Work
The society of librarians who say *bleep*
23/July/2008 08:35
Recently Google reader recommended an RSS feed for
me. This blog is about the everyday
frustrations of librarians and library
patrons and it’s called the society of
librarians who say mofo. I have to say that
initially I was skeptical about the site, but I
find humor in the every day absurdities that
occur in the lives of these individuals mostly
because I’ve seen or heard something in my
immediate circles.
One story that’s caught my attention is this whole surrendering of the library card to access the AV collection and the constant monitoring of PC terminals in the library. Now I am not a schooled librarian, but I consider myself a librarian at heart, MLS or no MLS, and I have to say that as someone who interacts with librarians and has two management degrees, I cringe at the tactics that the library in the blog story is using. Furthermore I am surprised at the apparent complacency of most of the townsfolk.
One story that’s caught my attention is this whole surrendering of the library card to access the AV collection and the constant monitoring of PC terminals in the library. Now I am not a schooled librarian, but I consider myself a librarian at heart, MLS or no MLS, and I have to say that as someone who interacts with librarians and has two management degrees, I cringe at the tactics that the library in the blog story is using. Furthermore I am surprised at the apparent complacency of most of the townsfolk.
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Web4lib – tensions rise!
21/July/2008 08:33
I was reading on LISnews a short time ago about a
critique on web4lib regarding the future or libraries
(and librarians). I’ve noticed that every time there
is critique of the profession (or the MLIS degree
requirement to be a librarian), it’s like someone
spills blood in shark infested waters. This isn’t the
first debate of this kind that I’ve seen (or read
through) and probably won’t be the last. Quite entertaining, and
informative.
The cost of going to work…
12/May/2008 18:44
Well, today was sticker shock day! I knew it cost me
a pretty penny just to show up to work, but the costs
are going up! In 2007 it costs me under $50 per week
to drive into work. Today I went to get gasoline
($3.70/gallon), it cost me $47 to fill up my Beetle.
So I started pondering the updated costs.
$18.00 in tolls per week
$47.00 in gasoline per week
$35.00 in Parking costs per week
Grand total: $99
Now… rumors are that parking will go up to $12/day, and gas is slated to go into the $4/gallon range.
Update costs:
$51 Gasoline
$18 Tolls
$60 Parking
Total: $129/week
Jeez!
I think that over the summer I will trial taking public transportation ($163/month).
It adds 2 hours to my commute per day (4 hours of commute total), but the costs are insane!
So I started pondering the updated costs.
$18.00 in tolls per week
$47.00 in gasoline per week
$35.00 in Parking costs per week
Grand total: $99
Now… rumors are that parking will go up to $12/day, and gas is slated to go into the $4/gallon range.
Update costs:
$51 Gasoline
$18 Tolls
$60 Parking
Total: $129/week
Jeez!
I think that over the summer I will trial taking public transportation ($163/month).
It adds 2 hours to my commute per day (4 hours of commute total), but the costs are insane!
The changing library
02/May/2008 07:00
Earlier this week I witnessed a library customer
“loudly” (for old school library standards)
complaining that there was inadequate “quiet space”
on the floor he was on and that it was inappropriate
for people to be so audible in a library (the floor
he was on had a lot of people on computers, and
working jointly in groups). The reference staff
kindly told him that there was part of one floor (not
the floor he was on) that was designated as quiet
space and attempted to help him. That’s all I heard.
The gentleman who was complaining was older, maybe a couple of generations removed from me. I think that this just goes to show the changing face of the library. Libraries are no longer places filled with books and periodicals that you get and quietly read to yourself. They are (like my college library) places of community, interaction, and multimedia (i.e. not just printer materials).
Sure there is place for quiet study, and I don’t think that will go away, but more and more libraries (especially college libraries) appear to be evolving into places of congregation and knowledge sharing. The pursuit of knowledge is no longer thought of as a solitary activity. Some people might prefer it, but I don’t think that they should enforce their views on all, just like people who prefer to congregate in a “communal library” should not force their views on the people who want to engage in knowledge acquisition in a solitary manner.
So…in this transition period, existing meets emerging
The gentleman who was complaining was older, maybe a couple of generations removed from me. I think that this just goes to show the changing face of the library. Libraries are no longer places filled with books and periodicals that you get and quietly read to yourself. They are (like my college library) places of community, interaction, and multimedia (i.e. not just printer materials).
Sure there is place for quiet study, and I don’t think that will go away, but more and more libraries (especially college libraries) appear to be evolving into places of congregation and knowledge sharing. The pursuit of knowledge is no longer thought of as a solitary activity. Some people might prefer it, but I don’t think that they should enforce their views on all, just like people who prefer to congregate in a “communal library” should not force their views on the people who want to engage in knowledge acquisition in a solitary manner.
So…in this transition period, existing meets emerging
Living in my Second Life…
12/March/2008 21:00
Now I am back. With a little help from my professor I found myself on a better orientation facility, got clothed, and I am now in the ‘hunter and gatherer’ stage of my second life. I have also constructed some basic objects (pedestals and skate board ramps), and I have tried my green thumb.
I am now in the process of visiting university campuses on second life to see what other universities have done with their spaces. Some are occupied, some not so much. I am interested in seeing how it can be applied in teaching and learning.
Oh yeah, the guy on the left is me...
School Starts Again!!!
31/January/2008 20:21
School has started again, and with the commencement
of classes we are finally seeing life in the library:
students, professors, and yes, even some parents
coming to see what they are paying for. It’s all
quite invigorating.
More importantly (for completely selfish reasons of course) I have started classes for the two Master Degrees that I have started pursuing. One in Instructional Design, and the other in Applied Linguistics. Some former classmates are scratching their heads as to why I would go back to school when I already have two Master Degrees. Well… It’s fun, it’s refreshing, I like to meet new people, and a great side effect of the whole learning experience is that I can apply what I learn to my job.
More importantly (for completely selfish reasons of course) I have started classes for the two Master Degrees that I have started pursuing. One in Instructional Design, and the other in Applied Linguistics. Some former classmates are scratching their heads as to why I would go back to school when I already have two Master Degrees. Well… It’s fun, it’s refreshing, I like to meet new people, and a great side effect of the whole learning experience is that I can apply what I learn to my job.
MBLC Jobs page hacked?
27/January/2008 09:32
As someone who works in a library I have the
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC)
job listings website on my RSS reader. This morning
as I was sipping my hot coffee and reading the
headlines from the BBC (and other RSS feeds I
subscribe to) I saw a bizzare 'job' on the MBLC site.
"Surely my RSS reader malfunctioned somewhere" I
thought to myself, but I went to the MBLC website
anyway to check out this oddity anyway.
The website does seem to have been hacked, or someone not-very-happy with the MBLC (or their employer) decided to post this gag job listing (image bellow)
Here is the address for the MBLC: http://mblc.state.ma.us/jobs/find_jobs/index.php for those that are interested in library jobs in Massachusetts (present gag/hackk/oddity aside)
The website does seem to have been hacked, or someone not-very-happy with the MBLC (or their employer) decided to post this gag job listing (image bellow)
Here is the address for the MBLC: http://mblc.state.ma.us/jobs/find_jobs/index.php for those that are interested in library jobs in Massachusetts (present gag/hackk/oddity aside)
Evaluation & Communication
31/August/2007 16:49
(pictured on the left) and
Communicating Effectively
- both of which I found at my public library.
