Comparisonitis

Once the excitement of living in a new place dies down a bit, it's natural to start the comparisons between the "before life" and the "after life". I try hard not to do it on a daily basis, because as the Sara Groves song says, you can't go back to the way things were, and well, they weren't always as great as you think they were anyway.

All that aside, here are the differences between there and here:

• I miss friends most of all
• Walking to downtown St. Charles for the Scarecrow Festival and Geneva for dinner with Jason and Jenna
• My colleagues at STCPL
• Our church, Christ Community Church, and its amazing leader, Pastor Jim
• Having Mondays off to take Bandit to the dog park
• Feeling a part of a smaller, very devoted community

But, here:

• Much more cultural diversity
• The sunshine, the sunshine, the sunshine
• New friends who I've met and haven't met yet
• New opportunities to make our impressions on the community surrounding us - be it Tampa, a church or a non-profit organization
• The ability to try new things - sea kayaking, swimming in the ocean, feeding pelicans

One of the biggest challenges has been finding a church that fits right. Christ Community in St. Charles was well-established and had around 3,000 members. The church we've frequented here has about 100 people, meets in a middle school, and has been around for a year. Big difference, eh?

The thing that we've been holding onto very tightly these past three months is that God has brought us here for a purpose. The changes may be uncomfortable at best and heart-wrenching at worst, but we grip to the belief that the time here isn't wasted.

~M

What I Do

Some people have asked what I do now that I'm in my new role with a corporate library. In the bigger scheme of things, it's very much the same as what I used to do at STCPL. The main differences are that I don't see my patrons face to face, and the depth of the research has increased.

I've become the wiki guru for the department as we look at ways to communicate better. So I'm still in my techielibrarian role, which is fine with me!

My group of librarians are all being assigned particular industries to specialize in. I was handed an industry that I never expected - the CIPS, or consumer & industrial products & services. Basically it means that I provide research support to my colleagues who deal with industries such as paper & packaging, automotive, utilities & energy, manufacturers, etc. Someone else already had the retail industry. :)

Since the company is so geographically diverse, we accept incoming requests via an online submission form (for you STCPLers, think a version of QuestionPoint.) Once I get a following, people will start to call and email requests directly. It makes for some creative reference interviews when it's all via computer or voice.

Some of the questions I've been working on:

• Processing costs from start to finish of calcium carbonate
• Legislation on the new FCC VOIP 911 order
• Examples of user-generated advertising campaigns

Overall, I feel as if I'm flexing my research muscles a bit more with the new role. The questions are much more diverse and interesting than I had anticipated, and it's been great fun learning all of the new snazzy databases. I'm continually amazed at the amount of information that people have thought to organize into a database.

To get my public library fix, J and I go to the local branch almost every weekend. It makes me happy to see how well used it is - people buzzing away on their laptops, kids running around with books spilling out of their arms, teenagers reading the current Seventeen issue... I believe we OD'd last time we were there, because we have 30-something items currently checked out. Wheee!

~m