Life Goal

I graduated!



The ceremony was nice. No long speeches but it still took 2 hours to read everyone's name.

Week Ten, Day 15- November 30

Today, for the last time at the museum, we finished making the finding aid for the collection. Since we had already collected all the information in the spreadsheet, it was very easy to just take the information from the metadata to make the finding aid for researchers. We had worked on it some the last day we had been there, but we were able to finish a finding aid for the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Since we were not able to get the 1980s and 1990s cataloged, someone else will have to make the finding aid. I hope the finding aids will be useful for people wanted to search the collection.

I have really enjoyed my time working at the BBRM and I think all the things I have experienced will help me in my future life as a librarian. I think the most important thing I learned was the importance of organizing materials in the most logical way. If the materials aren't organized well, researchers would have a harder time using teh collection adn might not find the information they need.

Week Nine, Day Fourteen- November 16

Oh, the last day of the directed study before Thanksgiving! So, today we had a rather productive day and we finished all the 1970s pictures and started and finished the 1970s papers and documents. I really think that practice makes perfect and we are just getting so much faster at all the cataloging. We seem to be having the same problem of pictures not being organized in the best way, but hopefully someone will be able to go back and fix this problem. I just can't believe we were able to work as fast as we did today. Maybe its because we are so ready for Thanksgiving! It is kinda sad that it took this long to get into a good rhythm, but better late than never!

Week Eight, Day Thirteen- November 13

Today we were able to finish the pictures for the 1960s. The pictures for this decade took up one whole filing box! I was really surprised we were able to finish today because there were just so many pictures to catalog. As we worked, I began to notice pictures that should have been grouped together because they were of the same event, but we had failed to place them together. I'm thinking that if we have time, we might be able to go back and put the pictures in a better order and just rework the spread sheet, but I doubt we will have the time. It really surprises me that this happened because we spent so much time at the beginning of the project trying to put the pictures in the most logical order. I think the reason behind the mix up is that two people have been working on everything at the same time. When you are able to work on your own, you get to handle each picture and you would be able to make connections that are just not made when two people are handing the pictures.
I think in the future, anyone who works on the collection should just work on one decade at a time on their own. This way they would get to know the decade and could make connections between different pictures.

We were also able to finish the paper work for the 1960s today. It didn't take us that long because we have found a good system of getting through all the paper work. While I type the information into the spread sheet, Latoya gets all the papers in the next folder in the best order and reads over everything. She is then able to give me a brief overview of the information so that I don't have to read everything to find out what should be included in the spread sheet. I think working with a partner works for papers and documents but not so much for pictures.

Week Eight, Day Twelve- November 9

So today we began working on the 1960s material. I can't believe how many head shots are in the collection for this decade. We spent the day working on just photos and hopefully we will be able to finish them the next day we come. The photos in this collection had more information written on the back, I'm guessing because more of these people are still around and Bob has been able to speak with them about their experience in the black radio industry. I think as the collection develops there will be more information added to these materials as more people find out about the project and are able to add any knowledge they possess. I really do hope that anyone who works on this project in the future is able to talk with the people in the photos and get all the information they have about this time in Birmingham history because it would be a real shame to lose what they know.

Week Seven, Day Eleven- November 2

Today we were able to finish up processing the 1950s collection. Most of the documents of the 1950s are newspaper articles which I really enjoyed reading as we processed them. Several of the articles were about racial issues in Birmingham and how people tried to shut down several of the black radio stations. There were also several instructional manuals for various radio devices from the 1950s. We processed them along with the rest of the materials, but I am having a hard time thinking of reasons that someone might want to look at them in the future. Well, maybe someone could use them if they were trying to repair an old piece of equipment. There are also several radio devices that Bob would like us to catalog and the instruction manuals might go to them. I definitely think we will need Bob's help in trying to figure out the name of each device.

As I looked back on some of the metadata that we worked on previously, I noticed that I did not include the newspaper article title for some of the articles. This was a huge mistake and I will need to go back and fix it the next time because what good is this description "WBCO newspaper article from Nov. 11, 1958"? Nothing, that's what.

