The biggest things going on in the library this week were as follows: our space use methodology was discussed, updated, and tested; our CRM project began user testing; and the first two of three Turkish interns arrived to begin their three months at the NTK. The week ended with a trip to Konopiste, the residence of Franz Ferdinand (which I’ll discuss in a different blog). This entire week also wore me out like no other prior to this. With the World Cup in full swing, I had hoped to spend most of my evenings watching matches, but I actually didn’t get to watch a single one of the 10 matches that occurred at times that I wasn’t at work.
The Space Use project started with a small group trying to determine the best methodology for the space we
have. One of our services manager, a sociology student on the services team, and I began working last week on the project, and testing of our original idea started on Wednesday. This meant that we had approximately 6 observations (morning and afternoon runs) when we sat down on Monday. Comments were made by the manager, edits were made by us, and a new round of testing began. The problem is, we are working with extremely raw numbers (visual observations) and adding this information to spreadsheets (trust me, I hate excel) with the collections of approximately 150 data points. So, as I tried to make modifications, my mentor suggested the creation of a database, which is beginning for later iterations of the project. We are currently just focusing on one of the six floors in the library, so expansion to include the entire library would be even more unwieldy than our current collection (almost 1000 data points).
The CRM project has progressed much more smoothly (for my brain anyway) than the Space Use issues we faced. With final updates on the mockups from colleagues’ comments and a script, we began our first round of user testing. Our weekly meeting revealed the comments of 6 users (which are all staff members that will be utilizing this system for student consultations). After a lengthy discussion about how to make some initial changes, updates will be made early next week and updates to the actual prototypes will be initiated. This will lead to a new round of user testing that will be much closer to the interface they will actually be dealing with. While this is not a project I thought I would fully understand because of my previous experience with user testing, it has been very rewarding to stretch my skills, work with this team, and understand more fully how these types of situations can help in the library setting. Seriously, with my previous experience in user testing, I was very unclear about how it would be useful in real-world library settings, but this has definitely changed my mind on that view.
On Wednesday, we got two new interns from a village just outside of Istanbul. I look forward to working with them on occasion, and we have discussed having a small conversation class with just the group of Turkish interns. Due to some miscommunications upon their arrival, I spent most of Wednesday afternoon helping them get their housing squared away (as they were not told they needed to report to finalize their accommodations that morning). We got all things taken care of and made it back to our 1400 “Ice Cream Meeting,” which allowed them to get introduced to most of the team and let us relax and laugh for a bit as a group. They joined Marine (my cultural attaché) and I for our trip to Konopiste on Thursday as well, which was a lovely trip (most of the time, but that is for later).
I had the opportunity to network with an American visitor this week as well. Visiting from UMass-Lowell, she was here making connections for a internship program attached to their engineering program. She ended up having a meeting with me and one of the postdocs before a dinner in the city center with me. We talked mostly about our experiences, but it was nice to see how other institutions network for their internships. Of course, these are mostly for undergraduate students, but it’s still a worthwhile experience.
I may have ended up dropping a project this week as well. Also, my long-term reference project seems to be petering out. I am going to create some possible framework from what I was thinking, but with little response from the student, it’s difficult to actually get much out of it. This is a university setting, the student is in a PhD program, and the library cannot force anything. If the student comes to me later on, I’ll do my best to help, but the information must be sought first.
I took some steps to learn some more Czech. My hopes is to be able to show some progress in language skills, in 
the most crucial of interactions (like eating and shopping), and I think I am getting there. Beyond the basics (“yes,” “no,” “hello,” “thank you”), I have now started some simple phrases and am learning to count. While I wish I had started a bit sooner with this (I’m now halfway through), I hope that my contacts here may actually allow me to stay up on this type of language learning, as I hope to visit this country more once I can again.
at least, pubs capable of playing the games. After this experience, I decided to spend Sunday in the more tourist areas of the city, because I knew many of them were catering to their international tourists, even though I knew this would be more expensive for me.
the games. I think I may have found a new favorite place in Kinsky Garden. It’s just a different part of the ruins, but its completely enclosed and it doesn’t seem like many people pass through it. Laying your hands on the stone, you can feel the century of history contained in the walls. Although these ruins faced nothing too drastic and can’t put some great battle story in its place, they endured through so much (the First Republic, the Second Republic, German occupation, WWII, communism…) and you could feel it in the stone, from the etchings, through the graffiti.
