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Thursday, November 30
Five Things You Can't Say About Libraries, Librarians, and Library School
by
Jason
on Thu 30 Nov 2006 11:01 PM EST
As with any sector, there are a lot of unchallenged statements, pieces of accepted wisdom and politically incorrect sentiments in the library world that seem to be lurking just beneath the surface. But for a profession concerned with freedom of expression and sharing of information, this restraint seems to be especially preposterous. So here are a few I've come across...
(Disclaimer: these aren't necessarily things I believe, they're just some provocative statements I've heard (or heard hinted at) over the past year. Okay, some that I believe. You have to guess which are which.)Five Things You Can't Say About Libraries1. Libraries basically exist to serve the middle class and for all the talk of serving everyone equally, do an extremely poor job of serving both upper and lower classes (and not surprisingly, especially how they serve marginalized people.) To put that another way, John Pateman says: "libraries are used most by people who don't need them and least by people who need them the most."2. A related point. For all our talk of serving everyone equally and fairly (which is a fine and noble goal), maybe sometimes you have to serve people according to their needs even if it means one group receives "special" or extra service. (also John Pateman - who I apparently am in love with!  )3. Libraries are not in competition with Chapters (or Starbucks or Blockbuster) although this is a fairly common sentiment, especially in recent library literature and the library school classroom. Those are private enterprises and libraries are public institutions (at least for the time being) and in my mind, this means they aren't (or at least shouldn't be) considered competitors. Does a high school "compete" with the television news to educate teenagers? Only in the loosest sense. Does a hospital "compete" with a pharmacy? Not really.4. Libraries don't do nearly as good of a job at promoting the full range of services and programs that the library offers as they could. For most people, "library = free books" (I think one study I saw said that 80% of people use the library for borrowing books and nothing else.)5. Andrew Carnegie may have built the majority of libraries that exist across North America but he was still a robber baron who made his fortune off the backs of his workers and we shouldn't forget that either. Put another way - your second half of life can't buy a pass for the first. Five Things You Can't Say About Librarians1. This is buying into the stereotype a bit but stereotypes often have roots in reality. So, in my opinion, we could probably all use a course in assertiveness training. Not to become domineering, loud personalities but to help us to not be afraid to ask for what we want or do something we want to do. 2. Another stereotype that I find has its roots in truth. A lot of librarians don't embrace technology and the possibilities it allows in a way that they should or could. 3. Just because you can give somebody access to something, doesn't mean you should give somebody access to something. (This was put more succinctly by a professor, talking about how we'll get used to educators in our libraries whining "But I'm a teacher..." as justification for any request they might have. "I wonder what the equivalent phrase for a librarian would be?" she wondered aloud. "Probably 'But of course your six year old has a right to look at pornography!'")4. Some librarians are terrible at their jobs. They hate work. They hate patrons. They even hate books! 5. On the flip side, the majority of librarians are some of the coolest, smartest, most creative, most amazing people you will ever meet. (Yes, librarians.)Five Things You Can't Say About Library School1. Why do librarians need a Masters degree when a range of other professionals - from teachers to nurses to engineers to pharmacists - get by with an undergrad degree?2. Library schools are more about "school" than "library". 3. Students might feel like a McDonald's hamburger - processed and fried assembly-line style to be spit out at the end - by their library school experience. 4. Not every
professor is a wonderful teacher and out of all the classes you take
(we do 15 in this program), there's a pretty good chance that anywhere
from one to three of them will be complete duds. (Trust me on this
one!)5. Just like journalists become public relations officers to earn twice the salary, librarians should probably go get a business or a computer science degree if they want to make the really big money in this profession.
On a different topic, I'm screening Party Girl in NCB113 tomorrow at 1pm. I decided that instead of doing the traditional poster and a mass e-mail thing, I'd try that "viral marketing" all the kids at Ivey are talking about. I sent an e-mail invitation to a few people and asked them to invite a few people and tell them to invite a few more. I didn't even tell them which movie I was screening. Which probably means that I'll be sitting in NCB113 tomorrow afternoon watching a movie by myself! So if you want to keep me company, feel free to drop by. 
