NewlyMintedLibrarian

Anniversaries and change

2006-07-31T14:30:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow will mark my one-year anniversary here at MPOW.

Somehow, Newly Minted doesn't feel quite like me anymore.

And so I've made some changes. You can now find me here.

New Bloggers

2006-07-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

We're teaching new bloggers here at SELCO!

Mary is creating the Wabasha Public Library blog....
Monica is creating a blog for the Chatfield Public Library....
Marj is creating a blog for the Friends of the Chatfield Public Library...
and Corrine is creating a personal blog.

Welcome to the biblioblogosphere!

On sneering and shushing

2006-07-25T13:01:00.000-05:00

I wandered onto a new-to-me blog at lunch today, and discovered a goldmine of information. Sandra has linked to a report entitled Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public Leadership Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century.

This report was prepared by Public Agenda, with support from the Americans for Libraries Council and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It surveys a number of communities and community leaders, and while some of the results aren't particularly surprising, some very definitely are.

The report is 84 pages, and so I can't even begin to give an adequate summary of its findings. I encourage you to read it for yourselves - it's worth the time, believe me.

A few tidbits to whet your appetite:

OK. No big surprises there. There were, however, a few tidbits that jumped out at me. The two that are still resonating involve what the public wants from us, and what the community leaders think of us.

More than 8 in 10 Americans agree that libraries provide an important, quiet oasis from fast-paced, stressful lives, with over half saying they agree strongly on this point. Nearly 7 in 10 say libraries are one of the few places where kids can learn quiet concentration in a hyperactive world. “That’s one of the reasons I take my kids to the library,” one man in Phoenix told us, “…to get them away from the TV, the computer games and everything. It’s a time for me to get some peace and quiet. It’s a time for them to get some peace and quiet, too, to learn how to be quiet.”

Hmmm. I keep hearing, at various and sundry conventions, meetings, and workshops that we need to stop shushing people, that we're being unfriendly to the teen set who just want to communicate and that we need to lighten up, already. And yet.....one of the things most valued about libraries is that we're relatively quiet. I use the word "relatively" deliberately; I don't think we need to be as quiet as a tomb. I do think, however, we're throwing the baby out with the bathwater if we dispense completely with the notion that a library should be a place that's kinda quiet.

The second tidbit is a bit harsh, so brace yourselves.

[M]any leaders believe librarians might be idealistic and at times too high-minded. They feel that librarians must be more pragmatic in their approach if they're going to make the necessary alliances to thrive in the current atmosphere of fiscal and budgetary restraint. "The people working in libraries find the profit motive repugnant — and reject people who are motivated by anything other than the kindness of their hearts." —David Pointon, Government and Industry Relations Manager, 3M

OK, folks. This one hurts because it hits the mark. As someone who has a background in retail sales and the Evil Empire of the Brokerage Industry, I have a slightly different view of capitalism and for-profit businesses. I was raised by a father who worked in the investment business for over 40 years, and learned at his knee that capitalism and the free market are good, and that companies are only as good as the people who run them.

Once I joined the ranks of the non-profit world, first in higher ed and now in libraries, I have been in the presence of those who will, if given a moment, sneer rather openly about business people and their evil motives, their faces curling into a moue of distaste.

Ahem.

Y'all need to stop that right now, folks. Those "evil business people" are the very ones who sit on your City Councils, who run your cities (either actually or behind the scenes) and who will untimately make the decisions about your library's survival. If you want to impress upon the power brokers in your community that the library is a worthwhile institution, you can't do it with a look on your face that indicates they haven't bathed in a while. The study has this to say:

When asked about the future of public libraries, many of the leaders we spoke with suggested that libraries must make their cases by engaging more actively in the life of their communities. Communities have real needs that libraries may be uniquely equipped to address, and now is the time to shine a spotlight on that underappreciated potential of the library.

So they understand that we're a good thing. The problem is that we do a horrible job of telling that story. We somehow feel it's beneath us...or demeaning....or gauche...to talk about what wonderful things we're doing and therefore why you need to support us financially.

This is no time to be overcome with a fit of the vapours, folks. Times are hard, money is short, and people have to prioritize. Practice your public speaking skills and polish your speech...and get out there and tell your story.

And quit sneering. But go ahead and shush.

The more things change.....

2006-07-20T09:52:00.000-05:00

Aaron at Walking Paper points to a fabulous speech given by Gratia Alta Countryman, at an address to the Minnesota Library Association. The whole thing is terrific, and I encourage you to read it.

One pithy exerpt:

Many of our libraries are now housed in beautiful buildings, in which case, the building as well as the books becomes a means of social influence. If there is need of a home for social intercourse and amusement, the library may legitimately attempt to furnish such a home within its walls. If there are social or study clubs, organized labor guilds or missionary societies, or any other organizations, encourage them to meet at the library, find out what they need, let them find out that the library is their cooperative partner. And so with the schools and industries, of which I have not time to speak. The whole building at all times should be managed in the broadest spirit of hospitality; the atmosphere should be as gracious, kindly and sympathetic as one's own home. Then do away with all unnecessary restrictions, take down all the bars, and try to put face to face our friends the books and our friends the people. Introduce them cordially, then stand aside and let them make each other's blessed acquaintance.

(Emphasis mine.) I love this woman. I wish I could have met her. By the way, did I mention that Ms. Countryman gave this speech in 1905????

It's becoming apparent that we've known for a century how to do things. All the current emphasis on technology is fun and interesting and I really enjoy a great deal of it. But it is really acting as a distraction from the main point:

Serve. The. Customer.

On blogging

2006-07-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

The Pew folks have come up with yet another interesting report, this one on blogging. A summary of their findings:

Blogging is bringing new voices to the online world.

Telephone surveys capture the most accurate snapshot possible of a small and moving target.

Contrary to the impression created by the press attention on political blogging, just 11% of bloggers say they focus mainly on government or politics.

The blogging population is young, evenly split between women and men, and racially diverse.

Relatively small groups of bloggers view blogging as a public endeavor.

The main reasons for keeping a blog are creative expression and sharing personal experiences.

Only one-third of bloggers see blogging as a form of journalism. Yet many check facts and cite original sources.

Bloggers are avid consumers and creators of online content. They are also heavy users of the internet in general.

Bloggers are major consumers of political news and about half prefer sources without a particular political viewpoint.

Bloggers often utilize community and readership-enhancing features available on their blogs.

Read the whole thing.

Reality check

2006-07-16T15:54:00.000-05:00

My friend, Charlie, has written a new book, and includes a short exerpt from it in his blog. It's terrific, as I thought it would be. His book is called, "50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School."

If that sounds familiar, it's probably because you've gotten a mass email at some time, talking about how Bill Gates authored a list of "Rules Kids Won't Learn at School," or how this was a graduation address he gave.

He didn't. The list is Charlie's. And it's wonderful.

For those of you who haven't seen this list, here they are:

Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.

Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)

Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)

Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.

Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.

Brilliant guy that he is, Charlie decided to expand the list into a book. I can't wait.

Teen feedback

2006-07-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

Aaron Schmidt at Walking Paper has a thought-provoking post from Idaho's Evolving Library Services for Digital Natives conference. Part of the conference involved a panel of teens interviewed by Stephen Abram.

Their answers to his questions are in some cases what you'd expect. Others, I found surprising. I'd encourage you to read the whole thing, but here are a few tidbits I found particularly interesting. (By the way, Aaron channels e.e.cummings, and so doesn't capitalize. I chose to include the questions and answers in their original format.)

when did you visit a public/school library?

do you have myspace, tell me about it

(This one surprised me. Apparently, My Space is sooo last week.)

what would make you go the library!?

would you go to the library if there was gaming?

what would your space in the library be?

(Interesting. I didn't expect the emphasis on ambiance.)

What would be in the library?

what would you need in a study space?

IM reference?

(Hmmmmm.....)

we have this stuff. how should we let you know?

how do you FEEL about the library?

have a favorite search engine? do you have a strategy?

So. They'd like better technology, a more comfortable and colorful space, and a place to work and play together. We can do all that, can't we? Remember, these are the folks who will be voting on that bonding bill in 10 years. Time now to endear the library to them!

Ode the the library

2006-07-12T15:47:00.000-05:00

One of the serendipitous features of the Internet is its connectedness, and the occasional stumble onto a wonderful web site. A few months ago, I had found an author's site - an author I hadn't heard of, by the way - and found the posting so riveting that I bookmarked it.

This afternoon, while looking for another bookmarked site, I came across this one wondering, "Who is Dan Simmons, and why have I bookmarked his site?" And another wonderful, serendipitous discovery was had.

Dan has written a delicious ode to the public library. It's worth a read. What's interesting is his view of librarians and our mission:

Libraries, despite current misinformed opinions (even by librarians) to the contrary, are not about mere information. This is an age where we can’t escape information vomiting at us from our TVs and cell phones and iPods and radios and print ads and commercials and computers. Let the Internet handle the shallow job of shoveling “information” at people like so much unfiltered sewage. Libraries are for and about books. Libraries have a sacred trust and a unique role for civilization; they have been and must continue to be clean, well-lighted places where books are preserved and lent out – the greatest and most successful act of trust, perhaps, in modern American society -- and read, sometimes read right there, in the comfortable and companionable silence of the place. All the rest, as Ezra Pound said, is dross.

In this Whatever 2.0-centric world, this is rather refreshing. And something we really shouldn't overlook. In recent surveys, we found out that our primary "product line" is books. Maybe that's not so bad....

Teens and the Internet

2006-07-12T08:36:00.000-05:00

Stephen Abram posted yesterday on a presentation by Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. (As an aside, if you ever get the chance to listen to a presentation by Lee, GO!)

