LISNews: Librarian News

On occasion I'll read a book.

That sentence was originally written as follows:
On occasion I'll read a book that I feel I could've written. Now I'll admit that's a stretch. It's a stretch to say I have the time, talent, and patience to ever write any book, but sometimes I'll finish a book and say to myself "Self, we could do that"

I changed that first sentence because I felt it wasn't quite honest. My finished book to started book ratio has fallen off this past year. I've been working on "The Future of Ideas" for almost a year now. That one's not on my "I could've done it" list, that's one my "not even if given 100 years" list. There's just too much good stuff in the one, I can't stop writing notes and ideas, and reading the foot notes. Lately I've been working on "Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About." That's on my list because I think, or maybe more accurately, I hope, that given enough time, and maybe a bit more talent, I could write something at least that good, or maybe at least almost that good.

I figure writing doesn't need to be an all or nothing proposition. I can write a short story, or even part of one and be happy with it. As a matter of fact I have more than a few sitting around just waiting to be finished. I think a blog is a perfect place for such writing, and entry can be just part of what I've written. Just as show uses it to chronicle her daily life, I too can use it to chronicle my made up life. So, to that end, I hope to do more writing in this space. I hope.

One of the less pleasant parts of my job it to produce the monthly statistics for my library. We have datasheets for each class we give, which track number of attendees and contact hours, and we also have reference question counts (based on the NISO definition of a reference question), which depend greatly on the particular staff at the desk, and how well we remember to click our questions on the counter. My job is to take all this raw data and enter it into a spreadsheet (after which, I guess, it must be "cooked data"), and produce some reports for the director.

Last week I was in the local public library, and there was a sheet of paper taped to the circulation desk. Across the top it said "Quarterly Service Survey", and below that there were three columns with headings I can't remember, and an assortment of hash-marks. I asked the person behind the desk who was checking out my books how long they had to count things for.

Rolling her eyes, she informed me "A whole week! And it happens every three months!

She was horrified to learn that we're always counting questions up at the university.

The banner ad that pops up in Opera (okay, yes, I haven't paid for Opera) when I visit this page is one for "Reference Desk Software". Our reference desk software: a Chinese word processor, Norton, Word, various and sundry Delltouch programmable key applications (what they do is beyond me), IE, Horizon (and the obligatory Sybase and Java applications that run with it). So what's cluttering the desktop? About twelve million documents. I am guilty of this too. I have a picture of Chris Farley (ahem) that I had to save there and print for a young lady (this young lady paid a whole fifty cents for pictures of Chris Farley and Martha Stewart -- not together). I was mildly curious as to what she was going to do with them.

More and more, I am liking the idea of putting the Linux box out as the unfiltered terminal. More and more, I am liking the idea of filtering the terminal, spinning it around, and making it a special, if-you-have-your-card-only access terminal. People like that terminal because they get privacy (I have to admit, it does bug me when people wander around the internet area looking at other people's screens) and because they can get naughty pictures. There's really not much our filter blocks. Further study is of course needed. But I suppose setting a home directory up read only and setting Opera or Mozilla up execute/read only would solve my problems.

I still might flip the terminal around so that patrons can't look at anything too unsavory. Just to make it easier to monitor that nothing too terribly inappropriate is going on.

People also like that terminal because it is card only, so there are less likely to be arguments over who signed up for it. Card=good.

Oh my god, when did I get old?

It's school vacation week. And it's Valentine's Day. I am wondering how busy it's going to be today and the coming week. I am on the info desk (yes, I am info beyoch) from the late morning to mid-afternoon. It's actually not so bad, when you break it down. I thought I would mind being on the desk, but so long as it's steady but not too busy, it's really not bad. Not many patrons asking questions, and things drag. Too many patrons asking questions, and things get out of hand.

Coupled with this, though, is my cold from hell. I have had it for a week now. My head's a bit foggy and my nose is running. Had I the sick time, and if we weren't half staff, it would be a sick day, I think, just out of respect to my coworkers' health.

