Librariness

Losing my Sense of Library Humor

2011-12-09T11:42:00.001-05:00

So I went on a rant yesterday on Facebook, and I may as well post it here. Basically, I got a full time job as a personal assistant outside of the library world. In fact, another one of my librarian friends did the same thing. So as the days go on I'm feeling less and less connected, even though I'm taking on a handful of shifts on the weekends. Since California libraries pay better than anywhere

101 Low Budget No Budget Teen Activities

2011-08-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

I'm working on a book! Right now I'm calling it 101 Low Budget No Budget Teen Activities, but 101 Safe, Cheap and Sane Teen Programs is another idea. 101 arts and crafts, games and programs for teens that you can do with barely a budget. You'll raid the children's arts and crafts closet, learn how to score free supplies online, turn community events into goldmines of leftover materials, up and

A Donation to the Friends

2011-08-11T06:00:00.001-04:00

What do you do with the random money you find laying around the library? I'm sure some people think they are paying their fines by leaving dollar bills in their books, but they might as well be expensive bookmarks. Although I keep eyeing these 3-D shark bookmarks that retail for about $6.50 at bookstores and Amazon. So who am I to say you shouldn't use a dollar for a bookmark? So oddly,

Nosy Kid

2011-05-09T17:19:00.001-04:00

The nosy little girl is back. She saw a list of companies I want to work for and picked up "TechSoup" for some reason."I know TechSoup, they make soup!" She said."Yes, they make good soup." I said. She's the talkative one, it's best not to engage her."My friend's mom works there!" She said. "My friend's mom is the MANAGER.""Well in that case, can she get me a job there?"

nice suggestion

2011-05-03T18:00:00.000-04:00

but I'm not going to make any effort to tell anyone that you think the spines on the dvds should be read horizontally, with the items stacked flat, rather than vertically like books. Even if people agreed with you and made that a priority, I can promise the library will no longer have DVDs by the time it becomes feasible.

Animals Don't Wear Pants

2011-05-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

I had a very talkative young patron today. I tried to enlist her help drawing books for a display today. It's a kid's display, so it doesn't have to be "good" (ah, yes, I am not a through and through children's librarian). She drew a stick figure of Mama Bear from the Berenstain Bears and asked if she had to draw clothes on her. All I could say is "not if it's an animal". The real lesson here is,

Careers for Sports Fans

2011-04-30T18:31:00.001-04:00

Would you weed a 20 year old career book called Careers for Sports Fans? I'm watching a girl about 8 years old looking at It's Not the Stork. Wide-eyed. Oh boy. I just helped her mom find a classic series about horses. Oh boy.

Candy Stripper

2011-01-13T15:22:00.004-05:00

Giggle before it's fixed, but the fifteen year old Christian heroine in God Is In the Pancakes is a "candy striper", not a "candy stripper".

Well, well, well

2011-01-06T19:45:00.003-05:00

I know we're not using the same software as Amazon or Google, but must the library keyword search suggestions be that unhelpful? The most random queries kick back even randomer "did you mean" suggestions"baby names" brings back "did you mean ebay name's?""all saints" brings back "did you mean all antes"but if I accidentally type in"Guorious George"it can't suggest I want "Curious George".andthe

New Years Resolutions In the Library

2011-01-03T18:43:00.004-05:00

1. To dress more professionally2. To not empathize unnecessarily with patrons who are confused by the library, for instance, they do not need to know how much I agree the print release station is confusing.3. To read some genre fiction4. To go out of my way to make great displays, including putting great books on display 5. To be quieter

2010-11-14T17:04:00.003-05:00

The civility of a library to it's employees can be measured by one standard: is the library willing to offer replacement blades for the staff tape dispensers. I was extremely happy to find a rubber banded stack of replacement blades at my current place of employment. My former place of employment would only allow staff to order office supplies from a very short list, claimed they never heard of

Blog Clean Up

2010-09-18T16:43:00.002-04:00

I'm culling my library blog RSS feeds. I'm not going to write for academic library journals nor am I interested in your blah blah blah research you're going to self publish and analyze your sales for the next six months. So I need suggestions, fun library stuff, book reviews, website reviews, working with urban populations, working with teens, creative outreach, arts and crafts, computer training

Goodbye Brooklyn Public Library

2010-05-14T20:39:00.001-04:00

Hello San Francisco. No job yet, but i will fix that soon.

