|
The daily privilege of observing such a vast and inimitable variety of human
beings indulge their obsessions, pursue some brief pleasure or just attempt
to maintain their already precarious hold on reality, is one of the greatest
pleasures of working in a library.
NYT & Trib login
user: payyourauthors
pass: abouttime
|
'29jul02
My homeboys Bloodhag were on NPR this weekend. If you listen closely you can hear my pal Dawn the librarian as well. My friend Robert the reporter says he is sorry for the "Shhhhh" headline. He says he knows better.
Two library workers slain in Georrgia. [ thanks mac ]
Dear child pornographers, I'm sure you have impulse control issues or else you would not be printing out two reams of pictures of child pornography in the public library, but maybe you could realize that you are really, seriously, ruining it for the rest of us who just want to be able to have free public access to the Internet, maybe? [ thanks bill ]
Dear library patrons, when you give books to the library, it is possible that librarians may buy them and resell them for a profit. It's not strictly kosher but it does happen. The saga of library PR director song94. [ thanks bill ]
Working Assets' social change program Working for Change has a form letter you can modify or send as is to John Ashcroft telling him what you think of the PATRIOT Act. [ thanks jeremy ]
MTV Uncensored, one of the censored books for 2002. [ thanks bill ]
Call for Submissions: Feminist Library Zine.
Entries should be rather short. Bland entries will not be considered.
Thanks very much for your time. I hope to be bombarded with your feminist brilliance soon. [ stuff ]
'27jul02
Hi. I am working on an article about my experiences with Google Answers for mid-week. If you have any anecdotes you'd like to share about working for them or using them, please drop me an email. Thanks.
I vote that the word "kid-ult" as a designator of adult-ish children's books be stricken from the language immediately. Thank you. [ thanks eoin ]
If more people in the UK are using libraries, and the government is encouraging participation, they will need more funding, for books as well as tech.
The report did ... warn that demand for hardcopies of books was expanding as much as the online resources, and should not be neglected in favour of new technologies. [ thanks eoin ]
Don't like the decisions of the city planning board? Leave a baby goat in the library.
"I don't know if it's a prank, but this thing is so cute," said Fire Chief Mike DiGiovanna, who scrapped weekend getaway plans to bottle-feed the kid. "Everyone has fallen in love with it." [ thanks ba & michael ]
Want to learn some perl? Want to work on a library system, in perl? Koha is looking for assistants. [ thanks iboy ]
'25jul02
Hi. I just got back and am digging through a link backlog. I have some library pictures and other fun stuff when I am really up and running at full speed again. Librarian.net got a mention in my pal Rebecca's book The Weblog Handbook as a "business and reputation building weblog." Neat!
Someone needs to break the news to the media that an increase in library construction doesn't necessarily mean that libraries are "booming" or even that they are doing well. Increases in library construction means that contractors are doing well. Just look at Seattle Public for a lesson. [ thanks lis ]
A big private donation helps keep the library from being renovated piecemeal. [ thanks dave ]
While I was in DC, I stopped by the FDR Memorial which was very moving, with a small modest statue of FDR [in his wheelchair] and many many anti-war quotations. I had forgotten about the New Deal and all it meant to literacy in the US, this link to some photos of the New Deal Library Services Program helped me remember. [ thanks ed ]
Be careful librarian, that military man may want to know about the reading habits of your patrons [especially if they read Islamic]! [ thanks eoin & chuck ]
The Stealth Librarian forum for job related griping is up and running nicely. [ thanks frank ]
A look into the Google Answers system and other ask-a-question resources online. [ thanks all ]
Do away with problematic library card losses and [somehow] fewer missing books. Just fingerprint all the kids and hope no one's parents in 1,000 British primary schools take issue with it. [ thanks bill ]
Librarian story, not work safe, part one only so far.
'18jul02
Hi. I'm in DC staying with a librarian, so apologies for all the WA Post links. I've seen two Gutenberg Bibles in three days. I now have "library cards" at the Library of Congress and the National Library of Medicine, complete with pictures. Go me!
I don't think there's much of a chance you haven't seen this yet, but this link is to remind me to read Librarians and Tigers by the
deliciously erudite Paul Ford.
I wish for tigers to enter the library and protect the books, and the librarians, and Samantha, from those who could damage the books or cut the budget. With tigers at their behest, no library budget would be cut again; a simple appearance by a librarian with a tiger would encourage the most ferocious finance committee to temper their zeal for cutting funds.
Our own Marylaine chimes in about students no longer using libraries to write their papers now that Internet resources are so prevalent and useful. Even when there was no Internet, I still recall that students didn't start papers until six hours before they were due.
Marylaine Block, a librarian and Internet trainer in Iowa, is blunt: "The Internet makes it
ungodly easy now for people who wish to be lazy." [ thanks jane ]
FBI may be looking for a few good librarians... if they know what's good for them. They miss the obvious caveat that a dedication to the free and open exchange of information may be antithetical to a career in spying and lying. [ thanks ken ]
Meanwhile, public libraries are likewise seeking a few good librarians.
