As you may have heard, we’re not going to have a full August episode — Tracy and Carrie are taking a mini-summer break! But it’s far from a restful break. Here’s what we’ve been up to both inside and outside of our professional lives:
Carrie
I’m an academic librarian at a large, public university, and that means that August is my time to prepare for fall teaching sessions.
I work with health professions faculty and instruct on average 40 class sessions per semester. How do I prepare for the onslaught of fall instruction? It means that I have to check course schedules, sections, and instructors to see who’s teaching the research methods classes that I like to visit. It means reaching out to the faculty, if they haven’t found me first, to try to find a time to get on their schedule. And it means REPRESENTING for my profession — and by that I mean absolutely squashing any stereotypes they might have of librarians reading books and shushing people. That means I have to provide excellent services while also setting expectations for those services.
August of this year also means that I’ve submitted a tenure portfolio for consideration of permanent status at my university. “Permanent status” is what we call “tenure.” My position is one of those unique tenure-track librarian positions. I’ve been at my current job for three years now, but working as a librarian for over eleven! If you work in academia, then you know that the tenure portfolio is an almighty beast not to be f*cked with. There is no f*cking around and finding out. I’ve got a LOT of big feelings on the process and the “status.” Maybe I’ll get the chance to talk about it on the pod someday.
Some of you may know that I broke my wrist when I fell attempting to do the Hump on roller skates back in January (note to self: you do not roller skate). Believe me when I tell you that breaking bones is no fun and your affected bone, once healed, will hurt forever. In an effort to get my range of motion back, I decided to get back into playing the cello, which is something I had neglected for a few years. I bought myself a new cello for my birthday in April to replace the one that I’d had since 1993, and soon found myself playing in the pit of the Glyndon Area Players’ production of The Music Man. The rehearsal and production took up a whole lotta time and ran through the first two weeks of August. When Tracy and I were discussing the logistics of recording and editing an August episode, I’m sorry to say that I melted into a giant puddle on the floor.
Meanwhile, I just can’t quit making YouTube videos. They scratch a creative itch and give me a platform to offer guidance on searching, systematic reviews, and literature review methods (and complai — I mean “critically appraise”). Join me there if that’s your thing!
Tracy
Six months ago, I packed up my life for a new adventure. New town, new job and work arrangement, new duties, new colleagues, new living space (that Carrie helped me pick out!), new couch… lots of new things. It’s finally catching up to me. With Carrie being so busy as well, it felt like a good time to take a step back, take a rest (mostly on that new couch, because it is ridiculously comfy), and reflect on just how much has changed.
Being in Maryland, there are a lot of crab things. Every time I see something crab, I think about MeSH. Carrie tried to convince me to get a pair of crab pajamas. I’m debating if I should get a crab license plate. I got Boone, my canine companion, some Trader Joe’s Crab Paws — TJ’s is easy walking distance from me, which is really nice change. Now I just need to take time to hit the beach and look for real crabs.
Stay tuned throughout the fall for more special guests, hot topics, and everything you ever wanted to know about life as a medical librarian. Have an idea? Interested in being a guest? Send us an email at medlibsmiscellany@gmail.com.
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