Kick Start (er....)

2010-04-01T13:33:00.004-04:00

hiiiiiiiiiiI tried watching some of Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars on the Disney Channel the other night but just couldn't do it. I was too stuck on making sure she was wearing the right shoes (the Uggs in one scene almost made me cry, but she did switch to Chuck Taylors later). How could they do this? How dated must Ms. Harriet seem to today's kids?As for dee library. Wells. Yah. I work at a

How the Referece Survey Should Be Tallied

2010-01-19T09:57:00.004-05:00

Yes the LibCamp NYC 2009 unconference was a long time ago. What always strikes me is what I'm still talking about a year later. People are generally too cryptic in their immediate tweets (even though I presented about Twitter) and I don't like to mess up my Twitter account with too much non-personal stuff. Yes, I'm one of those Twitterers who thinks it should NOT be used for personal branding. In

Overdrive for Droid

2010-01-05T15:31:00.002-05:00

The Librarian in Black got all excited that the Ovedrive software is available for Droid. In beta, so you have to go into settings and allow it download apps not available in the app marketplace. Well, I played with it for a few minutes and gave up. You still need to instal software onto you computer and THEN transfer your audio book to your Droid. Boo. I wanted to just download audiobooks when

2009-12-30T23:55:00.004-05:00

For the past few years the theme song around my life has included the line "I'm going to make it through this year if it kills me". Bless you Mr. Darnielle. So now for New Years Resolutions. The stack of books I got for Christmas that promise I will get through php, mysql, cs3 (lost my connection to get cs4), and study for the lsat as a way out. Basically: I need to get a few flashier things on

You The Online Version

2009-10-29T14:32:00.002-04:00

Since I bought the domain name www.agentramona.com I've had a lot of angst. First of all, I didn't want to be limited by the title of librarian and my real name was taken in various other ways. So why end a brand? Because when I graduated from library school and sent out all my applications, I didn't realize Gmail was adding "sent on behalf of" and I worry my resumes that went into the

2009-10-27T10:28:00.002-04:00

Dear mysterious force in charge of the internet,Please give Google more power so that Google Wave becomes VERY popular and forces our IT department to abandon Internet Explorer due to patron pressure. Right now I can't do anything in Wave, which sucks, because I'm sure that during the workday is when most of my pals are going to be on it. IE has crushed my dreams of using it to collaborate with

POP3

2009-10-26T16:30:00.002-04:00

Really. I know it's a security issue. But can we please enable POP3 so we can forward our mail to a service that has more than the tiny little limit we're allowed in Outlook? I'm always missing important stuff because I have to go through major mail purges, I don't have much flexibility in making folders and rules for things like holds lists that I don't need and it just feels restrictive that I

Duke: Why We're Not Digitizing Zines

2009-09-22T13:33:00.001-04:00

Is there a proper way to format posts that you write as a comment on another blog? Here are some thoughts on Beth Wooten's post on the Duke University Digital Collection's blog about Why We're Not Digitizing Zines:Thanks Beth. I’d like to add that there are zine sites that scan and archive zines without permission, although there are none I would endorse, and that I think it’s fine for a library

Printing Improvements

2009-08-07T15:48:00.001-04:00

Instead of making people sign up for computer time to print from their flash drives, why not just let them plug in the flash drives at another computer and send the print job to the printer? If a patron is technically savvy enough to be prepaired with their flash drive ready to print, they won't take any longer at those stations than a patron who needs coaching just to make a reservation.

Was A Me Meme, but is Now a Time Capsule and a Rocketship

2009-08-01T23:30:00.000-04:00

This is the kind of draft I find that's over a year old and makes me say, wow, okay, yes, I still feel this way. Although now I've been through two Teen Tech Weeks, presented on Twitter twice, become a semi-official resume helper in our branch. I've angsted over the fact I'm not helping anyone with their website design or the UI on any of the systems we have here. What can I do now? Keep learning

On due date cards....

