Archive for February, 2009
5 Tips for Cultivating Good Work Relationships
Posted in communication, courtesy, customer service, tagged communication, courtesy, customer service, respect, teamwork, work relationships on February 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Tax Season Hell: How to Survive
Posted in customer service, tagged attitude, customer service, Leadership, stress, stress management on February 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The dreaded tax season is upon us. Tax season brings a particular type of hell to libraries and even the most calm and courteous of library staff is stressed and has their patience tested on a daily basis.
There are many reasons for the added stress of providing an area for form and booklet distribution and/or [...]
Rules of Engagement: Dealing with Social Media or Online Conflict
Posted in communication, courtesy, kindness, tagged conflict; etiquette; flame wars; on February 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The web is now participatory. We have profiles on social networking sites; we have blogs; we comment on blog posts; we review products, movies, music, books; we engage with unseen people all over the world. The anonymity of the net allows for a certain misbehavior that threatens to devalue the potential for intelligent [...]
Recession Survival Tip: Finding Value
Posted in Uncategorized on February 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
One of the best ways to circumvent budget cuts is by fully understanding your value and selling it to those holding the purse strings. If we don’t know the numbers ourselves, how can we convince anyone that the services we provide are worth saving?
George Needham over at OCLC has compiled an awesome list of links [...]
Rudeness is for the Rich: Wealthy People Make Poor Conversational Partners: Scientific American
Posted in courtesy, tagged communication; class; on February 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Rudeness is for the Rich: Wealthy People Make Poor Conversational Partners: Scientific American
I found this article surprising in some ways and sad in so many other ways. I did not grow up in a wealthy family. At one point during my childhood there were 4 generations living under one roof. I grew up in a [...]
Coffee in the Library
Posted in customer service, tagged atmosphere, customer service, rules on February 12, 2009 | 1 Comment »
photo: hawkinsTheil
I recently had a meeting with my boss about many things, mostly having to do with technology because I’m the emerging technology/web 2.0 librarian. We talked for quite awhile and as we were wrapping up she asked me if there was anything else I wanted to discuss. I looked down at my notes where [...]
Malware and Virus Remover 2008
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged computer virus; life lessons, malware on February 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This weekend while surfing on the net I got a computer virus called Virus Remover 2008. Now, I’m no slouch in the computer department. I didn’t click on any pop up or e-mail attachment or even get tricked into accessing a website that was up for the sole purpose of downloading malicious software to my [...]
Kindness in Action
Posted in courtesy, customer service, tagged customer service, kindness on February 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today my coworker was at the reference desk and a woman slowly approached the desk. She asked if we had a certain video. My coworker looked it up, informed her that it was a children’s video and located in the children’s department.
Facts: The customer was slow moving and seemingly having difficulty moving. [...]
Hallelujah! This makes me happy!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged art, inauguration, maira Kalman, obama on February 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The awesome and talented Maira Kalman has a bloggish column over at the NYT. She does not submit often but when she does it is almost always a gleeful ride through her wacky world. Her most recent contribution is her take on the Obama inauguration. It must be seen immediately.
Desperation Brings Decency
Posted in courtesy, customer service, tagged customer service, recession, restaurants on February 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »
There is an article in the New York Times today about the restaurant industry and how horribly it is struggling during these economic hard times. This is not a new topic of discussion. I’ve probably read a half dozen other articles about the same topic, whether the journalist is taking the angle of all the [...]