Since this is the weekend of all things romantic, I thought I'd muse on this "relationship" thing on Slashdot/LIS News. I've had a lot of fun annointing complete strangers as friends (virtual strangers? virtual friends?), but I haven't wanted to call anybody a foe as yet. Recalls the days of the two sides of the playground in second grade. Also, the neutral guy looks a little more threatening than just "neutral." Have you designated anyone as a foe, and what transpired after that? Your opinions are welcome...and have a happy V-day.

This is very much delayed, but that's primarily because it was buried in my notes and I didn't notice it until just last night.

One of the keynote speakers was talking about young people and reading. And getting them to read books rather than screens. He said, quite tellingly that

for most boys, reading is a feminine, activity.

Or, as Dewey put it, "Boys who are into sports tend not to become librarians."

Loooooooong time LISNews readers might remember the QuickSubmit from a few years ago. I'm working on a new one, and could use some help testing.

javascript:void(rollpop=window.open('http://www.lisnews.com/submit.pl?story='+escape(location.href)+'&subj='+escape(document.title),'QuickSubmit','scrollbars=yes,width=500,height=600,left=75,top=175,status=yes,resizable=yes'));rollpop.focus();

That's the code for a bookmarklet, creat a new link in your links bar, using that code. When you find a story worth submitting, click on it, and it'll open a new window with the LISNews suggest a story page in it, with the title and URL already put in the boxes.

Let me know if it works for you, and how I might make it more useful.

Most of our librarians are officially using OpenOffice.org instead of MS Office. There are a few people whose machines I have yet to install it on. The assistant director is pleased with its functionality. It's a good program. I use it at home myself.

If I can get a LAN card working in the machine I installed Linux on (heh heh, I pulled some memory out of the fried chip machine under my desk and now Linux just flies) the assistant director wants me to put it out on the floor as a PAC and see what people think.

The machine with the fried chip under my desk is now a mere shell of its former self. Literally. I destroyed it. I took out the hard drive, the CD ROM drive (which required breaking the face plate off the case... nice one, IBM), the memory, the LAN card, the video card (never know when the onboard on another machine is going to poop out) and the A drive out. Interesting note: our IBM machines use Fujitsu hard drives. Perhaps that's just as well. I've heard evil things about IBM hard drives.

I would have taken the power supply too, but it's only 150 watts. I'm not quite sure how it powered the whole shebang, honestly.

So I suppose I didn't destroy the machine. It's functionality is just moving on to a different plane. Believe me, we'll use all that stuff.

Helpmetype lady came into the library yesterday, asking me to proofread. I told her I wouldn't. She at least is starting to learn how to type, though she seems to get quite frightened when the screen saver kicks in. She says, "Where did my letter go?" Helpmetype is nice enough, and is willing to wait for me to help other people first (I hate to say it, but helping people word process is not a priority, unless it's a question like, "The computer caught fire, what do I do?"). There's just too much other stuff going on.

I'm much more tolerant of hand holding when it's not busy. And when people haven't signed something saying that they know how to use the equipment when they really don't.

The Mac I'm putting OS X on has a big sign on it that says, "Temporarily out of order." I hate that sign, for one thing. For several reasons. One, I hate that it's out of order when I'm really doing an upgrade. Not the sign's fault per se, I just hate that the machine is out of commission. Two, I hate that sign because people still think that means they can turn the machine on and use it.

The beauty of OS X is the beauty of Linux and Unix. No user name, no password, you don't go anywhere. It's interesting to see people try to guess at the user name and password.

I helped some really lovely young ladies get books on helper dogs. I loved these kids. They were well behaved, they listened when I explained to them about the catalog -- they were just nice kids. I'd like to hug their parents.

Tomeboy's posting of a review and excerpts from Diane's Ravitch's The Language Police: How pressure groups restrict what students learn intrigued me enough to check out the book from my local university library and read it.