Stephen reports on a few tidbits from the report, which can be found in full here.

Briefly,

(I found this very surprising.)

(Duh.)

Given that 87% of teens 12-17 use the Internet, and given that poor teens are behind the curve in Internet use, I would posit that the mission of a public or school library today is to offer those teens a place to access the Internet.

What does that really mean? Virtually every library now has public access computers. Unfortunately, some also have Battleaxe Librarians who hover and scowl and generally make teens very aware that they are simply not wanted in the library.

If you are one of the Battleaxe Librarians, stop it. Right now.

If one of your staff is the Battleaxe Librarian, either get BL to stop it immediately, or get rid of them.

Upgrading

2006-07-10T09:52:00.000-05:00

Many libraries were fortunate to receive computers from the Gates folks a few years ago. It has been enough time that many of those computers are being swapped out for newer models.

Unfortunately, the Gates computers had all kinds of swell games on them that will be lost when the new computers are installed. Or will they?

From the always helpful folks at WebJunction, a tutorial on how to copy children's games from a Windows NT Gates Library Computer to a new Windows XP computer and install them so they run from the hard drive.

Thou shalt not....

2006-07-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

The Ten Commandments of Cell Phone Usage have been handed down from the mountain. Dan Brody at Wireless World weighs in on the ten things about cell phones that drive him nuts:

1. Thou shalt not subject defenseless others to cell phone conversations.
2. Thou shalt not set thy ringer to play La Cucaracha every time thy phone rings.
3. Thou shalt turn thy cell phone off during public performances.
4. Thou shalt not wear more than two wireless devices on thy belt.
5. Thou shalt not dial while driving.
6. Thou shalt not wear thy earpiece when thou art not on thy phone.
7. Thou shalt not speak louder on thy cell phone than thou would on any other phone.
8. Thou shalt not grow too attached to thy cell phone.
9. Thou shalt not attempt to impress with thy cell phone.
10. Thou shalt not slam thy cell phone down on a restaurant table just in case it rings.

I'm with him on all, but I must admit to being guilty of at least one. (Not telling which.)

Of course for libraries, 1,2,and 7 are particularly pertinent. Why is it that when some people get on a cell phone they forget that sound carries?

Number 10 is my personal pet peeve. I don't know how many restaurants DH and I have been in where there's someone at a restaurant table chatting away not with their dinner companion, but on the cell phone. If I were their dinner companion, I'd walk out. I mean, this is the height of rude. If you're a neurosurgeon or on the transplant team, you get a pass. For everyone else, put the flippin' thing away and enjoy dinner, already!

Art break

2006-07-07T12:44:00.000-05:00

Just what we all need on a Friday afternoon, courtesy of the Liminal Librarian. Jackson Pollock, eat your heart out.

The sign said....

2006-07-06T11:31:00.000-05:00

There's a wonderful, thought-provoking post on Tame the Web that discusses signage at your libraries. What messages are you sending? Are you inviting, or very definitely not inviting? Are you buying into the old curmudgeonly librarian stereotype? Are you asking people to come in, or implying that you'd rather they didn't?

There are ways around all of these issues - cell phones, games, etc. - without constantly barraging the patrons with "No! No! NO!"

What are you doing to say, "Yes!" ???

Keeping track

2006-07-05T10:55:00.000-05:00

I recently discovered a new gadget that would be a nifty thing to have around, especially if you:
- lose your keys/the remote/the phone
- find your child wandering
- lose your dog after he chases the neighborhood rabbit.

It's the Loc8tor. It's a bit pricey at the moment, but I could definitely see having one of these. It actually sets up an alarm if whatever it's tagging moves beyond a certain point.

So...if you're a library who has laptop computers, you could tag the things and make sure they don't grow legs and leave the building.

Celebrate

2006-07-04T12:22:00.000-05:00

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.- I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by Solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfire and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

"You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. - I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. - Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not."

John Adams, in a letter to Abigail, July 3, 1776.

Though he was off by two days, Adams was absolutely correct in his prediction. In these troubling days, it would behoove all of us to review the Revolution, the Founding Fathers, and the trials and tribulations that birthed this country. We forget that this was a turbulent, difficult time that lasted eight years and divided much of the population. Because the country these men created functions so well and has been so prosperous, we forget what came before; what these people went through to create this nation.

We need to remember.

Ask Me Later: Need a Flag?

2006-06-30T16:17:00.000-05:00

The folks at Ask Me Later alerted me to a site offering free American flags; just pay shipping. Since our flag has shredded itself in the wind, we were in need. Timely information for Independence Day!
Ask Me Later: Need a Flag?

Headwaters

2006-06-29T12:16:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a Spanish Language Outreach Workshop in Park Rapids, in Way Up There, Minnesota. It was a lively and engaging group, and the workshop was great fun as a result.

One of the added benefits of this particular workshop was the discovery that the headwaters of the Mississippi River, Lake Itasca, was only 20 miles away. We went. It was seriously wonderful. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken my camera with me - another reason to have a camera phone! - but here's a link that will provide some info.

It's a beautiful area. And having been at the Mississippi's end in New Orleans, it was very cool to walk to the middle of the river at its start.

New beginnings

2006-06-25T19:59:00.000-05:00

The reunion weekend was terrific, but I was a bit sad that I wouldn't be able to stay for the impending birth of my DSD's daughter. DH stayed the weekend, since the birth was scheduled for Monday. I had to return to Minnesota, since I was due in Park Rapids on Tuesday for a workshop. My grandma moment would have to wait.

Or not.

Alannah Leannan apparently had different plans. While shopping on Saturday, Kelly started feeling funny....then in pain....then rather definitely in labor. We got the call while at the reunion that we were grandparents and were congratulated by all.

Alannah was 7 pounds, 9 ounces, 19 inches long and absolutely beautiful. Not that I'm biased.

I'm glad Alannah decided grandma couldn't wait. Welcome, Little One.

Re-union

2006-06-25T19:31:00.000-05:00

What an amazing evening. It was incredible to gather and get to know each other again - or for the first time, in some cases.

I am lucky enough to have remained friends with a group of amazing women that I met in high school. Some of the men, too, to some extent. But it's really these women that have been the mainstay of my life for over 30 years now.

We've seen each other through marriages and divorces, through the births of children and grandchildren, through career changes, recalcitrant teenagers, new houses, and everything else. Everything. We can go without seeing each other for months or even years, and when you walk in the door, it's as if no time has passed at all.

It was terrific to see old classmates at the reunion that I hadn't seen in a long time, and to mark the astonishing changes in a few of them. But it was the chance to have an evening with my buddies that made the trip.

Here's to you guys. Don't know what I'd do without you.

The Spirit of '76

2006-06-22T09:24:00.000-05:00

I'm heading home this weekend for my 30th high school reunion. I'm going to have an advantage over many of the folks who will be there. I've read their biographies.

I volunteered to help in compiling the biography book for the reunion, and so they're being sent to me to publish. Of course, I've been reading them along the way, and it's been an experience in itself.

The high school we attended is a private, Catholic school in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The class had 206 graduates, from all walks of life. Our parents spanned the economic spectrum, from parents who were struggling to raise the money for tuition to those who owned major businesses in the Milwaukee area. (One classmate actually got a brand-new Camaro for his 16th birthday.) Most of us fell somewhere in the middle.

We went through school with teachers and administrators telling us we were one of the brightest classes they had ever had. I'm not sure any of us really believed that, and assumed that it was something they said to every class. In retrospect, however, we were a really bright class. Case in point: my GPA at graduation was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.4. I was ranked 102nd in the class. I made the top half of the class by the skin of my teeth with an A- grade point average.

Given that, I shouldn't really be surprised by the biographies I'm reading, but I'm really impressed with what we've done with our lives. We have doctors and lawyers, accountants and engineers, teachers and laborers. We have librarians, academics, a judge...and even a nun. We've had children and grandchildren, been married and divorced, and have experienced the loss of friends, family, and classmates. We've survived cancer, have traveled the world, and have now come to life in our late 40's realizing that, while things may not have worked out as we planned, on the whole, things have worked out. (Our classmate, Sister Mary Matthew noted that, "If you want to give the Lord a laugh, tell Him your plans.")

I'm very much looking forward to reacquainting myself with this group of people. How lucky we are, to have known each other and to have the chance to reflect on what we've become.

Free web tutorials

2006-06-20T09:12:00.000-05:00

Always alert grad-school buddy Susan (who isn't a blogger, but should be) sent this nifty link my way. According to the site, they offer,

"Full Web Building Tutorials - All Free
At W3Schools you will find all the Web-building tutorials you need, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, SQL, Database, Multimedia and WAP."

If you're the default web guru at your library and find yourself wondering where to start, here's the place.

They're coming....

2006-06-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

Exciting new post this morning from Chrystie on the OCLC blog, It's All Good:

Today I'm visiting Metronet, MINITEX, and the Minnesota State Library Services (division of the Minnesota Dept. of Education), aka "the 3Ms" on the subject of WebJunction Minnesota. Their site goes live in September and we're (myself and colleague Jeff hall) here to get to know 3M staff a little better, as well as develop a project plan for implementing whatever WJ-MN is to become. I'm excited about this partnership because it's the first time we're working within a statewide collaboration in order to offer the customized site. This should get us off the ground early with a number of participants (though they already have some WJ cheerleaders in these parts!) as well as welcome a number of different types of libraries to become involved.

I'm admittedly one of those cheerleaders, and I'm delighted Minnesota is now a partner! I can't wait to see what's in store...

Fabulous

2006-06-19T12:57:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago, I was given rhubarb by my swell neighbor, Emily. I grabbed some strawberries and started to surf for recipes for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, which is one of my favorites. As luck would have it, a great blog called Tigers and Strawberries had a recipe that I tried. Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. And easy.

