Oh My God . . . What have I done!?

This semester my work week has shifted from Monday – Friday to Tuesday – Saturday. The Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives public hours have also changed to Monday -Thursday, 10am – 8pm, Friday, 10am – 6:45pm, and Saturday, 11-3. I am covering the Saturday hours (along with Glenda and NO!). Our old banker’s hours severely restricted public access and was the number one complaint in patron surveys, particularly our lack of weekend hours. This new schedule will address that problem.

I worked my first Saturday last week and it was wonderful – quiet and sans constant interruptions. Of course, I am hoping that increased patron visits will soon shatter this hopeful peace. In the meantime, I should be able to get a lot of “mind” work done on Saturday – you know, the stuff I get paid the big bucks to do.

I have found this week, however, to be frustrating in that regard, as I have failed to accomplish much of substance. I did nothing on the CCI reappraisal project, faculty personnel records, ArchivesSpace, and the NEH Records Center Grant application (well, actually, I do have a meeting scheduled with Facilities about it this afternoon). Don’t get me started on Stupak, CUPPAD, the Magnaghi Grant, or the pending review of No-AH’s appraisal reports. I did manage to finish the revision of my HS390 song and dance, and I am fairly happy with it. Karen, NO!, and I also started the planning process for Northland in October. Oh! I also finished the history piece for the AAUP newsletter, including the selection of a number of important documents for digital conversion (thanks, Anne!).

Had my regular meeting with the all important dean of AIS.  NMU is going through yet another financial “crisis” as a result of lower enrollments (I’ve highlighted “crisis” because we actually have plenty of money). The provost has ordered budgetary reductions, and I think the dean may be a bit stunned at the severity. Well, it is her first go around. I am certain that she’ll soon become inured to the habitual cycle of management by crisis at NMU. Still, I worry about her.

I made No-AH! go to a meeting with a local government agency by herself (sans me). They asked for the meeting to get some records management advise on how to deal with decades of records (some apparently going back to the 1930s.). No-AH! freaked when I told she would be going alone. Its time to start cutting the proverbial umbilical cord, and I proved correct. No-AH! did a great job. I still believe that she will prove to be the best decision I have made in my professional career.