SFPL Internship : Week 5 (Recap)

"Things are starting to fall into place."

I was relieved that my Supervisor felt this way, and that I was finally feeling the same, too.

For our weekly phone meeting, my Supervisor also invited a colleague to join us. I'll refer to her from now on as "the Curator.". The Curator is my point of contact for the postcard cataloging portion of my internship, which will begin soon. Earlier in the week, she sent me a package containing DVDs of the postcard scans, and just before we met, e-mailed a template with instructions. We went over the instructions together, discussing such things as where to find resources for research (city directories, local postcard associations, etc), what sort of authority control to apply (if any), and the possible inclusion of additional fields. She also gave me some interesting context related to the origin of the postcards and the project, as well as a potential deadline that would allow her to make use of the cataloged records for a Golden Gate anniversary project in May. And finally, the Curator and I decided that weekly Saturday meetings just before (or just after) the ones with my Supervisor would be best. So for the duration of the cataloging project, weekly recaps will include meetings with the Curator, too.

My supervisor was pleased with my Letter of Introduction and Library Contact/Info List, and thanked me for my hard work, which made me very happy. She had a few suggestions for my Letter, which she sent to me by e-mail after a brief discussion of same. We then turned our attention to the Contact/Info list for the rest of the meeting.

The Contact/Info List is a compilation of quick facts and website links for each library we hope to hear from, as well as several alternates, should any first choices fall through. Typical information found on this list includes: presence/absence of digital archives, presence/absence of digital policy, potential contact person(s), links to annual statements (if any), to reorganization projects (if any), etc. I compiled the list by exploring each library's website in detail. Compiling the list was beneficial for two reasons: (1) it meant instant access to important facts about each library, which will be useful when I ask follow-up questions, but also (2) it gave me a stronger sense of the "personality" of each library, the effectiveness of the website, the structure, hierarchy, departments, etc.  So my knowledge of library organization and information display in general increased, too.  We spent the rest of our meeting going through the list line by line, sharing the information and making strategic decisions.

In some cases, my Supervisor already had connections, so it was simply a matter of getting a name and phone number from her. In other cases, we were able to guess potential contact persons through names on staff lists and blogs. And there were also some libraries where our only strategy seemed to be to submit a question through the Reference department and hope for a specific contact person's name in response.

If all goes well, next week will begin the first wave of contacts and the first attempts at cataloging.
See you then!

SFPL Internship : Letters of Introduction

Career counselors, relationship counselors, and counselors of just about every other sort warn us that we "only have one chance to make a good first impression."

That's worrisome enough when you represent yourself -- as you do on a date, or when filling out a job application, or when meeting a neighbor for the first time -- but the worrisome-ness is compounded when you're representing someone else as well as yourself. You have to be on par with them, and somehow rise to the occasion. 

The letter that I send on behalf of SFPL to our ten selected peer/benchmark libraries will represent not only me, but also SFPL -- and so if I make a spelling or grammar error, use slang or improper formatting, or say something unprofessional, it will reflect badly on us both. Knowing this, I was almost paralyzed by worry a few days ago when I first tried to write it. But I eventually developed a strategy to combat that.

To work myself out of the worry, I searched my files for letters with tones or styles that were comparable to what I was trying to convey. The letters didn't have to be about the same topic, they just needed to have the same "feel". This is a trick I learned from my creative writing classes -- that if you want to write a poem in rhyme or meter, you should read someone else's poem in a similar meter first. That way the tone and flow will be fresh in your conscious and that will help you find your  "groove" faster. So after reading a few pages of "letter-ese" I was able to push past my worry-block and write one. 

I wrote several drafts, each with slightly different styles, then set them aside and did something else so that I could forget what I'd written and pretend I was the receiver instead of the sender. Reading them with fresh eyes and ears helped me to figure out which was the best. And from there, it was a matter of flow and fine-tuning.

I now have a draft with which I'm satisfied. Of course, it's not perfect -- if you aim for perfection, you'll never finish anything -- but if my Supervisor likes it, and feels it won't reflect poorly on SFPL, and thinks that the librarians who receive it will be more inclined to reply to it than to throw it in the dustbin, then I'll be satisfied.

True, you only have one chance to make a good first impression, but if you let that knowledge freeze you up, you're bound to make a bad impression.

SFPL Internship : Week 4 (Recap)

Week 4 seemed to slip by much faster than I'd imagined! I'd set an ambitious plan to have the letter drafts, website reviews and final contact list ready for my Supervisor by Sunday -- but I ended up spending most of Saturday getting fitted for my friends' wedding which will take place very soon (thankfully!). The outfit I'm to wear looks great -- very flattering! -- but as I stood there getting myself pinned and hemmed, I couldn't help but wish that there was some way to work on the project simultaneously.
 
So there's been another small set-back, but I should be able to deliver my promised "deliverables" to my Supervisor by Wednesday. If so, I'll update this blog then!

A New Look!

Well, maybe just a little bit.

Hopefully the small changes I've made to font and format will be easier on our eyes. If not, feel free to make suggestions. 

Also, I fixed a few awkward labels.

SPFL Internship : What's on the 6th Floor?

