Caval continues to keep me enthralled.......
Worked in digitising this morning and the time just flew by. I think I did ok, Emily seemed happy with what I was doing. Using the BSE program to make the pages read properly, and there were a lot of pages....with lots (and lots) of appendices...I thought I was nearly finished when I got to the bibliography, but nnoooo there were still over 50 pages to go...
After lunch I got to talk to Katura, who is in charge of all of the MK stuff. MK provide the library industry with self service and return sorting systems, and Caval is the Australian distributor - Katura is the helpdesk contact at the moment, she also is a major contributor to any tenders, quotes,etc., for the MK products.
The MK website is in German, so I can't put up a link, but here is a link to 2 youtube videos for the products:
MK Sorting systems
MK Lib Dispenser
And here is one from the Caval website for a full overview of the MK sorting system :
MK System overview
Katura also has a library background, and worked in the CSIRO for 22 years, in a variety of departments and in a variety of positions, but is very keen on working in project management.
I spent the last hour of the day with the IT guys, talking to them about their typical (?) day - so I could at least get some sort of idea of what they do. Typical tech dudes!
What I really pick up from this placement is that the people all sort of evolved into their positions as the company grew and evolved. And it is a continuing process, with things changing all the time.
Till tomorrow..........
Monday 25 August 2014
Thursday 21 August 2014
Day 4 Work Placement
Oh my goodness, such a long day today.
Busy though, no time to get bored.
Today I worked with Deb, Nicole and Eva. Lovely ladies.
I was working in the end-processing area today, which is basically :
Busy though, no time to get bored.
Today I worked with Deb, Nicole and Eva. Lovely ladies.
I was working in the end-processing area today, which is basically :
- Check the customers work manual for instructions
- Checking the books are in the Aleph system
- Create spine labels
- Print spine labels
- Attach barcode
- Attach spine labels
- Insert rfid strips
- Cover
Some customers don't have all of these steps done, some have more, some have less, but this pretty much covers the procedure. Talk about picky! Some customers (libraries) want the text of the label all the way at the top, others not; some want the inside cover stamped, most don't. I only covered a couple of books right at the end of the day, most of the time I was creating the spine labels - I even managed to find one that was incorrect, so good on me for being observant.
Of course, all of these procedures don't take place until the cataloguing is finished.
Deb has been at Caval for about 7 years, Nicole 6 years, and Eva 3. Eva has a library background, but decided she didn't enjoy the front desk side when technology became a large part of the job. So she is quite happy covering the books (she's the guru of covering), she doesn't like to get involved with the computer side of things. Fair enough - it is one of the things we've been talking about when we discuss the future of libraries / librarians - how the need for computer literacy is paramount for anyone in the library industry. Good on her for seeing how it was changing and making the decision which was right for her.
Thankfully I'm not working tomorrow. I really need to catch up with home stuff, and some Keep Quilting stuff too! I got Charles to drop off the orders at the Post Office today, but he doesn't really like doing that. Dinner is in the oven, and I think I'm done for the day!
Till next week,
Wednesday 20 August 2014
Day 3 on Work Placement
Short day today, for many reasons, primarily that I had to pick No. 4 up from Tafe, so had to make sure I was back in time to do so. Started at 10, finished at 1.30 (didn't stop for lunch or it would have been 2).
First stop today was a meeting with the CEO, Mike. He's been CEO for 2 years now, but recalls first being involved with Caval many years ago, when he was in a Head Librarian position at University. Caval has grown a lot, and diversified many times since those days.
As a not for profit organisation, it's really about finding a balance - the member libraries don't pay for certain services, other organisations do, the foreign language cataloguing fluctuates; it is quite a niche market, and Caval is able to offer a more personal touch than a lot of companies, with particular emphasis being placed on the level of care they're able to give. For example, for sight-impaired students, they are able to offer a copying service where the student can manipulate the text in a book so they can read it (copyright exceptions are available for that). The quality level is second-to-none, it really is top-notch. There is no 'it'll do' approach here, it has to be right.
