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"Celebrate the Past, Embrace the Future"
Report #1 -- Report #2
Report #1
Submitted by Joyce Nielsen, Hope College, Van Wylen Library
"Southern hospitality" is not just a pleasant phrase. Everyone who attended the 2002 COLT Annual Conference in Atlanta, June 12-15, experienced friendly service and great food. There was real hospitality every day from the reception Wednesday evening through the banquet on Friday night.
This conference included more organization business than usual because of the voting on the constitutional proposals. The discussion began on the members' list and continued at the conference Thursday. Many members who could not be in attendance mailed in their votes to be included in the balloting on Friday. The revision of the constitution passed without dissent. The original name change proposal was voted down, but there is wide support for becoming COLTS. The Constitution committee will present a new name change proposal to the membership before the end of August.
It was not possible to present a slate of nominees this year. Fortunately, excellent nominations were made from the floor on Friday, and we have elected an Executive Board that looks great.
Friday night Ray Roney and Margaret Barron presented the 2002 Outstanding Support Staff award to Cynthia Mielke, Hilton Briggs Library, South Dakota State University, and the 2002 Outstanding Supporter of Support Staff award to Billie M. Connor-Dominguez, Los Angeles Public Library. After the annual banquet, the new Executive Board members were inducted into office.
Beyond the conference programs, everyone found lots of things to do for fun. Our hotel was a block from the MARTA, Atlanta's terrific subway/train system so it was easy to get everywhere. It was also just a block to the Varsity, widely known as the largest drive-in anywhere and famous for hot dogs, hamburgers, and onion rings. Thursday night groups went out to enjoy dinner or music or both. Saturday a few went on the bus tour of Atlanta visiting the Martin Luther King historic site, the Carter Presidential Museum, and the Coca Cola museum at Underground Atlanta. Free passes to the ALA exhibits (thank you, Library Mosaics) sent many off to explore the venders booths over the weekend.
There were speakers at both luncheons. Mary Kay Hooker, Director of the Atlanta Fulton Public Library System spoke on Thursday. On Friday we heard from CNN Librarian Hilary Rogers about their specialized library of TV news tape. The banquet speaker, David Dowell, Director of Learning Resources, Cuesta College talked about career pathways in libraries.
Following are some brief reports of some of the conference programs
Information Please: 150 Years of Reference Service
This was an absolutely delightful view of the history of library reference work. Adopting the persona of Isadore Mudge, a pioneering early 20th century reference librarian, Karen Myers of the University of Arkansas, lead us through a century and a half of changing library reference policies and resources. She was assisted in her presentation by Sherryl Robinson. Their costumes, dialogs, rhymes made this an amusing, but very informative program. The accompanying pamphlet and bibliography contains a wealth of interesting information on the evolving of modern reference service.
Managing Change: Strategies for Support Staff
Change happens whether we're ready for it or not. Barry Harvey of the College Center for Library Automation says we need to "aware of change. Listen to the grapevine. Even if you think you know what you're doing, chances are you don't know what you could be doing."
He reminds us that we need to know our own work and learning styles, and to accept responsibility for our emotions. Let go of the past: have a funeral for the card catalog or the shelf list. Grieve for the past and then embrace the future focusing on a vision with a strong set of core values. Be disciplined; complete one thing each day. To gain a supportive network you must be "a supportive friend or collaborative colleague."
U.S. Census: What You Need to Know You Can Lead Your Staff to Water . . . . Disaster Planning after September 11 Funding and financing is always a problem for fire departments, especially if they are doing a good job of prevention. If there are few fire disasters, some will short-sightedly say there is less need to fund fire departments. Mutual aid agreements among fire departments in a region provide assistance at times of unusual need. As citizens and as library staff we need to be sure our local departments have adequate funding and mutual aid.
Security issues in public buildings like libraries can cause emergency exit problems. Work with your local departments to be sure your search for further security does not compromise fire and safety codes.
Library staff have to make good decisions. Think again about how you handle back packs, bags, or packages left unattended in the library. Should you consider having your local bomb squad check them over?
The Art of Shelf Management For shifting and moving, numbered shelf sections, books in correct order, careful measuring, and good record keeping are essential. Use a cord with knots spaced at one foot intervals for measuring the collection and the empty shelf space. Use a paper streamer to mark the book that should be first in each new shelving section so your shifting team knows just where to put items. Time spent on careful planning with shelf counting and a spreadsheet will save time and effort on the actual shift.
