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Category: Professional Development

Heaven help me

Published by Iris on Thursday, July 27th, 2006

I’m sitting at the gate for my flight to Boston (there’s a whole story in how I got here, but more on that later). And I’m terrified to find out who my seat neighbor is going to be.

Here’s the thing. There’s a girl here who has no mental sensors AT ALL. She’s talking to a poor guy she’s cornered, and she won’t shut up. She’s told the room at large her full name (middle name included), her birth date (she’s turning 29 next month, just so you know), where she lives, her favorite color, her roommates’ names, her parents’ names, … well, you get the idea. She’s also never been to Disney Land (that was apropos of nothing, by the way, because that’s not where she’s going today). Oh, and here’s a tidbit you didn’t need to know. Her father teases her by telling her she’s not his child. “But I know better,” she says, “It takes two to make a baby.” Oookayyyy…

Now she’s wondering if it rains on planes, since they’re so high up off the ground. She’s already chastised her friend for taking a picture of her, saying, “How much is it going to cost me to develop those pictures!?!”

[Update: She ended up sitting a glorious 21 rows away from me! Believe me, I’m grateful.]

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Learning Already

Published by Iris on Wednesday, July 26th, 2006

I’ve already learned one thing from Immersion, and I don’t even leave for Boston until tomorrow. I’ve learned that I need an assistant. I need someone to make my travel plans for me, and then actually travel with me and take care of things like schedules and directions, keep track of phone numbers and other contact information, and generally keep me going in the right direction at all times. Anyone up for the job? There’s no salary, but you’d get a lot of appreciation. And what’s a salary, anyway, compared to endless gratitude and the satisfaction you get from helping other people? Think about it.

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Immersion ’06

Published by Iris on Thursday, June 29th, 2006

[Update: It seems that the people who’d gotten their assignments already are the ones going to regional programs rather than the national program. So I’m feeling distinctly less lost now… still not happy about the tone of some of the answers to people’s questions early on, but definitely less lost.]

I just realized that The Gypsy Librarian is going to Immersion this year. I am too. Who else will be there?

I’m also getting a little bit frustrated. Even with two major communication channels (email and WebCT), I’m feeling distinctly out of the loop. Apparently some people know what they’re supposed to be reading for the jigsaw readings already, but I haven’t gotten my assignment. In fact, I haven’t gotten any official communication in a few weeks. Does anyone know what cohort they’re in? I don’t.

I should probably ask these question on the WebCT discussion board, but to be honest, I’m scared to. The tone of some of the responses seems to suggest that we should know better than to ask these questions since the answers were posted elsewhere. I’m sorry, but I’ve downloaded every Word Document on that site (Why can’t they just be viewable? Why do I have to download the document?), I’ve read the posts, I’ve read the emails, and I’m still confused. All the information is too compartmentalized for easy navigation. I shouldn’t have to refer back to an email we got months ago telling us how to access WebCT in order to find out about what I should be reading. That should be posted in the “Readings” section of the site, or the “Assignments” portion.

Ok, ok. I know I shouldn’t get worked up about this. I just hate feeling like I don’t know where to find information. That’s why I became a librarian.

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