silence, but the Mexico-Germany game definitely brought in some more people. I sat next to a group of Mexican tourists for the first half of the game and their seats were taken by some German tourists for the second half. I think those interactions are just as nice as the games, even if we don’t actually speak. I went back to the dorms for the late game, where the students watching were definitely routing for Brazil over Switzerland. It was a very relaxed weekend full of good beer and good futbol.
that has a background in sociology. I think he has a much better grasp on the concept than I do, but we broke it down, developed a methodology, and began testing at the end of the week. A meeting with our supervisor on Monday followed by a meeting together will allow for changes in the methodology to make it work better for the library. Then, we can begin training others so that all information gathered is consistent. My colleague and I are both leaving at the end of the summer, so having someone to continue the project once we leave will be crucial.
collection contains books from the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries. Mostly rebound in the 1960s, the collection is in decent condition and the library is working on providing consistent conditions, although, sadly, not ideal. It was interesting to look at the books there. Although I cannot read any of them (most are written in Latin or German), it is awesome to see the tradition of scientific work in the Czech Republic.
potential projects for them. Then, I sat in on a presentation for a student before he goes to conference next week in Germany. I spent the rest of the day with my French colleague as we embarked on a WWII Tour of Prague. While I didn’t learn anything that was a complete revelation, the tour provided more details about my understanding of this area, especially the city during the war. The contrast between this guide and the one we had in Karlstejn were so different, and I wish I could have seen that kind of enthusiasm at the castle.
that the First Republic was announced to the catacombs under Old Town Hall) were shown along with stories accompanied by historical photographs (like Hitler addressing the people from Prague Castle after sneaking into the country ahead of the Czech president). The pride in the Czech story was clearly present, and, as my colleague noted, the significant points Czechs have in history, they hold onto with a fervor. It’s so nice to hear those stories though, because, often, the Central and Eastern European story is lost among others once you leave the area. One illustration of this comes from my colleague, who had no idea there was a Munich Agreement that is seen as a great betrayal to the Czech people that her government was apart of. Her knowledge of WWII doesn’t include the Central and Eastern European perspective, and, mine wouldn’t either if I hadn’t become interested in the region a few years ago. Now, I clamber to learn as much as I can, because their history, while often tragic, is so important when caught between these warring nations.
Praha on Sunday and Stephanie’s father was in the city visiting, so a cookout was had to say hello to new people and goodbye to others. Although I knew most of the way on the metro, I decided to take the bus out to Pisnice, where my mentor resides. After 4 buses, a tram, a rainstorm, and some walking, I finally arrived about an hour and a half after I had left. The place is beautiful and I now understand why Cinzia spoke so fondly of their garden. A large willow tree stands in their backyard, which is walled, and it is just nice to take in the country air (or, at least, more country air than in the heart of the city). We laughed, we ate, and we drank well into the night, and I don’t think there was a better way to send off my new friend. I hope the rest of her travels find her well.
visible. I took a bus into the main part of the city and walked to the castle high above everything else. On my way, I came once again upon the Dancing House, a controversial office building in the city, and the Cathedral of St. Cyril
and Methodius. This church actually houses one of the only free museums in the city, which speaks of the martyrs from World War II who snuck their way into the city to attempt to assassinate Heydrich. With the attempt being successful, a massive manhunt for the killers began. They sought refuge with five others in this cathedral. A fire fight killed three of the men, while the rest committed suicide when the Gestapo tried to smoke them out of the catacombs.
of Vysherad. Instead of walking through one of the two gates into the fortress’s grounds, I decided to climb up the back way. At the top, there were beautiful views of the river and the rest of the city. Vysherad contains a cemetery,
cathedral, royal gardens, and beautiful architecture. I ate lunch at a cafe that overlooked the cemetery before spending well over an hour taking in those laid to rest. It always takes my breath away how beautiful European cemeteries are. From their intricate memorials (by statue, tombstone, or ironwork) to their closeness to nature (as graves are not tended to in the same way as U.S. cemeteries), so many things catch your eye and take your breath away. The views were just as beautiful, and I spent much of my time just looking out over the river or over the city.
upon me. Hiding under an archway to wait for the worst of it to stop, I left the grounds via the brick gate in search of a restaurant suggested to me by a friend that had visited the city previously. I found U Kroka easily, ordered a beer and the rabbit (the
suggestion of my friend) and settled in for some light reading on a rainy Sunday. Two hours later, I made my way back home for a relaxed evening before the beginning of another week at the office.
to her birth country of Italy. Cinzia is a fiery Italian-American New Yorker who moved to the U.S. in the late 1990s and became a teacher once she settled in New York. We met soon after she made it to Prague and had lovely conversations about our experiences with the world. Taking advantage of this connection, Stephanie suggested two days of experiences together. Wednesday we went to the Praha Zoo together, going into the heart of the city, taking
a boat up the river, and experiencing a day among the animals. On Thursday, Stephanie joined us on an adventure outside of Praha to a fourteenth century castle, Karlstejn. While neither of us can provide explicit information about these things, having someone to take them in with made them that much more exceptional. While I had spoken with Cinzia prior to these two days, I think that our time together on these trips solidified a friendship that I truly hope continues as we walk through life on our different paths.
