The Silverfish Newsletter

What's in a name?

2011-11-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

I've heard from several people that they would write for The Silverfish, if only they knew what to write. I'm not here to tell you what to write, exactly. It has to come from you, or you won't have fun writing it. And fun is the point...for the most point.

I do have a general list of what we're looking for.

Reviews of books, movies based on books
Article responses
Action reports from conferences: reactions to conferences attended; Review of conferences-what helped, what didn't.
Class reports: Kind of like a "what I know now that I didn't know..."; "I took this class, and it was good because..."
Opinion pieces on issues that have arisen in your research (e.g. Why we should give money to libraries after natural disasters).
More breaking news, things and issues that will change quickly, can be posted here, on the blog.

If you're still unsure about what to write, but might have ideas, you are always welcome to bounce them off of us. Just email them to thesilverfish@gmail.com

Happy Writing!

Con Seeks Pro: Electronic Books

2011-07-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

This is something a little new for us. We hope to spark conversations about different aspects of our information world by setting up one side of an argument. I'll be taking the con side in this discussion as I am a book snob, and I welcome comments from anyone and everyone on this topic.

As I wrote, I am a book snob. This title encompasses everything from content to smell. For the sake of argument, we'll focus on the snobbery that has to do with what makes a book a book. For me, a book consists of several pages (several being anywhere between 4 and infinity), with words and, sometimes, pictures that tell a story. This story can be fictional or not, it doesn't matter. It is usually made of paper and held together by glue. Books come in many different shapes, sizes and lengths. A book has heft. You can hear the paper as you turn the page. There is a specific smell to a book, especially if the pages have begun to turn yellow. It's slightly musty and sweet. It's welcoming and relaxing. A book that is falling apart, while a sad sight, shows that it has been well loved. Also, nothing beats cracking the spine on a paper back. I am well aware that such an act is really bad for the binding, but if they are privately owned books: love it well.

Before I become too carried away in my musings, I have to admit that I do own a Nook Color from Barnes & Nobel, and I think it's a very handy device. I can search the web, check my email, and download the readings for class directly. It saves money and paper in this regard because I do not have to print out anything. I have even downloaded and read a few stories on my Nook. However, I would not call the stories I've downloaded books. They do not meet my above requirements, though they are novels. An e-book is not a book because, despite what can be done with e-readers--added sound effects, added heft, covers that make it seem like a book--it does not, above all else, smell like a book. There are ways to change that. One could spritz it with a certain perfume from CB I Hate Perfume (In The Library), but it's not the same. Electronic books are posers that really don't deserve to be called books because they fail to meet my requirements of what makes a book a book.

The Silverfish Podcast #005 -- David Laskin and The Long Way Home

2011-03-19T14:57:00.001-07:00

The Cyberpunk Librarian sits down with the historian and biographer David Laskin. We talk about The early 20th century emigrant experience, the horrors of 'the war to end all wars' and the struggle for legitimacy by conscientious objectors during that war.

Also, weather.

This podcast is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and is dedicated to the memory of Corporal Frank Buckles, the last member of the American Expeditionary Force.

Listen to the Podcast here.

Or you can subscribe to The Silverfish Podcast by pointing your podcatcher here: http://students.washington.edu/aliss/silverfish/silverfish.xml

Or you can now:

'Fish Food

2011-03-16T00:38:00.001-07:00

Recently, we had a very bad shock.

We realized that should the move to a fully virtual reading experience take place, the humble Lepisma saccharina, deprived of the glues and inks that give it sustenance, may in fact become extinct. As our slightly ironic mascot, we feel it to be our duty to provide a safe future habitat for this lovable (if disgusting and universally reviled) creature. We therefore take the following radical step:

The Silverfish Newsletter will be printing a supplemental issue of prose, poetry and black & white two dimensional art. As always we want this to be your publication, so we welcome your submissions!

Please send poetry, prose or image files to: thesilverfish@gmail.com prior to the submission deadline of May 1st 2011. We'll have broadsheets (11" by 17") ready in time for Summer!

(While your submissions cannot be returned, we promise that we will not feed them to any biological silverfish)

Silverfish Podcast #004 -- Dr. Janes vs Watson and The End Of Days

2011-03-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

Karl and Dr. Janes discuss the implications of IBM's Jeopardy playing supercomputer. Will some clever assemblage of Big Data and Natural Language Processing spell the end of the Librarian as a profession? Find out here first!

Direct Link to .MP3 file

Subscribe to the podcast here or at iTunes!

All Music © 2001-2010 Kevin MacLeod
(http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/)

Silverfish Podcast #002

2011-01-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

This episode features an interview with Conor Casey, Labor Archivist for the University of Washington. Conor walks us through his personal and family involvement with labor as well as his interest in the greater context of labor's influence on Pacific Northwest Culture. His library guide-page can be found here. The Labor Archives of Washington State at: http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcoll/laws/ is the long URL he mentioned at the end of the interview.

You can listen to this episode at:

http://students.washington.edu/aliss/silverfish/podcast/002_Silverfish_podcast.mp3

or subscribe by pointing your favorite podcatcher at:

http://students.washington.edu/aliss/silverfish/silverfish.xml

All Music © 2001-2010 Kevin MacLeod
(http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/)

All your blogs are belong to us (we hope)

2011-01-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

The Silverfish's Blog Roll (http://students.washington.edu/aliss/silverfish/siteDocs/blogroll.html) has been updated!

We've been keeping this list iSchooler blogs, websites and podcasts since 2008, and welcome your contributions. If you are blogging, podding or otherwise interacting in an internet-facing sorta way, we want to tell the iSchool community about it. Just send us a a link and a short bio and we'll do our bit to add to your web-based immortality.

The Silverfish has gone audio!

2010-12-20T20:31:00.000-08:00

You can listen to our first podcast at:

http://students.washington.edu/aliss/silverfish/podcast/001_Silverfish_podcast.mp3

or subscribe by pointing your favorite podcatcher at:

http://students.washington.edu/aliss/silverfish/silverfish.xml

In this episode, The UW's Special Project Librarian, John Gibbs talks about the importance of transforming the University's collection of 78 RPM discs into digital formats.

The links to the collections and pages discussed in this podcast are available here:

The music library special collections:
http://guides.lib.washington.edu/content.php?pid=61896&sid=998151

The Offenbacher Mozart Collection
http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/mozart.html

Audio Preservation:
http://guides.lib.washington.edu/AudioPreservation

Library Book Blogs: The good the bad and the ugly

2010-11-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

"Awful Library Books," one of my favorite blogs , has a new address and a new look. If you haven't seen this site, you should definitely check it out. It's a great reminder of the importance of weeding!

Afterward, you can cleanse your eyeballs by spending some time on my other favorite site, BibliOdyssey.

Inside Edition takes on the library

2010-10-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Lisa M. submitted this clip from Inside Edition about the director's salary at the New York City Public Library. Both a written article and the clip from the show are at this URL. What do you think about tabloid TV's take on library salaries?

http://www.insideedition.com/news/5157/inside-edition-investigates-monster-salaries.aspx

Thanks Lisa!

2009-06-28T22:04:00.001-07:00

More crazy furniture!

2009-05-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

To follow up on an older post, here are some neat bookshelves I found.

#1 reminds me of the sleeping pods in 2001: A Space Odyssey
#6 is akin to the movable shelves VA Hospitals used to use to bring reading material to bed-ridden patients, only much nicer! (don't ask me how I know about these things, some things are best left unknown...)
#18 a round sofa-bookcase!! Chic!

Which are your favorites?

2009-04-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

Cat and librarians. Libraries and cats. Dewey the wonder cat. And now, and amazing interactive map of cats and libraries from around the world, both currently purring with us or chasing squirrels in the great Heaviside Layer.

(image by adamscarroll)

BEHOLD! The Power of the Archivist!

2009-04-20T08:16:00.001-07:00

Diablo III has a new character, The Archivist. And it's about time librarian kick-assery was acknowledged by the video game industry. Now if I can just harness the shushing power, the library would be a much nicer place to work. But I wonder who will clean up the mess...

There's an encyclopedia for everything...

2009-04-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

For one of my DFW projects last quarter, I did research about encyclopedias that have been published recently. And let me tell you, there are A LOT. The encyclopedia business is booming, apparently. And there are some pretty odd encyclopedias out there. Here are a few of my favorites:

Entertaining from Ancient Rome to the Superbowl: An Encyclopedia (KCLS owns it)
Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History (UW-Tacoma has a copy)
The Business of Wine: An Encyclopedia
Extinct Animals : An Encyclopedia of Species That Have Disappeared During Human History
Prime-Time Religion: An Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting (Available now at Suzzallo!)
For Appearance' Sake: The Historical Encyclopedia of Good Looks, Beauty, and Grooming (In the Suzzallo Reference section)
Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships: A Global Exploration of Our Connections with Animals (a four volume set!)

If you could make up your own encyclopedia, what topic would you choose? I'd be interested in reading an encyclopedia of sushi. And what do you know, it already exists. And SPL has it! It's specifically about sushi rolls. I think I'd like something a little more comprehensive. Or maybe I'll just go eat some sushi. I think I like that option best...

Lexicons in literature

2009-03-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson. Stephenson's writing is, well, it is *not* concise as can be seen by this 935 page volume. It is, however, extremely clear and well-written. The way he uses words amazes me. He creates his own vocabulary to describe the futuristic world where this novel takes place. For example, he uses the word "saunt" to mean a person that is a combination of a saint and a savant. The context gives absolute clarity to the term while you are reading - and makes me wonder why we don't have many of these words in our parlance already.

So my question is, why would one include a lexicon in a book when crystal clear definitions for the terms have already been given? Stephenson's lexicon is interspersed throughout the story. Some are at chapter breaks and some right in the middle of a scene (for lack of a better word). I personally find this to be quite irritating. I am compelled to read the definitions because I am afraid that I will miss something vital to the story if I do not, and yet I rarely learn something that he has not already revealed through his diction. I would be tempted to see them included as footnotes - but know that I would still stop to read them in the same manner. For me, it would be best to put them at the end in a glossary that I could read if I wanted to, or if I had a question about the meaning of a term. With all that said, however, it is a really well-written book and has some interesting ideas for archivists and philosophers - as well as musicians, mathemeticians, scientists... Just read the book.

Another interesting question, or thought really, is also raised in my mind as I read this book. Has Stephenson created a new genre with his latest creation? This work is what he styles as speculative fiction, as opposed to science fiction. It definitely contains some science, and it is fiction - yet it is more than that. To hear what Stephenson himself has to say about this potentially emerging genre, click here.

Book Talking

2009-03-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last class session for LIS 569 (Book Lust 101) with Nancy Pearl. It was a fantastic class, by the way--if you haven't taken it yet, you should definitely try to at some point.

Anyway, one of the things we learned in the class was the importance of book talking in readers' advisory. I'm not all that comfortable with public speaking in general, and book talking is (in my opinion) even more difficult than "regular" public speaking (giving formal presentations and stuff like that) because you don't want to sound like you're giving a speech; the goal is to sound as natural as possible--as if you're just having a conversation with the audience.

