Personality Testing

I’ve taken these tests and similar tests before. Most recently, while at the desk on a slow day at the library, my co-workers and I took the Enneagram test (from a different website), and my sister and I entertained ourselves one evening by taking the Myers-Brigg test (the same one listed in the reading and from another website because the first site crashed while we were using it) first as ourselves and then as we thought different fictional characters would answer. While it was interesting to compare types at work or with my sister, I wonder how reliable the tests are, since I got different results for both tests this time around. Last time I took the tests, I discovered I was an INTJ and a Type 1. This time I found I was an ISTJ and a Type 5. Based on the descriptions, parts of both types apply to me at least some of the time, and the two types are not too far apart.

I found taking the tests frustrating, both this time and previously, because I often wanted to choose both answers (especially on the Enneagram test) or got hung up on the wording of the question. For instance, any time the Myers-Brigg test used “always,” experience with true/false tests inclined me to choose “No,” even if the statement was true about me most of the time, because I could come up with at least one exception. Likewise, I had difficulty answering “Strict observance of the established rules is likely to prevent a good outcome” because I thought the answer depended a lot on what the established rules were and how they had been devised, as well as what I was trying to accomplish and what was meant by “a good outcome.” I suppose that my thought process while taking the tests might itself be indicative of my personality.

I’m not sure how much I can learn about other people from this kind of information. The descriptions I read seemed to describe me fairly well, but I also know that due to the Barnum effect (also called the Forer effect), I may be giving the the results more credit than they deserve. I also noticed that while overall the descriptions seemed fairly accurate, not every trait listed seemed to fit me. Likewise, knowing someone else’s Myers-Briggs or Enneagram personality type does not guarantee that they share all of the common traits of that type, so I would hesitate to make too many assumptions about the person’s personality. While I can see some instances where having this information would be useful, for instance, when assigning people to a project, a manager may want to take personality types into consideration either to try not to put too many very different types together or to intentionally put them together, but I wonder if a formal personality test is necessary to achieve this. Still, if nothing else, taking the tests can spark discussions about similarities and differences in personalities, which in turn can help co-workers learn more about each other.

5 Ethical Principles for Jones Library Staff

I. Respect all visitors the library, working to ensure fair access to resources and information and providing dedicated service for all, regardless of personal characteristics or university status
II. Respect library patrons’ freedom to information by collecting works from a broad range of viewpoints, resisting efforts to censor materials or information, and providing access to materials and information regardless of our personal beliefs or opinion of the material
III. Respect patron’s right to privacy with respect to materials borrowed or used, questions asked, and any other personal information, including information such as address and telephone number stored by the library
IV. Respect intellectual property rights and assist faculty, students, and other library visitors in understanding these rights and in using materials in a way that does not violate intellectual property rights
V. Respect one another

Elevator Speech

My speech:
I’m interested in exploring web technology in an academic library. At UNC Chapel Hill, I took classes in internet applications, which introduced me to methods of web development I’d like to explore further. I also had the chance to do some web work as part of my job as a grad assistant at the Health Sciences library, which I really enjoyed. For instance, I created a tutorial on plagiarism, and another grad assistant and I started the library’s Facebook page. I’d love to have the opportunity to build on what I know and gain new web development skills. Furthermore, as a student myself, I know I spend a lot of time online, so I’m interested in the challenge of reaching students there, whether it’s making library resources available in new ways or developing new resources altogether. Overall, I’m looking for a position that will offer me the chance to explore the possibilities of integrating web technology into an academic library and will also provide me with opportunities for professional development.

I wrote my 1-minute speech as a starting point to answer the interview question, “Why are you interested in this position?” The hardest part of this assignment, other than imagining myself delivering a 1-minute speech in response (as I noted on Blackboard, I’m definitely not someone who is comfortable speaking publicly without obsessive practice first), was writing a speech that would sound natural when I spoke it. My early drafts were overly formal and better suited to a cover letter than a conversation in an elevator. For instance, I referred to my school as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in my speech, even though in most conversation I find it more natural to say “UNC” or “UNC Chapel Hill.” I also wrote very long sentences that looked fine on paper but when I read them out loud, left me out of breath by the end. However, I also wanted to be sure that the speech sounded thought-out and coherent. After all, the purpose in planning it ahead of time was to come up with something better than my usual way of speaking. Another challenge was in finding an ending. After writing what I thought was a good ending, I read my speech out loud a few times. When I did so, it became evident that I needed one more sentence that would signal to my listener that I was done. I couldn’t convincingly say my current ending in an “ending voice,” so I added one more wrapping-up sentence.