Building Your Professional Portfolio Essential elements of your portfolio (must be in a binder less than an inch thick):
Get started by labeling some manila folders. Then go through your papers and pick out some samples that would fit the categories. Editing it down to size may be the hardest part!
24/7 Getting Real about Time Management Common sense skills
The conference began with opening remarks from the president, Margaret Barron, and vice president, Patricia McQuitty. Joyce Nielsen followed with discussion regarding the future name change of COLT due to some legal correspondence sent from the Colt Manufacturing Company stating that COLT was infringing on a trademarked name. Attendees were asked to assist with a name change that continued to use COLT as a part of the new name. Suggested was COLTS- Council of Library Technicians & Staff, or COLTSS-Career Organization of Library Technicians & Support Staff, so that tax numbers and P.O. boxes could continue as they were. This could not be done with a complete name change.
Next, Karen Myers from the University of Arkansas Library presented a program entitled "Information Please! 150 Years of Reference Service." This was an entertaining and very informative look at reference service, with Ms. Myers portraying Isadore Gilbert Mudge, who compiled the text Guide to Reference Books. Ms. Myers' presentation began in 1848 with the publication of Poole's Index to Periodical Literature and ended with the "information highway" and its affect on how reference has had to change to meet the needs of patrons with more information at their fingertips and more resources in which to search.
Barry Harvey from the College Center for Library Automation in Tallahassee followed with his presentation on "Managing Change: A guide for non-managers." Although he is currently in a systems-related position, he has had extensive experience in serials acquisition at Florida State University. In our current positions as library assistants, we are doing more work in less time than we were 10 years ago. Gone are the paper check in cards for serials. What used to take us hours now takes us minutes and with that streamlining of tasks, we are taking on new tasks and accomplishing more in the same amount of time. He stressed the importance of being flexible and realizing that change will happen, regardless of how we face it or feel about it. We need to learn to let go of the past, grieve for our loss, and embrace the future. He stated that change gives us opportunities to grow and express our creativity that we would not have if left to doing our tasks the "way we always have." When making change we have to resist the temptation to backslide into our old way just because it is the familiar and "easier" way to complete a task. Once a change is made we must commit to it and continue to look forward. He expressed the importance of continual learning, belonging to a supportive organization (such as COLT), and networking with our peers.
During our lunch period Mary Kaye Hooker, director of the Fulton County Public Library, spoke regarding thinking outside of our usual ways and habits. The building in which she works had a recent overhaul and staff were given the opportunity to make many changes in its appearance, such as going from bland grays to vibrant purples and brushed stainless steel desk facings. With this change, the outlook of the staff improved with it. She spoke of using your creativity (decorating, plants, pictures, etc) to improve your workplace or home and to make any of your environments relaxing and positive places to be. The positive effects go beyond just you and influence your outlook towards your work environment and your customers.
After lunch, two sessions were offered – "Customer Service Training" which was presented by Cal Shepard, a manager at SOLINET, and "U.S. Census: What you need to know," presented by Beatrice F. Piddock with the U.S. Department of the Census. I attended the latter.
Upon first glance this seems like it would be a dry topic, but was actually very fascinating and informative. There are 12 regional Census offices. In obtaining her position, Ms. Piddock was not required to have an MLS, but was required to have 16 hours of statistics coursework. Ms. Piddock offered handouts that outlined the types of information gathered and offered by the U.S. Census. She stated that in the future, the volumes and volumes of census information would be reduced to 3 volumes since most information is now available on the web. There are currently 63 recognized racial groups listed in Census information, as determined by the Office of Management and Budget. The first information available after a census has been completed is the 100% data which is information that was asked of everyone such as age, sex, household relationship, race, Hispanic, owner/renter status. This is called Summary File 1. After this, the Summary 2 file is released. This is the 100% data from detailed groups. Summary file 3 is the information that was included in the long form survey of the census down to a five-block area and Summary File 4 is the survey information for all racial groups. The handouts also navigated through the U.S. Census web pages, located at www.census.gov, which contains a plethora of information and a children's page on which they can take quizzes and play games.