During the class when we first began discussing book talks, Nancy gave us "17 things to think about"--useful hints and tips for doing book talks. Here they are (somewhat paraphrased):

Before you start talking, take a deep breath and let it out. (Believe it or not, this is really important and it does help.)
Smile. :)
Do the book talk in a way you feel comfortable. There is no right or wrong "style" to give a book talk. The most important thing is to be yourself.
Show enthusiasm! You are trying to "sell" the book to your audience. On a related note, don't book talk something you didn't really like or that you haven't read yet. The audience can tell you're faking it.
Try to get to a point where you're not reading from your notes. Speak as naturally as possible; have a conversation with the audience. If you have notes, keep them short. Know how you're going to start and end the talk, but try not to have a script.
Don't overprepare. If you try to memorize your entire book talk, you'll either sound fake or freak out if you lose your place.
Maintain eye contact.
Ignore the distractions in the audience (people texting, sleeping, etc.).
When you're preparing your book talk, ask yourself what the "takeaway" of the book is. What do you want the audience to remember? Make sure there's at least one detail for them to grab onto. And don't put in minor or irrelevant details. You don't want your book talk to feel cluttered.
Try to give the audience a sense of who you are and what you like to read.
Use language that the audience would use. This goes back to being "conversational" in your book talks.
Keep it short. Don't talk about the plot for more than 1 or 2 sentences. And don't give away plot twists or the exciting stuff.
Try to convey what your own feelings were when you were reading the book. People like to hear about how you personally connected with the book.
If you are good at reading aloud, incorporating a passage into your book talk is a good way to hook the audience. But if you're not good at it, or you're too nervous, just don't do it.
Another way to do a hook is to start with a question. "Have you ever wondered . . . " Other good phrases: "Imagine . . . " or "If you like to read ____, here's another . . . "
Don't make your closing line "I really loved this book." Find an unusual way of ending the talk that brings everything together.
If you're book talking a lot of books at once, have a handout with a list of the books with space underneath each one for notes.

Miscellaneous Info. Bits

2009-02-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

It's kinda like AlphaBits, the cereal, only better! Here are some of the random things that have been circulating through my brain lately:

Books! I just read Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. These are both *fabulous* YA books, but rest assured that adults will enjoy them, too. Both will have full reviews coming in the next issue of SilverFish. Don't wait for those; read them now. As my 12 year old niece said "Graceling is better than Harry Potter, Twilight and Maximum Ride!" Can you get a better recommendation than that?

Diversity! I just took a great skills workshop class through the Evans School called "Authentic Conversations in Diversity." One of the things we discussed was the use of phrases or words that may unintentionally be offensive to someone. A few were obvious to me, such as "that's so gay" or "jew them down". One that was new to me was "rule of thumb." This is based on an old law that said a man could beat his wife with a stick - as long as it was no wider than his thumb.

Information Grounds! Sometimes I truly am an ostrich in regards to information. How can I be so oblivious to things happening around me? For example, I am doing a DFW at Garfield HS this quarter, which has been an amazing opportunity to work with teens, and I was talking to a friend who is doing his student teaching at a high school in Shoreline. He asked me how things have been at Garfield after the basketball game... Huh? Apparently there was a big racial incident at the game between them and Redmond. One of the sad things here for me is that I was at GHS 3 of 5 days after the incident and still never picked up on it. What kind of information professional am I? So, learn a lesson from me - by doing what I say and not what I do - keep your eyes and ears open no matter where you are because I'm sure there is some good information, just waiting to be discovered.

Good luck with registration for spring quarter! Remember that it is this Friday, Feb. 20th.

Book Furniture

2009-02-09T17:57:00.001-08:00

Move over book arts!

Time now for some functional book creations. Check out these vases, lamps, and table-like things by artist Laura Cahill. She makes use of materials that would otherwise been wasted. Cahill states "the glue in old books make them extremely difficult to recycle. Aware of this I challenged myself to turn the second hand books that I had been collecting, into desirable objects such as furniture, lighting and ornaments.."

While some people believe the book to be a sacred object, I'd rather have a book be reincarnated into functional art than tossed nonchalantly into the recycle bin (yeah, big dumpsters in Allen, I mean you) or slowly decomposing in landfills. And this so much more chic than those BigCozyBooks blighting a library near you.

This is not a new idea. Indeed, in 2004 a MIT visiting scientist created an entire bedroom-themed recycled book display. While I'll pass sleeping in that bed (um, paper cuts anyone?) the rocking chair is pretty nice. If only I had a little extra time on my hands...

Information Overload: Trying to Deal

2009-02-01T14:49:00.001-08:00

Ack! I am suffering from information overload, but I hear that there are some good antidotes out there. Like I just discovered Zotero. (Apparently, everyone who took LIS 530 with Joe Tennis last year had to add the Firefox extension.) Zotero describes itself as "The Next-Generation Research Tool," helping you to collect, manage, and cite your research sources. Sounds amazing! Also sounds like more work...

Check it out.

Fictional Librarians

2009-01-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

I recently finished re-reading the Harry Potter series, and I found myself reflecting on the portrayal of the Hogwarts librarian, Madame Pince. A minor character in the series, she unfortunately embodies many negative librarian stereotypes--unfriendly, extremely strict, and decidedly unattractive ("vulture-like" is one description found in the books).

To J.K. Rowling's credit, she actually apologizes for this characterization, which was for purposes of the plot rather than her actual perception of librarians.

But anyway, I got to thinking about depictions of librarians I've come across in other films and books. One favorite is Mrs. Phelps, the kindly librarian in Roald Dahl's Matilda, who encourages and cultivates Matilda's love of reading.

Another fun one, which I came across more recently, is from Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's MirrorMask. Although the librarian is a shusher, he does prove to be helpful and you get the feeling that he's probably not as grumpy as he acts. And hey, bonus points for the librarian being a guy.

Top 5 Reasons to come to iYouth Book Club Meetings

2009-01-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

5. Because it makes you sound smart. Seriously, when you are at a party and you hear someone say things about their book club, don't you envy them, just for a minute, because they are smart enough to belong to a book club? Just think, now, you too, could discourse at length about your very own fabulous book club. We'll help you come up with phrases to astound, sentences to amaze, and thoughts that will impress others to no end.

4. Because we talk about great books. Each time we meet, we pick a picture book and a young adult novel for in-depth discussion. We have chosen some really intense works such as Unwind by Neal Shusterman (which we are talking about on January 12th. Don't miss it!), 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and Little Brother by Corey Doctorow. We have also chosen fun and heart-warming books like Knufflebunny by Mo Willems, And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. We also talked about Arlene Sardine by Chris Raschka, too. I don't know which category that one falls into, but makes for some interesting conversation!

3. Because it is convenient. We meet on the second Monday of every month at 9:30 AM, MGH 310D. I suppose that if we came right to your home, that would be slightly more convenient for you - but not for the rest of us... However, campus is your second home anyway, your cozy little nest where you spend any and all of your free time. The ambience can't be beat!

2. Because it is where all the cool kids hang out. Ahh, you thought it was at the College Inn, didn't you? Well, that is correct some of the time - but on book club days, this is where you will find the super cool kids. We know you are one too, so what are you waiting for? Join us already! There is no need to be planning to go into children's and youth services. If you enjoy discussing literature and hanging out with people who make you think, and make you laugh, then this is exactly the right place for you. Everyone is welcome!

1. Because there is always the possibility that there will be food! And on Monday, January 12th, there is a very high likelihood that there will be food. In fact, I would go so far as to guarantee that there will be food at the meeting. What could possibly be better than that? Some caffeine, you say. Hmm, you may be on your own there, but there will be food! Don't believe me? Stop by and find out! We will be waiting for you!

So, if you didn't figure it out yet (but you all did, since only the most intelligent sort of folks read The Silverfish), you are welcome to attend any and all iYouth book club meetings. We look forward to hearing what you have to say about what we're reading. For any additional details, check out our website, courtesy of the fabulous Elizabeth Mitchell, here:

http://students.washington.edu/iyouthuw/iYouthClub.html

See you soon!

2009-01-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

I came across this promo for 4th Estate Publishing's 25th anniversary. The short film is produced by Apt Studio and Asylum Films.

"The film was produced in stop-motion over 3 weeks in Autumn 2008. Each scene was shot on a home-made dolly by an insane bunch of animators; you can see time-lapse films of each sequence being prepared and shot in our other films."

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

Photographic pleasures, again: Opacity.us

2008-12-16T20:52:00.001-08:00

Opacity.us is full of mesmerizing photographs by the talented, enigmatic and handsome 'Mr. Motts'. This addictive site features gorgeous images from 'urban exploration' – the practice of entering closed or abandoned buildings or spaces, seeing what's there, and (ideally) leaving without damaging or removing any of the contents.

Opacity.us could attract many different audiences: people into steampunk culture, Goths, architecture enthusiasts, and photography fans. Some buildings in the galleries were built in the mid-to-late 19^th century, and often many attractive architectural details remain intact. Elegant shapes and finely carved or cast details assert their beauty among broken windows and graffiti. Corrosion, peeling paint, water damage, and other decay produces striking visual effects, rich with texture and color. In some of the more remote buildings, plant life has forced its way in, turning enclosed courtyards into little forests, sending green vines or branches up walls or through glassless windows. Moss softens the appearance of stark walls and floors. Practical, functional spaces somehow acquire sensual qualities through Mott's lens. Each location becomes a strange alternate reality; full of vaguely familiar objects but eerily out of sync with the world you think you know.

The mood set by these photographs can vary from dreamlike to nostalgic to frightening. Somehow he knows how to frame a shot of an empty chair so that the image makes the viewer wonder about the people who once occupied these buildings. You're almost compelled to think of the lonely patients, children in state schools, factory workers, priests and nuns, the nurses and doctors who cared for the people confined in these sprawling spaces. Their absence from the spaces makes one curious about their presence, particularly when human touches appear. Papers and dishes sit on desks or in kitchens as though someone has stepped away for moments instead of years. A medicine cabinet still holds toothbrushes labeled with the names of vanished patients.

Locations run a fascinating gamut: mental hospitals, a crypt, old prisons, schools, a train yard, factories, hotels, chapels and other types of institutional buildings. Many sites were once asylums for the tubercular or mentally ill, or 'isolation hospitals' for people suffering from various diseases. There's even a series of atmospheric industrial images from a Stella Artois brewery in Belgium. The latest photo galleries feature abandoned locations in Belgium: a convent with arched doorways inside and out, and an amusement park where two ostriches still wander among old bumper cars and giant slides. The photographs are well composed and visually powerful.

The photographer sometimes employs certain techniques to create a particular look, such as long exposures or digital manipulation of color, but usually the 'look' comes from a keen understanding of how to work with available light, and a distinctive aesthetic sensibility.