Once I had finished writing and practicing my speech, I delivered it for some of my friends. I found that even though I had spent time choosing each word carefully, I still made a few changes on the fly. I tried to reflect these changes in the transcript above. For instance, I had written “which I enjoyed” but when I delivered the speech, I added the “really.” I also changed “like” to “love” two sentences later. Because I was delivering my speech to my friends, my previous language sounded too detached. The extra adverb and change of verb sounded to me a little less formal and closer to how I spoke in ordinary conversation. In a different context, such as if I actually were at a job interview, I might have left the speech as it had been previously.

Looking to the Future: Disaster Plan

(Appropriately for this week, the organization where I work began planning for disasters, including a possible flu epidemic.)

Disaster Plan: Flu Epidemic

With winter often comes cold and flu season, especially in an academic environment, where germs have ample opportunity to spread. Jones Library faces the possibility of having to deal with a large number of unexpected staff absences due to a widespread outbreak of the flu. This document plans to deal with such a situation.

In the event of a flu epidemic serious enough to cause a large number of staff absences (though not so serious that the campus is closed), the library director and department managers will meet regularly. In the event that the director or department managers themselves are absent, the next most senior staff will take their place. At these meetings, the director and managers will update one another on the current state of absences and determine which projects are the highest priority, generally projects with immediate deadlines, staffing the circulation and reference desks, etc. The director and managers will put all notes in writing so that should one of them become sick, the next most senior staff member will be able to immediately learn the current situation. The director will also keep the university informed about the current staffing situation at the library.

After determining which projects must be completed now, and which can be put off until more staff return, managers, with assistance from the director, will decide how to staff them. Absent staff members currently working on critical projects may still be able to do some work from home. If they are unable to, they will be asked to e-mail the manager with any important documents and a brief description of what needs to be done next. Managers will ask staff currently working on lower priority projects to temporarily work on higher priority projects instead. At weekly department meetings, staff will update one another on projects so that everyone will have at least some awareness of what the others are doing. If necessary, managers from multiple departments, with assistance from the director, will coordinate temporary “sharing” of staff.

Some of the more experienced students will be asked to to manage the desk so that regular staff can devote their time to managing on-going projects. Two students will sit at the circulation desk, with a staff member designated as backup to assist them as needed. Because a flu epidemic is likely to mean a decrease in the number of students as well, students will spend their time staffing the desk, checking in, and re-shelving books. Other tasks, such as shelf reading, searching for lost books, etc. will be put off until more students are available. Reference will limit the hours the desk is staffed, if needed, instead directing patrons to submit questions via e-mail or IM, which can be answered more flexibly. If a class is planned, the department manager will decide whether or not to still offer it, depending on whether or not the class was arranged with a professor, the number of students enrolled, and the availability of an instructor with the skills to teach the class. If the class is cancelled, all students enrolled will be e-mailed and notices will be posted on the library website and on the door of the room where the class was to be held.

Dealing with a flu epidemic will require some steps be taken before the crisis. IT will set up staff laptops for secure home access to the library network or provide instructions for set up if staff only have desktop systems at home. Once set up, staff who feel they are well enough to work but who may be contagious will be encouraged to work from home that day to prevent the spread of germs. At the beginning of the traditional cold and flu system, the student supervisor in the circulation department will schedule training sessions for experienced students on some of the more uncommon circulation functions (ex. adding a new patron to the database) to prepare students for possibly staffing the desk alone.

