The first two months of my new job are now behind me, so I thought it would be worthwhile to look back on them. It has certainly been an intense time: commuting to another city, getting involved in an existing project that feels new to me, and meeting lots of new people.
What is the job about?
I have already written a little about the project in an earlier post, but now, after two months, I have a clearer idea of what it involves. The project focuses on Mesopotamian seals and sealings, and our aim is to compile a substantial database. Based on two earlier projects, the database already contains a significant amount of data, but our goal is to quadruple it. Therefore, we need to find data — or rather, we need to find collaborations.
The project also employs some exciting technologies that we are either using or planning to implement in the future. One of these features is “Linked Open Data” (LOD). This is a method of publishing structured data on the web so that it is interlinked and freely available. This enables better discovery, integration and reuse across different platforms and domains. In other words, we are not only searching for data; we also want to provide it.
What are my tasks?
So far, I have been heavily involved in planning and organising the Berlin team responsible for creating online access to the database. We are already working on it and making progress week after week. I will also be responsible for setting up a project website and managing the social media channels and general outreach activities. This will involve going to conferences and workshops to network with people doing similar things.
However, I also have many other tasks related to the Academy of Sciences, where my office is located. These tasks are not directly related to the project, but are part of the role. These include regular meetings, co-organising events and managing things like calls for positions, as well as documenting holiday and sick leave taken by my employees. They may be small things, but as I have found, they can add up.
What are the challenges?
Well, everything is pretty clear to me now. I know what the job involves and I also know what it requires of me. The only challenge is that there are a lot of tasks all at once. I took the time to organise my tasks — otherwise I would not be able to manage — and counted 17 current major tasks, each divided into different steps, that I need to take care of right now. This is a lot, but they all need attention.
As you know, though, I am pretty good in organisation. As this project is huge, it just takes a little longer. However, the last three weeks have already shown progress. I should also mention that I started working on this project about two weeks after receiving a positive response. In my opinion, that’s pretty fast, but it also means that I still needed time to transition. I think I have done that now, and it will become easier as soon as the commuting is over at the end of July.
