I’m really not a blogger.  I wouldn’t say I’m particularly shy but I’ve never enjoyed being the centre of attention, and anything  that puts me into any resemblance of a public spotlight just makes me want to run for the hills, quite frankly.  It’s a long story and probably stems from the days when I was trying to eke out a living as a musician. Nevertheless, here I am about to blog away on my experience of being at home virtually all day and every day for the first time ever!

What I notice immediately is the very commanding silence coming from the alarm clock in the mornings.  Is it light at 5.30am yet? I would have got full marks on this one in normal times, but I do miss the morning walks I was doing with my colleague, Vicki, every day before the lockdown. You may have seen us out there walking down Morrell Avenue or across South Park in the rain, but only if you were also getting up at 5.30!  So instead, walks are happening in the evenings when I pray everyone else is listening to the Covid-19 daily update, watching the news generally, or having dinner.

Working from home has taken quite a bit of getting used to – it’s not something I’ve got much experience of because I like to be around people, and I’m glad my work makes this possible.  Nevertheless, I’m now well into my stride and getting on fine with most of the things I would have been sitting in my office doing anyway.

I do, though, really miss having the rest of the team just outside my office door that I can run to in times of need. Sometimes that need is great, particularly at 10.30am coffee time and when I require a helping hand with an E5 (finance system) query or a stubborn invoice.  I can even look further afield if I need a shoulder to cry on when I’m struggling to extract meaningful data from our library support system.

As desperate as all this may sound, though, help is still at hand, and we must thank the technology for that! My team colleagues are also at home now, but they’re only a click away in the form of an email, a hangout or even a good old fashioned phone call, and we’re all working extremely hard to ensure Library e-content at least (print is currently on hold) is purchased and made available to all our students and staff as quickly and efficiently as possible.   

Wishing everyone all the best.

— Sandra Cockburn (Content and Metadata Services Team Leader)