Empowerment

Competition in the Library

/ dwakimoto

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are well, dear reader. This week has been crazy busy on our campus as it is finals week and everything seems to be due by the end of this week. I don’t know why, but deadlines always seem to pile up on each other (and that’s not because I’m super-lazy and procrastinate–I don’t, really). So today I just want to riff just for a short while on competition both with others and with one’s self and how this may or may not be beneficial in the context of libraries and archives.

So why do I want to talk about competition? Mainly I want to write a bit about it because I was asked earlier in the week if I was competitive about anything. The short answer is no, I’m really not that competitive. Now before you think I’m a total slacker who has no drive or wander off because you have no idea what this has to do with library land, bear with me while I give a bit of context before turning to the library.

I’m not competitive with other people. I actually feel happy when others succeed and don’t think “winning” has to be a zero sum game. However, I’m extremely competitive with myself and always expect to work hard and accomplish a lot, not that it’s news to anyone who knows me. (You usually doesn’t take a tenure track position if you aren’t just a little bit into working hard and striving to always become better than you are currently. And you should also be passionate about teaching, but that’s an entirely different post). But as to competing with others, I’d much rather support and mentor others in the field than compete with them.

But where does competition fit in the grand scheme when talking about libraries? I’ll give two examples about competition in the library and archive fields: one that I think is true competition that we can’t really get around and one that is actually competition that isn’t helping us at all. First to what I think of as true competition in the information science fields: grants.

It’s not called a grant competition for nothing. If you write grant proposals, you will be competing against many other libraries, archives, and museums for funding. This is not always a fun prospect and neither is it competition on a level playing field. Grant writing is pretty much unavoidable, but necessary in our fields. So in this instance, I think it behooves us to write grant proposals often to become better at it and to have any chance of success. I’d also, from a totally selfish perspective, like to see more organizations give grants to smaller institutions that have a hard time competing with the very large, well-known institutions for the limited funding available, especially in this economy. But don’t give up and do keep applying because, as our grant officer said, the people who get the most funded grants and also the ones who have written the most unfunded grant proposals.

So grants=competition with other institutions. It’s unavoidable unless your institution can afford to do everything it wants with internal funding.

The other type of competition I want to touch on just briefly in a type of competition that doesn’t seem to work in my mind: competition by libraries against perceived usurpers of the libraries’ and librarians’ roles. Or at least, the way we are competing isn’t working. Libraries (and especially archives) can’t compete with coffee shops, Amazon, or bookstores. And really, why should we? It’s a bit like trying to take on Google. Why fight that battle? Instead, why not work harder and smarter in areas where we already excel and can differentiate ourselves?

I think libraries and archives are awesome. You probably do too if you are reading this blog. We are the converted. We need to stop telling ourselves how great we are and start more outside marketing. Some public libraries, especially, do a good job of this and a great job of integrating themselves into the community. Academic libraries, which are dear to me because I work in one, need to step up and start changing the stereotypes that we all lament about libraries and librarians. We need to be seen as the first place to go if you have a question, not the stop of last resort. We need to advertise our ability as information curators, data managers, and information literacy gurus. We need to stop trying to be something else and actually own what we are because we have a lot to offer.

Okay, stepping off the soapbox now and leaving you with a couple of fun things: first, check out Joy the Baker’s latest recipe: Irish potato candy because it looks yummy and tomorrow is Saint Patrick’s Day after all. Then, if you haven’t checked it out yet, go listen to a single by one of my former student’s band, Waking Wander. (And yes, I completely have to give a shout out when one of my students makes a trip into the library specifically to give me (a librarian!) information about his band. Plus, I think the single is rather good.)

Take care, read lots, enjoy the rest of your day, and I’ll be back on Friday with the usual round-up of tech tips and news. Allons-y!

A Chrome and Android Kind of Friday

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope you have a lovely weekend planned. Did anyone know that this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday? I surely didn’t when I planned to have a dinner party this Sunday. But enough about how I’m thoroughly unaware of what is going on in professional sports and back to what I am aware of–fun technology stuff. This week has seen some very exciting announcements, like demos of tablets running on Android Honeycomb, and news of how technology and revolutions interact, as in Egypt. Since those two have been written about extensively over the last week, I’m not going to repeat it here. Instead, I want to share a few good articles about Chrome and Android. Allons-y!