Czech culture that I don’t think many would think of. Unlike in the U.S., this zoo houses both land and sea animals, combining the ideas of American zoos and aquariums. It is on the outskirts of the city and is a vast amount of land dedicated to animals, plants, and experiences. We spent about four hours at the zoo and didn’t even make it through half of it. The place is meant truly for the Czech people though. In my opinion, the layout and the exhibits highlight 
how these people understand and respect the life of animals. In no place in the United States would you find so much land dedicated just to them. The zoo was also a place for family. When we first arrived, we passed many mothers with their children, stopping and watching the animals, talking to their young boys and girls about them. Then, as the day went on, full families became much more the norm. We were out of place in our time at the zoo not because we were Americans, but because it definitely seemed to be a place of family education.
Thursday was just as pleasant. Meeting at the train station, we headed out of Praha with Stephanie telling us some things about the places we passed. Upon arrival, we walked from the train station to a small Greek restaurant and further discussed the castle we were getting ready to see. Karlstejn was built in 1348 and the village beneath it was renamed to be the same as the castle. It was used through the seventeenth century and was renovated in the nineteenth century to a likeness of its original glory. Now, of course, it is largely a tourist attraction. In the fourteenth century, Charles IV resided there and, for a time, the Crown Jewels were housed in the fortress. Like many fortifications, Karlstejn sits at a high elevation for strategic purposes.
led to more pleasant conversation after the tour. Many of the items in the castle are not original, but the stories and myths that surround them are interesting. The thing is that the facts and myths were not clearly separated by the 
guide, which sometimes made it difficult to tell what she was telling us actually happened and what was pure conjecture. Her perceived lack of interest, at least by us, did not help this issue. Though, every tour guide is different, which leads to varying experiences. I would definitely recommend the tour, if nothing else, just to see inside the castle and its inner grounds.
Charles IV, for example, holds a name in the capital as well. It isn’t just his residence from Karlstejn, but you see him everywhere, from Charles Bridge to Charles University and his final resting place at St. Vitus Cathedral within Prague Castle. These historical outings have led to some interesting conversations with my Czech colleagues about their understanding of their history as well, and I can’t wait to keep learning in this way.
was pointed in the direction of Palladium to find something more suitable. I ended up with a sinchsack (much cheaper than I could find in the U.S.) and an experience of the shopping experience here in the Czech Republic. It 
took me a bit to find the complex I was directed to (which holds over 200 different shops, restaurants, and bars), but it is also located on a long street full of shops and smaller complexes. Taking it all in was truly an experience in and of itself. I also found a toy store that was three stories tall and the place of childhood dreams.
toward the monastery, and continued on to the castle complex. As I know this will be a destination in another few weeks, I did not purchase tour tickets, but did take in the beauty of the castle and the feel of being surrounded by such architecture.
first book was an American history book, I didn’t want to dwell on it, but this novel was suggested by my mentor. It is based during the World War I time period, written by a Frenchman who has ties to France and Germany, and really highlights how the war progressed in the eyes of a soldier. Though the narrator is not that particular soldier (he is telling the story of his father), he also has those connections to war. It was haunting in so many ways, but also highlighted a style of writing often lost. So many people can truly capture life and all of its glory, but it is rare for an author to be able to so thoroughly illustrate death. I spent my week sitting at cafes and pubs after work just taking in this work while enjoying the atmosphere. I can’t wait to continue to do that with some of the other works I have had suggested to me.
on. While I intend to go into much more detail later on, here are some highlights from the portion I am currently working on. Even though I am a consultant, the team is very interested in my opinion, so I am currently working on a sketch of an interface I think will work and a way to “group” resources for recording purposes. Spending more time with the site, I honestly think that once the extra stuff has been removed (we are customizing an open source option), a good skeleton remains. The big project, of course, is getting everything to function the way it needs to. The majority of my time on this project this week will be on the resources portion, as we try to make it manageable and all-encompassing of offered resources, while trying to keep it from becoming too busy. This is proving to be difficult, as the NTK hosts approximately 80 electronic sources, which doesn’t take into account the physical collection at the library.
