I will have two basic responsibilities in my position at the college: providing reference service and teaching information literacy classes. Reference is what I did in my previous position as a student for the college. I sit at the help desk and try to make sure that everyone who comes into the library finds or is put on the track to find the information that they want/need. I love reference. I love helping people find what they need from the so-called mundane questions to the more in depth research inquiries. I even like helping people when they run up the stairs, out of breath, two minutes before closing, to ask for a book that is somewhere on the shelves, they hope, to check out. I still like it.
The second responsibility of instruction will be a new duty. I will be performing mostly database/citation/plagiarism/library overview classes for business communications classes and then a few more specialized classes for the paramedic diploma program. What I am mostly excited about, however, is having the opportunity to be embedded as a librarian into online courses. Embedded librarianship is the act of joining a a class that is offered online (either in full or in part) not as the instructor, but as a librarian (usually with your own forum) to offer research assistance/tips to help students in their paper/research writing. I'm not excited because it will be fulfilling and the students will lap up my nuggets of wisdom. I'm excited for the challenge. You see, embedded librarianship is a very new field of study and most research articles on the topic have been published in the past 3-5 years. Because it is so new, and because it is still rarely done, there isn't really an established "best practices" rules for performing the task. As a result, everyone kind of does their own thing (even within institutions) and hopes for the best, usually running into communication breakdowns with the class instructor, a lack of participation from the students, and a feeling of futility that nothing is actually being accomplished.
As it has been slow at work for the past week (although not currently as I'm in the midst of a two-week instruction class to teach all new college instructors - I guess I qualify! - on how to be good teachers), I have decided to take it upon myself to compile as complete of a bibliography as possible on the subject of embedded librarianship. I currently have just under fifty articles, but have only read through about ten-percent of them at this point. At an instruction meeting last week, I brought forth my intention of reading through these articles to be a better embedded librarian and asked for questions the other more experienced librarians might have regarding the topic (ie: issues they come up against that they'd want suggestions on how to overcome) so I could short list those articles for others' reading pleasure. In the end, I hope to write a literature review on the subject to hopefully help others who are struggling on how to make embedded librarianship work they way it has the potential to work. Obviously, there is a part to be that hopes if I hustle hard enough on this that perhaps my contract can be extended as I prove myself eager and useful. If nothing else, it can be a little extra to put on my resume/cover letter/interviewing tool box for when I have to hit the streets to find a new job. I'll probably be talking about it a bit here and feel free to weigh in on the subject in the comments (or to me personally in some other way) whether you're a librarian or not.
Oh, and on the personal front: Silas is really settling in nicely at daycare and I think he rather likes it. He is a bit on the sleepy side, but he is starting to nap for 2-2.5 hours for them (more the the others...I can just picture the poor caretaker who has the sit and stare at him while he keeps sleeping and the others play upstairs, hahah). He has a constant runny nose that I feel will probably never go away. It is hard on me when I pick him up, because he just wants me to play with him, but I have to get on dinner right away or he'll never eat, bathe, and bottle by 7pm when I put him to bed. Some days I feel that he'd go to bed at 6:00 if I'd let him. On Friday night, he was snoring away in his crib by 6:30. In many ways I miss my poor boy...but selfishly, I mostly just miss my happy boy M-F because when I get him he's just hungry and tired and increasingly cranky. I am very thankful for my weekends when I get him all to myself and he can sleep in to his heart's desire.
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Everything's Coming Up Millhouse!
I thought I had one wonderful piece of news to share today, but it seems like the good news has multiplied!
The original good news was that my wonderful husband just landed a sweet new job! He interviewed on Tuesday and got the job yesterday and will start on August 20th! It is through the University, driving inter-library loans through out the various campuses and down to the sister college about an hour away. Benefits, regular hours, free tuition after one year of work, paid vacation, a free week off at Christmas, and the ability to start at the bottom and work your way up the ladder. He is very excited and so am I! Selfishly, I am excited because if I have to stay late at the college to teach classes, I no longer have to scramble for daycare...he will be available! If I want to make plans after work, I will be able to because I'll know for certain when he'll be off work. I know he has enjoyed his time working in the trades/construction industry for 12 years, but this is a good time to change and this is a wonderful job to change into. Silas will be in daycare less (only by an hour or so, but whatever!) and the stress will be less. The money, however, will be less as well, but luckily I don't give much of a damn about money/things as long as the basics are met with a few coins to rub together at the end of the day. So excited! And his wonderful parents have decided to give us their Honda Civic for free to help us get around to our two jobs! So amazing! So wonderful! Such a great support system!
