Interesting changes in Google, better late then never! :)
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Google Changes Search Algorithm, Trying to Make Results More Timely:
Acknowledging that some searches were giving people stale results, Google revised its methods on Thursday to make the answers timelier. It is one of the biggest tweaks to Google’s search algorithm, affecting about 35 percent of all searches.
The new algorithm is a recognition that Google, whose dominance depends on providing the most useful results, is being increasingly challenged by services like Twitter and Facebook, which have trained people to expect constant updates with seconds-old news.
It is also a reflection of how people use the Web as a real-time news feed — that if, for example, you search for a baseball score, you probably want to find the score of a game being played at the moment, not last week, which is what Google often gave you.
Read more
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
8.17.2011
Lots of changes, Max... Lots of changes
Today is my last day as Operations Manager of the Google Book Project. I have worked, with various titles, on this project for over two and a half years. I came to this job because I had recently graduated from my undergraduate studies and was on my way to completing my master's degree and I needed full-time work in a library.
This is a library - and they had full time work.
...That was basically the only draw.
It was not what I wanted: it was not a public service position, it was not in a public library, it was not near my house, I could not drive to work (and therefore could not have much freedom during the day)... But, it was relatively gainful employment that would perhaps move me closer to my goals. So I took it.
I was never not applying for other jobs while here. Pretty much every public library job within a 50 mile radius was researched, applied for, pined after, and eventually mourned as it slipped away; a graceful, yet curt, form letter arriving in the mail. I applied for the jobs I knew I'd never get (seriously, HOW does one gain 'professional experience' when no one will hire you for a professional job?!), the ones that were geographically impossible, and even the ones that devalued the profession (professional librarians are PROFESSIONALS, we have degrees and we need them every day! Please, don't refuse me basic health care!). But, here I stayed.
Eventually, I began to gain new experiences and found new opportunities. I got to go to my first professional conference (WLA). I began to take InfoDesk shifts in the Reference Department and Circulation Desk shifts each week. I became an active member of the Staff Development Committee, I got to know more people across campus. I attended local conferences, talks, and programming. I grew as a person and as a Information Professional.
I kept working on my MLIS. (I even got reimbursed for some of my tuition!)
Now, I'm sitting at a bit of a crossroads - both personally and professionally. I will be awarded my degree very soon, and I'm getting married this Fall.
And, I'm changing jobs.
Tomorrow will be my first day in the Interlibrary Loan Department of the Memorial Library.
This is still not my 'dream job' - it is still in a basement, it still has limited patron interaction (though, more then before), I'm still in an academic library that I cannot drive myself to everyday. I will have to start taking lunches, which will lengthen my day by an hour - which admittedly won't be AS bad now that I won't have to do homework every night...
But, it is a stepping stone. Another in a long trail across a river of doubt and uncertainty that every early-career professional meets.
I plan to add this next notch to my belt, so to say, and take from this new experience as much as I can - just as I've done with every new set of duties, commitment, position and new opportunity I've taken.
Wish me luck!
This is a library - and they had full time work.
...That was basically the only draw.
It was not what I wanted: it was not a public service position, it was not in a public library, it was not near my house, I could not drive to work (and therefore could not have much freedom during the day)... But, it was relatively gainful employment that would perhaps move me closer to my goals. So I took it.
I was never not applying for other jobs while here. Pretty much every public library job within a 50 mile radius was researched, applied for, pined after, and eventually mourned as it slipped away; a graceful, yet curt, form letter arriving in the mail. I applied for the jobs I knew I'd never get (seriously, HOW does one gain 'professional experience' when no one will hire you for a professional job?!), the ones that were geographically impossible, and even the ones that devalued the profession (professional librarians are PROFESSIONALS, we have degrees and we need them every day! Please, don't refuse me basic health care!). But, here I stayed.
Eventually, I began to gain new experiences and found new opportunities. I got to go to my first professional conference (WLA). I began to take InfoDesk shifts in the Reference Department and Circulation Desk shifts each week. I became an active member of the Staff Development Committee, I got to know more people across campus. I attended local conferences, talks, and programming. I grew as a person and as a Information Professional.
I kept working on my MLIS. (I even got reimbursed for some of my tuition!)