most of the day reading. I have started a new novel, The Walnut Trees of Altenburg, which is throwing a little WWI history my way. I also took on a consultation project for a student. Her research team just got accepted for publication, so I agreed to copy edit their final draft. I have learned I know a lot less about science than I thought and I only got through part of the article today. Stephanie and I then had a discussion about management structures, specifically those that rely on Boards of Directors, and I continued working on the CRM project. I have returned to the world of Post-It notes, and it was actually extremely helpful for my organization.
leaving early for an excursion. The morning meeting focused on how information is disseminated to high school students that partner with the NTK. My afternoon consisted of exploring the area around Prague Castle(which included Embassy Row), as a cultural experience, before attending an evening lecture by an historian from the U.S. Her presentation on Jewish Escape Networks during WWII in Central and Eastern Europe was extremely interesting, and I hope to look more into her work in the coming weeks. We spoke briefly following the talk, and may be meeting before she leaves the city to continue an historical discussion.
While I had three meetings today, I did get to largely learning more about Czechia. One of the most useful things about my time here is that Stephanie is trying to feed my interest in history as well, as it will enhance my cultural understanding of the area. I read up on the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, the House of Habsburg (the “junior” line), the fall of the empire and its involvement in WWI, and some of the intricacies of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. While I knew many of the overarching concepts of the empire and this time period, it was nice to see some more specifics, especially some of the beliefs Ferdinand held about the future of the empire. This information was followed by a brief meeting with a CRM team member about our meeting on Friday and the consultation regarding the article I had been copy editing. I left work around 1700 to meet another colleague in the city for drinks. We spent our evening discussing Czechia, her home country of Spain, my home country of the U.S., and just kind of getting to know one another.
spend most of my day trying to get a head start on some of the things I know are coming up. With only a 1400 meeting, I knew that most of my day would be self-guided. I was invited to lunch with a colleague I am working on the CRM project with and her office mate. It was quite interesting, as it was the first time I’d been somewhere that they did not have English menus, but the food just reminded me why I love Czech food (it’s delicious!). Apparently today is “The Day of Children,” which is common is this part of Europe. It was nice to discuss how 1 June is a day to celebrate childhood throughout the country (and Slovakia at least). Following lunch, I ended up in another management discussion with Stephanie which showed how complicated changes can get in the library prior to the CRM project team meeting. While not everything got covered in our meeting, I think the brainstorming was very helpful and I am excited to see that they are interested in user input prior to implementing new changes in the interface to hopefully cut down on some reworking that would likely happen otherwise. This just means I have some new mockups to make up and a week to work on consulting with our users prior to our next meeting. I look forward to the challenge following another weekend in the city.
An impromptu trip is always fun, but an impromptu trip to another country is just fantastic. Having a friend from the UMSI network here in Prague, I was asked if I would like to travel with her on her one free weekend in the country. Our destination? Dresden, Germany. I had never been to Germany, it was a 1100czk round-trip ticket, and it was only about 2 hours away, so I really couldn’t pass up the opportunity. My mentor did her doctoral work in Germany, so she sketched out a quick guide about some of the key places, but we went without a plan to just enjoy the city.
Czech and German villages lined with beautiful forests and rock formations. Some places hold great churches and old castles. Upon arrival, we just dove into the city. We essentially took up the idea of finding cool looking tops to buildings and attempting to find them. This actually led us to finding most of the suggested locations made by my mentor.
Once we got to Bruhl Terrace and had taken pictures of the Royal Palace, the Hofkirche, and the Opera House, we crossed the Augustus Bridge to look on the Dresden skyline from across the Elbe. We found a biergarten, grabbed a German brew, and just enjoyed some of our time. We then continued our journey, where we happenstanced upon Christopher Street Day celebrations (or Pride).
but this was a pretty cool experience. It didn’t seem to be too over the top, which is how I think of many American celebrations of the even, and it was just a peaceful time of celebration. There were no open protesters and everyone genuinely just took in the good time. We joined the procession and followed the parade back to Bruhl Terrace, where it ended. People on the terrace just took in the celebration with everyone else. It was truly a unique experience that I am glad I got to be a part of.
