This is my fourth year in review post. 2015 | 2016 | 2017

I had a baby this year! It was a big thing in my world, bringing lots of new physical realities and choices. I am choosing to be candid about my experience in this reflection, not only for my own sake but also to encourage others to share the messiness – even knowing that writing about my breasts is maybe not what some would deem “professional.” Frankly a good part of me would rather just block out my distressing postpartum period rather than relive it in words for anyone to judge; however, the flip side is that I’ve learned so much from what one might call mommy bloggers whose reflections were one of the only ways I had even a smidgen of a sense of what was coming for me, so this is my contribution as a way of paying it forward. If it’s helpful to even one person I will gladly submit to the awkwardness a thousand times over. Thank you for reading!

I almost didn’t publish this post. I let it sit in my drafts and lurk guiltily in my conscience. With every passing day it seemed way too late to post it. Ultimately, my interest in continuing a tradition from 2015 and 2016 won out, so here are a few rambling thoughts about 2017.

WINTER

January is the month of knowing. I am keeping the secret that I’m probably leaving Wisconsin and it boils away inside of me.  I told my family at Christmas so my next step is to tell my AUL. We do a careful dance as I seek a counteroffer. Is there anything my current employer could offer that would make me stay? Ragip and I have already had this conversation. Maybe a comparable title, a promise of staff. We weigh the possibilities with his job, the closeness of family members. We make a pros/cons list for the new job. Pros: more money, amazing career leap, managerial experience, the knowledge that to grow my career I need to move around so I might as well get on with it. Cons: traffic, higher cost of living, far away from family. All the unknown unknowns, both a pro and a con. Ultimately, I receive a reasonable counteroffer, which is a nice gesture but not enough, and I accept my job offer with elation. I negotiate with my new boss at UCR with a raging cold and the next day we make the nine-hour drive to Pittsburgh for my aunt’s 50th birthday party.

February is the month of planning and logistics. At work, we roll out new marketing materials and I draw up a strategic plan for RDS to try to use any last sway I may have to cement something in place. I’ve always realized the precariousness of everything I’ve worked on here but it takes the knowledge that I am leaving to really highlight it. We fold in time to go apartment hunting in California, touring twenty apartments in two days and signing a lease for the very last place we see. For the first time, we float the idea of trying to go on honeymoon to Turkey early, between leaving UW and starting at UCR. We had originally planned to go in October but decide this is much better.

March is the month of goodbyes and lasts. I send so many last emails! Join in on my last Mirch Masala lunch buffet, shivering down State Street with colleagues. I bring together the librarian meetup I’ve organized off and on for a year, some grad students, some colleagues, some local librarians. There’s a relief that accompanies closing out so many commitments but there’s also a sad twinge hinting at what could have been. All the collaborations I’d envisioned that hadn’t yet been well-timed – just like that, they’re suddenly gone. I push away the melancholy side and reflect instead on how happy I am that I came to UW and had so many opportunities to try things and respond to new challenges. I know I’ve grown by leaps and bounds since taking this job, and I’m grateful for it.

In 2015 I wrote about my year. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to continue that practice for 2016 too.

January

January lives up to its reputation: cold and dark. R and I start the year newly engaged in Nashville. Later I’ll learn that people think I’m knocked up, at least until a suitable enough amount of time passes and they realize that’s just not the case. I keep twisting the ring around on my finger. It was all so sudden but so strangely right that six months ago we were saying hello to now, this, today, and jewelry to top it all off.

Back at work, I give a webinar presentation for the Digital Curation Interest Group (DCIG) Midwinter meeting, one of my favorite talks on creative ways to revitalize research data services. Next up is UW’s first Data Carpentry workshop, a natural extension of the Software Carpentry trainings led by the Advanced Computing Initiative (ACI) for the past two years. ACI has been one of my most intriguing partnerships; trying to understand how Research Data Services (RDS) can best work with them has been on my mind for some time. Co-sponsoring Data Carpentry seems like a good start.

Call for Chapter Proposals: The Complete Guide to Personal Digital Archiving for Librarians, Archivists, and Information Professionals

Edited by Brianna Marshall  |  Published by ALA Press

Proposal Submission Deadline: July 15, 2016

Objective of the Book

This book will act as a primer for information professionals seeking an introduction to the possibilities for libraries and archives to support personal digital archiving (PDA). In an increasingly digital world, the burden of managing and preserving digital items is falling to individuals, not just libraries, archives, and cultural heritage institutions. However, these institutions are poised to be able to share a wealth of information back with the communities who need assistance wrangling their archives, which could include digitizing, organizing, storing, and creating new outputs from their personal digital collections. Despite libraries’ position to provide assistance, many libraries and archives are still unsure what exactly PDA refers to and what resources and approaches are needed to effectively support their communities. This book will serve as a much-needed guide to aid in exploring PDA best practices, tools, and institutional and organizational case studies. Anyone who has been tasked with building a personal digital archiving setup or community programming – including archivists and public, academic, and special librarians – will glean practical strategies from this book.

Submission Procedure

Interested individuals are invited to submit a one page chapter proposal on or before July 15, 2016. The proposal should summarize the proposed contents of the chapter and provide a draft outline of major points to be included. Please indicate which, if any, of the topical areas listed below you believe your chapter would best fit into – though note that depending on variety of incoming submissions, these areas may change by final publication.

Part I: What is Personal Digital Archiving? Connections with Libraries and Archives

Part II: Tools and Approaches to Personal Digital Archiving

Part III: Case Studies for Public Libraries

Part IV: Case Studies for Academic Libraries

If you have questions or ideas about a chapter that you’d like to discuss before submitting a full proposal, please feel free to email me. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Important Dates

Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by August 1, 2016 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by November 1, 2016. I may also request that contributors serve as reviewers for this project.

• July 15, 2016: Contributor proposals due
• August 1, 2016: Notification of acceptance
• November 1, 2016: Full chapter submission due to editor
  
• January 1, 2017: Editorial review results sent to contributor
• February 1, 2017: Final deadline to editor
  

Please send inquiries and submissions to Brianna Marshall at briannahmarshall@gmail.com.

madison street art

2015 was markedly different (and remarkably better) than 2014.

I’m not particularly good at appreciating the recent past or savoring things just as they are. I’m often eyeing up the next step, scheming about how to get there. So today I thought I’d reflect on this wild and wonderful year that was filled with personal and professional shifts, mostly as an exercise for myself. This certainly isn’t everything but it’s what came to mind when I thought chronologically through my year. It feels like ages since I wrote. I’ll admit that I miss it.