Now, I'm sitting at a bit of a crossroads - both personally and professionally. I will be awarded my degree very soon, and I'm getting married this Fall.
And, I'm changing jobs.
Tomorrow will be my first day in the Interlibrary Loan Department of the Memorial Library.
This is still not my 'dream job' - it is still in a basement, it still has limited patron interaction (though, more then before), I'm still in an academic library that I cannot drive myself to everyday. I will have to start taking lunches, which will lengthen my day by an hour - which admittedly won't be AS bad now that I won't have to do homework every night...
But, it is a stepping stone. Another in a long trail across a river of doubt and uncertainty that every early-career professional meets.
I plan to add this next notch to my belt, so to say, and take from this new experience as much as I can - just as I've done with every new set of duties, commitment, position and new opportunity I've taken.
Wish me luck!
8.02.2011
How Google Dominates Us [The New York Review of Books]
Though I disagree with the idea that Google makes reference librarians "redundant" - this is an interesting article... even if it foretells an eerily _Feed_-like future...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Google Dominates Us [The New York Review of Books]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Google Dominates Us [The New York Review of Books]
7.30.2011
Friday: Fun day!
7:00 am - Fridays are always early days for me because I have to leave campus by 3 to catch a bus that gets be back to my car in time to make my 4-6 shift at Fitchburg. So, I’ll start by checking email - quite a few to catch up on after being out yesterday...
7:50 am - Reports! Missed those yesterday too, of course...
9:40 am - whoa, lost some time there. Let’s see - I went though all the items on the reports to make sure they were all processed correctly, responded to some questions from the Head of the Google Project about our progress on the current shipment, emailed our student employee about some items he’d handled that were on the report, pushed a cart up to be shelved, and now I’m going to go count a few of the carts that are going out next week. There, we’re caught up! :)
10:30 am - got my invites to my graduation party delivered! My friend, Sarah Dailey, made them and they are AWESOME! (here’s a link to her other site, which has more info on it)
11:00 am - Finally got over my squee :) One of the carts I counted earlier was off, so I wheeled it into the office (easier said then done...) to check each of the 262 (or 263) items to make sure they’re all processed and charged correctly.
12:19 pm - It’s like the gods know it’s #libday7 and they want you all to read interesting stuff!! I just got a call from the SCLS delivery folks who transport our Google trucks for us saying that the dock area was all torn up. No one told me that this was happening today - so this came as a big surprise. Luckily, our mail room coordinator just happened to be in my office picking up our mail - so I asked him where they should go. He pulled out his Marauder’s Map and his Invisibility Cloak (okay, not *really*) and leads me through the maze that is Memorial Library to the *back* loading dock that I didn’t even know existed! The delivery truck was then guided onto Library Mall to park (highly unorthodox, let me assure you) and we then guided the drivers back through the maze to the basement. This will be the type of thing I won’t miss when I move to ILL...
1:00 pm - 2:10 pm - Circ Desk Shift:
Highlights:
Patron needed to return a book and wanted a receipt. He then asked, “is that what
2:10 pm - back in the office for short while before I leave at 3 pm. Currently checking email I received while on the desk.
3:00 pm - ducking out to go catch my bus at 3:15!
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Fitchburg shelving shift
Highlights:
Lots of complaints about the way we shelve DVDs.
7:50 am - Reports! Missed those yesterday too, of course...
9:40 am - whoa, lost some time there. Let’s see - I went though all the items on the reports to make sure they were all processed correctly, responded to some questions from the Head of the Google Project about our progress on the current shipment, emailed our student employee about some items he’d handled that were on the report, pushed a cart up to be shelved, and now I’m going to go count a few of the carts that are going out next week. There, we’re caught up! :)
10:30 am - got my invites to my graduation party delivered! My friend, Sarah Dailey, made them and they are AWESOME! (here’s a link to her other site, which has more info on it)
11:00 am - Finally got over my squee :) One of the carts I counted earlier was off, so I wheeled it into the office (easier said then done...) to check each of the 262 (or 263) items to make sure they’re all processed and charged correctly.