We finished our day in the city just taking in some of the modern. We grabbed food (and more German beer) before heading back toward the train station. Closer to the station, we checked out a mall and a local bookstore. Having not prepared an actual tour or looking into the city before we left, I picked up an English guide on the city for the train ride back. It was cool to learn about the places we had been while we sat on the train and to read about some the locations we didn’t make it to.
morning, I dragged myself out of bed to go on a walk. I found the Lookout Tower (which I may come back to) and decided to spend my afternoon in the monastic beer garden. There I met an American military family who was visiting, which led to some great conversation. I then returned to the dorms for a call home and a nap before returning to the city for dinner. I pretty much spent most of the day eating, drinking beer, and reading, which, in my opinion, isn’t a half bad way to spend the day.
comprehensive overview later on. The building the NTK currently resides in opened in 2009 and is bustling with students as this is the last week of classes before exams. I then had a quick sit-down with my mentor, as we have finally met in person after almost nine months of correspondence. The organized part of the day then got underway, with an English presentation course, lunch, conversation class, and an organizational overview of the library itself and how libraries in general throughout the Czech Republic function. There were hints at some of the projects I might be working on, but they did not want to overwhelm me. Now, that being said, I was definitely overwhelmed when I left early that afternoon, but I was also excited.
established routine. Therefore, I am starting each day checking my agenda, emails, and items I didn’t get to the day before. Even after my first day, I still had things I hadn’t gotten to. Stephanie and I discussed some issues the library is trying to address when it comes to their students and she gave me some reading to give me some context on the European instead of the American approaches I am used to. Some of the other, smaller projects have provided me some work too. So, I went and overviewed everything after work on Monday and came in with questions this morning. I think this was helpful because, once Stephanie got in, she pulled me in to give me a managerial rundown and to discuss some of the projects I’m going to be getting into.
Medical and Personal issues become your problem when it comes to your employees, so you need to know how to handle them so it doesn’t disrupt or make difficult anyone’s work, especially the employee involved. Long-term projects can lead to long-term relationships, so you need to be able to cultivate a good atmosphere with people. Project consultation can become a part of your job so that people on the project can get a fresh perspective (this seems to be what I will be doing in the CRM project).
endeavor was interrupted by Alexey, my Russian colleague, and his promise of coffee. Seriously, who would turn down a trip down to the first floor cafe to enjoy a cappuccino with fresh cinnamon? This was directly after being invited by Isabella, a Spanish colleague, to join her after work for a beer (she’s inviting her Czech colleagues). I like this mixing of cultures, because it has led to some interesting perspectives and ways of thinking on things that I had not considered. The prospect of not eating alone all the time is also quite nice.
Much of my time in the office today has been at my desk, trying to garner the knowledge I am going to need to function well here and in a continued effort to get organized. Now, this does not mean that I haven’t been out and about. It is nice to have the freedom of getting up and moving about whenever I feel the need. Early this morning, I just took a walk about the library, just because I felt like it and I needed to get out of my chair. Then, I walked and discussed things with Alexey for a morning coffee. At 1300, I was supposed to take a tour of campus with Kyriaki, my Greek colleague. While we walked part of campus, we spent the better part of two hours having discussions about the world over coffee. I think I could get used to this kind of approach to work. At one point, I feel like I am not being productive, but at another point, I feel like I am getting so much from my experience.
communities to standardize, in an ethical way, the ideas of integrity and fairness in research. While this is all well and good, how do we address issues that students don’t seem to grasp? Their lack of knowledge about academic integrity? Or plagiarism?
was freeform, with only one afternoon meeting. My hopes here was to dig a little more into the readings that I have been suggested. I have an informal sit-down with Sasha soon, who is the director in the services portion of the NTK and co-manages services with my mentor. He has previous experience with the NTK, through his doctoral work, so he’s a great one to learn some history about the library prior to being re-affiliated with the universities here. The NTK was once the STK and housed where the National Library now resides. After looking at a beautiful videos (and not understanding a single word, as it is fully in Czech) and reading two papers Sasha has co-authored, I may begin to understand his reason for returning to the NTK and the place I can play here at the library.
actually like coming to work. Having the luxury of creating your own hours, when you actually like coming to work, is a nice to just get more. Now, I will have to restrain myself from my workaholic tendencies. Today I just have one meeting, regarding the CRM platform with the entire team, but I am, of course, still getting up to speed. I have a few readings I would definitely like to get through and then some paperwork I need to work on for the states.
remedy this, I have been trying to find different places to do work and just get up and move around. I was actually running stairs earlier.
Raven K 