Consumed

LIS415 is consuming every waking minute. All I do is think about Organization of Information. I read the textbook, read the handouts for the students, read additional articles, read the students' essays on the discussion board, read the information graciously given to me by a seasoned teacher of the course and keep remembering that it will all be easier next time.

Sometimes I feel so frantic I don't want to take time to practice Yoga. But I also know that's when I need Yoga the most to help me center myself and realize all I'm capable of.

I'm learning so much. As a practitioner, I've always tried to keep up with the issues, but didn't really have to think much about the "big picture." I've always admired the visionary thinkers and wondered how they imagined the new and innovative uses of library metadata, etc. Right now I'm too overwhelmed keeping up with course work to think up anything new and innovative, but I can see how the research environment is conducive to ideas far beyond what I'm used to.

It almost seems like a vacation when I get to spend some time on cataloging projects - which I'm also doing a day or so every week. I also have some CE workshops coming up. What a joy: to present material I know so well and not to have to worry about the session next week because Continuing Education is only one-session and there are no assignments to grade.

My initial unemployment claim should be coming to an end soon. Since I've been working so much, I generally don't withdraw the full weekly amount. That makes it last longer. I believe I'm eligible for an extension. We'll see.

Otherwise, I'm really looking forward to the end of the semester and taking lots of nice long breaths.

Whew!

All is back on track on the unemployment benefits front.

I arrived at the Career Center office at 8 a.m. (They open at 8:30) and I was 13th in line. The staff were being very efficient and trying to get as much paperwork ready even before the office opened. Overall, things went very well. We were allowed into the building (but not the office) so we did not have to wait out in the cold. I was hoping my number 13 would be lucky. At about 10:15 I was called into the representative's office.

She spotted the problem immediately and corrected it. She said she didn't understand why this hadn't been taken care of via telephone when I called yesterday or why I had been referred to the city of Springfield to resolve the issue.

My claim has been "re-opened", a check will soon be deposited into my account, and I'm ready to log on again on Sunday.

I wonder if I could make a living guiding others through this process :-).

I Need Structure

I've been working full time since I was 20 years old. I worked full time while I finished my BA at UMass/Amherst. I worked full time while I commuted to Boston for my MS in Library Science.

I've almost always had a place where I had to show up at a certain time and stay till a certain time. Or something similar. For 5 years I was a traveling sales representative for the College Division of a major publishing company, so I had to arrive on campus early enough and stay late enough to get a certain amount of work accomplished.

All of the other things I wanted to do had to be fit in before work, after work, or on weekends, so I was pretty tightly scheduled.

Now that I'm not working full time (or any time) and I can set my own schedule, I'm having some trouble doing that. There are very few places I "have" to be at a particular time.

I know that I work better (i.e. am more productive) with a schedule and I'm trying to figure out what works best for me. I know that I prefer to exercise first thing in the morning, so I've been practicing with my Yoga tapes when I first get up. Trouble is, I don't have to be up by any particular time and that kind of throws me off.

For a change, I sometimes walk in the morning, but right now there are too many bugs buzzing around my head to make walking pleasant (although buzzing bugs is certainly motivation to walk fast). When I worked at CMRLS, I walked at lunch time. I mapped out a one-mile route which I walked as fast as I could. The CMRLS location was not very conducive to walking (industrial section of Rte. 20; no sidewalks unless I crossed a busy street). I thought it was ironic that shortly before CMRLS closed, the town began a major street project using federal stimulus money and laid out beautiful sidewalks which were not quite finished by June 30. I would have loved to try them out.

I need to set up my home office. I sorted out the files I want for teaching cataloging workshops. A few days ago I bought some racks for hanging folders to put in the drawers. Now I need to label the hanging folders and put them on the racks. That is on my "to do" list.

Today I received material from the Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA). My job for the rest of the day is to read through the material to make sure I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. I don't want to put my payments in jeopardy - but I do want them deposited directly into my checking account.