2009-07-30T23:30:00.000-04:00

Having recently procured an unopened package of date due cards for an as yet unrealized library art project, this story of petty theft dealing in such used items made me smile knowing that the object is not just of beauty to those of us who grew up with the card's utilitarian purpose, but that the cards continue to be valued and a source of delight and mystery for the young.

No memory....

2009-07-28T10:17:00.000-04:00

Apparently our computers at work don't have enough memory for me to download the 2 minute videos the kids made off my digital camera. So all this talk about getting Flip cameras and whatnot...why bother? Also, I really hope my internet at home is up and running because I'm dying to hear the audio and see what ones I can actually put online, we kinda ventured into South Park territory with the yo

things i wish were easliy communicated before someone asks for a guest card

2009-07-20T13:56:00.001-04:00

1. How much it costs to print2. If they need a disk to save, download or send attachments 3. How much time the card is good for4. If the library sells disks or not5. The printing procedure6. How the computers are numbered7. What features are disabled on the computer8. If one-on-one computer help is available9. What accessories can and can't be used with the computer10. How the notification system

Heavy Usage

2009-07-20T13:47:00.000-04:00

Trying to find the catch in a search and win website, I was surprised this made it past their lawyers; "Doing a ton of searches and/or clicking on search results will in no way increase your likelihood of winning. " A ton of searches? How much does a search weigh?

you know you're a librarian when...

2009-07-16T12:28:00.000-04:00

So I can't drag and drop pictures in Flickr organizer at the library. So much for using downtime to organize my 15,000 photos and tagging them. I worry how the poorly sorted and tagged images reflect on me as a professional information manager. Moreso than the thousands of pictures proving I stay out past my bedtime to see bands.

Battle of the Codemonkeys

2009-07-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

I'm entering in the registrations for our summer reading program right now, and if there is a duplicate registration, the most technical database error message possible pops up. Of course my 14 year old volunteer had no idea what a key is, or a "System ArgumentException, or why he should "review the stacktrace" to find an error. Can't it just say "sorry, this person is already in the database"?

No Turkey For Lunch

2009-06-18T14:36:00.000-04:00

I went to the terrific Pres4Lib un-conference last week and participated in the T is for Training podcast. We get on the topic that turkey makes you sleepy, but I knew I read on Snopes, that this is an urban legend. Ohhh, the lil factual cranky gal strikes again. I can't listen to my voice so I have no idea what I talked about. Also, I jumped right in on this great idea called Battle Decks. 10

Libraries and Kindles

2009-05-01T16:04:00.001-04:00

And sometimes I write an e-mail that is so much fun it should just be a blog post. Question: Are any librarians lobbying for the right to lend Kindles? My Answer: From what I gather librarians are just trying to get a consistent and clear answer from Amazon as to what their Terms of Service are and if libraries can loan Kindles. Unlike regular copyright law, electronic rights are usually

Sit Down Shut Up

2009-04-20T10:26:00.000-04:00

Fox has a replacement for King of the Hill, Sit Down Shut Up.Was the Australian version funny? This isn't. I don't think there is a single likeable character on the show. There is a bitchy librarian though, Helen Klench. She did manage to be a smart ass and save her job in the first episode. I don't think I can watch this show, it's as bad as Drawn Together

Silent Library

2009-03-12T11:04:00.001-04:00

Oh yay! Some of my favorite things in the world: boys getting hurt, Japan and a library.

The Ethicist

2009-03-09T11:16:00.001-04:00

If a librarian suspects a patron is being conned by mail-order brides, what should s/he do? The NYT Ethicist column tackles this with the answer I would like to give: respect the patron's confidentiality, see if you can slip him some resources to protect him from scams. So a few other lil ethical questions came to mind:An eleven year old patron asks what year he would be born in to be thirteen,

Stuff I Did at Work Today

2009-01-30T14:41:00.000-05:00

1. Typed up a list of a cart of books I have to give away to other branches and sent it to other librarians2. E-mailed a woman who wants to host swap meets at our library since she read my post on a local mailing list about our upcoming clothing swap.3. Showed my coworker a bunch of random things on the internet like the baby tiger that was confiscated from the woman who killed two librarians in

Dear Old Authors

2009-01-27T16:08:00.000-05:00

I have just realized that at thirty I am having a hard time remembering if I read you recently died or published a new book. Sorry John Updike. I'll always remember listening to Run Rabbit Run on tape while shelving in the Olympia Public Library.