By the way, the IMDB link above says that Party Girl was the first movie to be shown in its entirety over the Internet. <Johnny Carson voice> I did not know that. </Carson>
And speaking of trivia, "Murph and the Orillia Silencers" lived up to their "nom du semaine" by going out with not a bang but a whimper last night at the final Trivia Night of the semester. After a first round where we thought we'd finally done the impossible and got 20/20 (except we got three wrong - most career goals after Gretzky was Howe but the three sports guys at the table somehow talked themselves into Messier; the most common blood type was O, not AB and I would've got that but I didn't hear the question as I was lolly-gagging; and then the worst, I jokingly said the Wall Street Journal was the highest circulation daily before guaranteeing it was USA Today. And the answer was...the Wall Street Journal.) So, after a couple third-round come-from-behind victories in the last few weeks, there was no comeback and instead, we went down in a burning platter of fried pitas and chicken wings.
Here's hoping Melissa implements a "virtual trivia" option for next semester for those of us who won't be there in person anymore but who let probably too much of our lives revolve around knowing the name of Ziggy Marley's band (trick question - it was the Melody Makers, not the Wailers) and which Simpsons character has a superfluous third nipple (you'll have to Google that one yourself!)
Wednesday, November 29
"Should We Be Surprised? After All, Librarians Donated to Kerry Over Bush By A Ratio of 223:1"
by
Jason
on Wed 29 Nov 2006 03:07 AM EST
"Librarians are extremely liberal and, thanks to our tax dollars, insulated from their consumers' preferences."
The National Post looks at the bias against conservative books in bookstores and public libraries in an article titled "Ignoring Canada's Conservative Readers". (Thanks to Christina W. for the tip!) (By the way, the second last book I read was Ari Fleischer's Taking Heat,: The President, The Press and My Years in the White House...which I got at the London Public Library.)
Tuesday, November 28
Five Minute FIMS Survival Guide
by
Jason
on Tue 28 Nov 2006 10:22 PM EST
Before I started the program, I talked to three different alumni for their tips and suggestions. Although these may sound very obvious, here's their suggestions which I've implemented for myself to various degrees this year (although to be honest, many of these are also "do as I say, not as I do" type things!):
1. Exercise
2. If you don't exercise, try to at least change your lifestyle a bit - walk to school, take the stairs at FIMS, walk downtown instead of taking the bus sometimes.
3. Eat healthy and regularly
4. You won't always eat healthy or regularly so start taking multi-vitamins.
5. Get eight hours of sleep, preferably in order. (I recommend either gravol or melatonin as a sleep aid.)
6. You won't get regular sleep so take naps when you can.
7. Classes are only three hours a day but get used to working eight plus hours per day and/or on the weekends to keep up.
8. Do whatever works to not allow yourself to get stressed about working this much and this intensely - meditate, start a window garden, volunteer, participate in extracurricular activities, do something outside of school.
9. Use both a day timer and a four-month wall calendar to keep track of assignments, presentations, critiques, summaries, worksheets, proposals, plans, and poster sessions you'll be asked to do.