Just like the books I read before (Motivating
Employees
and
Managing People
)
the content in these two books is not rocker
science, and it is not meant to be read quickly
from cover to cover. Rather, it is meant to be
used as a guide and to be consulted every now
and then.
I found both books to be a great resource. Evaluating performance was something that was covered in my Human Resources class, but it was never something that we went extensively into. A lot of effort in the evaluation of performance is about communication - it's not just enough to fill out a piece of paper once a year to give (or deny) someone an annual merit raise - it's important to communicate with your employees in order to gauge what is happening, and to be able to steer the ship in the right course (if it isn't already).
The book on communicating effectively is a great companion to the evaluating performance. I have written (and co-written) a lot of papers during my management curriculum, and I have had many presentations. However, I never took a course on business communications. I found this particular book to be a good guide on business communications from the humble (but yet so hated) memo, to the more elaborate business report. There was also a section in the book on oral communication, which I found helpful as well.
I have a couple more of these books to read, but thus far, it seems to me that this series on best practices is quite a useful thing to have and consult if you are a manager or aspiring to be one.
Managing & Motivating employees
12/August/2007 10:39
(pictured
on the left) and the other was
Best Practices: Managing People: Secrets to Leading
for New Managers (Best Practices).
These books are pocket sized books, so since
they were 'light reading' I picked both of them
up and checked them out. Anyone who's been
through an MBA curriculum (at least one as
rigorous as I have been through) will not
necessarily find something really groundbreaking
in these two books.
The thing I liked about these two books was that they both were good summaries of what I had learned, and they both offered a convenient place for Do's and Don't's, as well as some red flags to look out for (just to prevent things from going south). The books were a really fast read, however I don't think that this is the kind of book that you pick up, read and then put it back on the shelf. I do believe that this is the kind of book that you pull out for a quick reference when you need some help in these two areas. I would say that these books are akin to the in a nutshell series of books that are written on technical subjects.
Work Dislikes: Assuming everyone else is using outlook calendar
17/June/2007 10:42
I've been spending a lot of time lately reading
various management books, how to cope with a
difficult work place, crazy bosses, assholes, and a
bunch of workplace etiquette books. I've been
thinking of things, from quite some time ago, that
really rubbed me the wrong way, and one of them was
relating to the outlook calendar.
I generally use iCal on my mac (at home) to keep track of personal things like appointments, doctor's visits, people's birthdays, and so on. I synchronize my phone with iCal so that I can have this information on the go. Generally I do not use Outlook (at work) to keep track of appointments because the great majority of appointments are personal. My job is not one of those jobs where I have meeting after meeting and I need to keep track of it all in outlook.
Back when I had a PocketPC device, for some reason it synched with outlook and all of the daily events synchronized with outlook (and made me look unavailable for the day). These were events like birthdays, name days, national holidays, saint feasts etc. The department secretary (false title used to protect the not-so-innocent) attempted to determine a good time for a meeting between a number of parties at the library, including me. When she peeked at my outlook availability it looked like I was unavailable for the whole day. She then called my boss, who talked to me and we wasted a whole ten minutes on the issue.
Could this have been avoided? Of course! Instead of assuming that everyone schedules their time in outlook, just email the people you need to schedule a meeting with, and see what their availability is! If we all spent time making sure our Outlook calendar was up-to-date with up-to-the-minute information, we would get very little work done. Also, just because no meeting is scheduled in my calendar, it doesn't mean I am free.
Don't assume that just because party A uses technology X, that all parties use technology X.
I generally use iCal on my mac (at home) to keep track of personal things like appointments, doctor's visits, people's birthdays, and so on. I synchronize my phone with iCal so that I can have this information on the go. Generally I do not use Outlook (at work) to keep track of appointments because the great majority of appointments are personal. My job is not one of those jobs where I have meeting after meeting and I need to keep track of it all in outlook.
Back when I had a PocketPC device, for some reason it synched with outlook and all of the daily events synchronized with outlook (and made me look unavailable for the day). These were events like birthdays, name days, national holidays, saint feasts etc. The department secretary (false title used to protect the not-so-innocent) attempted to determine a good time for a meeting between a number of parties at the library, including me. When she peeked at my outlook availability it looked like I was unavailable for the whole day. She then called my boss, who talked to me and we wasted a whole ten minutes on the issue.
Could this have been avoided? Of course! Instead of assuming that everyone schedules their time in outlook, just email the people you need to schedule a meeting with, and see what their availability is! If we all spent time making sure our Outlook calendar was up-to-date with up-to-the-minute information, we would get very little work done. Also, just because no meeting is scheduled in my calendar, it doesn't mean I am free.
Don't assume that just because party A uses technology X, that all parties use technology X.
Email etiquette
31/May/2007 10:51
1. At a previous workplace - my last few days in fact, we had a new director. His first decree was to give everyone a blackberry, because voice communication was inefficient, email will speed things up (i.e. make things more efficient). At the time, both I am my colleagues disagreed (and still do). Voice communication is not inefficient, email is. If you take your time to craft a well worded, properly spelled email that does indeed convey what you want to convey, you will spend more time than actually talking to someone. Email's perceived speed is based on the fact that you can type five words, click send, and believe that the recipient knows what you are talking about. I've had many of these emails where I needed to either ask for clarification emails, and there have been many times I had to call the sender to ask what they meant in their email!
2. The cover you own behind emails - also known as CC everyone (or even worse, put everyone in the TO line). Again, in a previous work environment, most emails were relevant to my work. They were emails from my boss, colleagues and vendors. There were of course a few 'ha ha' emails and a few 'delete this' rumor emails (both no-nos in send), but the great majority were relevant. At a more recent work environment, there are a lot of CYOA (cover your own behind) emails, where people send the email TO everyone at the work-site, even if they do not need the information. This has contributed to many emails just being tossed without looking at the information, which in the end causes a lot of confusion and disorganization. I've hated CYOA emails, and I tried resisting the CYOA type of email, but unfortunately it is being imposed on me...
All things considered, this is a good book to read whether you are a rank-and-file employee, or a manager (somewhere in the managerial food chain).
No Assholes Need Apply
17/May/2007 11:17
When I came home, I looked on LinkedIn, as a few of my invitees has accepted my invitation, and I saw a plug for the book, and a related blog post by Guy Kawasaki. It peaked my interest more, so I went to Amazon and I read an excerpt from the first chapter (or what it the introduction? I can't remember), but it felt like the book was written for me! A few days later the book arrived via UPS and I started reading it. While going through the book, reading it made me feel like I was not alone. There were other people out there tortured by assholes in their workplace, be it bosses, clients or co-workers, the net effect was the same: high turn over, low job satisfaction, and low returns for the company (among many other things). It made me feel good that I was not alone facing such problems, and that there are businesses out there that really don't take any shit from these assholes. They, in effect, have a no asshole rule - if you are one, you are out!
