But as a solo-librarian, you sort of have to.
This is all that I know for sure for sure that I can tell you… (I feel like a spy!)
I have also been very busy. More posts to come on work-life balance…
Advertising & Advocacy…
A friend of mine passed this link on to me:
Milwaukee Public Library ads, via Fail Blog
Very clever over there at the Milwaukee Public Library.
Because Everyone Loves an Infographic…
Let’s Do This!
Reposted from the Re:Generations blog…
Let it be resolved… The dissolution of the Divisions and Interest Groups.
This is what happened at the CLA Conference last week. Wanna know what this means in a nutshell?
We don’t exist at the moment.
But wanna hear the amazing part?!?!
[I smell team spirit!]
A handful of us have gotten to work already, but now it’s your turn. We have an amazing opportunity here to create something great. Something that can see us – new, emerging, academic librarians, professionals – into the future.
Let’s make sure that there’s still a space for new professionals in academic librarianship to stand up and be counted. Let’s do this.
Check out the wiki we’ve started and have your say. We’re still in brainstorming mode and we feel that that’s the right time to invite everyone in. You’ll have to request access to edit, but that’s only because it’s what PBWorks is making us do. We wanted it to be totally open…
Have your say. And Let’s do this!
Library Week in Ireland
That’s all really… I kinda LOVE this!
On Being a Ninja…
Image via http://mail.google.com/mail/help/tips.html
*A cross-posting from the Re:Generations blog*
So, I taught a class the other day…
And when I say that I taught a class, what I mean is: I taught five (5!) classes (but all of them the same content) in two days. They were all before noon, though. And, well… let’s be honest, library orientation sessions are not always… how should I put this… the most riveting things to wake up to.
Sometimes we just need to say those things that no one really wants to say. I was very worried about putting them to sleep. We were to cover the basics, so, where things are located in the library, here is the library website, here are your subject guides, here is a good database to try out, this is Boolean searching, etc, etc… You get the point. Well, I was also to cover some Google tips, including advanced searching and Google Scholar. And again, let’s be real, we know they are going to Google. So, let’s show them how to do it intelligently…
Let’s make them ninjas! Read more…
A Few of My Favourite Things…
I feel like I should begin with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens… But, I had a different angle in mind for a few of my favourite things.
Well, maybe not a few, but one of my favourite things – a hobby, if you will – is finding library/ian-related things…
I realize that this sounds a little vague, but for instance, I enjoy stumbling across movie references to librarians or libraries. One of my favourite’s over Christmas is Mary (Donna Reed) in George’s (James Stewart’s) alternate reality in It’s a Wonderful Life, as the “old maid” librarian.
One of my favourite movies is Desk Set. I love that Breakfast at Tiffany’s has two fantastic scenes in the New York Public Library. I have the first volume of DC Comics Showcase Presents: Batgirl… because Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon was a librarian, PhD in Library Science, Head of Gotham Public Library… later becoming Oracle in the Bird’s of Prey series…
Yes. Yes, I do know that I am nerdy.
Well, I am telling you this because I came across this post today and just had to share!
So, there you are. Do you want to become a Librarian?
Stats…
So, I’ve mentioned before that to increase your blog traffic, all you need to do is add a cow… And, after having written about the potential for Wordle to demonstrate the intricacies of work-life balance this week… I was looking at my blog stats and how people are finding my blog… And, well, in the beginning it was all very flattering… The majority of people searching were searching for: kim stymest. That’s me, and they found me! Lovely.
Then I posted my tongue-in-cheek post about volunteer work… And, well, I’ll show you what happened: Read more…
Data Mining… in Context
So, I decided a number of years ago that the way I would use my undergraduate degree would be to inform the work that I do. That is, rather than it being the work that I do. I mean, really, I am currently working as a Business Librarian… my back ground being in Women’s Studies and Social & Political Thought (two of the more left-wing programs at York University). I realized that in my work what I can offer, and where I hope that I stand out, is context.
Context is incredibly important to me. Context is incredibly important.
I may not have gotten across through my blog, however, that I also love data. Not always the numbers themselves, but the context of the numbers. And I really love the move into visualizing data and infographics. I think it provides an opportunity for people with diverse learning styles to see, learn and interpret data in really new and exciting ways.
Yes, that is my very long way of bringing up (an older project now) MIT’s Personas Metro(pathologies), an exhibit that was on display at the MIT Museum through to September 2009 (any updates on this?). The purpose of the site (and the exhibit) was/is to demonstrate how data mining functions and the oddities that can arise from it.
For instance, here’s me:
"Kim Stymest" searched January 20, 2011 by Aaron Zinman, via Personas | Metropath(ologies)
And, generally speaking I don’t have the same problem that a lot of people have searching their names online. I am, literally, the only Kim Stymest. (It’s a little frightening, really)
So, yes. I thought this was super cool. I think most things that bring together things that I love are cool. But this is cool. Check it out. See what happens. And please make sure that you read the information on why and how this was designed. It’s the context.
Do You Suck at PowerPoint?
Slide 38 from "You Suck at PowerPoint" by @JESSEDEE, via SlideShare
So, the other day I was going through my RSS stuff… yes, it took awhile… and I came across an interesting post from Stephen Abram regarding presentations. He was sharing here a presentation from @JESSEDEE and… well… I’m hooked!
I love that his presentations are so straight to the point… or as Jesse says, they use “C.R.A.P.” (check out slide 42, if you don’t believe me!). The retro images, the colour schemes, font choices; it’s all crisp, clear, and well… super awesome! I checked out the one presentation on Stephen’s Lighthouse and followed the link to more of Jesse’s work on SlideShare and, truth be told, I have looked through them all (in English) and as I said: hooked!
I think that in our profession we could probably learn a little from some of the ideas here. We teach. A lot. Often to students that don’t really care, or that don’t want to care. I’m not saying that we all suck at PowerPoint, I’ve seen some really great presentations in fact. But, I think that some of the main points that really come across to me in looking at these slides are to not be afraid… of colour, of empty space, of being bold, of creativity, really.
I believe that we are in an incredibly creative field. Why not show that off?!?
Please note: I know that a lot of us do… and are