While talking blogging in Mt. Iron last week, Renee was kind enough to bring rhubarb treats, and I told her about this pie. Here's the link, Renee! Enjoy!

I stand corrected.

2006-06-16T10:21:00.000-05:00

In response to my language rant, Parkdalian responds:

At the risk of being a quibbler I feel I must point out that orientated is indeed a word.

Being a librarian, of course I checked. Ask Oxford provided the answer:

Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the correct spelling: 'oriented' or 'orientated'?

It really doesn't matter: it's a matter of personal taste. Orientated is currently preferred use in general British use. Oriented is prevalent in technical use, and in the US.

I stand corrected. I guess this makes me a true American. ; )

Kitchen, in process

2006-06-15T15:19:00.000-05:00

No, it's not done yet. Perhaps in my lifetime. But here's an updated photo.

Blogging class, afternoon session

2006-06-15T13:31:00.000-05:00

We're here again, with a new group of folks. Renee brought rhubarb treats, as promised (yay!) and they're furiously blogging as we speak.

Becky - Two Harbors Library
Ginny - Gilbert Public Library
Marcia - Grand Rapids Area Library
Tandy - already has one, but came to hangout anyway. Tandy is at Itsmylife1
Renee - DPLmystery
Debby - Babbitt Public Library
Kathy - DogsNStuff
Sarah - Imaginary Fiend
Nancy - Duluth PL
Mark - ALS-Arrowhead
Rebecca - MN Voluntary Certification

Trading card

2006-06-15T10:41:00.000-05:00

I finally created a librarian trading card.

Blogging class

2006-06-15T10:18:00.000-05:00

We're here in Mt. Iron, talking all things blog. Eleven librarians are here, creating blogs! The new blogs are:

Sally - Mt. Iron Public Library
Linda - Grand Marais Public Library
Julie - Undecided 3 (she can't decide at the moment...she'll work on that.)
Dave - Not Prose Poetry (also temporary - though I like that name!)
Shelley - Iron Range Librarian
Pam - NCLC Notes
Roxanne - Mbook4teens
Sara - judysbaggystories
Sharon - mailabooksummerreadingprogram
Paula - Aurora Public Library Minnesota
Shari - ALS current events

On the road again....

2006-06-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

....or I will be shortly. I'm off to Mt. Iron again, to teach the blogging classes promised when I traveled through with Michael.

It should be a lovely trip and an exciting time; two classes of eleven are registered!

Paradigm shift?

2006-06-12T08:27:00.000-05:00

Much has been said lately about how we need to embrace the technology our patrons are using, rather than insist that our way is better. Take a look at today's Dilbert cartoon. Hmmmm.

The name of the game

2006-06-09T11:26:00.000-05:00

Excellent post by Stephen Abram today on library workstations:

I visit too many libraries that have public workstations that are purposefully made dysfunctional (often by IT teams with good intentions but poor understanding of how these PC's are tended to be used). Too many library public PC's don't have any productivity tools on them (word processing and spreadsheets for example), while some disable the USB ports or disallow IM, even e-mail!, etc. Some talk in their annual reports about their efforts to bridge the digital divide with public stations where these good intentions are somewhat negated by their actual implementations. One amusing story happened when I was in one library that let people print to hard copy at no charge (good) but patrons could not make an electronic copy and add it to their, document, bibliography or paper, etc. It was suggested that people could e-mail it to themselves and have an e-copy that way. I was met with blank stares when I asked how many of the people who were using library PC's because they had no PC of their own would find that useful.

He goes on to offer a number of free services - most of which are offered by Google - that will allow patrons to do what they need to do on the library computers.

It still amazes me that there are librarians who are choosing to ignore the patron's needs for their own convenience. Having been a library director, I get the issues that can arise and the fixes that are all too tempting to put into place. I sat at one of the public access computers one morning, removing the various and sundry programs that had been installed against library policy again, grumbling that if I ever found the culprit, I was going to put his head on a spike in front of the library as a warning to others. (The two teens sitting on either side of me looked a bit worried.) Once I had security measures put in place, however, I didn't have those issues any more - all I had to do was reboot the machine and whatever had been done magically went away. Best $300 I ever spent.

The moral here is that there are programs out there that will help you protect the library's server and data, while allowing the patrons to do what they need to do. It's a matter of starting to think about how we can allow them to do whatever, rather than continually plotting to prevent them from doing whatever.

Customer service is the name of the game. Not in an eye-rolling, condescending sort of way, but real customer service, where we actually try to think about what the customer (patron) wants and then find a way to provide it. Much has been tossed about in the biblioblogosphere of late about Library 2.0 and how cool technology can be, etc. The real issue, however, isn't the cool technology. Look past the blogs and wikis and rss feeds and what you'll see is a concern for serving the customer. And while all those cool tools are....well, cool....it's the customer service that will keep people coming back.

Perks

2006-06-09T09:18:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, there was a news item that listed working in a library as one of the most stressful jobs. I'm not sure I agree with that - having worked both in the retail world and as a stockbroker, being a librarian is pretty low-key by comparison. However, there apparently are folks who feel that being a librarian is stressful.

Perhaps libraries should take a page from the business world. (In more ways that one, really, but that's another post.) From Reuter's, a story about how businesses are providing massages and yoga breaks for their workers. I could definitely be on-board for that!

Fun

2006-06-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

From Steve Lawson's blog See Also, a delightfully funny conversation between a biblioblogger and a branch librarian.

Love it.

H/T Michael.

Blog idea

2006-06-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

One of the perks in traveling the state with Michael a few weeks ago was the opportunity to meet some wonderful librarians. One of the librarians in particular traveled a long way (300 miles!) to attend Michael's workshop. Phyllis is from Wausau, Wisconsin, and works for the Marathon County Public Library.

Phyllis emailed me yesterday with a terrific idea, and was kind enough to allow me to share:

I was thinking of the blog workshop that you're doing at Arrowhead and thought I'd mention the events blogs that we use at Marathon County. It was an easy solution to the problem we were having getting current events posted to our web site. We don't have many people on staff who can work with FrontPage. I set up a blog, trained a couple people on updating it, and now each day the daily events is updated. It's a use of blogs where you don't have to think of something to say. The calendar was mentioned at a recent consortium meeting and some sounded interested so I thought I'd pass it on to you.

Terrific idea, and a great way to get people started on blogging!

Rant

2006-06-06T08:34:00.000-05:00

I'm driving to work this morning, listening to NPR, and a reporter noted that "the writing has been on the wall literally for 15 years."

Unless there's a wall somewhere with writing on it, the writing hasn't LITERALLY been on the wall!

Ahem.

Literally is used incorrectly so often, I'm beginning to wonder if people know the meaning of the word.

While I'm on the subject of pet peeves, let me throw out a few others....

Irregardless is not a word. The word is regardless.

Orientated is not a word. You can be oriented, or attend orientation. You can not be orientated.

To say that the meeting is at "9 a.m. in the morning" is redundant.

"Consensus of opinion" is redundant. A consensus is a gathering of opinions.

And would someone please tell me when disrespect became a verb??? I can treat you with disrespect, show you disrespect, be treated disrespectfully....it's an adverb. Not a verb. To say that you're disrespecting me is nonsense.

So, now that I have that off my chest....what are your pet peeves? What language mixups drive you crazy?

Take a moment

2006-06-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

An amazing site called the Quiet American has a series of audio recordings, and one fascinating and fabulous feature is a series of short audio files entitled "One-Minute Vacations." Take a listen to the beach in San Franciso, or of ice cracking in St. Paul.

Just what you need to decompress.

Dead book

2006-06-05T08:12:00.000-05:00

Delightful story from a grad school classmate, who works at an unnamed university library in an unnamed midwestern city:

A student called me to ask about replacing a damaged book (students can't graduate unless they return their overdue books or replace them). He wanted to know how much it would cost to replace a book with a damaged cover. Since I repair books, too, I know that books with damaged covers, even ones with the cover off the text block or the cover in three or four pieces, can still be fixed. So I asked him some questions about the kind of damage the book had, all the while reassuring him that I've fixed many books that were in terrible shape. I kept trying to get him to tell me exactly what what was wrong with the book but he avoided the questions. Finally he decided to tell me what happened.

"Well, it was the last day of classes and my buddies and I are all graduating seniors, right? So we decided to go and blow off some steam. Ummm, we went to the range at Fernwood Park…"

"The shooting range?"

"Yeah. We took our textbooks. I accidentally took one of your library books along and…"

"You shot it?"

"Yeah. But I didn't mean to."

I couldn't help it. I started laughing. I also had to admit that was something I couldn't fix.

* A moment of silence here in memory of the books that were lost that day. *

I made him promise to bring the damaged book back to the library when he came to pay for the replacement. When he brought it in the next day, the entire staff was waiting. It was just the funniest thing ever. He couldn't believe we weren't totally honked off about it. Honestly, we'd spent the day before thinking of titles in the collection that we would gladly have contributed to the event.

Anyway, the book is sitting on my desk. For the record, he's a really
bad shot.

One of the wonderful things about this story (aside from the fact that it's hilarious) is that the library staff were not only gracious, but had a great sense of humor about the whole incident. I would imagine this student has a great story of his own, about how the librarians were totally cool. And how fabulous is that?

Must read

2006-06-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

For every libarian (and you know who you are) who has

a) whined about their patrons,
b) bemoaned new technology, or
c) longed for the "good old days"....

K.G. Schneider at Free Range Librarian has a must-read post: The User Is Not Broken: A meme masquerading as a manifesto.

