librarian.net : November 2003

28Nov03hi

Hi. I'm hunkered down with very little Internet this weekend, but I did manage to get some of the bookplates online that I saw at the SFPL exhibit. Be forewarned, some of them are more than a little racy.

26Nov03press 15 to speak to a customer service representative

Time to renew my ALA membership. I do it by phone because the web site is crazymaking. However, navigating the voice mail isn't much better... here is the actual list of options you are presented with when you call, in the order they are given. Don't even get me started on the use of the word "dial." They claim to have a "dial by name" feature which, of course, doesn't work if you actually have a rotary phone.

to reach ALA's dial-by-name feature, press 2
to place an order for graphics or books, for questions regarding an existing order, or to request a catalog, press 7
for info about ALA's 2003 conference, press 4
for questions regarding journal or magazine subscriptions, press 8
member or customer service, press 5
to register for other conferences, press 6
for information about libraries, or ALA's programs or activities, press 3
for all other calls, or if you are calling from the rotary phone, please stay on the line

Pressing 1, adorably, gets you "back" to the menu. Pressing the unlisted 0 will get you to the operator. This is an easter egg, I suppose. Smart readers may clue in to the fact that these numbers are ALL out of order, with the exception perhaps of five and six. Smart readers may also say "Hey wait, isn't this the voice mail tree for a nationwide association of librarians who are supposed to be the experts in managing and organizing information?" Smart readers probably also joined SLA or ASIS years ago.

25Nov03DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN

OCLC and The Library Hotel resolve their dispute like adults, finally.

24Nov03hi

Hi. I'm back from my exciting trip to California to make the world a safer place for standardized testing. Feel free to email me if you want details, it's too off-topic for librarian.net. I've got a stack of email to read and trade journals to peruse, feel free to put this site back in heavy rotation and keep those links coming.

A livejournal user chimes in with some thoughts on "the image thing" Pay special attention to the "I bet you have a secret wild sexy life, eh?" this sort of thing happens to me all the time. [thanks josh]

When I was in San Francisco, I took some pictures of some nice little racy bookplates that were part of a larger bookplate show at SFPL. I'll add them to the Naked Librarians page someday soon but for now, here's a naked coed.... in a library.

Another LJ user chimes in with some thoughts about being judged by by his librarian for what he checks out of his library, since it's only a subset of what he actually reads.... Some librarians chimed in to let him know that not only are we not snobby about what the patron's are reading [we're just happy they are reading, duh] but we adore the trashy mystery and the cheesy tabloid magazines ourselves once in a while. [thanks thaddeus]

It's always nice when the "computers will replace libraries" doomsayers are funny about it. I don't really see Amazon's "search inside the book" feature as any real threat, but then again, I use a typewriter. I also never noticed that the word mildewey has the word dewey in it until now. [thanks all]

Here's a little piece in Reason Magazine about libraries resisting filters, I have a small sentence or two in it.

Cataloger plays in imaginary lounge band! He's also got a weird side project.

19Nov03hi

Hi. Just popping in to say I'm still in California & have no real time to do serious updates. Please familiarize yourself with the links page and I will be back online on Sunday. Thanks.

14Nov03who loves you like the library?

Writer's Digest includes this shining endorsement of libraries as a spark for writing creativity and a plethora of writing resources. Also don't miss 10 cool library maneuvers for writers. [thanks penny]

In the "do you want fries with that?" model, a library with a TV on in the lobby for the Internet users who "don't like to read." I have mixed feelings about this, the columnist seems to think that using the Internet is the same as [or similar to] reading, this is not always the case. Of course, if you are someone waiting for your 'net fix at the public library, I would think you could perhaps pretend to be interested in books, or maybe the newspaper, just to humor us. I have seen people shuffle in place and stare off into space for upwards of half an hour because they couldn't find anything else to do in the library until it was their turn. One of the Sisyphean tasks I have given myself is to try to find something else that these peope are interested in. [thanks dsdlc]

Karen Schneider writes a thoughtful piece on why she won't recommend filters

I'll keep on with my message, and I won't dilute it or confuse it by appearing to help anyone "choose" a filter. Internet content filters block access to Constitutionally protected speech. Filters are bad news. That's why we fought CIPA and COPA. We lost, but we were still right. Decades from now, we'll look back at our primitive, panicked decisions, and wonder what all the fuss was about. But if you are waiting for me to love the bomb, pack a lunch and bring a blanket, because you're going to have to wait until Hell freezes over.

13Nov03hi

Hi. My law school boyfriend went to a lunchtime presentation on the PATRIOT Act yesterday with the director of the local ACLU and the US Attorney for the District of Vermont. Two interesting things were learned from the attorney. One, the upshot of his discussion was "you people need to trust us. If you don't trust [FISA] judges, why are you in law school?". Two, he claims the DoJ only reads the headers of people's email to look for ne'er-do-wells. This isn't great news, but it IS news.

Steven Cohen wrote a great article on the New School library bloggers for Public Libraries Magazine and they let him reprint it on the web.

If you've been dreaming about the library, Abigail from Libronaut wants to know about it. She's collecting library dreams.

Interestingly, Ashcroft did not used to be quite so uppity about the government's right to be able to spy on everyone. When Clinton was the one alleged to be doing the spying he was quite indignant.

In order to guarantee that the United States meets the challenge of this new means of commerce, communication, and education, government must be careful not to interfere. We should not harness the Internet with a confusing array of intrusive regulations and controls. [thanks daniel]

There are exactly two Amazon wishlists that I like: one is not mine, and the other is not exactly mine.

