Day 2...Classes Love PirRRRate TeacherRRR

Pirate Teacher Debut

Dear Diary,

Today Pascal and I teamed up and co-taught our first First Year Composition Library Instruction classes and what a gRRRReat class. I got very positive Evaluations. I created my own to determine which things were "engaging" and what was "distracting." I was asked for this type of feedback for my "Pirate-Teacher's Active Learning Exercises" article that will be published in the Journal of Academic Librarianship in March 2007.Needless to say, I got a LOT of attention, especially while taking my students on a tour of the first three floors of the library. After both 75 minute classes which were one after the other, I walked to LaFun to grab a bite and oh my gosh, what an experience! I had gotten a lot of practice with a "quick explanation" about teaching topics such as "Net Piracy" and "Use if Pirated Materials" blah blah blah because I had the good fortune to have our Director walk past the room while we were setting up and naturally she came to ask why I was dressed like a pirate? Anywho...the students I encountered on the God-Quad loved the idea. Some asked if they could "Request my class session" since all First Year Students have to take such a library class. Awww. I was flattered. A few students yelled out jokes for me to answer which I got wrong, such as:

Q: What is a Pirate's favorite animal?
A: aaRRRRRRdvark

Q: What is a Pirate's favorie mode of transportation?
I guess RRRRR V ...wrong!
A: A Ship.

I tell ya the fun never stops when you walk across campus in a Pirate outfit!

Fellow librarians told me about this great Pirate teaching resources: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/teachers.html
My students were aware that today was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

Try, Try, Try, Try Again and Again and Again

Dear Diary,

I have finished my PowerPoint outline for my Pirate Teacher classes next week. I have begun researching marketing ideas for electronic resources. I have revised my JAWS - library horror article for the 4th time. I really like the suggestions this editor gave me. But that means that I had to start from scratch, yet again. I am not giving up on this article. It is now officially the one I have worked the hardest and longest on.

This quote just seemed appropriate:

"You'll never find what you're looking for, until you know what you're looking for,before you go looking for it."~~Philosphy Instructor

Commitments and Publications and Publicity

Dear Diary,

While I love everything about this Residency, the only complication is the uncertainty of having only a 2-year contract. For example, we were asked to present again at the next Indiana Library Federation Conference but it is not taking place until November 2007. But my contract ends August 2007. So I had to decline the offer to present. I just can't honestly commit to present in Indiana when I may be forced to seek employment in another city. That was really hard but I feel that was the only realistic decision.

I offered to assist if I am still a Hoosier, next year. But that is just part of the experience. Gotta take the good with the not so good.

Also, we had a reception at the main library and I ran into a lady I had helped when I worked in the Law Library. She was a server at the reception and came up to thank me again for all the helpful information I gave her. That really made me feel good because she was one of the first legal research questions I received and it took me a long time to find the answers she needed. Phew! But it reminds me of why I became a Librarian.

**BONUS** I got a funny but flattering email from the editor of the Journal of Academic Librarianship. He said he does not know if I am more nuts for writing the Pirate Teacher Active Learning Exercises' article or if he is more nuts for deciding to publish it! Ha! Ha! That also made me feel really good. I worked hard on that article and he said he could clearly see the "considerable content" even with all the humor. THANK YOU!!! Finally! He said it should be published in March.

I was notified that my 4th Reference Review will be published next year, maybe in February. Yippee!!

I re-submitted my Cheminformatics' article for Peer-Review. This is a hard process. I had to submit a "Revision Outline" highlighting all the changes I made to the original. Luckily I had created a rough draft of just such a document before I knew I would need an outline like that. So now it has been accepted again for consideration along with my Revision Outline. We learn as we go, eh?

Speaking of my publications, I have gotten a couple of odd phone calls following the publication of my "Weary Helper" article wherein I compare Librarianship to my stent as a Private Investigator. I have gotten requests from fellow Librarians to work on "cases" for them. And today I got a request from someone to investigate people at Notre Dame or who claim to have been at Notre Dame...I decline all requests for 2 good reasons. 1st, my manager told me when I first arrived that I am contractually prohibited from other employment and 2nd, I have not worked as an Investigator in over 8 years. All of my contacts have switched careers or moved out of the city.

Also, I met with my manager and she reviewed the timeline for my "marketing projects" for electronic resources in general and Refworks, in particular. I am really excited about coming up with marketing ideas and she has agreed to let me begin a committee focused on publicity. We will discuss it in greater details next week. I have already come up with a name for it. Since the The Electronic Resources and Serials Access Department is called "ERSA" I shall call my mini-committee ERSA-Minor...Get it? It is a play on words; the constellation Ursa Minor contains the group of stars commonly called the Little Dipper.

Sisters AND Strength

Dear Diary,

One of the really helpful aspects of this Residency is the camaraderie of the previous and simultaneous other Residents. The former African-American female and my co-Resident and I went to lunch and it was truly empowering. It is comparable to a support group in that we have dealt with the same issues and concerns and we are able to truly understand this experience as others are not able to. I am grateful that I have them to keep me encouraged and to inspire me.
*
I used some of the leadership skills I learned at the Purdue Workshops to solve a problem. Basically, I ABSOLUTELY love my job....utterly disliked my cubicle. But I vowed to not complain about anything, and to only focus on the positive. I am truly blessed to be working at Notre Dame and so everything else must be put in perspective. Well one of my co-workers came to install my new email and asked about the scotch tape covering my keyboard tray. I explained that the wood is ragged and I literally bleed every time I put my hands on the tray to type. I put a scarf over the tray, problem solved.

She asked about the collage of brightly colored papers and Arizona Iced Tea bottles strewn about my cube. I explained that I suffer from S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) *SAD is a mood disorder associated with depression episodes and related to seasonal variations of light. So being confined to the grey cubicle is quite depressing and counter productive to creative process and efficiency.

She asked how long my light was out above my desk, "Who knows?" She asked about a few other shall we say ergonomically-incorrect features of my cube and strongly encouraged me to ask those things be changed.

I decided why stop there. I am not necessarily greedy but I try to think big. So I thought about one role-playing exercise we did at the workshop and decided to apply those tools to requesting an office on the other side of the hall with a Window! I would not have ordinarily had the courage to make such a request. But after framing my request using the guidelines I learned at the workshop, I felt confident in the logic and the requisite power strategy. Yippee!
I am proud to annouce that our Director agreed to my request.

I now have a seemingly bigger office (technically not) and a window with a view but not just any view....but a view of the GOLDEN DOME!!!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE MY JOB??

Hey I Didn't Say It...Alice Did!