There were a number of tips in the book (after all it does say it is a survival guide) that made sense, and I feel like I might be able to apply to my situation. The book was fun an interesting to read, and I feel like I got something out of it - the most important of which is that there is indeed hope. I sort of which that more people, at least where I currently work, would read this and have a good self-evaluation and see that others do see them as sadistic assholes, at least when they are within the confines of the company walls. One amazing statistic is that the effect of an asshole in a group is five times greater than the effect of a positive person. This means that it takes 5 cheery people to offset one asshole. This would explain the transformation I have seen from people entering the organization from high energy social go-getters, to locked-in-your-office low energy pessimists.
Anyway - in conclusion, it is a good read, I would recommend that people buy it and read it (or get it at your local library)
Find you Niche!
11/April/2007 17:11
...or rather find someone who will pay you for what
you want to do 
Finding one's niche might be a gargantuan task in and of itself, determining what you 'want to be when you group up' can be challenging as you don't know what you might like doing. When you do find out though, the next hurdle comes onto the scene: finding someone who will pay you to do what you want to do for a living. I posted my resume on Monster and on HotJobs. Two percent of people who viewed my resume saved it (so I guess they liked it). I keep getting jobs for Database Admins, Programmers, and Developers. I guess that's because of my knowledge of various programming languages and my BA in computer science - however I really have no interest in coding for a living, even though I can, I don't want to. Managing coding projects - OK, coding - no. One must realize their relative talents, and I realized year's ago that even though I can code, there are other people that are much more talented and much more efficient at doing that, so it is really surprising to me that I keep getting job 'offers' for coding jobs. I guess I need to tone down the coding aspect of my experience.
When I created my Monster profile, I was asked what jobs I was aiming for, I wanted to be a dreamer, so I said "Master Podcaster" and "Technology Writer". Looking at it now, I wonder what people who view my profile think. Do they think "Geek with a lot of potential to push out gadgets" an Adam Sessler for gadgets if you will (my intended message), or do they think "Slacker with no direction that just wants a cushy podcast job". I guess these people maybe are new media Luddites that think that podcasts, blogs, and other new media are fads that are not here to stay. I don't think that I will be an Adam Sessler (G4), or Ryan Block (engadget), but...I can always aim for it - coding be damned
Finding one's niche might be a gargantuan task in and of itself, determining what you 'want to be when you group up' can be challenging as you don't know what you might like doing. When you do find out though, the next hurdle comes onto the scene: finding someone who will pay you to do what you want to do for a living. I posted my resume on Monster and on HotJobs. Two percent of people who viewed my resume saved it (so I guess they liked it). I keep getting jobs for Database Admins, Programmers, and Developers. I guess that's because of my knowledge of various programming languages and my BA in computer science - however I really have no interest in coding for a living, even though I can, I don't want to. Managing coding projects - OK, coding - no. One must realize their relative talents, and I realized year's ago that even though I can code, there are other people that are much more talented and much more efficient at doing that, so it is really surprising to me that I keep getting job 'offers' for coding jobs. I guess I need to tone down the coding aspect of my experience.
When I created my Monster profile, I was asked what jobs I was aiming for, I wanted to be a dreamer, so I said "Master Podcaster" and "Technology Writer". Looking at it now, I wonder what people who view my profile think. Do they think "Geek with a lot of potential to push out gadgets" an Adam Sessler for gadgets if you will (my intended message), or do they think "Slacker with no direction that just wants a cushy podcast job". I guess these people maybe are new media Luddites that think that podcasts, blogs, and other new media are fads that are not here to stay. I don't think that I will be an Adam Sessler (G4), or Ryan Block (engadget), but...I can always aim for it - coding be damned
signs of a disfunctional organization
01/April/2007 10:28
I should be working on my object-oriented homework, however I can't get out of my mind how dysfunctional certain organizations are. With this theme in mind, I have given myself leave for a few hours to work on the subject of organizational dysfunction, more specifically the signs of a disfuctional organization:
First, from our friends at microsoft (who knew they did things other than software!): we have 3 signs of a dysfunctional company
Out of the three, my two favorites are: you've got bosses that like to point fingers and you've got a CEO that does not set priorities. I think that the certain organization that I am thinking about, certainly has these two down to an art.
Second, from coopercomm, we've got the 10 signs of a dysfunctional organization.
In the context of that certain organization near and dear to our hearts, I think that 9 out of the 10 signs apply to this organization: Constant Crisis, Organizational Insanity, Pluralistic Ignorance, Relative Success, Sub-Optimizing, Indirect Causes, OK Sorry's, Multi-class society, and broken behavior-consequence chain. I am not going to reiterate what the article says, the link is right above and it is a worth while read. I find that the some of the signs have been around for at least the last couple of years in this organization. Constant Crisis, Relative Success, Multi-class society and the broken behavior-consequence chain have been issues even before I started getting involved, however nothing was addressed, as a consequence it has gotten worse.
Third, the exec-pundit gives us even more signs of a dysfunctional organization:
Here is what applies to us:
High-turn over: Over the last few years we've lost three department heads, (this organization only has 5 departments!), they've sent someone off on sick leave (my personal opinion is due to work related stress), they've lost four non-dept. head employees to early retirement or they have gone to other organizations, and there are a number of people currently looking elsewhere for a job. Hmmmm.....
Low-turn over: We had an employee who was sub-par, and their supervisor knew it, but she did not want to do anything about it. That employee was about to the transfered to another department with the warning to the manager of you are going to have your hands full picking up after him - huh? is this a way to staff a department that is already understaffed?
Consultation with Attorneys: or rather in this case with the union. There are a few people that have consulted with union reps in the organization because of unfair work issues.
No Consultation with Attorneys: again, in this case the union. Employees are dissuaded from contacting the union and HR on work related issues, and from talking to other bargaining unit members about work related issues. This is not legal, and brings forth an air of fear.
Exciting Environment: No procedures! You do "A", you get scolded, you do "B" you get scolded and told to do "A" (despite the fact that you were scolded before). catch-22
Boring Environment: too much excitement is boring - really - most people either see this as a dead-end organization, they leave, or they resign themselves to routine.
Here are some more articles on Organizational Dysfunction for your reading pleasure
IIM: Symptoms of Dysfunctional Organizations
Dysfunctional Organizations: should you be a whistle blower?
The sick chicken
12 quick IT Productivity Wins
14/February/2007 20:45
some people need to read this article and this article
Here are some excerpts of use:
Free up your help desk Help desk techs spend a lot of time fixing the same obvious problems. The more no-brainer stuff you take off their plates, the more time they can spend on real dilemmas. For example, every two weeks, Richard Casselberry, director of IT operations for networking vendor Enterasys, meets with his internal help desk department to review the questions they get and brainstorm solutions. One quick fix: Increase the number of incorrect passwords users are allowed before they’re prevented from logging onto the network. By boosting failed attempts from 3 to 12, Enterasys was able to slash help desk calls for password resets without adversely affecting security.
Stop micromanaging If you can’t get your work done each day, there’s a good chance it’s because you’re busy doing someone else’s job, says Chaco Consulting’s Rick Brenner. Inexperienced managers in particular are often guilty of taking their old jobs along with them to their new assignments, which leads to micromanaging and a host of other problems. Stepping in and doing the job for your reports only makes the problem worse, Brenner adds. The key is teaching your staff the skills they need to stand on their own. That may require outside training, allocating more resources, or finding ways to reward productive workers without necessarily promoting them into management. “A lot of IT managers tend not to delegate, either because they’re control freaks or they think no one else can do it as well as they can,” says Brendan Courtney, vice president for Spherion, a $2 billion staffing and recruiting firm. “They also tend to not hire people they perceive might be better than them. What they don’t realize is that if they hire people who are better and delegate authority, it will further their own careers.”