Human Resources: Termination Checklist

Part I: Before Termination

1. Management has documented employee’s behavior
2. Management has offered employee frequent feedback on performance
3. Management has clearly stated and documented what is and is not acceptable conduct
4. Employee has received discipline comparable to that received by other employees
5. Management has documented all progressive discipline
6. Employee has been warned that failing to improve performance would result in termination
7. Management has discussed with legal counsel employee’s participation in any of the following behaviors to ensure that termination is lawful:
   • Filing a compensation claim
   • Reporting company’s illegal activities, including violations of safety and/or health laws
   • Belonging to a union or choosing not to belong to one
   • Absence from work to fulfill a civic duty
   • Absence from work on a legally available day off
   • Membership in a protected class

Part II: Termination Process

1. Employee has been informed of decision
2. Human Resources has been notified of employee’s termination
3. Staff has been informed of employee’s departure
4. Employee’s termination has been documented (including written confirmation of oral resignation)
5. Employee’s final time sheet has been completed and submitted
6. Employee has received final paycheck, including any bonuses and accrued benefits
7. Human Resources has given employee severance letter which includes information benefits status, including health insurance in compliance with COBRA
8. Employee has given the library written permission to provide reference information if potential employers call
9. Employee’s contact information has been verified
10. Employee has removed all personal items, including personal computer files, (after normal work hours, if appropriate)
11. Employee has not taken any University-owned materials (including computer files)
12. Employee has turned in university ID card
13. Employee has returned building key and University-owned van keys (if applicable)
14. Employee has been removed from library’s computer system (including payroll and database of patron records)
15. Passwords have been changed on shared computers, including the circulation system login (if applicable), and employee’s log-in can no longer access the computer network
16. Employee has returned any library materials in his or her possession
17. Employee’s expense report balance is zero or has been submitted for payment
18. Employee’s phone line has been transferred or canceled
19. Employee’s e-mail account has been transferred or canceled
20. Employee’s work space has been cleaned

Human Resources: Job Ad

Reference Librarian (Literature Specialization)

Description
The Reference Librarian’s duties include teaching library instruction classes, answering questions online, via telephone, and in-person, particularly about literature topics, assisting students in navigating the library’s resources and finding the information they need, maintaining the reference stacks, and working with the Information and Web Technology department to create and maintain electronic subject guides or pathfinders. A typical day might include responding to a question sent by a message in Facebook, searching several of the university’s databases to help a senior find additional resources for paper for her Faulkner seminar, conducting an extended reference interview at a scheduled meeting with a sophomore just beginning an American Literature paper, teaching a class of first-year English students how to use Refworks, and staffing the reference desk, answering questions asked by walk-in students or over instant messenger.

This position offers varied and interesting work in a quickly growing academic library as part of a team of reference librarians interested in making good use of new technology and methods without neglecting the old. As an employee of Barrett University, you have access to the university’s athletic facilities and walking trails as well as the opportunity to attend one university class a semester without cost. Jones Library provides additional opportunities for professional growth, such as reimbursement for travel expenses to conferences or tuition for some distance-learning courses. Benefits include health insurance, annual leave, and sick leave. Salary is in the range of $43,000 – $45,000, depending on experience.

About Jones Library
Jones Library is the main campus library of Barrett University and serves the university’s undergraduate students, as well graduate students, staff, faculty members, and members of the surrounding community. Located near the center of Barrett’s idyllic campus, our recently-remodeled library holds over three million items and subscribes to nearly forty collections of electronic resources, each proving access to hundreds of periodicals. Barrett University itself is located in Pleasantridge, a scenic Colorado college town only an hour west of Denver and a half a day’s drive from a number of ski slopes.

Requirements

• MLS or MLIS from an ALA-accredited program
• BA in English literature or related subject (MA preferred)
• 2+ years library experience (reference and/or academic experience preferred)
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to use a computer
• Enthusiasm, patience, persistence, and self-motivation

To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to the Hiring Committee:
Jones Library
Barrett University
3322 Monet Rd.
Pleasantridge, CO 80999
Fax: (717) 555-0800
joneshiring@barrett.edu

Personal Career Development: Interview Exercise

I did the interview exercise with E, someone who is not a member of the class but who has been in management positions and on both sides of the interview before. My experience with interviewing was much more limited. I have been interviewed several times for part-time positions, but I have never interviewed anyone nor, before this class, given much thought as to what questions I would ask. For my interview with E, I chose questions from the lists posted on Blackboard and on the Career Services website.