Week Six, Day Ten- October 30

Today we worked towards finishing the metadata for the 1950s. I really thought that since we finished the pictures the last time we worked, but we would be able to finish the documents in one day. No such luck! There was just so much to look at and type. The processing goes so much faster with pictures because there is only a little bit of information that you need about a picture, who is in it, what year was it taken, and in the case of this collection, to what radio station does it relate? Well, the same can not be said for documents.

I think it takes almost twice as long to catalog a document than a picture. I think this is mostly due to the fact that I enjoy reading most of the newspaper articles and some of the letters to get a better feel for how to describe them in the metadata. But its difficult to write a description because there is just so much information in most of the documents that a little line in a spread sheet. I don't think its good to overly describe the document because then things get too wordy and it might make it difficult in searching by research for items of interest. I think with practice I'll get better at making precise descriptions for documents like I can for photos.

Week Six, Day Nine- October 26

Today we continued to work on the materials from the 1950s. There are just a ton of photos in this collection! Most of the photos were head shots or promotional photos of various radio personalities which I think is interesting, but I'm not sure how it would be helpful to researchers unless they were just looking for a picture of a particular radio personality that they had already researched. Whenever I work on processing a collection, I always like to imagine the ways in which researcher might be able to use the items in the collection. I guess I just haven't thought hard enough to discover the ways in which this collections will be used, but I'm sure that I will come up with something. When I first started to work on a collection at the archive at the university, I hard a very difficult time thinking of ways someone would want to use the materials I was working with, but as time went on, I began to see the value in the items and the entire collection. I'm sure with time I will be able to think of something.

We were able to finish up the pictures today and go a start on the documents. I find this to be much more entertaining and interesting because some of the letters and newspaper articles really tell the story of the development of black radio in Birmingham and other cities in the United States. I especially enjoyed looking at various Federal Communication Commission reports because they give facts and figures to the overall history of black radio.

Week Five, Day Eight- October 23

Today we continued to work on creating a metadata spread sheet for the collection. Since we had finished the 1930s and 1940s, we began working on the 1950s. There is a lot more material for this decade so it will probably take us at least another day of working to finish it up. There are a lot more photos in the this collection and many of them are head shots of various radio personalities. It looks like Bob or someone else has written names and dates on some of them, but we will have to talk with him after we finish processing all the materials to find as much information about each item as he has. I'm also beginning to think about ways that we can put information that Bob might not be totally sure about into the metadata. If he thinks he knows who is in a picture, but isn't totally sure, we don't want to put that into the description field because it might end up being wrong and that might lead a researcher down the wrong path. But it could be right and we wouldn't want to exclude information we are not sure about.

This issue is something that the world of metadata must work on and try to figure out a solution. When one is processing a collection and making the metadata, you can't put in information that you are unsure of, but you also don't want to leave it out. It would be helpful to develop a field within the metadata schema that would also a person to include information but make sure the patron or researcher know the information may or may not be correct. It would also be helpful to let users make additions to metadata, but this also could only be done if the information is displayed in such a way as to make it clear it came from the public rather than the archive itself.

Week Five, Day Seven- October 19

I felt like today was one of the most productive days that we had at the museum. Since most of the photos had made it into protective sleeves, we were able to move on to the actual cataloging of the images and papers. We began with the 1930s since this decade had the least amount of materials. At first we started out with the unique identifier system that Latoya and I had developed earlier, but as we worked, we found that it really wasn't going to work for the needs the collection. At first, we thought that we should work each individual radio station into the number, but this became a problem because some of the materials were not related to any one radio station. This caused us to drop the radio station from the system. So, our final unique identifier number will look like this 0002.0002.000001. The first number tells you what type of material the item is, whether its a picture, manuscript, or recording. The next number tells you what decade the item is from and the last number is the individual item's number within each collection. We were able to make a spread sheet for the 1930s and 1940s. Once we have made a spread sheet for each decade and given each item its own unique identifier, Latoya and I are going to sit down with Bob and have him give us as much information about each piece as he can. We will use this information to refine the metadata and to create a finding aid that can be used by researchers or other interested persons.

