It's gotta be perfect, damn it!
In interviews, whenever I'm asked about what my weakness is, and how I'm working on it, I always answer that I'm a perfectionist. It's probably too predictable, but it's true, and it's one of those answers that sounds like a flaw that's not really a flaw. Well, it is. It's a weakness, not a strength, but it's sort of something I've never really been too concerned with. I'm not super-crazy anal. I am able to prioritize; in fact, I can slack with the best, but when I deem something a priority, I'm willing to put in the hours to get it done Right. If I have to work a little longer on it, on my own time, so be it. So, I used it as a suck-up interview response but never gave it too much thought.
Well, that's coming back to bite me now. Term exams were last week, and I think it's occurred to the kids that they might have to start doing some homework. Sadly, we still have only 70 or so non-fiction books and none arriving in the foreseeable future. So, what does a good librarian do? They turn to the internet. Now, the kids at the school still have fairly low literacy and that extends to their web literacy as well. It's a challenge to get them to use a decent search engine, much less one that is in English. So, baby steps. First, they can learn to use the internet through guided searches. Eventually, we can work on how to search the internet independently. I've decided to set up a library website. And this is where my perfectionism is turning out to be a problem.
Challenge one : I probably should have learned Dreamweaver when I had the time. The bootleg version I have now is beyond me. So, one day wasted trying to get it to save, and I decided to go with Google Web Creator.
Challenge two : This website is for low literacy teenagers. Logic, and everything I've read about website designs says that my site should be full of easy to read, fast loading graphics and bright colours. Well, I can format the site, or I can get the content on first. Still, it bugs me that it's so plain.
Challenge three : Turns out that creating a page for each subject, which I think is necessary, can be quite time consuming. Take into account the fact that in an ideal world, I would like there to be not just a page per core subject but a page per topic, and I'd be looking at getting the site up sometime around the books arrive (ie...um, someday..?)
Challenge four : The kids, and the teachers for that matter, need to be made aware of what is now (or will soon be) available to them.
So, I've got a very bland looking, half completed website which is in serious need of advocacy. The rational part of me knows that it takes time to do this, and in addition to the day-to-day duties of the library like check-in/check-out, ordering, budgeting, cataloguing, looking into a new ILS, dealing with serials vendors, ad nauseum, I can only do what I can do and for now, something is better than nothing. The perfectionist in me, though, is dying tiny little deaths every time I think about it.
[If you'd like to contribute to the cause, please feel free to check out the site here and send along any links you think might be useful for grade 10 kids who read at a grade 3 level]
Well, that's coming back to bite me now. Term exams were last week, and I think it's occurred to the kids that they might have to start doing some homework. Sadly, we still have only 70 or so non-fiction books and none arriving in the foreseeable future. So, what does a good librarian do? They turn to the internet. Now, the kids at the school still have fairly low literacy and that extends to their web literacy as well. It's a challenge to get them to use a decent search engine, much less one that is in English. So, baby steps. First, they can learn to use the internet through guided searches. Eventually, we can work on how to search the internet independently. I've decided to set up a library website. And this is where my perfectionism is turning out to be a problem.
Challenge one : I probably should have learned Dreamweaver when I had the time. The bootleg version I have now is beyond me. So, one day wasted trying to get it to save, and I decided to go with Google Web Creator.
Challenge two : This website is for low literacy teenagers. Logic, and everything I've read about website designs says that my site should be full of easy to read, fast loading graphics and bright colours. Well, I can format the site, or I can get the content on first. Still, it bugs me that it's so plain.
Challenge three : Turns out that creating a page for each subject, which I think is necessary, can be quite time consuming. Take into account the fact that in an ideal world, I would like there to be not just a page per core subject but a page per topic, and I'd be looking at getting the site up sometime around the books arrive (ie...um, someday..?)
Challenge four : The kids, and the teachers for that matter, need to be made aware of what is now (or will soon be) available to them.
So, I've got a very bland looking, half completed website which is in serious need of advocacy. The rational part of me knows that it takes time to do this, and in addition to the day-to-day duties of the library like check-in/check-out, ordering, budgeting, cataloguing, looking into a new ILS, dealing with serials vendors, ad nauseum, I can only do what I can do and for now, something is better than nothing. The perfectionist in me, though, is dying tiny little deaths every time I think about it.
[If you'd like to contribute to the cause, please feel free to check out the site here and send along any links you think might be useful for grade 10 kids who read at a grade 3 level]
posted by Renee at
11:00 PM
2 Comments:
For promotion, can you forward the URL to teachers and ask them to mention it to students: "Hey class, when you're studying for the upcoming exams, make sure to check out the library's website for study guides. The URL is..."
I completely understand with wanting to make the site perfect before launching it. But remember, it's the web, baby :). This fantastic medium is meant to be frequently updated. Just get the site to a point where you feel confortable with the content that's there (and it doesn't have to be comprehensive) and then start promoting it. Just let people know that it's a work in progress. I'm told to say that in my library catalogue training sessions: "Please know that we will be updating the system regularly in the future and we value your suggestions and feedback, blah, blah, blah..." :).
Hey Colin. Thanks for the suggestion, but I've actually done that several times now. I told them about it before I even started it. I got the first page up and sent them out the link. As I get to working on each subject, I send the respective teachers notice and ask for suggestions. I think the difference betweeen us and teachers though (not to generalize too much) is that teachers see information as emanating from them personally, and we see it as an outside source. Just one of those challenges that I totally underestimated in school.
As for the issue of perfection, you are absolutely right! It should be an ever-evolving resource. So, in that case, the fact that it is incomplete is a permanent state, if done right. Thank you!
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