Sorry it’s a bit disjointed. I did say they were idle thoughts. (written last night)

It’s not an enjoyable process at all.

Whose stupid idea was it to accumulate so many darn books??

I have to keep the end in mind, else I lose all motivation.

Things I’ve observed and been pondering over the last few weeks:

1. People are unpredictable.
2. Patience is the key. I never realised how impatient I am.
3. Self-awareness is essential. Mood can play a big part in what I achieve (or don’t).
4. Listen. Both to what people are saying and what they are not saying. (I am not trying to be zen here.)
5. Details are important. (My natural preference is for the Big Blue Sky.)
6. Don’t take anything (or anyone) for granted. Be clear about what you want.
7. Did I say patience is the key? Focus is the other key. This is tough. I want to do it ALL.
8. Training is hideously dull, but necessary, if only so you learn what the party line is, what beliefs the organisational culture is based on.
9. Don’t jump to conclusions. (See #2, above.)
10. There’s always more to learn.
11. I have an amazing network of colleagues to learn from. Thank you!

Our house sold in (to me) record time: a week!

We’ve also bought a house, so we will be moving soon…

(Referring to the fact that there were walls and walls of books in the marketing pictures for the house, the real estate agents marketed the house as “The Library”! They actually had no idea I’m a librarian when they did this, and were apologetic when they found out. I didn’t think they had anything to apologise for.)

Stuff I am pondering:

We in libraries need to learn from other organisations. What can we learn about the organisation of our service points from Apple stores, say? How does the Louvre make its amazing collections available to its visitors?

Our library websites need major overhauls - and we need to think about them from the perspective of the user. Do we understand how people are using the web? Do librarians really know best when it comes to the presentation of information on the web? (Users don’t have to be taught how to use Amazon.com.)

Stop trying to recreate the card catalogue online, already! For me this point also relates to the fact that we need to be out there playing and working in all the new online environments and communities. There is so much we could be learning, and adapting to our libraries.

We need to anticipate and influence change. Grasp the opportunities, dont resist!

On a related note, are libraries are organisations moving fast enough? Is the committee really always the best way to get things done?

What I enjoyed:

The Twitter chatter throughout the conference. Hooray for the hashtag!

Meeting up with lots of people I had only interacted with online prior to this.

Delivering a paper with Suelibrarian. (Just realised this was my sixth paper!)

Being connected via iPhone. This made the entire conference a lot more interactive for me.

Making new friends.

This year, what with starting a new job, selling our house, and going to Melbourne to present a paper at the VALA2010 conference, I just did not manage to send greeting cards to anyone.

So, a virtual greeting will have to do for this year: GONG XI FA CAI! Happy New Year! I hope this year brings good health, success and happiness to you and yours.

This picture (below right) shows part of what I had for dinner last night: Mum’s “faat choy” dish, which would have to be the quintessential Chinese New Year food for me.

The dish consists of braised cabbage and bean curd skin along with an assortment of other foods we only ever eat around this time of the year - faat choy, kum jum, muk ee - all of which symbolise wealth and success. (These three foods are all fungi while wikipedia says the faat choy is a cyanobacterium?)

It was great to catch up with family last night.

I’m still pondering what I learned and all the connections I made in Melbourne. I had a great time meeting people. Blog post on VALA2010 to follow soon.

A most affectionate, excitable, demanding, enthusiastic, fussy, sometimes suspicious, noisy, mischievous, attention-seeking little dog.

Loves pats and being the centre of attention (she usually is, as she tends to be the smallest dog in the park).

Enjoys being with her pack, carob drops, and wrestling with Paco. Loyal to M, and adores him intensely.

She has never been alone.

The idea is that anyone who works in a library can participate, by sharing what you did on 25 January 2010.

I am the new Manager, Library Services at Edith Cowan University Library. Very new - only started work at ECU on 11 January 2010.

5:00 The alarm goes off. Look at tweets (iPod Touch) and listen to the radio. Take the dogs outside for brief morning constitutional.
5:30 Cup of tea. Switch computer on. Look at feeds and Twitter and write a couple of emails. Facebook.
6:00 Make breakfast. Noodles and fruit.
6:45 More tea.
7:00 Wash vegetables and fruit for lunch. Fill water bottle.
7:15 Shower.
7:25 Get dressed. Read. Currently reading The talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar.
8:10 Give the dogs something to chew on.
8:15 Leave the house with M. Have-a-good-day kiss at M’s stop. I walk on, another 10 minutes to bus stop. Bus arrives as I reach the stop.