12:19 pm - It’s like the gods know it’s #libday7 and they want you all to read interesting stuff!! I just got a call from the SCLS delivery folks who transport our Google trucks for us saying that the dock area was all torn up. No one told me that this was happening today - so this came as a big surprise. Luckily, our mail room coordinator just happened to be in my office picking up our mail - so I asked him where they should go. He pulled out his Marauder’s Map and his Invisibility Cloak (okay, not *really*) and leads me through the maze that is Memorial Library to the *back* loading dock that I didn’t even know existed! The delivery truck was then guided onto Library Mall to park (highly unorthodox, let me assure you) and we then guided the drivers back through the maze to the basement. This will be the type of thing I won’t miss when I move to ILL...
1:00 pm - 2:10 pm - Circ Desk Shift:
Highlights:
Patron came to the desk with an item that came up as “does not circulate” When
I opened the record to find out why, I saw it was “atgoogle” meaning it was my office’s
fault it wouldn’t circ! oops... :-/
Patron needed to return a book and wanted a receipt. He then asked, “is that what
it’s called? A receipt?” I told him that if he really wanted to be ‘library-fancy’ he could call it
a “discharge slip” but that “receipt” worked just fine!
2:10 pm - back in the office for short while before I leave at 3 pm. Currently checking email I received while on the desk.
3:00 pm - ducking out to go catch my bus at 3:15!
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Fitchburg shelving shift
Highlights:
Lots of complaints about the way we shelve DVDs.
7.29.2011
A Google A Day
Well, this is fun! I hadn't seen this yet and I can't wait to sign up! It's the best kind of trivia - one where I can look up the answers! :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Google A Day: "
Librarian Bill Drew just reported on receiving an email from Google about a new feature they wanted him to try out called A Google a Day. Here's the gist of it:
What is a Google a Day?
A Google a Day is a daily trivia question where searching isn't just allowed, it's encouraged. Through daily questions on a diverse array of topics, we delight the curious with exciting new facts. Questions are featured daily on http://www.agoogleaday.com/ and above the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Why is it cool?
A Google a Day is a great new way to discover fascinating information about the world around all while learning how to use the wealth of the web to satisfy one's curiosity. Moreover, it's a great way for students and library patrons to build search skills that allow them to better put the power of Google's search engine to work for them in researching for assignments and discovering untapped avenues for further exploration.
Even more exciting, the Google a Day widget can be embedded right on a library's home page. With minimal effort and no programming experience required, each day the widget will automatically update so users have instant access to exciting and educational content on the landing page.
Why is it useful for libraries?
With budgets being cut, A Google a Day is a free method to build search literacy in a fun and accessible way. Every day we highlight awesome and useful search tricks to help find information quicker and easier. These skills can be built into an instruction session or curriculum on search engine utilization and internet research. We hope A Google a Day will not only spark interest in the wealth of knowledge hosted in libraries, on the web, and around the world, but give users the search skills to best unlock this information.
How do I get started?
To install the A Google a Day widget into your site copy/paste the follow information (including the “<” and “>”) to your desired location. You can include this iframe element:
Collapse this post
A Google a Day
Welcome to the new daily puzzle from Google. There is no right way to solve it, but there's only one right answer. Find the answer with your creativity and clever search skills.
"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Google A Day: "
Librarian Bill Drew just reported on receiving an email from Google about a new feature they wanted him to try out called A Google a Day. Here's the gist of it:
What is a Google a Day?
A Google a Day is a daily trivia question where searching isn't just allowed, it's encouraged. Through daily questions on a diverse array of topics, we delight the curious with exciting new facts. Questions are featured daily on http://www.agoogleaday.com/ and above the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Why is it cool?
A Google a Day is a great new way to discover fascinating information about the world around all while learning how to use the wealth of the web to satisfy one's curiosity. Moreover, it's a great way for students and library patrons to build search skills that allow them to better put the power of Google's search engine to work for them in researching for assignments and discovering untapped avenues for further exploration.
Even more exciting, the Google a Day widget can be embedded right on a library's home page. With minimal effort and no programming experience required, each day the widget will automatically update so users have instant access to exciting and educational content on the landing page.
Why is it useful for libraries?
With budgets being cut, A Google a Day is a free method to build search literacy in a fun and accessible way. Every day we highlight awesome and useful search tricks to help find information quicker and easier. These skills can be built into an instruction session or curriculum on search engine utilization and internet research. We hope A Google a Day will not only spark interest in the wealth of knowledge hosted in libraries, on the web, and around the world, but give users the search skills to best unlock this information.