I also have some other job-search reading material which I want to read and blog about.

The truth is, I've never had much free time and I'm loving just being able to plop myself on the sofa, look at the verdant view through the sliding glass doors, and read mystery after mystery. Considering the heat and humidity there's not much motivation for doing anything else, though I did buy some colorful annual flowers to enhance the view.

Two Books

I read a lot. Mostly I read mysteries. My favorite reading time is just before I go to sleep which is not a good time for serious, intellectual thought and mysteries are a good break between real life and sleep.

I do, however, read other books and there are two, both of which I read between 12 and 15 years ago, that had a major effect on my life and continue to do so.

The first is Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. There is now a revised version. This book was highly recommended at a conference I attended in about 1995 called "Women and Money". The authors first talk about how as children, all of our rewards come from outside of ourselves. Food, comfort from parents, pets, etc. As we grow older, it is natural to continue that pattern and so we buy things. After a while, we're not getting as much satisfaction as we used to, so we buy more and more and more and wonder why that behavior pattern is no longer working. At some point, we have to realize that more does not necessarily equal better.

There is an exercise in the book to track all of your spending for one week. No judgments, no second guessing, just spend normally. After one week (or maybe it's a month - it's been a while since I read the book), look at what you've bought and assign a satisfaction number to each item. Economists call this satisfaction "utility" and it is totally subjective. I might get a lot of utility from a pair of earrings and none from attending a NASCAR race. You might be the exact opposite.

So lets say I buy an expensive cup of coffee every day, but do it out of habit and get little or no utility from it. Perhaps I should eliminate it, or buy it only once a week. The point is, we all spend money on things that bring us limited or no real satisfaction and we should be using our dollars to purchase those things that provide us with real utility. Almost immediately, we'll likely have more dollars (or have less debt).

Obviously, I have to pay the mortgage and electric bill, but I always (usually) think before spending money and buy only things that bring me true satisfaction or utility. While I admire someone else's new shoes, for example, I feel free from "having" to buy everything I like.

The second book is Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The "full catastrophe" comes from the movie Zorba the Greek. Zorba's new friend asks Zorba if he is married and Zorba says "Am I not a man? And is not a man stupid? I’m a man. So I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe."

The theme of this book is that you can't change life, but you can change the way you perceive life and change your attitute toward it. Do you react to situations or do you respond to them? Things happen. You may not like those things, but you must accept that they have happened. That doesn't mean you are resigned to them. You may be able to change them - but you may not be able to change them. So say something happens and you react by getting upset or angry. What then? Or perhaps your initial reaction is to be upset or angry, but you quickly realize that you cannot change what has happened. You can, however, respond to the situation in a way that diffuses it, or modifies it or some other positive outcome.

I've been laid off from my job. I can't change that. I accept it. Getting upset, angry, depressed will not help me unless I take those emotions and chanel them into something positive. Reacting doesn't help me, but I can respond. I can look for another job, I can volunteer, I can use a blog to help me sort out my thoughts and help me plan a course of action.

Both of these books are again helping me through what could be a difficult time.

And I have good news on the filing-a-claim-for-unemployment front. Yesterday, after making 7 calls and not getting through I went to the unemployment office in Northampton. It was about 1:00 p.m and there was a sign on the door saying something like "We have accepted the maximum number of new claims for the day". I went inside anyway and explained to the woman at the desk that I'd been trying to call all week with no luck. She said that it would take until closing to interview all of the people who were already there and waiting. She said to come back on Monday and that there is always a line when the doors open at 8:30. She gave me a form that needs to be filled out so that I could complete that ahead of time and speed up the process.

This morning (Saturday) the phone lines open at 8:00. I called at 7:56 and the recorded message said the office was not open. I called at 7:59, went through the 4 minute process of listening to recorded messages and entering data and heard that staff were busy helping other customers, and I could call back or wait on the phone for about 20 minutes. I waited and it was only about 15 minutes when I FINALLY talked to a representative and gave him all of my data. A packet of information is supposed to be in the mail to me on Monday.