A quick postscript to Wednesday’s post on not working 24/7 (aka please have a life), check out Lifehacker’s article, “Find time for your personal life”. Okay, now we can move on to today’s fun tech stuff.

First up, two useful Google Chrome articles: one for snoozing your emails, the other with helpful tips. First, I think the ability to snoonze your email sounds like a good way to build in quick reminders to do things. I’m going to set it up for my work email as there are just too many emails that come in each day and it is easy for things to get lost in the mess. I’ve tried to keep a zero inbox policy and only check my email at certain times each day, but it just doesn’t work with my job so I think the snooze button would help.

Also, if you use Chrome (and really, why wouldn’t you be using Chrome), you’ll want to check out Gizmodo’s Google Chrome cheat sheet: 10 tips and tricks. You are probably already employing many of these tips and tricks, but it is a good list to share with your not so tech savvy friends and patrons.

Onward to the Android fun. Lifehacker has a great explanation on how to use the new web based Android Market. Yay for easier to use market! Also, check out Gizmodo’s list of the best Android apps. I’m more in favor of developing for the mobile web than native apps, but there are some great native apps out there so give the list a glance.

Finally, not really Chrome or Android news/tips, but may be of interest to all those currently looking for employment: how to use Twitter to help you find a new job. Again, this would be a great article to share with people you know who are looking for a job, but haven’t discovered the wonders of Twitter for news and employment opportunities.

Because it is Friday, we have to end with a fun video. Here’s the trailer for Series 6 of Doctor Who. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful rest of your day, a relaxing weekend, and I’ll be back next week with more random tech news and library/archives fun.

On Getting Stuff Done Without Working 24/7

/ dwakimoto

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week (and day) is going well. Today we’re going to talk about getting stuff done without working like a mad person 24/7. I think this is a good time to touch on the subject as it is still early in the new year and you may be experiencing the twin, somewhat dichotomous thoughts of 1. Oh, my goodness, who said it could be February? I have so much to do and so little time, while at the same time thinking 2. I have so much time. No need to panic, yet. So let’s talk about getting stuff done so you don’t panic and you do have time for a nap without feeling guilty (or needing a TARDIS or time-turner).

This isn’t expert advice on time management. In fact, I’m not sure what makes one an expert in time management. I suppose doing research studies. So I’ve not done any research studies, but I have been able to get quite a bit of work done without working 24/7, no matter how skeptical my work colleagues may be about that claim. So first a bit of context.

I’ve been at my current position for 2.5 years. It’s a tenure-track position so I’m expected to do research, publish, and serve on university-level committees. I also managed somehow to assume management of the University Archives during my second year on top of my position as one of the library faculty members. Oh, I also supervise SJSU Library School Student Interns who teach with us in the information literacy course that is mandatory for first-year students. My job also includes the usual things like reference and collection development, plus grant writing. I’m also, unsurprisingly, very into sharing my love and knowledge of technology with others so I often teach workshops for the Faculty Development Office. So, my work life is pretty busy.

With my workload, and the workload of librarians and people in general, it is easy to be sucked into the vicious cycle of working 24/7 because you need to be connected 24/7. I thought like that when I first started my current position, and I literally had no life. I worked through the weekends, developed a wicked case of insomnia, and basically was looking at burnout before my first year was up. Obviously something had to change and I’ll tell you what I did, and no, this isn’t one of those “happy thought” advice columns about giving up what you don’t like and only doing what you do like–that’s not realistic and I’m definitely a realist (or an insane optimist, it depends on who you ask). So here’ my advice for not working insane hours and still getting insane amounts of work done:

  1. Don’t even think about multi-tasking. Multi-tasking as a productivity tool is a myth. Except for listening to music when I work, I don’t multi-task. I single task. When I’m in hardcore writing mode, I basically shut down my internet connection and everything else, but my writing program. I refuse to bounce around among multiple tasks. I single task and it completely increases my efficiency.
  2. Be ruthless about your to-do list. I write my to-do list on a Post-it each day and then just get into it, no matter how much I don’t want to do something. I’ve gotten pretty good at estimating how much I can get done in a day and I find it satisfying to cross things off my list
  3. Get to work early. I admit that I’m lucky in the fact that I’m a morning person. (If we are being completely honest, I’m more of a siesta person–work early in the morning, take a nap during my slump time which is around mid-afternoon, and work later in the afternoon to the evening. But that schedule doesn’t work here, so let’s get back to getting to work early.) Most of my faculty colleagues aren’t morning people and don’t show up until around an hour or so after I’ve gotten to work. Without interruptions, I get a ton of work done. Plus morning hours are usually my most productive times of day in terms of creativity, writing, and other tasks that require a significant concentration level. Basically find the time that is most productive for you and safeguard it against interruptions.
  4. Don’t indulge in any perfectionist leanings or tendencies to procrastinate. If you want to ship work, as Seth Godin would say, you need to do the work and then get it out the door. In order to do excellent work, you need to do the work! Being a perfectionist will only keep you from getting work done and procrastinating will keep you from ever starting the work. Inertia can be a terrible or wonderful thing, dear readers.
  5. Leave work at work. I no longer stay at work for horribly long days as much as possible and I leave my work at work. I don’t take work home because if I can’t get it done in the 8-9 hours that I’m at work, it can just wait until tomorrow. Now, since I’m an instructor, I do have to answer student emails at home and sometimes work can’t be avoided. But my pretty firm rule is that work doesn’t come home with me.
  6. Say no to extra projects (and committees) when you don’t have time, have no interest, are able to say no and/or all of the above. Now I know you can’t say no to every unappealing project or committee that comes your way, but you should get used to flexing your “no” muscle on those occasions where saying “yes” will only increase your stress level and workload and not really help you in any way. It took me a while to be okay with saying no to people and raising objections to projects I knew wouldn’t work out. But flexing that “no” muscle is the surest way to keep your workload to at least a semi-manageable level.
  7. Get some sleep. Honestly, just get more sleep, it will help. Just listen to this video (it’s funny and makes a compelling case for getting more sleep). If you take nothing else away from this list of advice, please take away that you need to sleep. You will be more effective and efficient, not to mention feel better, if you get some sleep. Being sleep deprived isn’t a badge of honor, it’s bad for you and your health.
  8. Find something you are passionate about outside of work and someone(s) with which to share it. I don’t think it matters whether you are passionate about art, collecting coins, or finding the best tea shop in the neighborhood, as long as you have something fun to look forward to outside of work. And, hopefully, you have awesome people to share in your love of whatever outside of work. I love my work, and I’m hopefully that you do too. I love working with the students, doing my research, going to conferences, helping people, etc., but I also know that it’s important to get out of the archives and library mindset. Don’t forget your friends, your family, your hobbies, and having fun while you are climbing the professional ladder.

So that’s really all I have to say about that. I hope it inspires you to at least think about not working 24/7. If you have tips or stories about what has worked for you, I’d love to hear about it in comments.

And finally, to end, check out this interesting video by BBC Horizon, What is Reality?.

Have a fantastic rest of your day and I’ll be back with some tech news on Friday. Allons-y!

Working on Kindness and Civility

/ dwakimoto

Happy Wednesday, dear readers! I hope that your week is going well and that you are having a lovely day. Today I want to discuss briefly a book I’m currently reading, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One that Isn’t by Robert I. Sutton, and how kindness in general seems to be undervalued in many workplaces.

One of my friends and I were discussing how nice it would be to create a company whose primary rule would be that no jerks would be hired or tolerated. Everyone would be expected to be civil and kind to each other. We thought that a nice company is where we would love to work and different than some of our past experiences. Then, a few weeks later, I was browsing in a bookstore and stumbled upon Sutton’s work. I just picked it up from the library and had to share. I know the book has been out for a few years, but it is still worth discussing and I’ll be brief: there are only three things I want to discuss.