Diane Ravitch is no Ann Coulter. Overall, this book is a fairly balanced, well documented text of how pressure groups have puree'd our children's textbooks into unreadable mush. A good sampling of her thought can be found on page 111, where she says:

"At the beginning of the twenty-first century, a new status quo emerged in which the textbook industry and the major adoption states became comfortable with one another. They shared the same bias guidelines, which quieted the critics, left and right. Feminists were happy, because the publishers had accepted a nonsexist language code. Ethnic and cultural minorities, people with disabilities, and the older population had no grounds for complaint, because they had won representation. Right-wingers were generally satisfied, because the topics that angered them were excluded.

"The only problem was that all this activism had made the textbooks dull. Studies showed that they also had a simpler vocabularly, that they had been dumbed down at the same time they were being "purified." With everything that might offend anyone removed, the textbooks lacked the capacity to inspire, sadden, or intrigue their readers. Such are the wages of censorship."

Ravitch emphasizes that one of the worst aspects of this "bias censorship" is that it is secretive. Nearly all publishers and state educational agencies will admit to HAVING bias and sensitivity guidelines, but most are not publicizing them.

To combat this secretive censorship, Ms. Ravitch proposes a three pronged solution, described on pages 163-170. Her solution consists of competition, sunshine and educated teachers.

Competition -- drop statewide textbook adoptions and make publishers sell direct to school districts. This will focus them on pleasing more teachers and local administrators and also force the opponents of textbooks to fight one district at a time.

Sunshine -- Force local, state, and federal education agencies and private publishers to publish their bias and sensitivity guidelines in many places, including the Internet.

Educated Teachers -- Ms. Ravitch claims (I haven't verified) that most teachers don't have a major or much coursework in the fields they are teaching, so they sometimes have as much trouble as students separating fact from fiction.

There is a lot of good material in the book, including interesting comparisons of English and History curriculia of the 50 states along with the surprisingly few state reading lists. Try this book out.

MY DIFFERENT TAKE: Where Tomeboy appears to see the evil hand of liberals and the Nanny state in these battles, I see cowardly corporations and the effects of an unfree market and centralized control of education. Essentially, the large textbook publishers are terrified of anything that might sink sales or lead to controversy or litigation. They have to especially worried of anything that makes waves in California or Texas, since those two state account for the bulk of the textbook market. Concern for profits over learning efficacy naturally lead to the elimination of whatever anyone squawks about.

If publishers had greater access to individual districts and if they were required to publish their bias and sensitivity guidelines, people and districts would gravitate to publishers with sensible guidelines and more interesting textbooks. A fully-informed, free market solution.

Finally, I need to point out that while I don't believe ALA has acted on this issue recently, they did take a stand in 1982 with a policy called "Diversity in Collection Development." According to Ms. Ravitch, this statement decried censorship and said that "removing or not selecting materials because they are considered by some as racist or sexist" was and example of censorship." This statement, while still against the censorship that Ms. Ravitch deplores, is admittedly a weakening of a 1973 statement "Sexism, Racism, and Other-Isms in Library Materials," which stated "intellectual freedom, in its purest sense, promotes no causes, furthers no movements, and favors no viewpoints ... Toleration is meaningless without toleration for the detestable." Still, as far as I know, the 1982 policy stands. Perhaps it needs to be revisited in light of the nationalization of our schools under NCLB, but ALA does have a policy of which it can be proud.

Whew! Until next time!

I've never met Chris Sherman, but he has invaded my head. Just when I've been searching for ways to keep things found, Chris saves my bacon by publishing this article Create Your Own Online Web Page Archive. Now, I need to remember to go to Furl and SurfSaver.
Now, where'd I put my pen?

Is there any sort of coherent library policy in the US? It sure does not seem like it. At least NCLIS is going to be up to full strength on commissioners eventually.Canada on the other hand, though, gets interesting. My supervising faculty member had me looking at Bill C-36 in the 2nd session of the 37th Parliament of Canada which would amalgamate the National Library of Canada and Archives Canada into one entity. A very odd idea.And yet the bill is BACK...C-8 is its new number...under carry-over provisions, it is in the same place that C-36 died at prorogation that occured between the 2nd session and the 3rd session we are in now.Hmm. NLC likes the idea of gobbling up the archives it seems. I wonder how this will go eventually.