I also got to listen to classical music (my favorite) while on hold.

Thinking about Joan Rivers

A couple of nights ago, my significant other and I drove to Amherst to see the documentary about Joan Rivers at the Amherst Cinema. I think Joan Rivers is funny. I've only ever seen her on network television (Johnny Carson show, etc.) so I haven't seen some of her raunchier routines. Regardless, her language doesn't bother me. I've heard as bad (worse) from young kids on city streets. An incentive for going to a movie on Wednesday was that the theater is air conditioned and my house is not.

What resonated most with me however, is that Joan is 75 years old. Over the years she has been a much-sought-after, "hot" commodity; now she's having trouble finding work, even though she's willing to do almost anything. She feels she can still make a contribution to entertainment, but the venues where she played to sold-out audiences don't want to hire an old lady.

I'm not as old as Joan Rivers, but I'm a lot older than the average library school graduate. The thought has crossed my mind that libraries might not want to hire someone my age. I have a lot of experience. I've worked as a cataloger for many years. I teach cataloging. Obviously, I command a higher salary than many librarians looking for work.

Also, if a library hires me, how much longer will I be working? Will they have to go through another search in 2-3 years? I'm sure I'll be an engaged and viable cataloger at 75, but will I have Joan's drive?

When Joan's stand-up comedy career began to falter, she reinvented herself. She wrote books, wrote and acted in plays, now she's involved in this documentary. She even performed on Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump. She's keeping her name out there.

I've already begun making the transition to metadata from cataloging; it's a natural progression. I may even have a more drastic metamorphosis (see the post I Have Options). In that way I am also like Joan. I'm certainly not ready to quit yet - even at my age.

An update on my attempts to file an unemployment claim:
Obviously Wednesday's strategy didn't work (waiting a few hours between calls), so today I decided to call every 20 minutes or so. Between 8:36 and 10:30 I made 6 calls - all ending with the message that they have an "unusually high number of calls" and to try later. I even tried what I thought was a fool-proof method and called while having my breakfast. I thought for sure a live person would answer while I had a mouth full of English muffin. Nope!

I Have Options

I've been a cataloger for many years and I love the precision and detail. I also keep in mind the desired end result. I want to make sure I catalog items in a way that people will be able to find them. I try to bring out important aspects so that if someone is doing research on a particular topic and the item I'm cataloging could be of use, the researcher will find it in the search.

Overall, I believe in Libraries and their immense benefits to everyone. To that end, I'm Chair of the Board of Library Trustees at my local public library. Before I was elected to that board, I was President of the Friends of Hatfield Public Library.

In 2000, I was asked to serve on the Board of the Friends of UMass/Amherst Libraries. I'm a UMass/Amherst alum and UMass/Amherst is where I began my library career (quite by accident, but that's another post). Two years ago, I was elected President and I've just begun my second two-year term.

Being on this board has really opened my eyes to a whole area of libraries that I'd never much thought of before: Development. For as long as most of us can remember, the state or municipality financed the library. That is no longer the case. While I firmly believe that Libraries (and state universities) should be publicly supported, those institutions also need to take some of the responsibility for their financial support. Libraries are beginning to do just that.

Library Development is one of my options. Using my local library online catalog, I discovered a slim book called Becoming a fundraiser : the principles and practice of library development / by Victoria Steele and Stephen D. Elder. I borrowed it, read some of it, liked what I read, but had to return it by its due date. I borrowed it again, but again, didn't finish reading it by the due date. Yesterday, I ordered a used copy from Better World Books via Amazon. Now I don't have to return it. And I can write in it, too.