  1. Isn’t the title fabulous? The No Asshole Rule. It couldn’t be simpler or easier to understand. There is no ambiguity about the rule or what its intent is. I love it.
  2. Building on the first point, as Sutton wrote, “At the places where I want to work, even if people do other things well (even extraordinary well) but routinely demean others, they are seen as incompetent” (p. 57). I love this point and completely agree. I really don’t care if you are great at your job if you are nasty to others. It puts civility and kindness at the forefront of evaluating our performances, as it should be. Being nice should not be seen as a weakness, but as an imperative.
  3. One of the points that resonates with me is “framing”: “The assumptions and language we use–the lenses that we see the world through–can have big effects on how we treat others” (p. 105). Since part of my research interests lie with studying changes and differences in language, this was familiar territory for me. But much more than that, it is a true, common sense statement. There are many ways to communicate the same basic information that will have vastly different outcomes and affect people in vastly different ways. So the next time you need to communicate something, take a few extra moments to make sure your message is said in such a way that others will be receptive.

So what does this have to do with the library and archives?
We work with and interact with many, many people every day–both in and outside of work. There are just as many chances for positive interactions as negative interactions. Research that Sutton cites has shown, negative experiences carry five times the impact of positive interactions, so we need to be kind and civil to outweigh those negative experiences. Plus, I truly believe that, just as being nasty can be contagious in a group, so too can kindness and civility be contagious. This isn’t insane optimism; we know that we can’t change everyone from being nasty to being kind, but some may change.

We’re all stressed and overworked sometimes and we are serving communities that are feeling economic stress every day. Libraries and archives are already refuges for many and safe spaces to work, research, and be. So let’s all work together to keep them positive spaces, both for ourselves and others.

In one of those wonderful cosmic coincidences, this Free Compliments Poster came through over one of my feeds near the end of last week and was almost too perfect for this post on civility and kindness. I just printed one up and posted it on my office door. Hopefully it will make someone’s day a bit brighter, especially if they take a compliment to share with someone else. So, share compliments freely with others today, watch them smile, and I just know you’ll feel better too.

Finally, I need to give a shout out to my wonderful friends and colleagues who sat in on my seminar on Monday for my doctoral confirmation (both in person and online). You are truly amazing and make even the craziest days bearable. My sincerest thanks, always.

Take care, dear readers. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I’ll be back on Friday with a helping of tech news and goodies for you and your patrons. Allons-y!

Connections and the Digital World

/ dwakimoto / 1 Comment

Happy Friday! I’m so happy it’s Friday, aren’t you? Today I want to share some links about connections, communication, and digital preservation, among other things. Really, it all made sense in my head when I was planning this blog post. So just bear with me and I’ll explain.

It’s no secret that I really enjoy Seth Godin’s blog posts and his post on Lost in a Digital World is a really great one. It is very easy to get lost in a digital world, being constantly in communication, but not communicating or accomplishing anything of substance. I know I have to consciously pull myself away from my computer (and my beloved Android phone) when I’m really working. I can’t multi-task–really, I’m horrible at it. And I think we need quiet headspace to really focus and accomplish things and be present enough to catch on to those fleeting ideas that just might change everything we are doing in our lives.

And, as we all know, the digital pieces of our lives and our communication streams are very fragile–not just in terms of the possibility of misunderstandings via email, but in the very preservation of the datastreams. Just go ask your friendly archivist about digital preservation and watch him/her twitch and start going on about preservation metadata standards (at which point you should offer to take him/her out of the archives and down the street for a nice cup of tea). So, for those who want to do something about preserving their personal digital data, check out Lifehacker’s article, Future-Proof Your Digital Photos with Better Archiving Techniques. Take a night and fix your photos. The archivist in the future who may receive your “papers” will thank you.

After being at one of the talks about technology trends at ALA Midwinter, I found this post from Gizmodo timely: 12 Technologies on the Verge of Extinction. So what technologies do you think will become extinct? It’s something fun to discuss with the archivist whom you’ve taken to tea (see above paragraph). Archivists love to talk about obsolete technologies and media.