Urban exploration is a somewhat controversial subject. Most of the locations are private property, and they are usually patrolled by security guards or local police. Entering abandoned or closed buildings is illegal, of course, and indulging one's curiosity = trespassing in most jurisdictions. There is a considerable risk of injury from rotting floorboards, broken glass, asbestos, mold, needles discarded by drug users, or other hazards. Motts clearly states that the photographs and information on his site are for "historic and enjoyment purposes only" and does not encourage others to duplicate his efforts by visiting the sites; indeed, he often conceals their true names and locations as a means of protecting them from vandalism. However, some buildings are well known, and historical information is provided for these. Many of the buildings have burned down or been destroyed, so there's a preservation aspect as to this photo site.

Images are searchable by keyword. There is a comments function for each photo. Some commenters are past employees or residents of mental health institutions, hospitals, or similar institutions and the true-life stories they share often provide context and understanding of the equipment or physical arrangements of the rooms. The reasons for the construction of half-walls surrounding beds on an open ward become clear, as does the widespread popularity of hydrotherapy for psychiatric patients, evidenced by the many sizes and shapes of bathtubs in asylums. It gets grim sometimes; Motts doesn't hesitate to photograph empty morgues, iron lungs, gurneys, or carcasses of animals that take shelter in abandoned structures. However, his approach turns images of the skeletal wings of a bird into a study of its graceful structure.

Viewing a series of Opacity photos can feel like taking a walk through Sleeping Beauty's Castle years before the rescuer fights through the thorns, bearing hope and a kiss. The building and its ghosts sleep, waiting for someone to arrive so that it can live again.

Procrastination pleasure for the archivally minded library student: Shorpy.com

2008-11-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of photographs on Shorpy.com, a vintage photography blog, depict vanished American scenes. The images are fascinating in their variety, oddness, and often, their beauty. Images on the site are typically from a restricted date range, the 1850s – 1950s. Little details of daily life appear: vanished technologies, WWI-era delivery trucks, 1920s car accidents, eccentrics and their inventions, airplanes and zeppelins, and more.

Shorpy is really about people, not things. Here they are: boy scouts, child laborers, soldiers, government employees, socialites, workers, Civil War soldiers, people at beaches and amusement parks, dancers, country people surviving the Great Depression, ‘artistic’ photos of chorus girls , the rich and the poor. Many images show early 20^th century scenes of daily life in large cities such as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City.

The beauty of Shorpy.com lies in its variety and the ability to view high-resolution versions of each image by following a link. When the photographs, especially those originating as glass plate negatives, are viewed in high resolution it is easier to see small details such as signs, product labels, graffiti, or artwork in the background or margins of each image provide context and details about the places and people. High resolution detail reveals ads for Nehi soda and 1930scowboy movies.

There are some color images from a variety of sources, including personal collections. Recently, the site has hosted a fascinating LIFE magazine series by legendary photographer Marguerite Bourke-White depicted contrasting scenes of life under segregation in South Carolina circa 1956. Teenagers dance in a ‘juke joint’, and a nuclear family prays around the dinner table in a color-coordinated kitchen.

You can search for images by photographer name. Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein, Lewis Hine, and Walker Evans are just a few familiar names.

As the site’s slogan declares, there is “always something interesting” for the archivally-minded library student, history fans, or anyone interested in art and design. You’ll find at least one image here to intrigue and distract you from the papers you should be writing.

If you’re fascinated by cultural documents and maintaining their accessibility, please check out the campus activities and field trips offered by the student chapter of the Society of American Archivists at UW, or SAA-UW.

Werewolves or Cannibals?

2008-11-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

I love hanging out with middle school kids. Where else could you get involved in a discussion about whether you would rather meet werewolves or cannibals?

There I was, at Whitman Middle School, blithely going about my routine tasks for my DFW: checking books in, checking books out. You know, the sort of things that middle school librarians are expected to do. But then I started to hear raised voices, heated discussion! I walked over to find out what was going on and if intervention would be necessary. As soon as I walked over to the two students whose voices i had heard, they immediately turned on me and demanded to know if I would rather meet a werewolf or a cannibal.

I was taken aback because I had never really considered either option before, regardless of my propensity to read trashy vampire/werewolf novels. What are the pros and cons of both situations? On the one hand, a werewolf could potentially turn me into a werewolf as well. A cannibal would just eat me. I'd be dead. End of story. I'm leaning towards this option, but then it hits me: werewolves aren't real - so I should meet one of them. Good choice? You decide. However, I have to tell you that the two boys said they would want to meet both at the same time and they would just pit the two against each other and run away as quickly as possible.

Ahhh, middle school libraries. Gotta love them!

Affordable, Fun, Thought-Provoking: Underground Railroad Film Series, November 20

2008-11-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

Greetings, iSchool folks. Need a break this Thursday evening? On a budget? You may enjoy this film screening on Thursday, November 20.

In my non-iSchool life (yes, I still have one and I know that you do, too) I curate the annual Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, a program of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. Our fall & winter Underground Railroad Film Series is a monthly event featuring cinema and conversation. Everyone is welcome.

We show many international and cross-cultural films. Past UR films have included the Uruguayan literacy/magical realism drama, Adios Momo; How Do I Look, a documentary about the African American and Latino LGBT 'drag ball' culture of Harlem, New York; Black Israel, about African American and African converts to Judaism; and When the Spirits Dance Mambo, a documentary about Santeria/Yoruba religion and Afro-Cuban musical traditions.

Join us on Thursday for two narrative films about African American and Asian American interactions:

AKIRA’S HIP-HOP SHOP

(37 mins., special public screening of the director’s cut!)

Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Hidmo Eritrean Cuisine, 2000 Jackson Street (Metro bus #14)
Admission: Suggested donation of $5.00
Filmmaker Joe Doughrity will be present for a Q&A session!

Written and directed by Joe Doughrity

Akira’s Hip Hop Shop stars James Kyson Lee (”Heroes”) and Emayatzy Corinealdi (”The Young & the Restless”).

An interracial love story about a Japanese immigrant in love with hip hop who meets a young Black woman with a passion for Asian cuisine and culture.

shown with

ELI’S LIQUOR STORE 16 mins.

Written and directed by Arnold Chun and Alonzo Jones . Co-produced by Yealee Song and Joseph H. Shim.

Set in Los Angeles’ Koreatown circa 1999. It’s the story of Elijah Gooden, a 43-year-old African-American man from Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Georgia Tech University and worked in corporate America before moving his family to Los Angeles to start his own business. He and his family experience culture shock and adversity as they struggle to build their livelihood in an area dominated by Asian-American business owners.

Looking for Love in the Stacks

2008-11-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

Not only did the Eugene Public Library win "Best Public Space (Indoor or Outdoor)" in the Eugene Weekly's Best Of competition, the library also won "Best Place to Meet Someone You’d Take Home to Mom":

Yes, we’ve heard stories from our library-workin’ friends about certain people who maybe didn’t wait to consummate their meeting until after they’d met the parental units, but hey, those are urban legends, right? No matter who’s grappling where, the gorgeously housed EPL (also the winner in the Best Public Space category) contains more knowledge in book, CD, DVD, video, audio, Braille and other formats — including those human search engines, reference librarians — than anyone could encompass. This means you’ve got plenty of opportunities to meet cute, from winking across the room during toddler story time to banging heads as you go for the microfilm of that 1982 issue of Commonweal to competing for the same episodes of Six Feet Under. And nothing could sound more wholesome to moms and dads than, 'We met at the library.'
(http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2008/10/30/coverstory4.html)

The Eugene Pulic Library sounds like the place to be! Providing the community with information, entertainment, and significant others. I'm not sure what kind of "cute" you'll be meeting if you go, but someone check it out and let me know.

This story so inspires me, I'm going to write a limerick. Because nothing screams love like a limerick. Sonnets? Way too long and way too complicated of a rhyme scheme. I prefer limericks to express those hard to describe feelings:

There once was a boy with no date
He went to EPL to meet his fate.
He just wanted a book
Ended up getting a look-
And got stuck with his life mate!

Haunted Libraries

2008-10-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, iSchool!

In celebration of today, please enjoy George Eberhart's "The Haunted Library Series." He's been posting entries throughout the week based on geography, and Thursday's was the one for the Western U.S.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), there isn't anything in it about the University of Washington libraries being haunted. But oddly enough, last month while working at the Suzzallo Information Desk, I got a question about the Grand Staircase in the library being haunted. I sent the inquirer to the reference desk, but then got curious myself and decided to do a quick Google search. In the Google Book preview of Ghosts Among Us, there is a passage about a ghost in Suzzallo Library (though not in the Grand Staircase).

The ghost of a woman in a raincoat is reportedly seen at the University of Washington's Suzzallo Library. While some say that the ghost story is a hoax, others insist that the tall, slender apparition appears at closing time and is seen heading toward the stacks.

Hmm. There are a lot of stacks in Suzzallo. I'm curious about whether the people who claim to have seen her told the author of the book in what part of Suzzallo the ghost appeared.

Anyway, hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!

Book Challenges - "Bunny Suicides"

2008-10-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to 2006 MLIS-er Robert Felthousen for sending us this story:

Mom wants to ban, burn "Bunny Suicides"

A Halsey mother has filed paperwork to have a popular graphic novel banned from the Central Linn High School library.

There's just one hitch: Taffey Anderson refuses to return "The Book of Bunny Suicides" to the school district so a committee can review her complaint.

She won't budge. In fact, she reportedly plans to burn the book.

It would appear that Anderson has since relented a bit: Bunny Suicides Complainant Douses Book-Burning Talk.

Anderson told American Libraries that the book was returned October 24 to the library, which serves both junior high and high school students. After the story was picked up by wire services and prompted unfavorable editorials and blog posts, Anderson softened her stance. “I was talking completely out of anger,” she said. “I did apologize in the newspaper and should never have said that, but I don’t think it’s a book for school-age children.” She also indicated she would be satisfied if the book was kept behind the circulation desk and restricted to high school students.

I'm guessing that Anderson wouldn't be a fan of David and Goliath's Goodbye Kitty line, eh?

Funny Resume Mistakes

2008-06-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

From Jobmob's "150 Funniest Resume Mistakes, Bloopers and Blunders Ever"

My favorites:

Candidate explained an arrest by stating, “We stole a pig, but it was a really small pig.”
“Finished eighth in my class of ten.”
References: “Bill, Tom, Eric. But I don’t know their phone numbers.”
Experience: “Any interruption in employment is due to being unemployed.”
Background: “28 dog years of experience in sales (four human).” (Resumania)

Harry Bruce Responds to The Silverfish Alumni Survey

2008-05-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

In the last installment of The Silverfish Newsletter, we published the results of a massive survey, focused on the job search experiences of MLIS alumni, as well as their impressions of how well their iSchool educations prepared them for their careers. We asked iSchool Dean Harry Bruce to take a look at our survey and give us his impression of the results, a request which he graciously obliged. Take it away, Harry!

