The ISSS

http://www.ifsr.org/members/isss/

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Comics in the Library

A recent copy of Library Administrator's Digest that circulated at the BAPL mentioned an effort to induce kids to read by supplying comics to kids otherwise disinclined. Baltimore School Superintendent Nancy S. Gramich, an Archie comicbook fan as a kid, has introduced this concept to the library. Increasingly, libraries are understanding the value of comics and graphic novels to reach a certain segment of the teen population, especially middle-schoolers who are a particularly difficult group with which to establish rapport.

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Homage

To two great contributors to our culture.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/31/europe/EU-GEN-Sweden-Mourns-Bergman.php

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12374699

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Nancy Kranich Notes

http://libraryjuicepress.com/apbna-preface.php

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Library Lady

Belle da Costa Greene

http://www2.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall06/005104.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/books/review/Weber-t.html

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Didn't Get Him Worked Into the Concord and Merrimac

But I know Henry David had to love him, too:

http://www.naturesound.com/frogs/pages/peeper.html

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Yochai Benkler.org

http://www.benkler.org/

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Toward an Information Economy

Money began in nonliterate cultures as a commodity...[and] always retains something of its commodity and community character...Speech comes with the development of the power to let go of objects. It gives the power of detachment from the environment that is also the power of great mobility in knowledge of environment. So it is with the growth of the idea of money as currency rather than commodity...Money, as a social means of extending and amplifying work and skill in an easily accessible and portable form, lost much of its magical power with the coming of representative money, or paper money...Today, as the new vortices of power are shaped by the instant electric interdependence of all men on this planet, the visual factor in social organization and in personal experience recedes, and money begins to be less and less a means of storing or exchanging work and skill.

--"Money"
from Understanding Media
Marshall McLuhan, 1964

Hands Off the Internet

http://www.handsoff.org/blog/

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Links

LUDWIG VON BERTALANFFY: General Systems Theory http://www.survey-software-solutions.com/walonick/systems-theory.htm
http://www.geocities.com/~n4bz/gst/gst1.htm

ALBERT-LASZLO BARABASI: The author of Linked.
http://www.nd.edu/~alb/

Gabriel and the WHINEettes

Peeling off the layers of Cohort-7-Pittsburgh-Week fatigue, I dedicate this first back-home blog entry to my presentation project group.

I hear we spent more time than most on our project, and yet I believe we were all disappointed by end result. Well, I learned some things, and I hope you all did, too.

1. Completion, not perfection: Harder for some of us to swallow than others, yet nevertheless essential--to this program and to our lives overall.
2.We were four very independent individuals, three of us having external pulls: Gabriel by his work commitment, Erin by her health and understandable determination to experience as much of Pittsburgh as possible in our short week, and myself by extreme family circumstances. Lydia was eager to lead, and Jennifer had her sleeves rolled up and was ready to go, but:
3. We were not cohesive. The pulls were stronger than Lydia's brave attempt to organize us, we did not succeed in consolidating the work we actually accomplished into a presentation of the quality which I believe most of us expect from ourselves, but:
4. I for one learned a lot about the websites we investigated and evaluated.
2. I learned something important about each of us, and I value that.
3. I learned something vital about group endeavors.
4. I even learned somethings about power point and animated clip art.

Heartfelt thanks to each of you, and warmest wishes,
Valerie

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Feed2JS

I've got a nickel for the mastermind who can solve this mystery for me: How does one paste that code?

Last Blog 'fore Pittsburgh

Last Train to Clarksburg circa 1965 comes to mind. Well, now--there's a giggle. But, alas and otherwise, not packing tonight as lightly as I'd hoped, ie, webpage frustrations, time woes have got me flummoxed and a bit less than bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. But I'm looking forward to meeting everyone, and I'm sure By the Time I get to Pittsburgh my good humor Will Be Rising....

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Statutory Law

Statutory law is written law (as opposed to oral or customary law) set down by a legislature or other governing authority such as the executive branch of government in response to a perceived need to clarify the functioning of government, improve civil order, answer a public need, to codify existing law, or for an individual or company to obtain special treatment. (Contrast common law.) In addition to the statutes passed by the national or state legislature, lower authorities or municipalities may also promulgate administrative regulations or municipal ordinances that have the force of law — the process of creating these administrative decrees are generally classified as rulemaking. While these enactments are subordinate to the law of the whole state or nation, they are nonetheless a part of the body of a jurisdiction's statutory law.

...Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_law

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Common Law

Common law is law that comes from the common people, vers., legislation, which, comes from the "experts."

Common law comes about at the root levels of society: it is not law that is imposed by some authority from on high. The development of common law was "essentially a private affair concerning millions of people throughout dozens of generations and stretching across several centuries." It is a process that is self adjusting and which goes on everyday unnoticed, without great expense to the state and with out fractionalizing society.

...Peter Landry
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/BluePete/LawCom.htm

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The American Copyright League Motto

"In vain we call old notions fudge,
And bend our conscience to our dealing;
The Ten Commandments will not budge,
And stealing will continue stealing."

...James Russell Lowell

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 27.

(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

See: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

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My Koha Virtual Shelf

1. Schizoaffective Disorders, 2006. ISBN: 1600210309.

2. Affective and Schizoaffective Disorders, 1990. ISBN: 0387520716.

3. From Borderline Adolescent to Functioning Adult, Masterson, James F., 1980. ISBN: 0876302347.

4. Borderline Personality Disorder, Gunderson, John G., 2001. ISBN:
1585620165.

5. Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism, Kernberg, Otto F., 2002. ISBN: 0765703629.

6. I Hate You--Don't Leave Me, Kreisman, Jerold J., 1989. ISBN: 089866595.

7. Sometimes I Act Crazy: Living with Bipolar Personality Disorder, Kreisman, Jerold J., 2004. ISBN: 047122860.

8. The Challenge of the Borderline Patient: Competency in Diagnosis and Treatment, Kroll, Jerome, 1988. ISBN: 039370047X.

9. Severe Personality Disorders: Psychotherapeutic Strategies, Kernberg, Otto F., 1984. ISBN: 0300032730.

10. The Borderline Personality in Analysis, 1988. ISBN: 0933029136.

11. Borderline and Narcissistic Patients in Therapy, 1988. ISBN: 0823605728.

12. Borderline Personality Disorders, 2005. ISBN: 9780824729288.

13. Handbook of Bipolar Disorder: Diagnosis and Therapeutic Approaches, 2005. ISBN: 9780824729356.

14. Diagnostic Criteria for Functional Psychoses, 1992. ISBN: 0521423155.

15. The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness, Laing, R. D., 1999. ISBN: 0415198186.

16. Personality Disorders, Friedland, Bruce, 1991. ISBN: 0791000516.

17. Personality Disorders, Veague, Heather Barnett, 2007. ISBN: 0791090027.

18. Bipolar Disorder: Your Questions Answered, Hunt, Neil, 2005. ISBN: 0443100705.

19. The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Bipolar Disorder: Professional, Reassuring Advice to Help You Understand and Cope, Stillman, William, 2005. ISBN: 1593374461.

20. Personality and Psychopathology, 1999. ISBN: 0880489235.

21. Personality Disorders in Children and Adolescents, Kernberg, Paulina, 2000. ISBN: 0465095623.

22. Bipolar Depression: A Comprehensive Guide, 2006. ISBN: 1585621714.

23. Manic-Depressive Illness: Bipolar and Recurrent Depression, Goodwin, Frederick, 2007. ISBN: 9780195135794.

24. Comparative Treatments for Bipolar Disorder, 2005. ISBN: 0826148352.

25. New Perspectives on Narcissism, 1990. ISBN: 0880481781.

26. Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder, 2001. ISBN: 0890423199.

27. Understanding and Treating Borderline Personality Disorder: A Guide for Professionals and Families, 2005. ISBN: 1585621358.

28. Mentalization-based Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Practical Guide, Bateman, Anthony, 2006. ISBN: 0198570902.

29. Through the Looking Glass: Woman and Borderline Personality Disorder, Becker, Dana, 1997. ISBN: 0813333091.

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ZoomClouds

The last statement in this blog with respect to ZoomClouds was that I would be making three more. Since I seem to have succeeded in making the aggregated cloud, I moved on from this. If I should have time at some point during the remainder of this course (or if I receive instruction that makes the three a requirement), I'll come back to this. As is, I believe I satisfied this assignment on time last week. Oh, ye Powers That Be! Correct me if I'm wrong!