Technology is great if used correctly and it can definitely help facilitate communication if used well, but I sometimes worry about getting lost in the busyness of the digital world and also about how digital communication is affecting relationships, or rather the strength or depth of relationships. (I promise no long philosophical argument; it is Friday.) We need more than simply being in constant digital contact with people; we need people who will support us and really mean it when they say, “I’ve Got Your Back.”

You need to have your core group of friends (and no, hundreds of friends on Facebook whom you don’t really know don’t count) who will be your cheering squad, your sounding board, and the ones who will believe in what you are doing when everyone else is calling your ideas crazy. Your task for the weekend is to figure out who has your back and who you would truly back, no matter what. And yes, if I tell you that I’ve got your back, I mean it.

The last bit of hyperlink fun for today is Neil Gaiman’s Another Year from New Year’s Day. Yes, I’m aware that it’s the 14th of January, but it is still a good read and if you somehow missed it, you should go read it. It will make you feel warm and happy. Bonus points for sharing it with someone.

To end and give you a nice break for work today, check out this wonderful Infommercial for the TARDIS (thanks to Hanna for posting the video on her blog):

Have a wonderful day and relaxing weekend. Read a lot, get outside if the weather is nice, and I’ll be back next week with more library, archives, and tech-related goodies.

On being bold and making decisions

/ dwakimoto / 1 Comment

Happy Holidays! As we are nearing the end of another year, I think we need to discuss being bold, making decisions, and keeping resolutions.

So let’s talk about resolutions, since it is that time of year. Intellectually, I completely understand the appeal of making resolutions. To do lists are helpful for focusing on what you want to accomplish and for keeping you on task when there is so much other shiny stuff to look at on the Internet that can derail your best intentions of not procrastinating and really getting whatever it is done this year. Resolutions are also, to me at least, a symbol of optimism that you can actually make the world or yourself (or both) a little better through sheer will and determination. But on the flip side, broken resolutions can fill you with guilt and angst. So is it better to make resolutions and cut yourself slack when you inevitably fall short of perfection? Or is it better to not make resolutions? I don’t have the answer, although I find zen habits rather helpful for living life well and not full of too many lists of things to do.

As for me, I haven’t made any new year’s resolutions for quite a few years now. I might make some this year, who knows. Do you make new year’s resolutions?

But even if you are not into making resolutions for the new year, it is good to resolve to being a person who is bold and willing to make decisions. I was talking with a friend the other day about being the one to make decisions in a group and then read this post from Seth Godin, Just Looking. Sometimes real life and the blogosphere are just in sync; I don’t ask why. So go out there and be bold– actually make a decision. Sitting on the fence doesn’t do you any good and doesn’t move either you or your work or the library forward. Speaking of being bold, check out Engaged Learning’s post, Are You So Bold? Then, go and do whatever you know needs to be done or said that you’ve been putting off. You’ll feel better and it will be easier to be bold the next time you need to be.

So, if you feel like you now need to do something to be bolder in the new year, check out the call for bloggers at Midwinter. If you happen to be going to either ALISE or ALA Midwinter (or even both), do say hello. I’ll be in San Diego for both conferences (probably tweeting and blogging about some of the sessions too). Also, in conference traveling news, check out the TSA Status website to find out the status of the new body scanners at various airports’ checkpoints.

And, because it is that time of year, we must end with a list: check out Lifehacker’s Most Popular Explainers of 2010. We also need something fun, so enjoy a couple of photos of my family’s cats having fun with the wrapping paper…

Cheetah in Wrapping Paper

Cheetah in Wrapping Paper

Fey with Ribbon

Fey with Ribbon

…and an awesome video about the Tenth Doctor and Donna because it is so fun that it must be shared.

Happy New Year, dear readers! I hope it is a fantastic year for you. I’ll be back next week with posts from ALISE. Allons-y!

Tech Fun and Relaxation

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday! Today I thought talk a bit about some of the recent tech news. There’s been a lot of interesting and important tech news in the last few days and I just want to highlight a couple of things. And I also want to talk about relaxation because, dear reader, this is my last day on campus before the holiday vacation and I’m ready for relaxing. But first, tech fun!