Hi Everyone,

I was very pleased to read the Silverfish 2008 Alumni Survey and I'm equally delighted to prepare a short response. To all those associated with the design of this survey - thank you and congratulations. The data are very interesting. To begin with, I am pleased that a solid number (139) of iSchool alums agreed to participate in the study. The researchers do acknowledge that there are some limitations to their snowball sampling. It is likely that this form of sampling renders data that is somewhat skewed. Those who agree to participate in a survey of this sort are generally alums who are more favorably disposed towards the School. I therefore speculate that we have a slightly more positive viewing of the iSchool and how it prepares students for library jobs than might be the case for our full population of alums- but I'm not complaining :)

It is very interesting for me to see the distribution of the professional settings where alums in the sample are working. I think I might have predicted the relative proportions of graduates in academic and public libraries and other sectors so to me this distribution suggests that the sample is fairly representative. It is also very helpful to have a list of non library settings where our graduates are now working. I do note that a majority of our alums working in these settings reported that they were "somewhat" (rather than "absolutely") prepared for this working environment by their iSchool learning experiences. This suggests that the School has some work to do here. The strong response from school librarians that their iSchool experience "absolutely" prepared them for working in the school environment is recognition of the effectiveness of iSchool faculty responsible for the curriculum and advising of these students. I know that we have a very committed group of iSchool alums working in school libraries and making a difference in the State of Washington. Yes - the number of teacher librarians in the sample is small. We should continue to work with this group to ensure that the School is meeting the needs of the student and professional communities.

I am pleased to see that the importance of directed fieldwork is validated by the strong response from the sample that there is much to learn outside the classroom through hands-on work, internships and volunteer experiences. It is also very helpful to see that our alums identify management, cataloging and technology as particularly important skills and the researchers recommendation that students get as much practical experience with people skills, computer skills and taxonomy skills while studying in the program makes good sense indeed.

I have always stated strongly and confidently that graduates of the iSchool are greatly valuable employees. I want our students across all our programs to recognize this value because I know that our graduates become leaders who will be looking to employ talented people. Looking to their School for the best and brightest and most prepared library and information specialists should be the obvious choice. The data from the Siverfish study tells us that an MLIS degree from the iSchool is a pretty good ticket to a job, since almost half the alums in the sample reporting that they were employed by the time they graduated.

Again - I am grateful to the researchers and impressed by the quality of this survey. The data are helpful to the administration of the School and I will make sure that our students services and academic units are aware of this report.

Best wishes
Harry

Facebook in real life

2008-05-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a silly video I saw from a British comedy troupe that plays out Facebook interactions in real life.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nrlSkU0TFLs

Reviving the Ridiculous LCSH

2008-05-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

This week's winners:

Bawdy poetry, Greek (Modern)   [May Subd Geog]
Ice pops in art   [Not Subd Geog]
Singing cowboy television programs   [Not Subd Geog]   [sp2007025623]
  Here are entered television programs that feature a non-violent, singing cowboy hero.
Towel folding   [May Subd Geog]
Violins as an investment   [May Subd Geog]

Bloglines - Nerd Tattoo

2008-04-13T18:39:00.001-07:00

Bloglines user michellemw (mmwong@u.washington.edu) has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

Cheers to my classmates in LIS 549!

Neatorama
The Neat Side of the Web

Nerd Tattoo

By Algonkin on Tattoo

Yet another nerd tattoo. This one in the form of HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

Comments

Better Late Than Never...

2008-03-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

This story, from Reuters, tells the story about a Finnish library book that was checked out in 1902, and quietly returned earlier this week. It's full of fun facts, such as the tidbit, in 2006, Finns visited the library an average of 11 times and checked out an average of 20 books each!

Yes, I'd like to renew this please...

Bloglines - Hereâs proof we need to formulate a critical need for libraries in the Internet Era

2008-03-07T22:25:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

yikes

The Monkey Speaks
The monkey (Walter Minkel) speaks his mind on libraries & young people

Here's proof we need to formulate a critical need for libraries in the Internet Era

By the Monkey on Future of libraries

Whoa. No sooner had I posted the story below on the Marathon County Public Library and our urgent need to explain better to the general public why librarians need graduate degrees in the era of the Internet, than my wife forwarded me this article from the Gainesville (FL) Sun, an opinion piece called "Pull the plug on the library." It's by a library-hating fellow named George Elmore.

Elmore says that libraries have outlived their usefulness in the Internet Era; he wants to shut them down, whether they have professional librarians in them or not. Here's a brief quote:

Historically the public library has been a valued research institution, and has served that purpose admirably. But no more. With the advent of the Internet and Google, virtually no serious research is carried on in the library stacks.

He calls his local Alachua County Library District "Alachua County's version of Terri Schiavo, and life support is costing us nearly $20 million each year."

I've heard lots of folks, particularly those who aren't library users, say similar things about libraries, and I'm concerned that their numbers are growing. We had better get busy formulating better explanations of what we do post-Google, and why we do it.

Comments

From The Stranger: The Pleasure and Peril of Chasing Book Thieves

2008-03-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

I saw this story in The Stranger this week and thought that it was amusing enough to share with the teeming hordes who read this blog. It is about the writer's experiences working at a book store and all the books he's seen stolen over the years. It seemed like it held some good lessons for all of us planning on going into libraries, and brings up one area of training that we are not receiving in the iSchool: the 100 meter dash.

Flying Off the Shelves: The Pleasures and Perils of Chasing Book Thieves

iYouth Happenings!

2008-02-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

What’s the most exciting new thing happening in the iSchool right now? That’s right. It’s iYouth! While iYouth may be the new kid on the block, so to speak, we have lots of excitement and great ideas to help keep us in the forefront of what’s going on.
Our focus is to be a voice for those interested in children and youth services, children and YA literature, children and teen issues, children and teen… Well, you get the picture. Anyone is welcome to join us, even if it is only for the pleasure of our glorious company and scintillating conversation.
Here are some of the upcoming events where you might see us:
· March 3: Open meeting, social networking and discussion. 6:30-8:00 PM. MGH 420, then field trip to Shultzy’s!
· March 10: Book Club where we will discuss “SLAM!” by Nick Hornby and "Let's play in the Forest (While the Wolf is Not Around)" by Claudia Rueda. 9:30-10:30 AM. MGH 310D.
· April 14: Book Club – books to be determined. This meeting will also include time for discussion regarding formal organization of the group. 9:00-10:30 AM. MGH 310D
· April 21: Scrabble Tournament for Literacy. All proceeds will go to “Page Ahead,” a non-profit that gives books to kids. 5:00-8:00 PM. College Inn.

If you actually read about those fabulous events we have planned, you will have noticed that one of the things happening within the group is a plan for formal organization of iYouth, including a website and officers! I know, the excitement is almost palpable. If you would like to join in the fun, please feel free to contact us or just show up at one of our meetings.

Anne Dame
amdame1@u.washington.edu

"F#@$ class/Get your education on The Ave!"

2008-02-28T21:12:00.000-08:00

I recently picked up the self-titled debut by Seattle hip-hop outfit the Blue Scholars. Now, I don't know about you, but I always like finding new hip-hop, and new local hip-hop even more. It means that local live shows will likely be cheap and plentiful.

According to their website, "Emcee Geologic and DJ/producer Sabzi [the duo behind Blue Scholars] bring an innovative yet familiar sound distinguishable from what's currently blasted on MTV or BET." That's a fair enough assessment I suppose. Their music is reminiscent of other great West Coast hip-hop, such as Hieroglyphics and Blackalicious: upbeat, funk-fueled beats and dense, loquacious lyrics. It's excellent stuff to listen to on those days when the sun comes out. You can find albums by all of these artists @ Your Library!

The motivation for this post though is one particular Blue Scholars track called "The Ave." They being from Seattle and all it is, indeed, about life on University Avenue: dodging gutter punks, getting in fights with frat boys, talking philosophy in coffee shops, making fun of over-privileged undergrads, and stealing records from Second Time Around. It's fun stuff. Here's a video of the band performing live at Bumpershoot (opening for Kanye, no less!)

And if you wanna catch all the lyrics, check this page here (you'll have to scroll down a bit, but it's there).

Odd Book Titles

2008-02-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

Vote for the oddest book title of the year at TheBookseller.com.

Candidates include I Was Tortured by the Pygmy Love Queen and Solving Cheese Problems.

Photo courtesy of *nomad* (Flickr)

Bloglines - Scientist Valentines

2008-02-11T22:38:00.001-08:00

Happy v-day to all you iSchoolers 'n' friends! How are you celebrating (or not celebrating)? I'll be...on a bookmobile for my Directed Fieldwork...ahh, how romantic.

Here are some scientist valentines to send to all your loved and liked ones. And if you're feeling especially kind, to your archnemesis too.

"The essential reference desk button"

2008-02-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

I want one.

http://www.cafepress.com/libetiquette.224324494

Mildly attractive men

2008-01-30T22:05:00.000-08:00

Hilarious! The Mildly attractive men of SLIS at the University of South Carolina 2008 calendar...is it on YOUR wish list? It sure isn't on mine, but made me smile as a cute fundraising idea.

How about a "Passably attractive men of LIS calendar" for the iSchool?

Bloglines - Shelf Check #183

2008-01-28T19:15:00.000-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

This made me chuckle...brace yourself for these questions!

Shelf Check

Shelf Check #183

By Emily Lloyd

Bloglines - Batman Crossing

2008-01-18T19:24:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

i'm dedicating this post to jack, silverfish co-editor/publicity guy, prolific reviewer, and lover of comics.

Neatorama
The Neat Side of the Web

Batman Crossing

By Alex on Pictures

From Flickr user ben_templesmith, here's Dadadada dadadada … the Batman Crossing! via Loris Z

Comments

Bloglines - When Geeks Go to a War Protest

2008-01-18T19:21:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

my blogging goal for the new year is to write original content instead of annotating someone else's posts...but here's another forward--i thought it was a nice markup language joke.

Neatorama
The Neat Side of the Web

When Geeks Go to a War Protest

By Alex on Weapons & War

Thanks Bailey!

Previously on Neatorama: Stop War Shadow Graffiti

Comments

Tidbits from this week's American Libraries Direct newsletter

2008-01-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

Bookmark exhibition

IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services) study in conjunction with the University of Washington to examine the benefits of free access computers in public libraries

15 publishing trends to watch (from Publishers' Weekly)--I was most interested by #6: using XML will no longer be considered optional

From the Common Craft Show, a video called "Online Photo Sharing in Plain English"--helpful for explaining to people new to sites like Flickr

Top Tech Trends, as reported by Lauren Pressley who attended the session at American Library Association's midwinter conference in Philly

What's so special about manga?

2008-01-12T19:14:00.001-08:00

Want to know the difference between manga, comics and graphic novels? Here's an interview with Robin Brenner (author of the No Flying, No Tights website) on the Bookslut blog.

Ideal footwear for the iSchool student?