I plan to read this entire book, talk with people who are in this line of work and spend more time with the development staff at the DuBois Library at UMass. I had the great fortune of seeing Emily Silverman, the former Director of Development, in action. Emily's become my role model for fundraising. While asking for money may be onerous to some, I can do it for something in which I truly believe.

Development is so much more than just asking for money. It involves building relationships with people and working toward a common goal. When people are looking for a way to "give back", to make a contribution, to help ensure an education for others, a good Director of Development can help them find something that meets those needs - just like a good cataloger.

I can't finish this post until I've documented my attempts to file a claim with the Department of Unemployment Assistance. I called two more times during the day, listened to the polite recorded messages, entered my SSN, listened some more, entered my year of birth, listened some more and heard that there is an "unusually high number of calls" and to try again later or on Friday or Saturday. To be continued.

Day one - sort of

Wednesday, June 30 was my last day at the Central Massachusetts Regional Library System (CMRLS). For the last 5 years I have been the Consultant for Bibliographic and Technical Services. I loved the job.

It was my responsibility to keep up-to-date with all of the happenings in the field of Technical Services in libraries: collection development, acquisitions, cataloging (my specialty), and processing. Technical Services librarians are now often involved in metadata (a fancy word for cataloging) and digital projects.

With all of the information I gathered, I would develop workshops to present to the library staff in the Central Region. I would also visit individual libraries and talk with staff about the Integrated Library System (ILS) they used (many were members of C/W MARS) and ways they could organize their workflow to make the best use of the ILS.

Many very small libraries are not part of C/W MARS. In that case we would discuss their options. I encouraged public libraries to be a part of that system, but for some it was not economically feasible. In that case, there was MassCat or one of the many stand-alone systems. In my opinion most libraries are better off as part of a network. Very small libraries generally don't have the technical expertise on staff to maintain on online catalog and with C/W MARS or MassCat, the network takes on that responsibility.

Shortly after I started working at CMRLS, I became involved with Digital Treasures, a digital repository for libraries in central and western Mass. The purpose of DT is to expose the multitude of historical photographs and documents that libraries have but are usually unavailable to the public. Most of the time these great pictures and other memorabelia are stored in boxes in closets or attics. Possibly the boxes are organized and labeled; often they're not. I've worked with many libraries giving them guidance in selecting images.

When I first became involved in this project, I attended some conferences on digitization. I also took a workshop on a metadata schema called Dublin Core which is one of several standards used in describing digital images. I spent time on other sites and extracted information on Dublin Core which I synthesized into a simple workshop to present to area librarians. I also visited individual libraries and worked with staff as they practiced using the Dublin Core principles to describe their photos.

Using my experiences with the Digital Treasures project, I've co-authored a chapter in a book tentatively titled Digitization in the Real World. I believe it is due to be published later this year.

So now I'm trying to parlay the above skills (plus a lot of others I have) into a new job. Fortunately, because of a severance package and unemployment insurance, I'm not in a panic to grab the first vacant job I see.

But first I have to file an unemployment claim and so far I'm running into obstacles.

I have a packet of information about filing for benefits. The instructions say (and I'm good at following instructions) to file the first full week that I'm not working. That's this week. The instructions say that if things are busy, I may be asked to call on a specific day according to the last digit of my social security number (SSN). Putting all of this together, I was to call yesterday (Tuesday). I wondered if the Monday holiday would shift the schedule. I guess it did.

The first time I called: busy signal. I called back a few minutes later, listened to the polite recorded messages and entered my SSN. I was told given that number, I needed to call back on Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday.

So now it's Wednesday. I called, listened to the polite recorded messages and entered my SSN. Then I listened to a few more messages, entered more data and was told by a recorded message that everyone was busy. I can call back later today or Friday or Saturday.

Since I had intended to start this blog to help me work through my options, posting is a good way to bide my time until I can call the Department of Unemployment Assistance again.

I'm happy to have company on this journey. Feel free to offer advice and point me in interesting directions. I'll let you know what happens next.