[Mitch] Freedman is grateful that President Bush's 2003 budget includes a
proposal for $10 million to recruit and train librarians. But he said
librarians need far more to thrive, and that they should be paid a
salary comparable to those in predominantly male occupations that
require the same qualifications. "Everybody loves the library and librarians, but we can't live on love
alone," he said.
Mayor of DC admits to not having library card. Meanwhile DC libraries are closing on Saturdays and events due to budget cuts. [ thanks chuck ]
Library blog for the lighter side of librarianship: circdesk.
More tasty library blogs with lovely names: bibliolatry. [ newbreed ]
Incidentally, do you think librarians as a profession will be gutsy enough to Just Say No to being recruited into the noxious TiPS program like the USPS was? [note: USPS may be changing their mind] [ thanks litchick ]
Have you taken the Information Professional Personality Survey yet? [ thanks rebecca ]
'11jul02
Hi. I'm in Westport MA today visiting my Dad, trying to convince him to
link to at least one of my websites on his website. Lovely days for travelling.
Went to the East Somerville library in MA yesterday, librarian gave me the fisheye. Off to
meet some of the Yale librarians tomorrow. Oh, and I may very well be running for ALA Council, I will keep you posted.
Not only is Seattle Public closing for a week in August [and again in
December] due to budget cuts, the web site will be down as well. [ thanks leep ]
Old Jackie Kennedy anecdote about the proposed library going into the the White House
I don’t think it should be used as a working library or that anyone in the White House should be able to borrow from it. As you know, that way, books will gradually disappear and we will have to have hideous numbers on the backs.[ thanks taylor ]
Where a headline says it all, almost: Law Librarians, Secret Agents for Reaching Potential Clients [ thanks bill ]
More lovely headlines: koha, the first open source integrated library system [ thanks aaron ]
The proper way to honor our librarians, create a bust of their likeness [big grin and all] and stick it in the library [ thanks bill ]
Single subject libraries are so fascinating sometimes. The Jefferson Legacy Foundation Library is such a library, and in Vermont, no less. [ thanks brandon ]
'07jul02
Hi. I met two new librarians this weekend. One runs a one-person library up in Northern Vermont, and one who is just starting his job at the state Dept of Libraries next week. Some fun. I'm starting my East Coast road trip [VT to North Carolina and back] this week, so I'll continue to update somewhat infrequently.
Your feet smell, please pay the library $250. [ thanks bill ]
85 Chicago librarians and library staff receive notice they may be laid off due to budget cuts.
"You think you can have confidence in the city of Chicago, but you can't unless you are a policeman or a fireman," said Thomas, a seven-year library system veteran who thought her position was secure.
CNN transcript with Judith Krug about why President Bush's library card should be revoked [scroll down].
...this is a nation of law. And there are laws in every state of the Union and the District of Columbia which guarantees the privacy and the confidentiality of library circulation records. [ thanks bill ]
A little more
from Judith Krug. [ thanks all ]
Porn filters in libraries raise a legal issue if they block all porn, not just illegal porn. Notice how they say the software will cost $5 to 20K per month... I would think the more important issue is the cash-strapped libraries becoming beholden to crappy filtering companies in order to satisfy people who are overscared of pedophile boogeymen. [ thanks kteela ]
Speaking of companies holding up libraries with enormous fees, some universities think they have a solution to excessive journal fees [remember, when you buy them in electronic form, you often do not own the archives]. They are creating "institutional repositories" or "superarchives." Librarians are helping with the collection development policies and the metadata. [ thanks brandon ]
'01jul02
Hi. I am planning an indefinite BBQ with somewhere between three and 30 people so I may not be back online and updating this week until the weekend. FYI.
You remember BookCrossing, our favorite catch and release book tracking website? Well it got Slashdotted today so look for a bunch more BookCrossed books near you. [ thanks clint ]
Rachel from LISJobs.com is writing a book and is collecting data on people's experiences writing for publication in the library literature. Take a second or two and help her out?
The world of online book reviewing, including an interview with Amazon.com's top reviewer. [ thanks lis ]
The Sexuality Issues in Libraries Group [formerly Burning Issues] has a new URL. [ thanks eoin ]
Why we love libraries, another in the series.
Checking out, has to be, after actually reading the books, the best part of the experience. I haul my finds up to the desk, and place them before the librarian. She surveys the stack, deems me worthy, and sends me on my way with a reminder to bring them back in a couple of weeks. Just like that. No strings. The brief moments of that exchange are packed with intimacy; as if the librarian is trusting me with her own books. [ thanks adam ]
I stopped reading this article about newer school libraries in California when I hit the sentence that ended "giving them the enticing air of a Barnes & Noble" but maybe you can get excited about the fact that CA's sucky school libraries are finally getting some funding. Myself, I'm wary of the money being allocated "for new books and technology" which sounds to me like every computer they get is supplanting more books. [ thanks robert ]
Funny.... you don't look like a librarian. [ thanks karen ]
Sending a 12 year old to court for overdue library fines. Excessive? Or no? [ thanks bill ]
|