The second good piece of news that I was NOT expecting, is that Silas is now walking! Just two days ago, in the first entry, I was stressed that I was sending my poor baby away without the skills to walk. And now he's walking! Watch out, he's not a baby anymore. He's a bonafide toddler! We got home from work/daycare and I put him in the dining room while I scrambled to make dinner. I looked up and he was in the middle of the room, walking toward me. How did he get there!? I watched him excitedly after this to find that he was enjoying carrying his single shoe in his hands and walking across the room. He even would change directions, pause and stand for a while, and then take off into the other room to play with his toys! I really thought that he would start to walk on his own (ie: letting go of things and decide to walk on his own without encouragement) slowly. A few steps, the end. But no... it was all of a sudden. I don't know what to be amazed of first! Are the daycare providers that awesome that they were able to show him some awesome tricks?!!? I know Silas likes being around other kids more advanced (ie: anyone at all, le sigh, whatever) because (and I'm assuming/projecting here) it's one thing to see his giant mother do something and quite another to see another little person do an activity and for Silas to see how *they* do it and for what purpose. Whatever the reason, holy hell, he's a walking toddler now! I am so proud and so happy. I love my little man!
And the third piece of news is much lesser, but still wonderful for me.. I love my job! I enrolled in a mandatory two-week how-to-teach class through work and found another one on Aboriginal identity/issues that I'm going to take for fun that is online. I love being trained! I love school without homework! I also found out that I am going to be able to be an embedded librarian for online/distance courses as well, and this is awesome! Although I'd really like to stay in this city for a few more years, I still am tempted by a distance-only college that is about 2 hours north with amazing opportunities. The more experience I can get with embedded librarianship the better! And I'm hoping I can collaborate with my co-worker/former-classmate/all around babette and find a quick-and-dirty no-ethics-approval-needed research project surrounding embedded librarianship and site statistics to undertake during my five month contract. I'm also going to be able to be the instruction librarian for all EMT-Paramedic courses, which kicks so much butt! There is going to be so much to do in such a small contract and I'm going to enjoy and milk it for every last drop!
I hope to continue this daily updating, but tomorrow starts the beginning of a long weekend that will be filled with Silas' first fishing trip, fun with the extended family, a visit from a dear friend from Saskatchewan, ethnic food extravaganza from the Heritage Festival, and hopefully the ability to catch up on some snoozing. Happy August, y'all!
The original good news was that my wonderful husband just landed a sweet new job! He interviewed on Tuesday and got the job yesterday and will start on August 20th! It is through the University, driving inter-library loans through out the various campuses and down to the sister college about an hour away. Benefits, regular hours, free tuition after one year of work, paid vacation, a free week off at Christmas, and the ability to start at the bottom and work your way up the ladder. He is very excited and so am I! Selfishly, I am excited because if I have to stay late at the college to teach classes, I no longer have to scramble for daycare...he will be available! If I want to make plans after work, I will be able to because I'll know for certain when he'll be off work. I know he has enjoyed his time working in the trades/construction industry for 12 years, but this is a good time to change and this is a wonderful job to change into. Silas will be in daycare less (only by an hour or so, but whatever!) and the stress will be less. The money, however, will be less as well, but luckily I don't give much of a damn about money/things as long as the basics are met with a few coins to rub together at the end of the day. So excited! And his wonderful parents have decided to give us their Honda Civic for free to help us get around to our two jobs! So amazing! So wonderful! Such a great support system!
The second good piece of news that I was NOT expecting, is that Silas is now walking! Just two days ago, in the first entry, I was stressed that I was sending my poor baby away without the skills to walk. And now he's walking! Watch out, he's not a baby anymore. He's a bonafide toddler! We got home from work/daycare and I put him in the dining room while I scrambled to make dinner. I looked up and he was in the middle of the room, walking toward me. How did he get there!? I watched him excitedly after this to find that he was enjoying carrying his single shoe in his hands and walking across the room. He even would change directions, pause and stand for a while, and then take off into the other room to play with his toys! I really thought that he would start to walk on his own (ie: letting go of things and decide to walk on his own without encouragement) slowly. A few steps, the end. But no... it was all of a sudden. I don't know what to be amazed of first! Are the daycare providers that awesome that they were able to show him some awesome tricks?!!? I know Silas likes being around other kids more advanced (ie: anyone at all, le sigh, whatever) because (and I'm assuming/projecting here) it's one thing to see his giant mother do something and quite another to see another little person do an activity and for Silas to see how *they* do it and for what purpose. Whatever the reason, holy hell, he's a walking toddler now! I am so proud and so happy. I love my little man!
