I could really relate to Sue's comments in the recent coursecast regarding the potential opportunity for growth related to professional associations. As I work internationally but the school I work for teaches an "American curriculum" this challenges me to make many associations with peers in the US. I belong to several listserves and read blogs as well. I've made several great contacts with other librarians at conferences and through online introductions and these are very helpful when I have questions that I can't get answered in person. I truly appreciate this group of people that support me and help me to grow in my new career.
Today, I also had a wonderful opportunity to meet for a day with a colleague from our sister school in Istanbul. When we have these opportunities I realize how useful they are and how much I learn just by conversations and comparing current services and sharing ideas. Based on our conversations, we have a plan for implementing grade level expectations for citations and bibliographies (we currently have no standard), we have the tasks identified for growing our summer reading program, and we discussed success indicators we are implementing across schools to measure and describe the success of our libraries. I walk away from these meetings jazzed and ready to take on the world. Hear my sheera call!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
J&M at Nemrut May 2007
The Euphrates River Ladies lunching in the courtyard of a mosque
John and Michelle at the summit of Mt. Nemrut
Success and Failure, Like Vanilla and Chocolate
Good Evening! Well, as the title suggests last week was both a success in the Amazon order department (woohoo) and a failure in that I am falling way behind in class assignments and my book order for textbooks for my first two classes has not arrived and is now considered officially LATE. Meanwhile, the dread of cramming as much knowledge into my head as possible when the books do finally arrive is beginning to incite panic. I am trying to remain calm and remind myself that I can do this and these are just minor bumps along the road to mecca of MLIS certification.
So, as any good worker does when feeling stressed...I took a vacation. Unfortunately, we had planned a group tour to Mt. Nemrut several months ago and suddenly the time had arrived so we set out on our journey in a van with 13 adults and 3 children under the ago of 9... in a van with 15 seats. The trip was long but the sights were delightful.
Mt. Nemrut is listed as a World Heritage Site. The mountain was discovered by geologists in 1881. Based on the alignment of stars etched into stone reliefs, astronomers were able to determine that the Nemrut statues date to 64BC. The mountain stands tall and proud at 2,150 meters tall and although a hike for a sunrise summit at 2:00am was something I never thought I'd accomplish or enjoy, I did. Here's a link to more information and a few pics. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=111905&bolum=117
As the Kuhn text arrived on Friday, just in time for the trip, I dutifully attempted to read it during the van time but I admit I am just as lost as everyone else. I am highlighting more words to lookup later for definitions than I am relevant thoughts and nuggets of wisdom. I understand from Professor Tomer the thought behind the inclusion of the text but this is really not inspiring any confidence in my ability to master this program.
Tomorrow will be a better day... or at least I've now thoroughly convinced myself of this so I may hopefully snooze soundly and wake rested and ready for book battles tomorrow. Peace out.
So, as any good worker does when feeling stressed...I took a vacation. Unfortunately, we had planned a group tour to Mt. Nemrut several months ago and suddenly the time had arrived so we set out on our journey in a van with 13 adults and 3 children under the ago of 9... in a van with 15 seats. The trip was long but the sights were delightful.
Mt. Nemrut is listed as a World Heritage Site. The mountain was discovered by geologists in 1881. Based on the alignment of stars etched into stone reliefs, astronomers were able to determine that the Nemrut statues date to 64BC. The mountain stands tall and proud at 2,150 meters tall and although a hike for a sunrise summit at 2:00am was something I never thought I'd accomplish or enjoy, I did. Here's a link to more information and a few pics. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=111905&bolum=117
As the Kuhn text arrived on Friday, just in time for the trip, I dutifully attempted to read it during the van time but I admit I am just as lost as everyone else. I am highlighting more words to lookup later for definitions than I am relevant thoughts and nuggets of wisdom. I understand from Professor Tomer the thought behind the inclusion of the text but this is really not inspiring any confidence in my ability to master this program.
Tomorrow will be a better day... or at least I've now thoroughly convinced myself of this so I may hopefully snooze soundly and wake rested and ready for book battles tomorrow. Peace out.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Seriously, is it supposed to be this difficult?
Well, there are distinct differences and shall we say "Challenges" when working internationally. Today this was my mantra as I tried to go with the flow and simply let the frustration roll off me as I tried to order media resources for our high school library. Simple, right? WRONG. We have ordered and received large orders of books in English, Turkish, French, and German and we were trying to throw the teachers a bone by ordering some new media resources to use as a compliment to their classes. Getting new relevant movies in English or second languages in Turkey is not easy unless you want to purchase the pirated burned copy from the shop down the street. These materials are simply not readily available and there are few companies to chose from that will ship my measly order internationally.
So, the teachers drag their feet getting me their wish list but I add to Amazon UK, rather proud of myself, for my fast service. Everything was going rather well until I hit the "Proceed to Checkout" button. Suddenly, I am alerted to a problem with my shipping address. The words, "These items cannot be shipped to your mailing address", have quickly dashed my hopes in sourcing and delivering new relevant movies to our teachers. There are no copies of my selections that can be shipped to Turkey. Monday no go, Tuesday I try again and no go, Wednesday... yep you guessed it no go. This continued for a few weeks, meanwhile, the teachers keep asking me why the movies haven't yet arrived. I try not to shoot death-ray visual darts at them and remind them I am using the last funds in our library budget to help them... geez. Suddenly I logged in and tried again and behold I was able to add my 4 problem movies and I swiftly move through the checkout process. I am well on my way to ordering 14 movies for our English and foreign languages departments (Yes, 14 even though it feels like 1014).
Now, I will print the order from Amazon UK and sign the little requisition form in triplicate and get the signatures of the Principal and Director and then deliver it to the Business Office Manager, where I will have to beg and plead to spend a relatively small amount of money in the scheme of the school (FYI - we employ a full-time person whose sole job is to serve tea to every meeting daily). I'll have to sharpen my claws and attach the armor for that battle. Stay tuned to see if I will prevail.
So, the teachers drag their feet getting me their wish list but I add to Amazon UK, rather proud of myself, for my fast service. Everything was going rather well until I hit the "Proceed to Checkout" button. Suddenly, I am alerted to a problem with my shipping address. The words, "These items cannot be shipped to your mailing address", have quickly dashed my hopes in sourcing and delivering new relevant movies to our teachers. There are no copies of my selections that can be shipped to Turkey. Monday no go, Tuesday I try again and no go, Wednesday... yep you guessed it no go. This continued for a few weeks, meanwhile, the teachers keep asking me why the movies haven't yet arrived. I try not to shoot death-ray visual darts at them and remind them I am using the last funds in our library budget to help them... geez. Suddenly I logged in and tried again and behold I was able to add my 4 problem movies and I swiftly move through the checkout process. I am well on my way to ordering 14 movies for our English and foreign languages departments (Yes, 14 even though it feels like 1014).
Now, I will print the order from Amazon UK and sign the little requisition form in triplicate and get the signatures of the Principal and Director and then deliver it to the Business Office Manager, where I will have to beg and plead to spend a relatively small amount of money in the scheme of the school (FYI - we employ a full-time person whose sole job is to serve tea to every meeting daily). I'll have to sharpen my claws and attach the armor for that battle. Stay tuned to see if I will prevail.
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