(SF Trip recap) Pumpkin Soup and a Presentation

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous when I walked through the door of the History Center -- but when my Supervisor greeted me warmly and we immediately launched into friendly conversation, much of my nervousness vanished. Everyone in the Center was so helpful -- from the woman at the desk who always smiled and offered to call my Supervisor out whenever I returned from elsewhere in the library (at least 6 times, probably more) to the man who walked me to the BART station afterwards. Thanks! 

Even though this was our first meeting in person, it felt as though my Supervisor and I were old friends: we had so much to talk about, just like old friends do: the project, the peer libraries, the presentation, my future career plans, the upcoming DPLA-WEST meeting, the exhibits ... She was on a tight schedule that day (work doesn't automatically stop just because an intern is in town), but there was just enough time for lunch together at the Asian Art Museum cafe before the presentation.

My throat felt scratchy so I opted for a soothing pumpkin (kobacha) soup -- very delicious! -- and an iced tea, along with a small container of bright green chuka seaweed salad (I have an unexplainable fondness for the stuff, even though it is very messy). After a quick peek in the gift shop window, we returned to the Library to set up the presentation. As we left the building, I vowed to come back at least once more, for the exhibits, the gift shop, and that soup ... mmmm



The audience was fairly small (approx. 7 people) -- but the room was smaller! It took a minute or so of "musical chairs" before everyone fit comfortably around the table, but the mood was light and I got an opportunity to meet each one. Since I'd been up all night writing it, my presentation was nearly unrehearsed, but because it followed the same flow and format as my draft report, I knew what to expect next,so the words came easily. I wrote key points in their entirety on my slides so that I wouldn't accidentally forget them, or misquote important quotes.


When my presentation was over, there were many good questions, and I was relieved that I was able to answer them. Some were clarifications, and those gave me good clues as to what might need revising and how best to revise it. Overall, the response was positive, and I was very happy that they'd found my presentation helpful and informative, and that I was on the right track ...

It's done!

All 58 pages of it.
My recommendation report, that is.
I'm very happy. 
I'm also very sleepy.

Goodnight!

(SF Trip recap) Finding the 6th Floor

"I'm looking for the quickest way to the library ..."
(I'd intended to find that route with a map the night before, but ran out of time)

The receptionist laughed. "Walking will get you there faster than anything."
He pulled out a small map and a red pen.

"You just go downhill about seven blocks and then turn to the left. Cross through the Civic Center -- be sure to have a look at that cupola -- Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time! -- and through the park, past the Asian Museum, and there you are."

Relieved that I was much closer to the library than I thought, I thanked him, grabbed my computer case and checked my watch. I had 45 minutes -- "more than enough" -- but wanted to get a quick start, just in case I got lost or disoriented. As I walked down the hill, the weight of my swinging laptop seemed to propel me forward, which was just as well, because I'd begun to slow down to look at all the interesting shops and signs. Chinese, Burmese, Lebanese ...

Crossing the Civic Center park, I dutifully turned round to look at the cupola. The receptionist was right: it was very beautiful. Especially in the morning light. From here, it was a simple matter of crossing the street to get to the library. Once there, I made a call (outside the library, of course). My site supervisor's familiar, cheerful voice said meet me in the History Center on the 6th floor.

This proved to be a fun challenge. Though conventionally square on the outside, the Central Library is unusually twisty on the inside. It has an open, central atrium around which the floors and staircases curve. As I stood in the center of this lovely atrium and looked up, I finally realized why the logo for the library -- the logo that appeared on my formal correspondence with our "peers" -- is a spiral, and not, say, a cable car or the Golden Gate bridge or some other more obvious symbol of San Francisco. (Later, I would find out that the building and logo were based on the shape and proportions of a nautilus shell). 

But how to get to the 6th floor? There was a central staircase that seemed to go up that far -- and in most circumstances, I gladly take stairs -- but with a nearly-ten pound computer on me, and wearing a nice outfit that was already a little bit warm, I opted not to. It wouldn't make a good first impression to appear flushed and out-of-breath.

Luckily, there were elevators. The first one I found seemed to only go down, but on the other side of the building, there were several that went up. As I exited the elevator on the 6th floor, two bold temptations dared me to pass by without stopping:  the Golden Gate International Exposition exhibit, and the Innocents Abroad exhibit.

But I resisted -- if only by promising myself that I'd come back to see them after the presentation ...     

   

(SF Trip recap) A Rare View and a Light Rain

I have a coupon pinned to my bulletin board: it's good for one reduced boat-fare to Santa Catalina Island, redeemable any Monday through Thursday from now to November 1st. I tell myself whenever I see it (which is every time I sit down to do homework) that when I've wrapped up this semester, I'll take myself there for a well-deserved vacation. Summer isn't the best time to visit Catalina -- too crowded, too hot and everything's booked solid -- but just knowing that I'll be going, even if it's not until Fall (my favorite time to visit), makes me smile and helps me push myself through the hardest parts of the project.

