Category: Methodology

Write the Docs 2023 Lightning Talk: Docs as Code: Automation the Developer way

This is the script and slides for what I prepared as a lighting talk for the Write the Docs 2023 Portland conference. Sadly, I did not get a slot, so it was not presented. Continue reading “Write the Docs 2023 Lightning Talk: Docs as Code: Automation the Developer way”

Tracking your work (for performance reviews and promotions)

People have often asked me about how I manage to put together summaries of my work (blog posts, performance reviews, promotion documents, etc.) in a relatively quick way, and the only answer I have to that is “I track my work.”

I’ve tracked my work for many years, well before working at GitLab, though what I’ve been using in recent years is the most comprehensive method I’ve used. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about it, so I knew it was time to write a blog post to share. Continue reading “Tracking your work (for performance reviews and promotions)”

Prioritization in Support: Tickets, Slack, issues, and more

I mentioned in my GitLab reflection that prioritization has been quite different working in Support compared to other previous work I’ve done. In most of my previous work, I’ve had to take “desk shifts” but those are discreet where you’re focused on providing customer service during that period of time and you can focus on other things the rest of the time.

In Support, we have to constantly balance all the different work that we have, especially in helping to ensure that tickets are responded to within the Service Level Agreement (SLA).

It doesn’t always happen, but I ultimately try to reach inbox 0 (with read-only items possibly left), and GitLab to-do 0 by the end of the every week. People often ask me how I manage to do that, so hopefully this provides a bit of insight. Continue reading “Prioritization in Support: Tickets, Slack, issues, and more”

Presentation: Auditing Your Website for Accessibility Compliance and Understanding How ADA Applies

This was presented as a webinar on August 16, 2018 for the Florida Libraries Webinars program. Continue reading “Presentation: Auditing Your Website for Accessibility Compliance and Understanding How ADA Applies”

Implementing the “Nearly Limitless Pilot” and Adding the “Express TV” Collection

There are a couple of big projects that I did during my last job that I still hadn’t posted about, so I apologize to those who have been waiting to hear.

Two of the big projects I lead was to add a new Express TV DVD collection, and almost at the same time (launched 2 weeks apart), revamp our circulation rules for loan periods, loan limits, hold limits, and renewals. Continue reading “Implementing the “Nearly Limitless Pilot” and Adding the “Express TV” Collection”

Technical Services: Rationale and Benefits of a Workflow Review

I have been doing a bunch of work in reviewing workflows and implementing new or changes to existing workflows, especially in Technical Services. In the process, I have been asked not only about the process I went through, but the rationale and value in doing such an exercise, especially for organizations where most Technical Services work has been outsourced. So just thought I’d jot down some thoughts. Continue reading “Technical Services: Rationale and Benefits of a Workflow Review”

Reviewing and Improving Workflow and Productivity: Methods and Tools

Most of our libraries and organizations have been around for numerous years, sometimes hundreds. Often that means many processes are created, changed as needed, and left in place long past their due date. Unfortunately, that means we are frequently working inefficiently, following old processes or cobbled together workflows.

The first part of the presentation will suggest methods for understanding and reviewing workflow. In the second half, we will take a look at various simple and lightweight tools and ways to use them to make work more efficient, especially in processing text, files, and data in batches.

Originally titled Tools, Tips, and Tricks to Making Work More Efficient. This webinar was presented for Florida Library Webinars on March 8, 2017. https://floridalibrarywebinars.org/events/16003/ Continue reading “Reviewing and Improving Workflow and Productivity: Methods and Tools”

Code4libBC Presentation: Getting Things Done: Discovering Efficiencies in Workflow

This lightning talk was presented at Code4lib BC 2016.

For a copy of the slides, please see the presentation on SpeakerDeck (also below) or the version on GitHub.
Continue reading “Code4libBC Presentation: Getting Things Done: Discovering Efficiencies in Workflow”

Merging Control Numbers into Records Using MarcEdit

So there does exist a document already on this topic, Getting OCLC numbers into your vendor records using MarcEdit but I found the instructions difficult to refer to. I ended up writing my own version with the added instructions on creating a set of MARC records specifically for this purpose. After doing this sort of thing again today, I finally decided to share them. Continue reading “Merging Control Numbers into Records Using MarcEdit”