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John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid

More about the authors of THE SOCIAL LIFE OF INFORMATION can be accessed via their webpages:

http://www.johnseelybrown.com/

and

http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/~duguid/

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oh, come on

Now look. I have nothing but respect for this program. Nothing but respect for the powers that be, the colleagues that get all the tech stuff way faster than I do, and maybe most importantly--I love the stuff when I master it. But hey, come on, really. What is going on here? Is this simply the school of being thrown into the pool and you learn to swim or you sink? Perhaps my objection is that if this IS the blueprint of the course, I don't feel I've been respected enough to have had the rules explained. Now, please. Understand. I'm exhausted. I'm frustrated. I'm worried. But if the purpose is not so much that we complete these assignments, but that we learn to--what? To solve problems in discussion boards? I just don't get where this is helping to train us as librarians. Okay. I'm rambling. I'm bellyaching about the Kompozer assignment. And I am bellyaching big time. And I'm just going to go ahead and say this, because at the moment I'm sleep deprived and angry and so the devil may care: What in the world are we supposed to be accomplishing? Sure, we're going to get something done in the long run. We're going to piece enough together to get some damn grade, but DANG it all to heck-- I feel like we're a bunch of ants swarming around a goshdarned drain trying to figure out how to keep from being sucked down and build our path back to the sugar line. We're sending SOS's back and forth. Morse code and whatever works to figure it out, but hey--what are we learning? That we can troubleshoot our way back up out of the suction cup one more time?...I don't get it. I really don't get it. I'm so damned tired. Gotta work all day tomorrow and still handoverhand through the discussion boards when I get home tomorrow night to figure out how to make this assignment fly by end of day. Okay. Fair is fair. My job, my other responsibilities don't really count in this discussion. I'm getting personal, and I'm getting childish. All that should matter in this discussion is the course itself. I'm a grownup. I can still cry, but I know the choices I've made to be here. But here's what I believe is my rightful bellyache: really, and goodness, and truly--there doesn't seem to be an actual assignment. It's more like a dang fool scavenger hunt.

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Koha

The Koha assignment seems to be fulfilled. Thanks to the rubric, assorted notes from collegues and professor, patience with intermittent Koha crashes (only experienced at point of attempt to deliver item to shelf, by the way), my own rhythm was established, and I seem to have fulfilled the goal. I love the look of the virtual shelves. They beg to be utilized. I do not, however, feel that I have much comprehension of all that is available with this tool (Koha that is)! It seems to be a tremendously useful application, but there is so much there that we didn't even touch upon--though I certainly do not mean to invite another assignment at this moment in time! Heaven help us with Kompozer!!!

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Second Life

I have spent a significant length of time giddy at the prospect of entering Second Life. My silly side (quite a wide stripe) was really looking forward to it. I'm afraid my usual technical difficulties, however, have thwarted my entrance. I have repeated downloads and followed a variety of instructions, but it looks like a combination of Vista security, Norton firewall, my own perpetual ineptitude, and depletion of rationed time have conspired to keep me out of Second Life Town for the time-being. The last time I crashed I was about to behold my avatar for the second time (the first two or three tries, which involved one reload, didn't even take me that far). However, thanks to Araba Dawson-Andoh, I was able to get a taste of the SL experience, albeit without the hands-on (fingertips?) advantage, with "A Campus Tour in Second Life." http://chronicle.com/media/video/v53/i37/secondlife/ Prior to viewing Jeffrey Young's Case-Western Reserve tour, I'd only imagined Second Life in the most basic terms--buzzwords: adolescent fun! But the video is enlightening. The Second Life program has genuine practical potential.

Disturbing, however, was the peek at another classmate's Second Life links which include the nuking of a SL site in Australia. A tactic like that, brutishly demolishing the creations of others, is not fun. It's beyond even subversive. It's perverse.

I look forward to having time to partake of some Second Life on my own, but my present conclusion is that this program has remarkable potential for more than entertainment. For now, though, the program seems to be used mostly for its perfect blend of IM, reality show, MTV, and manga. It's mostly deployed as a toy and a dating game. The more we consider the possibilities and the tendencies, it may be that we decide the nukers in Australia are basically related to the awful school lurkers and destroyers. Yes, they haven't physically hurt anyone, but they are malicious and destructive. They, like the Columbine and Virginia Tech snipers have lashed out at blatantly popular systems. The correlation means something, and though we can't know what exactly, we have clues. All this hepped up cyber-flirting stimulates testosterone. It encourages a kind of jerking off that Vaidhyanathan may romantically perceive as akin to that of Diogenes in the marketplace, except it isn't. Diogenes' marketplace is analog. Cyber-induced hormones leave you stuck in the confines of your workstation. It's only natural to want to come out of the closet, and if you're feeling like an outsider to begin with, all this simultaneously revved up and repressed sexual energy is likely to get you into trouble, and at the extreme, can make you lethal.