8:35 Arrive at campus. Switch computer on.
8:45 - 9:00 Look at emails. Send email to Boss re staffing issue.
9:00 Phone rings. Talk to Student Services Manager about library involvement in beginning of semester orientation events.
9:05 Start filing, deleting emails. Add to personal kanban. (Trying this style of To Do list. Thanks to Dave Pollard for the inspiration.)
9:15 Call library user re his complaint - the library is too noisy. Thankfully he is no longer angry; we have a discussion about why libraries are now such noisy places. He says he can no longer use certain libraries because of noise. “I’ve even tried earplugs!” He makes a couple of suggestions and I thank him and assure him we will keep looking at how the library is organised. After he hangs up, make notes on the call.
9:30 Phone rings. Colleague from other campus library with idea about Summon (we’re calling it Library OneSearch).
9:35 Write email to HR re staffing issue.
9:40 Hello to team member just back from her holidays.
9:45 Walk across to cafeteria, get some milk. Make tea in staff room. Back at desk.
9:55 Phone rings. Same colleague, needing information. Provide it.
10:00 Begin on task I have been not-quite putting off: reading annual performance review and workplan documentation. Sidetrack myself reading university policies. Eat some fruit: cherries and apricot and plum.
11:00 Book self in for work planning training. Check about financial services training: “Yes, you need to do that training.” Book self in. Tell self not to grizzle about having to Do Training.
11:15 - 12:00 Continue reading performance review documentation. Email boss re team members’ work plans from last year. I need to see these so I can work on this year’s with each person.

12:00 - 12:30 Lunch, while reading feeds and tweets.
12:30 Email some links, discovered over lunch, to colleagues. Email from colleague at Old Place of Work, wanting to know where something is. Luckily I still remember and can tell her! Email, and more email. Reading. Pondering (how to…).
2:00 - 2:10 Get up, stretch, go outdoors for a quick walk around. It’s warm out, slightly muggy.
2:10 More email! Vaguely wish it was possible to get people to stop sending it.
2:20 Look up book using new Summon-powered search and find it. Locate it on shelf and bring it downstairs. This is reading for one of the tasks on my workplan for the year - preparing the library website for the new CMS. Start looking through book. Make notes on what I need to find out. “How do I… Who’s doing… When can we… ” (You don’t realise, until you are newly arrived in a workplace, how much you learn and eventually know and internalise about your workplace.)
3:00 Look at calendar, at the rest of the week’s tasks and meetings. Ponder a way to share information on my schedule with team members across three campuses. Finally just print off the next three weeks and stick them to my door. This will do for now. Wish my list of questions wasn’t so long.
3:20 Print off a couple of documents for reading and meetings at other campus.
3:30 File - emails and papers.
3:45 Log out and head for home.
3:50 Bus is at stop when I get there. Browse in neighbourhood op shop briefly.

4:15 Home. Ecstatic dogs. Package from Book Depository in letter box. Tea. Play with dogs. Loll about.
5:15 M home. More ecstasy from dogs. Read.
6:15 Go and get takeaway. (Naughty!)
6:30 Phone rings. Mortgage broker. He will come over Thursday evening. (We are planning to sell our house and upgrade.)
7:00 Feed dogs.
7:15 Read. Chat with M. Look at work emails. Emails from Boss, which I reply to.
7:45 Relocate to bed. Read. Write (notes, diary). Play games on iPod Touch. M brings me a cup of tea. Doze off.
9:30 Peppi wakes me with frenzied barking. Paco is unperturbed. Maybe Peppi had a bad dream? M comes and gets Peppi to keep him company (he’s watching a movie I think.) Read some more.
10:30 Lights out.

It will be interesting to see what my day is like a year on. 25 January 2010 was unusual in the lack of meetings and the fact that I was more or less closeted in my office. I did get a lot of reading done but having so much time to think is a luxury.

See also Jo’s and Kathryn’s and Michelle’s.

What was your day like?