10. Focus on the assignments and if you don't have time, don't do all the readings - it's all but impossible to do both.
Sunday, November 26
Full Circle: Yet Another Library Student's Blog
by
Jason
on Mon 27 Nov 2006 12:49 AM EST
I swear to god that I should just change the name of this blog to "Full Circle" and be done with it. I'm seeing echoes everywhere...I went over to school tonight to work on my Special Libraries assignment and bumped into a first-termer who was working with her group on a presentation they have due this week. I asked what it was and it turns out it's the same topic and the same instructor I had at the end of my first term! (Am I allowed to admit that I immediately did the librarian thing and offered to pass along my presentation so they could see what my group had done? Well, I'll admit that but I won't admit whether they accepted it - how's that? Plus their presentation was well-in-hand and I don't think they're going to get anything from what my group did at this point.) So anyhow, about half an hour, maybe even an hour, later, I was ready to leave and saw that they were still practicing in a classroom. (I think my group had one rehearsal about half an hour before we presented.  ) I stuck my head in to see how it was going and they asked if I'd mind sitting through it since I'd done the same topic. Shea's at work tonight and I'll take anything that isn't my own homework every time. So I said "yes" (just kidding - I love seeing other people's work - both presentations and papers.) I sat through it and, no offense to any of my old teammates who may be reading this, but I have to admit that it was way better than what we had done. Actually, I'd go so far as to say it was right up there with some of the best presentations I saw in my cohort and classes all year. It was like a weird deja vu - hearing a group cover the same resources and issues that my group had done but with a completely different spin. I wonder if professors like this or do they eventually get bored of hearing the same thing, year after year, with only the changing people and format for the presentation? If you saw my list of Top Ten memories, I made a joking reference to that one time a group did a presentation without Powerpoint...except I wasn't joking. That is literally the only time somebody has done a presentation without Powerpoint in any of my classes this year. That also happened in this class and it was by a group who did a presentation on another topic that seems like it couldn't be done without Powerpoint. (Why am I being so mysterious by the way? I guess I'm trying not to come right out and say the class or topic in case some of their classmates get tipped off in advance of what they're doing? Or their instructor? Who knows. Opinions shouldn't be allowed on the Internet, dammit!)I'm no expert but I'll probably do a post someday on tips for giving a good presentation (at least what I think works.) It will mostly revolve around the most effective way to use puppets. And how it's probably not a good idea to blurt out "oh, shit!" when the projector's remote control batteries are dead all of a sudden.
2006 Saskatchewan Book Awards Winners Announced
by
Jason
on Sun 26 Nov 2006 06:24 PM EST
This year was the first year since 1997 that I had to miss the Saskatchewan Book Awards which was a bit sad for me. I attended my first Gala when I started working at the Saskatchewan Publishers Group that same year. That led to me serving on the SBA board from 1998-2001. After we moved to Calgary, I still returned for the SBA Gala every fall from 2001-2004 and even though my job in Regina meant I had to work on Gala night in 2005, I still managed to catch most of it (mostly due to Alistair MacLeod giving a two and a half hour speech when he probably should've given a forty-five minute one!)But my hope that some library might fly me back to Saskatchewan for a job interview right around this weekend wasn't to be so that streak is over. (On a positive note, I've been the SBA's webmaster since 1999 and this was the first year that I was able to upload the list of winners immediately following the Gala whereas there was usually a lag of a couple hours to a couple days depending on where I was and what my computer access was like.)The old web site is showing its age a bit these days (not a blog or a wiki to be seen!) but it still gets positive feedback for its simplicity and ease-of-use which always makes me happy. Long before I officially decided to come to library school, I had this message forwarded to me by the SBA Executive Director. I liked it so much I used it in the "References" section of my resume for awhile:
"You have the best - most informative - Web site
for your book awards of any that I have seen. And, I have seen
quite a few as we are compiling a listing of the winners of Canadian literary
awards (1923-2000) which will be published by the Canadian Library
Association."
- Suzanne Sexty,
Information Services, Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University of
Newfoundland As for the Gala itself, Saskatchewan's has been recognized by many, including author & publisher Anna Porter (who was our guest speaker in 2001) who wrote in Quill & Quire that it was "...arguably the best-run writers' event outside of Toronto's Giller Prize..." Unlike the other prairie book awards programs in Alberta and Manitoba, Saskatchewan's is held in the fall (not the spring) so that the winners are announced right before Christmas, the biggest book buying time of year. Although the books submitted don't necessarily fall within the last calendar year (which is why Alberta and Manitoba hold their awards in the spring), having the Gala in November is also a great chance for everybody in the very small, very tightknit communities of Saskatchewan book people (writers, publishers, librarians, editors, etc.) and book lovers (book clubs, politicians, media, teachers, professors) to get together to celebrate the successes of the year. It's always a lavish affair but also has a streak of fun to it - one year to celebrate the 25th anniversaries of Saskatchewan two oldest literary presses, birthday cake was delivered to each table as the Beatles' "Birthday" blared from the speakers (and yes, I'm a Beatles fan but no, I had nothing to do with that decision.) We've had musicians perform, special meals prepared from recipes contained in a creative non-fiction book about the province. We've had hilarious speeches from sponsors and long-winded ones from winners. We've had special moments (Yann Martel's speech where he defended Saskatchewan in a way I've rarely heard people from the province defend it was amazing) and controversial (the year that three authors tied for the City of Regina Award was ...awkward...to say the least. And I felt really bad for the RPL representatives who had to get up to present an award about a month after their board had announced closures of numerous branches.) All in all, it's a great event and if you're looking for some books for Christmas gifts outside of the usual G&M or MacLean's Top Ten, why not look up some of the books that were nominated this year? (Or if you're in a library someday doing collection development, why not make sure that you collect these books that may be a bit more under-the-radar than those by the big Toronto and New York publishers?)