Questioning the fiction spine label

2009-01-27T15:42:00.000-05:00

I'm looking at 32 books and spine labels covered part or whole of the authors name or title on 15 of the books. I would suspect the other 17 books have publishers that know a large percentage of their sales (or these editions) are for libraries. As someone who alphabetizes her records by artist, and not all LPs have names on the spines, and 7" simply don't have spines except for the box sets, I

In no rush

2009-01-27T13:41:00.000-05:00

I'm not going anywhere. However, if you know of any RSS feeds for California Bay Area library/tech jobs let me know. It's for friends right now, but I'm a little surprised at how few jobs in the area I see on the national RSS feeds i subscribe to and I know I'm missing something here.

Who will clean up Flickr?

2009-01-26T12:45:00.000-05:00

I'm looking for Creative Commons (CC) licensed images for Black History Month and I'm seeing a ton of copyrighted images. Some are even "credited" to the original photographers as if that matters. It's way too easy to wander off of a CC search to non CC images by clicking on group pools or tags. DON'T POST OTHER PEOPLE'S STUFF ON FLICKR!I mean, if your friend wants you to post some party photos,

Twitter Take Two

2009-01-15T11:34:00.000-05:00

While I try to keep my library blog worksafe, sometimes I'm amused that no one lets me know they read it. For instance, last night I was out with some friends and apparently I was volunteered at a meeting to come in and talk to admin about Twitter. Obviously no one read my post about disliking Twitter as a marketing mechanism. I tried to come up with some ways I would like Twitter in libraries,

Filter Failure, and Not To Find the Good Stuff

2009-01-09T10:06:00.000-05:00

I was looking at the Modified Librarian page and did a little backtracking to see just what BME World is all about. That's when I made the mistake of seeing if our library's filter was any good. Now, I can't get to my favorite radio stations or Perez Hilton, which is probably good for productivity, and I'm pretty far on the open minded side of sexuality, but if a filter is going to shield my

Much better

2009-01-03T14:50:00.000-05:00

A patron comes up to the desk and says, "I have a problem."I seize up, wait for the torrent."Life of Pi; do you have it?"I admit my hearing isn't great, but it's much better to mistake something good for bad when it comes to working on the desk.

2009-01-03T12:12:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!I've tried to reflect on the big life changes I had last year, but I think I take them for granted or see them as insignificant even when they are drastically changing how I communicate with the world. For instance, Twitter. I can't remember if I joined to keep in touch with any one person or not. I do know that a few months into it, I had my mom (@mikimom) join, and now I don't

reason i will finally get my NYPL card

2008-12-11T13:55:00.001-05:00

Is It Really So Strange?

2008-12-03T10:42:00.000-05:00

Last night when I was trying to go to sleep all I could hear were the screams and shouts of my pre-teens from our afternoon wallet making program. While we had some cute projects, I should not have let them near the glitter glue. I shouldn't even question their loyalty to the glitter glue, if I had access to free glitter glue when I was younger that's all I'd want to use. They can take a

Desk Diary August 8, 2008

2008-08-08T09:40:00.000-04:00

Questions at the desk today: * Where do I return books? (back there in the return chutes)* Can you check these in and tell me what's left on my account? (yes, your account is clear)* Do you have the book for the drivers licence test? (no, but I should get some, and I go get distracted figuring out how to get MY New York drivers licence, although since I only ever drive a car with PA plates it's

Bad Bad Patrons

2008-05-20T14:42:00.000-04:00

Sadly it sounds like the Hartford Public Library has a lot of the problems my former place of work did. Reading this article reminded me that I'm pretty happy NOT to be a librarian there. While occasionaly I was in charge as an associate at some of the smaller branches, I certainly didn't miss out on having to be responsible for this kind of behavior. The biggest difference is there were no teens

Liveblogging a YA Training

2008-04-02T10:27:00.000-04:00

Tis a very cute group with lots of exciting programs....now if they would only send me updates for our Myspace bulletins.