2008-01-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

Tired of blending in with your Danskos? Try these iShoes.

Bloglines - Bibliophile Tattoo

2008-01-11T23:16:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

This is commitment. What library or info sci related tattoo would you get? I guess there's always a Dewey Decimal number, but that's kinda cliche. Hey, if anyone is reading this, I'll sponsor a mini contest--if you comment to this post with your tattoo idea and it's my favorite (or the only), AND your name is not Jamie/Jack/Nancy or Chuck, I'll buy you a cup of coffee or tea.

Neatorama
The Neat Side of the Web

Bibliophile Tattoo

By Alex on Tattoo, Etc.

And who says that a book lover can't be badass? Here's a bibliophile dictionary definition tattoo, from Flickr user bibliogrrl: Link

Comments

Bloglines - George and Joan Thinking Out Loud about Library Education

2007-12-29T13:20:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you.

Infoblog: George and Joan
infopeople - moving libraries forward one blog entry at a time

George and Joan Thinking Out Loud about Library Education

By Infopeople on Podcasts

In this edition of Thinking Out Loud, George and Joan take a look at the state of library education. Is it worth all of the time and effort people put into it? George advocates a serious rethinking of MLS programs and what they teach.

It's food for thought!

Bloglines - Facebook for old people

2007-12-23T00:06:00.000-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

this is silly

Seth's Blog
Seth Godin's riffs on marketing, respect, and the ways ideas spread.

Facebook for old people

By Seth Godin

Daan points us to this very funny image. (this link is the original source).

Bloglines - Organize Your Life With Jott

2007-12-19T12:21:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

I've used Jott, and it's one of the web 2.0 apps that I find most helpful--not just cool-sounding. You can call Jott, record a 30-second voice message, and Jott will transcribe and send to an e-mail account or cell phone. Now there are add-ons so that you can even send a message to post directly to your blog or Google calendar! I tried it and it works--not always perfectly, especially with proper nouns, but good enough so that I get the jist of it and remember and don't have to scrounge around my purse for scraps of paper.

Web Worker Daily
Rebooting the workforce

Organize Your Life With Jott

By Chris Poteet on voice

With this entry, Chris Poteet joins the WWD team as a contributing writer. Look for his posts every week. Welcome, Chris! -Ed

Every once-in-a-while I find an application like Jott that truly revolutionizes the way I organize my life.

We all write notes on pieces of paper, napkins, etc.; but they often get lost in the shuffle. Jott comes along and helps you consolidate your tasks, notes, and events into one spot. All you do it call the Jott number, and you hear a voice that says: "What do you want to Jott?" You then give the folder name you've created, contact, or application and simply speak your message. Jott translates voice into text and then, based on your preferences, either e-mails you or adds the event. It also stores the message for historical purposes on the Jott website.

The premise is simple, the sign-up is easy. After signing up you can then call the Jott number to record messages instantly.

Jott has tapped into some of the most popular APIs including Google Calendar, Twitter, Tumblr, and even WordPress.com amongst others. You can do things like create a folder, associate it with a co-worker/team member, and when you post to that folder it sends them an e-mail with the tasking. You essentially have an on-the-go project management utility.

Jott can extend beyond its predefined Jott links. For example, to use Jott with Outlook, simply use the Plaxo application as a synchronization tool between Outlook and Google Calendar. Now, when you post to Google Calendar from your Jott account it will automatically be synced with your Outlook calendar.

Wishlist:

An add-on for managing Jotts directly inside Microsoft Outlook. It would be nice to create tasks, notes, events, etc. without using an extra application such as Plaxo.
The ability to send text messages to my Jott number and have them be translated into Jotts.

Have you tried Jott? Are you finding it useful?

Share/Send

Comments

Smell Like...an Old Book!

2007-12-17T17:02:00.001-08:00

Here's a perfume called "In the Library."

Bloglines - What do you wish youâd learned in Library School?

2007-12-10T23:13:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

This link takes you to an article that discusses skills that the authors suggest would be useful for library school students to gain. Do you agree with this list? What would you add or delete? Which do you think should really be taught in school? Which have you learned (or not learned) at the iSchool?

Career Q&A with the Library Career People

What do you wish you'd learned in Library School?

By tiffany on getting started

A couple of friends of mine just published an article as guest columnists in the Informed Librarian titled, What Do You Wish You'd Learned in Library School? (http://www.informedlibrarian.com/this_month.cfm)

A couple of questions for you:

For all the students still in school-Do you think this information will help you select courses or shape your academic experience to better prepare for the job market?
And for all those new (or not-so-new) professionals-As you reflect back on your days getting started in the profession, is there something you would add to Murray and Shontz's list?

Just curious to know what you're thinking…

Comments

No LIS569 for you?

2007-12-05T20:26:00.000-08:00

If you really wanted to take Nancy Pearl's Book Lust class, but couldn't get in this super popular class, may you be comforted by listening to and learning from Ms. Pearl in this webcast interview from the University of Missouri-Columbia (November 2007).

DAWN Christmas Gift Drive

2007-12-04T09:00:00.003-08:00

We know that you've already seen the e-mail and the posters, but there's nothing like information redundancy, right?

Silverfish is collecting gifts for the Domestic Abuse Women's Network (DAWN). This holiday season, DAWN's House will provide emergency shelter, support, and advocacy to many women and children forced to leave their homes because of domestic abuse. You can help the women and children who call DAWN's House home to know that the community cares about their safety during the holidays and all year long.

We are looking for the following specific items, though any gifts you would like to donate will be greatly appreciated.

FAMILY WISH LIST

(Mother and three children)

Mom: kitchen utensils & dish towels, coffee pot, small crock pot, gift card to F.Meyer, WalMart, etc., bathrobe (size L or XL), AMC movie passes for self & kids

Girl - age 14 - mp3 player, games (handheld electronic, DVD games, board games), watch, bathrobe (size women's M), Old Navy gift card, make-up kit

Boy - age 9 - pajamas (size 12), RC car or truck, slot cars/race track, building set (Lego, Bionicles, etc.), Operation Rescue game, Rubik's cube

Girl - age 3 - pajamas (size 4/4T), Little People set (ark, airplane, circus, etc.), MagnaDoodle, coloring books, pretend play (kitchen, dress-up...), stamp set & paper

Donations can be brought to MGH Room 306. For more information, e-mail Crystal Yost at crystaly@u.washington.edu.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of December 3, 2007

2007-12-03T01:38:00.000-08:00

Hiyo,

For some reason, Google
Images brings up this
picture for the search
"National socialism and
soccer ."  Don't read into
it too much.  I'm not going
to tell you what came up
for "Erotic stories, Costa
Rican."  Here are this
week's tags:

Human trafficking victims
Erotic stories, Costa Rican
African American baseball umpires
Mothers of artists
National socialism and soccer
Orangeries--Italy
Anti-estrogenic diet
Deviant behavior in rabbinical literature
Milk ducts
Espionage, Czechoslovak

Stay sane this week as classes wrap up.  I'm about to have a mental
breakdown.  Luckily, Silverfish has several editors to take my place.

Bloglines - A MOREAUTHORITATIVE ALTERNATIVE TO WIKIPEDIA

2007-12-02T19:19:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

What do you think about this Veropedia? Do you think it's the "answer"?

OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore)
A blog for librarians in all smaller libraries, not just for one-person or solo librarians--all kinds of libraries, anywhere in the world. Management information, links, and marketing tips that you can use right now.

A MOREAUTHORITATIVE ALTERNATIVE TO WIKIPEDIA

By Ms. OPL

Veropedia "is a collaborative effort by a group of Wikipedians to collect the best of Wikipedia's content, clean it up, vet it, and save it for all time. These articles are stable and cannot be edited." It is not competing with Wikipedia—they "prefer to think of [themselves] as a meta-layer, highlighting the best that Wikipedia has to offer." There are two types of links, green (already verified)

Bloglines - can you spot the library?

2007-12-02T14:44:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

This is neat! Much more visual interest than a lot of library exteriors I've seen...

librarian.net
putting the rarin back in librarian since 1999

can you spot the library?

By jessamyn on library

A few nifty book-oriented and awesome library facades. And for a few more links to fill this out, here's a great old photo of Fred Bullock, a librarian at the Cardiff Public Library, c. 1900 and a link to the award-winning Kansas City design (from 2005) with some detail about how the project was actually conceived and managed. My favorite part is the jury comment for the competition

This project celebrates books, reading, and the city in a joyfully direct and legible manner. The lovingly rendered level of detail at a massive scale brings the books to life, transforming these modest, familiar objects into monuments infused with hope and possibility. The result may be the world's most humane and enjoyable parking structure.

[libact]

Comments

Bloglines - Article Reach

2007-11-27T14:49:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

I'd love to see a service like this at the UW Libraries. If WSU libraries don't have an article, either in electronic or print form, they will send the article electronically to students (provided another participating library has access to it). Very nice!

Library Stuff
The library weblog dedicated to resources for keeping current and professional development

Article Reach

By Steven on Interlibrary Loan

Another really cool customer service, from Washington State University Libraries.

Link

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of November 26, 2007

2007-11-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hello all,
Hope Thanksgiving was fun-filled and full of pie. I took a little break from searching for Ridiculous LCSH to spend time with my family. Thought I would mention a tag that I don't really think is silly to catalog - it's just silly by itself: Terrorist threat warning systems--Color codes. Also a tongue twister: Wheat root rot. Trying saying that five times fast. In regards to the first entry on the list, I think you should know that an award is handed out each year to the best clown of the year. It's called the "Coors Man in the Can."

Rodeo clowns
Kangaroo deterrents and repellents
Pregnant women in advertising
Railroad tracks--Weed control
Holy wells--England
Pine cone craft
Bardin the Superrealist (Fictitious character)
Bananas in art
Fantasy cricket (Game)
Scenic byways--Iowa

By the way, in terms of terrorism alert, I'm feeling sort of tangerine. More heightened than regular orange.

Bloglines - the most unusual books of the world

2007-11-24T15:58:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

This wiki is just what it says: it lists some interesting books, both in shape and content. My favorite is the book with the lighted lamp inside! :)

librarian.net
putting the rarin back in librarian since 1999

the most unusual books of the world

By jessamyn on wiki

In wiki format: http://mywiki.ws/The_Most_Unusual_Books_of_the_World. [slowreading]

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Bloglines - Social Networking in Plain English

2007-11-21T21:10:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

I LOVE the Common Craft Show's easy-to-understand tutorial videos that have covered so far how RSS and wikis work. Also light bulbs and zombies...kinda random. Anyhoo, here's one on Social Networking:

The Common Craft Show
The Common Craft Show

Social Networking in Plain English

In explanation

This video is for people who wonder why social networking web sites are so popular. One reason is because they solve a real-world problem: they make the invisible visible. We'll let the video explain how it works.

Comments

Stop Bugging Me!

