Brooklyn by Colm Toibin has a very simple storyline. Eilis is the youngest daughter of a widow living in 1950's Cork. Work is hard to come by and the family is supported by Eilis's older sister Rose. So when a job opportunity comes up Eilis sets of to Brooklyn. The story has three phases the build up to leaving home, then adapting to life in NY and then the return home when tragedy strikes.
The book has has many themes family, hardship, loneliness, love and class. But this isn't a book that's held together by it's storyline or even it's themes but by it's characters. The characters are beautifully drawn, real people you can identify with and care about, especially Eilis.
Colm Toibin is an author that I've never got around to reading before. From the blurb I expected a worthy, slow and rather dull book, but it was the opposite. I was engaged from the first chapter and it never felt like a chore.
Monday 17 August 2009
Saturday 8 August 2009
Information strategy etc.
Saturday morning and it is glorious, makes a change this summer. The grass is somping so I can't mow it but I will spend some time in the garden tidying up and relaxing after a busy week. Could watch England v Australia day 2 but I think that may be more frustrating than relaxing.
In library world, we spent the end of the week working on our Information Strategy to improve the current service and develop it. The agenda that it sets for the next 12 months + is huge and from my point of view will be the first real test of the new structure. I need to get into a position where I can get ahead of the team and spend more time directing so I can get the best out of them. At the moment I feel like I'm spending too much time dealing with the present rather than moving the service forward. But as we keep saying it's "early days"
In library world, we spent the end of the week working on our Information Strategy to improve the current service and develop it. The agenda that it sets for the next 12 months + is huge and from my point of view will be the first real test of the new structure. I need to get into a position where I can get ahead of the team and spend more time directing so I can get the best out of them. At the moment I feel like I'm spending too much time dealing with the present rather than moving the service forward. But as we keep saying it's "early days"
Tuesday 4 August 2009
IT and Libraries
For a Librarian to deliver a quality service they need not only to have the skills and ability to use IT but also the equipment to put those skills into practice. Poor and dated hardware, out of date applications and inadequate line speeds are at best a hindrance and at worse a serious handicap to both good customer service and productivity.
IT costs a lot of money and when you are talking about providing adequate IT for a whole service the figures can be frightening. But you have to balance the cost against the benefits, just like any business has to. It's too easy to save money by deleting IT projects, however the losses, although often hard to measure, are significant . Reduced productivity, frustrated staff and often loss of customer.
IT costs a lot of money and when you are talking about providing adequate IT for a whole service the figures can be frightening. But you have to balance the cost against the benefits, just like any business has to. It's too easy to save money by deleting IT projects, however the losses, although often hard to measure, are significant . Reduced productivity, frustrated staff and often loss of customer.
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