Hear, hear!

Websites as graphs

2006-06-02T11:02:00.000-05:00

Fascinating. View your website as a graph. To the left is the NewlyMinted Librarian graph. It's almost frameable!Check it out.

Thanks to Michael's Flickr page for the hat tip.

Hot Spot

2006-06-02T10:14:00.000-05:00

A recent article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel lists area wi-fi spots and their various advantages. Most of them, not surprisingly, are coffee shops and cafes. However, I was delighted to find that the Milwaukee Public Library was prominently mentioned - and very favorably.

The Milwaukee Public Library's Central Library on W. Wisconsin Ave. has some of the fastest free Wi-Fi in town.

There are countless places to set up, including two-person tables at the Coffee With a Conscious Café on the first floor, scores of tables on the second floor and shaded tables outside in the garden area facing Wisconsin Ave., where the wireless signal is still strong.

One of the best spots is in the periodicals section on the second floor, offering some laptop stations and tables along the north wall with a great view of the courthouse and Milwaukee Public Museum. Power outlets are available but not abundant - many tables are in rows in the middle of the rooms.

If you don't feel like driving downtown, remember that all Milwaukee Public Library branches have free Wi-Fi. But please mute your laptop and try to type quietly - people are reading, after all.

Huge fangs!

2006-06-01T14:17:00.000-05:00

True to the name, the Laughing Librarian has posted a wonderful rant on the subject of reading rabbits. Or, rather, the menace of reading rabbits. Enjoy.

The Boss!

2006-05-30T09:05:00.000-05:00

Bumper sticker of the weekend: "Jesus is coming. Look busy."

Knowledge

2006-05-30T08:54:00.000-05:00

Wonderful post in Something New Every Day about librarians promoting ourselves as "Knowledge Provocateurs." One of the items that resounded with PK Christ - and with me - is the idea that librarians need to exert more influence on the Internet.

One small way to start exerting influence is for librarians to flood Answers with answers. I've answered a few questions, citing proper references (usually the Librarian's Index to the Internet) and have been chosen "Best Answer" an inordinate number of times. One person who chose mine as the best answer noted that "She's really helpful!"

Perhaps we should be reaching out to people where they are and impressing them with our knowledge and skills....and they just might find their way into a library for help!

Fines?

2006-05-26T14:39:00.000-05:00

Jessamyn West at Librarian.net has a thoughtful post on the subject of library fines. Barb Misselt at the Multitype Librarian does, too.

I understand the hesitation that large libraries have in eliminating fines. Some of them rack up close to seven figures in fines annually, and that's a lot of operating budget to lose.

I would challenge smaller libraries whose fines are annually relatively small to make their libraries fine-free. My former library in Sidney, Nebraska was one of those libraries. The staff had convinced the board to eliminate fines before I started my tenure there, and that was fine with me. (no pun intended - really.)

The staff was seeing children who weren't able to use the library, because their parents couldn't afford the fines. And that didn't sit very well. They felt very strongly that those children who could least afford fines were the very children who most needed the library. Additionally, we really didn't care if you paid a quarter fine - we just wanted the book back! You would get a few notes from us if the book (or whatever - I'm using book as the universal material here) was drastically overdue, reminding you to return it. After three months, you got a bill for the book. It would usually turn up at that point, but we did have folks who would have to pay us for having lost the book.

We would occasionally discuss fines at library meetings in the Nebraska Panhandle, and there were a few libraries who also had eliminated fines. Those who had fines usually had amnesty days on a fairly regular basis, which usually resulted in enormous numbers of materials being dumped on the library on that day. Most of them were seriously considering asking their boards to allow them to eliminate fines, too...and the headaches that went along with them. The sob stories. The truly sad stories. The angry patrons. The forgetful patrons. One creative librarian solved the problem by handing the offending patron (usually a middle-school student) a dust rag, allowing them to dust the library to pay off the fine. Her library was always clean!

What most likely started out as a disincentive to keeping a book too long has become too much of a money-making venture for larger libraries. And that's a real shame. The kids who aren't going to the Major City Library because they owe a fine are the very kids who need the Major City Library the most.

Isn't there a better way to do this?

Oh. Dear. God.

2006-05-22T16:55:00.000-05:00

As a former optician, all I can say is "Eeeew! Eeeew! Eeeeew!"

TTWMN Day Five

2006-05-21T12:33:00.000-05:00

Large and excited crowd at the Ridgedale Public Library in Hennepin County! We started the day having breakfast with some librarians in a charming place in Wayzata. Then it was on the the workshop. Michael was fabulous, as usual.

I'm now home, safe and sound, and resting up from a very busy week. What a wonderful experience! (Below is a photo snapped of Michael and me...)

TTWMN Day Four

2006-05-18T19:51:00.000-05:00

Really exciting, rousing session today in Mountain Iron. The group was very engaged, very curious about the new L2 tools, and anxious to jump into the deep end of the pool. I'm headed back in June to teach Blogging to anyone who's interested.

In our new search for Really Enormous Statuary, we were told - much to our disappointment - that the local Really Enormous Loon was not yet up for the season. (It apparently hibernates.) However, we were alerted to the Really Large Hockey Stick, which is in Eveleth. I needed to either take the Batman photo (seen here) or walk across the street to get the whole thing in.

On to Minneapolis and tomorrow's packed session at the Ridgedale Public Library in Hennepin County.

Mary Beth & Paul Bunyan

2006-05-18T08:22:00.000-05:00

Mary Beth & Paul Bunyan
Originally uploaded by mstephens7.

I got to sit in Paul's hand, too....

City guides

2006-05-17T21:28:00.000-05:00

Just discovered a site that offers free pod city guides. There are a number of major cities available all over the world. You download them to your iPod, and away you go.

An enterprising library could throw a bunch of these on iPod Shuffles and check 'em out....

TTWMN Day Three

2006-05-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

Lovely day in Detroit Lakes. Absolutely beautiful library - one of those Carnegies that has been remodeled very, very well. There were these lovely friezes mounted on the wall. Michael found out they were discovered in the basement during the remodel, and were so pristine they were able to be used as models for the new part of the building.

After the presentation, we headed out on the road for Mt. Iron. Lovely, lovely scenery. Lots of lakes and trees and lakes and trees. And then, we saw Paul.

Yes, that's Paul Bunyan with Michael in the palm of his hand. Apparently, Minnesota is the Land of Enormous Statuary. We heard there was a huge turkey just outside Detroit Lakes, but we weren't able to visit since it wasn't on our route. Maybe next time.

TTWMN Day Two

2006-05-16T20:40:00.000-05:00

Willmar, MN. Beautiful library. Great group of folks - interested, engaged, and willing to take on new ideas and try new stuff. Hopefully, they'll go forth and blog, or wiki, or RSS...

Traveled from Willmar to Detroit Lakes. Beautiful day, and beautiful scenery. Lakes and lakes and lakes.

En route, we passed the Belgrade Centennial Memorial. With a Really Big Crow. I mean Really Big Crow. We couldn't resist stopping and taking some photos.

Tomorrow will be the Detroit Public Library...

Michael Stephens Talks about Cs but He is A

2006-05-16T08:53:00.000-05:00

Cool Big Boss blogged about Michael's presentation, too:

SELCO Librarian: Michael Stephens Talks about Cs but He is A

Competition

2006-05-16T08:45:00.000-05:00

At our hotel, I noticed a tent sign in the bathroom:

True comfort is complete when you can curl up with a good book. With our "Book it and Return" Program, you can borrow a book from our guest library, then simply return it on your next visit to any Country Inn and Suites by Carlson location in North America.

For each book returned, we'll donate $5 (USD) to ProLiteracy Worldwide, the world's oldest and largest non-profit educational literacy organization.

Hmmmm.

So, in the tradition of "radical trust", as Michael pointed out this morning, a hotel chain is trusting their guests to grab a book and return it whenever they happen to visit again. The books themselves were printed for the chain; their logo and the program information are printed on the covers. They're paperbacks, both for children and adults. Relatively new stuff - Sue Grafton, Richard Evans. Not a huge selection....but what a great idea!

I chatted with the staff about the program this morning, and the manager told me that they will occasionally have a guest take a book and sit in the lobby in front of the fireplace and read all night.

I wonder what we can learn from this?

Day One - TTWMN

2006-05-16T08:33:00.000-05:00

Had a wonderful day with Michael at SELCO. The session was live-blogged by the Multitype Librarian: Tame the Web Minnesota", who is my Cool Boss and was (of course) in attendance. Lots of the staff was there, and were in their official "Tame the North" shirts.

After the presentation, we drove to Willmar, the next stop on the tour. The trip took four hours, mainly because of brutal construction delays in the Minneapolis area. We collapsed in an Applebee's and had dinner, and then were on to the hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel was having issues with their wireless connection. No blogging or Flickring!

This morning we're off to the Willmar Public Library....and then this afternoon, we'll drive to Detroit Lakes.

He's Coming....

2006-05-11T16:54:00.000-05:00

The much-touted Michael Stephens tour starts Monday. We're all excited at MPOW.

Michael and I will be touring the state; lots of blogging to follow.

We even made tour shirts! (Our shirts are in B/W, but the original color art rocks, if I do say so myself.) Can't wait....

Answers

2006-05-11T09:26:00.000-05:00

I was recently alerted to a new Yahoo service my alert co-worker, Aurora. Yahoo Answers is available for anyone - ask a question and other users will answer. One reviewer noted that it's addictive, and then said, "If I could search and answer questions like this for a living I would be so happy!" Ahem. (I answered her blog post and informed here there is a way to do this for a living. Become a librarian.)