2007-11-20T22:58:00.000-08:00

No, we're not talking wiretapping here--just pure pestering from websites that require you register before using certain features, such as e-mailing a story (e.g. the New York Times online edition). But privacy lovers--and lazy people who hate the hassle of registering--can rejoice, because now there's Bugmenot.com. This site shares logins and passwords that you can use to bypass giving your contact info to everyone.

For example, I just read an article from the NYTimes* and wanted to e-mail it to a co-worker, but didn't feel like registering w/ them, so I looked up the most successfully used login/password combo of siemens2/siemens and got in just fine.

*If you're curious, the article was "Meet the Life Hackers."

Bloglines - Defining Reading

2007-11-19T22:28:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

Attention all readers' advisors! The YALSA blog highlighted a new NEA report on reading habits of teens and adults. They point out that the researchers may have narrower view of reading that makes it seem like teens are not reading, even though they probably really are.

YALSA
YALSA

Defining Reading

In Teen Reading

Today the National Endowment for the Arts published a report titled To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence. (Link is to a .pdf file.) The report discusses the reading habits of teens and adults and considers the frequency with which different age groups read for pleasure, read a book, and read at all.

Reading the study one has to ask, how did those gathering the data define reading? For example, there is a finding that states "Teens and young adults spend less time reading than people of other age groups." How can that be true? Don't teens read when surfing YouTube, looking for something on Google, figuring out how to improve their gaming scores, checking out photos on Flickr?

Maybe it's because the authors of the report don't consider using the web, playing video games, or even emailing to encompass valid reading opportunities. For example another finding states "Even when reading does occur, it competes with other media." One of the sub-bullets in that finding is that "20% of their reading time is shared by TV watching, video/computer game-playing, instant messaging, e-mailing, or Web surﬁng." Isn't it pretty obvious that IMing, emailing, and web surfing require reading?

There are some valid concerns about multitasking and reading comprehension outlined in this report. However, if we as a society don't seriously investigate how we define reading, and recognize that reading formats other than books is reading, we are going to alienate many teens and younger generations.

When you read about the report (or read the actual document) think about what the research really looked at, how the researchers defined reading, and how the data does or doesn't reflect what you are seeing in your community and setting. Be careful not to make teens feel that just because they are reading something online, and not reading a traditional format such as a paperback book, that that reading doesn't count. Let teens know that reading in a variety of formats is something you respect and value.

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Digital "Telephone"

2007-11-19T21:28:00.001-08:00

Remember that game of Telephone where the original message gets wildly distorted? Blogs (like any means of communication) can also get things wrong, even after three degrees of separation. Here's where library and information professionals can step in, and remind folks to verify their sources!

From the Young Go-getter blog: http://tinyurl.com/yt2mmp

Bloglines - Need Help with an Avatar?

2007-11-17T15:30:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you.

YALSA
YALSA

Need Help with an Avatar?

In YALSA Info.

Here's a short video on an introduction to making an avatar. Feel free to watch it to get ideas for your own for the Create Your Own Avatar contest during YALSA's Gaming Extravaganza during Midwinter. Another great resource for creating avatars can be found here created by librarian Jami Schwarzwalder.

Posted by Kelly Czarnecki

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Bloglines - New Book on Google

2007-11-16T18:48:00.001-08:00

Bloglines user mmwong@u.washington.edu has sent this item to you, with the following personal message:

interesting article on Google...how do you feel about this company?

Stephen's Lighthouse
Stuff of interest to me that may be of interest to library folk.

New Book on Google

By stephen

Are you or your institution one of Google's partners? It's a tad pricey but Steve's bookks are always good.

Stephen E. Arnold

Google Version 2.0: The Calculating Predator

"This is the first time someone has made a detailed study of the major patents held by Google and has extrapolated the company's possible business strategies. Traditionally, it has been difficult to get to grips with what Google is. The company is not specifically secretive; rather, it is unforthcoming about its aims, plans, strategies and ambitions. "Provide access to the world's knowledge" is about as focused an articulation of mission as one can get from the Google people. No big PR puffs; no in-depth briefings. And, from a quick outside perusal, the company seems to dabble in all sorts of technology areas and buy up all sorts of high-tech companies, which makes measuring progress or evaluating strategic orientation somewhat difficult.

Stephen Arnold, in this successor to "The Google Legacy", concentrates on analysing Google's potential via a study of the company's intellectual property (patents). Google is a company of engineers and mathematicians, not a company of sales, promotion and legal wizards. Mathematics is the foundation of Google's wizardry and, as analysed by Arnold in this new study, the Googleplex is a wondrous construct that gives Google a major competitive advantage in a wide variety of possible fields: enterprise services and computing, web and enterprise search, publishing, banking, advertising, telecommunications. The Googleplex can crunch, analyse and extrapolate rapidly, intelligently and economically from extremely large quantities of data. The owners of such a machine can test and probe a variety of markets, and their existing base income from advertising gives them billions of dollars to use in their probes and explorations. "Innovation at Google is the fuel needed to power the Googleplex and to satisfy Google's hunger for ever more powerful, capable systems and software," explains Arnold. "Google, unlike Amazon or Yahoo, is built on mathematics, not engineering".

This major new study of Google concentrates on deriving information about the company from an analysis of its key patents. These patents are often difficult to discover, since Google rarely files under the Google name; an exhaustive hunt of some of the key Google technical staff is required in order to unearth many of the patents held by Google. "I have a keen awareness of Google's transformation from a search company to a digital Exxon or Wal*Mart," writes Stephen Arnold in the current study. "These are companies that operate at a scale that their competitors cannot easily match. If Google can continue its upward trajectory, it will emerge as a genetic variant of the multi-national corporation or what I call a supra-national enterprise."'

Lots more after the link.

Stephen

OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore) : GREAT FIREFOX EXTENSION

2007-11-15T19:56:00.001-08:00

michelle has sent you a link to a blog:

Here's a handy Firefox extension called Read Me Later. I plan to use it so I don't have to clutter my del.icio.us account with one-time only reads on the web.

Blog: OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore)
Post: GREAT FIREFOX EXTENSION
Link: http://opls.blogspot.com/2007/11/great-firefox-extension.html

--
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Library Journal - What's Still Wrong with Reference

2007-11-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

How would YOU like to improve reference services?

What's Still Wrong with Reference
Read the full article at:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6497259.html?nid=3282&

Bloglines - Connect-the-Dots Tattoo

2007-11-15T19:40:00.001-08:00

Just for fun!

Neatorama
The Neat Side of the Web

Connect-the-Dots Tattoo

By Alex on Tattoo, Etc.

Colleen Venable is obsessed with giraffes (it all started when she lost a giraffe toy as a child, which sets off a 3 year hunt for that particular stuffed animal. Long story short 1,712 giraffes later, she found it!).

As part of her art project The Stalking and Murdering of a Childhood Giraffe Project, Colleen decided to get an "extremely visible invisible tattoo": a connect-the-dot tattoo of the giraffe toy. (She traced the giraffe with a pen for us all to see)

Links: Colleen's Flickr Photoset | LiveJournal account of the whole shebang

Comments

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of November 12, 2007

2007-11-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Hey, this is a short post on ridiculous LCSH because I'm starting to feel the pressure of classes, and I really should be working on assignments. Here are this week's findings, including one for French speakers:

Primate remains
Walk-up windows
Total war
Runescape
Library Web sites
Mad scientist films
National parks and reserves - United States - Humor
Late blight of potato
Quinze joies de mariage

Match the picture with the subject heading!

Become a del.icio.us Power User

2007-11-07T22:40:00.000-08:00

Probably many of you are already hip to the organizational usefulness of del.icio.us. I jumped on the band-wagon myself last Spring while working on a project for LIS 521, discovering that it would let my partner and I easily share web resources. However, since that time I have largely forgotten about it, and only manage to think about it when I come across something that is desperately important for me to look at later, even though I know damn well I'll never actually make it back.

Well, no more! Check out this blog entry from Web Worker Daily, and take in some tips that will help you become a social tagging dynamo!

http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/11/01/become-a-delicious-power-user/

Library Comics

2007-11-05T21:36:00.000-08:00

Of course, there's Unshelved by Gene Ambaum (who's also a 2007 Library Journal Mover and Shaker) and Bill Barnes. But now there's also Shelf Check (by Emily Lloyd) and Turn the Page (by Jayson).

And if you're inspired to create your own online comics, there's Stripgenerator.

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of November 5, 2007

2007-11-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, I come across something that should be a subject heading in the Library of Congress. Two cities in the United States (Angels Camp, California and Jefferson, Oregon) claim to be "Frog-Jumping Capital of the World," while Valley City claims to be the "Frog-Jumping Capital of Ohio." Old Mill Village, Pennsylvania holds an annual frog-jumping competition as well. In terms of monographs, there is a short story called the "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain and a children's book called "Jump, Frog, Jump" by Robert Kalan (that has received 5-star reviews on Amazon!) Yet the Library of Congress fails to recognize the activity as worthy of classification. Seems to me we should be cataloging and preserving this important piece of our American heritage.

An important distinction: Frog-jumping competitions generally measure jumping distances of amphibians. However, a frog-jump is also a human endeavor recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records - where a person holds his or her big toes while jumping. The current record for human frog-jumping is 10 meters in 9.5 seconds.

Swimming - Kick
Nursing - Pictorial Works
Sport Utility Vehicles - Crashworthiness
Peat bogs - Statistical methods
Hunting dogs in art
Strap-on sex
Buddy films
Male pregnancy

Other things to be concerned about this week: November initiatives and robot frogs. Rock the vote and put a stop to frog-bots.

Happy Halloween?

2007-11-01T11:00:00.001-07:00

A little belated, but perhaps a head start for next year's costume?

Your very own Christopher Walken mask: http://www.brandonbird.com/halloween_treat.html

(Found via Unshelved's blog)

iSchool Launches New Podcast Series

2007-10-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

A new podcast series lets you get your iSchool news on the go. With stories that capture the impact of iSchool work, each issue brings to life the voices of faculty, students and staff—information leaders who are moving the field forward.

The first issue, to be released tomorrow, Tuesday, October 30, features an interview with Dean Harry Bruce. He talks about his roots in rural Australia and some of the inspiration that launched his career in information. The first and subsequent issues will be released every three weeks at http://www.ischool.washington.edu/events/newsletter.aspx.

Like every newborn, the podcast needs a name. Submit a suggestion. If we use your suggestion, you’ll win a $25 gift certificate to the University Bookstore. Listen to the first issue for the email address you’ll use to send your name suggestions, comments and story ideas.