On due date cards....

2008-03-25T17:11:00.000-04:00

Ladies at Brooklyn Vanguard Library Benefit

2008-03-21T16:27:00.001-04:00

The Title Says It All

2008-03-10T11:29:00.001-04:00

Naughty Librarians ConventionNow how do you get invited to this?

Black History Month-Teen Open Mic at Saratoga

2008-02-05T10:29:00.000-05:00

If you click on the flyer you can actually read it.

February Handbill

2008-02-05T10:16:00.001-05:00

Sherman Alexie and the Dirty Book

2008-01-10T11:26:00.000-05:00

"On a recent Young Adult Book discussion list, a teacher at a Catholic school and former publc library YA librarian raised her concerns about adults reccomending books to teens that contain harsh language and masturbation references. Author Chris Crutcher wrote a response and gave me permission to repost it here.Here is the original post from the teacher would like to remain anonymous, so I have

January Teen Events at Saratoga Branch

2008-01-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

Or just admire my handbill design skillz!!!!11!

Top 10 Social Networking Sites in US

2007-12-26T16:25:00.000-05:00

Stephen's Lighthouse recapped Mashable's report onNielsen's Ratings for the Top 10 Social Networking Sites in the US and it's pretty fascinating to compare to what you see in your library and professional life. Since I don't get Nielsen's ratings, I'll let you follow either link to see what's going on.

What to do on your first days on the job

2007-12-20T11:19:00.000-05:00

So a recent post on the NexGenLib group asked about what to do when starting a new job. I made a list of the things I did recently to acclimate myself to the new library.Familiarize yourself with the collection, shelf read if necissaryRead any manuals or procedure documents that you find on top of the desk. Be a little more cautious about going through drawers. As a lot of questions to everyone,

Good Reads Added

2007-11-27T13:31:00.000-05:00

I've added the Good Reads widget to the sidebar so you can see what I've been reading. I'm glad I have a lot of time to read now that I'm finished with school. I've been doing a lot of weeding of the YA fiction section here and working on an essay about how I came to love weeding. I choose my possesions carefully and hate to get rid of anything, so methodically removing items from the collection

Kindle

2007-11-20T01:05:00.001-05:00

Okay, I'm going out on a limb here. I'm making a MAJOR prediction for the future of computing and I only wish there was a way I could make a million off of this. Simply,the computer and the screen need a divorce. What is the suckiest thing about portable computers? THE SCREEN! We need computing devices that DO NOT tether us to the online world 24/7, but are portable memory and computing units

Sue the Libraries?

2007-10-28T19:11:00.001-04:00

An interesting article ran in the Guardian recently with the headline Sue the libraries - they're letting people get content on the cheap. Now, because libraries are loaning the original items there are no further copyright fees to be paid on physical items. Databases may have limits to the number of users that may be logged in at the same time or may be billed based on the number of users the

Brooklyn's Newest Librarian

2007-10-02T20:17:00.000-04:00

I interviewed in AUGUST but was offered the job this afternoon! Whoot! I'm very excited to be working for the Brooklyn Public Library. I worked for the Timberland Regional Library in Washington for eight years and have a genuine love for the excitement that comes with working in public libraries; it's a good combination of social justice and book work. I don't start until the 29th so I'm hoping

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

2007-07-23T19:20:00.000-04:00

While I was tremendously fascinated by the interview with Bill Bryson on NPR when A Short History of Nearly Everything was published, my brain was not quite ready to tackle his view on life, the universe, and everything. So I waited a few years until I found myself trying to find a paperback I could read during the long hours I was spending with my grandpop in the ICU at St. Mary's Hospital. A

In defense of the New Look

2007-07-11T21:00:00.000-04:00

To the meanie bloggers who are getting press for criticizing the librarians in the new look librarian articles and the commenters cheering them on: I think this makes you look like a meanie. The young librarians I know are fighting hipster stereotypes by doing things like finishing two degrees (instead of being a perpetual student), picking a career path (instead of floating between food service

More evidence of the "new look" librarian...

