Journal, week 2
Monday was Memorial Day and JCB was closed, so we had rescheduled this week’s workday to today. The items that had been set aside for me to catalog remained on my desk, and fortunately my computer was running more smoothly and the second monitor, which last week had been missing a DisplayPort adapter, was set up and functioning.
To start, Allison created another catalog record along with me. We worked on To Heaven or to Hell: Bartolomé de Las Casas’s Confesionario by David Thomas Orique, O.P. This time, Allison supervised as I created the record myself. The next two records I created on my own; Allison checked them after I’d finished but before exporting them to Alma. After this, I prepared the three physical items for shelving. The rest of the day was spent similarly, and because I’d stayed a bit late last week I left a little early today.
This was the first week I felt like I was properly working and, mostly, I was happy to pick up the pace. The amount of close supervision I’d received was appropriate last week but today I felt ready to start to discover my own preferred workflow. Of course, I expected to have had the work demonstrated to me, and I understand that part of interning is building trust with your supervisor. I learn best by doing and even though I still not very familiar with specific MARC fields, I felt the urge to click around and discover myself. Next week I am sure I will have this opportunity.
What has been most valuable for me so far is talking with the other staff at the library. Getting to hear others’ perspective on what they value in their work, where they’ve been in their careers, and what they’re looking for in the future has been helping me to focus on my own future. There is something satisfying about the organization aspect of cataloging, and doing the research to “write the story” of an item you’re working on is actually quite fun. Allison’s constant advice feels very useful here: “Stay curious.”