{"id":6862,"date":"2018-09-05T20:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T03:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bclaconnectrev.wpengine.com\/perspectives\/?p=6862"},"modified":"2025-01-22T11:25:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T19:25:57","slug":"plig-presents-a-day-in-the-life-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bclaconnect.ca\/perspectives\/2018\/09\/05\/plig-presents-a-day-in-the-life-2\/","title":{"rendered":"PLIG Presents: A Day in the Life…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018A Day in the Life\u2019 is a feature by\u00a0BCLA\u2019s Public Libraries Interest Group<\/a>. The aim is \u202fto highlight \u202finteresting folks from around the province who are doing amazing things in public libraries. If you, or someone you know, would make a good profile, please email Heidi Schiller at\u00a0heidi.schiller@vpl.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"PLIG_AChan\"<\/a>Name:<\/b>\u00a0Anita Chan<\/p>\n

Your<\/b>\u00a0Job Title:<\/b>\u00a0Librarian – Web Coordinator, Burnaby Public Library<\/p>\n

How long have you been in this role?<\/b>\u00a0Three years and\u00a0a\u00a0smidge<\/p>\n

Describe your job in three sentences or less:<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m the website-databases-ebooks-social-media-sometimes-marketing-reference librarian, which mostly means finding ways to make the library available, accessible, and useful to our online patrons. I also put fires out with coffee. Sometimes I spill coffee on myself, on purpose.<\/p>\n

What do you do on a typical day?<\/b><\/p>\n

Before I leave the house, I tune into the CBC\u2019s\u00a0The Current<\/i>. It\u2019s like my current events multivitamin. I learn about diverse perspectives that keeps me curious and primed for the day ahead. Plus,\u00a0Anna Maria\u00a0Tremonti\u2019s\u00a0interview tactics never fail me at the reference desk. (I\u2019m serious. Try them.)<\/p>\n

Otherwise, I don\u2019t have a typical work day as I\u2019m on a fast-moving website redesign project. Right now I\u2019m designing and delivering content strategy training, coaching team members, researching library users and their needs and tasks, analyzing our current website and analytics, liaising across library and City departments. I have my regular duties like overseeing our current website, administering and troubleshooting databases and e-books, co-managing social media, training new staff, and assisting with some promotional\/communications stuff. It\u2019s a full plate but I make sure to put aside planning time\u00a0everyday\u00a0so there\u2019s less fires (and spilled coffee) to\u00a0put out down the line.<\/p>\n

What is your\u00a0<\/b>favourite<\/b>\u00a0thing about your job?<\/b><\/p>\n

Hands down, I work with top-notch peers. I get to be around and learn from some of the sharpest, most engaged minds and empathetic souls in this here library business. These folks are\u00a0always open to bouncing around ideas and coaching me through tough questions and decisions, in offices, parks, coffee shops, busses. I\u2019d be going back to bed after\u00a0The Current<\/i>\u00a0if they weren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019d trade in a few of my many hats for a large umbrella: dedicated, ongoing research in user-centered design. It\u2019s an area better associated with academic libraries, and I\u2019d love for public libraries to incorporate some degree of this as a regular practice, too. And not just for web design, but for designing library services and spaces as well.<\/p>\n

What is one thing people would be surprised to know about your job?<\/b><\/p>\n

That a huge part of my position is about working with people and not just technology. I have\u00a0a very front-line, customer service-oriented job, which can be surprising because it\u2019s part of a \u201cclosed\u201d Systems department. It\u2019s an interesting dichotomy because systems\/web\/database\/[insert technical role] librarians don\u2019t really come to mind when things are working; we usually get called upon when things aren\u2019t, and there\u2019s an impression that we quietly swoop in and fix technology as they go awry. But my job is also very much about providing customer service and thinking about user experience when coaxing gremlins out of a stubborn e-reader or digging into some problem code. Getting into the minds of our users is what drives how an e-book troubleshooting session unfolds, or how a piece of web content is designed. So I think people would be surprised to\u00a0hear me describe my job as taking technology and making it human friendly and accessible, on top of making sure that our technology is running like it should.<\/p>\n

If you weren’t in the library profession, what would your fantasy job be?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to be sneaky and tell you my fantasy career twist instead. Can I talk about my mad respect for Susan Rogers? She started as a sound engineer for Prince at 22, got her high school diploma at 44, her Doctorate in Psychology in her fifties, and in her sixties is now\u00a0the Director of the\u00a0Berklee\u00a0Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory. She became a scientist when most people are planning their retirement. Best career twist ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018A Day in the Life\u2019 is a feature by\u00a0BCLA\u2019s Public Libraries Interest Group. The aim is \u202fto highlight \u202finteresting folks from around the province who are doing amazing things in public libraries. If you, or someone you know, would make a good profile, please email Heidi Schiller at\u00a0heidi.schiller@vpl.ca. Name:\u00a0Anita Chan Your\u00a0Job Title:\u00a0Librarian – Web Coordinator, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4617,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[214,200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-2-the-technology-issue","category-volume-10-2018"],"yoast_head":"\nPLIG Presents: A Day in the Life... - BCLA Perspectives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bclaconnect.ca\/perspectives\/2018\/09\/05\/plig-presents-a-day-in-the-life-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PLIG Presents: A Day in the Life... - BCLA Perspectives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018A Day in the Life\u2019 is a feature by\u00a0BCLA\u2019s Public Libraries Interest Group. 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