This week I spent eight hours scanning and sorting the physical copies of interview and an additional four labeling and sorting the scanned files into an excel spreadsheet file.
My last post had a pretty great summary of what office life is like for me.
One thing I learned: to make sure everything is saved to more than one source. My computer crashed (literally... and screen separated from body). Fortunately I had been saving to a USB, but that reminded me to save it to a third source as well...
This coming (and final) week I intend to gather all of the hardcopies of what I've done and talk to Trish, my mentor. She will let me know whom I should talk to so that my efforts can be utilized by the playwright.
Unfortunately I did not get to interview more people about their lives in Sanford. However, depending on schedules, I might be able to do some of that this coming summer. We'll see. I don't have to volunteer just for school. ;)
This week is a particularly short blog because I am saving my "reflection over this full semester" for my last entry next week.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
An Office Job
This week I spent a day in the office scanning paper, and
another day labeling and sorting the digital files from those scans.
Like the transcription work, I do not feel like there is any
enthralling revelation that I have from this. I am spending hours and hours
processing hundreds or thousands of pages (digitally and physically) so that
later someone else won’t have to.
Here is a glimpse of what I was doing in the office:
1. The day started with a cup of coffee (see my lovely yellow
mug) which I brought from home (because coffee makes every morning better).
2.Then I set up my printer/scanner. The office already had two
other fax/printer/scanners but one of them could not connect to a computer and
the other scanned each page independently. I needed my machine to scan 30 and
50 page documents as a single document, and so I brought one from home.
3. Then I dredged the files from the cabinet. As I opened each
folder I compared them to our digital database so that I wouldn’t make
duplicates. Then I scanned the transcription and permission/release forms separately
(for ease of access later.) Then I stapled/paper clipped the interviews to
their release forms and re-filed the physical copies alphabetically.
4. I have several new office friends now. One is the printer
function which scans stacks of paper at a time. This process would be
infinitely longer if I had to copy each page individually. The others come as a conglomerate: paperclips, staple
remover, stapler, and sticky notes… These are the essentials of any office.
Here you can see how much I’ve done. I feel successful when I stack it all together like that.
This is why no one likes paperwork… Except that I did enjoy
the repetition of the task. I don’t want to make a career of this job, but I am
enjoying a few days in the office.
Friday, April 10, 2015
So. Much. Paper.
The last time that I walked into the optometrist for an appointment I
noticed that they still kept their files in physical copies, and I wondered,
why? It seems so inefficient. It seems like a difficult database to search
since it is stacks and filing cabinets of paper. I now know why. It takes an
incredibly long time to transfer information from hard-copy to digital database,
especially if it is not impeccably organized to begin with.
When I started my new task I thought that it would be a decent amount
of work, but I had no idea of exactly how much. I hoped that I would have time
to conduct more interviews. I f I do have enough time for more interviews it
will be a miracle. Right now I am almost overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of
paperwork.
This week I started organizing and labeling documents so that I can
scan them into a digital file and then incorporate that file as a hyperlink
into an excel document so that Jules Corriere, the new playwright, can make good use of the information that
we already have.
Instead of the earlier work that I was doing (which required my
interaction with other people) this job is really lonely. To some degree that
is good. The office where I am working is secluded, so I can take off my shoes and listen to music while I sort and
file and scan and list. It is nice to create my own work environment, but I do miss
talking with people.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Change Will Come
For
those who have not seen Celery Soup’s production of Touch and Go (and you should) the title of this article is the name
of one of their songs and a theme of their productions. I chose it because this
week marks a change in my internship. I am under new supervision (My previous
mentor is enjoying her vacation in China, but she will be back in time for my
final review.), and my project focus has changed. Since I have completed by four interviews my
new task is organizing the interviews that have already been recorded or
transcribed so that the new playwright can easily access them in the future. To
that end, I spent time with Linda on Monday as she explained the current state
of the documents (a combination of physical transcriptions, digital documents,
and audio files) so that I may begin organizing them in an excel document. My
first step has been organizing and labeling the digital files (grouping files
by interviewer/interviewee). My next step will be sorting through the hard
copies so, comparing them to the digital copies (checking for duplicates, etc…)
and scanning copies to fill gaps in our digital information.
Meanwhile,
I am also finishing my fourth transcription.
Something
else Linda and I did while we met was travel around downtown Sanford so that
she could introduce me to several other people whom Celery Soup wants to
interview.
Although it will be impossible to interview and transcribe
more interviews, I hope to at least conduct one or two more interviews for the
database. Honestly, the interview is my favorite part of this process. The
other aspects necessary and somewhat engaging, but I absolutely love talking to
the people. I love hearing the new stories. I guess that makes me an extrovert?
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