2007-07-07T16:54:00.000-04:00

Sunday Style: Librarians are So Hot Right NowI like the commenter that mentioned Olympia as being full of faux librarian types. Who is this person and when were they in Oly? They must have NEVER gone to the public or Evergreen library or they would have seen the staff. 1:30 AMSo the real link is to the New York Times although if you go there you miss the colorful commentary Crewcial provides but

Good News for Evergreen Grads

2007-07-06T19:36:00.001-04:00

So there is still career hope for those of us spending our post-undergrad years living in small art towns:Job Skills of the Future in Researchers' Crystal Ball"In the end, said Mr. Cappelli, the Wharton School professor, the skills that might turn out to be most valuable for students to learn are “the skills for managing uncertainty.”"

After graduation

2007-07-06T17:42:00.000-04:00

For New-Look Librarians, Head to BrooklynI have to say nice phrasing with the "New-Look"...you know what he really means...

Ah Useless Facebook

2007-07-05T13:21:00.000-04:00

"Facebook is made up of many networks, each based around a workplace, region, high school or college. Join a network to discover the people who work, live or study around you."So maybe this is why I find Facebook the least interesting of the social networking sites. I was an undergrad when social networking sites were for hipsters only (I'm amused, I'm still 19 there). Now I'm doing my degree

Social Tagging at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

2007-06-05T10:10:00.001-04:00

No kidding, The Philadelphia Museum of Art is allowing users to tag the images in the online collection. I have always thought of the term "tagging" as having a double entendre implying both adding a bit of information (ie a price tag) and a scribble of graffitti, so I'm curious to see what unusual and irreverent tags are created (I already see one Duchamp is tagged "naked woman" although you

Support Loan Forgiveness for Librarians

2007-04-12T14:11:00.000-04:00

From the ALA Website:Next week, to celebrate National Library Week, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) plans to introduce the Librarian Act of 2007. The Librarian Act of 2007 amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for Perkins student loan forgiveness to encourage individuals to become and remain librarians in low-income schools and public libraries. Specifically, the Librarian Act of 2007

Position at Annie Wright school

2007-02-12T19:43:00.000-05:00

Having known two amazing young women who graduated from Annie Wright School, I would highly reccomend intelligent young librarians check out this job posting for a .6FTE position there. I am fascinated by prep schools with a social concious, probably because I did not go to the George School for high school but got my liberal education a few years later at The Evergreen State College

Pew Report on Tagging

2007-02-01T18:53:00.000-05:00

The Pew foundation has just released a report on tagging. I'm going to prep my essay on the importance of using controlled vocabulary in cataloging and post it for your consideration. I'm really unhappy with how the last essay I posed looked (even if Blogger was extremely helpful in checking my html) so this time it will just be a link. There is a nicer version of Use of Virtual Reference in

Pimp My Bookcart

2007-02-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

I'm a little sad no one e-mailed me to say the Olympia Library was a runner up in the Overdue Media's Pimp My Bookcart contestSupport Glitteracy by Amanda, Emily, Garrett, Kelsey, and Linda Good job guys! Only in Olympia would there be a hookah on a bookcart...I miss you...

Use of Virtual Reference Services in Academic Libraries

2007-01-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

So today I hand coded this paper I wrote for INFO511 about the use of Virtual Reference Services in Academic Libraries. I've been meaning to put it up here but somewhere along the line Word made the html UGLY. Now, I'm NOT saying my html here is pretty, but it works.Use of Virtual Reference Services in Academic Libraries AbstractKeywordsScope NoteControversiesNon-Research InfluencesEarly Virtual

WorldCat Search Toolbar

2007-01-24T23:29:00.000-05:00

Look over to the left. Not only have I added a search bar for you to see the nearest library that has the items you are looking for, but I have applied some 133t ski11z I learned in my web content class. You can also add library search to your search toolbar by downloading an extention from WorldCat. Now I wish I had contact information for the patron who was very upset my library did not offer

when the OPAC goes down...