The San Francisco Public Library's History Center has a blog devoted to intriguing things found in their collections, methods of preserving same, and related events and activities.    It has a great name:

"What's On The 6th Floor?"

Makes you kind of curious now, doesn't it?

SFPL Internship : Detailed Steps List (first draft)

Learning Outcomes 1 and 2

[1.] To collect, analyze and evaluate the digital resource policies/strategies of a pre-selected group of benchmark libraries on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library

[2.] To write a "best practices" recommendation report for the San Francisco Public Library (and to communicate these findings via a formal presentation) so that the library will have  benchmark guidelines for the creation of their own digital resource policy/strategy.

Part 1 -- Inquiry and Response

• Receive list of libraries from Supervisor
• Decide which optional libraries to contact  
• Review contact list with supervisor for appropriateness, possible leads, etc
• Check each library website carefully for digital policy or digital strategy materials, appropriate contact person(s) and other useful information
• Draft sample letter, sample e-mail and sample phone script -- review with Supervisor

                               Contents -- my name and affiliation, my role as an intern for SFPL, types of  information sought, deadline for same, contact info for questions or concerns. Explain how and where report will be used; clear any questions related to confidentiality, sensitivity of documents, use of pseudonyms, etc.

• After Supervisor approval,  send most appropriate message to each contact on list
• Make master list to track each library, each contact, each response, etc.
• As responses arrive: read, sort, summarize and search for similarities or trends.
• Seek clarification if needed. Follow-up if appropriate.
• Address non-responses and other potential problems with Supervisor 
• After the deadline, send thank you notes to all involved. Offer copy of finished report if contacts are interested. 

Part 2 -- Report

• Condense relevant information from literature review
• Finalize date for in-person presentation (if it has not been finalized yet).
• Draft report using information gathered from Part 1
• Review report draft with Supervisor 
• Revise and complete written version of report.
• Clarify length, tone and coverage of presentation with Supervisor.
• Draft slides for PowerPoint presentation. 
•  Review slide draft with Supervisor  
• Revise and complete PowerPoint presentation of report.
• Practice presentation. 
• Give presentation.

Learning Outcome 3

[3.] To expand knowledge and range of cataloging by remotely processing digital scans of postcards from the San Francisco Public Library's collection.

 Cataloging 

•  Receive disc of scans from SFPL via mail
• Get password for Classweb, OCLC, and other cataloging tools from Prof E.
• Get written statement of clearance from work for internship-related use of cataloging materials
• Set up an Excel spreadsheet for work, using guidelines from SFPL regarding structure, required and optional fields, controlled vocabulary, local practice, etc
• Review postcard cataloging chapter of multimedia cataloging book. Clarify any discrepancies between the way postcards are cataloged at SFPL and the way they are cataloged in the book. Opt for local practice (SFPL's version) -- unless told otherwise.
• Build template for ease of cataloging
• Establish a recurring work review (every two weeks? every twenty records?)
• During review, address any difficulties or concerns, confirm that items are being cataloged at the expected level, and within the expected time-frame.
• If items will be immediately available for viewing from the SPFL website, search for them as a patron would -- if they're not easily found, suggest possible solutions.
• Return finished spreadsheet to Supervisor  

Learning Outcome 4

[4.] To understand and articulate the core concepts/best practices of digitization and digital preservation

Brief literature review

•  Begin broad/general research
•  Find out the formal procedure for doing a literature review 
•  Begin focused research
•  Compile most appropriate / useful resources into a bibliography
•  Draft literature review
•  Review draft with Supervisor 
•  Revise and complete literature review
•  [Submit literature review to Student Research Journal for possible publication]

SFPL Internship (Week 3 Recap)

Another week spent primarily on infrastructure -- but at least now it's very specific infrastructure ...

I met with my classmates and professor (virtually) on Friday the 10th, and then with my site supervisor (also virtually) the morning after. Both meetings went well. As a point of reference, and safeguard -- in case I'd forgotten or misunderstood some key aspect of the process -- I created a Detailed Steps List. This list explains each step necessary to get from start to finish for each of my four objectives: from proposal to outcome. My supervisor approved the List, but we're both certain that revisions and refinements will be necessary as we get deeper into the project itself. If the revisions are significant, I'll post them in this log as well.

One of the biggest benefits of creating such a list is that it makes detailed timeline-building so much easier! Even so though, I spent several hours moving things around from one week to the next, trying to find the most humane, logical and practical combination ... first trying to guess how much time would be too little, then how much would be too much and then settling for a sweet-spot in between. I'm pretty satisfied with the result, but I'm hesitant to post my detailed timeline here. Probably because there are so many different variables that are still unknown. For instance, I haven't yet seen the postcard scans that I'll catalog, or the schema/controlled vocabulary I'll use, so it was difficult to estimate how many items I would catalog a week, or how many weeks I would set aside for cataloging. That's just one example, but there were several other similar question marks.

If you'd like to get a general idea of what my detailed timeline looks like, then simply mash the Detailed Steps list above with the Brief Timeline graph below, and then adjust for such things as a friend's wedding, several birthdays, several family/friend obligations, and full time employment.

... it will be a busy 12 weeks!