What It Is We Do
Jun. 2nd, 2008 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caitriSo today's faculty meeting was devoted to a research survey the dean's got going to determine faculty workload: who does what where, and for how long, and how much? The funny thing is these people are talking to special collections folks. I explained that everyone at my library literally does something different. This comment was dismissed as a "well that's true of everyone"--which is true in its own way, and yet, so not.
So. I determined what I would do is keep a work diary detailing what I did for pretty much every minute of the day--kind of like lawyers do. I figure if it doesn't help people I can at least sell it as a satire.
E.g. "4:55pm-5:12pm: Confer with fellow curator. Fellow curator has received call that [Distinguished Personage] wants us to take the desk of [Famous Historical Personage] and put it on permanent display. Fellow curator does not want fucking desk as it is huge, would eat up space we don't have anyway, and frankly, probably didn't belong to [Famous Historical Personage] anyway--and even if it did, [Famous Historical Personage] had a lot of desks, do they expect us to take them all as they crop up?" Etc.
Okay the actual thing is more polite than that. But you get the idea.
So. I determined what I would do is keep a work diary detailing what I did for pretty much every minute of the day--kind of like lawyers do. I figure if it doesn't help people I can at least sell it as a satire.
E.g. "4:55pm-5:12pm: Confer with fellow curator. Fellow curator has received call that [Distinguished Personage] wants us to take the desk of [Famous Historical Personage] and put it on permanent display. Fellow curator does not want fucking desk as it is huge, would eat up space we don't have anyway, and frankly, probably didn't belong to [Famous Historical Personage] anyway--and even if it did, [Famous Historical Personage] had a lot of desks, do they expect us to take them all as they crop up?" Etc.
Okay the actual thing is more polite than that. But you get the idea.