2007-01-23T14:31:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the OPAC does go down and people want to check out books, as illustrated in yesterday's Unshelved.One temporary solution is to open up a Word document and scan the barcodes on the patron's card and books into Word. A savvy staff member may be able to write a macro to import these back into the database. If not, cutting and pasting from Word isn't so bad.But if the power goes out and

Windstorm

2006-12-18T16:56:00.000-05:00

The windstorm that came through Washington did little damage to downtown where I live. Sunday afternoon people were still without power. Hearing their stories about how they fought the cold that followed the storm was when I really started to understand what a major event this was. One of the topics on the street was the woman who drowned in her basement in Seattle. As sad as this is, it

2006-12-03T20:30:00.000-05:00

I had a vague idea that I wanted to write about the importance of using controlled vocabulary in cataloging and the benefits over folksonomies, and today's article in the New York Times on "Open Source Spying" contained a great paragraph on the importance of standardization (amist all the benefits of 2.0 tech talk):"Worse, data errors that allow information to leak can often go undetected. Five

Play at Any Speed

2006-11-21T23:52:00.000-05:00

So I started working, really working, on my final project for the database class I'm in. Grrrr stupid creative indie rockers! For instance, I thought the playing speed would be a nice field with only two values to choose from. Then I remembered there is a 7" that is meant to be played at either speed, and I thought I'd come up with something creative to note that. Well, then I finally came to a

Consumer Database Specialist 1993-1996

2006-11-16T23:35:00.000-05:00

Working on my Database Administration homework has me reminiscing of my high school database clean-up job. I'd go to the car dealership where my dad worked and sit at a computer visually scanning the database for duplicate entries. Whenever I saw a customer with more than one entry, I'd examine the records to determine where the mistake was (ie misspelled names, forgetting to add suffixes etc.)

Lost Girls

2006-11-16T04:48:00.000-05:00

FYI there are currently 11 holds on Lost Girls Vol.13 holds on Lost Girls Vol.2 3 holds on Lost Girls Vol.3

Teen Excitement

2006-11-14T21:32:00.000-05:00

Today I worked at two different libraries and saw some of the best and worst of teen library behavior. Good: trusting us to help find information for dealing with real life issuesBad: Pulling all the lightbulbs out of the elevatorFunny: Telling the first teenager that asked "We've had a lot of problems in there tonight and we're going to fingerprint the lightbulbs that were removed".

Use of Virtual Reference Services in Academic Libraries

2006-09-27T22:51:00.000-04:00

AbstractThis paper summarizes the major research regarding users and use of virtual reference services at academic libraries. While the most recent research focuses on live synchronistic reference services, older papers analyzing online reference via e-mail and web forms are included. Issues surrounding the technology, users and question types are compared to give the reader a basic understanding

What Library Students Dream of

2006-09-22T12:41:00.000-04:00

I was making tea this morning and saw an old job posting I'd printed out and stuck on a shelf in my kitchen to remind myself of the fabulous opportunities that await me when I recieve my MSIS. Then I remembered reading an awesome article about a library system where the director had earmarked $100,000 to provide part time staff with health insurance and other benefits and how awesome she was. I

2006-09-21T18:10:00.000-04:00

Hi! I'm still here. I had an awesome summer going to the East Coast for the Athens Popfest and meeting lots of people who work for the libraries out there, including the University of Georgia Library where I worked for a month in serials once upon a time.I start school full time in a week and accepted a temporary cataloging job organizing thousands of cds for a friend to sell. I'm using the

Avatars in the Stacks

2006-07-13T01:00:00.000-04:00

I have blogged elsewhere about my anger that the online avatar programs I've tried don't give you the option of being less than a big headed anorexic stick figure, but I appreciate the fact I can picture myself in the library stacks. When I have more time I have to figure out where my shoes and uncovered mug of coffee went.

eBook Jubilee!