How do I get started?
To install the A Google a Day widget into your site copy/paste the follow information (including the “<” and “>”) to your desired location. You can include this iframe element:
Collapse this post
A Google a Day
Welcome to the new daily puzzle from Google. There is no right way to solve it, but there's only one right answer. Find the answer with your creativity and clever search skills.
"
7.28.2011
Wednesday!
8:00 am - Got to work. I got to “sleep in” today... Started checking email, talked to one coworker about her progress discharging and filling the six carts we’re responsible for at the State Historical Society. We rotate through who goes over there each month so as not to overload one person. These carts will go out next Friday, so she’s got plenty of time to work on them. Spoke with my other coworker about his responsibilities at the Middleton Shelving Facility. He’s headed over there right now to count the two carts I filled there last week, and to take care of some other issues that have come up.
8:30 am - our student employee arrives. He was out yesterday, so I wanted to touch base on an item he’d had a question about: the item’s record wasn’t linked to the barcode. Easy fix! Also got the good news from him that he will be able to stay on here in the Fall!
8:48 am - printed out my daily reports, processed the exceptions
9:18 am - took a short break to fill out the form to transfer the two credits I earned on my Librarian’s Tour of Germany into my program at SOIS.
9:27 am - should probably finish cleaning off my desk at some point... left it with piles of stuff everywhere! Even if I’m only moving down the hall to ILL, I’m still MOVING! :)
9:58 am - my desk area is so... impersonal!
10:10 am - Went to move over the 12 carts that will be picked up from Memorial tomorrow and found one that was only half packed! Also grabbed some returns to discharge and process.
11:07 am - took a look at the first post-Budget repair bill-paycheck... this one is actually higher then usual, because it’s the second paycheck of the month, so no health insurance taken out. Next check will be the telling one...
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - Circ Desk Shift
Highlights:
1:00 pm - Back in Google office, back to discharging
3:00 pm - Yep, you guessed it... still discharging
4:00 pm - headed home for dinner (leftovers) and some downtime!
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm - Working at Fitchburg Public Library
Highlights:
It is clear there are some differences in opinion in the meaning of the phrase “Items are in call number order, and ready to shelve”... :-/
8:30 am - our student employee arrives. He was out yesterday, so I wanted to touch base on an item he’d had a question about: the item’s record wasn’t linked to the barcode. Easy fix! Also got the good news from him that he will be able to stay on here in the Fall!
8:48 am - printed out my daily reports, processed the exceptions
9:18 am - took a short break to fill out the form to transfer the two credits I earned on my Librarian’s Tour of Germany into my program at SOIS.
9:27 am - should probably finish cleaning off my desk at some point... left it with piles of stuff everywhere! Even if I’m only moving down the hall to ILL, I’m still MOVING! :)
9:58 am - my desk area is so... impersonal!
10:10 am - Went to move over the 12 carts that will be picked up from Memorial tomorrow and found one that was only half packed! Also grabbed some returns to discharge and process.
11:07 am - took a look at the first post-Budget repair bill-paycheck... this one is actually higher then usual, because it’s the second paycheck of the month, so no health insurance taken out. Next check will be the telling one...
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - Circ Desk Shift
Highlights:
Patron needed to get something from our Locked Case... but no one had a key!
Usually, supervisors have keys for the case, but one is in a meeting and the other
is at lunch. Finally we tracked down our security guy and he got the key from the
key case. As the patron was waiting, he told me “This was supposed to be [his]
easy errand for the day” :(!
Can’t believe it! ANOTHER person needs a key we don’t have!
1:00 pm - Back in Google office, back to discharging
3:00 pm - Yep, you guessed it... still discharging
4:00 pm - headed home for dinner (leftovers) and some downtime!
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm - Working at Fitchburg Public Library
Highlights:
It is clear there are some differences in opinion in the meaning of the phrase “Items are in call number order, and ready to shelve”... :-/
7.26.2011
Time for Tuesday!
7:00 am - Another early morning! That’s the only problem with fieldwork when you work a full time job - you STILL have to get in your 40 hours!