By now you’ve probably heard about the possibility of Yahoo discontinuing the popular social bookmarking service, delicious.I’ve had a delicious account for years (before you had to have a Yahoo account) and love the interface and usefulness of the service. So I know, it’s annoying and frustrating to have to move your bookmarks. After you freak out about this, check out WebWorkerDaily’s 5 delicious alternatives article or Lifehacker’s post on best bookmarking services.

Luckily I’ve been trying Google Bookmarks for a while so I had somewhere to easily deposit my bookmarks from delicious. I just wish the tags had transferred over too. But I guess this will force me to actually clean up my bookmarks.

In other (good) tech news: About.me is now open to all. About.me is a simple to use splash page where you can link together all your online information. And the pages look fantastic with very little effort. I created a page a while ago. If you want to see an example of a page you can see mine here: about.me/dianakwakimoto. [Note: You may not be able to get to About.me (because of an amazing amount of traffic due to Lifehacker’s article, no doubt). But be patient and try again later because it really is great.]

And now from tech news to relaxation. While many of us talk about relaxing over the holidays, I’d wager that a lot of us will be checking work email and trying to get work stuff done. That’s why I’m sharing this wonderful idea from danah boyd on her email sabbatical. I just love this idea and hope to implement it sometime soon because everyone deserves a true break without worrying about an avalanche of email when they return to work.

And because it is the 17th, the video had to be about Tron Legacy. Check out this great video about the sound editing and soundtrack–lots of fun, pretty stuff.

Enjoy your weekend, read a lot, and relax. I may or may not be back next week with a post, but I’ll definitely be back in the new year. Have a wonderful holiday and very happy new year, dear readers!

Middle of the Week Inspiration

/ dwakimoto / 1 Comment

Dear readers, it is a gloomy Wednesday morning here, so I thought we could all use a little inspiration for getting things done (especially as tomorrow is a holiday). With that in mind, I have a very short post on productivity, ending with an awesome video (courtesy of Hanna who wonderfully alerted me to its presence).

Do like Post-it notes? I happen to love them, as can be easily deduced from a quick look around my office. It should come as no surprise that I’m quite partial to this article, “If it won’t fit on a post-it, It Won’t Fit in Your Day” on managing your to-do list and getting things done. This is especially helpful for those of us who try to cram way too much into one day and feel a bit stressed when we don’t accomplish the 23rd item on our task list for the day. So say it with me, “Post-it to-do lists for the win!”

One of my favorite non-library blogs is WebWorkerDaily. I highly recommend subscribing to the feed if you don’t already. One of the recent posts is especially pertinent to any discussion about productivity: Top 3 Productivity Pitfalls Disguised as Work-Boosting Tools. I know for those among us that love what we do (and are probably slightly Type A by nature) could definitely do with taking at least some time off on the weekends from work. Give yourself permission to relax a bit and you’ll probably be more productive when you get back to work. Another tip: get over the myth of multi-tasking and just focus on one task at a time–you’ll get your work done faster.

Finally, not a tip on productivity, but just basic inspiration, check out John’s blog post over at Ink and Vellum on Getting back into Research Mode. (And, by the way, isn’t that a great name for a blog?) It’s a lovely post on the transitions John’s made from researching in the humanities to researching in the LIS field and a great read for those of us who are constantly researching and writing in this profession. And personally, I can definitely relate to needing to change my perceptions of research and translate my research skills when I began in the LIS/archives field; however, I came from a biological sciences background and not the humanities. Luckily, our field and profession is so interdisciplinary and broad that I think it is only strengthened by those of us coming from non-social science backgrounds who have chosen to apply our research skills to LIS/archival research.

Feel inspired to get up, get your Post-it to-do list finished, and start a research project? Or do you just really want that third cup of coffee? No worries, either way, let’s end with this fantastic trailer from TRON Legacy:

Have a great rest of your week and I’ll be back on Friday with some technology fun for the library.

Pressure and Burnout in the Library

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday! I hope that you have a lovely weekend planned. But first we must all get through the last day of the workweek. And I don’t know about you, but I have been feeling a wee bit stressed lately. By the middle of the term I’m definitely fighting against not burnout exactly–more like an uphill battle against looming deadlines and lots of stress. Even if you are like me and love your job, some days it feels like “it just doesn’t pay to gnaw through the leather straps” (Emo Phillips). So today we’re going to define burnout, figure out what you can do to combat it, and then end with some Friday fun.

