Category: Uncategorized

peeps go mobile

My folksinging friend Lis Harvey played the quiz on last weekend’s Whad’Ya Know? (WPR program) Extensive scientific research has been done on Peeps but only recently did researchers begin to look into the ability of Peeps to do research themselves. Research librarians have conducted one such study at the Staley Library at Millikin University (IL). … Continue reading “peeps go mobile”

My folksinging friend Lis Harvey played the quiz on last weekend’s Whad’Ya Know? (WPR program)

Extensive scientific research has been done on Peeps but only recently did researchers begin to look into the ability of Peeps to do research themselves. Research librarians have conducted one such study at the Staley Library at Millikin University (IL).

It’s spring, and that means that it’s time for all of the gardeners to get their gear together and start planting. This year, Northern gardeners can get a little help from Peeps.

Soon, those who feel the need to publish online every thought that crosses their mind will be able to do it anytime/anywhere using their mobile phone. I don’t think I’ll be jumping on this bandwagon. As you can see, I can barely keep up with one entry a week! Make sure you check out the interview with the creator of The Diary of Samuel Pepys as a weblog. [thanks aw]

the world is connected

Today and yesterday were filled with intensive training sessions at work. If you’ve never seen SFX in action, then you have no idea of what you’re missing. Do check it out sometime. Well, check it out if you’re one of the few librarians that read this blog. Most of the rest of you could probably … Continue reading “the world is connected”

Today and yesterday were filled with intensive training sessions at work. If you’ve never seen SFX in action, then you have no idea of what you’re missing. Do check it out sometime. Well, check it out if you’re one of the few librarians that read this blog. Most of the rest of you could probably care less. (She says with a glint of humor in her eyes.)

The City of Madison, Wisconsin, is considering a resolution to “let the Dixie Chicks know that they can become the adopted country music group of Madison, Wisconsin, and encouraging them to change their name to the Heartland Chicks or the Dairyland Chicks.”

The FBI can see everything that you click on while surfing the web. [thanks Dad]

Wow. This is somewhat old news, but it just came across my email. Aparently, Bush is not a moron.

Arianna Huffington believes that the anti-war movement was right.

Continue reading “the world is connected”

national library week revisited

I meant to write more than I did last week, since there are so many things going on with libraries right now. However, I had a full week at work which included a day-long symposium and a several day-long conference. Oh, and I was quoted in a recent article in the Lexington Herald-Leader. ACRL has … Continue reading “national library week revisited”

I meant to write more than I did last week, since there are so many things going on with libraries right now. However, I had a full week at work which included a day-long symposium and a several day-long conference. Oh, and I was quoted in a recent article in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

ACRL has some information and links about scholarly communication.

My favorite panel at ACRL was on developing home-grown systems to keep track of the library’s electronic resources. One of the presenters, Adam Chandler, has co-created a web hub for “developing administrative metadata for electronic resource management”. In other words, it’s a collaboration of library techies from all over trying to create a standard for electronic resource management. What’s even more cool is that Norm Medeiros of Haverford College has offered to make their Electronic Resources Tracking System (ERTS) database structure available for free to anyone who wants it. The catch is that there is absolutely no tech support.

It is disheartening to have been in the midst of all this fabulous library technology while at the same time Iraq’s National Library and National Museum were looted and burned.

ALA changed the design of their website last week and has really ticked off quite a number of folks. Jessamyn West has commented on it frequently over the past week, and Karen G. Schneider sent a well-articulated complaint to the ALA Council. No word on whether ALA will modify the site. It looks to me like they are leaning heavily on FrontPage and ColdFusion.

national library week

Premptive shredding? One library has increased the frequency that it shreds paper documents referencing patron’s use of the library resources. The FBI says that unless the material has been subpoenaed it’s not illegal, but there is a hit of an underlying “yet” to that statement. Florida State Congress has decided to save the state library. … Continue reading “national library week”

Premptive shredding? One library has increased the frequency that it shreds paper documents referencing patron’s use of the library resources. The FBI says that unless the material has been subpoenaed it’s not illegal, but there is a hit of an underlying “yet” to that statement.

Florida State Congress has decided to save the state library. I guess ol’ Jeb won’t be able to hide too many future documents of shady politics. There goes part of Karl Rove‘s plans for the 2004 presidential election… [thanks Bonster]

if things don’t get better, i’m selling myself on ebay

I have put quite a few books up for sale on Amazon.com recently in order to raise funds for upcoming conference trips. Feel free to browse and see if there is anything you want. Need to do some research but you want personal assistance? There’s a research librarian for sale on eBay and the bidding … Continue reading “if things don’t get better, i’m selling myself on ebay”

I have put quite a few books up for sale on Amazon.com recently in order to raise funds for upcoming conference trips. Feel free to browse and see if there is anything you want.

Need to do some research but you want personal assistance? There’s a research librarian for sale on eBay and the bidding is still at $0.01!

Would you like to meet some peace activists in your area? Maybe just to chat with some like-minded folks? Check out this MeetUp.

Here’s a resource that allows you to search across “17000 News Sites, Weblogs and RSS feeds for Current Events and Breaking News.”

Wednesday’s Marketplace had an interesting story on the imbalance of pro-war and anti-war songs on the radio. I forgot to post about it earlier…

political librarians

A great deal of today’s entry comes from the recent issue of Library Juice. I am posting here the links that I found most interesting and have some relevance to non-librarians. Hey, there’s a federal agent in my book! Jessamyn West, the author of the fabulous librarian.net weblog, has written an informative article for the … Continue reading “political librarians”

A great deal of today’s entry comes from the recent issue of Library Juice. I am posting here the links that I found most interesting and have some relevance to non-librarians.

