Film - Richie Tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums. He's sweet and shy. I'd want to hear about his world travels and being a child prodigy. Also, one of the few guys that can manage to pull off a beard and still be cute.

TV - Jim Halpert from The Office. He's so funny and sweet! Not to mention hot.

Book - I don't read much fiction so I'm having a hard time coming up with this one. Maybe Hannibal Lecter just because he's so intelligent, fascinating and completely insane.

Position Information
Job Title Reference Librarian
Department Library
Job Number 01842
Job Category Professional
Job Type Full-Time
Status Regular
Job Open Date 10-15-2009
Closing Date 11-01-2009

Position Summary
Reference librarians help people succeed with information by providing all library users (students, staff, faculty, and community visitors) with reference service, offering instruction in the use of information tools and resources, integrating digital library resources into college web pages and course management systems, and selecting appropriate information resources for purchase through collaboration with faculty on collection development and instructional support. Librarians develop a comprehensive, college-wide perspective on information needed to support the curriculum and operations of the college and tailor services to assure that college resources are used appropriately and effectively.

Principal Accountabilities
1. Provide students, faculty, staff and others with reference services (direct, personal point-of-use assistance or instruction) in the use of library and information technology resources, facilities, and services required for satisfactory completion of learning objectives or fulfillment of information needs. Provide comparable service by telephone, chat, email, or other communication means. Perform searches of available electronic research resources for faculty and special projects.

2. Prepare and present instruction in the use of library resources and related information technology through scheduled classes, tutorials, workshops, and one-on-one appointments. Train college staff and student employees to use library resources and provide basic support to library users.

3. Develop library materials for instruction and information purposes. These materials include the library website, course management system resources, subject guides, bibliographies, and other handouts.

4. Assist with shared library administrative duties including supervision of the Library on rotating nights and weekends. Assume responsibility for one or more functional areas library operations such as reference scheduling, instructional coordination, website maintenance, circulation control, or the III library system.

5. Serve as library liaison to assigned academic and administrative units and their faculty and staff, to coordinate library services, plan instructional support, manage library collections to support the curriculum, and generally promote library services and resources to assigned units.

6. Perform miscellaneous duties as assigned. These duties include: assisting with special projects as needed (e.g. the LibQUAL+ survey), serving on various college-wide committees, and keeping involved with committees and projects in OhioLINK and other local and state-wide organizations. Also, maintain an awareness of and involvement in the field of librarianship by reading professional journals, participating in relevant e-mail list discussions, maintaining membership in relevant organizations, and attending meetings and conferences as appropriate.

Requirements

Reference Librarians are required to have:
- A Masters Degree in Library Science from an American Library Association accredited institution.
- Strong knowledge of the Internet and related technologies.
- Expertise in searching a wide range of information resources.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- The ability to teach groups and individuals.
- The ability to adapt to changes in technology.
- Experience with automated library systems.

Desirable qualifications include:
- Previous academic Library experience, preferably in a Community College.
- Web design and content management skills.

_______________________________________________________________________________________


Sinclair Community College in Dayton, OH.
OMG I am so qualified. I am excited and going to apply! I will try not to get my hopes up too much... but I think this job would be perfect for me. We'll see what happens...

I started getting sick on Saturday and was all paranoid because of the OMG H1N1!!!! fear-mongering at SI. But of course, it was just a lovely sinus infection-type deal. I only get sick about once a year (because my immune system is badass like that) and while it's rather unpleasant, it's manageable and I don't die. It's still been manageable, but I guess my body thought it would be hilarious to throw in another ailment just because, oh maybe I'm not suffering enough. I have a canker sore on the side/bottom of my tongue. It hurts like hell to talk and eat. And, of course, I've been having to talk a lot lately. The only time it doesn't hurt is when I'm not moving my mouth in any way. I think my body has a twisted sense of humor.

In school-news, things seem to be going okay so far. I dropped Ethics and added Gov Docs, so I'll be going to that for the first time today. Will also be working on my first assignment for the semester today that is due Monday. Cataloging has a shit-ton of stuff to read (this week especially) and a lot of it just confuses me. Seems to be overly technical and descriptive. I don't think I'm meant to be a cataloger.

I got a documentary from the library called "Typhoid Mary: The Most Dangerous Woman in America", so I'm pretty excited to watch that. Probably tomorrow night. You can see how epic of a dork I am: excited to watch a documentary on a Friday night. I'll probably knit too. It will be awesome. Woo hoo! :D

EDIT: So Gov Docs was, in fact, good and very interesting. I am kinda scared that I have to do an hour-long presentation on gov't info. But I picked maps and GIS (geographical information systems) in hopes that I wouldn't get bogged down in legal/law stuff. Also, the presentation is not until December, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it will arrive well before I'm ready. Ah well.

I started thinking about this the other day at the SI picnic when talking with Heather about her drive cross-country. Her and her BF thought the Midwest extended to the likes of Nebraska, Kansas and so forth. Well, maybe the rest of the country thinks that; I guess I don't really know. But I don't think that. What is the Midwest to me? Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and the western half of Pennsylvania. Jury is still out on Minnesota, Iowa and Northern Missouri, but I'd let them join the party if they wanted. Where do the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas stand? Sorry guys, you're what I refer to as "The Plains".