Think strategy, not tactics
“Most IT organizations are reactionary to some degree, and some are very reactionary,” Kirchner says. A good measure as to whether an IT department is reactionary or visionary is how often its top IT execs must leave meetings to deal with production problems or other emergencies. “The more often an organization’s leaders have to put out fires, the less mature it is.”
And of course: the productivity killers to note:
The Hero: Instantly fixing problems may be gratifying and earn you kudos, but it can backfire in the long run. “It is not always okay — or productive—to drop everything and solve any customer issue that comes up when it comes up,” says the Forsythe Group’s Chuck Kirchner. “It results in a reactive culture and creates long-term productivity issues.”
The Juggler: Some organizations believe it’s better to start a lot of projects at the same time to achieve “parallelism,” Brenner says. But high project count leads to productivity losses as people constantly switch gears. “We do better when we focus our resources,” he says.
Here are some excerpts of use:
Free up your help desk Help desk techs spend a lot of time fixing the same obvious problems. The more no-brainer stuff you take off their plates, the more time they can spend on real dilemmas. For example, every two weeks, Richard Casselberry, director of IT operations for networking vendor Enterasys, meets with his internal help desk department to review the questions they get and brainstorm solutions. One quick fix: Increase the number of incorrect passwords users are allowed before they’re prevented from logging onto the network. By boosting failed attempts from 3 to 12, Enterasys was able to slash help desk calls for password resets without adversely affecting security.
Stop micromanaging If you can’t get your work done each day, there’s a good chance it’s because you’re busy doing someone else’s job, says Chaco Consulting’s Rick Brenner. Inexperienced managers in particular are often guilty of taking their old jobs along with them to their new assignments, which leads to micromanaging and a host of other problems. Stepping in and doing the job for your reports only makes the problem worse, Brenner adds. The key is teaching your staff the skills they need to stand on their own. That may require outside training, allocating more resources, or finding ways to reward productive workers without necessarily promoting them into management. “A lot of IT managers tend not to delegate, either because they’re control freaks or they think no one else can do it as well as they can,” says Brendan Courtney, vice president for Spherion, a $2 billion staffing and recruiting firm. “They also tend to not hire people they perceive might be better than them. What they don’t realize is that if they hire people who are better and delegate authority, it will further their own careers.”
Think strategy, not tactics
“Most IT organizations are reactionary to some degree, and some are very reactionary,” Kirchner says. A good measure as to whether an IT department is reactionary or visionary is how often its top IT execs must leave meetings to deal with production problems or other emergencies. “The more often an organization’s leaders have to put out fires, the less mature it is.”
And of course: the productivity killers to note:
The Hero: Instantly fixing problems may be gratifying and earn you kudos, but it can backfire in the long run. “It is not always okay — or productive—to drop everything and solve any customer issue that comes up when it comes up,” says the Forsythe Group’s Chuck Kirchner. “It results in a reactive culture and creates long-term productivity issues.”
The Juggler: Some organizations believe it’s better to start a lot of projects at the same time to achieve “parallelism,” Brenner says. But high project count leads to productivity losses as people constantly switch gears. “We do better when we focus our resources,” he says.
Don't move this podium!
14/February/2007 10:39
Back in October I setup the Apreso Classroom Capture
System with a little help from an anystream
consultant, and a little advice from my friend
Jeff (the media guru) from Media Services. The
technology enhanced classroom that I setup the
Apreso system in was really poorly
implemented to begin with, so I did my best
to frankenstein the Apreso system in as best as
I could with the resources I had. Not to toot my
own horn, but I think I did a pretty good job at
it.
I don't really remember, but I think that there was a PC audio problem entering into the sound system, but I might have resolved that - I don't remember, honestly.
Once the system was setup, I left enough cable slack however I told people involved TO NOT MOVE THE PODIUM! Moving the podium, despite the cable slack, could damage connections and cause things to not work! Both I am my boss reiterated this point many many times.
Now, fast forward to yesterday afternoon:
Jane and Gregory are doing presentations in that room. Jane requires audio from the PC, and according to her and Gregory's accounts the PC audio worked yesterday morning and the day before yesterday with all things that they were doing yesterday afternoon - but now they don't! (I guess this means I had fixed the initial PC audio problems back in October).
So what is different between yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon you ask?
Someone...moved...the...podium! Yes, my friend! The very same podium that we had said many, many, many times do not move!
Maybe I should apply crazy-glue to the podium and stick it to the ground...
I don't really remember, but I think that there was a PC audio problem entering into the sound system, but I might have resolved that - I don't remember, honestly.
Once the system was setup, I left enough cable slack however I told people involved TO NOT MOVE THE PODIUM! Moving the podium, despite the cable slack, could damage connections and cause things to not work! Both I am my boss reiterated this point many many times.
Now, fast forward to yesterday afternoon:
Jane and Gregory are doing presentations in that room. Jane requires audio from the PC, and according to her and Gregory's accounts the PC audio worked yesterday morning and the day before yesterday with all things that they were doing yesterday afternoon - but now they don't! (I guess this means I had fixed the initial PC audio problems back in October).
So what is different between yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon you ask?
Someone...moved...the...podium! Yes, my friend! The very same podium that we had said many, many, many times do not move!
Maybe I should apply crazy-glue to the podium and stick it to the ground...
Almost no takers...
13/February/2007 14:13
I was about to post that no one commented on my two
library specific blog posts:
1. it it looks like a duck....
2. "10 positions I would like to see"
but Jeremy saved the day - I look forward to more debate and views to come forth
1. it it looks like a duck....
2. "10 positions I would like to see"
but Jeremy saved the day - I look forward to more debate and views to come forth
If it looks like a duck...
10/February/2007 11:01
...and it quacks like a duck, and walks like a
duck....is it a duck?
I am glad that Laura from Library 2.0 responded to my previous library related post.
What I would like to bring up next as a conversation topic is the topic of what is it that constitutes a librarian. If you know people with an opinion and cogent arguments on the subject, please invite them to read my previous post, and this one, and comment on them - the more the merrier.
To quote Laura, from her comment on the previous post:
From Laura's comments we see that the positions are really nothing new to the library world, just an evolution of the job, a response to the technological evolution and the patron expectation - at least this is what I see in the library that I work. Now taking this into consideration, if someone is supporting remote users, let's take for example the remote services librarian mentioned in Library 2.0 - Do they need to be librarians? Does this by association mean that they need an MLS?
When you look at other jobs, even higher up directorial jobs, they don't generally require a specific degree, but a degree in a general category. Most of the jobs that I have been looking at are technology related and are management oriented, so they generally require a BA/BS in computer science, information technology, engineering, or related field. The MBA is not even required! Experience (usually 3-5) can be substituted as equivalent to a degree.
