In my last posting, I made a plea for an Information School mascot. The current UW team nickname just does not cut it. I will admit that the sled dog metaphor works on a few levels: (1) a Husky can "sniff" out the best information available, (2) Huskies are efficient, hard-working creatures who know how to traverse across a icy cold, treacherous world of information, and (3) Huskies have wet noses. Okay, the last one doesn't make sense, but hopefully you can see that having a dog mascot presents a rudimentary picture of our discipline - only being focused on information retrieval. "Here, boy! Fetch! Good dog!" When, in fact, the Information School is multi-dimensional...we are finders, organizers, catalogers, collectors, cultural shapers, weeders, and patron-pleasers (not loyal to the extreme of actually licking people). Enough dog jokes already. Here are some suggestions for the new face of the iSchool:
- AAC-R2: Transcribes titles properly, tags physical descriptions, and provides a variety of access points - what can't this robot do? Lacking in communication skills ("beeps" and "boops") unless working in tandem with another droid. Infringes on two copyrights. Often seen roaming Tatooine with the FRBR monster.
- Bookie: An "urban" book-shaped character who dons a backwards ballcap and a golden interlibrary loan sleeve. Popular taglines are "Leave the shelvin' to me, bro!" and "Dewey is wack, yo!" Contrary to what you might think, Bookie is not down with gambling, unless you're just reading about it.
- Meta the Fighting Beta Fish: Ruthless in protecting library collections, but prefers to work alone like most catalogers and archivists. He has a somewhat isolated worldview. For instance, he doesn't see a problem with "Astral Travel" being physically located next to "Asian Travel."
- Biblio: A nondescript blob of information. No one knows for sure if he is a work, an expression, a manifestation, or an item. No one even knows if he is a she. Cousin of Izzy, the Atlanta 1996 Olympics mascot.
Some links to actual library mascots:
- Baxter - Be sure to check out the Costume FAQs!
- The yet-to-be-named Pierce County Library Mascot
- Jessica - This scares me. Did I mention I hate purple?
- Corky - Eucalyptus comes second to books.
- P.J. Pelican - Not that anything needs to be made more exciting in Saskatchewan.
- Marvin B. Moose
- Booker
- and my favorite name...Keyboard Ken
I'm naming all my future children after them!
3 comments:
Has “book worm” been taken? Little green worm, popping out of a hole in a novel; it’s that easy folks.
Or, perhaps it should be Go-Go from the movie Kill Bill. She appears very studius in her little school girl outfit. Kids 'in the know' could call her "The Gogues." :D
I like Meta myself.
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