hArsh with A cApitAl A

My last post was harsh. A little too harsh, actually. I ended up scoring 29 points out of a possible 30 on my research paper. That ticks me off because my prof. neglected to let me in on the error that cost me a perfect score.

So, despite what the title of this post may indicate, me writes good.

2 Semesters Over

I just submitted my case study for Library Admin. I put together a budget for a surplus of money! Wow! I wonder when I'll be able to put those skills to use in the real world! Probably never...

I aced my Reference class. In fact, my Pathfinder project co-earned top score with some other classmate. I ended tops in my class. Does anyone else like the sound of me tooting my own horn? No? Oh well. That's the news!

Final Paper - Leadership Librarians

I am currently writing my paper on leadership in library administration. Well, currently I am blogging about writing about leadership in library administration. I'm about halfway through and hating most of my words. Things should look up eventually.

Ever wonder how much crap people go through when they try to lead a group of people? I do, and it seems if you don't really believe in the thing you are working for, then you will probably give in to the pressures of people who avoid change. The crap tends to pile up and become too much.

Back to my writing! I plan to finish my rough draft today and start the arduous editing process tomorrow.

Library Student, FTW!

In our discussion board, we were talking about continuing education after school. Most of my classmates sided against continuing education. Here are my comments followed by my professor's comments.

I am fairly certain that most, if not all professional-class careers continue their education. Teachers must be re-certified. Medical professionals must take classes. I believe lawyers must keep their credentials updated. It would only strengthen the argument that Librarians are professionals if some kind of continuing education was required. - ME

I think that this is a crucial point.  Would you want to be treated by a doctor who graduated from medical school 20 years ago and never tried to keep up with anything new since that time?  Any professional worth his or her salt MUST keep up with the changes in the workplace, whether it is by taking courses or by other means.  The profession of librarianship is completely different now compared to what it was when I was in library school.  If I had not been keeping up with the changes, I would now be utterly unqualified to do anything in this field.  Our profession, more than many others, is changing constantly and rapidly.  [By the way, this follows a period of I would say 100 years when it didn't change too much at all, i.e. from the 1860s to the early 1960s.]  When you graduate from this program, there is no way you will still be qualified to do your job 5 years later if you do not make serious efforts to keep up with the changes that will undoubtedly continue to occur. - HE

To that is say, Boo-jackashaw!

 

Important Stuff

I haven't posted much lately, mostly because I have been pissed with my professor who does not know how to communicate effectively.

I just read a chapter in my book for Library Administration. It was about the human resource frame of management. Basically it talks about how a lot of companies screw their employees over for the sake of short-term profits, then they lose out in the long run because their company has gone to hell in a hand-basket. Think outsourcing to a foreign country where you can pay little to less people, give them a couple crappy resources and then in a few years realize that your customer satisfaction levels are scraping the bottom of the barrel. That's an example of poor human resource investment.

The flip-side of that are examples of good human resource investment. This is when companies give their employees the tools to do their job efficiently. They are compensated for their work. They receive a certain psychological fulfillment in the workplace. This investment brings a return that is much greater than the chop-house method. In fact, when employees feel that the company backs them, they tend to respond by working harder and innovating more. This is what we saw in the post-war boom. What we are seeing now results from the late-90s / early-2000s.

The crux of what I read relied on the psychological fulfillment of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This theory basically states that man is always trying to find satisfaction of some kind. The quest begins with basic needs--like food--and gradually the needs become more aesthetic and ephemeral, until they self-actualize. The workplace can, and should, be a place where some of these needs are met. Certainly, food and shelter are met via salary, but a sense of purpose is also closely tied to work. Do you really think that what you are doing is important?

Maybe yes, maybe no...

Values Are Always Applied

Question: In management, does one size fit all? Can you come up with a set of principles and apply them uniformly in all circumstances, or do you have to adjust your principles to the people and circumstances involved?



The evidence is overwhelming that there is no single-size solution for successful management. It is clear that managers must assess their situation and respond accordingly in order to motivate and innovate in the workplace.

However, one can argue for the fact that a manager may base their decisions on certain values that remain constant from situation to situation. The RO book touches on this topic while discussing Gladwell's "blink" process. The non-conscious, split second decisions result in what is called "affective judgments" which allow the manager to feel confident in their decisions.

I have read that these gut feelings are not at the mercy of a person's whim, but are tied into deep-seated values. These values are always present and part of a person's make up. This is from the Harvard Business Review Blog Network: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/08/decoding_intuition_for_more_ef.html

Granted, these core values do not exclude a manager from changing their approach when circumstances warrant it, but it does influence their decisions. While the article deals with CEOs, I feel that all people make decisions based on their values, this includes the choice that managers have in the style they choose.

New Year, New Semester

I'm gearing up for a new semester of Library School! Yay! I am taking LIS 6603 Basic Information Sources and Services & LIS 6409 Introduction to Library Administration. My first conference/on-campus meeting is on Friday the 13th of January. It should be fun!