Anyway, as Aurora notes,

The premise of the site is that users submit a question that will then be answered by their peers, as long as those peers have a registered My Yahoo! account. Each time someone answers, they have an opportunity to cite their source. After a specified period, one answer is picked as the "best answer" either by vote or by the user that submitted the question.

I've seen a wide range of questions there, from "What do you think of the way 7th Heaven ended?" to "How was Shakespeare influential? I"ve got a term paper and I need a quick answer." to "Is a "presumed" fatty tumor something to be concerned about?". The answers themselves are as diverse as the answerers themselves. Almost none of the answerers cite a source beyond "personal experience."

Aurora questions the value of personal experience in answering certain questions - like health questions. And then challenges librarians to answer the questions, citing resources.

I took up the challenge and have answered a number of questions. For most of them, I used the Librarian's Index to the Internet as my source. What I found discouraging and rather distressing is that, even though this service is still in its Beta stage, already a number of idiots have jumped in and are asking obnoxious/rude/ridiculous/obscene questions. At the risk of sounding like the old man telling kids to get off his lawn....what is wrong with people????

Anyway, it's fun to answer. Go ahead. Let the world know how knowledgeable librarians really are!

What if.......

2006-05-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

DBF and I invaded the Mall of America this weekend. I'm not a mall fan, really, and this one is the mall to end all malls. Really enormous. I'm not a fan of crowds, either, probably because I'm so short I easily feel like I've entered a maze. I don't know that I'll become one of those MoA fans.

That said, however, this weekend also was my introduction to Nordstrom's. Oh. My.

I had heard about Nordstrom's years ago from colleagues from the west coast. They were singing the praises of the store, especially their customer service. I remember being intrigued, but with no stores in the Midwest at the time, it was a moot point. I'm delighted that they're now in my neck of the woods. And having discovered them, I'm hooked.

The customer attention was incredible. None of this walking around looking for a clerk who would please, please ring up a purchase. But the staff wasn't pushy, either. It was just that they were everywhere. And attentive.

If you were in an area for any length of time, someone would approach and ask if they could help. If you had a look on your face that indicated puzzlement, someone would ask if they could help. Sometimes, they would just offer an opinion on whatever you were trying on. And they all had business cards. Now, as someone who worked in the retail world for years, I can tell you how rare it is that anyone outside of upper management would have a business card. But here, everyone did. And they would offer you their card and tell you to contact them with any questions you might have. And I believed them. I really think that if I contacted Mindy, who was our delightful shoe sales person, or Seth, who helped DBF for hours in choosing a suit, they really would help me in any was they could. How incredibly refreshing. (And quick - when was the last time you got to know the name of the retail sales person helping you?)

So, of course, this all got me thinking.

The thing that made the Nordstrom's experience wonderful was people. Not technology. Not stuff. People.

We're in the midst of a movement in the library world to make ourselves indispensable and...well, popular. And we're looking at how technology will help, and how we should be using IM and RSS and podcasts and whatever other swell innovation. And we're examining our collections and collection development policies and wondering whether we're offering our patrons the right stuff, and should we be offering this format, or that service, or getting rid of some stuff in favor of others. And the thing is, it won't matter.

Yes, technology is cool and can appeal to folks. And yes, we want to have collections that serve the greatest number of folks. But unless the human element is there, it won't matter a whit.

When you meet people who have had a horrendous library experience, it's not because they didn't have IM reference, or because their computers weren't the latest, or because they didn't have precisely the book/magazine/graphic novel you wanted.

If they had a horrendous experience, it was because some Old Battleaxe Librarian was horrible and mean and disapproving. They were afraid, they were ashamed, they were angry. And they didn't return.

So.....what if we took a page from the Nordstrom book? What if we abandoned the circ/reference/whatever desk and walked around? What if we approached folks looking bewildered and asked if we could help them? What if everyone in the library had a business card they could hand a patron, offering to help? (Yes, even pages. Everyone.) What if folks would leave our library delighted with how friendly and attentive everyone was, and that, even if they didn't find exactly what they were looking for (as was my case this weekend) they would be back regardless, because it was such a wonderful experience?

What if?

Whew!

2006-05-05T08:14:00.000-05:00

Busy, busy week.

The remodeling work continues, with progress being made slowly but surely. If all goes as planned, I'll have a deck when I come home tonight. DBF should also be waiting for me when I get home....and the Mall of America will be plundered tomorrow.

This afternoon, I'm in St. Paul at the ESL Conference, presenting a mini-version of the Spanish Language Outreach program. We're talking to folks about what their public library can do for new immigrants, and why it's important to encourage folks to visit the library. You wouldn't think that would be a necessary message to deliver - isn't it obvious? - but it's not as obvious as it might seem.

One of the "Aha!" moments I had when learning about the program was a language issue that explained a few encounters I had in my library in Nebraska. I'd occasionally have someone come in, look around, and ask me how much the books cost. (Huh?) I never understood where the question came from, really.

Turns out, the Spanish word for library is biblioteca. I didn't find that particularly surprising; I had studied French in high school, and remembered that the French word for library is bibliothèque. The surprise came when our workshop leader explained that the Spanish word for bookstore is librería. Aha! Looks like library, sounds like library. You're new to the country and the language, and you see a building that has a word that leads you to deduce that it's a bookstore. And so you go in and ask the puzzled woman at the desk how much the books cost. Now I get it. It also had me chuckling over the thought of a new immigrant standing in front of the New York Public Library thinking, "This is the biggest bookstore I've ever seen!"

That's just a tiny example of the sorts of things we'll be talking about this afternoon and in the larger workshops. If you have one of these coming your way, I encourage you to attend.

Not quite at your fingertips

2006-05-02T10:33:00.000-05:00

Spent yesterday at a conference with other library folks in the state, talking about ILL and libraries and how we can make things better. The first speaker was Nancy John, Digital Publishing Librarian and Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She's working on a book that deals with how far libraries have come in the last number of years....but while we've come a long way, we still don't have the information we need at our fingertips.

Her talk was engaging and thought-provoking. I can't wait to read her book. A few salient points....

Other industries have techniques and tools that the library world should examine, to determine whether they could apply and be implemented. Many industries are customizing services and information for their customers. What can libraries learn (or borrow) from other industries to create library services and programs tailored to the individual? For example, grocery stores have customer cards that personalize shopping. Why not a library card?

It's about ME - It's about the user and not about the site. Individualization translates to either customization (how I impact your system and make it more Me) and/or personalization (how your system reacts to information it knows about Me.)

Customization in libraries would translate to: What books does the library own? Is a book I'm considering buying available at the library? What books do I have checked out? When is my ILL due?

Personalization in libraries would translate to: OPACs personalized to reflect My Favorite Sources, email notices or reminders, recommended books based on what I've read, and recommendations on what new books may be of interest to me.

The problem with all this? Privacy concerns mean libraries collect as little data as possible....and the data that makes all of this personalization possible is the very data we don't collect.

The Web is changing the privacy landscape. People are willing to "exchange" private information (name, address, etc.) for customized service. Nancy admonished the group not to let privacy concerns stop us from thinking about new library services. For instance, is there a software available (or one that could be developed) that would store personal information on the user's desktop, for retrieval and coordination with library services?

Nancy challenged us to think about which of our library services:
- Speak to convenience?
- Speak to social experiences and improved finding?
- Speak to the uniqueness of each user?

She also noted that a number of new services - like LibraryThing - wouldn't be possible or even exist without the groundwork that has been laid by librarians. The data, connectivity, and access points that drive these services were all created by librarians....and yet, we're not the ones who created those services. Why not?

Libraries should learn a lesson from NetFlix. We tend to throw away the data that forms the core of the NetFlix business plan. They have useful models for representing custom information - in queue, recommended by friends, rated by others who watch what you watch/like. How can we implement something like this for our library users?

Some personal wishes from Nancy:
- Library emails should include phone numbers that work with mobile phones - format the number so it can be immediately dialed from her phone/Blackberry/etc.
- Library emails should include hotlinks that will connect with library services, hotlinks to full-text articles, etc.

One final thought brought forward by an audience member....

Millenials have a view of privacy that seems to be very different from the Boomer generation. How will that impact the discussion?

Definitely food for thought.

Getting buy-in

2006-04-28T15:52:00.000-05:00

The TechEssence blog has a terrific new post on how to get staff members to buy into new technology. Great advice, not only for a technology project, but for any change that you're looking to implement.

Her points are:

Do not decide things unilaterally
Involve staff in planning
Involve IT in planning
Encourage staff to "kick the tires"
Offer training
Don't rush it

Good stuff. Take a look.

Payback

2006-04-27T10:21:00.000-05:00

So, DH and I are having some remodeling work done in our kitchen. It's the first time I've worked with a builder, and Dear Best Friend is amused at my naivete. You see, it makes me absolutely crazy when our builder tells us he will be at the house tomorrow to do whatever, and he doesn't show up.

And there's no explanation.

AND EVERYONE ACTS LIKE THIS IS NORMAL BEHAVIOR.

Ahem.

Now, if anyone else in any other business acted like this, there would be hell to pay. But apparently, with builders, DBF assures me this is business as usual.

So last night, the dogs alerted me to the builder's presence in our yard. Turns out, he's on the phone to the electrician. The electrician had told him he would be at our house that day to do his stuff, and he neither showed up nor called to tell him that he wasn't coming that day. And the builder was upset.

Heh.

Video killed the radio star...

2006-04-27T08:11:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I've gotten semi-hooked on American Idol this season. I don't watch every week, though I seem to be catching most of the results shows, so I'm keeping up with who has been voted out and who is still around.

One of the men in the group has arguably the best voice amongst them. Beautiful tone, rich and full. Most of the time he's on pitch. (Something that can't be said for many.) But he won't win. Why?

