Thing 20: The Library Routes Project

Although I wrote a post for Thing 10 about my path to librarianship, I did not post the link on the Library Roots/Routes page until today.

I then lost a few hours reading others' posts!  I had to tear myself away in order to actually write my reflection for this Thing.  I might go back tomorrow; people and their experiences are fascinating!

Some of my experience overlaps with others'.  I did not know that I wanted to go into librarianship early on, but I also did not fall into it as others have.  As with most people, some of my path has been due to sheer luck.  For example, I was offered one of my current positions because I happened to stop at the right table at the right time at a library-themed job fair.  I lived near the library and had visited recently enough that the librarian recognized me.  One of her employees had just been offered a position elsewhere.  I am grateful for the opportunity to work with all wonderful people I have met in this position and in others.  Like Iris, I have had the support of friends and contacts; networking has been helpful in finding out about librarianship as well as open positions.  Many of my supervisors and colleagues have been wonderful mentors.  Like Paul Tovell, I misunderstood one detail for one of my jobs, although my misunderstanding was with the timeframe, rather than the location.  (It turns out the "until [this date]" applied to the library's Saturday hours, not the entire position.  It worked out fine for me!). I wholeheartedly agree with everything Iris said about why she continues to be a librarian.  In spite of differences in interests, geographic locations, and backgrounds, I have had similar experiences as other librarians.

Some of the differences I found were also encouraging.  Ned Potter, Sarah Ison, and James Mullen all mentioned applying for one position and being offered a different position.  If something similar happened to me, I am sure I would be briefly disappointed about not being offered the position I wanted.  The pleasure of being offered something else, something I had not even applied for, would quickly cheer me up.  Along those same lines, I find hope in Ned Potter and Sarah Ison's stories about applying for a position and not being hired, but then later being offered that position.  The entire process can be worth it!

Thing 13: Google Docs, Wikis, and Dropbox (Belated)

Sometimes, coincidences are fortuitous.  In the past week or so, I have used all three of these resources, but I only had to make a special effort to use one of them.  I used the other two in the course of my regular work. 

One of the libraries where I work uses wikis frequently.  The staff recently begun brainstorming ways to make the wikis more attractive to our users.  Following one of the ideas, our wiki administrator set up an experimental page where my colleagues and I have been exploring some of the additional features, such as embedded videos.  Although these additions take slightly longer to load, I believe that they enhance the content in way that our users will appreciate.

One of my colleagues and I are also using Google Docs to create a draft of a new page for the wiki.  Due to many changes at the library as well as in our own lives, we needed a way to collaborate asynchronously as well as from different computers.  A shared Google Doc seemed to be the perfect solution.  Although Google Docs do allow us to easily work together, I find that some content is not as easy to add as it is in other, proprietary, programs.  I appreciate the transportability of Google Docs and do not hesitate to recommend it to others, but I await additional features for ease of use.

The option I determined to explore was Dropbox.  Through a children's programming course, I had already contributed to a shared folder with pre-made storytime programs.  I had declined, however, to download the application to my desktop.  For Thing 13, I chose to go back and upgrade to a full Dropbox account.  Installation went smoothly.  The quick tour of Dropbox swiftly explained the main features and demonstrated how to use them.  From these start-up pages, it appeared that Dropbox would work similarly to the student account provided by my college.  I was excited to begin.  Many of the most useful features, such as drag-and-drop, were not functional on my computer, however.  I could still add content by choosing to save a document in the Dropbox folder, but I lost the ease-of-use that made Dropbox so popular among my classmates and professors.  I will try using it again later, in case today was just a fluke.  Dropbox, I am withholding my final judgement.  Hopefully, you will not disappoint.