Tips for Winter Registration

2007-10-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

As we approach the halfway mark for autumn quarter, we’ll need to take a break from our coursework and think about what to take next quarter. Period I registration starts bright and early on Friday, November 2nd at 6 am. Here are some quick tips to help you plan out your schedule:

Start by looking at the winter course offerings for your respective program. Pick out a mix of potential classes according to what you need for your core requirements and where your interests fall.
Look at the 2007-2008 Projected Course Calendar. Are there classes offered in the spring that you could hold off on taking during the winter quarter? Would you rather take LIS 560 distance in the winter, or wait until spring for the day course?
Find out what other students thought of a class by looking at the Course Evaluations or better yet, talk to a fellow student who’s already taken the class.
Talk to your faculty advisor or academic advisor. If you have trouble deciding between classes or choosing between professors, your advisor can be a great resource for helping you with your decision.
Take a look at classes offered outside of your program. These don’t have to be limited to iSchool classes but could include electives in Technical Communications, Public Affairs, Computer Science, etc. Just be sure to find out any extra steps you need to take to get into the class, such as submitting an Out-of-School Approval Form, or getting permission from the instructor.
If there’s a class that you absolutely need to get into, definitely wake up before 6AM. Winter and spring classes seem to fill up remarkably quickly. Waking up at 9 am and logging in to register only to find that your classes are full is a bad, bad feeling.

With that, good luck and don’t forget to celebrate Day of the Dead. Anyone have a good Pan de Muerto recipe?

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of October 29, 2007

2007-10-28T16:29:00.001-07:00

I can't get over the fact that laser guns in movies and television shows consistently emit red pulses. What is it about the color red that makes it such a dangerous or threatening color? Is it because red is the same hue as blood? Perhaps it's because the first constructed laser was a ruby laser. In 1960, T.H. Maiman developed a pulsed laser with a flash tube that surrounded a ruby rod, a mineral that absorbs green and blue light (producing a pink or red color). This type of laser was used to determine the exact distance from the Earth to the Moon in an Apollo mission (with an accuracy of about 15 cm). Of course, lasers still haven't replaced bullets, but they have an interesting fictional history.

Besides "Laser weapons," here are some other weird LC subjects:

Breastfeeding - Cote Divoire - Economic Aspects
Infant salvation
False alarms - United States - Prevention
Utility rooms - Japan
Lunchbox cookery - Safety measures
Verbal self-defense
Milking machines
Compulsive hair pulling

OCLC Report on Social Networking

2007-10-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

OCLC just released a report called Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World, which addresses social networking and what role libraries may play in this area. Based on their earlier reports, I'm sure it will present fascinating research.

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of October 22, 2007

2007-10-23T00:20:00.001-07:00

I often associate Ewan McGregor with polar bears. This is because I don't have cable and I end up watching PBS specials late at night. One such special was titled "The Polar Bears of Churchill," where Ewan ventures to a small Canadian town on the Hudson Bay. In Churchill, polar bears often encroach on the town's borders while looking for food and they have to be tranquilized from time to time. Ewan comments on these events with his traditional Scottish charm and he even plays guitar. I was smitten, I tell you. What else do Ewan and polar bears have in common? They both have unique LC subject headings: "Ewan McGregor, 1971-" and "Polar bear watching industry." Here are the rest of this week's unusual tags:

Saw filing - History
Love-hate relationships
Oz (Imaginary Place)
Businessmen - language
Megalomania
Cookery - Dogfish
Leopard men
Headlight glare - Cost effectiveness

Thoughts on Library School

2007-10-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

Here's what Nicole Engard learned (and didn't learn) from library school @ Drexel. How does this mesh with your experience at the iSchool?

Can't Get Enough Harry?

2007-10-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

Then read this transcript of JK Rowling's Q & A session with Harry P fans at Carnegie Hall. You'll learn about Dumbledore's romantic past, Hagrid's 22 or no children, an alternative Weasley family without Arthur, and much more.

(From The Leaky Cauldron)

Interview with a Vampire (and by "vampire" I mean "librarians")

2007-10-22T22:37:00.001-07:00

From the Chronicle of Higher Education--an article called "Young Librarians, Talkin' Bout Their Generation" that features interviews with eight youngish librarians re: the future of libraries.

Sequel to "Machine is Us/ing Us"

2007-10-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a 5-minute YouTube video that addresses information stored digitally: "Information R/evolution" by Michael Wesch (Kansas State University?).

Wesch also did a great video called "Machine is Us/ing Us" which I first saw in a webpage design class with Terry Brooks.

Blog of the Moment

2007-10-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hello iSchoolers and friends,

Here's what I hope will be a fairly regular "column" on this blog this year (or at least this quarter)--"blog of the moment." (I thought about doing a blog of the day or blog of the week segment, but prefer more spontaneity.)

Over the past year, I've been tracking many blogs (413 as of tonight!), most of which are library-related. So I figure I'll highlight which ones seem the most useful or interesting or just plain fun.

First up is one of my favorites, Information Wants to Be Free, by self-proclaimed "librarian, writer and tech geek" Meredith Farkas. She writes thoughtfully about issues of technology use in libraries, and is one of the main bloggers in the so-called Library 2.0 movement. This year, Information Today published her first book, Social Software in Libraries, which is well worth checking out if you would like to explore using blogs, wikis, and other web technologies to enhance existing library services.

Three words that describe her blog posts: reasonable, balanced, and diplomatic.

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of October 15, 2007

2007-10-16T00:23:00.000-07:00

I found this photo when looking for pictures of old people playing softball (one of this week's entries). However, I think this photo better represents the subject heading: "Beer Therapeutic Use Early Works to 1800." How do you explain a bare-chested man wearing a "Gimli" mask on a scooter with a plastic ax? Those five cans of Busch stacked on the fence of the backstop. Thanks to light beer, this man is transformed into a dwarf with great strength and sense of justice. But I don't think that scooter will make it through the Mines of Moria.

Without further ado, this week's scholarly findings:

Elbow growth
Period (Punctuation)
Footbinding in literature
Chemical carriers (Tankers) - Fiction
Garbage as feed
Menu design - Russia (Federation) - Saint Petersburg
Softball for older people
Idealism, Polish

I was going to include "Balloons Accidents United States," but apparently child asphyxiation with balloons is a serious problem. According to a 1997 New York Times report, nearly a third of choking-related fatalities from 1972 to 1992 were caused by latex balloons. Only food products like hot dogs, peanuts and grapes are more dangerous than balloons. Sorry to be a downer. I was thinking more about dirigibles. Or those silly people who decided to attach balloons to their lawnchairs. Yes, this has happened more than once.

"We Read Banned Books!" Wrap-up

2007-10-09T23:29:00.001-07:00

This last week was Banned Books Week, and the most notable happening in the iSchool (and of course I'm not just saying this because I helped put it on!) was the "We Read Banned Books!" event, sponsored by SALA on Oct. 4th in Odegaard. About 25 people from the iSchool community and beyond showed up to listen to local writers, artists, and librarians come and share some of their favorite banned literature.

After opening remarks from SALA veep Sonja Sutherland (which you can read here) the event kicked off with a rollicking start. Rock journalist Charles R. Cross shared some beautiful and steamy passages from D.H. Lawrence's 1928 novel Lady Chatterley's Lover. Cross recalled first reading the book as a teenager and noted that it was easy for him to find the sex scenes to share at the night's reading in his copy of the book because, as a youth, he had dog-eared those particular passages. Lady Chatterley's Lover was banned in England for 32 years after its initial private publication.

Cross was followed Cody Walker (UW English Instructor) and Wendy Call (editor of Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writer's Guide), both Writers in Residence at the Richard Hugo House. Walker shared passages from Walt Whitman's Song of Myself, and reminded us that Whitman once said "The dirtiest book is the expurgated book." Call presented an autobiographical essay about her relationship to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and the serendipity that entered her life the times that she has read it. The Handmaid's Tale is #37 on the ALA's list of The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.

Local children's book author Laura McGee Kvanosky read from Susan Patton's The Higher Power of Lucky, a book for young readers that caused a stir earlier this year for its use of the word "scrotum," which prompted some school libraries to censor the book. The ALA responded to this controversy with a statement asserting the book's value, which Kvanosky charmingly echoed during her portion of the event. She read us the offending, scrotum-filled section and I think everyone in attendance agreed: sometimes you just have to call a scrotum a scrotum. Kvanosky also noted the tainting effect that censorship can send throughout the literary community, noting serious discussions she has had with publishers over whether she could depict two little fox girls playing card and changing their clothes (not at the same time, mind you).

David Wright, a fiction librarian at SPL, then took us to the dark side of intellectual freedom, reading a chilling passage from The Turner Diaries, a work of speculative fiction that is also chock-full of white supremacist propaganda. This book details a revolutionary struggle for "racial purity" in the United States, and has inspired a number of white supremacist groups and Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. In the passage Wright shared, the narrator of the book details the execution and public display of thousands of "race traitors" in Los Angeles as a means of pacifying the population.

Wright was obviously (and understandably) nervous as he read this passage and apologized several times over, but his point was a powerful one. It is perhaps too easy during Banned Books Week to think of all the Huck Finns, Harry Potters, and Cather in the Ryes of the world: "Important Works of Literature" that liberal humanists have to defend against those who are scared by challenges to their worldview. I'm not saying that this isn't important, even while I admit that there is an element of elitism and self-righteousness worked into this equation. We also have to remember that there are books like The Turner Diaries, filled with ideas that we (and most people) will find repugnant, racist, even dangerous, and we have to defend them just as much (and maybe more) than I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Why? Because it is our job to protest ideas, and to make sure they are available for those who want them, pure and simple. It's a hard message, and I applaud Wright's courage in making us remember it.

The evening finished on a more upbeat note, with local comic artist Ellen Forney's hilarious reading from Judy Blume's Forever, oft attacked for its honest depictions of teenage sex. Forney invited Cody Walker back up to the stage to read a particularly juicy scene. She then went on to talk about challenges to her own book I Love Led Zeppelin, a collection of comics which has been pulled from several libraries for its frank sexual content, including a section titled "How To Fuck a Woman With Your Hands." She shared some of the e-mail exchanges that she has had with librarians across the country, and offered insight onto how content decisions are sometimes made from within the library before they even have a chance to be made by the community they serve.

All in all, it was a wonderful event: inspiring, thought-provoking, hilarious, frank, and even a bit disturbing. And really, that's just how Banned Books Week should be. Major thanks to all of the readers, and to Bo Kinney and Sonja Sutherland for their work putting it on.

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of October 8, 2007

2007-10-09T00:55:00.000-07:00

Hey iSchoolers,

Here's another dose of silly Library of Congress subject headings. The Silverfish LCSH vault is running low, so we would appreciate any contributions. Whenever you acquaint yourself with fantastic subjects like "Rock Music Yugoslavia" or "Chain Saws Accidents," please share it with the rest of the Information School community. Comment or submit your own posting!

Martians in mass media

Long Suffering - See Meekness

Crossword puzzle makers - Drama

Hurricane modification

Intelligent buildings

Trading with the enemy

Bouncers - Great Britain

Incubi

In reference to one of the above selections...I just want to point out that the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration investigated the following methods in attempting to control hurricanes: cooling the ocean with cryogenic material or icebergs, blowing the hurricane apart with hydrogen bombs, injecting air into the center with a huge maneuverable tube to raise the central pressure, and blowing the storm away from land with windmills.

keyboard shortcuts for mozilla firefox

2007-10-08T21:19:00.001-07:00

These just might make my online life easier! :) Hope they help you too. mw

backspace=previous page

alt+home=home page

ctrl+(+)=increase text size

ctrl+(-)=decrease text size

ctrl+f=find text on page

ctrl+d=bookmark page

Virtual Library

2007-10-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a piece of digital art by Yann Serandour called "Ma bibliotheque virtuelle" (sorry I'm missing all the accent marks). Why am I posting it? It just looks cool.

