February 25, 2008 at 6:03 pm (blogging)
The big day’s finally arrived, and Eleventh Stack is finally up and running. Please take a look, and then tell everyone you know!
Three blogs is one too many, even for a technolibrarian, so I’ll probably be posting here less frequently. Expect a new post once or twice a week, but for the most part I’ll be lavishing my available tech time and attention on databases and the public service blog.
Tune in next week. Anything could happen. And, no matter what you’re reading, keep reading!
February 20, 2008 at 6:38 pm (Library 2.0, blogging, collection development, databases, theatre, traditional library services, web resources, website redesign)
Busy writing, busy writing. The blog team had its last pre-launch meeting, and now we’re just putting the finishing touches on our brainchild, which I will, of course, shamelessly promote as soon as it goes live.
The CLP website redesign goes live next week as well, so there’s been a lot of last-minute tweaking there. I suspect I’ll be spending a good deal of time Monday morning testing database links (in-library and remote access) to make sure there are no hiccups with the referring URLs.
Other alchemist endeavors this week have included:
One fear I had about becoming the “techie librarian” was that it would mean I would have less time to read. Thankfully, those fears proved groundless. I’ve just finished The Knitting Sutra, which I’d highly recommend to not only knitters, but also anyone who would enjoy a short, gentle read about the soul of handicrafts. On tonight’s bus ride I’ll begin Elizabeth Gaffney’s Metropolis. 19th-century New York? Sold!
What about you? Reading anything swoon-worthy?
February 18, 2008 at 7:01 pm (access, ethics, news, searching, web resources)
TechCrunch reports on a possible correlation between economic status and search engine use. Of course, if you go straight to the data, the content and emphasis shift ever so subtly.
Still, I’m intrigued, and also vaguely disturbed. What, if anything, does this mean? And boo hiss to the TechCrunch commenters who went straight for the white trash jokes.
February 14, 2008 at 6:57 pm (philosophizing, professional development)
Another year’s gone by, and, once again, librarians hold pride of place on this year’s list of best careers, helpfully collated by U.S. News & World Report. We really do have an amazing, diverse profession, and it’s nice to get a little public recognition for that.
Elsewhere on the love front, Melissa Mallon’s defense of library school cheered me greatly. While LIS education still needs significant changes (mandatory field placements, anyone?), it’s important to acknowledge what one can learn in library school if one puts one’s mind to it.
In fact, I would argue that the key to “getting something” out of library school is making sure that you’re putting something into it. Do you go above and beyond the requirements of the assignments? Are you passionately curious? Always on the lookout for opportunities? Willing to invest time and effort into researching things not covered in your classes? Willing to ask your professors about things not covered in your classes, and about why they’re not covered in your classes?
I got a lot out of my own library school experience; of course, I also get a lot out of my independent professional reading program. And every day at the reference desk is chock full of teachable moments.
What was your LIS experience like? Are you an LA or clerk, thinking about taking the library school plunge? A seasoned librarian with a different perspective to share?
Finally, there is no greater love than to create a custom toy for one’s colleagues. Just a little something you might want to keep in mind for your officemates before next Feb. 14th rolls around.
February 12, 2008 at 4:52 pm (philosophizing, professional development, web resources, wikis)
The weather outside is frightful, but Wikipedia just got a little more delightful, thanks to this extremely detailed entry on the Blue Network, an American media outlet from the 1940s. This entry is both well-cited and painstakingly edited, in addition to being well-written. And business researchers should take note: this entry is only one under the umbrella of a larger project.
Quality entries like this one strongly support the argument that librarians, who find good information for a living, should actively participate in Wikipedia and other web resources people use instead of libraries, like Yahoo Answers. The standard argument used in the 2.0 universe is that we should be where our users are. Can we do that without sacrificing in-person service?
I think it’s definitely do-able. In fact, I can envision a day when one or two people on staff will have no desk time at all, and will, instead, handle e-mail inquiries, chat reference, Web 2.0 participation, and database maintenance. The kinds of work wouldn’t change: we’d still be answering questions, providing access, and delivering good service. Only the format would be different.
Based on how many times folks have found my blog while looking for the correct pronunciation of ‘Ligeia’, I think I might be on to something here. Thoughts? Would you want to be a “virtual librarian”? What responsibilities in this area do you already have, if any?
February 11, 2008 at 6:45 pm (news, web resources)
O Bloglines, what hast thou wrought? Many, many interesting tidbits. Observe:
That last link reminds me that it’s been a while since we talked about good old-fashioned print books and reading, of which I did quite a lot on my days off. But you first – what are you reading? See any interesting links while I was away? Inquiring alchemists want to know!
February 4, 2008 at 6:40 pm (Library 2.0, access, web resources)
We start our week with a few technology updates.
You can now access our del.icio.us account directly from the Reference page. This will change slightly once the website redesign is complete, but the goal will remain the same: to get these cool tools into your hands for experimentation and use as easily, and in as many ways, as possible.
In addition, it’s been decided that we’ll be using LibraryThing to track the department’s orders, so that the brief gap between marking a book in the tools, and having it appear in Millennium, is covered, reducing double-orders. This is something Bonnie M. and I have been working on for a few weeks, and we’re excited to see the project spread. My next dream is that we’ll have a link on our webpage so that people can see what we’re ordering, and create their own RSS feeds, if they so desire. Getting ahead of myself? Probably. But, you don’t ask, you can’t get. And you don’t dream, you don’t do.
What’s going on in your part of library world today?
ETA 2/9/08: Whoops – forgot to mention I was taking a few days off. Bad library blogger! I’ll be back on a normal posting schedule next week.