Saturday, November 25
What's In A Name?
by
Jason
on Sat 25 Nov 2006 05:26 PM EST
Here at library school, we talk a lot about what we call things. Patrons or customers or clients or users (or even neighbours as one classmate suggested.) You also have libraries or resource centres or information centres or Idea Stores.The trend seems to be towards taking the traditional terms - "library" and "patron" - out of the mix and going with terms that (to me at least) connote corporate values - you work at a resource centre serving clients or customers. That's why it was nice to see the following notice in the latest CLA Digest about my former workplace (true, I only worked there for a week shelving books before getting an offer from the Writers Guild of Alberta but it still counts - especially since it's the only "real" library experience I have!) NAME CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
Dr. Alan
Harrison, Provost and Vice President (Academic) of the University of
Calgary, recently announced the change of organizational name from
Information Resources to Libraries and Cultural Resources in his
presentation to the University’s Board of Governors on Friday, October
20. He also announced a change of title for Thomas Hickerson,
currently Director of Information Resources, to Vice Provost for
Libraries and Cultural Resources and University Librarian. For further
information, please contact Lauren Spencer at spencerl@ucalgary.ca
Vote on Monday
by
Jason
on Sat 25 Nov 2006 03:40 PM EST
I don't know about you but when I come to the end of something - a job, schooling, a vacation or whatever - I start noticing how things tend to come full circle.
Another example of this I noticed recently is that the year started with a federal election at the end of January that saw my fellow political junkies - Quinn & Christina - sitting at the Grad Club watching results come in (and being happily surprised when one of our profs, who'd we only had for a couple sessions by that point, joined us for a beer when he popped in after doing volunteer work for a local campaign.)
Now, at the end of the year, the very important federal by-election for London North-Centre will happen on Monday. Most students living in London will likely fall within the electoral boundaries and I've been told that you don't need to be pre-registered - you can simply show up at your nearest polling place with ID and proof of residence and be allowed to vote. Call the toll-free number (1 866 241-7804) to see if you're on the list already or if you have any other questions.
There is a wide field of candidates and even if you're not from London, you should probably consider voting as the results of this election will have national implications, especially since we're in a minority government. (Besides, most of the candidates aren't from London either!)Continuing my non-partisan record of late, I'm not going to talk about who I'm going to vote for but I think a good policy for life is "always listen to Rick Mercer." (Thanks to Barb J. for the link.)A few of us happened upon a speech by Elizabeth May, leader and candidate for the Green Party, at the Grad Club last Wednesday and after getting over the affront that our conversation would be drowned out by her speech for ten or fifteen minutes, I decided this would be a good opportunity to ask a question. "What do you say to people who would normally vote NDP to convince them to vote for you?" Her response covered a variety of things. Working the question really well, she made allusion to the Green Party today being in a position similar to the early days of the CCF. (Does that make her Tommy Douglas?) In her answer to my question and others, she made a number of points that did appeal to me - she'd become the only female leader of a political party, she'd be allowed to participate in the next leader's debates, she'd push for proportional representation so we don't have a situation where concentrated popularity like the Bloc is rewarded with 50 seats in the House while parties like the Greens who have definite national support don't end up with any seats. She pointed out that Greens are the only party that's part of an international network, she promises to be honest (but what politician doesn't say that?), electing her wouldn't affect the balance of power in the House of Commons (she'll have to run again in a year or two so it's a "try before you buy" model.) But I don't know - that all sounds good but there are some that say she's a Tory in green clothing. On that note, did I mention that Megan Walker is running for the NDP? And she's <gasp> from London? And she's got a pretty strong bio and background herself? [Edit: Ian pointed out in the comment that Megan cut her teeth doing advocacy work on library issues, a fact that should matter if you're a library student. Whether you agree with the politics of the NDP or not, I think it's important to support candidates who have an awareness of issues that are relevant to you and your life.]