When looking at jobs where the title librarian is attached, the MLS is unequivocally required - at least in all the positions that I have seen at the MBLC job site. Why is this? Should we succumb to naturalistic fallacy, or should we question why this is the case, rethink the criteria defining a librarian, and demand change? A lot of library jobs today are increasingly technology oriented, and as I pointed out in my previous post can be done by someone without an MLS. Should talented people be denied a job because they do not have an MLS? Should they be paid less because they do not have an MLS?
My last question revolves around education:
If you have individuals that have a master's degree in something that relates to the evolving library jobs (technology, innovation, education, etc) - and you absolutely won't budge on requiring someone to have some sort of library education, would an ALA accredited CAGS (certificate of advanced graduate study) suffice? You take 6 classes (CAGS are generally half a master's degree), core courses in librarianship: cataloging, general reference, acquisitions/collection development, book preservation, information organization, etc - or whatever mix of courses your library school or the ALA decide are the quintessential courses for librarianship. When you are done - can you be called a librarian and can you apply for those jobs that require an MLS? Would job providers make jobs available to people with an MA + CAGS?
There are some jobs - a doctor comes to mind, that I absolutely won't budge on certain requirements - I want them to have gone to medical school, have done their residency, have gone through all the hoops. If you get a computer scientist - no matter what - there is no overlap with medicine, so someone with an MA in computer science can never be a doctor unless they get their MD. However, in certain jobs, like library jobs, where there the overlap between fields continues to increase, should the librarian field be progressive and embrace non MLS candidates? - you obviously know my thoughts on the subject, how about you?
If anyone responds, please note if you have an MLS and what year you received it
I am glad that Laura from Library 2.0 responded to my previous library related post.
What I would like to bring up next as a conversation topic is the topic of what is it that constitutes a librarian. If you know people with an opinion and cogent arguments on the subject, please invite them to read my previous post, and this one, and comment on them - the more the merrier.
To quote Laura, from her comment on the previous post:
Interesting comments on my ideas. I've been an MLS-holding academic librarian for a dozen years, and can tell you that librarians are already doing these types of jobs. The difference is that they are folded into existing positions. I myself am doing pieces of most of these positions, as part of the evolution of librarianship over the past decade. Among my most rewarding responsibilities is my work supporting remote users. Most librarians in my library system have a hand in supporting remote users. In my case, this has become something of a specialty because I run my library's proxy server.
From Laura's comments we see that the positions are really nothing new to the library world, just an evolution of the job, a response to the technological evolution and the patron expectation - at least this is what I see in the library that I work. Now taking this into consideration, if someone is supporting remote users, let's take for example the remote services librarian mentioned in Library 2.0 - Do they need to be librarians? Does this by association mean that they need an MLS?
When you look at other jobs, even higher up directorial jobs, they don't generally require a specific degree, but a degree in a general category. Most of the jobs that I have been looking at are technology related and are management oriented, so they generally require a BA/BS in computer science, information technology, engineering, or related field. The MBA is not even required! Experience (usually 3-5) can be substituted as equivalent to a degree.
When looking at jobs where the title librarian is attached, the MLS is unequivocally required - at least in all the positions that I have seen at the MBLC job site. Why is this? Should we succumb to naturalistic fallacy, or should we question why this is the case, rethink the criteria defining a librarian, and demand change? A lot of library jobs today are increasingly technology oriented, and as I pointed out in my previous post can be done by someone without an MLS. Should talented people be denied a job because they do not have an MLS? Should they be paid less because they do not have an MLS?
My last question revolves around education:
If you have individuals that have a master's degree in something that relates to the evolving library jobs (technology, innovation, education, etc) - and you absolutely won't budge on requiring someone to have some sort of library education, would an ALA accredited CAGS (certificate of advanced graduate study) suffice? You take 6 classes (CAGS are generally half a master's degree), core courses in librarianship: cataloging, general reference, acquisitions/collection development, book preservation, information organization, etc - or whatever mix of courses your library school or the ALA decide are the quintessential courses for librarianship. When you are done - can you be called a librarian and can you apply for those jobs that require an MLS? Would job providers make jobs available to people with an MA + CAGS?
There are some jobs - a doctor comes to mind, that I absolutely won't budge on certain requirements - I want them to have gone to medical school, have done their residency, have gone through all the hoops. If you get a computer scientist - no matter what - there is no overlap with medicine, so someone with an MA in computer science can never be a doctor unless they get their MD. However, in certain jobs, like library jobs, where there the overlap between fields continues to increase, should the librarian field be progressive and embrace non MLS candidates? - you obviously know my thoughts on the subject, how about you?
If anyone responds, please note if you have an MLS and what year you received it
We're getting audited!
11/January/2007 20:10
yay!!! (lol)
The auditors are looking for things that were purchased in 1987, like IBM 286 PCs (that are looooong gone)
The funny thing is that we might be audited by someone that I took a class with that is a state auditor - my my! it is a
small world!
Now we are frantically taking inventory to make sure that we have everything we say we have.....aaahhhhhhhh! never a dull day!
The auditors are looking for things that were purchased in 1987, like IBM 286 PCs (that are looooong gone)
The funny thing is that we might be audited by someone that I took a class with that is a state auditor
- my my! it is a
small world!
Now we are frantically taking inventory to make sure that we have everything we say we have.....aaahhhhhhhh! never a dull day!
Eureka!
07/January/2007 18:53
I had a moment of clarity today!
I have pinpointed why I am feeling extreme work dissatisfaction the last few months! If you had asked me:
"why do you feel dissatisfied at work?"
I might have said responded with something like
This bureaucracy is driving me nuts! It has been 4 months since I submitted upgrade paperwork, and 6 months since we've been talking about it, but Human Resources STILL have not received my paperwork. I have been going above and beyond the call for the last 9 months and I've also been getting heat from various people, including the higher ups, who believe that I am "not doing my job." Of course people don't see is that I am attempting to do my actual job while helping projects move along (things that aren't my job). Higher ups stress that projects, that are not actually in my job duties, are strategically important and either come out and state that I should be part of them, or hint at it. There are only so many hours in the day, and one must prioritize what needs to be done first, second, third and so on. When your bosses stress certain projects - well then you focus more on those, don't you?
Of course, the above is what is happening on the surface and is obvious to everyone involved. This however is not the underlying cause of my dissatisfaction and this I realized today! The real cause is this:
I hold myself to a standard, and I hold others to certain standards too! I do this subconsciously, I don't really think about it, and I think this is why it took me so long to realize what the underlying cause of my dissatisfaction is. Since I expect certain things of myself, I expect certain behavior from others, and because that expected behavior does not meet the actual real world behavior - there is a certain amount of confusion as to why things are not as expected, and there is exploration as to how you can make the actual match your expected. When you can't make the two meet (to a reasonable approximation) you get dissatisfaction - where I am now!
Here is a concrete example of this is: I like to fix things that are either broken or not functioning well.
A year ago, when I came to my current workplace, there were things that did not function well (or were broken!) that no one did anything about. Here are three (of many) examples:
1. Flash drives were not being recognized by our PCs. Up until that time someone from Systems needed to come out of the office, go to that PC that the patron was using and input the administrator password THREE times in order to make the PC recognize the removable media. When I brought the issue up it was dismissed as nothing could be done about it. Well I researched the matter, I found the culprit and fixed the problem!