As sort of an extra cirricular activity, I put Linux on a box that Windows wouldn't install on (for whatever reason). It was the minimum that could run SuSE 9 with X Windows.

Despite zorching Windows off the hard drive, it still couldn't quite handle the whole SuSE package... Well, not true, it could handle it, it just is painful to behold. Slow as molasses and disk space is nearly nil. Perhaps I'll try something other than KDE to get around in on it. KDE runs slow on my P4 512 MB system.

The idea of using the library box for parts is becoming more appealing. It's got a zip drive and CDROM, and memory is always good. If anything will take it.

I helped some really rambunctious young people find some information on Harriet Ann Jacobs for Black History Month. I actually "shushed" them -- another one for the baby book, my first "shush". I was mortified.

I noticed that after I was off reference, they left out some books on Harriet Tubman, as well. They were just hitting all the Harriets I guess.

I am pleased to note that Melrose Public Library that interviewed but didn't hire me (that's okay, really, because I like where I am... It's just fun to hold a grudge) has had their accreditation retained. Their budget wasn't enough to keep accreditation, so they applied for a waiver that the MBLC granted. I'm glad. It's a nice library, really. If you're feeling charitable, buy them a book on their Amazon Wishlist.

Things are tough all over.

I am learning to like ordering books. I still feel guilty spending money. It's the cheapo in me. I found a series from Gale -- biographies of scientists -- which would be wonderful based on the assignments our kids get, but it's $2000. Seeing as we just spent about that on another series, I'd feel remiss in asking for it right away.

So it's the Concise Dictionary of Biography section for me...

So "nipplegate" continues. The chairman of the FCC, Michael Powell, is outraged. He tells the broadcast media to "clean up their rooms." Well, you know what really is an outrage? This whole hullabaloo (nice word, huh) over JJ's bodice. Who do they think they're kidding? The Superbowl is all about SEX. Big bulky jocks in tight football uniforms (yeah, look at those tight ends!!) and perky, bubbly cheerleaders shaking their pom-poms and whatever else they've got. Commercials selling whatever they're selling with sex (oh yeah, and drugs). Sometimes I wonder about our culture. Let's just hope that none of my tax dollars go into an inquiry about the wardrobe malfunction.

I just recently heard the phrase "echo chamber" for the first time, and it made sense. Most people tend to interact with others that share the same views on many subjects. The term seems to be synonymous with politics, and seems to have attached itself to Howard Dean. Dean supporters only talked to other Dean supporters, and missed out on what everyone else was doing and saying. I'd say that's true of all supporters. Bush, Clinton, Edwards, Dean, Nixon, Regan, Carver (do I have any supporters?) they all just stick together and complain about the other guy. LISNews is, for the most part (unfortunately), an echo chamber as well. You'll find few supporters of the Patriot Act, or many of the other big librarian causes here, or almost anywhere on the web. That's not something I try to encourage. There have been a few very interesting and open discussions between people on both sides of the issue, which gives me hope that things maybe opening up. Intelligent discussions or arguments are few and far between on the web. It takes guts to be the one dissenting voice in any discussion. I had high hopes when I first heard about Shush, but so far it's been a big disappointment. Someone needs to take up that cause that has something interesting, informative, and well thought out to say.

So, I've given myself a personal challenge this election year. To get just one person to vote against Bush who would've otherwise voted for him. Luckily I've got a few people I think won't end up hating me as I work on them. I'm careful to be respectful, gentle, and always factual, and generally Socratic. I love letting someone talk themselves into a corner, I'm a quiet personally generally, so it's often very easy to do. I find it works best when I quote the man himself, that way there can be no doubt as to what was said, and only interpretation can be argued. So far I don't know how it's going, but it's been far easier to find really strong arguments on my side than I had thought. So far my favorite discussion went something like this:

Me: something about Cheny's energy taks force
Them: Clinton did the same thing
Me: So we're in agreement on Cheny.
Them: dead silence

It was like they'd never given any thought to what's going on with this except to relate it to their hatred and fear of the Clintons. They had no idea what Cheny was actually doing, not that I really do, but at least I had some quotes. This is probably typical of arguments on both sides of the issues these days. Bring up anything to a conservative and they squawk Clinton, bring up anything to a liberal and they squawk Bush.