Following this lecture, I attended "You can lead your staff to water," which addressed the issues important to supervisors. Positive reinforcement was stressed – that your staff only knows how well they are doing and how their work is appreciated by positive feedback. Good, open communication is an important factor in supervision. If you institute change or new procedures, follow up and explain why. Staff needs to be "heard" and feel that their needs and concerns are addressed. Staff should find their work interesting and challenging and should be given opportunities to work on projects that stretch them and stimulates them, mentally. They should be able to work autonomously and be recognized for their accomplishments. Recognize individual's talents and work with them to find tasks that suit their skills. Define your expectations and make sure staff members understand their roles.
The next day began with the business and membership meeting that included further discussion of the COLT name change.
After the business meeting, Joseph Tolbert who is the Assistant Fire Chief for the City of Atlanta addressed the group. He discussed the preparedness of the Fire Department, post 9/11. He stated that all fire departments have been preparing for disasters since their inception and that there haven't been that many changes in their procedures since the terrorist attack in New York. He did note that President Bush had taken all money from the Fire Act Grant prior to 9/11, but had reinstated this fund and doubled its budget after 9/11. Georgia has a coalition of fire departments called the Georgia Mutual Aid group which consists of 50 fire department systems throughout the State of Georgia and assists local agencies in handling natural and man made disasters. One change that has occurred after 9/11 is that now there areas of the fire department buildings that are no longer accessible by the public, such as their control center. Chief Tolbert advised the group to consider which parts of their libraries should be restricted from public access. He also advised that all staff members be informed on their emergency procedures and have a procedure for items such as book bags that are left unattended.
Two sessions were offered following Chief Tolbert's session – "Technical Services in Today's Libraries," which was presented by Patricia Manack from Hillsborough Community College Library, and "Shelf Management and Moving the Collection," presented by Joyce Nielsen of Hope College Libraries in Holland, Michigan. I attended the first session. I have been in technical services for nine years, and it is always interesting to see how other libraries accomplish the same tasks that I do daily. It was fairly similar, and very informative to those who didn't have technical services experience. Patricia's group has gone from a director, 2 librarians, and two staff members to no director, one librarian and 3 and 1/5 paraprofessionals doing ordering, receiving, processing and cataloging. The "1/5" is a "retiree" who continues to work one day a week. Patricia presented a video of her group, showing the path that a book takes once it arrives in the mail. Patricia suggested obtaining a copy of the "Librarians Yellow Pages" which has contact information for thousand of vendors.
At a very delicious luncheon spotlighting southern cuisine, Hilary Rogers of the CNN Library addressed the group on "The life of the tape from satellite start to digital finish." The CNN Library started with 2 librarians and now have a staff of 50, most of which are librarians. She spoke about the chaos involved with such an "immediate" need type industry. With each "breaking news" story, footage must very quickly be retrieved that will go with the story, such as using "Janes" reference databases for information regarding weapons or airplane specs. Currently they are working on a project to digitize all of the tape footage currently contained in their library.
Another function of the CNN footage library is to license footage to other companies, such as ABC News or perhaps someone making a documentary. Cataloging footage is an interesting task because you do it by watching the video and writing what you see. Ms. Rogers example was "Bill Clinton; Bill Clinton – handshake at traffic barrier; Bill Clinton - hugging female; Female - wearing beret; Monica Lewinsky; Monica Lewinsky – hugging Bill Clinton." It would be listed in the database this way, so that if you happened to need a picture of a woman in a beret, the infamous picture of President Clinton hugging Monica Lewinsky would pop up. The CNN operates 24 hours a day and is open only to CNN/Turner employees.
After lunch, Linda Slusar from the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, spoke to us on "Building your professional portfolio." She first discussed what a portfolio might be used for, such as being a supplement to your year end performance evaluation. It is a great way to spotlight your accomplishments and activities when such items are being factored in to your evaluation. It is not always easy for supervisors to keep track of everything that staff is doing throughout the year, and this is an excellent way to refresh their memories. Also, creating a portfolio is an ideal tool for assessing where you are, where you want to go, what your experiences are and what your strengths are. When offering a portfolio to your supervisor to aid in your evaluation, keep in mind that you do not want to offer too much information or too many examples of the same skill. One brochure would highlight your skills in graphics and design – if you've done 15, you do not need to include all 15.