2. PC user profiles were being corrupted. Again dismissed and people said "nothing you can do about it" - again researched and fixed the problem!
3. Servers were taken over by some pretty nasty software while the network manager was on vacation (mind you we don't have backup people) - fixed the problem myself
I was able to bring the actual state pretty close to my expectation levels.
Machines you can fix, people are another thing...
Here are four examples (out of many)
1. Person contacts me and says they want the newest version of software X because they will realize gains in productivity if we get it. We buy it, I install it for her, made sure it worked, went back to my office. 10 minutes later I get a call because she does not know how to use this software! I go, show her. A week later, the same situation. This repeated many times! (person makes $79,000)
2. Person calls me because they do not know if the patron is valid or not (i.e. if their membership has expired). This person deals with patrons every day and should already know how to check this sort of stuff - tools of the trade sort of situation. I go and show them. This situation repeats other times. (person makes $80,000)
3. Person calls about Microsoft Outlook problems. Its not my job to fix this, but I am a sport, so I go and help out and show them how to fix the problem. They forget how to fix the problem, so they call again...I fix it and show them again. This repeats quite a few times (person makes $75,000)
4. Someone moved their office and with them went the computer. I asked where they wanted to the computer and set it up where they told me (nothing special, just a CPU, monitor, mouse and keyboard). 15 minutes later I get a call that they want the PC moved 3 inches to the left and they cant move it. they needed my help...what? :-/ are you kidding me?! (person makes $90,000)
So it turns out that I can solve hardware problems, once and for all, but the human factor is always recurring - like the "lessons" I give them go in one ear and out the other. The actual appears not to be making it close to my expectations. This is because, I believe, they do not wish to learn. These are people that make quite a lot of money - some over $90,000 per year, and they don't want to learn basic things!
Now I do realize that the expected and the actual in these kinds of situations never actually meet, but they can come close enough to look at one another - I would be happy with that.
I also do realize that people have different technical backgrounds, and that not everyone has an appreciation for the geeky stuff I like. I am not asking for a lot - I am not asking you to program in C++ or create AJAX applications.
I am just asking that you know the tools of your trade. Know how your things work, and how to troubleshoot things that are vital to your livelihood. Also, when I show your something 10 times, I expect something to stick! This isn't too much to ask for, is it?
In Greek they say Μια φορά το λεν του ανθρώπου και δέκα του γαϊδάρου. Quite fitting for this situation. The positive side is that there are a number of people that do learn, and don't call back with the same problem, day after day, and they already know and are learning their tools of trade. Also, most of the people that I have to troubleshoot and instruct multiple times are appreciate and they say thank you. This is what keeps me just dissatisfied - otherwise I would be "completely dissatisfied"
I have pinpointed why I am feeling extreme work dissatisfaction the last few months! If you had asked me:
"why do you feel dissatisfied at work?"
I might have said responded with something like
This bureaucracy is driving me nuts! It has been 4 months since I submitted upgrade paperwork, and 6 months since we've been talking about it, but Human Resources STILL have not received my paperwork. I have been going above and beyond the call for the last 9 months and I've also been getting heat from various people, including the higher ups, who believe that I am "not doing my job." Of course people don't see is that I am attempting to do my actual job while helping projects move along (things that aren't my job). Higher ups stress that projects, that are not actually in my job duties, are strategically important and either come out and state that I should be part of them, or hint at it. There are only so many hours in the day, and one must prioritize what needs to be done first, second, third and so on. When your bosses stress certain projects - well then you focus more on those, don't you?
Of course, the above is what is happening on the surface and is obvious to everyone involved. This however is not the underlying cause of my dissatisfaction and this I realized today! The real cause is this:
I hold myself to a standard, and I hold others to certain standards too! I do this subconsciously, I don't really think about it, and I think this is why it took me so long to realize what the underlying cause of my dissatisfaction is. Since I expect certain things of myself, I expect certain behavior from others, and because that expected behavior does not meet the actual real world behavior - there is a certain amount of confusion as to why things are not as expected, and there is exploration as to how you can make the actual match your expected. When you can't make the two meet (to a reasonable approximation) you get dissatisfaction - where I am now!
Here is a concrete example of this is: I like to fix things that are either broken or not functioning well.
A year ago, when I came to my current workplace, there were things that did not function well (or were broken!) that no one did anything about. Here are three (of many) examples:
1. Flash drives were not being recognized by our PCs. Up until that time someone from Systems needed to come out of the office, go to that PC that the patron was using and input the administrator password THREE times in order to make the PC recognize the removable media. When I brought the issue up it was dismissed as nothing could be done about it. Well I researched the matter, I found the culprit and fixed the problem!
2. PC user profiles were being corrupted. Again dismissed and people said "nothing you can do about it" - again researched and fixed the problem!
3. Servers were taken over by some pretty nasty software while the network manager was on vacation (mind you we don't have backup people) - fixed the problem myself
I was able to bring the actual state pretty close to my expectation levels.
Machines you can fix, people are another thing...
Here are four examples (out of many)
1. Person contacts me and says they want the newest version of software X because they will realize gains in productivity if we get it. We buy it, I install it for her, made sure it worked, went back to my office. 10 minutes later I get a call because she does not know how to use this software! I go, show her. A week later, the same situation. This repeated many times! (person makes $79,000)
2. Person calls me because they do not know if the patron is valid or not (i.e. if their membership has expired). This person deals with patrons every day and should already know how to check this sort of stuff - tools of the trade sort of situation. I go and show them. This situation repeats other times. (person makes $80,000)
3. Person calls about Microsoft Outlook problems. Its not my job to fix this, but I am a sport, so I go and help out and show them how to fix the problem. They forget how to fix the problem, so they call again...I fix it and show them again. This repeats quite a few times (person makes $75,000)
4. Someone moved their office and with them went the computer. I asked where they wanted to the computer and set it up where they told me (nothing special, just a CPU, monitor, mouse and keyboard). 15 minutes later I get a call that they want the PC moved 3 inches to the left and they cant move it. they needed my help...what? :-/ are you kidding me?! (person makes $90,000)
So it turns out that I can solve hardware problems, once and for all, but the human factor is always recurring - like the "lessons" I give them go in one ear and out the other. The actual appears not to be making it close to my expectations. This is because, I believe, they do not wish to learn. These are people that make quite a lot of money - some over $90,000 per year, and they don't want to learn basic things!
Now I do realize that the expected and the actual in these kinds of situations never actually meet, but they can come close enough to look at one another - I would be happy with that.
I also do realize that people have different technical backgrounds, and that not everyone has an appreciation for the geeky stuff I like. I am not asking for a lot - I am not asking you to program in C++ or create AJAX applications.
I am just asking that you know the tools of your trade. Know how your things work, and how to troubleshoot things that are vital to your livelihood. Also, when I show your something 10 times, I expect something to stick! This isn't too much to ask for, is it?
In Greek they say Μια φορά το λεν του ανθρώπου και δέκα του γαϊδάρου. Quite fitting for this situation. The positive side is that there are a number of people that do learn, and don't call back with the same problem, day after day, and they already know and are learning their tools of trade. Also, most of the people that I have to troubleshoot and instruct multiple times are appreciate and they say thank you. This is what keeps me just dissatisfied - otherwise I would be "completely dissatisfied"
Stop Killing Trees (and save some money!)