Now, all of this does not mean I consider my self liberal, not even close. Most people seem to think if you're opposed to one thing, they you must be for another. Against Bush? You must be a liberal. For Bush? You must be a neocon. I tend to think both sides will have good points and bad points, and one side will usually have more good than bad. I've never been a one issue voter. At this point, as I see it, Bush is more bad than good.

No links in this one, too busy today.

I finally said to one of the kids that congregates around the computer area... "It's a library, it's a building full of books. Read."

He laughed. I think he realized the truth in what I was saying. He's not a bad kid, he's not necessarily a troublemaker. He just clogs up the reference area by standing over his friend's shoulder, looking at god knows what on the internet. Honestly, if he were sitting and pretending to look at a book while occasionally glancing at his buddy's screen, I wouldn't mind too much. But when you have like eight kids standing around a screen it makes it hard to pass.

I also pulled down a donation computer to see what it could do. It's actually a pretty good computer. I'd like to either a) get the LAN card working and give it to the children's room staff or b) set it up as a word processor terminal, because even a halfway usable donation beats what we've got. It still ain't great. I'd really like to set up a word processor in the young adult room, so that the kids can do their homework some place a little more age appropriate and comfortable for them, but there's that problem of room. And of finding another printer.

I don't know how long this computer will actually last... It is older, and the fans are pretty feeble on it, so I'm thinking it's probably going to just burn out eventually. But even a few months is buying us more time.

Yesterday I got a request for "a book." No more information. Could you narrow that down a little? We have a few of those.

I've never seen a teenager get so excited that we had a copy of The Fountainhead.

Most of today will be spent in Local History and reference. I miss my desk sometimes. I probably wouldn't if there weren't so much to do at it.

One of these days, if I ever find time (maybe today's the day) I'm going to check out The Professor and the Madman... by Simon Winchester. It was recommended by Simmons' beloved Allen Smith (hi Allen!) and I meant to read it, but life has this tendency to get in the way.

I need to keep track of things. I found this great site with articles related to "Keeping Things Found." Well, I can't find it. (Ok, it's here, but I still had to look for it.)
Like many people, I have tons of bookmarks. I tend to print out the first page of something interesting online and put it on my desk. Granted, it sits there until my yearly desk-cleaning where the site is no longer there, the information is no longer current, and I, for the life of me, can't remember why I found it so interesting in the first place.
Because I am interested in using a blog behind the firewall at my company, I've been reading about blogs and wikis. See Daypop, SnipSnap, and Vanilla.
I'm interested in knowing other corporate libraries or special libraries that are using weblogs to push. I've read some of the articles that SLA has on their site (password required?)
Therefore, I hope that I can remember that I went to all of these places and started this process before I get to distracted with new bright and shiny objects.

I got the following error message the other day:

Continuing to use Windows may cause your system to become unstable.

Either someone at Microsoft has an evil sense of humor, or they really need to proofread their error messages.

At any rate, I read it and thought, "No duh." Windows never installed on that machine by the way. A good Linux candidate.

I never made it to the basement with the ghost last night. I ended up getting tied up in Mac land. It was a seemingly simple task... Made difficult by having to chase people off the computers I was working on.

Today I am internet cop-I mean reference librarian today from 2-5. I like reference, when I'm doing reference work. I don't like being internet cop. I don't like telling people to be courteous when they should know. Yesterday one of the librarians said, "Ah, it's two o'clock, they descend on reference like flies to bad meat."

Believe me, they're not all looking for reference books.

Today I am ordering OS X Panther, before the budget is frozen for the rest of the year. That scares me. I am going to run up with my wish list real quick like. I am only ordering two copies, to see how well it networks and works in the adult section.

