Throw Your Hat in the Ring! Fish Officer Descriptions

Dear Prospective Officers,
By now you're swamped with opportunities to run for office in an iSchool student organization. We here at the 'fish are happy to add to that chaos. We've spelled out below what's involved in officership: editor, marketing director or web guru. This is your shot at being at the center of a powerful media outlet. Move over, Hearst Corporation. Hit the road, Slate.com. We're talking high wow factor. Get bookish or joky, sentimental, ludicrous or silly with the ‘fish as your venue. Heck, this year the crack team at the ‘fish started the Silverfish blog and RSS feed. Who knows what you might do—daily podcasts from the ALA or Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas? The bottom line is: it’s a great way to make a contribution to the iSchool community as well as sublime portfolio material.

To nominate yourself or a colleague:  http://tinyurl.com/22drry 

Questions? Send ‘em our way: thesilverfish at gmail.com. Thanks!

Editor
Being editor of the ‘fish has been more valuable to me than a barrel full of Hammacher Schlemmer Studio-Quality Triode-Tube iPod Speakers! Not to mention entertaining. The editor oversees the production of both editions of the Silverfish (web site and blog), i.e., finding content, writers and photogs, running interference and writing and editing. Be adventurous and diplomatic—the editor’s responsible for deciding the direction of the ‘fish, but ultimately it’s a team effort.

Marketing Director
The Marketing Director promotes contributions to and readership of the Silverfish through a variety of methods, including but not limited to: snazzy flyers, email campaigns and word of mouth.

Web Master
The Web Master develops and maintains the Silverfish, keeping the site up-to-date and user friendly. The W.M. assures online content is archived for future reference and collaborates with officers on site ideas.

Joyce Hansen, MLIS
The Silverfish Editor 06-07

Welcome to The Silverfish Newsletter Blog

Welcome, iSchoolers. Come on in; have a look around. We're still working out the kinks so kick the tires, slam the doors and then leave comments and ideas below. With you in mind, dear readers and contributors, we started the blog to cut down on the wait time between issues. Now we can get your stuff out and available to peruse toot sweet--within 48 hours. So send us a contribution or two.

Scroll down to read (and see photos) about an iSchooler's adventures helping to bring collection management to a small school in The Gambia, an opinion column on hitting mid-winter ALA convention only to be surprised and a little bummed by memories of a one-time career selling ink cartridges, a comparison of free online music recommendation sites, tons of books and music reviews and more. Go ahead, sign up for RSS.

Access The Silverfish, website edition, here: Silverfish web site. By the way, The Silverfish's web site archives are currently unavailable but will be back from vacation soon!

Elections for next year's Silverfish officers are coming up. Here's what's available: Editor, Web Guru, Marketing Director. Want to be worshipped by clingy fans, eat breakfast with the U.S. President weekly, wake daily to huge, overflowing gift baskets? Well, then. Any one these positions is the job for you! More info soon.

If you prefer email, send The Silverfish, both editions, your news: thesilverfish@gmail.com. (Forget the press releases--we want the story from your own unique perspective!)

Thanks for stopping by.

Bottoms up,



Joyce Hansen
Editor Silverfish,'06-'07
The Silverfish Blog, Feed & eNewsletter
http://silverfishnewsletter.blogspot.com/
http://students.washington.edu/aliss/silverfish

"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!"

The Mummy

For Crying Out Loud: A Reading by Lemony Snicket

By Lisa M Pirlot, MLIS

“This is the end, Beautiful friend, This is the end, My only friend, the end” – The Doors

I feel obliged to begin with a word of WARNING:

Do not expect this to be an uplifting, jubilant communication extolling the virtues of our latest iServe event.

Instead, I hope it will prompt you to ask yourself:

Why would presumably rational children and sane iSchoolers elect to attend the University Bookstore’s depressing, unfortunate, and tragic event…

“For Crying Out Loud: a reading by Lemony Snicket”

…on a Thursday last October? A night meant to promote a book so hopeless…so despondent…so utterly defeating (evidenced by its painfully honest title “The End”)?

Nevertheless, children traveled from far and wide to pay homage to this legend; author of “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” and one of few with the nerve and verve to expose to a misguidedly content public the suffering this world can impose upon young people much like his dedicated Seattle attendees.

The bravery and perseverance of Snicket’s popular protagonists, the Baudelaire orphans, in the face of their villainous enemy Count Olaf, was heroically matched by these courageous Northwest children, and by the resolve of iSchool students determined to assist with this atrocious event. We arrived fearing the worst and expecting unsurpassed misfortune. We, and the children of Seattle, were not disappointed.

In his element, perhaps due to the comfortingly deplorable Northwest climate, and drearily dull gray sky; Daniel Handler (the “official representative” of Lemony Snicket) gravely apologized to the crowd for the absence of the characteristically elusive Mr. Snicket. Lucky for him, it is challenging to disgruntle a young and astute audience expertly conditioned for disappointment and suffering by the previous 12 books of his austere series.

Without going into depressing detail and tiresomely appalling specifics, let me just say that the disagreeable words of Mr. Handler were emphasized by the dire musical performance of Stephen Merritt’s The Gothic Archies (for a sample, see: http://www.lemonysnicket.com/vilevideos/). The book signing and activities, such as the “Picture Booth,” “Fortune Telling Booth,” and “Tattoo Parlor” further intensified the somber mood with lugubrious fortunes, and a terrifying tattoo selection of eyeballs, skulls, and aliens, among others. Ironically, the children seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.

If you weren’t there, thank your lucky stars. Sure, we made it out alive, yet with the distressing revelation that this event celebrated the final installation in an oddly reassuring tale of ever-increasing woe and hardship. Or, as Mr. Snicket more eloquently describes it, “170 chapters of misery in your library and countless tears in your eyes.”

The Fine Print: Please do not let this report deter you from attending future iServe events. We have learned our lesson and sincerely promise that the next one will be less perilous and exponentially more delightful. Keep your eyes and ears open for news of your next opportunity to serve the information needs of your community!

For more mournful information about Lemony Snicket and his work see:

http://www.lemonysnicket.com/