Week Four, Day Six- October 16

Today, more archive materials from Gaylord arrived so we were able to finish putting all the photographs into protective sleeves and finish putting all the manuscripts into their own folders. Even though this process takes forever, I think it is really important because we want to know this collection as well as we possibly can before we begin the cataloging process. Not taking the time to get to know the collection can have a very negative affect on the final product of a finding aid because we would not be able to link up similar materials so that it is easier for a researcher to find the information they are looking for. I know it can be very frustrating when you don't have any idea the proper chronology for a collection and you are forced to make one up by yourself. Because a collection may no longer be in the correct order, it is so very important to take the time to look at each item, both as an individual record and as the item relates to the rest of the collection. If the person developing the finding aid does not take the time to match similar materials, a researcher may find it difficult and frustrating to use the materials. It really is up to the person who is working one on one with the materials to take the time to put them in the most logical order possible. I hope that all the time we are spending looking at the materials as we put them in protective sleeves and folders will enable us to develop the most logical system for organizing everything which will lead to a well thought out and developed finding aid.

Week Four, Day Five- October 12

Today we were able to get into the workroom and spend most of the time putting pictures into the protective cases. We then moved on to putting all the transcription disks into folders. This gave us a chance to see what kind of recording we will be dealing with. As I understand it, each transcription disk contains a radio program that was recorded at an earlier date, then played by different radio stations at different times. They seem to be the almost like a re-run of a radio program. I really enjoy getting to go through all the materials and find out what types of materials make up the beginning of the museum.

Since it was a some what slow day, we were able to talk more about the cataloging process. I hope that we will be able to get through all the materials and make a metadata spread sheet for each collection and then take that information to make a finding aid.

Week Three, Day Four- October 5

Today was a rather slow day at the directed study because we were unable to get into the project work room. Although we had no chance to work with the materials, Latoya and I decided that we would use this time to begin to develop a mission statement for the museum and a collection development policy that can be used as more materials are added to the collection.

Here is what I came up with as the mission statement. "The mission of the Birmingham Black Radio Museum is to collect and preserve materials relating to the history of African-American radio in the city of Birmingham, Alabama and the surrounding areas." I feel like this is a good mission statement because it is simple and it lays out exactly what the museum is, or at least what it wants to become.
The collection development policy is also a vital part in the beginning of an archive or museum.

The museum will collect any materials relating to the history and development of black radio in the city of Birmingham, Alabama and the surrounding areas. The museum is most interested in collections materials that explain the history of specific black radio stations in the Birmingham area.

Materials to be collected
• Newspaper articles
• Photographs of radio personalities
• Photographs of radio sponsored events
• Oral histories from persons who were active in the development of black radio in the Birmingham area.
• Manuscripts from radio stations
• Manuscripts from radio personalities
• 3-D artifacts from radio stations

I feel like this is a good collection development policy because it is simple and includes all types of materials that the museum might want to collect. It lays out specifically what materials the museum wants so there will not be any problems with what to do with irrelevant materials.

Week Two, Day Three- September 28

Yesterday was a super exciting day at the ol' directed study because we got in a bunch of supplies and materials. It was like Christmas, only instead of toys and games, Santa had brought boxes of folders and protective covering for photographs. It was really nice to be able to spend the whole day putting everything in nice, protective plastic. This also gave us the chance to look over the collection again, because its always important to know your materials before you start the cataloging process.
In addition to getting everything into protective cases, my directed study buddy, Latoya and I discussed the possibility of making some type of exhibition. Nothing too fancy or complex, just a little one so we could get some experience putting one together. The collection we are working with presents two different topics for display. The first, which I think would just look great, is a display of the large collection of sheet music that is part of the collection. I think we could pick maybe 20 pieces and make a really nice display. The other idea was to make a display with all the head shots of radio personalities and call it "Voices of Black Radio." I like both ideas and we might be able to make two displays. I think they could be very useful in promoting the museum and getting the word out.
Making a display would, I think, be very interesting and great practice for the future. We would get to discuss what types of materials would work best for our given topic, learn how to construct the display, and do research on the particular topic. I hope that before the end of the semester, we will be able to at least do one small display.