Anyone have links to sites that mix art with libraries?

Usability Issues

2007-10-08T20:17:00.001-07:00

From Smashing Magazine's blog, here are "30 usability issues to be aware of." Not so compelling post title, but compelling principles to remember (such as the 3-click rule: "users stop using the site if they aren’t able to find the information or access the site feature within 3 mouse clicks").

Library Potties

2007-10-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Have you visited any magnificent bathrooms lately? Did said bathroom(s) reside in a library? If so, the bloggers at Checking Out and Checking In are calling for your photos as part of the Bathroom Blogfest.

Orientation 2007

2007-10-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

I had been on vacation for a couple of months, so it was difficult to get out of bed for the 8:30 start time of the MLIS orientation. I made it to campus driven by large quantities of caffeine and my percolating excitement for the upcoming two years. Upon arrival, I knew my new colleagues were already acclimating to Seattle life as they hovered around with coffee in hand, discussing their advisor appointments, while awaiting their turn to be photographed for our directory.

The Residential-MLIS orientation began with Karen Fisher and Marie Potter’s introduction to the program before Dr. Harry Bruce took to the podium. During Bruce’s welcome we learned that this cohort was the most competitive in the iSchool’s history with only a 42% acceptance rate. This was mostly an informational session, however my peers and I had fun getting to know each other during the introductory ice-breaker. From my casual conversations with other first year students, I feel confidant in saying that the highlight of the morning session occurred near the end when we broke into groups lead by second-year students who gave us the inside scoop on the “unofficial” information of the iSchool.

During the afternoon, all of the new iSchool students convened in Kane Hall for our official welcome to the school. The faculty introduced themselves and their research and we were ushered upstairs for a social event. Here my colleagues and I learned and put into practice our first professional lesson during our tenure at the iSchool – the importance of building relationships because of the interdisciplinary nature of our work.

19th Century Mustaches

2007-10-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

This is too good not to share: the Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century blog is...just that.

Here is a photo from said blog which is described as "Pazyryk Horsemen, some 300 years before the birth of Christ."

Found via BoingBoing.

College students' perceptions of the library

2007-10-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

OCLC (the Online Computer Library Center) published a report in 2005 on college students' perceptions of the library. It talks about their library usage and their awareness of library resources. Also discusses internet search engines vs. libraries and librarians and the "library brand." Useful for academic librarian wannabes and others...

Here are a couple of other reports published by OCLC, along with descriptions from the website:

2003 Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition
The 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition report was produced for OCLC’s worldwide membership to examine the significant issues and trends impacting OCLC, libraries, museums, archives and other allied organizations, both now and in the future. The scan provides a high-level view of the information landscape, intended both to inform and stimulate discussion about future strategic directions.

Libraries: How They Stack Up
Libraries: How They Stack Up, released in 2003, provides a snapshot of the economic impact of libraries worldwide. The report contains some interesting comparisons of library economics and activies to other sectors, professions and destinations in the global economy.

A Dispatch From SLA 2007

2007-10-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

By Amy Donahue ‘07, MLIS

donahuea@u.washington.edu

The first time I went to Denver, I tried local brews. I heard Al Gore speak. I took pictures of the Colorado Capitol Building. I stayed in a hotel where lemonheads instead of mints were left on the pillow. But I wasn’t an ordinary tourist taking my fill of the Mile High City – I was an attendee of the Special Library Association’s annual conference. And I have to admit; I had an amazing time and learned far more than I could have learned just visiting.

I first became involved with SLA because of an internship I had in a biotechnology company’s library. For the same reasons that I applied for the internship in the first place (in a nutshell, an interest in science and health), my focus within SLA has, and continues to be, within the Pharmaceutical and Health Technology Division. And I found myself with a fabulous opportunity in the form of the conference to both further explore this aspect of librarianship and to expand my horizons to areas ranging from global librarianship to non-profit and government. And that doesn’t take into account the vendors and social events!

As a matter of fact, two of my three favorite sessions weren’t related to science at all (well, I suppose they are related to library science…forgive my poor joke). The Synergy General Session, held at the beginning of the conference, featured a round-table including the well known Stephen Abram, Clifford Lynch and Eugenie Prime. Tom Hogan asked difficult questions and received some intriguing answers that motivated me for the rest of the conference: check out http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/2007/06/synergy_general.html for a short clip.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Marcia Ellen Bates’ program on “How to Convince Your Clients They Desperately Need You”. Bates is a highly capable speaker who had me hooked the whole time (I believe I actually laughed several times—some librarians can make jokes). As a bonus, everything she said was applicable to any library situation you may find yourself in, from consulting to public. One suggestion: give your clients a survey asking which provided services are useful. Give them the option to choose none of the above. If they actually choose that option, provide new (not just improved) services! It may seem obvious, but frankly, I don’t think it’s said often enough.

Finally, the second to last session I attended was amazing, and did actually have something to do with science. Next-Gen scientists, to be precise. The session was a unique format; we were arranged in small groups and had open discussions that we shared with the whole large group at the end. While the sound system and the logistics of the set-up weren’t quite perfect, I still found myself overwhelmed by the intelligence and openness with which we talked about controversial issues like getting rid of scientific books (costs of new editions every year; younger scientists more used to everything online anyway) and the loss of the reference desk. My then-future colleagues were not afraid and met these issues head on. Needless to say, I walked away with several new business cards.

These sessions barely touch the surface of my overall experience at SLA ’07. I spoke with vendors, met amazing people at division lunches and socials (both my own and others), and heard Al Gore and Scott Adams speak (SLA really does get amazing speakers). I met a friend whom I had only known through e-mail and phone conversations (we worked at the same biotech, but on opposite ends of the country). The list goes on and on, but I’m sure you have homework you should be doing.

Before ending this brief synopsis, I would like to thank Nancy Gershenfeld and the committee of the Frost-Gershenfeld award for making my trip possible. And I would like to extend to all readers an invitation to e-mail me with any questions about my experience at SLA ’07 (a note to future attendees: wear comfortable shoes and pick sessions before you head out)! Also feel free to check out the 2007 Conference website at http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2007/ (there’s even a blog).

See you in Seattle for SLA ’08!

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of October 1, 2007

2007-10-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning, I purchased a book called "Hanimals" at the Friends of the Seattle Public Library book sale in Magnuson Park. When I opened the book, I was disappointed to find that there were no subject headings such as "Body parts as animals," "Shadow puppets, postmodernist" or "Painted digits." This art book had escaped the all-knowing eyes of catalogers and reminds me of how much work we have to do in this world. That's why I get up every morning...the anticipation of adding value to information.

This week's submissions come from first-year students who attended the ALISS/Silverfish brownbag event on Friday. Each student had about five minutes to flip through the big red subject heading books (located near the student mailboxes) to come up with the wackiest terms. Here is what they uncovered:

Forest fires, citizen participation
Botany, experimental
Umbrella repairers
Quitch - grass
Beanosaurs (Trademark)
Proctoscopy
Manned maneuvering units
Miniature horses
Prune industry
Cockroaches in Literature
Quails as pets

And the first prize winning entry was...

Metabolism in Architecture (found by Zach Hale)

Finding a quality picture of a pet quail was a lot harder than you'd imagine...but it wasn't so hard to find quail poetry.

The Silverfish Newsletter

What's in a name?

Con Seeks Pro: Electronic Books

The Silverfish Podcast #005 -- David Laskin and The Long Way Home

'Fish Food

Silverfish Podcast #004 -- Dr. Janes vs Watson and The End Of Days

Silverfish Podcast #002

All your blogs are belong to us (we hope)

The Silverfish has gone audio!

Library Book Blogs: The good the bad and the ugly

Inside Edition takes on the library

More crazy furniture!

BEHOLD! The Power of the Archivist!

There's an encyclopedia for everything...

Lexicons in literature

Book Talking

Miscellaneous Info. Bits

Book Furniture

Information Overload: Trying to Deal

Fictional Librarians

Top 5 Reasons to come to iYouth Book Club Meetings

Photographic pleasures, again: Opacity.us

Procrastination pleasure for the archivally minded library student: Shorpy.com

Werewolves or Cannibals?

Affordable, Fun, Thought-Provoking: Underground Railroad Film Series, November 20

Looking for Love in the Stacks

Haunted Libraries

Book Challenges - "Bunny Suicides"

Funny Resume Mistakes

Harry Bruce Responds to The Silverfish Alumni Survey

Facebook in real life

Reviving the Ridiculous LCSH

Bloglines - Nerd Tattoo

Better Late Than Never...

Bloglines - Hereâs proof we need to formulate a critical need for libraries in the Internet Era

From The Stranger: The Pleasure and Peril of Chasing Book Thieves

iYouth Happenings!

"F#@$ class/Get your education on The Ave!"

Odd Book Titles

Bloglines - Scientist Valentines

"The essential reference desk button"

Mildly attractive men

Bloglines - Shelf Check #183

Bloglines - Batman Crossing

Bloglines - When Geeks Go to a War Protest

Tidbits from this week's American Libraries Direct newsletter

What's so special about manga?

Ideal footwear for the iSchool student?

Bloglines - Bibliophile Tattoo

Bloglines - George and Joan Thinking Out Loud about Library Education

Bloglines - Facebook for old people

Bloglines - Organize Your Life With Jott

Smell Like...an Old Book!

Bloglines - What do you wish youâd learned in Library School?

No LIS569 for you?

DAWN Christmas Gift Drive

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of December 3, 2007

Bloglines - A MOREAUTHORITATIVE ALTERNATIVE TO WIKIPEDIA

Bloglines - can you spot the library?

Bloglines - Article Reach

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of November 26, 2007

Bloglines - the most unusual books of the world

Bloglines - Social Networking in Plain English

Stop Bugging Me!

Bloglines - Defining Reading

Digital "Telephone"

Bloglines - Need Help with an Avatar?

Bloglines - New Book on Google

OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore) : GREAT FIREFOX EXTENSION

Library Journal - What's Still Wrong with Reference

Bloglines - Connect-the-Dots Tattoo

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of November 12, 2007

Become a del.icio.us Power User

Library Comics

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of November 5, 2007

Happy Halloween?

iSchool Launches New Podcast Series

Tips for Winter Registration

Ridiculous Library of Congress Subject Headings: Week of October 29, 2007

OCLC Report on Social Networking

Bloglines - Hereâs proof we need to formulate a critical need for libraries in the Internet Era

Bloglines - What do you wish youâd learned in Library School?