The author of another article recently read seems to lament the cultural divide between librarians who come to the technology as a second language and the kids who've grown up versed in the technology. The implication is that that those ol' librarians will be at a severe loss. Once again, I'm not so sure we know what we're talking about. We're in paradigm crisis, Kuhn-style. All hell and heaven are breaking lose. It's exciting. Some super cool geeks, like the Case Western crew, are making mind-bending headway. A lot of other kids are having good randy fun. But there's something else, and it's disturbing, in the Second Life mix.

There is much to explore here--primarily our assumptions. For one thing, why are we so quick to get on the wagon that presumes ALL kids are techno wizards? Some have an innate sense of caution about technology. I know quite a few kids who, sure, they've got the cellphone and the laptop, and they text and use IM, but they're not junkies. Sex and fun are good, but there's more to Second Life than meets the high.

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Time

I have at last stumbled upon the simple mechanism for changing the times of my entries. I should be Eastern from now forward.

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Grazr

Amazingly, I seem to have succeeded in getting the Grazr Widget in place today after all. I'm pleased. Wish ZoomClouds was cooperating. The ZoomClouds site surely has its share of downtime. Since I can't proceed with adding my individual clouds tonight, I will conclude the day's entries (let's hope) with the URL for my widget. Here 'tis:

http://www.grazr.com/read/ValerieM/export.opml.xml

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Aggregated, UnAggregated (DISaggregated?) and Other Notes

Now the odd thing is I perceive MY cloud as aggregated, but I've read on the discussion boards that we're not able to aggregate our feed for the cloud so we can "just make three individual clouds." Say WHAT! I'm insecure enough, quite ready to accept that my sense of success is in fact inaccurate, i.e. I only THOUGHT I'd done what I thought I'd done. But in fact, I'm not done at all. SO, I will make three more clouds. No moving on to Grazr today, still stuck here up in the clouds. Still having fun with this, very curious about trying out some things in these clouds, so I'm game for three more, but of course I'm growing increasingly uneasy about running out of time. Ah, well. It's only Wednesday.

As I was working last night, I was also wondering how in the world this adorable stuff could be academically useful. My guess is not real much. But, I AM thinking today that these clouds could be put to wonderful use on public library websites. Of course I well know I only have primitive understanding of this tool at this point, so I might alter this view in time. Right now though, this is where I imagine the clouds being effective and put to good, sensible employment.

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Okay, gotta laugh

I'm still here fiddling with my cloud. Having such a jolly time I find I can't quit! Moving bits outa there bim bam boo. Until all HELL broke loose! The bloody word! I can't get rid of it!!! Well, one more try, folks, but if it ain't budgin' this time, I mean it. I'm gone. And if you happen to visit and see my cloud with NO such word present, hey well, means I got lucky. But this has GOT to stop, I mean the dogs are lookin' at me funny....

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Got Offa My Cloud

What you see in the cloud tonight is not what was there last night and what I was blethering about deleting. Cause I did it, by gum! Poof! Gone! More or less. But the proof is in the pudding, after all. Tee hee! Who cares how many bowlfuls I threw out in the process of getting there. Ah well, I'm happy tonight. And it's only 11:00 pm! As for tomorrow, I simply MUST leave it alone tomorrow. Whether I wake up still pleased or not. Whether it looks good or whether the content and linkages seem lame. Gotta move on. Much to accomplish in these next few days. Have driven my husband and daughter off somewhere far, far away. Will gather my pups now, and to bed! Tee hee hee.

Is My Blog in The Cloud???

I promised myself I'd be in bed by Midnight. Despite what the time on my blog says (PT, I'm assuming) it's past that magic hour. But I just gotta see something here. If I write into this blog 2007, 2004, 2005, BOOK, Magazine, thomas, THIELE, University. Will my blog com up--ooh, do I have to tag this entry? Is that it? Let's see....

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My Tag Cloud URL

Yes?

http://feedblendr.com/blends/16359.rss

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Sadly, I realize this is my blended feed URL, which is cool, but not the Tag Cloud URL. With ZoomClouds being down and so much else to accomplish within the next few days, and work, etc., I may have to throw in the towel on this. I'll do as much as I can to get that URL up, but I may have come as far as I can on this one. I either can't figure it out, or ZoomClouds inconsistent interface is making it impossible or some combination. It's June 27, 11:44PM. Signing out.

