Why for art thou, Union?

The faculty have a union and the staff has a union and there appears to another union in the mix as well. The question is why is there a union and do they really do anything for you other than impose another layer of administration to the mix. I don’t know the answer to this question yet.
I also found it odd that you can choose not to be in the union but you will still have to pay about 90% of the union dues.

Is that legal?

Keep Moving those Books

Bully-boy is obsessed with moving materials around the library. It is not bad enough that we have two classification systems to try to explain to library users, we also have an ever changing directory of call number locations. You cannot assume that a section of books that you found helpful last week will even be in the same place next week. Is this a testosterone-driven need? Or a not enough testosterone-driven need?

Split Collection…

…means confusion for the library user. That is a given. When you have part of your collection in Dewey and part in LC, there are going to be problems. Everyone seems to agree that it is not a good thing but no one has done anything about it. Yes, there is some re-class that happens sporadically with no real rhyme or reason, in dribs and drabs. But the majority of the collection is split in location so users cannot effectively browse for topics of interest and they must go to disparate locations to get books on the same topic depending on when they were added to the collection.
It is an abomination from the perspective of librarianship and no one seems to care!!! There is a pervasive sense of powerlessness, real or imagined? Or is it a malaise or is it indifference or is it a lack of understanding or what?? I have heard said that if we don’t outsource this now there won’t be anyone to outsource to in the near future – everyone who had this issue has resolved it?

Whose in Charge Here?

I have tried to be supportive and offer constructive advise to those that are having problems with Bully-boy but I do not understand how things get decided here or how control is allocated. There doesn’t seem to be a set manner of dealing with difficulties between faculty members. Twitchy doesn’t seem to want to get involved and pretends to be amused by the quirky culture of the faculty. What I have found out thus far:

• There is a clear line between faculty and director.
• Faculty make fun of the director at faculty meetings.
• The director shies from directing faculty.
• Faculty never supervise faculty.

This really just amounts to a set of clues. It is surely not the full picture and does not seem to support productive work. How about proposing, discussing and voting on issues? Radical, I know.

I suspect that scenario will not work for those who just want to be in charge.

Are we in Candy Land?

I am not a artist by any stretch of the imagination but I do know what looks good on the Internet and our website does not look good. The pastel colors remind one of Candy Land and don’t get me started on the other issues, such as: the lack of real images (some people please), the long lists on almost every page, the lack of meaning – emphasis or hierarchy – to the content, the unending clicking.

All of the other librarians that I have spoken with agree but it is better than it was and be sure NOT to criticize it in front of Bully-boy. It is his “bread and butter”; it sustains him and gives him something to keep talking about and pointing to as something of value, even if his student workers did most of the work.

Okay, work was done but do we stop there? Does that mean that we no longer improve what we offer so as not to offend the ego of one person? Wouldn’t that be ignoring our purpose in providing the best information resources we can for our students and faculty members?

Move on, embrace progress, let go…

Unless maybe you fear you have nothing else to offer?

The First Month

I had an uncomfortable day. Weepy was in my office crying in anger and frustration. The source of her angst – the control issues of Bully-boy. It seems he does not support creative efforts that are not his own or those that make his work look less than stellar. I had heard this from several others and the control seems to revolve around that web site that he loves so very much.

I was at a loss as to suggesting a solution since I do not know who could tell Bully-boy, with any authority, to knock it off. Can anyone tell a tenured faculty member to behave in a civil manner? Who is his “boss”? Is it the library director or the department chair or do you need to plead assistance from the University President?

In the Classroom

…is a good place to be. The students are attentive and polite. If anything, I would wish that they participated more and were more vocal. They have a hesitancy in vocalizing even when they clearly know the answers. Speak up people!! Let others know that you know what you know!

I also like the freedom I have in the classroom. I can be somewhat creative in what I teach and how I teach and I have some ideas to try out…

Teaching

A large part of my job is providing library instruction to my liaison departments. I am confident that I can handle this and everyone else must be as well since I have been given:

• no guidelines
• no advice
• no information

I am thinking everyone does their own thing depending on what they feel is appropriate for their departments and the assignments that the students need to complete…