7:00 am - 7:40 am - checking email, responding to a few pertaining to the Librarian’s Trip to Germany Recap Program I am planning for the Staff Development Committee. Made a spreadsheet to keep track of people’s interest and availability.
7:45 am - Ran my reports, quite a lot to check into today... :-/ And, no, coworker - I can’t just take your word for it that you fixed all these yourself yesterday...
8:17 am - break from checking the items on the report to answer a question from someone in cataloging about the status of an item that’s “atgoogle”
8:18 am - back to the list!... It’s cold in my office today. Who am I kidding? I’m always cold...
9:00 am - checking a whole series for my coworker - it was flagged, but not very consistently. We usually trust the flags, but when a series looks suspicious - it’s easier to check the report Google provides then to process it incorrectly...
10:00 am - working on the document for my replacement
10:31 am - going on a cart round up so we can get more returns discharged!
11:00 am - If possible, the tzatziki is better today then it was last night! Today, it’s served with honey-wheat pita bread and some kalamata olives for good measure :)
11:10 am - back to discharging that cart. This was came back from Google a bit... disheveled. It will be good to know that everything is there when I’m done discharging and processing it. This happens periodically, and when it does, I always document it with photos that I send to Google. They will then go talk to the operator who processed it in their scan center. I sometimes feel badly, because I know I’m getting some poor minimum wage scanner in trouble, but at the same time - these materials need to be treated with care!
11:14 am - Took a moment to sign up for NaNoWriMo... this will be my first time participating... I don’t have high hopes for winning, but I’m looking forward to the challenge!
11:50 am - Just got news that the incoming SLIS student I hired for the fall won’t be able to accept the job here in our office. I will start by offering the hours to our current student employee, and I hope he’s able to accept them! It would be so much easier not to have to rehire and retrain someone...
12:20 pm - Not exactly work related, but I just got an email that our “guest book” (an etched metal signature mat) for our wedding was delivered! So looking forward to playing with the diamond-tipped pen you get to use to sign it! Okay, back to work!
1:09 pm - Still discharging... that’s what happens when you send 10,000 books to Google... 10,000 books come back! :)
2:11 pm - Trying to convince my coworker that... never mind, it’s a losing battle... :)
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Circulation Desk shift
Highlights:
7:00 am - 7:40 am - checking email, responding to a few pertaining to the Librarian’s Trip to Germany Recap Program I am planning for the Staff Development Committee. Made a spreadsheet to keep track of people’s interest and availability.
7:45 am - Ran my reports, quite a lot to check into today... :-/ And, no, coworker - I can’t just take your word for it that you fixed all these yourself yesterday...
8:17 am - break from checking the items on the report to answer a question from someone in cataloging about the status of an item that’s “atgoogle”
8:18 am - back to the list!... It’s cold in my office today. Who am I kidding? I’m always cold...
9:00 am - checking a whole series for my coworker - it was flagged, but not very consistently. We usually trust the flags, but when a series looks suspicious - it’s easier to check the report Google provides then to process it incorrectly...
10:00 am - working on the document for my replacement
10:31 am - going on a cart round up so we can get more returns discharged!
11:00 am - If possible, the tzatziki is better today then it was last night! Today, it’s served with honey-wheat pita bread and some kalamata olives for good measure :)
11:10 am - back to discharging that cart. This was came back from Google a bit... disheveled. It will be good to know that everything is there when I’m done discharging and processing it. This happens periodically, and when it does, I always document it with photos that I send to Google. They will then go talk to the operator who processed it in their scan center. I sometimes feel badly, because I know I’m getting some poor minimum wage scanner in trouble, but at the same time - these materials need to be treated with care!
11:14 am - Took a moment to sign up for NaNoWriMo... this will be my first time participating... I don’t have high hopes for winning, but I’m looking forward to the challenge!
11:50 am - Just got news that the incoming SLIS student I hired for the fall won’t be able to accept the job here in our office. I will start by offering the hours to our current student employee, and I hope he’s able to accept them! It would be so much easier not to have to rehire and retrain someone...
12:20 pm - Not exactly work related, but I just got an email that our “guest book” (an etched metal signature mat) for our wedding was delivered! So looking forward to playing with the diamond-tipped pen you get to use to sign it! Okay, back to work!