22/November/2006 15:14
Yesterday I get a "ticket" (what people send in when
there is a problem that they need me to fix).
I headed straight to department X, looked at the printer - the object of concern - and I saw "toner low".
Hmmm....I think to myself, didn't I just change this toner?!
Go into the diagnostic mode, print out a status report...and lo and behold, I had just replaced the toner! Well, it was a month ago, but still!
In one month, over 8100 pages were printed! (approximately 260 pages per day for those who are wondering)
This is one printer in one department! No wonder we are bleeding money! (and killing trees in the process)
To the credit of the printer, the toner was rated for 6000 pages, so the fact that it printed 8100 pages and still had 1% left...it's pretty good!
I just wish people were more frugal, working for the state means tightening the belt as funds are scarce, but if we can save money on printing we can use it elsewhere!
I headed straight to department X, looked at the printer - the object of concern - and I saw "toner low".
Hmmm....I think to myself, didn't I just change this toner?!
Go into the diagnostic mode, print out a status report...and lo and behold, I had just replaced the toner! Well, it was a month ago, but still!
In one month, over 8100 pages were printed! (approximately 260 pages per day for those who are wondering)
This is one printer in one department! No wonder we are bleeding money! (and killing trees in the process)
To the credit of the printer, the toner was rated for 6000 pages, so the fact that it printed 8100 pages and still had 1% left...it's pretty good!
I just wish people were more frugal, working for the state means tightening the belt as funds are scarce, but if we can save money on printing we can use it elsewhere!
2003 Active Directory training over
15/September/2006 19:31
Wow!
This was a tiring week! All week long I had AD training, which I enjoyed but was very tiring none the less since I had classes at night too.
13 more weeks of classes left - yes I know that the semester just started, but I can see the end...errr...somewhat blurry....and in the distance...but it's there!
Active directory was fun - I look forward tomessing up
helping to fix our AD infrastructure
This was a tiring week! All week long I had AD training, which I enjoyed but was very tiring none the less since I had classes at night too.
13 more weeks of classes left - yes I know that the semester just started, but I can see the end...errr...somewhat blurry....and in the distance...but it's there!
Active directory was fun - I look forward to
Parking closed permanelty!
12/August/2006 11:26
I got a broadcast message in my inbox yesterday (from
the higher ups in the University food chain) and they
said that in order to rehabilitate the indoor garages
will be more than $150
billion
dollars. - yes your read right - $150
BILLION
!
So to fix the garages so that they are suitable for parking and human use would be fiscally impossible and irresponsible, instead they will spend the money to make sure that the garages can support the buildings that are built above it, and prevent parking an pedestrian access permanently. So what will they do? Just pump a whole bunch of concrete to seal it up?! And where will we find parking? After all UMass Boston is a commuter school! There are no dorms, people come in, take classes, leave. People also go there to work! I seriously hope they come up with a solution soon!
To quote a professor "if you ignore problems, they just fester and when you try to do something about it it's too late" (paraphrasing)
Well done UMass! Well Done Massachusetts! a 30 year old campus is facing big problems because of poor construction and ignoring of problems that should have been fixed long long long ago! Campuses like Harvard are older and are not facing such horrific problems.
The ball is in your court, let's see what you do with it.
So to fix the garages so that they are suitable for parking and human use would be fiscally impossible and irresponsible, instead they will spend the money to make sure that the garages can support the buildings that are built above it, and prevent parking an pedestrian access permanently. So what will they do? Just pump a whole bunch of concrete to seal it up?! And where will we find parking? After all UMass Boston is a commuter school! There are no dorms, people come in, take classes, leave. People also go there to work! I seriously hope they come up with a solution soon!
To quote a professor "if you ignore problems, they just fester and when you try to do something about it it's too late" (paraphrasing)
Well done UMass! Well Done Massachusetts! a 30 year old campus is facing big problems because of poor construction and ignoring of problems that should have been fixed long long long ago! Campuses like Harvard are older and are not facing such horrific problems.
The ball is in your court, let's see what you do with it.
Can't have your cake and eat it too!
09/August/2006 12:43
Last week we learned that because of the parking
closings when the fall semester comes it will be
mayhem!
As you had seen in the article that I posted in a previous entry UMass Boston lost about 1800 parking spots with these garage closures.
Now the parking situation was not ideal to begin with, depending on when you came to campus you might be driving around for a while before you found parking, image now! So what the question in "where to park?" - Our wonderful option is to park further away from the University in a parking lot, which we still must pay for parking even though it is an inconvenience, or park on the streets of Dorchester, which isn't a great place (there have been a lot of shootings there in the last 6 months and it wasn't all that great to begin with).
So the university has to choose who they give priority to park on campus - up to now the staff got certain reserved areas in the morning where they were given first dibs on parking. This makes sense - you commute into work, you come here to work, you pay for parking, so we might as well give you first dibs. Now this changes, students will get first dibs for parking - students who might not even come here 5 days a week for classes, whereas the people that work on campus, the people that do put in 40 (or more hours) per week get the shaft. This comes down to a simple decision: Do you permit your clients (the students) to have first dibs or your employees? In any business context it is a shade of gray - you cannot outright pick one over the other. The clients are your main source of funding, your employees make the place run! One cannot exist without the other and both are commuters since UMass Boston is a commuter school.
The problem comes in for employees. Some people, like me, spend an hour in traffic (each way) to get to and from work. In bad weather conditions this time spend in the wonderful state of traffic augments, throw in the fact that the I-90 connector tunnels are closed (see other blog entries for that)...well...you can imagine that if employees are not given a semi-soft guarantee that they can park at work, ...well it's just the cherry on the top, isn't it?
I can't wait to see what happens in the fall.
As you had seen in the article that I posted in a previous entry UMass Boston lost about 1800 parking spots with these garage closures.
Now the parking situation was not ideal to begin with, depending on when you came to campus you might be driving around for a while before you found parking, image now! So what the question in "where to park?" - Our wonderful option is to park further away from the University in a parking lot, which we still must pay for parking even though it is an inconvenience, or park on the streets of Dorchester, which isn't a great place (there have been a lot of shootings there in the last 6 months and it wasn't all that great to begin with).
So the university has to choose who they give priority to park on campus - up to now the staff got certain reserved areas in the morning where they were given first dibs on parking. This makes sense - you commute into work, you come here to work, you pay for parking, so we might as well give you first dibs. Now this changes, students will get first dibs for parking - students who might not even come here 5 days a week for classes, whereas the people that work on campus, the people that do put in 40 (or more hours) per week get the shaft. This comes down to a simple decision: Do you permit your clients (the students) to have first dibs or your employees? In any business context it is a shade of gray - you cannot outright pick one over the other. The clients are your main source of funding, your employees make the place run! One cannot exist without the other and both are commuters since UMass Boston is a commuter school.
The problem comes in for employees. Some people, like me, spend an hour in traffic (each way) to get to and from work. In bad weather conditions this time spend in the wonderful state of traffic augments, throw in the fact that the I-90 connector tunnels are closed (see other blog entries for that)...well...you can imagine that if employees are not given a semi-soft guarantee that they can park at work, ...well it's just the cherry on the top, isn't it?