Week One, Day Two- September 25

Today at the Birmingham Black Radio Museum I developed a unique identifier system for the collection. I began by looking at a system that is used at the Hoole Special Collection to see if it could be a good jumping off point to begin the development of one that would work for the collection. The Hoole system is made up of three parts, the first number is used for the identification of the type of material being cataloged, whether it is a photograph, recording, or manuscript. The second number identifies the collection name, like the Wade Hall Small Collection. The last number is the used to identify a specific item in the collection. There is also a fourth number, but it is only used if an item is more than one page long if it is a manuscript or if it is over one tape long if it is a recording. The final number for an item in the collection looks something like this 0003_000056_000001_0001. If I wear looking at this unique identifier, it would tell me all the basic information I would need to know, what kind of item is it, what collection does it belong to, and how long it is.
Using this as a jumping off point, my directed study buddy, Latoya, and I began brainstorming what kind of information would be important to include in the unique identifier for this collection. While talking with Bob Friedman, he informed me that he would like to see each radio station have its own collection, so we began the number with the four letter call sign of each radio station. The next piece of information that needed to be address in a unique identifier is the type of material being cataloged. The material type will be identified with a four digit number to correspond with each material type in the collection, manuscript, photograph, voice/ sound recording, newspaper clipping, and so on. Next, each decade will be broken down within the collection to make almost a mini collection within the larger one of the radio station. Bob asked if this could be done to make using the materials by year easier for anyone doing research. The unique identifier system at Hoole does not have any numbers that correlate with the year the item was created, but I believe that is because their collections are so far ranging that putting the year in the collection would not make sense or work for them. The last number in the collection will used to identify each item within each collection. This number will be eight digits long to ensure that the collection never outgrows the numbering system. There is also a final, four digit number that will be used only if an item has more than one page.
I think the most important thing I learned today while developing this numbering system was to really think about what types of materials you are trying to catalog and organize and then use that information to inform your system. If I had just used the same system as the one at Hoole, I would have had a hard time making it work for this collection and its specific needs. I think as we work more with the materials and prepare them for the creation of metadata, we might have to change the system a little, but as I see it now, I think it will work well with the collection and serve all the needs the collection will have for a unique identifier system.

Week One, Day One- September 21

Today was my first full day at what will become the Birmingham Black Radio Museum. My directed study buddy, Latoya, and I spent the day going through much of the collection to get a feel for what we would be working with for the next semester. We went through so many folders of photos and letters! A good deal of the materials had names and a few had dates, but the museum project director, Bob Friedman said that he knew who almost everyone was in the photos or he would be able to find out. It will be so nice to have a resource that will be able to identify a great majority of the people related to the collection.
As we went through the collection, we took note of what types of materials and what would be needed to organize and preserve them. Most of the collection is made up of photographs and luckily, none of them seem to be too deteriorated, so hopefully once we get them into protective casing they will last a long time.
After we finished going through everything to get a feel for what was there, we made a list of tasks that we need to complete to get a good start of the collection becoming a museum and being useful for researchers.
1. Organize and group like materials
a. By radio station
b. By decade
2. Place in protective cases and folders
3. Develop a unique identification system for the collection
4. Migrate materials into new technology
5. Begin to catalog
6. Create metadata
7. Scan materials into a computer
I’m not sure how far we will get in this list over the course of the semester, but I think that we will be able to at least organize the materials, develop a unique identification system, and being the process of cataloging and creating metadata. I really want to get to this stage in the process because it is my favorite part of the archival process as the metadata opens the materials up to be searched and used to their full extent.
I think in order to get the most out of this experience; it would be good for me to read some materials about the creation of unique identification systems in order to create the best one for this collection. If might also be very helpful to find out as much about the history of black radio in Birmingham. This would give me a better idea of what I was looking at when we get to the creation of metadata because you always want to know as much about a collection as possible before arriving at this stage.

I'm Ready!!!

Next week, I really get to start my directed study. I can't wait. When I first visited the future Birmingham Black Radio Museum, I was a little nervous, but the closer I get to starting, the more excited I am about the whole experience. I am currently in a class about archives and today we had a great guest speaker from the Paul W. Bryant Museum. Hearing him talk about the museum and all their collections really got me excited about working to get this project started. I know its a very long way away from being as good as the Bryant Museum, but it was really interesting to see what might be.