Bloglines RSS Feeds URL

http://www.bloglines.com/public/ValerieM

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Wrong A'gin

Sorry, anyone who's lookin'. Hope to be back soon with the fix.

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Bloglines URL for LIS2600 Scopus Folder

http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs?mode=2

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Back to the Patron Wars and Other Frustrations

The surly patron with the wine-destroyed book returned to Bethlehem Public Library. He visited the ADMINISTRATOR in charge of circulation. His tail was tucked between his legs. He grinned sheepishly. He apologized to her for his poor behavior. He said he would pay for the book. Charmed, the ADMINISTRATOR said, more or less, Aw Shucks. Don't worry about the book. Just pay the replacement fee. This is what the ADMINISTRATOR reported to the CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT. What does this mean? A lot. For one thing, it means the circulation department, following the rules, was not backed up by its boss. It means the CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT, which had been treated rudely and received an apology from no one, now feels like a collective numbskull and is further alienated from ADMINISTRATION. This alienation is pretty thick in my library. Not a good thing. Granted, the circ clerks are not librarians, but they do represent the library and are a pretty caring bunch overall. There is tension in my library.  The librarians and the circ clerks seem to have a lot more in common than either group has with the ADMINISTRATION. Our present Executive Director is retiring soon. I hope the new librarian will be more of an anarchist, as this Administration is too puffed up with oligarchical methodologies for the good of sharing information. Of course you could say the Administrator who decided to love the mean ol clerk-bashing book-destroying codger did it for for more love--that of sharing the library's resources. Sure. Maybe she exonerated him so that he'd come back next time. Take out more books. Spill more wine. But something's wrong with this picture. I mean if you can't SHARE good will among your co-workers, how are you really going to share it in the broader sense? Anyhoo, my library keeps on spending SO much money on books. Which I love. BUT, if the guy'd been reading a book digitally when he lost control of his glass....

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Search Engine URLs

This blog contains the widgets for Schizoaffective Search Engine and for Italian Meals--Pronto! Here are the URLs for these search engines:

http://www.google.com/custom?cx=008773558260928364810%3Alrnh0iziavm&q=&sa=Search&cof=GFNT%3A%23666666%3BLH%3A55%3BCX%3ASchizoaffective%2520Search%2520Engine%3BDIV%3A%23cccccc%3BFORID%3A0%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fcoop%2Fimages%2Fgoogle_custom_search_sm%2Egif%3BLP%3A1%3BAH%3Aleft&hl=en&client=google-coop-np

http://www.google.com/custom?cx=008773558260928364810%3Augf5x-srf5e&q=&sa=Search&cof=GFNT%3A%23666666%3BLH%3A55%3BCX%3AItalian%2520Meals--Subito%2521%3BDIV%3A%23cccccc%3BFORID%3A0%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fcoop%2Fimages%2Fgoogle_custom_search_sm%2Egif%3BLP%3A1%3BAH%3Aleft&hl=en&client=google-coop

Experiment

http://www.google.com/custom?cx=008773558260928364810%3Alrnh0iziavm&q=&sa=Search&cof=GFNT%3A%23666666%3BLH%3A55%3BCX%3ASchizoaffective%2520Search%2520Engine%3BDIV%3A%23cccccc%3BFORID%3A0%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fcoop%2Fimages%2Fgoogle_custom_search_sm%2Egif%3BLP%3A1%3BAH%3Aleft&hl=en&client=google-coop-np

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Search Engines Tonight

Tonight I have posted two search engines.  Success, at last.

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Apparently Not

Domani...

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Is THIS it?????

<script src="http://gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://www.google.com/coop/api/

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Below No Go

The link is in In Your Face.

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Back to No Go

Hey! Now the link is active!

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What was THAT?????

Back to square one.