See you on Monday!
(Oh, and another thing that's come full circle - the prof who joined us in January for the election results was at the Grad Club on Wednesday and provided some interesting analysis on this by-election to help my thought processes along. I've got a tough decision to make on Monday but I think I know which way I'm leaning. Tommy Douglas would be proud.)
[Edit: here's a good story on the race from the Toronto Star.]
Friday, November 24
Spirit of Librarianship Fall 2006 - Call For Nominations
by
Jason
on Fri 24 Nov 2006 12:16 PM EST
The two people on student council who would normally run the SoL Award process were both nominated (along with Council chair) so I ended up volunteering to take it over since it was guaranteed I wouldn't be nominated (well, I could be nominated I guess but I wouldn't have been able to accept having won it before.)
So anyhow, this is the blurb that went out last night. I would encourage anyone reading this who's eligible (basically any student, faculty or staff) to vote. It's a very strong field of candidates once again so I won't try to bias anyone by saying who you should vote for - totally non-partisan, that's me!
I'd made some noises at Council about expanding the Awards program a bit but nothing happened this term unfortunately. I see no reason why we don't have awards for things like volunteer of the year, highest academic average (one for part-timers, one for full-timers), maybe a "rookie of the year" award out of the first-termers, "unsung hero" for those who don't have a big presence but still are helpful, friendly and effective at school, on and on. It wouldn't be hard to do (future councils, are you listening?) and would help "spread the love" instead of having only one award.
---
Voting for the Spirit of Librarianship Award is now active! All
students, faculty and staff are eligible to vote. You may vote any time
between now and Thursday November 30 at 11:59 pm. Late votes will not
be counted. The winner will be announced at the "Destressor", a social
event that is tentatively scheduled for Monday December 4 at 4:30pm at
the Grad Club. Below is a list of the nominees and the blurbs which were
submitted that explain why each person was nominated. You can only
vote for one person and your first vote is final. (If you nominated a
person that does *not* count as your vote and you have to re-vote for
them for it to count. Sorry for this inconvenience.)
Please send your vote with the subject heading "SOL VOTE
- <Nominee Name>" in the subject line to the following email
address: mlisstudentcouncil@gmail.com
Thank you for your participation! The Spirit of Librarianship CommitteeJason HammondMary Brown
PS - if you would like to learn more about the Spirit of Librarianship Award, you can visit: http:///www.jason.hammond.net/spirit.htm-------------------------------------------------------------------
Spirit of Librarianship Nominees - Fall 2006
Emily Gusba
Iona Henderson
Lindsay Holdsworth
Dave Hudson
Barb Janicek
Michael McAlpine
Megan Potts
Magda Skowran
Gillian Webster
Emily Gusba
Emily
is energetic and friendly in class. She has helped organize
extra-curricular activities for our class and eagerly supports other
peoples ideas. She worked hard to make class sweatshirts. Emily is
good at working with others and is always helpful.
Iona Henderson
Iona
is always cheerful, outgoing and energetic every time I see her. She
is always there to listen to anyone who has problems and is heavily
involved in councils. Her positive attitude and genuine concern for
everyone makes her an awesome person to be around and work with. Her
tireless attempts to expose MLISers to the professional and social side
of librarianship should earn her the spirit award. As a member of the
peer mentoring committee, she has spent countless hours connecting us
with working professionals. Iona also works to build connections
between students, through her coordinating work with the peer
mentorship group. Her efforts on the social committee include trying
to convince us that even if we are in library school, we should still
have the occasional evening off. Even better, she gives out food to
her classmates! Iona once came to class with home-smoked Pacific
salmon, fresh off the plane from the west coast.
Lindsay Holdsworth
Put
simply, Lindsay is a dynamo. In addition to taking five classes per
semester for each of the last three semesters (and maintaining an
honour roll average overall), she's worked a part-time job at the
London Public Library and volunteered on a number of student
organizations in high-commitment, high-responsibility positions
including Treasurer for CLA and Chair of Student Council. When we met
with our Advocacy professor earlier this term, the professor observed
that she felt like she was teaching at
least three future CLA Presidents. I don't know who the other two
people she was referring to were but I am pretty sure Lindsay
was the third one!
