LOVE + LIFE + LIBRARIES

Soapbox overturned??

wonksrus — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:30:31 +0000

It really is all in how you write the story…

~Charlotte (who is starting to realize she just needs to be more comfortable in her own library-loving skin)

Charlotte’s Soapbox

wonksrus — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:16:35 +0000

Every time I see or hear the phrase “hip, young librarians” I catch myself on the verge of gagging. Why, you ask? Weeeeelll…as one such young librarian, I find it a bit tiring to be singled out as the antithesis of the “old librarian stereotype.” Above-referenced article contains at least one such mention. I quote:

“…Although ‘hip’ is not an adjective generally associated with librarians, a stack of archivists, publishers, illustrators, librarians, and other bibliophiles called the Desk Set is out to challenge their image as staid…”

Don’t you just love the press?

A lovely group of young people who share professional goals and a love of all things bookish decide that it would be fun to get together on a regular basis to socialize and let down their nonexistant buns. Not so different from how I spend my weekends to be honest (though I tend to leave out the cataloging of my drinks and the official logo, which I might add is pretty sharp…)

ENTER THE PRESS…

The PRESS seems to think it’s ‘neat,’ ‘hip,’ ‘cool,’ ‘groovy’ that librarians might even think to have a few drinks and dance the night away. Thus they write these catchy little pieces that highlight how unusual such a bunch of people is…how different from the norm or stereotype they are. And the kicker? All the while the journalists are creating their cute little stories, they are perpetuating the librarian stereotype just by virtue of mentioning it for point of comparison…

Of course those Desk Set librarians (I only single them out because they’re the subject of this article…MANY of us are guilty) don’t quite help matters when they drink dewey decimal-titled cocktails and sport slogans like “she blinded me with library science.” Again, so consciously resisting the stereotype that the end result is something that brings the stereotype to the front of our minds.

Soooo….from one young librarian to many others. I think it’s time we just be ourselves, whatever that might mean…

Now THAT would be something to write about…

~Charlotte

CCube phone home?

wonksrus — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:00:45 +0000

Heard an interesting piece on npr’s “Marketplace” this morning. It was all about Ccube, a social networking site that takes the online networking concept to a whole new level. Not only can people find you, but they can CALL you! The reporter equated it to “telemarketing in reverse”…instead of individuals with certain interests or services calling you, you’re searching for and calling them!

Each Ccube member’s profile comes equipped with an optional “call me on Ccube” button. All phone numbers are kept secure and confidential by Ccube (caller IDs will display the Ccube number rather than the person’s private number), so people can choose to remain anonymous if they wish. Additionally, users can block unwanted callers, decide during what hours to receive calls, and accept/reject requests to talk with others.

Users can access this service for free, as long as they use under 60 minutes of talk time per month. 250 minutes costs $7/mo, and 1,000 minutes costs $20/mo.

For now I’m reserving judgment on Ccube, as it’s still a fledgling…but I can’t help but think there will be many implications to spending up to 1,000 minutes per month talking to strangers. Speaking for myself, I know that I don’t spend that much time talking on the phone with friends and family! Maybe talking to strangers is easier??

I’m curious about whether Ccube will sink or swim, and I’m curious to know whether it’s something my students will be jumping on board with. Post a comment and let me know what you think…

~Charlotte

Peevish?

wonksrus — Tue, 08 May 2007 15:00:07 +0000

Today I happened across this little entry at Merriam-Webster Online . Check the example sentence of the word. harumph! Will we ever shake this sterotype? Examples of this are disheartening, because it goes to show how ingrained and pervasive sterotypes can be. In this case, the stereotype makes it into reference material, which in my mind should strive to be more objective with their examples….especially because libraries are probably their biggest customers!
It just occurred to me that the paragraph above makes me sound a little peevish and am aware of the irony.
OK, back to being non-peevish: I think the profession has come a long way to improve our image and prove to patrons that we are friendly, approachable, and certainly NOT peevish. I think we have a great staff and am constantly amazed at the lengths they go to to help our patrons.

peevish

One entry found for peevish. Entry Word: peevish
Function: adjective
Text: 1 easily irritated or annoyed peevish librarian for help> — see IRRITABLE

Batgirl, Ben Franklin, and Laura Bush

wonksrus — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:19:11 +0000

This morning Lucille, Charlotte and I along with another co-worker were able to participate in Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day . Having no children of my own, I am always a little confused at what young adults are thinking these days. I feel out of touch with the under 20-something population. I must say, I was excited at their laughterfor some of our jokes, their attentiveness, and the way a few of them ran to the circulation desk to sign up for a library card after the session. While some of the attendees may have been a little bleary eyed for our 8 30 am presentation (who can blame them on a rainy morning?), this librarian-to-be felt a renewed sense of passion for her chosen field. It may seem silly, sometimes it just takes saying outloud how amazing the job opportunities are, the value of the work you do, and remembering the people who are helped by the profession to really feel the proverbial pat-on-the-back for the career choice one has made. Of course, it helps having amazing co-workers to be role models and all-around-library-heroes along the way. I think that Evie (Rachel Weisz) sums it all up in her statement

“Look, I… I may not be an explorer, or an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker, or a gunfighter, Mr. O’Connell, but I am proud of what I am…. I am a librarian. “

And just so you know– Ben Franklin, Laura Bush, and Batgirl are all librarians. Don’t believe me? Check this video out!

