John M., who knows his stuff from both sides of the coin, having been an IBM web developer before beginning library school, has written a post entitled "Eight Laws of Library Technology" that's worth a read.

This is a topic that's in my head a lot having recently been introduced to Evergreen, an open source ILS whose core components were built from the ground-up in less than a year when various libraries in Georgia decided to go this route for an ILS rather than dealing with traditional corporate vendors. 

And I'm trying to remember - what was the software that they used in the Digital Libraries course at FIMS?  I don't think it was Evergreen but maybe something that sounded similar? 

Six Ideas That Will Change the World

(I also fixed the broken link in yesterday's post if anybody wants to see my paper and presentation on e-branch services for public libraries.  Thanks to John M. for (gently) pointing out the mistake! )

I made a somewhat cryptic reference to a special project I'd been given in a previous post on My 10 Favourite Things About My New Job. 

At the time, I said "I'm not going to talk too much about it here yet but I've been given a special project to work on that is about as perfect of a fit for my interests and aptitudes as I could ask for.  Seriously, I couldn't write a better fit myself."

I just got word from my boss that the project I did is now considered a public document and can be distributed so I thought I might as well link to it here.

It was a white paper and a presentation on moving from a traditional web site towards a full-featured electronic branch for our region.  I presented to our trustees at the beginning of November and got a fairly good response for the most part considering that the subject had some unique challenges (I address this directly in Slide Two.) 

If you saw me present at FIMS, I think you'll recognize that same "style" of presentation I used often then - simple slides with few words, humour and it wouldn't be me without some "over-the-top-ness".  (Can you tell there was a provincial election in the offing from the speech on slide nine? )

...and it just might be Evergreen. 

The University of Windsor is listed as one of the organizations involved with this open source ILS so if anybody who did a co-op there has thoughts (or anybody else who's familiar with Evergreen via other channels), I'd love to hear what you think.

Useless trivia of the day: the combined number of Web 2.0 savvy people who are also library patrons in North America dwarfs the number of people participating at sites like Facebook, Amazon and YouTube. 

In 1989, the Riders won only their second Grey Cup ever in the 95 year history of the CFL (admittedly, pretty embarrassing in an 8-10 team league.)  They won with a team led by QB Kent Austin in a game played in Toronto's Skydome.  This year, the Riders, with Austin as coach, go into the Grey Cup, once again at Skydome Roger's Centre. 

There are some other interesting storylines going into today's game...
- it's the first time Saskatchewan and Winnipeg have ever met in the Grey Cup but there's a huge rivalry between the teams already.

- Winnipeg's QB broke his arm near the end of the semi-final so their untested (at least in CFL play - he did okay for himself in US College football) QB gets the start.  On the other hand, Kerry Joseph for the Riders just won the CFL Player of the Year Award.

- It's not a front page story but underpinning the CFL's premier event being held in Hogtown is Toronto's desire to woo an NFL team to their city.  (My personal theory on that is "screw Toronto" - move the Argos to London or Kitchener-Waterloo, put a team in Halifax for good measure and the CFL will thrive while Toronto's NFL team will ebb & flow like their NBA and Major League baseball teams have.)

A report from the frontlines, courtesy of the Toronto Star...

"Despite the unfamiliar Grey Cup environs – under a roof – the Riders faithful adapted, shedding 12 layers of clothing, tilting back their cowboy hats and greeting every new friend (i.e., everyone) with a whoop of excitement. The only thing that momentarily dampened their enthusiasm was the message hung over the table selling drink chits: "Limit of 4 beverage tickets per transaction." Again, people, is this or is this not Canada?"

Here are some YouTube clips while you're waiting for the big game...

Rick Mercer Visits Taylor Field


Arguably the most memorable play of the Rider's season


Heart of a Nation - Riders TV Commercial


2007 Riders Tribute


"Green Is The Colour" - Saskatchewan's Unofficial Anthem

The Riders aren't the only ones in Saskatchewan hoping to win a big prize this weekend - it's also time for the annual Saskatchewan Book Awards. 

Except for last year when I was in Ontario for school, I've attended every Gala since 1997.  I served on their board for three years...


...designed and maintained their web site for almost a decade before finally handing over the reigns last year to someone who's already made improvements (book covers to go with the list of nominated titles - why wasn't I less lazy more creative in doing something like that?)

Okay, I admit the site was never great in terms of its look but I did get a few compliments because of the way I organized and built the information year after year. 

I still pull out one of the compliments every once in awhile, especially now that I'm in the library world.  (I like to think that it shows I was thinking like a librarian, even when I wasn't one!)