1st Day

Today was my first day of a directed study that I will be doing over the course of this semester. I will be working at the Birmingham Black Radio Museum. Right now, the museum is more of just an idea than an actual museum. The idea for the museum came from the owner of WJLD, Gary Richardson, and its manager, Bob Friedman. I am really looking forward to working on the archives that will become part of the museum. Right now everything is just in boxes and there has been some organization by the person who is spearheading the idea for the museum, Bob Friedman. At this point, it is my understanding that the collection for the library contains several transcription disks, which is how radio programs were recorded and shared back in the day, some radio catalogs, sheet music, pictures from the history of several black radio stations, and other papers that have been collected that tell the history of black radio in Birmingham.

The project is a very long way from becoming a museum, but I think it will be really fun to get in at the ground level of the project and hopefully see it grow into a full fledged museum. It seems like the first thing that we will be doing is get all the materials into archive safe containers and folders. The most important thing right now is to make sure that the materials in the collection are preserved and are not allowed to deteriorate any more. Then we will get to begin the organization process. Much of the materials are already organized to some point, but I think that they will need more work. This has always been my favorite part of the archiving process. I love to find the links between different pieces of the collection and building the bridges between every part of the collection. I'm not sure how much of the organizing we will be able to get to, but I hope that we will get to spend at least a few days on this. One thing I highly doubt we will be able to work on this semester is cataloging the collection. This has to be the most time consuming part of archiving and I really don't think that we will be able to get this far in the process.

I'm really excited about the whole experience and I can't wait to get my hands dirty and start putting the collection together. Another part of this whole project that I'm really excited about it that fact that we will have a real life resource in Bob Friedman. He knows most of the history, so he will really be able to help get everything organized and provide a great deal of history for each piece in the collection.

Start of School, End of Summer Reading...

I hate that school is about to start. Not that I don't love school, but its beginning signals the end of my summer reading. I read all year long, but the summer always seems to make reading more fun. Even with a job, I still find the need to constantly have a book around me during the summer. I think it comes from years of having to do summer reading for school. I almost miss having someone tell me what I should be reading but when it comes to picking something for myself, I'm always way too indecisive.

While I didn't accomplish my goal of rereading all the Harry Potter books this summer, I still think that I did my fair share of reading. I think my favorite book of the summer was the Omnivore's Dilemma. I really enjoyed learning about where most of the food in America comes from and if you are thinking about becoming a vegetarian, it will push you over the edge in to the land of the meatless. I also read The World is Flat which I would recommend to anyone, especially someone that is looking for a new career. The author emphasizes the importance of making yourself special and unique as the world becomes more competitive and "flattens out."

I was also able to indulge my love of Jane Austen by reading several Pride and Prejudice spin-offs and squeals. While none can make the original, I would recommend the An Assembly Such as This as an interesting look at the story from the perspective of Mr. Darcy.

All in all, I think this summer's reading was both interesting and entertaining.

Did you know?

Did you know that every time you sign up for some type of account online, that you may be helping to digitize books? That word that is all distorted that you much type out in order to sign up for an online service is called a CAPTCHA. It was developed to make sure that only people were signing up for email accounts or buying tickets online. Computers are unable to pass a CAPTCHA test, so when one is passed, it is safe to assume that a real person is signing up for something and not a computer program. This is all very interesting and useful, but the real story is how CAPTCHA is now being used to digitize the large back log of newspapers and other printed materials. This program is called reCAPTCHA and was developed as a way to put the CAPTCHA test to "good use." When a person signs up for an online they are given a CAPTCHA challenge to read as well as another word from a book or newspaper that was being digitized. The reCAPTCHA word could not be read by optical character recognition software and it needed the human eye to read it. When the word is entered as part of the CAPTCHA challenge, the reCAPTCHA word is then sent back to the service that is digitizing the material and the unrecognizable word is now recognizable by the computer. According to Wikipedia, the reCAPTCHA program provides the equivalent to 12,000 hours per day of free man hours to digitization projects.