These guys seem to agree with me:



In other thoughts, the "Midwest" is a misnomer. We're more like the Mideast. But I suppose maybe the regions were named before the whole country was explored.

I'm 15 minutes into watching this movie for the first time, and I can already tell it will be ridiculous.

Why is Gary Oldman wearing some kind of red armadillo suit in the beginning? Strange armor.

How did Keanu Reeves manage to get the part as Jonathan Harker? That is the WORST British accent I've ever heard.

And, as Nathan has mentioned countless times, GARY OLDMAN IS WEARING ASS-CHEEKS ON HIS HEAD.

Cages on the asylum guards' heads?! WTF.

Holy over-acting... um... everyone.

Way to not adhere to the book. Though this is the closest film adaptation I've ever seen, so I guess that's an accomplishment.

It's been an hour and 53 minutes. Is this over yet? Ugh.

Both, but I think the real issue is how much of a celebrity's life is put on public display. It wouldn't happen if there wasn't a demand for it. Why is anyone ever shocked that celebrities take their kids for walks or eat at McDonalds or go out without make-up or do any number of activities that normal human beings do? Why does anyone care?

People are too preoccupied with trying to live vicariously through celebrities and trying to be like them. If they would just wake up and start caring more about making positive contributions to the lives of themselves and others, then maybe celebrities would have more privacy in their lives.

I'm getting sick of computers and the Internet.

I work on my computer ALL DAY nearly EVERY DAY. When I go home, I barely touch it because I'm just sick of even looking at a screen.

Where are the people and the physical activity of "work"? Not here... but I already knew that, I'm not totally deluded. It's just magnified because I sit all alone in front of a computer all day. If I was a real librarian, I'd get to interact with people and do other stuff.

I'm not saying that I don't want to be a librarian (I totally do), but sometimes I envy construction workers, landscapers and chefs.

I am tempted to end my internship early (fulfilling my responsibilities and getting all my hours in, of course) and go on a camping trip AWAY from technology. Book, food, bonfire, nature and real people? Sounds reeeeally nice right now.

I was just thinking about this on my walk home. Weirdly enough, I want Nate's parents' house.

High ceilings in a big living room, large combined kitchen & dining area with bar (as in raised counter top, not as in alcohol), first floor laundry, master bedroom with it's own bathroom, another bathroom, 2 car garage, room for a garden, patio in the back.

The things I would change would be to have a front porch, more counter space in the kitchen that is smooth, not tiled, smaller yard overall and for the 3rd bedroom be larger (though I think it was originally a small office so that may be why it's so small) and to have the basement finished so it could be used as a family room/den/entertainment area.

As far as where the house would be, it would be in a suburban area with city water (Nate's house has a water softener for the hard water & they buy bottled water to drink -- don't want to do that).

Yeah, so there it is. Due to the layout of the house, it would likely have been built within the last 30 years or so. Which is good. Because as beautiful as old houses are, updating them is expensive as hell.

I think that's reasonable, right? Practical and ideal for me, yet not over the top.

Often I think I should have been born ten years earlier.

I wish I could have been older to better appreciate the music of the 80s and 90s. Music is shit now. For the most part. Or maybe I'm just getting old and that's what happens when you get old. Seriously. Like the Crash Test Dummies? Genius. Apparently, they're still around, but their heyday was the early 90s.

Other great musical acts whose heydays have passed:
The Police
Phil Collins/Genesis
R.E.M.
Journey
The Cranberries
Sinead O'Connor

Now he's all creepy, but in the 80s and 90s, Michael Jackson had good music.

sigh.

"...I never had a proposal till to-day, not a real proposal, and to-day I have had three! Just fancy! THREE proposals in one day! Isn't it awful!" ~Lucy Westenra, Dracula by Bram Stoker, p. 54

Show-off.

So I am just a glutton for punishment, but I REEEALLY want this car: Honda Odyssey, but I can't afford it. According to Kelley Blue Book, mine would be worth about $2200 as a trade-in... but where would I get the other ~$5700? So now I'm contemplating getting another student loan to pay for it. Because there is no way I could get a bank or dealership to loan me the money. And even though I haven't had horrible luck with used cars from individuals, I think I'm through with that. I won't ever buy a brand new car, but a used car from a dealership that has been inspected is probably the safer way to go, even if it is a little more expensive out the door.

WHY AM I DOING THIS TO MYSELF?

Oh yeah, because Hondas are better, a van is roomier and my current car kinda sucks and gets stuck in the snow all the time.

Someone either talk me out of this or tell me a way I can make it happen.

I'm wearing a skirt today. It makes me feel sort of pretty and is... um... air-conditioned, heh. Unlike jeans. I think I will be wearing more skirts this summer.

I am also wearing knee-high bright blue socks.
While walking on my way to school, a possibly homeless man shouted "nice *garbled word*!"

