Yesterday, I had lunch with a PhD student who had just successfully defended their dissertation proposal the day before. As we talked about why we do what we do in grad school, it prompted me to think through my own reasons for pursuing another graduate degree, this time in theology. There were things discussed inContinue reading “What I didn’t know”
Author Archives: The OW Factor
Sundays are in danger
Sundays are in danger of wholeheartedly turning into the I-am-dreading-Monday day of the week. I wake up and immediately start to worry about what I need to accomplish before having to go back to work the next day, which includes not just regular work, but also what I have to do in terms of completingContinue reading “Sundays are in danger”
Organizational weirdness, again
It is really painful when the OW Factor ratchets up to a ten. Remember: the OW Factor, a completely made-up rating, stands for Organizational Weirdness Factor, with ten being the highest and zero being the lowest possible score. I invented it when working years ago in an environment where there was enormous dysfunction, the mostContinue reading “Organizational weirdness, again”
My mother and food
Since I was five years old, my mother worked full-time in order to help make ends meet for our large family. This was in the days before microwaves and a wide variety of prepackaged foods. It was also long before the days when you could easily buy in bulk at a Costco or Sam’s Club.Continue reading “My mother and food”
Old movies and theology
Sometimes I like to go back to an old movie and watch it over again. In my family growing up, we were not allowed to have TV but we frequently watched movies. (Don’t ask me to parse the difference in terms of right and wrong. This also did not mean that we didn’t watch TVContinue reading “Old movies and theology”
Six months later
It has been too long since my last post, almost six months ago. Simply put, I haven’t felt inspired to write a blog post in that time, or else too much was going on to focus on what I might want to write here. Life continues to be very full and at times, painful, stressful,Continue reading “Six months later”
Challenges facing liberal arts college libraries
In the past few years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be interviewed for leadership roles in other academic libraries. One example was for a peer institution, where I was asked to present my perspectives on challenges facing liberal arts college libraries to a wider audience during my on campus interview. As is usually the caseContinue reading “Challenges facing liberal arts college libraries”
Five laws of library data
I propose a Ranganathan-esque set of laws for library data. I do this without any grand conceit or purpose, and for all I know, someone else might have come up with this before and done it better. I haven’t checked. I simply began thinking recently about library data and how it can be used, re-used,Continue reading “Five laws of library data”
Dealing with profound disappointment
Sooner or later, you will almost certainly encounter a time when you are profoundly disappointed in your career. Suggestions for handling those periods is the focus of this post. Causes for disappointment are quite varied and the following might not apply to every situation. I have not “solved” this common problem and that is notContinue reading “Dealing with profound disappointment”
Trying out iOS 16 beta
The Apple hype machine is a key aspect of their success, and I am increasingly reluctant to add to it. Even so, this post is about aspects of their newest iOS release that I really like, and perhaps this post will be useful to others with Apple devices. I recently enrolled in Apple’s iOS 16Continue reading “Trying out iOS 16 beta”
The OW Factor 