There is a very large and very old book on my desk. It appears to be coming out of its binding. It has no documentation whatsoever to let me know who placed it on my desk, or how it got here. For all I know, it could have trundled in on its own (hee hee, like that old book could possibly jump onto my desk--maybe if it were 25 cm instead of 40).
I submit these kinds of happenings as the most annoying thing that happens to catalogers/archivists. The Mystery Thing. It will take me at least 20 minutes just to figure out who put it on my desk and why, and probably it will take even longer. And there are no guarantees that I'm even the person to have this book! Over my years as an archivist and librarian, this has happened to me a LOT. The best time ever, though (read: worst time ever) was when I walked into my office and found two huge paintings blocking my way to my desk. PAINTINGS. Which were almost as tall as I. Forty-five minutes later, I learned that someone "donated" them on the weekend, on the advice of my boss (who was not a librarian or archivist), who apparently stated "No problem! Our librarian will take care of them!" Even though we had a policy in place that we did not accept donations of artwork. Nor did we have proper storage for them. That was super-fun. I guess this book currently on my desk isn't nearly as bad as that, so maybe I shouldn't complain so much.
At any rate, I get really tired of these kinds of things. I like a mystery and all, but I have post-it notes on my desk. And pencils and pens. And I have an email address if you do not like writing with pens and pencils.
1 comment:
That sort of experience is extra special when one of the following happens:
1) Senior management wanders by 45 minutes after you get to your desk and expresses surprise that you haven't cataloged both artworks.
2) Two days later you find yourself in a meeting where senior management expresses, frankly, shock that you can't manage your cataloging backlog, what with all the technology at your disposal.
3) Six months after you get rid of the things a random reference librarian comes by to talk about why no one can find those artworks anywhere, and did you know there was a typo in a note?
4) Five years later to get the things cataloged, senior management has you in for a little about what could possibly have possessed you to process artworks when you KNEW there was a policy against acquiring artworks.
Actually, all those things could happen, involving as few as two people.
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