I can't wait to see what happens in the fall.
The sky is falling!
22/July/2006 11:06
Things like this make me laugh out loud at the
stupidity of people.
Sweeping things under the rug NEVER works! Well it works if you intend on coming back to pick up the trash relatively soon
We knnow the sky is falling...the big question is whether or not the floor will disappear from under our feet because of this.
Anyway - for your reading pleasure:
UMass closes big garage in Boston
By Cristina Silva, Globe Staff | July 21, 2006
The University of Massachusetts at Boston has closed an underground parking garage that has been decaying for decades, appeasing some students and staff who have become more fearful of falling concrete in the aftermath of the Big Dig tragedy.
Chancellor Michael F. Collins, citing safety concerns and repair costs, abruptly announced the immediate closing of the garage Wednesday afternoon in a meeting with campus officials. Faculty, staff, and students received the news via e-mail.
When asked why the university gave such little notice, Collins said he was partially motivated by the death of Milena Del Valle, who was killed when ceiling panels crashed on her car as her husband drove through the Interstate 90 connector.
``There isn't a construction decision made in this day that isn't influenced by what happened that day," Collins said.
Collins had decided in June to eventually shut the garage down after learning it would cost $150 million to repair the two-story structure, which doubles as a foundation for much of the campus. The closing of the 1,560-car garage reduces available parking by half for the commuter school, which is currently holding summer classes . University officials said they are working on an alternative parking plan and urged students to take public transportation in the meantime.
For decades, staff, faculty, and students have called for restoration of the garage, which has been plagued with leaks, crumbling cement beams, and potholes since it was built in the 1970s. In 2005, a large piece of concrete fell and partially crushed the car of a retired dean as a finalist for the chancellor position toured the campus.
``People are constantly tripping on potholes in the garage and twisting their ankles, and things are constantly falling on people's cars," said Tom Goodkind, a machinist at the school and a representative of the Service Employees International Union. ``We always joked that it would take someone's death to get them to do something about the garage, and now they finally have."
Over the years, the garage has become a dreary labyrinth, with walls and floor so eroded from the salty environment that they look like a coral reef. Nets hang from the ceiling to catch fragments of falling cement, a problem linked to the use of low-quality concrete in the construction.
A probe in the 1970s found that a New York construction firm had bribed legislators and used low-quality concrete. Two state senators were convicted and jailed for accepting cash payoffs in 1977.
Yesterday, orange traffic cones blocked motorists from entering the garage, and security guards redirected traffic to outdoor parking lots on campus.
The effects of the closing of the garage could grow in the fall, when the university's 12,000 full-time students return to campus.
``People are going to be fighting for a spot," said David Williams, a junior who drives to campus.
Collins, who said he was told of the garage's problems before he was hired last year, has had engineers inspect the building routinely. In the past year, the university spent $1 million on repairs, but made only a small dent in repairs and had to rope off 600 parking spots deemed unusable.
Instead of using the garage again, the university will spend $25 million in state funds to stabilize the structure and ensure the security of the five buildings resting on top of the garage, he said.
Collins said he did not know whether the university will build a new garage. For the next school year, the university will consider offering a valet service to maximize its parking capacity or creating parking off campus and shuttling in students and faculty.
``We could have said, `Let's just put up a new parking garage somewhere,' " Collins said. ``But we want to take our time and do it right, so we do not ever have this problem again."
At a press conference yesterday about the Big Dig, John J. Sullivan, a candidate for lieutenant governor , said the garage closing shows the need to act quickly on the Big Dig.
``They closed it today because the . . . place is falling down," Sullivan said, ``and that's going to happen here [in the tunnels] if we don't get our act together."
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Sweeping things under the rug NEVER works! Well it works if you intend on coming back to pick up the trash relatively soon
We knnow the sky is falling...the big question is whether or not the floor will disappear from under our feet because of this.
Anyway - for your reading pleasure:
UMass closes big garage in Boston
By Cristina Silva, Globe Staff | July 21, 2006
The University of Massachusetts at Boston has closed an underground parking garage that has been decaying for decades, appeasing some students and staff who have become more fearful of falling concrete in the aftermath of the Big Dig tragedy.
Chancellor Michael F. Collins, citing safety concerns and repair costs, abruptly announced the immediate closing of the garage Wednesday afternoon in a meeting with campus officials. Faculty, staff, and students received the news via e-mail.
When asked why the university gave such little notice, Collins said he was partially motivated by the death of Milena Del Valle, who was killed when ceiling panels crashed on her car as her husband drove through the Interstate 90 connector.
``There isn't a construction decision made in this day that isn't influenced by what happened that day," Collins said.
Collins had decided in June to eventually shut the garage down after learning it would cost $150 million to repair the two-story structure, which doubles as a foundation for much of the campus. The closing of the 1,560-car garage reduces available parking by half for the commuter school, which is currently holding summer classes . University officials said they are working on an alternative parking plan and urged students to take public transportation in the meantime.
For decades, staff, faculty, and students have called for restoration of the garage, which has been plagued with leaks, crumbling cement beams, and potholes since it was built in the 1970s. In 2005, a large piece of concrete fell and partially crushed the car of a retired dean as a finalist for the chancellor position toured the campus.
``People are constantly tripping on potholes in the garage and twisting their ankles, and things are constantly falling on people's cars," said Tom Goodkind, a machinist at the school and a representative of the Service Employees International Union. ``We always joked that it would take someone's death to get them to do something about the garage, and now they finally have."
Over the years, the garage has become a dreary labyrinth, with walls and floor so eroded from the salty environment that they look like a coral reef. Nets hang from the ceiling to catch fragments of falling cement, a problem linked to the use of low-quality concrete in the construction.
A probe in the 1970s found that a New York construction firm had bribed legislators and used low-quality concrete. Two state senators were convicted and jailed for accepting cash payoffs in 1977.
Yesterday, orange traffic cones blocked motorists from entering the garage, and security guards redirected traffic to outdoor parking lots on campus.
The effects of the closing of the garage could grow in the fall, when the university's 12,000 full-time students return to campus.
``People are going to be fighting for a spot," said David Williams, a junior who drives to campus.
Collins, who said he was told of the garage's problems before he was hired last year, has had engineers inspect the building routinely. In the past year, the university spent $1 million on repairs, but made only a small dent in repairs and had to rope off 600 parking spots deemed unusable.
Instead of using the garage again, the university will spend $25 million in state funds to stabilize the structure and ensure the security of the five buildings resting on top of the garage, he said.
Collins said he did not know whether the university will build a new garage. For the next school year, the university will consider offering a valet service to maximize its parking capacity or creating parking off campus and shuttling in students and faculty.
``We could have said, `Let's just put up a new parking garage somewhere,' " Collins said. ``But we want to take our time and do it right, so we do not ever have this problem again."
At a press conference yesterday about the Big Dig, John J. Sullivan, a candidate for lieutenant governor , said the garage closing shows the need to act quickly on the Big Dig.
``They closed it today because the . . . place is falling down," Sullivan said, ``and that's going to happen here [in the tunnels] if we don't get our act together."
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO ARTICLE