New Student Orientation

The students are back on campus and I am loving the energy! Our campus uses the Clifton StrengthsFinder as a tool to get the students talking about being successful in college. I always volunteer to facilitate this session at new student orientation. One of the benefits of doing this is that it allows me to meet some of the new students in a more informal way. I’m hoping that through this interaction, some of them will be more comfortable asking questions at the library as they start writing their research papers.

I also worked at the library’s booth at the resource fair. I’m always amazed at how many conversations happen as I’m moving about the campus walk. I ran into the guy who runs the activities at the commons, and he started asking me whether it would be possible for the library to extend its hours. He mentioned that several students had asked him about this. I was able to tell him that he should initiate a conversation with our director about it.

I got to work the booth with our director. He mentioned that he was glad I was there because he knows I’m good at talking to people. I seem to have a talent for finding myself in conversation with strangers and I am sort of hoping that I can find ways to utilize this talent either where I currently work or in my next position.

I really think it is important to find ways for librarians to gain more visibility on campus.

Just for fun, here’s cartoon I drew of a funny conversation I had at the library’s NSO booth.

I showed this cartoon to some of my friends. One of them commented that the latin text is indeed the state motto of Kansas. Who knew?

Paneling

I was honored to be asked to be on a panel about mentoring at a small library conference I’m attending this summer. One of the keynote speakers will be presenting a paper about mentoring, and after the paper, I will have four minutes to speak about my experiences. I am new to the library profession so I’m probably going to be speaking more about being mentored since I have not really mentored anyone.

Without having really looked at any of the research, I would say that a mentor is someone who offers their experience and advice to those who are still learning. Mentors/those being mentored can be any age, but usually the mentors have more experience.

When I think about a formal mentoring relationship, I would expect that a mentor (for me) would be someone that I could go to for advice about how I can be more successful at my job. It would be someone I respected and wanted to learn from. I should be able to go to this person with questions without feeling stupid or dumb for asking. Ideally, it should be someone outside of where I work, so that if sensitive issues arise, I would be able to talk with someone about the situation (without being gossipy) to help me figure out the best course for action (or inaction as the case may be).

In thinking about my experiences, I’ve realized that I have several people that I go to for advice and I’m lucky that I have many people like this in my life. All my relationships are more informal, but I know that no matter where I work, I would be able to go to these people for advise and wisdom on a variety of topics. It also helps to have someone to talk over ideas for solving problems as well as implementing really cool new ideas. The wisdom of experience can offer a pragmatic reality check. Definitely handy for countering potential problems.

I’m curious… how many people would say that they have a mentor or that they have mentored someone? Was it a positive experience?

I would hazard to guess that the experience is almost always positive, but I’m guessing also that some people have had some bad experiences as well.

Relationships and Craigslist

Recently, I wrote a paper on how community forms in YouTube.  I probably should have written it on how Craigslist influences community formation.  I have several recent examples:

1. The pastor of my church posted an ad for an internship.  We had one guy apply, and he turned out to be a great asset to our team.  He and I now work together with the youth at my church
2. I responded to an ad for a cellist.  I am now recording in the studio with the guy who posted the ad. I have met so many of his friends and family that I feel like I really am a part of a new community. Music really does bring people together.
3. My student worker awhile back posted an ad in the “missed connections.” Who knew that actually worked?  She was reconnected with a guy she saw only briefly in a coffee shop, and they dated for about six months.
4. A friend of mine recently posted a personal ad, and a different friend of mine responded to it.  Turns out I had actually introduced them at one point in time already.  Still not sure what’s going to happen there, but I am really amused.

I am fascinated by how many of my own personal relationships right now have been influenced by Craigslist.  I am intrigued by whether people are experiencing longer-term interactions within Craigslist or not.  I do not have time to look into it at the moment, but maybe I’ll come back to this later as a potential research topic.

Virtual Community Collide

Yesterday, I had two friends contact me independently. One of them had posted a personal ad on Craigslist and the other one responded to it. They each separately figured out that I knew the other, and were asking me questions about each other. They also both asked me not tell the other one that they had talked to me. I am really amused by this situation.

I am in the process of writing a paper about how community is formed in virtual environments. The premise of dating sites or even sites like Craigslist is that the virtual community and physical community are not very far removed. I’m beginning to see how this works. My two friends have at least seen each other before, they were both at a wedding, and I may have even introduced them at that point in time. They have some commonalities and know a few people in common. I really think that there’s a possibility that they might have met each other in the physical world (and they may already have!) but it was really the technology that helped them to meet each other. Craigslist focused their ability to find those commonalities in each other which are an important foundation for any relationship.