November 2003

NYLibrarian points us to The secret life of tattooed and bellydancing librarians from The New Zeland Herald.

Great coverage of all the nifty librarian sites that are out there.

“A quick click through these websites proves that librarians are a mixed – often funny, sometimes scary – bunch. What they have in common is a passion for information, and the know-how to sort and find it.

Some people say that with screeds of information available on the net, we have less need for librarians. Fact is, we need them more than ever to help us sift through that mountain“

In this column from the Dallas/Fort Worth Star Telegram, columnist Dave Lieber talks about visiting the Colleyville (TX) library on its re-opening day and expresses his gratitude that the suggestions offered by a “purple-haired” library consultant were ignored. In 1999 the city contracted with a consultant who recommended against a traditional library because,”it has also become apparent that using books for information needs is often not as quick, as comprehensive, as convenient, or as satisfying as using a computer.”

Buried in this article from the Albuquerque Tribune Online about a predicted future labor shortage is the following claim:
“The work of the bank teller, auditor, paralegal, or librarian can be increasingly substituted with smart technologies.”
Overall, it’s a pretty interesting piece and encourages employers to treat their employees better, to develop higher retention rates.

jay currie writes “Over at the ALA they have posted five pages of questions a library (in PDF) should ask a filtering vendor. All good questions but a fundamental abdication of the ALA’s obligation to act on behalf of its members. Asking questions is not the same as demanding answers or setting standards. Any filtering vendor can, and no doubt will, answer the suggested questions. But will the answers be truthful, complete and helpful? Will the ALA collect and co-relate the answers to save smaller libraries the hassle and cost of going through this process?

Libraries – big and small – are much better advised to skip the ALA’s lame attempt to get a handle on CIPA and go to Lori Ayre’s increasingly comprehensive filter information, pricing and features page.“

Steve Fesenmaier writes “On Acknowledgments, the Inquisition Was Easier
By SAM ROBERTS
The acknowledgments sections of books now often go beyond traditional expressions of authorial indebtedness, with thanks to family, friends, even pets. More here at the NY Times (registration required).

A trio of recent news pieces have covered the use of citations.

(1) An Anonymous Patron wrote us with a NewsFactor article on the recent Read before you cite! study: the repetition of misprints in citations (such as the wrong page numbers) indicates that the “majority of scientific citations are copied from the lists of references used in other papers.”

(2) On the SEO front, a NY Times article and accompanying Slashdot discussion cover Google’s latest maneuver against sites with artificially inflated impact factors.

(3) And lastly, Steven from Library Stuff wants his props from people who steal links without attribution.

Sam King points us “this story from CBC News online about a newly created, master’s program in photographic preservation. Ryerson University has teamed up with world-renowned photography museum, the George Eastman House for this first-of-a-kind endeavour.

The museum, with its collection of more than 400,000 photos, will provide students an excellent resource in which to learn the trade. “There’s not only a need for people who make photographs,” said Ryerson professor Robert Burley. “There’s a new requirement for, I guess you’d call them information managers, people who can manage not only virtual collections, but object-based collections as well.”

– Sam”

Janet Clark sent in this piece from the Halifax Chronicle-Herald: “LIBRARY BOARD ON THE LINE:
Councillor targets highly paid CEO in bid to be ‘fiscally prudent’
The city’s deputy mayor wants to close the book on the highly paid chief executive officer of Halifax’s library system.
In a surprise notice of motion at the end of Tuesday night’s council meeting, Steve Streatch informed council that he wants staff to look into axing the entire library board.”

The Chicago Tribune has a nifty article (registration required) on a revived interest in lesbian pulp fiction from the ’50s and ’60s.

Playwright Patricia Kane sums up the appeal of these novels: “They embody this whole fantasy world that’s very fun, sexy, vibrant and dangerous. There is this illicit quality to them.”

Anonymous Patron shares “This goofy, but astute piece from the Dallas Observer about how to target-market print materials to young adults. (Not like teens, but real adults who are young. Is that group still called Gen X, or are they post-Gen X?)”