1:09 pm - Still discharging... that’s what happens when you send 10,000 books to Google... 10,000 books come back! :)
2:11 pm - Trying to convince my coworker that... never mind, it’s a losing battle... :)
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Circulation Desk shift
Highlights:
Someone who usually doesn’t remember my name, did today! This is twice in a row! Separated by at LEAST a month of not seeing them! This is very exciting :)
Slow day on the desk...
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm - Working at Fitchburg Public Library. I shelved a cart in Adult Non-Fiction and then another cart of Children’s materials.
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm - Working at Fitchburg Public Library. I shelved a cart in Adult Non-Fiction and then another cart of Children’s materials.
7.25.2011
Monday, Monday!
7:00 am - Got to work, logged on to my fieldwork timesheet to quickly log my hours from Saturday’s booksale at the Central Branch. Started checking emails, one of which contained information about Maureen Grant’s Memorial. Dealt with a question from last week pertaining to a shipment of materials sent to the scanning facility in California for destructive scanning.
7:15 am - Opened our Circulation and Cataloging modules (we use Voyager here at UW-Madison) and ran reports of circulation statistics, exceptions, item related issues etc that pertain to our project. Next I go through each item listed on the report and make sure it was processed according to our standards. - Darn, the program won’t let me in yet! Only problem with getting to work this early!
7:20 am - co-worker asked me to check a report that Google provides for information on a book that was flagged. The flag was blank, so he wasn’t sure how to process it. It was a duplicate book, meaning that another institution had already sent the book to be digitized. We run into this quite a bit, since each institution is working off the same picklist.
7:25 am - pushed a cart up to the stacks to be shelved.
7:35 am - got agenda emailed to me for the Staff Development Committee meeting this morning - looks like it will be a busy meeting!
7:40 am - trying to print my reports again. Success! On to processing...
8:00 am - discussing my upcoming transition to ILL with my coworker, while discharging and processing a cart of items returned from Google. Pandora is my friend today - got my “Rock Out” channel on right now! :) I’ll be leaving this office in three weeks - and after having been here for over 2.5 years - the transition will be... interesting.
8:45 am - done processing cart, and routing a few damaged items to our Preservation Department and adding “unrepairable” note to a few more items.
9:07 am - Question: why is the building manager always out for the day when things need his attention? HUGE cockroach in our hallway... guess what - no one has any Raid on hand... Maybe it will drown in all the red tape around here... Back to cutting pages...
9:10 am - Heading up to my Staff Development Committee Meeting!
10:45 am - back from Staff Development Committee meeting. We talked about a lot of upcoming programs and plans for future as well. This is a fun committee to be a part of; we get to provide both educational and interesting/fun programs for all library staff on campus.
10:50 am - quick lunch break! Early, I know... but that’s what happens when you eat breakfast at 6 am!
11:00 am - finishing up that page cutting and other repair work on books that will be sent back to Google. When we resend items, we put notes on them to make sure they’re processed properly upon return. These, I’ll give to my coworker because they’re from the collection from which he’s currently pulling.
11:30 am - started a document to leave for my replacement detailing some of the things they’ll need to know moving forward.
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - on the circulation desk
Highlights:
1:40 pm - back in the office for a little bit before I head off to fieldwork.
2:00 pm - left Memorial library to catch a bus back to my car so I can get to the Video Game Tournament at the Meadowridge Branch of the Madison Public Library by 3 pm.
2:45 pm - 5:30 pm - Video Game Tournament for Fieldwork. We had 11 players tonight, so we did a double elimination tournament. The three top players from each branch library (this was the last qualifying round) will compete in the championship on August 3rd.
5:30 pm - whew! End of the day! Headed home for souvlaki and homemade tzatziki!
7:15 am - Opened our Circulation and Cataloging modules (we use Voyager here at UW-Madison) and ran reports of circulation statistics, exceptions, item related issues etc that pertain to our project. Next I go through each item listed on the report and make sure it was processed according to our standards. - Darn, the program won’t let me in yet! Only problem with getting to work this early!
7:20 am - co-worker asked me to check a report that Google provides for information on a book that was flagged. The flag was blank, so he wasn’t sure how to process it. It was a duplicate book, meaning that another institution had already sent the book to be digitized. We run into this quite a bit, since each institution is working off the same picklist.