12Nov03hi

Hi. I'll be out of town for a week with very minimal Internet starting this Sunday, so updates will be few and far between after the weekend. Feel free to use this opportunity to check out the links page that I have been updating and sending me suggestions for other things to add. I'm especially looking for library school blogs or newssletters that are online. Also, I am getting more postcards printed. If you are waiting for one, it won't be too long now.

You can probably tell whose blogs I am reading by the order my links are in, so I'm mixing it up just to cover my tracks. You know, there's a really fine line between just dishing on patrons and making dishing on patrons a sublime comedy experience. The well-dressed librarian has it going on, in this respect. Please see Vagina Collage and Serving the Masses.

The public library is fabulous. Don't get me wrong.... Even if a homeless guy is repairing small electronic devices with a sottering gun plugged into a study cubicle, it would still be great. Even if a crazy volunteer we had to fire comes into the library everyday 4 minutes before close to check her email, it would still be great.

So, remember my link to the US DoJ's Life and Liberty liberal-slamming website defending the PATRIOT Act? Well the Center for Democracy and Technology has written an article debunking many of the claims made on that website. [infocommons]

Not all reference interactions go wrong because of bad patrons. Sometimes they go wrong because of bad dentists.

The Sex in the Library blog is compiling a list of links to library mascots, add yours.

10Nov03ooooh, black and bloggy

Library Autonomous Zone, nice looking blog from San Diego librarian James Jacobs.

An article from a 1912 Bulletin of the Medical Library Association on the disinfection of books.

In Bordeaux, several people were attacked by a feverish lumbago after having rearranged the library books of the Faculty of Medicine. [thanks daniel]

What is it with the lawsuits against porn surfing librarians lately? Apparently if you are caught surfing for porn in Utah you'll be fired and threatened with jail time. But, if you get fired for looking at porn in a Kansas library, you just might have a wrongful termination suit. Incidentally, most of us librarians know that "checking to see if the filter is working" is not a real good excuse when caught viewing porn. [thanks dsdlc]

Elementary school teacher accused of child abuse [duct taping children to the blackboard] in Florida gets to work in the school library while she is awaiting trial. [thanks natalia]

LLRX -- now with ads by Google -- has published a wonderful pathfinder to researching medical lit on the Internet. This is not just lists of links, it's detailed analysis about what each resource contains, and how useful it will be to librarians. [thanks steve]

7Nov03hi

Hi. The talk went really well except for some technical problems which were outside of my control. The NHLA librarians were a great audience, more smilers and nodders than sleepers [one of these days I will not pull the after-lunch slot] and I felt like the information I had was not too tired and not too novel. The morning talk on increasing compensation was also really interesting and well thought out. Totally worth the 80 minute drive.

I just finished Al Franken's book so I have been getting a bit more savvy about how to interpret media statements by the right wing, but this one ropes librarians in. Regarding the name of the new bill curtailing abortion -- the Partial Birth Abortion Bill -- conservatives defended it saying "National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine both list online in their dictionaries the term partial birth abortion and define it as it's been defined by the government in this legislation." Of course the link to a dictionary I found on the NLM site just leads us right back to Merriam-Webster....

FBI agents using the USA PATRIOT Act to investigate a strip club. No, I am not joking. Lawmakers seem suitably incensed.

"Let me say, with Galardi and his whole gang, I don't condone, appreciate or support all their nakedness. But having said that, I haven't heard anyone say at any time he was involved with terrorism." says Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. [thanks all]

The Wisconsin state legislature is considering giving final approval to a bill that allows parents to know what their children are checking out of public libraries. [thanks clark]

6Nov03sneak preview

Here is a sneak preview of the talk I am heading out to give at the New Hampshire Library Association conference today, otherwise known as "the reason I haven't been posting much lately" It's about CIPA and the USAPA, practical things libraries can do. Hope you enjoy it.

4Nov03USAPA say what?

I'm giving a talk partially on the PATRIOT Act this week so forgive me if I'm a bit free and easy with these links. Apparently the US Government has started a website called Life and Liberty whose main purpose appears to be to defend the PATRIOT Act, slam the ACLU and -- I am not kidding -- talk trash about liberals. This will be my response to library patrons who ask why their tax dollars are going to books like Daddy's Roomate... because my tax dollars go to crap like this. [unpatrioticact lj]

3Nov03happy birthday to youuuuuuu

Crap. I forgot the PATRIOT Act's birthday. In celebration, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee has sponsored a "Rename the PATRIOT Act" contest. Here are the winners.

2Nov03hi

Hi. I am starting to make my ALA plans for San Diego. I'm staying with the fantabulous Laura Hudson who is able to use the words "radical" and "usability" together in a paper title. Fred from the Info Commons blog and I are planning some sort of bloggish get-together, leave a comment there if you'll be there and would like to hang out.

New addition to the library school link list: BiblioTech [just a working title]. Welcome!

Some quotes taken out of context to attempt to strengthen the right's argument against librarians who oppose the PATRIOT Act. Barbara Boxer, for instance, is quoted as saying the PATRIOT Act was a "good balance" but omits that she was one of the Senators responsible for introducing the Library and Bookseller Protection Act this past Summer. [thanks michael]

As I suspected, getting my name in the New York Times has resulted in a lot of friendly mail and link submissions. A few pages I've liked are: Bibliocide, The History of the Wisconsin Library School SLIS, and How Not to Handle a Complaint #1-5 from NHLA.

A lighter take on the librarian action figure, from the Stone Soup comic. [thanks chris]