I spent the last couple of hours working with Theresa, in Inter Library Loans. Terri would have been proud! I was shown the cycle of receiving requests, processing them, sending them out & receiving them back in. There are several programmes used, depending on the organisation. Relais is the main program. Aleph is another, whilst there is currently one being used as well from Libraries Australia, but they are trying to get that customer to transfer over to Relais. Caval offer customer support for the Relais system, and there are several people working on enabling it to integrate with Bonus (another system run by several University libraries)
And the storage area is so sophisticated, when Carm1 was built, International companies came to inspect it, not surprising considering the amount of planning and technology that was involved. For long-term storage of books, there is a specific set of criteria which has to be adhered to - the boxes need to be acid-free; the temperature must be constant; the humidity has to be at a particular point that the pages don't dry out but also no micro-organisms get to work; they are stored in the dark as light also effects them. That research also applies to Carm2, but as it is more recent there were slightly different criteria, due to fire hazard restrictions, and experience!
One thing I am curious to see is how the marketing is done - how do they get new business? I understand from an academic point of view, but Caval also offers end-to-end service now, where a (public) library will want for example : 1000 French novels, 2000 Japanese fiction, 150 Japanese non-fiction, 200 Hindi fiction etc. etc. I am keen to see how this is approached. I hope I'll get to see that next week, as tomorrow I think I'm in the end-processing section all day. I think that will be similar to what I did at protect-a-book last year, for a couple of days.
I feel like I spent half the day in the car. I'm so tired. An hour there, an hour home, then 15 minutes after I got home I left to pick up the youngest, dropped off Louise, dropped off Katherine, headed straight back out to pick up Sarah, came home & had some crackers, back out again for a 5.30 appointment at the doctor - where I didn't get seen till 6. So now I know why I have so much pain. I have an official diagnosis now, of fibromyalgia. What does that mean? Here is a definition I found on the web, which pretty much explains it:
Fibromyalgia causes you to ache all over. You may have symptoms of crippling fatigue -- even on arising. Specific tender points on the body may be painful to touch. You may experience swelling, disturbances in deep-level or restful sleep, and mood disturbances or depression.
Your muscles may feel like they have been overworked or pulled. They'll feel that way even without exercise or another cause. Sometimes, your muscles twitch, burn, or have deep stabbing pain.
Some patients with fibromyalgia have pain and achiness around the joints in the neck, shoulder, back, and hips. This makes it difficult for them to sleep or exercise.
First stop today was a meeting with the CEO, Mike. He's been CEO for 2 years now, but recalls first being involved with Caval many years ago, when he was in a Head Librarian position at University. Caval has grown a lot, and diversified many times since those days.
As a not for profit organisation, it's really about finding a balance - the member libraries don't pay for certain services, other organisations do, the foreign language cataloguing fluctuates; it is quite a niche market, and Caval is able to offer a more personal touch than a lot of companies, with particular emphasis being placed on the level of care they're able to give. For example, for sight-impaired students, they are able to offer a copying service where the student can manipulate the text in a book so they can read it (copyright exceptions are available for that). The quality level is second-to-none, it really is top-notch. There is no 'it'll do' approach here, it has to be right.
I spent the last couple of hours working with Theresa, in Inter Library Loans. Terri would have been proud! I was shown the cycle of receiving requests, processing them, sending them out & receiving them back in. There are several programmes used, depending on the organisation. Relais is the main program. Aleph is another, whilst there is currently one being used as well from Libraries Australia, but they are trying to get that customer to transfer over to Relais. Caval offer customer support for the Relais system, and there are several people working on enabling it to integrate with Bonus (another system run by several University libraries)
And the storage area is so sophisticated, when Carm1 was built, International companies came to inspect it, not surprising considering the amount of planning and technology that was involved. For long-term storage of books, there is a specific set of criteria which has to be adhered to - the boxes need to be acid-free; the temperature must be constant; the humidity has to be at a particular point that the pages don't dry out but also no micro-organisms get to work; they are stored in the dark as light also effects them. That research also applies to Carm2, but as it is more recent there were slightly different criteria, due to fire hazard restrictions, and experience!
One thing I am curious to see is how the marketing is done - how do they get new business? I understand from an academic point of view, but Caval also offers end-to-end service now, where a (public) library will want for example : 1000 French novels, 2000 Japanese fiction, 150 Japanese non-fiction, 200 Hindi fiction etc. etc. I am keen to see how this is approached. I hope I'll get to see that next week, as tomorrow I think I'm in the end-processing section all day. I think that will be similar to what I did at protect-a-book last year, for a couple of days.
