Fields, still

I'm still working on fields.

Next Monday, I am supposed to present a solution for the controlled vocabulary. And I'm still working on fields.

Part of the problem is that my supervisor has been away at a conference for the past week, and I'm at a point where I need some feedback. So, I'm waiting. Hopefully she'll be back tomorrow and we can meet, even briefly, to go over what I have so far.

I've had plenty to do trying to sort and narrow and expand fields. I created index cards so I could look at all the fields, move them around, see which felt closer and further from each other.

That's a lot of academic fields.

I have also been working in my spreadsheet, documenting how I am sorting fields so I can justify my decisions. 

A highlight of Monday: the new User Experience Office (UXO) gave a presentation to interested staff. They introduced what user experience is, talked about why this new office was created and elevated to cabinet level, rather than the afterthought that the IT communications office (ITCO) sometimes seemed to be. It's very exciting that UX is getting a lot of attention. They are going to be hiring some new positions soon. I need to keep my eye out for those postings, although I don't graduate until December. 

Take away this week: Sometimes working on a project can seem like spinning your wheels, especially when you have to wait on other people. But, opportunities can appear if you keep your eyes and ears open.