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Posting Search Engine

<!-- Google CSE Search Box Begins  -->

  <form id="searchbox_008773558260928364810:lrnh0iziavm" action="http://www.google.com/cse">

    <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="008773558260928364810:lrnh0iziavm" />

    <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:0" />

    <input name="q" type="text" size="40" />

    <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" />

  </form>

  <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/coop/cse/brand?form=searchbox_008773558260928364810%3Alrnh0iziavm"></script>

<!-- Google CSE Search Box Ends -->

       

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How I Got Through the 50/50/50

I stopped fretting it. I jumped into it, a cannonball into the deep end. I couldn't figure it out staring at it, so, in the end, I stopped asking questions, I jumped.  The end result ain't perfect. Far from it.  Plenty is bugging me about my entries. I want to polish them. Expand them. Clarify them further for ease of my own future use and that of others. I want to get into my browser and make the adjustment that will allow full retrieval of the LOC entries. I want to understand what the hell I just did, how I captured enough information with Zotero so that I could export the entries to EndNote. I want to figure out how to unclutter my Zotero library.  I want to understand why I have so many double entries.  I want to READ these articles. I want to think about them. I want to investigate further.   Domani....sempre domani.

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No Go

So much for my attempt at a little file sharing. THE TIMES does not wish to play. It's an article on Google's Street View.  Some will find this extension a tad creepy when they get wind of it. As for my failed effort to introduce you--Wow, I failed, but does the effort itself make me a hacker? Do you have to crack the system or just be a touch benignly subversive to qualify?

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In Your Face

Some still find the telephone invasive. This does not necessarily make these folk antisocial or non-communicative. But you surely won't find web cams and StreetView on their wish lists.



http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/technology/01private.html?ex=1182139200&en=38160231130dde



Yikes.

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Hey, lemme tell you--it's NOT 7 something!

My post times are three hours off, I'll have you know. And that, truly, is that. For the night.

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Notes, unsteady notes, further notes

Unsteady because of the late hour, and fatigue was overpowering the blogger. She had no idea what she could possibly blog about in such weakened condition, so, shakily, she grabbed what was most easily accessible, the recent memory of the work week and this is what she shared.



The second note, simply a p.s.



And third and finally, this note begged to be made because the look and sense of the last two titles was bothersome to the bleary blogger. Night all.

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Note

I had to see for myself if making two spaces after the period really does make funny marks in Scribefire. Now I know.

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Unsteady Notes

The patron complains.  Though freely admitting the wine he spilled has ruined the book, he objects to the library's policy.  He will not pay the replacement cost as directed.  He insists on purchasing a replacement of his own choice.  He claims the book was an old one and that the library would certainly not be purchasing it again.  He is, once again, apprised of the library's policy.  He displays anger.  The clerk tells him that he (the clerk) does not have the authority to do anything other than explain the library's policy.  If the patron does not wish to comply with the policy, he must then present his complaint to the head of circulation, who is not presently available.  The patron leaves in a huff. 



The following day, the patron returns and chats merrily with the circulation clerks at the desk while waiting for the head of circulation to appear.  She appears.  The patron remains jolly, tells the circ head that he has ordered a book in replacement and that he will bring it to the library as soon as it arrives.  The head of circulation tells him that the library will not be able to accept his book.  She explains to him that the library reserves the right to decide whether or not it will replace a damaged book with the same title.  It is the library's property that has been ruined and the library reserves the right to assign value to its own property.  The patron is furious.  He states that this is his final offer.  The head of circulation tells him that she is sorry that he values his library so little that he is willing to lose his privileges over this matter.  The patron counters that that has nothing to do it and demands to speak with the head of circulation's supervisor.   The administrative head is in Harrisburg attending a conference, but will return on Monday.  The patron says he will be back.  He is very angry.  He leaves in his second huff.



This small drama is unfolding at the Bethlehem Area Public Library, a library that is locally famous for its friendliness and for its service to its patrons.  However, the library is a library--a traditional, public library, an arm of the government.  The library has its policies, for better and worse.  The patron is an arrogant sunovagun.  Who can say why he has chosen this battle.  He is not financially deprived.  He might be the first to say that has nothing to do with it.



So what does have what to do with what?  What is the beef, really?  Most likely impossible to know where he's coming from.  But the library is coming from policy.  For better or worse.



Monday the administrative head will return, for sure.  My money's on the patron returning as well.



To be continued . . .