Next she discussed what might be included in a portfolio. The following items were suggested to be included in your portfolio:
You may also include other items that might be work related whether they were done at work or not. Information such as this might include work as a volunteer at another library on the weekends, a web page you might've designed, or a brochure for a program at your child's school to show your design skills).
To sum up, the purpose of a portfolio is to be a tool. It is "an indication of your expertise in your subject area….proof of your skills and abilities…shows samples of your work… and contains your personal and professional goals."
Ironically, the last session, "Time Management," started late due to some earlier sessions running long. Margaret Barron spoke to the group about time management and stress levels. The group took a questionnaire to gauge their stress levels. The majority was in the middle, moderate to high, level of stress. Margaret offered suggestions on how to avoid unnecessary stresses, such as prioritizing your work with three baskets – red for high priority (24 hour turnaround), yellow for medium priority (24-28 hrs), and blue for low priority (48-72 hrs). She also stated that controlling your distractions and dropping unimportant tasks when needed help to lower stress levels. When working on a large project, you might consider changing your work hours to the times when you are most productive or have the least amount of distractions. You might keep an activity log to determine when you are most productive and energetic, and to determine how your eating habits contribute to your energy levels. Finally, she offered the suggestion of creating tasks lists and prioritizing them to assist with reducing stress and streamlining your workflow.
After this meeting, officers were elected for the following year. The are: Pat McQuitty, president; Jackie Lakatos, Secretary; Rita Gibson, Northwest Region director; Paula Greer, Southwest Region director; Rita McGeary, Central Region director; Joyce, Nielsen, Constitution Committee chair; Cynthia Mielke, Public Relations and Publications Committee chair; Paula Greer, membership registrar; and Patricia Manack, Southeast Region director. The offices of Treasurer and Northeast Region chair were unfilled at this time.
The after elections, comments regarding the conference overall were taken from the floor. It was felt that the conference was a great success and enjoyed by all who attended. On to Canada for 2003!
Conference 2003
Bea Piddock of the U.S. Census Bureau gave an informative presentation about the 2000 census and how to search the census home page. She explained how the new, more complex data on race and ethnicity will be shown and how various geographic hierarchies are set up. She demonstrated some searching techniques. Visit the home page
Sherryl Robinson of the University of Arkansas says there is a "leadership crisis because too many people do nothing at all. Supervisors are often appointed but are not trained." A good leader needs to be
Leaders need to know where they 're going and to include followers in planning. "The power of leadership is commitment of followers to the leader."
Joseph Tolbert, Assistant Fire Chief in Atlanta, is a veteran firefighter with expertise in bombs and explosives. He explained that disaster planning is nothing new. Fire departments' plans for handling major disasters started with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and has kept building on the knowledge gained in each disaster since. Unfortunately, terrorists too learn from earlier attacks.
"We always said shelving is one of the most important jobs in the library. Since we knew that's really true, we decided to pay an extra dollar an hour for shelf management time. That has helped make a real difference," Joyce Nielsen of Hope College reported. Employ a separate staff for shelving since the type of person who does shelving best is probably not the best candidate to work at a service desk. At least schedule and train separately for shelf management and desk service. Create advantages for your staff, whether or not you can give them higher pay: let them use headphones for music, give special treats or rewards for tasks completed, make schedules flexible. Try working in teams with many people working at the same time, pairing experienced workers with newer ones.
In her teaching of library technical assistants, Linda Slusar of College of DuPage, has her students make a portfolio to document what they can do. Students find the portfolios very helpful in doing self-evaluation, in focusing on career goals, and in applying for advancement or new jobs.
Some people "enjoy the adrenaline buzz of meeting tight deadlines," says Margaret Barron of the Leadership Development Institute for Support Staff. Participants rated them shelves on stress level measurement tool. The majority ranked in the middle, moderate to high, level of stress. Margaret says you can learn to manage your time and avoid potential burn out. Some ideas include:
Prioritize tasks: Use three colored in boxes:
Keep an activity log to see
Submitted by Susan Kellet, Emory University
Next year the Annual Conference will be June 19-21, 2003, in Toronto, Ontario. The exchange rate on the Canadian dollar makes it a bargain for Americans. (To our affiliate in Canada, we apologize, but it does help make a visit attractive.) Toronto is a beautiful city to visit, easy to move about and filled with lots to see and do. Start planning now.
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