Don’t go it alone. On the benefits of collaboration.
I don't have all the answers. There, I said it! I'm a pretty smart person who did well in school and has been relatively successful in her career, but I…
Library DIY has been released!
This is just a quick note to say that Library DIY (which I wrote about in a previous post) has been released! I am so very proud of this project.…
Posted inhi instruction librarianship libraries reference tech trends Work
Good for what? Considering context in building learning objects.
I'm working with a colleague of mine (Amy Hofer of Threshold Concepts fame) to create a suite of tutorials that are going to be integrated into online University Studies (think…
Posted ininstruction librarianship libraries management MPOW our digital future reference tech trends Work
Library DIY: Unmediated point-of-need support
I recently realized that while I write about a lot of things, I do not often write about the work I'm doing at Portland State and through the Oregon Library…
Leaning into the messy world of work-life balance
It's easy to be self-righteous when you're pregnant. At least it was for me. It was very easy for me to clearly define in my own mind what sort of…
DIY vs. Startup, or false dichotomies and labels
ACRL was a terrific conference experience for me. Not only did I get to see a lot of good friends and have a lot of deep conversations with other instruction…
Shared vision, transparency, and the high performing organization
As I've mentioned before, Lisa Hinchliffe and I presented on and authored a paper for the Library Assessment Conference in October. The spoke about applying the High Performance Programming Model…
Posted inlibrarianship Work
Getting out of your own story
When I was a psychotherapist, I was drawn to narrative therapy and cognitive therapy in my own work with clients. Both support the idea that the way people view and…
Up to my neck in… well, everything.
You know you're a real blogger when, no matter how absurdly busy the rest of your life is, the thing you can't do that you miss the most is blogging.…
Classic Blunder #2 – Assuming resistance is a bad thing
I remember when I was in library school, a lot of people talked about librarians who were resistant to change and would try to derail your exciting and innovative projects.…
Posted inabout me career librarianship tenure track Work
The elusive dream of work-life balance
I have been wanting to write a post on work-life balance for a while, especially after spending a week at ACRL Assessment Immersion with a bunch of people who are…
Invisible goalposts, support and having a plan
This summer, I was engaged with quite a few projects (several of which I was in charge of), but was able to make time to focus on scholarship just about…
Tips for being a great blogger (and good person)
Since having my son, I have not been the best blogger in the world, but that doesn't meant that I'm not thinking about blogging. I probably have a year's worth…
Posted inlibrarianship libraries management Work
Having a voice
At my previous place of work, we had weekly "council meetings" which was basically all of the professional librarians meeting to discuss issues, make big decisions about the library and…
Posted inabout me librarianship libraries Work
The crisis optimist
I've never felt like a particularly optimistic person. When we were getting ready to move to Portland, I fully expected that we'd lose furniture on the way or that much…
Posted inabout me assessment instruction management Work
Portlandia
Greetings from Portland, Oregon! I've been wanting to post about so many things in the past two months (especially just about everything Barbara Fister has been writing over at Library…
Posted inabout me librarianship Work
Making “you” work for you
Roy Tennant wrote a terrific post recently about his work habits and personality the other day that got me thinking (see "Living the Just in Time Life"). My first thought…
Posted incareer instruction librarianship libraries management Vermont Work
My new job (or why all of my Oregon Trail gaming as a child might finally come in handy)
I'm one of those people who has a hard time waiting for people's birthday to give them presents. Whenever I try to surprise my husband with something, I always end…
Posted inlibrarianship management Work
On devil’s advocates and sausage-making
Karen Schneider published an interesting post yesterday under the pithy title The Devil Needs No Advocate. Other than the title, it's a post that I mostly agree with and it…
What do they really need?
I'm not sure if I've become more cynical or just more observant, but lately I feel like I've been seeing things through new eyes. We make so many assumptions in…