He's homely.

Now, he's not terribly unattractive. But there are a few in the remaining five who are. One woman is strikingly beautiful. One man is the epitome of hip rock guy. There's a guy who's greying early, and has some quirky appeal. There's a young woman who probably will be voted out next week, since she's not nearly as pretty as the other. (She's quite young - 17, if I remember correctly - and has a great voice. A bit of coaching, and she'd be someone to watch for in a few years.)

When, exactly, did we get so hung up on physical appearance? Is this a hallmark of our generation? Think of the movie stars and vocal talents of a few decades ago. The men weren't pretty. Some of the women weren't, either. But they were talented. When Ella Fitzgerald sang, the angels quieted so they could listen. But Ella was heavyset, and a bit plain. Not pretty. I wonder if she would make it today. Forget that she had one of the most spectacular voices in modern memory. It apparently wouldn't matter.

I think of Ann Wilson, who has a fabulous voice. Heart was one of the bands of my generation, and her vocals were amazing. Unfortunately, Ann has a bit of a weight problem. And so, when MTV came to be the powerhouse it is, her career was effectively over. Not because she could no longer sing. But they couldn't figure out how to make a video with a fat chick.

And so, we're left with what passes for musical talent. Pretty people, who all sound alike. Most of them even look alike. Britney. Jessica. Justin. Lightweights, all. Ella and Ann would outsing this group without even trying. But, gosh...aren't they pretty? I guess video really did kill the radio star.

Creating community

2006-04-25T10:25:00.000-05:00

Being a librarian in a small, rural town can feel a bit lonely, if you're looking for input from other librarians. More often than not, you're it. Google searches can be problematic, and while you may come up with a nugget of information whilst plodding through a zillion results, it would be nice to have a place to confer with other librarians.

Enter WebJunction. I assume many of you have discovered this resource, but for those of you who haven't, I encourage you to wander over and take a look. I'm becoming more and more involved with the WebJunction folks, first as a trainer for the Spanish Language Outreach Program, and now as a Rural Watch Committee member for the Rural Library Sustainability Project. In both cases, I've been impressed with the WebJunction staff members who are coordinating these projects, with their willingness to listen to concerns and suggestions, and the speed with which they implement those changes.

WebJunction is a community place. There are discussion boards where librarians can elicit information and suggestions from other librarians, on a plethora of subjects. There are training opportunities. There are helpful articles, advice on purchasing technology, and best-practices examples. Need a new policy? Check WebJunction. Looking for advice on how to handle an aspect of library management? Check WebJunction. Interested in just wandering around a site that could trigger an epiphany? Check WebJunction.

Go. Bookmark it. Get involved. Really, go now.

Blogging good for your career?

2006-04-20T15:04:00.000-05:00

The Boston Globe thinks so. In a recent article, they insist that a well-executed blog will set you apart as an expert, and give eight reasons why blogging helps your career:

1. Blogging creates a network.
2. Blogging can get you a job.
3. Blogging is great training.
4. Blogging helps you move up quickly.
5. Blogging makes self-employment easier.
6. Blogging provides more opportunities.
7. Blogging could be your big break.
8. Blogging makes the world a better place.

Read the whole thing....and if you haven't already done so, start a blog, already!

Nifty sites

2006-04-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

The ever-helpful folks on Lifehacker have gathered a few jewels worth noting...

For those of us chomping at the bit for our IRS refund, there's a site to check on its status.

For those of us who are sick and tired of wading through endless voice prompt hell when calling for customer service, this delightful site has a list of firms and instructions on how to actually get a human.

Love both of these.

Google and collaboration

2006-04-19T08:08:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of collaboration. When I was a library director, I enlisted the help of local business folks to be presenters at the library's program series. They got free advertising, we got a presenter that knew what they were talking about, everybody won. When you've got someone who does something really well, take advantage of that fact and see if you can enlist their help.

There has been rather continuous grumbling about Google, which seems to grow with each new innovation. While they do some things that I find disturbing (i.e., censoring web pages in China) they do others that are incredible. Enter the Google Librarian.

They say in their site:

Librarians and Google share a similar mission: to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. We support librarians who work each day to further that mission. This site is a first step toward improving and expanding that support.

Librarians can sign up for updates, news of new features, and get their newsletter.

I got the latest issue of the newsletter this morning. It has a number of links that are definitely worth exploring. There's a link to a blogger who wrote a program to determine whether a book in Google Book Search is available in your library.

Another great link is to a PDF that Google has created, with very simple search instructions, to help searchers get better results. (Ahem. We could take a page from their book and do this with our own library search software.)

So. Google is creating helpful tools, discovering folks who are linking to their work and telling people about it, and are reaching out to librarians so that we can work together to help people find information. I say, let's quit vilifying Google and start taking advantage of the stuff they have to offer.

Reply

2006-04-18T09:04:00.000-05:00

I had sent an email to the Comedy Central folks with regard to the episode, and how appalled I was that they had censored it. To their credit, I received a reply:

Dear Viewer,

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the "South Park" episodes entitled "Cartoon Wars." We appreciate your concerns about censorship and the destructive influence of outside groups on the media, entertainment industry and particularly Comedy Central.

To reiterate, as satirists, we believe that it is our First Amendment right to poke fun at any and all people, groups, organizations and religions and we will continue to defend that right. Our goal is to make people laugh and perhaps, if we're lucky, even make them think in the process.

Comedy Central's belief in the First Amendment has not wavered, despite our decision not to air an image of Muhammad. Our decision was made not to mute the voices of Trey and Matt or because we value one religion over any other. This decision was based solely on concern for public safety in light of recent world events.

With the power of freedom of speech and expression also comes the obligation to use that power in a responsible way. Much as we wish it weren't the case, times have changed and, as witnessed by the intense and deadly reaction to the publication of the Danish cartoons, decisions cannot be made in a vacuum without considering what impact they may have on innocent individuals around the globe.

It was with this in mind we decided not to air the image of Muhammad, a decision similar to that made by virtually every single media outlet across the country earlier this year when they each determined that it was not prudent or in the interest of safety to reproduce the controversial Danish cartoons. Injuries occurred and lives were lost in the riots set off by the original publication of these cartoons. The American media made a decision then, as we did now, not to put the safety and well being of the public at risk, here or abroad.

As a viewer of "South Park," you know that over the course of ten seasons and almost 150 episodes the series has addressed all types of sensitive, hot-button issues, religious and political, and has done so with Comedy Central's full support in every instance, including this one. "Cartoon Wars" contained a very important message, one that Trey and Matt felt strongly about, as did we at the network, which is why we gave them carte blanche in every facet but one: we would not broadcast a portrayal of Muhammad.

In that regard, did we censor the show? Yes, we did. But if you hold Comedy Central's 15-year track record up against any other network out there, you'll find that we afford our talent the most creative freedom and provide a nurturing atmosphere that challenges them to be bold and daring and places them in a position to constantly break barriers and push the envelope. The result has been some of the most provocative television ever produced.

We would like nothing more than to be able to look back at this in a few years and think that perhaps we overreacted. Unfortunately, to have made a different decision and to look back and see that we completely underestimated the damage that resulted was a risk we were not willing to take.

Our pledge to you, our loyal viewers, is that Comedy Central will continue to produce and provide the best comedy available and we will continue to push it right to the edge, using and defending the First Amendment in the most responsible way we know how.

Sincerely,
Comedy Central Viewer Services

I'm not sure I agree with them, but I give them lots of props for actually replying.

Appalled

2006-04-13T12:54:00.000-05:00

I don't normally jump into the political fray, but I'm going to put my two cents' worth in on this one.

I watch South Park sporadically. DH loves it. And the writers do have a rather refreshing way of lampooning everyone. Very equal-opportunity.

The episodes of the last two weeks have dealt with terrorist reprisals for media images of the Prophet Mohammed. The episode last night, when Mohammed was supposed to appear, had two black screens, explaining that Comedy Central had refused to show an image of Mohammed. I had initially assumed that those two screens were part of the original writing.

It now appears that Comedy Central did, in fact, censor the images. I'm appalled. Michelle Malkin explains the whole thing. As The Anchoress notes, "All in all, pretty funny in some places, dumb in others...the message was clear: either it's all fair game, or nothing is, and to appease is to concede valuable liberties. I concur."

So do I.

Audio Description

2006-04-12T16:54:00.000-05:00

When I lived in Milwaukee, I became involved in a volunteer program - Audio Description. Audio Description is for the blind and visually impaired what Signing is for the deaf and hard of hearing. An Audio Describer will be in the light booth or some other out-of-the-way place in the theatre, talking to the audience member through a headset, describing what’s going on onstage. “He’s creeping towards her with a knife in his left hand. She is looking in another direction, and doesn't see him behind her. He raises the knife…” You get the idea.

It's a more complicated process than you might think, and took a fair amount of training. For instance, your job as a describer was to simply describe what you were seeing - not to make interpretive judgements. For instance, I would tell you that someone is smiling - not that they're happy. Physical descriptions were interesting, too, since politically correct terms like African-American mean little to nothing to someone who has been blind since birth. However, if I tell you that he's a tall man, of slender build, with short, curly black hair, brown eyes, and medium brown skin, wearing...now you can get a mental picture of the actor.

We actually had to audition to be a volunteer, since they wanted to make sure that you had a decent vocabulary and a pleasant speaking voice. A new employee at the sponsoring organization, having met the group of us for the first time, commented that she had never met a group of women with such low voices. (We all have rather deep, throaty voices, which I suppose is easier to listen to for two hours than someone with a high, squeaky voice.)

