First two weeks of Spring semester

We have gotten through the first two weeks of Spring Semester, and it was Hell!!!! With the economic downturn, the library and the college as a whole are seeing way more students. Comparing the first two weeks of this Spring to Spring '08, we saw an increase in gate count of 14% or 15,228 patrons. We also managed this time while short staffed due to medical leave of some of our team.
Now, as things calm down, I can focus on other matters. We are currently doing our best to reduce thefts in the library and a reporter from the Star News came to the library to do a story on this. Our Library Tech. II recognized one thief we had a photo of and was able to contact police and have him apprehended.
Personally I will now return to my work on Counting Opinions, which is still not up and running. I have made some appointments with my contact there requesting further training and hopefully by Spring Break , we will be using this product. I am also planning to teach LIB 10A for the 3rd time and hope to improve on the last two efforts.
I will unfortuneatly miss the ACRL and many other conference opportunities for personal matters, but look forward to going in the future.

Implemention takes forever

I continue to work with Counting Opinions to get our library survey up and running.  I have also been working with the data maintenance system they have, which is also taking much more time than I expected.  Implementing a completely new program/software can take much more time than expected as you learn how to use the different functions.  Especially when you must do so over the phone and internet instead of in person.

I also completed the NCES Academic Library Survey with my library's dean, which provided insight into some of the statistics and data I will want to maintain in this new system.

We have recently hired one new student assistant and promoted someone to a supervisory position in preparation for the Spring Semester starting on Monday.

Back to work

The holidays are over and we have started the Winter intersession here at PCC. I have had two online conferences with our contact from Counting Opinions, and our library survey is nearly ready to go live. I will then have to advertise and market it in order to get the most useful results. I have also been toying with the LibPas side of Counting Opinions used for accumulating and reporting library data and statistics. I am making baby steps, but slowly coming to understand it better. I will meet with my Library Dean today and discuss what kinds of reports she currently produces and see how we can use the LibPas service to make reporting easier.

We will also be losing a student supervisor as he prepares to graduate from Library School, and I am working with my Library Techs to select a student assistant for promotion to this position. I will also need to hire 1 or 2 new student assistants, one of which I believe I have already decided on from past interviews and hirings.

I really hope to have some time to tinker around more with our Facebook page in order to advertise it as well come Spring semester. The library is now on our new network and we have a strong wireless signal throughout the building. This will make our students very happy and I assume more students will start bringing their laptops now that we have a wireless network that functions properly.

End of Fall Semester

The Fall Semester is nearly over. I have completed teaching my first full credit course for the Library Technology Certificate Program. I have learned much with the first go around of teaching LIB 103-Circulation Service, and look forward to making improvements for the next go around. I will also be assessing one particular SLO- Student Learning Objective, when teaching my next LIB 10A course as well as LIB 103 next Fall.
With the help of the library technicians, I am tying up loose ends by placing Financial Holds on student accounts that have books that are more than 6 months overdue. This always brings many books back, or at least has the students come in to settle their debts for lost items.
I have also been adjusting the Counting Opinions Survey and learing how to use this service. Once complete I will be able to start sharing some results and data with the library.

CARL program and Counting Ops. cont.

Last Friday I attended the CARL-DIG program focused on providing quality reference service. While the two primary speakers focused on creating a solid, unified reference culture at your library and on how to make yourself available to students, the discussion focused mostly on IM, email, and other Web 2.0 reference topics. This was interesting and helpful as we continue to broaden our use of IM reference through Library H3lp and Pigeon.
I have also received some of the introductory materials for our Counting Opinions survey and will be meeting online with their representative tomorrow morning to begin my training and familiarizing myself with the program.
Wednesday, I will be taking part in a tele-conference entitled "Handling the Most Difficult Conversations with Today's College Students" along with the two Library Technicians who work with me. They had both requested further development in this, as well as other areas, and hopefully this will be a high quality conference experience.
Other than that, the library is preparing for the Holidays and I myself am excited for the break.

Blog, Wiki, and Podcasting presentation

Today I presented a short introduction to blogs, wikis, and podcasting for the PCC Academic Senate. The goal was to present these Web 2.0 tools to faculty members who may be unfamiliar with them and then show them how these tools might also be used in the classroom or for professional development. This blog was used as an example.
I also received confirmation from Counting Opinions that our survey is nearly complete and I will begin training next Tuesday morning on how to use and manage this new service. I will also attend a program on Friday regarding Reference Service. I hope that there will be elements to help me improve my Reference Service and IM Reference Service in particular.

The end of the semester nears

So, we have met with the people from Counting Opinions and will be purchasing their service. I have been designated as the "go-to" person for this and will be the contact between Counting Opinions and the library.
My Library 103 class is winding down and I have learned alot to apply the next time I teach it. As much as I do in the area of Circulation, this class has brought things to my attention that I hadn't thought of previously by making comparisons between public and academic circulation service.
I have also completed all evaluations of employees, having them all evaluated for what appears to be the first time in years. My predecessor never provided any performance evaluation to allow the assistants and supervisors to know how they are doing. This was a positive experience and provided pay raises for some.