The wonderful Lifehacker recently published a great article on burnout and how to deal with it. Read it to get the facts about burnout (and have the ability to recognize burnout in yourself) and some tips on dealing with it (and more importantly, preventing it). Personally, I find that getting enough sleep, practicing yoga, and talking with friends helpful (saying no to pointless committee work whenever possible is definitely very helpful too).

Burnout and pressure go hand in hand, obviously. And while we can’t avoid all pressure-filled situations, we can understand 4 reasons why you choke under pressure and how to avoid them. Yes, this article is helpful even if you don’t participate in sports. Let’s be the people who are graceful and productive even under pressure because goodness knows that librarians are under enough pressure these days. What do you do to stay calm under pressure? I’d love to hear your tips in comments.

Speaking of (or really writing about) stress and libraries, check out 3 punk rock lessons for surviving 21st century library hell. I love this post; funny and informative. Take a break and read the post.

Hopefully some of the above articles will help you deal with stress and avoid burnout, but even with good advice reading about stress can be, well, stressful. So I thought we’d end the informative part of the blog with Seth Godin’s I spread your ideas because… post. It’s a great list of reasons why a person would spread information and ideas. It’s a great list of reasons why a person would try to build a community. And it’s a great list of reasons that we should consider whenever we are communicating with our patrons and thinking about services, marketing, programs, and design.

And finally, for some fun, check out this great video for Neil Gaiman’s Instructions, illustrated by the wonderful Charles Vess. (I’m almost positive I’ve shared it before, but it doesn’t hurt to share it again and the ending line is a perfect way to end a post about burnout.)

Have a wonderful weekend filled with good reads, good company, and good rest. The Waki Librarian will be back next week with more library fun.

Personal Content Management

/ dwakimoto

By Gary Price from ResourceShelf

Lots of information is out there: how can we share it with others, how can we save it, and what do we do with it? We need to think about the persistence of data and information.

Personal Information Management
Everyone defines personal information management differently and everyone wants information wherever they want it, when they want it. Hard to talk about generalities when talking about mobile information because there are so many different devices/platforms.

Need to get a mobile website first! Don’t go for a specialized app just for iPhone! (Yay!)

Backup, backup, backup your data!

Shout-out for the WayBack Machine and Internet Archive. If all else fails (and you don’t have a backup), check out the Internet Archives.

Either pay now or pay now when it comes to backing up your data. It is better to pay for the external storage and online backup now before your hard drive crashes. Example: Mozy, Carbonite. Think about how easy it is to restore your data when considering which service to use.

Bibliographic Managers
If you do a lot of research, bibliographic managers are vital to save you research time. Two free options:
Zotero: Zotero everywhere initiative is going on and soon will be able to use Zotero on Chrome, IE, and mobile in addition to Firefox. (This is fabulous as it will greatly increase the usefulness of Zotero.)
Mendeley: another bibliographic manager option.

Social Media preservation
Preserving Tweets: check out Twapper Keeper. It permanently archives tweets–you can even search for archives via keywords and hashtags (you can see tweets from previous Internet Librarian conferences via this service). You can also download the information to a database or spreadsheet and it is free. Very cool, especially for creating thematic archives.

Dropbox: great way to backup small amounts of data (for free) or you can pay for more storage space. Also a great option for sharing large files.

Instapaper: will optimize a page for mobile web so you can read articles/pages later. For iPhone
Read it Later: Similar service for Android

Summary
Take the time to think about how you are preserving your data before your hard drive crashes! If you want to know about digital preservation and digital standards, I highly suggest taking a look at recent research and white papers in archival science. This is another area where the two allied professions overlap a lot and is a great opportunity for collaboration so we aren’t reinventing the wheel but instead can move forward together in the preservation and curation of digital data. One of the most interesting facts about digital preservation is that while pages, links, content on the web are ephemeral (everyone has experienced linkrot), it is almost impossible to delete all evidence of content when it is published online. The eternal conundrum of the digital archivist!