The Now: February 8, 2022

About once a week, I try to get out to do "roving reference." We're in a temporary location while the main library is being  renovated and this is my way of putting the library where the students are. Today, I posted up in the student lounge. While I did answer a few questions, I mostly enjoyed seeing the students hang out with each other. Campus feels alive when there are students around. I greatly missed that when everything was online.

Here's what I've been working on:

1. Research Assignment Design: We're on a break from coding transcripts and are now reviewing syllabi and assignments. Essentially, we want to see what faculty assign and when, plus any parameters. That way we can look for trends and overlap. (Every single faculty member has an annotated bibliography assignment.) I also took a look at anything we coded as "interesting." While two small trends did emerge, these passages are mostly just interesting. They don't add to our research but they are notable as asides or anecdotes.
   
2. Website Updates: I got to tackle a few of the easy priority updates on my to-do list. They were all minor changes that will, hopefully, help with navigation and information seeking. Embedding our chat service along with having a pop-up might increase our numbers there. I'm also promoting a short survey to see if I can get any more feedback in this area.
   
3. ​Personal Digital Clean Up: I'm just making my way through various folders and tools trying to pare things down and rename files. This week, I focused on my Google Drive and Evernote. There's still a lot of work to go, but I'm amazed at just how much I've been able to delete. Why I held on to college papers I will never read or use again is beyond me. (Did keep my theses though.)

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