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Hit and Run

I hate to come in for a fastie, but given the book review Sunday that tomorrow need be, this may be my last blog time for the week. So here it is, and as you can see, I've regressed to using the toolbar in my haste. I'm eager to get back with Scribefire next week. In the meantime, I've discovered some interesting reviews of the books we're discussing in LIS2000:

http://www.archivists.org/periodicals/aa_v64/review-otoole-aa64_2.asp

http://repositories.cdlib.org/gseis/interactions/vol3/iss1/art11

http://informationr.net/ir/reviews/revs193.html

First Run Scribefire

I feel like I'm launching a rocket. Very very dangerous work. I mean it certainly would be for me, as I'm not a rocket launcher by design. No techie here. Don't get me wrong--I'm LOVIN' all the technical stuff I'm learning to apply. I just don't do it very well, she said not all immodestly. I remind you, I'm the girl who stared at the box which contained her food processor for YEARS before working up the guts to lift it out and employ it. See that's my point--I PANIC at the thought of it all going haywire! I figure something happened to me long, long ago that has grossly impeded my progress in the manual dexterity department--maybe it was that time I went to turn out the light on the standing lamp and was mildly electrocuted by a short circuit. See, I'm putting off attempting anything more advanced with this Scribefire business by attempting to amuse you with personal anecdotes. In part this is to savor the joy of simply having succeeded in CONNECTING my blog to to Scribefire. I hate to break the sweet spell of success by trying to do something fancy and have it backfire on me. Oh what the hell, let's be bold. We'll try a link: http://www.bapl.org



Will it work? I dunno. Oh boy! Now I can't wait to finish up this spot and check it out. Oh my God. I'm going to do it. I've only been leaving one space between periods! Let's see what happens! Aiyeee!!!

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Who Woulda Thunk . . .

. . . a month ago that this seventies child would have a blog? A blog! Who me? Non e possibile!! And a Wiki?!!! What the hell is a Wiki???

Well, I'll tell you: A Wiki is a remarkable social computing skill. A gang of bright, creative women have experienced a rewarding week engineering what for a few of us was our very first. I tip my hat to my more technologically advanced colleagues, but this cyber-challenged Elite Giant has had a thoroughly educational, rewarding, CHALLENGING, but wholly enjoyable experience. Thanks to the team and to Pitt Fast Track.

Hey, I can be sappy, if that's what gushing my enthusiasm might be, but dang! I mean every word.

And I'd lay in the link here (another something I'd not have been able to do the beginning of May), but my OCD stripe has turned on: If I post it now, well it's a Wiki after all, and ANYONE could play! Which might be great fun, but this one is also an assignment, so I'll hold off until my group peers have first had a crack! I mean what if a guest decided some of our details were not appealing and decided to delete them? Yikes! That's the down side. The Wiki is a group sport, so it's not the right tool if you're looking for something personally controllable--which actually brings up some very interesting further thoughts, like, for instance, is Prof. Weinberger right? Is everything miscellaneous?????

SNARFING

And other social tools. Cool. What do the dating pages use? Maybe we should use them as another model.

But then perhaps face-to-face contact is overrated. Perhaps the great success of the web is that we get to feel connected WITHOUT having to be bothered with all the bother of attempting productive relationships. Even if we participate in a Wiki, it's still a hit and run endeavor. We may collectively build a site, but no one's watching us when we lay in our individual bricks.

Wouldn't it be interesting if during the next few centuries we develop more and more ways of communicating faster over greater distances until someone has the novel idea of learning to really communicate one on one in the same room.

Library 2.0

Or should we say "World 2.0"?

In a global sense, Islamic terrorists may best understand how to utilize internet power.

Or we could tip our hats to "Perverts 2.0".

Sexual predators are able facilitators as well.

Technological gurus and commercial practitioners have sold themselves and are selling us on the social benefits of Web 2.0. But we run the risk of losing sight of the forest for the trees. Cellphone users are constantly connected--to someone somewhere else. They are more closed off from their immediate surroundings. They don't say hello or smile to people they pass on the street, and they crash into the automobiles ahead of them.

We need to consider--and seriously--what we mean by words like "social" and "community".

Full Tilt

Cohort 7 is a metaphor for the field of librarianship. We students have too much information thrown at us. How do we manage it? How do we prioritize, process, store it all? How do we retrieve and apply what we have gleaned? The challenges are overwhelming. Perhaps those of us most technologically deficient benefit in some way. We can FEEL the crisis in our gut. We ARE out of control, and we know it.

Librarians face special challenges today, and with these challenges come opportunities. As we master the crafts of our profession and learn to face head on the changes in the world of information processing, we need not confine ourselves to going with the flow. We must also seize opportunities for impacting the surge and direction of this wildly cascading deluge of information.

New Day, New Attempts

I am having difficulty with Scribefire.

What I wish to do is post two tags to this blog in the form of links. I would like these links to appear in the same post. Since I am not succeeding with Scribefire, I am attempting to use Zotero.