I learned about this great idea on Nova Science Now. The problem of computers not being able to read and digitize a piece of printed materials was one of the topics that was covered in my metadata class. Its so interesting that someone was able to come up with a way to use a simple computer test to help in quest to digitize as much printed materials as possible. Think how much has already been digitized by using this program and all without anyone having to do any real "work."

Using JSTOR

Just Keep Blogging , Just Keep Blogging

Over the course of this past month, I believe that I have developed a slight addiction to blogging. I've fought this whole blogging thing for a long time, but now that I have been given a chance to really play around with it, I know see why so many people do it on a regular basis. Not only is blogging fun and easy, it can also give you a great advantage in the library world.

First benefit a blog can provide, self-promotion. When applying for a job, the employer will be looking for someway to distinguish between all the applicants. A blog is a great way to do this. Blogging not only shows off your interest in a certain field, but it can also highlight your ability to use Web 2.0, which is always a nice thing for any employer to know. By writing a blog, you get yourself out there on the web and a potential employer need only Google you to find more information. As we move away from paper to more digital forms of representation, a blog can become this century's calling card.

Another benefit that blogging can provide is the chance to improve upon one's writing. The ability to write and to write well is always important for a librarian because you never know when you might be called upon to write a grant proposal or some type or report. Its best to just keep those skills up to par.

One other benefit, perhaps the most important one, is the chance to become part of a community. Blogs provide people with similar interests to keep in touch and to see what others in the field are up to in terms of research and writing. Being part of a community also provides self-promotion as you are able to develop a network of contacts outside your library.

Web 3.0, where are you? I'm waiting....

I am so ready for Web 3.0. Think how nice it will be to have an internet that works with you, that can think in a more "human" way. Instead of having to think of different terms for what you want, the internet of Web 3.0 will already have a good idea of what kind of information you are looking for and will be able to find exactly what you want with little effort on the part of the user.
With the ease of searching the Web 3. o will likely bring the world of information, what will people need librarians for anymore?

Although searching will be easy, the most important aspect of Web 3.0 is the interpenetration of information. I believe this will be the future of the librarian. Instead of being an expert on finding and organizing information, the librarian will have to help patrons evaluate what they find. Web 2.o connected people and Web 3.0 will connect information and how knows more about information than a librarian? No one, thats who. Even though Web 3.0 promises to make searching easy as pie, I still believe that librarians will be needed as much as ever to help patrons deal with all the information that is provided to them. The librarian will move from finder to evaluator. Since Web 3.0 is still in the works, it will be interesting what fields within the library community will find it useful.

Personal Archiving

Trying to find something useful to do at work while I waited for some images to load, I decided it would be a good idea to clean out my Inbox. In doing so, I can across a great website that Dr. MacCall sent out about doing a little personal archiving. Still waiting for my images to load, I looked over the sight for a few minutes and decided that its contents totally deserved their own blog! The site combines two information topics I love, metadata and archives!

The site explains that so much of our lives are saved in digital format that everyone should take the time to make sure they do not lose this valuable information. Think about it for a minute. In the past, people were able to save their physical letters and photos to tell the story of their lives. What will be saved from our own lives if we delete our emails or our computer crashes.
The website offers great tips on how to protect your digital memories. For photos, it suggests making a CD of the pictures, uploading them to a site like Flickr, and printing out the ones that are very special. For emails, the site suggests saving important emails to your computer's hard drive and putting a copy on a CD. The biggest issue facing most digital materials is their hardware or software becoming obsolete, so its very important that with each new system upgrade, that your digital files are upgrade too.

After reading this article, I decided that I needed to make a little personal archive for myself. You never know who will become famous. I had already made metadata for my photo collection, but now I am going to start saving emails and other digital records of my life for the future.
I really think this website brings to life the importance of both archives and metadata for the average person because everyone has a history worth saving and sharing. I hope that everyone in the future will catch the archiving bug and make their own memories last forever. (Like mine will!)

