Just a friendly reminder for the new year. When you feel like you're running up against a brick wall (like I do with some tech), remember that failure is important to ultimate success. As proof, see my finally successful (and correct) installation of Collective Access with the right profile!
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Believe it or not, I was at the height of my work ethic in my senior year of high school. My zealous intellectual nature continued through the first two years of my undergraduate degree, but somewhere around senior year of college I realized I was coasting. I was still getting excellent grades, but I really just didn't care any more. I think most students go through that stage: senioritis and all that. But to a certain extent I never really recovered and got back to my intense work ethic of high school days gone by. (Or my writing ethics for that matter! Did you see my ending in a preposition? EEK!)
Now, though, I'd have to say that Trello has helped me recover my pride in work ethic. While I could just as easily write due dates on my outlook or google calendars, Trello allows me to visualize the progress and completion of one project in its entirety. Above, you can see my lists for the first prototype of the Historic Properties Database. I can share my self-imposed deadlines with my supervisors (hello, mini-due dates from high school history class). I can attach deadlines, as well as add comments to tasks. For example, I can elaborate on why "Download Collective Access Software" is now a week late in its completion. Being able to visualize project management with Trello has not only allowed me to better manage my time and juggle multiple tasks, but it has also enabled clearer communication between myself and my supervisors about the progress of the database. Both of my supervisors are busy people. By inviting them to view my "Historic Properties Database" Trello board, they can easily keep up with my progress and the general timeline of the project without taking time out of their schedule to talk with me. By being in the loop, they understand the current status of the project and ask appropriate questions when they do have the time and want to meet in person. At the Best Practices Exchange in Montgomery two weeks ago, there was a session about communicating and advocating a project to the top executive in 15 minutes or less. I'd argue that Trello is another great tool for keeping stakeholders and executives in the know about a project's progression AFTER they've gone to bat for you/the project. So, Trello has helped me recover my high school work ethic and communicate my project timeline to my supervisors. One little tool, such potential! I talked to my dad recently (who is in the furniture business by the way), and he asked, "how's work going?"
Well, I'm not in the habit of glossing things over for my dad, especially professional issues. So I went ahead and laid it out, because if there's anyone I can trust to give me good workplace advice, it's my dad. He's been at the same company for around 40 years now, and I think that's a pretty good basis of expertise. "It's frustrating." Frustrating because my job is to build a database, disseminate it to the web, digitize materials to attach to the database, and create an online submission process. I've done my preliminary research. I know I want to use MySQL, and I think I want to disseminate with Collective Access. And I'm pretty sure about which metadata schema I want to use (CARARE). But until I have a virtual environment set up, I can't begin building a prototype database. So what can I do in the meantime? I told my dad that I was working on a presentation I'm giving to the South Carolina Archival Association in October and that I was working on continuing research. "What about looking for potential problems that might occur once you begin using a system? And then you could try to preempt them or create solutions." Duh. Why didn't I think of that? Because I don't have 40 years of experience, that's why. And because sometimes I get so caught up in being frustrated that I fail to see the obvious. Lo and behold, directly after this conversation, I had plenty to do. I went through the metadata schema .xsd line by line. I realized I'd have to create and run a mapping to transfer data from MySQL to Collective Access. My boss brought another software to my attention that we could use to highlight materials (Esri's Story Maps). So the lesson for me here was not to wallow. Yes, that seems obvious, but I find I have a tendency to wallow. Just because I'm at a standstill in one aspect of the project doesn't mean that I can't trouble shoot, brainstorm, or research anything else. This has been yet another example of take a step back, let go of the detail, and refocus on the big picture. There's definitely something else that needs doing. On June 17th, I entered the glass and brick building of the SC Department of Archives and History rather nervously. I was starting my new job as the State Historic Preservation Office's Historic Properties Information Coordinator. I think I had put on an extra layer of deodorant...right? Because I was prepared to sweat nervously for at least half the day.
It turns out though, that while I did sweat quite a lot, I had a wonderful experience being introduced to my new workplace. I am unsure of how common this is, but I was given a very clear list of objectives with a clear timeline of expectations. While this was a bit reminiscent of homework, I really appreciated it. I want to know exactly what I'm being reviewed on when the time comes. Perhaps most importantly, though, my supervisor realized the importance of getting caught up on historic preservation. She recognized that my degree was in Library Sciences and that while I brushed briefly with public history and historic preservation, it was not my main focus. So I got a good week to read up on historic preservation law, SC and other states' Historic Resource Survey Manuals, and other documentation. It made the transition so much easier. Now that I'm into my fourth month of employment, I'll try to post more regularly about workplace dynamics, technology issues, learning opportunities, professional conferences, and daily tasks! |
About Morgan-I graduated in May 2014 with my Masters of Science in Library Science from UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Information and Library Science. I currently work for the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. I've been with them since June of 2014. Archives
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