I feel like I spent half the day in the car. I'm so tired. An hour there, an hour home, then 15 minutes after I got home I left to pick up the youngest, dropped off Louise, dropped off Katherine, headed straight back out to pick up Sarah, came home & had some crackers, back out again for a 5.30 appointment at the doctor - where I didn't get seen till 6. So now I know why I have so much pain. I have an official diagnosis now, of fibromyalgia. What does that mean? Here is a definition I found on the web, which pretty much explains it:
Fibromyalgia causes you to ache all over. You may have symptoms of crippling fatigue -- even on arising. Specific tender points on the body may be painful to touch. You may experience swelling, disturbances in deep-level or restful sleep, and mood disturbances or depression.
Your muscles may feel like they have been overworked or pulled. They'll feel that way even without exercise or another cause. Sometimes, your muscles twitch, burn, or have deep stabbing pain.
Some patients with fibromyalgia have pain and achiness around the joints in the neck, shoulder, back, and hips. This makes it difficult for them to sleep or exercise.
So yeah, that pretty much covers it. Everything hurts. Not just aches, stabbing pain, sometimes stopping me in my tracks and making it hard to breathe. The way my doctor explained it was that the nerves around the joints where my muscles/tendons meet shouldn't be painful. My brain is reading the signals from those nerves as pain. In order to help stop that, he's changing my low-dose anti-depressant to a different one. There are 15 of them apparently, and we'll just keep trying till we find one that helps. But I have to lose weight and do gentle exercise, all as part of the 'program' to trick my brain into stop receiving those signals as being pain. I hope it works, coz it ain't no fun!
Anyways, I'm absolutely stuffed, so off to relax for the night.
Tuesday 19 August 2014
Day Two of Work Placement
Today seemed much longer than 6 hours - although I enjoyed every minute, it was extremely tiring. The drive home was very difficult, particularly as some nitwits decided to hold up the traffic by stopping to watch the police tell off the drivers of some vehicle pulling a trailer that was literally trailing crap out of it..........thereby holding thousands of cars to ransom. For goodness sake people! I'ts a bloody Freeway, move it! After we (finally) got past it, it flowed freely, very busy, but moving. I'm not used to spending so many hours on the road any more, it's exhausting.
Working at Caval today was fabulous! I got an amazing tour around the archival sections of the facility by Eva. Carm 1 is used by the Universities to store their shared documentation, and there are 15.2 km of books, and believe me, we're talking high density people! I have never ever seen so many books in one space. You know that scene in X-Files where you see the forklift pick up the box and put it on the rack, and it looks like it goes on forever - well, that's what it was like, but choc-a-block full of BOOKS. Whew!
Carm2 is about 1/2 books, and 1/2 other stuff from private companies, some of which was pretty mind-boggling. I could have spent all day in there just looking, but no, work must be done. I learnt heaps about the climate control system, and how important it is to have the correct temperature for the books to be stored, etc. And then I spent some time with Theresa to learn about Inter Library Loans. We didn't have time for much, but I got to watch her scan some articles, helped with weighing and labelling some stuff. I even got to press the button on the scanner....looks like I'll be doing some more of that tomorrow, as well as spending some more time with Emily in the digitising room, so that will be pretty cool. Well, warm, really, it's quite warm in there. I'd love to spend more time in the Carm sections......but Eva and Cathie both said they may have some Excel stuff I can help with at some point.
It was nice to be there, but it was really nice to get home. So tiring!
.....
Working at Caval today was fabulous! I got an amazing tour around the archival sections of the facility by Eva. Carm 1 is used by the Universities to store their shared documentation, and there are 15.2 km of books, and believe me, we're talking high density people! I have never ever seen so many books in one space. You know that scene in X-Files where you see the forklift pick up the box and put it on the rack, and it looks like it goes on forever - well, that's what it was like, but choc-a-block full of BOOKS. Whew!
Carm2 is about 1/2 books, and 1/2 other stuff from private companies, some of which was pretty mind-boggling. I could have spent all day in there just looking, but no, work must be done. I learnt heaps about the climate control system, and how important it is to have the correct temperature for the books to be stored, etc. And then I spent some time with Theresa to learn about Inter Library Loans. We didn't have time for much, but I got to watch her scan some articles, helped with weighing and labelling some stuff. I even got to press the button on the scanner....looks like I'll be doing some more of that tomorrow, as well as spending some more time with Emily in the digitising room, so that will be pretty cool. Well, warm, really, it's quite warm in there. I'd love to spend more time in the Carm sections......but Eva and Cathie both said they may have some Excel stuff I can help with at some point.