At first I thought he said "tats" which wouldn't make any sense because of the lack of tattoos. Then I figured he said "socks", which made sense.

Then I told a (female) classmate about it and she said, "Are you sure he didn't say *points to chest*??"

Um. I really am not sure about that. I am wearing a somewhat cleavage-y shirt, but I was wearing my jacket while I was walking.

I'm going go with the "socks" assumption. It makes me feel less creeped out.

My group and I have a collection development policy due this Thursday. It's been the biggest pain in the ass ever and feels like a waste of time. I can't wait until it's over.

But what really burns me is something I heard from my internship coordinator (who is a librarian) the other day. While I was griping about this project, she says, "Does she [professor] know that we don't really do that anymore?"

Arg. So not only is this pointless for the class... it's just pointless in general. Also, policies are not decided on by three people who know nothing about the library. It is REALLY HARD to write a policy for an institution one knows very little about. If they are written, they're probably written over a longer course of time than we have to do it.

I don't know how to write a collecting scope for reference works. Um, we'll collect what we deem appropriate? Like anyone besides librarians care. Actually, I don't think most librarians care about the policy. They collect in their subject area. End of story.

Arg. ARG ARG ARG. Stupid

Also, written exam on the history of the Internet tomorrow. NSFNet. Fiber optics. TCP/IP. Buzzwords that I am somewhat hazy on. But I need to do well on it. I'm generally better at writing/multiple choice type deals anyways. So I think I'll do okay. I hope. Thankfully we get 2 (double sided) pages of notes. So I'll do the best I can with that.

Off to work on thingies now.

So I applied for this LIS Intern Position at the UM Depression Center because the responsibilities and the organization are of personal interest to me. However, when I looked back at it later, it said they wanted someone for Winter 09 semester. So I was kinda like oh well, should have read the whole thing.

Well I got an e-mail from the center saying they want to set up an interview. Woot! That could be cool and I think I'm a shoe-in being an LIS grad student and having psych as my undergrad. But we'll see...

( Internship Posting )

I'm also talking to the internship coordinator for the UM Libraries today to figure stuff out for the summer. So it's like the day of internships. Hopefully it'll all work out...


EDIT: So I met with the coordinator and yay! I get to do collection development/deselection/analysis! In my fave subjects: social sciences! Psychology, sociology and criminology. Sweet! And I have an interview on the 31st about the Depression Center internship. So, all in all, pretty good on the internship front. The UM Libraries one is unpaid, but I don't yet know about the other one. It would be nice if it was, but I'm not going to get my hopes up too high. I just hope I get it at all, paid or otherwise.

These are not ranked, most are pretty equal in importance.

1. Cheating
2. Abusive
3. Opposing religious & political ideas
4. Smoker/drug user
5. Shorter/thinner than me
6. Complete slacker

Back from DC and wishing I had more time to recover before diving right back into schoolwork.

I had a good time, but I don't think I will be going next year. I need the time off and at that point I will be preparing for graduation and looking for jobs. Also, I got sick (food poisoning, I think) on the trip which really sucked because I felt too icky to go see the Lincoln Memorial. Which I really wanted to see. Damn it! I guess I will just have go back someday. Other than being sick, it was a really good experience. And since I don't feel like retyping it all, I wrote about it in my librarian blog so look here if you care.

The experience did affirm in me what kind of librarian I want to be. Definitely not a government one. I want more interaction, not just sitting at my desk, cut off from patrons. I want to help students, not politicians. I was kinda bummed by my project. I could have done it almost entirely remotely because I basically researched topics online. I wish I would have been able to work with actual materials. Like cataloging items. Oh well. At least I get to put "Library of Congress" on my resume.

Now, time for unpacking, organizing, grocery shopping and preparing for the coming weeks. Yikes.

My new backpack came ALREADY yesterday. And yeah, it is awesome. I <3 it already and I haven't even used it. The only thing missing is a water bottle sleeve. But that's okay because there is plenty of room in the front pocket. I just worry that it might leak. But other people seem to manage without their bottles leaking. So I think I'll be okay.

Nate and I had a good day yesterday. We made tasty foods, bought exciting CDs and had good talks. Not to mention the snuggles were most excellent.

My cats got a hold of a ball of yarn and had a thrilling time unraveling it down the hall and then down the stairs. Oh kitties... at least it didn't mess up my knitting.

Bah, I am up too early for a Sunday.

( Horrified LOLcats )

OMG. Too cute.

I say I'm a realist most of the time. But others say I'm a pessimist.

---------------------------------------------

And now for something completely irrelevant to this subject... a list!

Words I have had to learn since starting grad school:

Iterative/iteration
Taxonomy
Ephemera/ephemeral material(s)
Salient
Granularity

It's a whole new language and I am still not sure what an example of ephemera would be. And there's more. But I can't think of them.

Python programming midterm tomorrow. Yikes. I anticipate lots of panic/flailing.

So I'm looking at Masters programs in Personality, Cognitive and General Psychology. I'm also looking at GSI positions for Intro Psych classes...

What am I doing??