It was a wonderful experience and something I’d like to do again. (I haven’t been able to do so since we left Milwaukee.) Segue to this month’s issue of Computers in Libraries.

The Alliance Library System in Illinois has decided to have audio descriptions added to their historical photographs, making them accessible to the blind and visually impaired. The Illinois Alive website has a few lovely photographs, which seem to come alive when described. This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while, and I’m thrilled that someone thought to combine the wonders of digitization and the access of Audio Description.

It makes me wonder what else we could describe.

Blimps

2006-04-11T15:32:00.000-05:00

There's a new blogger on the library scene - the Liminal Librarian. The blog is written by Rachel Singer Gordon, and her posts are thoughtful and interesting. Today's was particularly entertaining, since it contained within a link to a story that had me laughing out loud at my desk. Check it out for yourself.

What a great way to end a work day. With a good laugh. Thanks, Rachel.

iPod, youPod, weallPod....

2006-04-10T10:19:00.000-05:00

I was a bit late in coming to the iPod users group, thinking I would have no use for the thing. I bought one for DH (who adores all things techie) and figured one in the family would be sufficient.

I was wrong.

I have one and love it. I inadvertently left mine at work on Friday, and wished for it all weekend. DSD is dropping not-so-subtle hints about getting one of her own. And I'm finding myself wishing at least one of the family iPods was one of the video iPods. (We have older versions.)

In addition to the coolness of being able to haul your entire music library around with you, there are lots of swell new tools you can add to your iPod. It's really becoming an amazing little toy.

Lifehacker, as usual, regularly reports on the newest and hippest. The Mirriam Webster Dictionary is now available on an iPod. How handy would that have been in college? (How handy would that be now?)

National Geographic Traveler lists a bunch of iPod uses on a trip. Audiobooks, of course, along with playlists. But there are other neato things you can add, such as various guidebooks, subway maps, and podcast tours of various venues. (See? I need one of the video iPods!)

Now, for a library....if the size of some of these swell tools is small enough, perhaps we could consider purchasing a slew of those wee little iPods - the Shuffle. They start at just $69 now. What if an enterprising library chose to buy a few and load them with, say, tourist information...or a book....or a song genre?

Attention? What attention?

2006-04-07T11:49:00.000-05:00

From Lifehacker, a head's up on a wonderful article in C/Net. Dr. Edward Hallowell discusses ADT, or Attention Deficit Trait. It sounds like virtually everyone I know...

It may be the greatest irony of the information age.

All of that data flying at you by e-mail, instant message, cell phone, voice mail and BlackBerry--it could actually be making you dumber.

Dr. Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist who's studied attention deficit disorder for more than a decade, has identified a related disorder he calls attention deficit trait, and he says it's reaching epidemic proportions in the corporate world. Unlike attention deficit disorder, or ADD, people aren't born with ADT. It's the result, he contends, of the modern workplace, where the constant and relentless chatter coming from our computers, phones and other high-tech devices is diluting our mental powers.

His solution? Take time off to think. Read the whole thing. It's definitely food for thought.

Previews of coming attractions

2006-04-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

Michael has a great post on his blog, with a presentation he recently gave to folks at the Metropolitan Library System on Barriers in Libraries. Terrific insights, as usual.

Can't wait to have him come to Minnesota!

In a somewhat similar vein, there's a wonderful post from Aaron Schmidt on staplers. Thought-provoking and funny - my favorite combination. Jenny's response (quoted by Aaron) is too true...and hilarious.

So the question is, what barriers are we putting up at our libraries? Are there ridiculous "rules" that exist only because "we've always done it that way"?? Have we been possessed by some Evil Librarian of Days Past and are assuming that (fill in the blank - teens, seniors, kids...) are up to no good and should be treated accordingly?

Are we guilty of the being "Eat Your Peas Librarian" (thanks, Susan!) You know, the "I don't care if you like it, it's good for you. Eat your peas!" (Or, read this book! Or, search that way!)

Keywords

2006-04-04T17:06:00.000-05:00

An article caught my ear this morning on NPR. It seems a local realty firm has purchased the rights to keywords on Google and Yahoo, which make their realty firm's page show up at the top of the list whenever someone does a search for these keywords - which happen to be the actual names of other realty firms. Not surprisingly, there's a lawsuit. Eric Goldman, a professor at Marquette University, discusses the suit on his blog.

Now, this seems to be a bad idea. It's slightly shady business, and takes advantage of a new technology by misdirecting consumers. Maybe I'm behind the curve on this one, and it's been happening behind our backs for a while. But, really.

As a librarian, I'm horrified that one can purchase a keyword. Search terms are there to assist users in accessing information accurately. The idea that someone can skew the results of a search by obtaining "rights" to a keyword goes against everything libraries stand for.

Frankly, I think the ALA should sit up and take notice of this, and perhaps take up the issue of purchasing keywords at all. Heaven forbid some marketing guy gets the bright idea to purchase a keyword for a library's computer search!

Education

2006-04-03T11:41:00.000-05:00

From GM's Corner, via Shrinkwrapped:

According to a news report, a certain school in Garden City, MI was
recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the washroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day, the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. He called all the girls to the washroom and met them there with the maintenance man. He explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night.

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, he asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY..

There are teachers, and then there are Educators.

Love this.

Ahhhh.....

2006-03-31T07:46:00.000-06:00

.....Friday. It has been an unbelievably busy week, culminating yesterday at Library Legislative Day.

This is my first time to attend this function in my new state, and it's run much differently than in Nebraska. Instead of being able to chat with the legislators at lunch, we needed to make individual appointments, since buying them lunch is verboten. Apparently, giving one of these guys a mug is verboten. From what I understand, this was a knee-jerk reaction to some scandal a few years ago, which was solved in the time-honored parental decree that "no one may give anyone anything ever again!!! I would imagine the official language is a bit more legal, but you get the idea.

The meetings were interesting, and most of the legislators were quite pleasant. We wandered the tunnels underneath the capital buildings like hamsters, made nice-nice with folks, had lunch, and came home. I'm not sure why it was so exhausting, but it was.

I'm very, very much looking forward to the weekend!

Conferences missed...

2006-03-27T17:00:00.000-06:00

A few folks from MPOW went to conferences last week - two to PLA and one to CIL. All three came back brimming with new ideas, energized by the things they heard and the folks they interacted with. They even blogged about various and sundry.

Michael Stephens is one of the folks they were excited about hearing - and meeting, since he's coming to Minnesota to impart his wisdom in May. His blog is one of those I read faithfully. He's got really great insights into libraries and librarians, on tech stuff, and how all of this impacts how we can better serve our patrons.

I'm sorry I missed them....but on the other hand, I was delighted to have been able to travel home for a "little" brother's 40th birthday celebration. Happy Birthday, Michael!

Ode, Part 2

2006-03-23T16:19:00.000-06:00

While duct tape remains the King of Handy Stuff, vinegar must run a close second. The Vinegar Institute has a list of the things vinegar can be used to fix. Amazing.

H/T Lifehacker

I'm, like soooo suuuuure.....

2006-03-23T16:10:00.000-06:00

From the New York Observer, a story on how our language is changing. And not in a good way.

Ode

2006-03-22T09:03:00.000-06:00

Forbes Magazine has just come out with the list of the World's Most Important Tools. One was not on the list, but got its own article.

Models use it to create cleavage. Sled-dog drivers use it to prevent frostbite. Athletes use it to support weak joints. Veterinarians use it to repair horses' hooves.

What's this wonder tool? Duct tape.

The men in my family would heartily concur. According to my Dear Brother-in-Law, "If it can't be fixed with duct tape, it can't be fixed." We always have a roll of duct tape in the house.

Ironically, duct tape is great for everything but ducts.

In 1998, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory physicists Max Sherman and Lain Walker tested a variety of sealing materials on sheet metal ducting, then heated and cooled the ducts to simulate the aging process. They soon found that duct tape leaked air so badly much of the cooling and heating was wasted -- and that the tape frequently shrunk, dried up or separated.

"It failed reliably and often quite catastrophically," says Sherman. "And nothing else except duct tape failed."

Changing paradigms

2006-03-20T16:05:00.000-06:00

Eeesh. I cringe just reading my own headline. I despise jargon. Don't talk to me about benchmarking our anything. Or about out-of-the-box whatever. My paradigms are fine, thank you.

Enter Bullfighter. It's a lovely program that will "help you find and eliminate jargon in your documents."

They even have a Mystery Matador, which will edit a document you've received and send the corrected document to the sender.

My heros.

H/T Lifehacker.

Lest we forget....

2006-03-20T15:17:00.000-06:00

I must admit, Katrina and its aftermath haven't been on my radar for a while. But I came across a reference today to the New Orleans Public Library.

Not surprisingly, they're in a world of hurt. The photos are amazing; scroll down to the Rebuilding News and you can see what's going on in each branch.

They're hoping for donations to help rebuild. Seems to me librarians should help other librarians. I'm giving. I hope you will, too.

For invisible patrons?

2006-03-16T15:45:00.000-06:00

The Invisible Library.

All the books within the books.

Corned Beef for Everyone!

2006-03-15T11:36:00.000-06:00

Oh, thank God. Or, the Archbishop.

Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. This year, March 17th falls on a Friday, which is St. Patrick's Day, for those non-Celts. Turns out, there are enough Irishmen mourning the possible lack of corned beef on Friday that a number of the Archbishops have granted an indult for the day. We can eat our corned beef, secure in the knowledge that we're OK with God and the Church.

Whispers in the Loggia has been keeping track.

Senior Moment?

2006-03-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

Librarians have spent a great deal of time looking at ways to encourage the younger set - Millenials, as they're called - to visit and use the library. In a terrific post, Stephen Abram reminds us not forget the folks on the other end of the age spectrum - seniors. He references a report by the U.S. Census Bureau, 65+ in the United States.