"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 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" 

On top of all that, the Book Awards are also responsible for the single scariest winter drive of my entire life coming back from a shortlist brunch reading in Saskatoon about seven years ago or so. A blizzard blew in that day and coming home was like driving on a curling rink (if it a curling rink that had a raging blizzard happening in it)  I saw cars pulled over the whole trip, semis ("transports" for the Ontario readers) in the ditch and still, my little 1985 Tempo (and the even littler brain in my head that even decided to even try to make it) guided me home safely. 

I used to get the embargoed list of award winners in advance most years so they were ready to go up on the web site that night or the next day.  But since I'm no longer doing the web site, I think I'll play the game people often play at the table during the Gala by trying to pick the winners - most of the people not having read many if any of the nominated books (as is the case for me this year) but going on hunches based on what we know of the book, its subject, the authors and their past luck at the Gala (do they always win?  Have they never won but are due?), even just what the book cover looks like. 

My picks in red, I'll come back later and put the winners in blue - which is bad usability because everyone will think they're links and they won't be!  Okay, I'll use gold.  Oh, and I guess I'll change the ones I picked right to orange.)
Anyhew...

BOOK OF THE YEAR — 2007

Sheri Benning, Thin Moon Psalm (Brick Books)

Rebecca L. Grambo, photographs by Branimir Gjetvaj, The Great Sand Hills: A Prairie Oasis (Nature Saskatchewan)

Harold Johnson, Two Families:  Treaties and Government (Purich Publishing)

Dave Margoshes, Bix's Trumpet and other stories (NeWest Press)

Michael Trussler, Accidental Animals, (Hagios Press)

Seán Virgo, Begging Questions (Exile Editions)

 

FICTION — 2007

Bernice Friesen, The Book of Beasts (Coteau Books)

Sean Johnston, All This Town Remembers (Gaspereau Press)

Dave Margoshes, Bix's Trumpet and other stories (NeWest Press)

R.P. MacIntyre, Feeding at Nine (Thistledown Press)

Seán Virgo, Begging Questions (Exile Editions)

 

NON-FICTION — 2007

Lawrence Barkwell, Leah Dorion, Audreen Hourie, editors, Metis Legacy II:  Michif Culture, Heritage and Folkways, (Gabriel Dumont Institute)

Rebecca L. Grambo, The Great Sand Hills: A Prairie Oasis  (Nature Saskatchewan)

Mary-Ann Kirkby, I Am Hutterite (Polka Dot Press)

Pat Krause, Acts of Love: A Memoir (Coteau Books)

Bill Waiser, Everett Baker's Saskatchewan (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)

Garrett Wilson, Frontier Farewell:  The 1870s and the End of the Old West (Canadian Plains Research Center)

 

FIRST BOOK — 2007

Shirley Harris, Forgotten Gardens, Abandoned Landscapes & Remarkable Restorations (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)

Mary-Ann Kirkby, I Am Hutterite (Polka Dot Press)

Alice Kuipers, Life on the Refrigerator Door (Harper Collins Canada)

Barb Pacholik and Jana G. Pruden, Sour Milk and Other Saskatchewan Crime Stories (Canadian Plains Research Center)

Anne Patton and Wilfred Burton, Michif translation by Norman Fleury, illustrated by Sherry Farrell Racette, Fiddle Dancer (Gabriel Dumont Institute)

Joanne Weber, The Pear Orchard (Hagios Press)

 

CHILDREN’S — 2007

Beverley Brenna, The Moon Children (Red Deer Press) 

Glenda Goertzen, City Dogs (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)

R.P. MacIntyre, Feeding at Nine (Thistledown Press)

Anne Patton and Wilfred Burton, Michif translation by Norman Fleury, illustrated by Sherry Farrell Racette, Fiddle Dancer (Gabriel Dumont Institute)

Arthur Slade, Invasion of the IQ Snatchers (Coteau Books for Kids)
Bill Waiser, Tommy Douglas (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)     

 

POETRY — 2007

Sheri Benning, Thin Moon Psalm (Brick Books)

Elizabeth Philips, Torch River (Brick Books)

Steven Ross Smith, fluttertongue 4:  adagio for the pressured surround  (NeWest Press)

 

REGINA — 2007

William Driedger, Jakob, Out of the Village (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)

Pat Krause, Acts of Love: A Memoir (Coteau Books)     

Dave Margoshes, Bix's Trumpet and other stories (NeWest Press)

Anne Patton and Wilfred Burton, Michif translation by Norman Fleury, illustrated by Sherry Farrell Racette, Fiddle Dancer (Gabriel Dumont Institute)