And the third piece of news is much lesser, but still wonderful for me.. I love my job! I enrolled in a mandatory two-week how-to-teach class through work and found another one on Aboriginal identity/issues that I'm going to take for fun that is online. I love being trained! I love school without homework! I also found out that I am going to be able to be an embedded librarian for online/distance courses as well, and this is awesome! Although I'd really like to stay in this city for a few more years, I still am tempted by a distance-only college that is about 2 hours north with amazing opportunities. The more experience I can get with embedded librarianship the better! And I'm hoping I can collaborate with my co-worker/former-classmate/all around babette and find a quick-and-dirty no-ethics-approval-needed research project surrounding embedded librarianship and site statistics to undertake during my five month contract. I'm also going to be able to be the instruction librarian for all EMT-Paramedic courses, which kicks so much butt! There is going to be so much to do in such a small contract and I'm going to enjoy and milk it for every last drop!
I hope to continue this daily updating, but tomorrow starts the beginning of a long weekend that will be filled with Silas' first fishing trip, fun with the extended family, a visit from a dear friend from Saskatchewan, ethnic food extravaganza from the Heritage Festival, and hopefully the ability to catch up on some snoozing. Happy August, y'all!
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Day One
As I expected, I cried over and over last night as my husband did the bedtime routine with Silas as I didn't want to shower him in my tears on the final night before daycare. And, as expected, come 5:45 in the AM, I was completely over it and simply focused on getting myself and my beautiful little man ready for the day. I even managed to wake him up from a deep sleep gently and without tears. This is a huge accomplishment because he WAILS if he is woken up from sleep.
We got to the daycare early and were able to go for a little walk, killing some joggers with cuteness along the way. He was the first little man to be dropped off and immediately went to play with whichever toys were nearest. I was able to get in and out in 3 minutes and be at work with a single minute to spare. I didn't cry at all today and I doubt I really will again with this issue. It is already part of our routine.
Work was all orientation, conversation, and other such casual time-wasting awesomeness. The only downside to this job is that it is temporary. I even like my desk/cubicle tucked away in the very back of the office. It was great to see everyone again. And then when it was all over, I was able to zoom back to my Silas and find him playing outside in the sand. A lady asked me which boy was mine and without pointing I said it was Silas. She grinned and said "Oh! The smiley one!" That made my heart so happy! He is a smiley one! And I'm so glad that he was smiley without me around as well. He hardly napped, only 50 minutes before he woke up, but he'll get the hang of it. We tried to go out to eat, but it was a bust. He was too tired. He was asleep, fast asleep, by 7pm.
My sweet boy... I think we'll make this work after all. :)
And there is even better news to report and reflect upon tomorrow, but that will have to wait for another blog post. :)
We got to the daycare early and were able to go for a little walk, killing some joggers with cuteness along the way. He was the first little man to be dropped off and immediately went to play with whichever toys were nearest. I was able to get in and out in 3 minutes and be at work with a single minute to spare. I didn't cry at all today and I doubt I really will again with this issue. It is already part of our routine.
Work was all orientation, conversation, and other such casual time-wasting awesomeness. The only downside to this job is that it is temporary. I even like my desk/cubicle tucked away in the very back of the office. It was great to see everyone again. And then when it was all over, I was able to zoom back to my Silas and find him playing outside in the sand. A lady asked me which boy was mine and without pointing I said it was Silas. She grinned and said "Oh! The smiley one!" That made my heart so happy! He is a smiley one! And I'm so glad that he was smiley without me around as well. He hardly napped, only 50 minutes before he woke up, but he'll get the hang of it. We tried to go out to eat, but it was a bust. He was too tired. He was asleep, fast asleep, by 7pm.
My sweet boy... I think we'll make this work after all. :)
And there is even better news to report and reflect upon tomorrow, but that will have to wait for another blog post. :)
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