Like this:

Wouldn’t you think that things get quiet at an academic library during the holidays? Ha! Not so. I guess the best part is that we have fewer meetings. I’ve often been able to organize my desk, clean out old files (including on the hard drive), finish up a project or two,  clean up the Inbox, and complete my self evaluation. I used to spend some of that time writing staff evaluations. It’s nice to have a break from that particular responsibility these days.

First day post-exams: I’d taken that Monday off. Did not even look at email over the long weekend until I got to the office Tuesday morning. Three different emails requesting new reports appeared. After months of very few requests other than the regularly scheduled monthly reports I run, there were three! YAY! I’d almost forgotten how to use Access – NOT!

One of the reports isn’t due until mid-January, so I will procrastinate and work on it after the holidays. (This is probably a very bad idea. It will come back to haunt me.) One report was for Circ staff to aid in a clean-up project during the semester break; the other from Content Development staff requesting a list of titles with expenditures for FY11 & FY12 (to date) for one specific department. One thing I’ve learned is to consult with the staff requesting reports before I embark on my own. Inevitably, they need either more or less information than I might provide. Always a good idea to clarify exactly what is the goal of the report. (Yes, the ‘reference interview’ is usually a must!)  Both reports were out within 24 hours to grateful and happy recipients. Gotta love that feeling!

By mid week another request arrived – see, everyone has time to work on projects that have been bugging them for months and they’ve been too busy to request! And, I had one new issue crop up with New Prairie Press (NPP). I am anticipating a flood there as the journal editors, who have been busy with classes during the fall, now have a moment to push articles through the review and publishing process. Inevitably they discover that something is broken or they’ve forgotten a piece of the process.

Next time at this year, as well as in May as the spring semester ends, I think I’d better anticipate spending extra time with NPP and requests. I’ll have to plan better to get my own downtime projects taken care of.

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