Michael Trussler, Accidental Animals, (Hagios Press)
Paul Wilson, Turning Mountain  (Wolsak & Wynn Publishers)

 

SASKATOON — 2007

Sheri Benning, Thin Moon Psalm (Brick Books)

Doug Cuthand, Askiwina:  A Cree World (Coteau Books)

Terry Fenton, Reta Summers Cowley (Mendel Art Gallery and University of Calgary Press)

Bernice Friesen, The Book of Beasts (Coteau Books)

Elizabeth Philips, Torch River (Brick Books)      

 

SCHOLARLY WRITING — 2007

Rebecca L. Grambo, The Great Sand Hills: A Prairie Oasis  (Nature Saskatchewan)

Dick Spencer, Singing the Blues: The Conservatives in Saskatchewan (Canadian Plains Research Center) 

Blair Stonechild, The New Buffalo: The Struggle for Aboriginal Post-Secondary Education in Canada (University of Manitoba Press)

Bernard D. Thraves, Marilyn L. Lewry, Janis E. Dale, Hansgeorg Schlichtmann, editors, Saskatchewan:  Geographic Perspectives (Canadian Plains Research Center)

Garrett Wilson, Frontier Farewell:  The 1870s and the End of the Old West (Canadian Plains Research Center) 

 

READERS’ CHOICE — 2007

Anthony Bidulka, Stain of the Berry (Insomniac Press)

Amanda Deitz, Longer than Life, Volume 2 (Amanda Deitz)

Deana Driver, Never Give Up:  Ted Jaleta's Inspiring Story (JDC Productions)

Michael P.J. Kennedy, Dogs on Ice: A History of Hockey at University of Saskatchewan, (Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and “Friends of the Huskies”)

Les Langager, Wild Justice (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing)

Brian Trainor, Stop Fraud (Red Deer Press)      

(This is a reader-voted award which used to be voted on during the Gala out of the entire shortlist.  It went "wide" this year via a ballot system organized by Regina Public Library and distributed to all public libraries in the province.  I have no idea who will win this and won't hazard a guess.)

 

PUBLISHING — 2007

Canadian Plains Research Center, Frontier Farewell:  The 1870s and the End of the Old West, Garrett Wilson

Canadian Plains Research Center, Saskatchewan:  Geographic Perspectives, Bernard D. Thraves, Marilyn L. Lewry, Janis E. Dale, Hansgeorg Schlichtmann, editors

Coteau Books, The Book of Beasts, Bernice Friesen

Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery, Vaughan Grayson:  Adventures of an Artist in the Canadian Rockies, Heather Smith (curator)

Nature Saskatchewan, The Great Sand Hills: A Prairie Oasis, Rebecca L. Grambo, photographs by Branimir Gjetvaj

Purich Publishing Ltd., Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times, Neal McLeod

 

FIRST PEOPLES PUBLISHING — 2007

Native Law Centre, First Nations Jurisprudence and Aboriginal Rights: Defining the Just Society, James Youngblood Henderson

Purich Publishing Ltd, Two Families:  Treaties and Government, Harold Johnson

KAKWA Publishing, Niiwin - Four Ojibwa Critter Tales, Kathleen Coleclough  

 

PUBLISHING IN EDUCATION — 2007

Bernard D. Thraves, Marilyn L. Lewry, Janis E. Dale, Hansgeorg Schlichtmann, editors, Saskatchewan: Geographic Perspectives (Canadian Plains Research Center)

Coteau Books, Askiwina:  A Cree World, Doug Cuthand

The Gabriel Dumont Institute, Metis Legacy II:  Michif Culture, Heritage and Folkways, Leah Dorion, Lawrence  Barkwell,  Audreen Hourie, editors

JDC Productions, Never Give Up:  Ted Jaleta's Inspiring Story, Deana Driver

Native Law Centre, First Nations Jurisprudence and Aboriginal Rights:  Defining the Just Society, James Youngblood Henderson 

Nature Saskatchewan, The Great Sand Hills: A Prairie Oasis, Rebecca L. Grambo, photographs by Branimir Gjetvaj

A couple fun visual sites...

The Most Unusual Books of the World

Fifteen Word Illusions

And a bonus deep thought for the day: "As a librarian, you can be idealistic.  As a manager, you must be pragmatic."

Does anybody remember The Waltons?  One of the best CanRock bands of the early to mid-1990's and the pride of Regina.  Their lead singer, Jason Plumb, is back in Saskatchewan and a fixture in the local music scene.

(via Abandoned Stuff)

Some pretty amazing work here...

The Book Design Review