Hey, there’s a federal agent in my book! Jessamyn West, the author of the fabulous librarian.net weblog, has written an informative article for the average American on the Patriot Act.

Before Gulf War II started, there was an online petition to prevent the war from starting created by Librarians for Peace. Now they have created a petition calling for a halt to the war. Feel free to sign it if you are a librarian and feel so lead.

I believe global peace starts with children growing up in safe environments and not being taught to hate the “other”. Here is a list of children’s books that are anti-war put out by Weapons of Mass Instruction.

Shellac, the Sound of the Future. I missed this on Tuesday. Bummer.

I have been amused by Andrei Codrescu’s commentaries on NPR for many years. His essay on libraries and book jackets is yet another ironic piece of refined humor. Oh, and if you’re wondering, we take them off because they are easily damaged and look quite ugly after a short period of time.

Also from Tuesday: The Capitol Steps 2003 “Politics Takes a Holiday” radio show was great fun to hear. If you missed it (or missed part of it, like I did), you can download and listen to it on your RealAudio player.

dixie chicks on the next geraldo!

It’s so beautiful outside today that I wish my campus had a campus-wide wireless network. That way, I could borrow a laptop and work on the lawn. Ahh… one can dream… The Specious Report has written a satire of Natalie Maines’ apology. I think it is much more appropriate. Geraldo Rivera has “volunteered” to leave … Continue reading “dixie chicks on the next geraldo!”

It’s so beautiful outside today that I wish my campus had a campus-wide wireless network. That way, I could borrow a laptop and work on the lawn. Ahh… one can dream…

The Specious Report has written a satire of Natalie Maines’ apology. I think it is much more appropriate.

Geraldo Rivera has “volunteered” to leave Iraq after broadcasting the location of the Army troops he was quasi-embedded with, as well as their possible future movements. I thought that the Fox News Channel was the breeding ground for conservative war hawks. I had no idea that they were actually working for Saddam!

Ever since the Patriot Act was passed in Congress, librarians have been discussing what to do about patron privacy. Booksellers have also been concerned, but their situation is somewhat more complex than libraries, since they have a history of using their customer histories to provide more customized service. One bookstore owner in Washington State has decided to not follow many libraries’ leads and is retaining his customer records in full. He briefly explains why he has made this decision, despite privacy concerns surrounding the Patriot Act.

don’t you know there’s a war on?

I’m not watching CNN anymore. Not that I do all that much, but what I have seen has disgusted me. I never thought that a war could become glitzy prime time TV. Then again, “reality TV” is very popular these days. Wartime morale posters! Get yours here. [thanks bonster] Clear Channel doesn’t have anything to … Continue reading “don’t you know there’s a war on?”

I’m not watching CNN anymore. Not that I do all that much, but what I have seen has disgusted me. I never thought that a war could become glitzy prime time TV. Then again, “reality TV” is very popular these days.

Wartime morale posters! Get yours here. [thanks bonster]

Clear Channel doesn’t have anything to do with the pro-war rallies. Sure.

“What makes it all possible, of course, is the absence of effective watchdogs. In the Clinton years the merest hint of impropriety quickly blew up into a huge scandal; these days, the scandalmongers are more likely to go after journalists who raise questions. Anyway, don’t you know there’s a war on?”

keeping my chin up

I’m trying to keep my sense of humor and lightness in the middle of all this chaos and darkness. One step towards doing so is to turn off the network news. Another step is to find things to laugh about, and there are some of those in today’s entry. The US Department of Homeland Security … Continue reading “keeping my chin up”

I’m trying to keep my sense of humor and lightness in the middle of all this chaos and darkness. One step towards doing so is to turn off the network news. Another step is to find things to laugh about, and there are some of those in today’s entry.

The US Department of Homeland Security has set up a website to provide citizens with information on how to be prepared for a terrorist attack and what to do if one occurs. The US Department of Laughs has set up a page explaining some of the more ambiguous pictures found on the Department of Homeland Security website.

If you want to keep up with the latest news on the war in Iraq, I suggest taking a look at Warblogs:cc. It is a weblog that collects the latest information posted to several war-focused weblogs, as well as major news source headlines. One stop shopping for all your war news needs.

Some citizens of Longmont (CO) are committing a “patriot act” by organizing a “subversive book check-out” and rally protesting the USA Patriot Act. Sounds like a good idea to me! I hope it works.

Edna Fripple, librarian for the Sir Walter Raleigh Secondary School, has won this year’s “Shushy” award. Kudos to The Toque for this amusing piece of satire.

rain rain go away

It’s been pouring rain all afternoon, but now that it’s time to go, it has stopped. Good thing, too, since I didn’t bring my umbrella or rain jacket today. Several interesting things came across my email and web searches. No real connection between them other than they caught my attention. Purdue Libraries hosted five Russian … Continue reading “rain rain go away”

It’s been pouring rain all afternoon, but now that it’s time to go, it has stopped. Good thing, too, since I didn’t bring my umbrella or rain jacket today. Several interesting things came across my email and web searches. No real connection between them other than they caught my attention.

Purdue Libraries hosted five Russian librarians recently as a part of the Open World Program at the Library of Congress Center for Russian Leadership Development. One of the librarians, Anna Britayeva, said, “I think that it is great that here in the United States, people pay so much attention to the libraries, because libraries are cultural centers, and many people depend on libraries. So I think if you want your nation to become more educated, more cultured, you should build more and more libraries.” Amen, sister!

This week, an American peace activist was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer when she tried to stop them from destroying Palestinian homes in Gaza. Today at her memorial service, Israeli armored vehicles attempted to break up the peaceful mourners with tear gas and grenades. Sick and wrong.

Want to learn Welsh but having trouble? Try this illustrated dictionary, intended for those learning Welsh as a second language.

css.php