Okay, one of the custodians is really ticking me off. Sometimes he has good suggestions, and sometimes he should really just let me do my job. I understand he wanted to get out of there last night, but when I didn't make the "We're closing" announcement at 8:45 (I made it at 8:48, he told the circ staff loudly) I got a little ripped. I wanted to get out of there too, but I sort of had an administrative task on my desk that needed just three minutes of my undivided attention.

He also questions whenever someone is at the print station. Some poor guy had twelve documents to print, so he took a seat to print them. No problem. And the custodian in question comes over and starts saying, "Is he supposed to be there? That's not a terminal." Um, yeah, I know. There is nothing anyone can get to that they shouldn't on that computer. He's got to relax. Pick his battles. You can usually tell who the trouble makers are (they come in groups of two or more.)

In his favor, he is good about moving people along. I just wish he didn't come tell me about it every time he does.

Someday I want to say to someone: Respect my authority control! Just to say I did.

Acquisition and accession of municipal government documents at our North American cities' public libraries need to be given greater priority. The civic mission of our cities' public libraries would be fulfilled better if people interested in civic matters could have access to the documentation of the working of municipal agencies. For example, in Boston people are routinely deflected at city hall by the city council and city clerks offices. A mayoral directive and city council order are needed to ensure the routine transmittal of municipal departments documents to our Boston Public Library government documents division. Government documents librarians have been relatively adamant.

From a BBC News story on an American Airlines flight:

--------------------
"The pilot, whose name was not released, asked Christians on Friday's flight to raise their hands.

He then suggested non-Christians talk to the Christians about their faith.

He went on to say that "everyone who doesn't have their hand raised is crazy", passenger Amanda Nelligan told CBS news.

"He continued to say, 'Well, you have a choice: you can make this trip worthwhile, or you can sit back, read a book and watch the movie'," she said.

The pilot also told passengers he would be available for discussion at the end of the flight.
----------------------------

Rayford Steele might be proud, but I think it more likely that this pilot turned people away from Christ rather than made any new disciples for the kingdom.

Although it is important to the Christian to spread the Good News of Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection, I don't think Christ meant us to witness in places where people had no choice but to listen.

In one of the Gospels, Jesus says "Behold, I stand at the door and knock", not "Behold, I come into your living room with a megaphone and say that you're crazy." As Jesus gave us a choice, I think we Christians must follow his example and give other people a chance to walk away from our message. This can't be done at 30,000 feet.

One of my favorite St. Francis quotes, possibly fictitious is:

"Preach always, if necessary, use words!"

Or to paraphrase the old hymn, "They shall know we are Christians by our love, not by the strength of our PA system."

This attitude, along with my professional ethic keeps me from trying to win people to Christ through words while at work. I think people have to feel that the library is safe, neutral territory and I'm not sure that unasked for verbal witnessing at work would ever fit into that.

If someone were to ask me about my faith at work, I think I would talk about it briefly if it were a patron, and more so if it was a coworker.

I owe my current faith to coworkers at a law firm who never preached to me on the job, but were always kind, thoughtful people who were patient with everybody. I wanted what they had. Turned out most of them were Catholic Christians. Once I asked them how they got through the day and what their faith was like, they shared with me. If they'd tried that before I asked them, I might have run to another workplace.

Something to think about. Sorry for the length.

Just dubbing and documenting/cataloguing recorded concerts today:

- '75 Toronto Symphony plays: Wagner, Mozart, Roh Ogura and R. Strauss.

- '75 Toronto Symphony plays: Stravinsky and Orff.

Recorded on 1/4 tape with Dolby encoding no less.

I think somebody's watch went off in the Stravinsky. It certainly sounded like a 70s-era watch alarm.

Gah! Spilled the rubbing alcohol! Oh well, at least part of my desk is cleaner now.

A student asked me if we have "Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life." I've been amusing myself all morning trying to imagine what that would be like. I think it would involve insects and spinster librarians.Anyone else have any ideas?