Here at MPOW we've got a wonderful program going called Senior Techies. A team is going around to libraries, training seniors of how to use a computer, how to use email, how to use a digital camera, and how to scan photos. The response has been overwhelming, and the stories are funny, and heartwarming, and eye-opening.

One couple wanted to learn email so they could communicate with their son, who was stationed in Iraq. The mayor of one town joined the class to learn email. The local Santa also attended.

One man shared with the trainer (Ann) that he hadn't been in a library since 1954. He wasn't sure about being there, but his wife had dragged him in. Ann assured him that he was more than welcome, and that there was much the library could offer him. He had left school in eighth grade, and wasn't sure his reading skills were good enough for him to use the library.

Now, this opens up a whole philosophical discussion. Why hadn't this man been in a library since Eisenhower was in office? What had his previous experience been that he felt so unwelcome? Are we doing the same thing today, alienating people who won't visit a library again until 2056???

Be prepared

2006-03-15T08:54:00.000-06:00

No, I'm not a Boy Scout. And it seems a bit odd to be thinking about this, with another eight inches of snow coming our way. But Jessamyn West at Librarian.Net has a wonderful posting and reminder on how to deal with a tornado at your library, prompted by the tornados that hit Kansas recently.

For those of us in the Midwest where tornados are a real threat, this is a reminder to be prepared. Have a plan. Train the staff. If, God forbid, something happens, you'll be glad you took the time now.

Absolutely incredible.

2006-03-13T12:14:00.000-06:00

This street artist has done unbelievable things with his sidewalk art. Definitely worth a look.

H/T Readeriam

Or not.

2006-03-13T08:22:00.000-06:00

Blowing and drifting snow. Freezing rain. Weird thunder snow.

The robins must be wondering what happened.

Welcome to Minnesota.

Spring arrives

2006-03-12T12:34:00.000-06:00

It's truly spring.

I know, it's still only 36 degrees, and there are threats of snow or freezing rain.

But the yard was full of robins this morning. There must have been 50 of them, looking around for their breakfasts. Interestingly, there was what looks like a robin with vitiligo, which is a condition people get that destroys the pigmentation in skin, causing white areas. This robin looked like it had the same thing - large white areas of what otherwise looked like a robin.

I heard a red-wing blackbird yesterday. And the feeder is full of sparrows and cardinals and finches. I know the last group doesn't migrate, but they tend to lay low - at least in our yard. Not this morning.

And then there's Phil. DH gave him that moniker, after seeing him walk slowly around in the tall weeds next to our yard, sneak s-l-o-w-l-y out into the yard, and then make a mad dash for the other side. Phil is a Pheasant. I'm hoping he's scoping out the place for a nest.

It's wonderful to be awakened by the chirping and vocalizations of the songbirds. It's wonderful to be awakened by sunlight.

Pete's Mag

2006-03-10T16:18:00.000-06:00

Casey's friend, Pete, has taken up the challenge and created his own magazine:

Not so great moments in education

2006-03-10T15:16:00.000-06:00

In Chicago, even blind high-school students are required to take driver's education.

You read that right. Required.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Mayra Ramirez scored an A in driver's education this year, but sitting through the 10-week class felt like a bad joke to the Curie Metropolitan High School sophomore.

Ramirez is blind. She knows she's never going to drive. She can think of a lot of things she'd rather be studying than rules of the road, but she didn't have a choice.

Chicago Public Schools requires all sophomores to take the class and pass a written road-rules exam--a graduation requirement that affects about 30 blind and visually impaired students in specialized programs at Curie and Payton College Preparatory High.

"In other classes, you don't really feel different because you can do the work other people do," said Ramirez, 16. "But in driver's ed, it does give us the feeling we're different. In a way, it brought me down, because it reminds me of something I can't do."

Unreal.

H/T OpinionJournal

Fight of the Century

2006-03-10T15:02:00.000-06:00

I attended Catholic schools for most of my educational career. In grade school, we had the School Sisters of Notre Dame. In high school, it was the School Sisters of St. Francis. Grad school was the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes.

I've never been a nun myself, though I remember wanting to be one in 5th grade - mainly because I thought the outfit was cool. They switched to short skirts and veils the next year, which took all the mystique out of it for me. The closest I came to being a nun was playing Sister Hubert in Nunsense for a number of years.

So, with that background, imagine how I felt about this story.

Nuns vs. Librarians?!!?

There are so many places I could go with that one, I'm rendered speechless by sheer smart-aleck overload.

RSS?

2006-03-08T16:16:00.000-06:00

OK, I'll admit it. I don't use RSS feeds. (pause for collective gasp of disbelief...)

I'm intrigued, I guess. But it's just another thing I need to do, or it's too much work, or....you get the idea. Frankly, it's just not on my radar.

But the ever-helpful folks at Lifehacker have again directed me to an article that may make me see the light.

Children's Hour

2006-03-07T16:40:00.000-06:00

From Lifehacker, a site that offers audio stories for children.

Free.

StoryNory offers children's stories, ready to be downloaded to an MP3 players, burned to a CD, or just listened to from the site. How wonderful.

If you can't beat 'em....

2006-03-07T15:14:00.000-06:00

I attended a librarian meeting this morning. Part of the meeting was a presentation by a book rep for a publisher of children's material.

Now, my particular forte is reference work; I've never worked as a children's librarian. I don't know much about children's books, though since I will be a grandmother this summer (eek!) I'm finding myself looking more closely at children's materials than I had before.

Most of the material seemed to be fairly typical children's stuff. There were books with neato tactile areas. (Oooh! Fuzzy! Scratchy!) There were books with handy features like big tabs, so little fingers could more easily turn the pages.

The thing that made me sit up straight and pay attention, however, was a marriage between a number of these books and the Internet. There's a whole selection of these books - primarily geared towards an older audience of elementary-age children - that features Internet links as a path to additional information. Want to know more about the pyramids? Want to know more about Canadian cooking?

Now, there are a few things about all this that I find fascinating. First of all, instead of following the path of denial and disavowing any knowledge of or interest in the Internet and all it has to offer, this publisher is embracing it. This "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach is not only brilliant, it's good sense. In my recent grad school experience, there were a number of library "experts" who were bemoaning the emergence of the Internet into our lives. There was much wailing and moaning and gnashing of teeth over the imminent demise of the library as a result. One of our textbooks even had this viewpoint, for crying out loud. It was incredibly refreshing to see a publisher that, instead of whining about this new competitor, was working to see how they could take advantage of the new technolgy.

Secondly, if you wander around the links provided, you will note that this is not original material. A number of the sites are the work museums, colleges and universities, and government entities. Why reinvent the wheel? All in all, brilliant.

Now, we all need to take another look at how we're looking at the Internet and all of its resultant technological whiz-bang. Are we wringing our hands, wondering when our libraries will be redundant? Are we digging in our heels, vowing to never blog/allow IM/offer wireless/play games? Or...are we looking at ways that we can not only embrace the new technology, but take advantage? How can we leverage our knowledge and expertise with this new resource, to the advantage of our libraries, our patrons, and ourselves?

Swell tool

2006-03-06T13:33:00.000-06:00

There's a site where you can track your packages with Google Maps. The always handy folks over at Lifehacker have reported,

"Isnoop.net has created a package tracking tool that will map your UPS, FedEx, USPS, or DHL/Airborne package’s progress with Google Maps.

All you need to do is enter the package’s tracking number and voila - the tracker automatically detects which company your package was shipped with. This service is very similar to previously-mentioned tracking service Package Mapper, however Isnoop.net’s package tracker will also generate an RSS feed that will update you on each step of your package’s progress."

How cool is that?

Couldn't resist.

2006-03-06T13:19:00.000-06:00

I simply had to have this t-shirt. There's a license plate holder, too.

I do love it when librarians can poke fun at themselves.

Shalom

2006-03-03T10:03:00.000-06:00

Marty Stein died yesterday. The world has lost a mensch, a truly wonderful man.

I worked for Marty for 13 years, starting as a clerk in one of his drugstores and segueing to the optical division (at his suggestion) and ultimately becoming a Certified Optician and store manager. He was the first to have me create a corporate newsletter, a skill I have used in every workplace through my life, and a skill I use to this day. He met regularly with this college kid, coaching and encouraging me to use my talents and try new things.

We once had a conversation on who had more guilt, the Catholics or the Jews. (We decided the Catholics, since we get Original Sin at conception, whereas Jews get Motherly Guilt from birth.) He planted a tree for my grandmother in Israel when she passed away. Whatever Yiddish I know, I learned largely from Marty. He was kind, funny, generous, and a beautiful person. Working with him gave me a blueprint for how to be a good boss and how to be a good person.

He would meet regularly with world leaders, such as Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. (He referred to those meetings as "Begin and Eggs.") He met with President Reagan, Yitzshak Shamir, and even the Pope. He assisted hundreds of Russian Jews in immigrating to this country, and was an integral part of Junior Achievement, going so far as to open chapters in Russia.

I will miss him. The world has lost one of its best.

Fun

2006-03-01T14:58:00.000-06:00

Another fun Flickr tool. It creates magazine covers and it's just too fabulous. Here's my Darling Goldendoodle's mag:

Have a blast and create your own!

This just in...

2006-03-01T13:01:00.000-06:00

...from grad school buddy Susan. Great site - Overbooked.org.

Now, this site has been around since 1994, so I would imagine this isn't new for some folks. But it's always nice to discover a resource.

The site is swell not only for readers looking for a good new read, but I can imagine a small and/or rural library using this as a collection development tool.