2006-07-10T15:26:00.000-04:00

In addition to my comments yesterday regarding eBooks and libraries, until August 8th Project Gutenberg is offering 1/3 million eBooks for free download, including copyrighted titles. I guess I have something to read after work! World eBook Fair

eBooks and eReference

2006-07-10T03:04:00.000-04:00

Yay! I have a reader, so I will celebrate with a response. Although I do this with the disclaimer that the situation here is asking a fast typing librarian to be about the eBook format (of which you just happened to write a novel in that form) is probably a great guerilla marketing tactic. Smartie pants, here is your cookie. As a librarian, could you tell me what you think the future is for

Printing PDF

2006-07-04T19:30:00.000-04:00

Can someone please develop a plug in for Adobe Reader that automactically erases large blobs of solid black nonsense from the edges of poorly scanned PDF files OR will professors please give small amounts of extra credit to students who digitally clean up this gunk so that it doesn't just eat up all the ink in my printer?

2006-06-28T23:40:00.000-04:00

Okay, I can't spend all day on here (I can, that's the problem) but I browsing different animated avatar services and thinking about possible applications in virtual library services, and I found a feature I didn't realize existed from Help on Click :See what the surfer is typing before they send itI don't know if the library virtual reference uses this feature, and I have to wonder. When I

Virtual Reference Fairies

2006-06-28T17:17:00.000-04:00

So I just encountered the first pop-up ad that ever made me smile. I was trying to read a news story, and suddenly a cute guy in a white shirt with a short website name came up on my screen and briefly pointed out where to click for information on weather, sports, and the product he was selling via his shirt. Then he dissapeared. I'm calling him the internet fairy. He was a cute little guy that

Done and Done

2006-06-14T23:45:00.000-04:00

As of this afternoon I have completed my first nine credits of library school. Only thirty-six more to go! I am still in shock that I am finally in grad school. I debated it for so long, and I feel like I carry so many pros and cons into my choosen profession. Yet a bit of truth came taped to the side of the first bookcart I pushed out to shelve as a page when I was nineteen:"Until one is

Blogging Libraries

2006-06-14T23:39:00.000-04:00

I'm jealous of blogging libraries. Our library staff didn't do so well with online bulletin boards and is still mastering e-mail lists, and I'm too low on the totem pole to take on the responsibility. Although since I am, maybe tomorrow at my performance appraisal I can mention getting more of our library online. All the liability and the hard work of the communication's department though, I'm

Data Overload

2006-06-10T02:27:00.000-04:00

With the difficulty of collecting good user data prevalent in library science research, I wonder about the potential for collecting digital data from library science students' classroom activities. How many times was Wikipedia quoted as an authority without qualifiers? With qualifiers? How many times were messages under three words in length? How many times were beer, British Comedies, cats, or

A Refresher in the Wisdom of Mr. Adams

2006-06-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

In the midst of the great MySpace panic of 2006, I'd like to direct your attention to Douglas Adam's 1999 essay How To Stop Worrying a Learn to Love the Internet."

Cuban Librarian Day and Musings on Virtual Reference

2006-06-08T00:09:00.000-04:00

Today is Librarians in Cuba Day. Happy happy. I assume my blog readers are Google proficient enough to do some basic searches on the controversy surrounding Cuban librarians and the ALA's refusal/avoidance to take a stance on the issue.But what I really came here to talk about are some assumptions IÂve made while reading about virtual reference services:1. Librarians want users to say "thank you

Directories

2006-06-04T19:10:00.000-04:00

The homework, posted here with sassnotes: Use the www.dmoz.com to find links to specialized search engines. Comment on the directories you found that are of interest to you?I tried using the hierarchical structure but was not finding it helpful. I ended up using the search statement “search engines” to find 14 categories of search engines. Overall I did not find the Open Directory Project to be

In the beginning...

2006-05-30T15:33:00.000-04:00

Because I've been meaning to document my ups and downs in grad school since I enrolled, but only now, as I cry into my coffee (first pot of the day) over procrastinating my final projects, I will reflect on what I have learned this term. Yet this probably sets the tone for this blog, I do a lot of thinking and research for the classes I'm enrolled in that has no place in the classroom. Or I say