A New Librarian

I was reading a very interesting article about the future of librarians. In this age of knowledge saturation, a new librarian has emerged, the "knowledge librarian." This new librarian will have to be a "content czar." While anyone can preform a search on their topic of choice, this knowledge librarian will bring organization to the vast amount of knowledge that is available. Through the organization of information, the knowledge librarian can also make new connections between pieces of information that will enhance the follow of knowledge across different areas. Information is the new "raw material" of this new knowledge-based economy. The growth of information and its quick and efficient retrieval proves what a necessity having well trained librarians on staff.

In the past, many companies did away with their librarian, but now, as the pool of information grows faster than the average person can manage it, more and more people are beginning to see what benefits a library can and will bring to their organization. Even though librarians and their services are becoming crucial to the growth of a business or industry, the librarian can not simply stay behind a desk and wait for the opportunity to come along. Those that will benefit from this new knowledge-based world are the ones that get out into the companies and communities and find their own opportunities. Librarians must be willing to engage others and find ways to connect the information dots.

I believe the librarian of the future will be positioned to be a key player in this information and knowledge driven economy because the librarian will have the unique ability to handle any type of information that comes their way.

Sweet, Sweet Metadata

Since I am the Metadata Maven, I thought that I should address this subject in some way. I recently took a metadata class at the University of Alabama with Dr. MacCall (great teacher). I really enjoyed the class in which I learned more about Web 2.0 than I could have ever hoped to learn on my own. Although the class was taught in a more "this is the future of metadata and not the creation of metadata itself" I still became fascinated with the topic. I work in a archive at the University and I spend all day looking at metadata as I scan documents into their database. I really would like to explore this topic in some type of job where I would be able to interact with both people and metadata.

The field of metadata is developing before our eyes. Its not like cataloging, where the rules have been set down and everybody follows them. When dealing with metadata, everyone has their own way of doing things. Standards are developing, but they are by no means suitable for every user. Its going to take several years before we even begin to really get into figuring out how to deal with metadata and how to make its creation efficient for more people.

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer

I was enjoying one of my favorite news broadcasts, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer tonight and I found one of their stories extremely interesting. They were reporting on how many in Iran are using various social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, to report what was happening in their country after the elections last week. Apparently, the internet in Iran has slowed to a crawl and many of these social networking sites have been blocked by the government. The News Hour had two guests on the program to talk about what is happening in Iran and both of them talked about the importance of these sites in organizing rallies for the opposition leader and for getting information about what was happening in the nation out to the world.

I really found all of this every interesting because most people, myself included, only see social networking sites as fun and a way to waste some time, but they really can be used for the greater good. I was shocked at how even the hard liners in Iran were using these sites to help promote their agenda. They even went so far as to dress up like the opposition to create videos that they then were posting on Facebook and Youtube.

These sites are really becoming the future for all of us and everyone should know at least something about them. I think that in the future, these sites will play a very large role in library outreach. I hope that I am able to keep up with the times so that I will be able to use what I know one day in a job.

Libraries... My Future

I am too indecisive about my future and what should occupy my time. What is my life's calling? I often wonder if any job will make me truly happy. I believe this is because I am normally happy with whatever I happen to be doing at the time. When I worked in a pharmacy during high school, I thought that I would be happy as a pharmacist, when I worked in a HR department during college, I thought that would be my life's work. I hold neither of these jobs, but now I am working towards becoming a librarian. I enjoy library school and I am having fun with my classes and I enjoy what is being taught to me, but I can't help but wonder, do I enjoy this because I really like it, or is it just because this happens to be what I am doing right now?

When I began my MLIS, I thought that I would like to become an archivist and bury myself in some climate control room for the rest of my life. As I have moved through the program, I am beginning to think that may not be the best path for my life. I always told people that I don't much care for having to work with others every day, but I am beginning to think that I might just be a people person, so the climate control room is out for me. I have recently taken a class on metadata and I am now finding that topic to be very interesting. But I wonder if thats only because I just finished a class about the subject. One area that I am beginning to find more and more appealing is library usage and user outreach. I think that I might really enjoy getting people excited about using the library and finding ways to get more people to utilize the resources that libraries offer. Perhaps this career path will make me happy.

Its both a blessing and a curse to be happy in every job. I might not ever find that "perfect" job that fits me like a glove, but its a nice thing to know that no matter what, chances are that I will be happy with whatever job comes my way.