Dave Hudson
I'd
like to nominate Dave Hudson. He is a great classmate who is
enthusiastic, inquisitive, very helpful, friendly and an all around
good student. The job of a librarian- we are taught, is to find
information for information seekers. He has helped many in my class by
sharing his knowledge with those of us who may be lacking it with
regards to assignments. I think he would be a wonderful candidate for
this award.
Barb Janicek
I'm
nominating Barb Janicek for the Spirit of Librarianship award. Barb is
a dedicated student and a supportive colleague. Always there with a
helpful suggestion, a sympathetic ear or just a videotape of your
favourite show (that you missed, because there's no time!); Barb
represents what is great about the MLIS program. Barb's advocacy on
behalf of her fellow students is inspirational, as is her attention to
detail and strong work ethic. Her calm demeanor and good humour make
her an excellent future librarian and a valuable fellow-student.
Michael McAlpine
I
would like to nominate Michael McAlpine for the Spirit of Librarianship
Award. Michael has no previous experience in libraries and from the
beginning of the semester he has shown enthusiasm for learning about
librarianship and a dedication to the ideals of the profession. He is
an eager, hard-working guy who is always willing to help someone in
need and he is excited about his future in the field. Michael loves
the MLIS Program and his devotion to both his studies and the
profession of librarianship is inspiring to those around him.
Megan Potts
I would
like to nominate Megan Potts of section 002. She is always attentive
in class, she always participates in class discussion and offers extra
insight into course material. She is very friendly and very
enthusiastic about being in this program. She offers help whenever
asked for it.
Magda Skowran
I'd like to nominate Magda Skowran because she embodies the energy and optimistic attitude that I think librarians should have.
Gillian Webster
I'd
like to nominate Gillian Webster for the Spirit of Librarianship. I
feel that Gillian exemplifies the true spirit of library and
information science through her dedication to organizing social outings
for the stressed out students of this programme. We all work hard at
our studies, and often it is refreshing to get out with our colleagues
and friends and blow off some steam. From my past experiences on
student council I know how much time and effort goes into organizing
these events. Gillian has also been responsible for fundraising within
the MLIS programme, and takes time to attend and support social events
including the trivia nights on Wednesday evenings, and the speakers
that are brought in by the MLIS administration for lectures. As well,
she is an active member of her community, working part-time at the
London Public Library, and publishing short stories in some campus
feminist publications. For these reasons I feel she is an ideal
candidate for the Spirit of Librarianship this semester.
Friday Fun Link - World's Oldest Blogger? (Nov 24, 2006)
by
Jason
on Fri 24 Nov 2006 12:01 PM EST
Is 92-year-old Donald Crowdis (former host of the Candadian TV program The Nature of Things) the world’s oldest blogger? Even if he isn’t his blog is terrific. He’s funny and astute. Here’s an excerpt from a recent entry he wrote on cannibalism:
[T]he best food, or at least the best protein, is that which is most
like our own. Of course, eating others of our kind gives rise to social
problems, and is rare as a result, but it happens. In times past, among
some of the Pacific Islands peoples, since a butchered human very much
resembled a butchered pig, it was referred to as “long pig”. I presume
these cannibals ate only their enemies, not their family members, no
matter how tasty they may have looked. Most of us have accepted that
humans are precious in the sight of God, while ordinary pig, or “short
pig”, is OK nutrition.
(via Boing Boing)
Thursday, November 23
Oscar's First Photo!
by
Jason
on Thu 23 Nov 2006 02:21 PM EST
Shea and I went for an ultrasound today and got to see our first glimpse of the baby. No glimpse of twins (unfortunately) or whether it had dangly bits. But it was still pretty cool to see the little guy/gal swimming around. The technician had to wake the baby up by giving Shea's belly a poke but once Oscar was awake, he/she kicked his/her feet, waved "hello" at us and then did a somersault for good meaasure. It goes without saying that we have the cutest baby ever!
I attempted to digitally enhance the photo a bit so it wasn't so dark but this is about as good as I could get it. Oscar's laying on his/her back with the head to the right side of the picture.
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