I went up to Wellington on the Monday before last for my interview, and to visit the Architecture & Design campus. The Te Aro campus (where my library is) is a considerable way away from the main university; a twenty minute walk down a steep Wellingtonian hill.

When I finally arrived at the big red building, the first thing I noticed was the student projects hanging up in the large atrium area that connects the departments and the library. I was thrilled to see that they were creative architectural concepts for a new Upper Hutt Public Library!

That’s not the only interesting project that the A&D faculty are working on. The Digital Media Design department are working on an online space for teaching and learning in Second Life! I went to visit the department (while waiting for my 2pm appointment with the search committee) and met the technician working on the project. They hope to teach ‘mixed-world’ lectures – where students bring their avatars into a virtual classroom, and webcam images of their lecturers from the ‘real world’ appear on view screens in that environment. They have really awesome workrooms there – filled with nice Mac Pros and big monitors. They have three projector screens set up at one end of the room, side by side. According to the librarians, someone in the Architecture department is also working on a Second Life project. I really hope that, through my new position, I’ll be able to somehow get the library (and myself!) involved in projects like these two!

I start at my new library the day after Queen’s Birthday Weekend, 5 June, meaning that we have only about six weeks to get us moved into a new place in Wellington. We’re also agonising over where we’re going to live, and trying to work out where the supermarkets are in Wellington Central! I’m going to really miss Christchurch, and especially the people I’ve worked with at Canterbury Uni, but I’m also looking forward to discovering another new city.

As for Michelle, she has a job interview of her own to go to in Wellington the week after next! She’ll be interviewing for the awesome position at the OFLC that she’s hoping to get. I really think that it would be a dream position for Michelle. So now we have our fingers crossed for a positive outcome there, too.

Thanks everyone for your kind words, encouraging me to go up there and try out for the job and wishing me well for the interview – it worked!

Some of the key result areas outlined in the role description hint at it being quite an exciting position, which could give me the opportunity to expand on my existing skills. In particular, I think I’d be able to build on my experience developing of online documentation and websites to support student learning (I’ve been allowed to experiment in this area through my work at StudentNet). I would also welcome the chance to apply what I’ve learned through the MLIS in what looks to be a challenging, and changing environment.

Four of the Key Result Areas outlined in the Role Description seem particularly interesting. The job would involve:

• Taking primary responsibility for the development, implementation and evaluation of Web and paper-based publications to assist Library users,
• Maintaining and developing current awareness service for academic staff and students,
• Maintaining and developing the Architecture and Design Library Group’s presence on the Library’s intranet,
• Managing and updating the Architecture and Design Library’s web pages.

“Current awareness service”? That sounds to me like the library needs their own blog!

Even more exciting, the Role Description lists “Innovation” as one of their top four “Core Competencies” for the person filling the position. I think a library with this kind of attitude is one I would enjoy working for. There’s no denying that the role of the contemporary academic library is multifacited, rapidly evolving, and exciting. The schools associated with this particular library is associated also looks like they’re moving in interesting directions. I wonder if there’s some way architecture and design students could be persuaded to work on a project in Second Life for the library?
Job applications are an excellent opportunity for reflexivity. Even if I don’t get this job (and my hopes aren’t high; I’m not sure I’ve got quite the experience required, and the job description does say they’re looking for someone who has completed their MLIS), I’ve found this process to be great experience for preparing for a professional role in the future.

Writing out the CV, especially my work experience sections, I’m amazed at the cool opportunities I’ve had over the last few years to work alongside some great people. From academic staff to educational designers to archivists and librarians, I’ve managed to acquire quite a bit of applied knowledge about the topics I’m passionate about. In my studies, I’ve been able to turn assignments and research projects into opportunities to explore issues I think are important for the future of library and information management.

If you’re interested, you can read the full CV I submitted online as a google document. You can also take a look at the role description for the job. Please feel most welcome to share your thoughts on both!

I am especially looking forward to getting a look behind the scenes in MB’s basement. I imagine it to be like Terry Pratchett’s Unseen University Library. I’ve tried to find some quotes describing it, but they don’t quite match what’s in my mind, still -

The layout of the Library of Unseen University was a topographical nightmare, the sheer presence of so much stored magic twisting dimensions and gravity into the kind of spaghetti that would make M.C.Escher go for a good lie down, or possibly sideways.

It’s generally very quiet in the Unseen University library. There’s perhaps the shuffling of feet as wizards wander between shelves, the occasional hacking cough to disturb the academic silence, and every once in a while a dying scream as an unwary student fails to treat an old magical book with the caution it deserves.

In most old libraries the books are chained to the shelves to prevent them being damaged by people. In the library of the Unseen University, of course, it’s more or less the other way about.

…Those descriptions all sound rather dangerous. Jill Durnie, the Macmillan Brown Library Assistant Manager, did mention jokingly that they occasionally lose librarians down in the basement.

I found an interesting flickr photogroup of librarians’ desks from all around the globe, by way of librarian.net. I’d love to contribute pictures of the main desks at our libraries to the collection. I will see if it’s okay for me to take pictures of the basement, too, to put up on this site.

The box itself is cute and not that heavy. I’m so glad I waited out for this option instead of building a (less expensive) shuttle PC myself.

The only complaints I have (and they’re small) are: a) World of Warcraft doesn’t run as well as I’d like, and b) avi/wmv/mpg files seem to play rather poorly with lots of pixel loss.

If you’re trying to get to what’s left of the old site, the wiki, the address is http://www.timothygreig.com/mediawiki/.