7:25 am - pushed a cart up to the stacks to be shelved.
7:35 am - got agenda emailed to me for the Staff Development Committee meeting this morning - looks like it will be a busy meeting!
7:40 am - trying to print my reports again. Success! On to processing...
8:00 am - discussing my upcoming transition to ILL with my coworker, while discharging and processing a cart of items returned from Google. Pandora is my friend today - got my “Rock Out” channel on right now! :) I’ll be leaving this office in three weeks - and after having been here for over 2.5 years - the transition will be... interesting.
8:45 am - done processing cart, and routing a few damaged items to our Preservation Department and adding “unrepairable” note to a few more items.
9:07 am - Question: why is the building manager always out for the day when things need his attention? HUGE cockroach in our hallway... guess what - no one has any Raid on hand... Maybe it will drown in all the red tape around here... Back to cutting pages...
9:10 am - Heading up to my Staff Development Committee Meeting!
10:45 am - back from Staff Development Committee meeting. We talked about a lot of upcoming programs and plans for future as well. This is a fun committee to be a part of; we get to provide both educational and interesting/fun programs for all library staff on campus.
10:50 am - quick lunch break! Early, I know... but that’s what happens when you eat breakfast at 6 am!
11:00 am - finishing up that page cutting and other repair work on books that will be sent back to Google. When we resend items, we put notes on them to make sure they’re processed properly upon return. These, I’ll give to my coworker because they’re from the collection from which he’s currently pulling.
11:30 am - started a document to leave for my replacement detailing some of the things they’ll need to know moving forward.
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm - on the circulation desk
Highlights:
A friend of mine stopped by and said she’d be doing #libday7 too! Excited to see what she posts! She also blogs (very well) about her experiences in Library School here.
Sent an email out to all the local folks who went on the Librarian’s Tour Of Germany back in May to see if anyone is interested in presenting our experiences for a Staff Development Program this Fall. (See, I told you it was a fun committee!)
Catching up on my library-related feeds on my Google Reader - great way to keep up on current trends, articles, etc... and maybe a few cooking blogs too :)
Another library on campus called to have a hold for a patron routed to their library. The patron decided they wanted to pick the item up at a different location. Luckily it was a book owned by this campus so it was an easy switch!
Had to hand-write carrel receipts for about a dozen items... patron didn’t know that items in his carrel needed receipts!
Carrel key that the patron has had for “a million years” returned :)
Referred patron to Circ Office to speak to someone in ILL about a book that was supposedly being held past it’s hold expiration date... through today... but wasn’t on the shelf for her. I’ll be dealing with those myself in a few weeks...
Spoke with another library staff member about my fieldwork experience and my last class for my MLIS
1:40 pm - back in the office for a little bit before I head off to fieldwork.
2:00 pm - left Memorial library to catch a bus back to my car so I can get to the Video Game Tournament at the Meadowridge Branch of the Madison Public Library by 3 pm.
2:45 pm - 5:30 pm - Video Game Tournament for Fieldwork. We had 11 players tonight, so we did a double elimination tournament. The three top players from each branch library (this was the last qualifying round) will compete in the championship on August 3rd.
5:30 pm - whew! End of the day! Headed home for souvlaki and homemade tzatziki!
Library Day in the Life 2011! Introductions...
Hi! My name is Erin and this is my first year participating in Library Day in the Life. I am currently the Operations Manager for the Google Book Project on the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus. As a project, we send over 10,000 books per month to Google to be digitized for eventual inclusion in Google Book Search. My two co-workers and I are responsible for filling carts at 3 of the 4 libraries on our campus that send to Google and other staff fill from the one other library.
I also work about 10 hours a week as a shelver at the Fitchburg Public Library which is near Madison.
In addition, I’m also completing my MLIS degree this summer (will be done August 20th!!) and for that, I’m taking one class and doing a fieldwork. This week, I have to do things for each of these - so you’ll get to hear about all of it!
Stay tuned!
I also work about 10 hours a week as a shelver at the Fitchburg Public Library which is near Madison.
In addition, I’m also completing my MLIS degree this summer (will be done August 20th!!) and for that, I’m taking one class and doing a fieldwork. This week, I have to do things for each of these - so you’ll get to hear about all of it!
Stay tuned!
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