As my plane to San Francisco circled out over the Pacific and around Catalina Island, I was amazed by the clarity of the view -- roads, buildings, cars, boats -- I could see almost everything, even though we were so high above it. I could even see San Clemente Island directly behind it -- something I've never seen that way before! To see it all so clearly just before the trip seemed like a good omen, so that put me in an upbeat, positive mood, even though I hadn't yet finished my presentation, and even though I was exhausted from so little sleep the week before. 

Flying out on Wednesday instead of Thursday proved to be an excellent decision. Not only did I save $40 on my airfare, but I also had an extra afternoon to acclimatize myself to my new surroundings, check into my hotel, unpack my clothes and have a hearty meal before setting to work on my presentation. At about two a.m., I felt confident enough about my presentation to close my laptop, have a warm bath, burrow into my bed and sandbag myself into a cozy position with the half-dozen pillows provided.

In airplanes and in hotels, I prefer a window-seat: I love to fall asleep with a view. My fifth floor hotel room didn't have as spectacular of a view as the airplane did -- few views can compare to that! -- but the architectural elements in the foreground, the neighborhood skyline in the distance, the flickering signs, and the light rain tapping on my window and changing the shape and color of things as it slid down the pane: it was all wonderful in its own way. And even though it was only a few hours of sleep, it was one of the deepest and most restful I'd had for nearly two weeks.

SFPL Internship : Week 14 (Recap)

Last-minute peer responses, report and presentation prep
Arriving in SF, my hotel room and some people I met
SFPL visit, meeting my site supervisor, giving my presentation and finding out what's on the 6th floor
SFPL's "Innocents Abroad" exhibit
Internet Archive tour
Golden Gate Bridge walk
DPLA-WEST
Hanging out with "M" in Mel's
Asian Art Museum visit

It would be nearly impossible to describe all these things in a single post, so I'll try to tackle several at a time in smaller posts as I find time. See you soon!

SFPL Internship : Week 13 (Recap)

Following up and following through -- those where the twin themes of week 13.

A three-day wave of follow-up questions to each of our seven Peer libraries, and then an unexpected, last-minute entry from an eighth library filled my e-mail inbox with messages that needed replies, processing and filing. There's still the remote possibility that more messages will come in the next week, but because my presentation is only a half-week away (and my report due soon after), it's not likely that I'll add any information from messages that do, unless they bring up something that either completely supports my recommendations, or changes the game so dramatically that it can't be ignored.

Since the report and presentation will cover the same ground, I'm composing them simultaneously -- in that way, the presentation serves as an outline for the report. The annotated bibliography is coming along well, too. With such a wide variety of topics covered in the Peer survey and recommendations, it's been difficult for me to hone in on the dozen or so resources that would be most beneficial, but so far I think I've maintained a pretty good balance. Most of my resources are geared towards academic libraries -- partially because I work full-time and do school research in an academic library, so I'm more familiar with academic-oriented materials, and partially because the topic of digital resources best practices is so new to public libraries that there just doesn't seem to be much out there written specifically for them. So whenever possible, I've tried to choose academic books with broad audience and applicability, and with a concise, practical approach towards digital resources management -- not a theoretical or critical one.

Time has become very tight, so this is likely to be the last post I'll make until after I've traveled to San Francisco to deliver my report and presentation and to attend DPLA-WEST. So you'll have to forgive me for going silent for a week or two. I'm sure that when I return in May, I'll have plenty of stories to share about my adventures -- as well as thoughts related to my Golden Gate Bridge cataloging project, which will resume on May 1st.

See you then!

Creating a Mood

For me, one of the most enjoyable parts of building a presentation is establishing a particular mood with my slide backgrounds. It's not something that many people worry about, nor should they -- especially when there are so many good preexisting templates, but I've always liked taking this extra step because it gives me an opportunity to communicate something non-verbally.

Most preexisting template backgrounds are sharp and "hard", but I prefer mine a little bit fuzzy and smudged. I think it's easier on the viewers' eyes that way and helps to convey a relaxed mood for the presentation. Ideally, I want a background that resonates, but is not distracting.

One of my favorite backgrounds was for a presentation that I gave in 2010 on the subject of postcard collecting. On each text slide, I placed a stamp, so that my audience would feel as though they were reading postcards instead of slides.

Now it's time to create my slideshow for San Francisco Public Library, and so I've been looking for equally simple, restful, and resonant images to use as backgrounds. Of course, this being San Francisco, my thoughts quickly turned to the Golden Gate Bridge.  The Golden Gate has been the subject of my archival cataloging and is also the current masthead of the San Francisco Public Library website, so it resonates appropriately ... But which image to use?

The SFPL masthead photo of the Golden Gate Bridge is a personal favorite: I love the color of the sky and the angle of the bridge. I wanted to incorporate it, but was worried about copyright. So, to get around that worry, I decided to distill some of the elements of the image into a visual that would be unambiguously my own.

My take is an extreme close-up of the top "window" of one of the towers, so that only the sky and vertical edges can be seen. It's so abstract and softened that many viewers probably won't even recognize it as the Bridge, but I think in spite of that, they will respond positively to the bright, yet restful, color scheme. The emphasis on the sky gives it a limitless and optimistic feeling, I think. Hopefully others will feel so, too.


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