This post is a bit of a departure from the library technology stuff I usually post about, but I feel that it is very much core academic librarianship, so probably relevant to some people here. I was listening to this interview with Eleanor Colla, where she talks (among many other things) about committing to reading […]
I’m up for promotion this year, and it’s too late to try to get any more research papers published before my file gets reviewed by the promotion committee. So a few days ago I made the very pragmatic/mercenary decision to not start any new research projects right now. Instead, I’ll focus on committee work, which […]
I buy a lot of really bad books on Amazon. They’re minor books, on fringe topics, and they’re usually well out of date. They’re also usually incredibly cheap, like two or three dollars, or some such. And while they’re generally pretty uninteresting, they can often offer a citation to support a minor point in a […]
One never-ending challenge for faculty is finding things to write about. The problem is especially acute for those on the tenure track, but it really applies to almost anyone in a faculty role. Moreover, coming up with the wrong idea can be a real setback. It’s possible to spend months working on a topic before […]
I’m running my first survey, so I feel like a real academic librarian now. Surveys are so ubiquitous in our field that I’m surprised I’ve managed to avoid doing one so far. It has been an interesting process. To administer the survey, my college set me up with a Qualtrics account and an IRB application […]
There are some well-travelled paths in library research. I came across one of them this week when I was looking for articles on LibGuides. There are a lot of articles by librarians about LibGuides. On the one hand this is great (we have a comprehensive literature!), on the other hand, do I really have to […]
One thing I have found challenging about work is switching between coding and writing and back. Coding gives me something to write about; writing is the currency for advancing in my job. But these are not necessarily an easy pair. It takes a big mental shift to move from one to the other. I sometimes […]