It was nice to be there, but it was really nice to get home. So tiring!
.....
Monday 18 August 2014
Day 1 on Work Placement
SO, today I drove all the way over to Bundoora for work placement, to CAVAL, which is on the ground of Latrobe University. I was pretty lucky, the traffic wasn't too bad. It took me just under an hour - although if I'd gone the way google maps told me to go it would have taken at least another 15 minutes. Charles showed me a better way, which I'm half familiar with, so kudos to him.
It has to be one of the most interesting places I've ever visited, I'm going to try to write a little bit each day about placement, as Cathie wrote up a timetable for me, for today through to Thursday, which is really helpful. Cathie is in charge of the digitising section, she was very welcoming and helpful, and gave me the background information for the business - she's also the one who's organising for me to get together with the relevant people to show me around and give me a taste of what they do.
One of the things they do is use this amazing machine to scan books, which has adjustable clamps and a cradle (so the books don't have to be flattened - imagine if you had to flatten a really old book!) to hold them in the correct position. It has a page turner too, which can be slightly unpredictable depending on the book. Oh and the software involved - I was lucky enough to meet Emily, who is the person in charge of the machine - and she got me to QC one of the documents which had been scanned recently. Document? Well, it was nearly 200 pages, so yeah....I got to crop images, remove clamp marks, delete duplicated pages, etc.
I also got to speak with Lamis, a lovely lady in charge of the cataloguing section who is particularly involved with the LOTE section. She showed me the books with the rules in it which have to be applied in order to meet the criteria set by LOC. LOC really does rule the world! She is also in charge of the end-processing side of things, preparing books to be shelf-ready for various customers. I did this last year at protect-a-book, so at least I knew what she was talking about. I'll be spending at least a couple of days in that section, because they always can use an extra pair of hands.
Tomorrow I get to see the CARM section, where all the archives are kept. Cool!
I'm really tired, it's been a helluva long day for this old chook,
Till next time.........
It has to be one of the most interesting places I've ever visited, I'm going to try to write a little bit each day about placement, as Cathie wrote up a timetable for me, for today through to Thursday, which is really helpful. Cathie is in charge of the digitising section, she was very welcoming and helpful, and gave me the background information for the business - she's also the one who's organising for me to get together with the relevant people to show me around and give me a taste of what they do.
One of the things they do is use this amazing machine to scan books, which has adjustable clamps and a cradle (so the books don't have to be flattened - imagine if you had to flatten a really old book!) to hold them in the correct position. It has a page turner too, which can be slightly unpredictable depending on the book. Oh and the software involved - I was lucky enough to meet Emily, who is the person in charge of the machine - and she got me to QC one of the documents which had been scanned recently. Document? Well, it was nearly 200 pages, so yeah....I got to crop images, remove clamp marks, delete duplicated pages, etc.
I also got to speak with Lamis, a lovely lady in charge of the cataloguing section who is particularly involved with the LOTE section. She showed me the books with the rules in it which have to be applied in order to meet the criteria set by LOC. LOC really does rule the world! She is also in charge of the end-processing side of things, preparing books to be shelf-ready for various customers. I did this last year at protect-a-book, so at least I knew what she was talking about. I'll be spending at least a couple of days in that section, because they always can use an extra pair of hands.
Tomorrow I get to see the CARM section, where all the archives are kept. Cool!
I'm really tired, it's been a helluva long day for this old chook,
Till next time.........
Tuesday 22 July 2014
Or maybe not quite........
Looks as if school may have to wait a couple of days. Someone has managed to give me a bug, and I've decided to be selfish and not spread it around.
Fingers crossed I'll wake up tomorrow and be back to normal..........well, what passes as normal in my house anyway! Maybe I should say 'slightly more healthy' or 'less of a germbag' rather than 'normal'.
Yes - so goodnight it is from me, the germbag.
Fingers crossed I'll wake up tomorrow and be back to normal..........well, what passes as normal in my house anyway! Maybe I should say 'slightly more healthy' or 'less of a germbag' rather than 'normal'.
Yes - so goodnight it is from me, the germbag.
Monday 21 July 2014
Back to School
Hello World!
Gearing up to go back to school this week, thought I'd start with preparing my blog for Terri.
Let's see how we go, shall we?
Gearing up to go back to school this week, thought I'd start with preparing my blog for Terri.
Let's see how we go, shall we?
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