I learned more from the discussion I had with E after the interviews than I did from the exercise itself. E emphasized that the purpose of the interview wasn’t to gather data not on the resume–that could be done in other, more verifiable ways. Instead, the interview was to get a feel for the candidate’s personality and whether they had the personal qualities for the job. That much I knew, but E and I then talked about how to craft interview questions or answer interview questions to really ask or answer the question behind the question. E compared it to a trial lawyer questioning a witness. Each question the lawyer asks is designed so that the witness’s answer make some sort of point. As an example, we broke down the ad for a Technology Initiatives Librarian, starting with the description “energetic.” While interviewing someone for that position, I would want to pay attention to how enthusiastically they answered questions and to ask questions to learn whether they sought out projects and offered input or whether they waited for instructions from a manager. Likewise, were I interviewed for this position, I would want to make sure I expressed enthusiasm for working at the library and taking initiative on projects and so on. (Of course, if I am not energetic or interested in coordinating others, close reading of a job ad can help me realize that this is not the position for me before I go through the process of applying).

E also gave me examples of questions an interviewer might ask to learn how the interviewee responded to different situations. E suggested that an interviewer might ask if I’d read a recent article published about the library to see how much research I had done prior to the interviewer. An interviewer might purposely be early or late to see how I reacted (was I there and ready to go? did I blame or take out my anger on the receptionist?) or ask me a purposely confusing question. When the topic of illegal questions came up, E pointed out that there were a number of ways interviewers could get the information without actually asking an illegal question point-blank. As a hypothetical example (not necessarily one an interviewer would ever ask), instead of asking how old I was, E asked me where I was on 9/11 and then where I was when the Discovery blew up. Though this might be an odd question in an interview, E told me there was nothing illegal about it.

E and I also did a kind of reverse interview, in which I asked questions and E showed me how I could answer them in an interview. E also suggested possible interview questions and then helped me come up with answers to them. What I learned here was staying on message. E compared it to being interviewed by the media or perhaps a presidential debate (although E did suggest that I try not to be quite so blatantly on message as candidates are). If I didn’t have an answer to a particular question such as “Tell me about a crisis situation and how you dealt with it,” I could reframe the question slightly by answering, “One particularly stressful situation was…”

Talking with E about how interviews work and the range of questions from typical interview questions to “questions” that take place before the interview begins taught me a lot about both sides of the interview. As an interviewee, I have a better idea of how to prepare for interviews and how to give answers that will help demonstrate why I am the best person for the job. As an interviewer, I now know more about how to ask questions that will give me the information I want (the question behind the question) so that I can find the best candidate.

Organization Description

I am now the library director of Jones Library, the main campus library of a small university (about 5000-6000 undergraduates). The library is used primarily by undergraduate students and faculty but also serves graduate students, staff, and members of the community, especially genealogy researchers. The university also has several small subject-specific branch libraries located inside academic buildings, a library holding the universities rare books, manuscripts, and other special collections, and a library primarily serving the law school. In addition to providing access to numerous print and electronic materials, Jones Library offers assistance with research questions through instant messenger, phone, e-mail, reference desk, and scheduled meetings with librarians, instruction on library resources, physical space for students to study or collaborate on group projects, a website providing information about the library and allowing users to search the catalog, renew materials they’ve checked out, and access electronic resources without coming to the library building, and other services designed to fulfill the information needs of university students, faculty, staff, and, to a lesser extent, members of the surrounding community.

As library directory, I answer to the Dean of the University Libraries, who oversees Jones Library and the other university libraries. Above the Dean are the Provost and the university President.

Jones Library employs around fifty full- or part-time staff members and forty to fifty student workers in the following departments:

Circulation

Responsible for circulation and user services, including supervising stacks, managing course reserves, handling fines, and

Inter-library loan

Responsible for overseeing inter-library loans to and from Jones Library

Reference services

Responsible for information services including library instruction, assisting with research questions, and supervising the reference stacks

Government documents

Responsible for supervising the government documents collection and for assisting users in accessing those materials

Acquisitions

Responsible for adding and removing materials to the library collection

Serials

Responsible for adding, removing, and maintaining Jones Library’s subscriptions to periodicals

Preservation

Responsible for binding, repairing, and otherwise preserving the library’s collection

Information and web technology

Responsible for servicing the library’s information systems and maintaining the Jones Library web page

Cataloguing

Responsible for cataloguing library materials

Serials and preservation are the smallest departments, employing only one or two full-time staff members. Interlibrary loan and government documents, with about two full-time staff members each, although interlibrary loan also includes two part-time staff members. Information and web technology is also a small department at present but is growing steadily. Most of the student workers work in the circulation department, although a few work in interlibrary loan, government documents, and information and web technology.