You are beautiful

wonksrus — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:35:50 +0000

Ok, this is admittedly a bit out of scope for our blog, but I thought it was too neat not to share, plus I did see it on the way to the library, so that counts for something, right?

Anyway, in light of recent events taking place at college campuses, this was nice to see on ours. I like this kind of beautiful graffiti–it made me smile.

Teaching and Learning With Technology – Charlotte and Lucille @ the Symposium

wonksrus — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:20:52 +0000

This Saturday, April 14, Lucille and I attended the annual TLT (teaching and learning with technology) Symposium at Penn State’s Conference Center, the Penn Stater. I have to say, despite the fact that we had to give up an entire SATURDAY to participate in it, this conference was one of the best, most pleasant, that we’ve been to in…well…maybe ever. First of all, the theme for the day was Social Computing and the Culture of Teaching and Learning, a most relevant and exciting topic. The keynote speakers were engaging, the sessions useful and interesting, of course the technology was amazing, people were absolutely friendly, and the food was great (MOST important at an all-day event!).

The day began with a keynote from Lee Rainie (the one standing to the left of JoePa in the picture), Director of the Pew Internet Project. Lee shared his insights, and the Project’s insights on the differences between digital natives and digital immigrants. In sum, the world needs both breeds of people, but it really helps when we understand one another, which is something the Pew studies help us to do. Rainie’s entire address will be available via vodcast soon! Stay tuned to Alan Gyorke’s blog for updates and postings related to the conference. He’s already posted some amazing statistics on the amount of social computing the symposium alone precipitated…

Lucille and I share an interest in how vodcasting might be used in the library setting so next we headed to Patrice Clemson’s session, titled “New Student–Information to Go: Designing a Campus-Wide Vodcasting Utility.” Clips shared in the session were admittedly rough–the final production is still in development–but Patrice gave some great pointers on how to foster a campus-wide network of support for the new endeavor, as well as what type of equipment to use for creating. She’s done a great job getting this started at the Penn State Beaver Campus!

Next came what was perhaps the highlight of our day. Whilst taking a breather in the Penn Stater’s computer lounge, we happened upon Bryan Alexander, Research Director at NITLE, the mid-day featured speaker, and also the man standing to the right of the JoePa statue in the picture. So far, I’ve neglected to mention that this symposium took place amidst quite a bit of weather related hub-bub. Bryan was worried about his travel plans, so we got into a bit of chatter about local climate, etc. (small talk, small talk, small talk) Then…

Bryan Alexander: SO, are you two graduate students? (a question we take as a compliment since we are indeed beyond the age of graduate school)

One of us: Well, no…we’re actually librarians…

Bryan Alexander: Oh! I love librarians…something something something (he was really speaking too fast and exhuberantly to catch it verbatim in my memory but it boiled down to how reference librarians were his heroes and really at the very heart of the issues the symposium discussed, etc., etc., etc.) …Then….What area of the library do you two work in? Cataloging?

Lucille: (with a ‘heavens no!’ glinting in her eyes) We’re REFERENCE Librarians

And at that exact moment, Bryan Alexander stood up, and bowed down to us–wish I had a picture to prove it!–but the memory is emblazened in our minds forever, I’m sure. He then took his leave…

Shortly thereafter was the mid-day keynote. Unfortunately we were unable to catch the whole thing, as we actually had a presentation to prepare for! But what we did hear was quite insightful. He highlighted lots of cool technologies (that I will save for a later blog post as this one is now QUITE long), and pointed out something that perhaps has always been the obvious, but I have to admit it never popped into my head. And that is: People have a deep love of archiving! (Are we all librarians at heart then? Perhaps…) And this, coupled with the technologies now available, are what provide fuel for the social networking phenomenon. We had to leave, shortly after Bryan showed this video… Wow! I think Lucille and I are among the newest addicts to this dude! For more on Bryan Alexander’s presentation check out what Cole Camplese, Director of Education and Technology Services of Penn State, has to say .

Not much could top the Ninja and being BOWED TO, but I am pleased to say that our very own presentation went off without a hitch, and the rest of the symposium was just as excellent as the first half had been. So excellent that there was much blogging, twittering, flickring, and podcasting about it…and more to come I’m sure. ~Charlotte

do you have it in full text?

wonksrus — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:58:33 +0000

I was at the reference desk this morning and a patron asked me how to look up a book. I explained the catalog and showed her how to look up a particular book she needed. I wrote down the call number, directed her to the correct location and offered to help with anyone else.

She took the paper with her pretty hot pink fingernails and said thanks. Then she added “Is this going to be full-text?”

I held in my laughter and replied “Most of the books are full text.”

She smiled and said “Phew. Good.”

Smells like library spirit

wonksrus — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:45:05 +0000

Trying to meet a bibliophile? This valentine’s day, you might try this new perfume by Christopher Brosius called “In the Library”. That smell of “leather bindings, worn cloth and wood polish” might just be enough to attact yourself a lover.

getting used to new technologies was never easy…apparently

wonksrus — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 16:02:49 +0000

Check it!