Scratch Zotero. I now seem to be in Scribefire. The question is, will I be able to apply its functions to my task.

I have the Scribefire window open, though I'm not sure it has enabled me to proceed, but something has. I have been copying and pasting and seem to have the links where I wish them to be.

http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=CDE+Help+Bookmarks&i=39437,00.asp


http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/meta_tags/

Well, I may have succeeded in getting something entered here. But my method was inelegant. I seem to have had to go back and enter everything manually rather than properly using the bookmarking tools or Scribefire option.

Each day I am waking with enthusiasm for our courses, am in awe of the technological knowledge out there, so much apparently housed in the brain of Christinger Tomer. But by the end of the day I find myself questioning whether or not I have the personal stamina to continue slogging through all this material. Well, I believe I can continue the slog, but will I be able to retain a valuable quantity of information when we begin to climb free of the muck and mire come August? Don't get me wrong. It's not freedom of the subject matter I seek, rather I crave this goal: that plodding through it all, I will end up with enough useful information stuck to the tar of my own grey matter that, well--while I anticipate at least a few synapses flickering with the glimmer of achievement, something like giddy fireflies--will I have absorbed enough new knowledge to conclude the semester with a sense of substantial achievement??? Will I be able to accomplish this while at the same time garnering a respectable grade???!. Yep. That's what I hope to have earned at the end of the 2600 road: a solid sense of achievement and a grade to match. Aiyeee!!! In the meantime, pass the toothpicks, please, (to keep the eyelids at mast) and don't forget the Rolaids.

Failed Attempts

I have not been able to accomplish any of the tasks I'd hoped to utilize in this post. Quite discouraged. Does this lament qualify as a blog entry? It's meant to. At least I'll have completed one assignment successfully today.

Any chance MLIS 2600 could engage a home office technician? Some cute little guy who would make house calls? Answer our questions on site? Now there is a useful idea. I highly recommend. Please consider, Dr. Tomer. Seriously, though, while we have this 24/7 help line through Pitt, it's not course specific. How bout getting a 24/7 tech TA special for this course? He wouldn't even have to be cute. He wouldn't even have to be he. But he'd be there, 24/7, and I could call him up and get answers to all my questions, immediately! Yes!

Meanwhile, tonight, I'll continue pulling my hair out and hope tomorrow brings some headway with del.icio.us and Connotea postings.

Not So Jolly Tonight

Dear MLIS colleagues,

The frustrations of the technological challenges are overwhelming this week. I want to be sharing with you professional information, not the gloom and flotsam of my ludicrous technical flops.

To apply some salve to my very bruised ego I will once again attempt some hyperlinking.

I'm interested in studying websites of various public libraries. You can access mine at www.bapl.org. I visited the Coeur d'Alene Public Library recently and was moved and intrigued by that library's grace day on fines. On this day, bring in a canned food item for a human or a pet, and fines are erased. You can access the Cd'A library at www.cdalibrary.org. And in case my hyperlinking is kicking in, here's the CRD/PaLA link I tried to send last week: http://www.lehigh.edu/~inpla/CRD/.

All best to all. Good night.

Oh, Brother

I didn't even succeed in hyperlinking properly.
What if I do this: http://www.lehigh.edu/~inpla/CRD/
Nope, doesn't seem like that's working either.
But I believe I have it typed correctly now.
Sheesh.

Making Sense of It All

HA!-----NOT BLOODY LIKELY THIS WEEK! I am going to try to attach a page of information. Let's see what happens........Well, that was completely unsuccessful. Since I know next to nothing about cyber-processing, I figure I'd jump into the deep water. Be bold, ya know. Well, what I did was this: I Saved a page onto del.icio.us.(Is that what I REALLY did???--highly doubtful--see what I'm trying to do is let everyone know about the CRD-PaLA workshop in Bethlehem, PA (Lehigh U) on June 8, and, anyhow, I saved this page or posted it or whatever the hell I did to del.icio.us, thinking, well, since I haven't a clue WHAT to think del.icio.us might actually be for, MAYBE it's for doing what I'm trying to do! Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But I ain't got anywheres yet with my method, SO, what I AM going to to is type in a hyperlink:

http://www.lehigh.edu/inpla/CRD/

I've gotta run back to work, will see if this has any success when I return.

TTFN

First Night in Blogville

Hello classmates. This is my first blog entry. I am simply going to say hello and call it a night, as I have been going whacko with trying to catch up with you all this evening. TTFN