The Weeks Fly By

I cannot believe it is already the mid-point of my term and my experience at the State Library. My how does the time fly when I am having... fun.  I must say that the experience is indeed fun, and I do not have this dread when I enter the building like I would if I found this internship over-my-head or under-stimulating.  

The digitalization effort's items are all organized now and, starting Tuesday the 13th (likely) I will start to digitize and upload the objects to CONTENTdm.  It should take a few weeks to get these objects converted and organized.  As of now I have some clues to what "Dublin Core" metadata standards will be employed, but I do not know what Innovations would like to pair it to: our own standards or the standards of the confederated group to which we belong.  The digitalization process physically using the scanner is easy, perhaps dull, and fairly painless.

What the other portion of my internship is about is basically observation: I do not know what I will do professionally in this ever-changing information environment, nor do I want to constrain myself to a projection.  I want to gain enough of a close embrace with this environment to see how Catherine Morgan deals with the issues before her, which are many.  I am grateful to get to see, for instance, the back-end of technical issues around SCLends and Evergreen data-merging.  I am grateful to see how the library takes a leadership role in cataloging training.  I am grateful for my future experiences in this regard, for it gives me a vista into what being a Systems Librarian is about, as it seems a close cousin to my desired role (still vaporously defined) as a information professional / eventual CIO who must coordinate different departments and alliances as a leader both in technology and central position. 

Oh, and I may be recreating the South Carolina State Library in Second Life =D

Digitalization: CONTENTdm

I am finding working at the State Library to be a great decision.  I am remaining in a "flow" without imposing any preconceptions or expectations for my time.  I am happy coming onto the second floor twice a week doing whatever.  I think I am in favor of this because it is a microcosm of what going into where I want to go with this education: an environment that will throw me alien things to figure out, manipulate, and turn back to my employer, patron or client (depending on my level of independence) something of value.  I am going to have to learn CONTENTdm from OCLC faster than my coursework would permit me, which I welcome.  The practical, hands-on tackling of these issues is a more valuable experience to me than reading than intellectually touching on it but never getting down and doing it.  I also find my level of enthusiasm is high, because for one it is fun but another is that I want to raise my competencies and cooperation to the standards around me. 

Last week proved interesting in @ the State Library:

I gained insight into administrative challenges of how to bring diverse institutions into a shared line of operation.  SC Lends, a confederation of different libraries across the state using Evergreen systems, is a challenge in coordination as their divergent operations and levels of expertise interfere.  For instance, Catherine Morgan pointed out an administrator who, ignorant of basic database structures, imposed a bit of chaos on the shared systems which necessitated correction.  Technology plans/proposals required of many institutions receiving state funding show wild differences in how to match reporting on required key points with their presentation skills/sophistication.  Some flatly fail, but the staffing and training of some librarians in the rural libraries who operate on hair-thin budgets makes any attempt heroic, in a way.

  

Systems Librarian: Day One

Hello, and welcome to my blog where I will chronicle my experiences with the South Carolina State Library.  For this internship I was assigned to read a book entitled "Systems Librarian" by Thomas C. Wilson.  Although the book was written more than a decade ago the points presented are still valid.  How do we as professional librarians weight the organizational mores and the non-degreed technicians vantage points against our own expertise?  For example, in the State Library's goal of digitalizing a portion of its holdings yet not all the librarian staff are aware of metadata standards applicable to the document itself or interoperability of these files to the database(s).  As a special librarian or information worker of some definition, a systems librarian is a kissing cousin of sorts: they act, as one of a number of interpretations of the role, as liaisons between computer workers and technical staff... a generalist in many ways which must gain an appreciation for both technology and psychology, a 'wearer of multiple hats.' 

A keen difference between a systems librarian and a special solo librarian is a system librarian is no soloist, and between training staff and projects that require people to sign off on the completion which might not share my goals.  This might be a change from my comfort zone.  In the past I felt I could find a creative solution and complete it myself with select consultation and when the project is near finished, simplify to make it communicable.  Making my ideas communicable beforehand is the challenge.  

I am happy learning how precise technologies function, like how the staff will scan the documents and ascribe standards.  I am also exited for this is my first assistantship.