|
|
Saturday, March 31
And Now I Am A Librarian!
by
Jason
on Sat 31 Mar 2007 06:33 PM CST
Well, after four interviews, three months of waiting, two offers, and one really big decision, I have
officially accepted an 18-month full-time temporary contract with Southeast Regional Library in
Weyburn, an hour south of Regina.
The other offer was a full-time permanent position with the Provincial
Library and it had a very strong appeal as well. But in the end, I
decided to go for the one that felt like it would be the best fit for
who I am and what I want to do. (My parents think I'm nuts to turn down
a FT perm government job. They might be right!)
If you read my blog, you'll know that I'm a big fan of seeing events
come "full circle" and this is the ultimate example for me. When I applied to UWO, my
Statement of Intent focused heavily on the impact of my hometown library in my life. Now, one short year later, I'll be responsible for that branch (and 47 others around southeast Saskatchewan!)
I start my position as Branch Supervisor, responsible for the small
branches in various communities around SE Saskatchewan on Monday April 2
(well, I actually started today for their AGM.) My area covers 75
000 people over an 18 000 square mile area.
I'm extremely excited about this opportunity - it's in public library
system which is my main area of interest, it's where Shea's parents live
so she can spend a lot of time with them during her mat leave year, and
I'll be able to do a huge range of things - programming, collection
development, IT, reference and more - that I'd be unlikely to get to do to that extent anywhere
else.
I am extremely proud of my rural roots and the chance to work in many communities I'm familiar with is a dream come true. On top of that, the people who come out of SE Regional, including the current
head of Regina Public Library, have a strong reputation in the library
community so that was a deciding factor as well.
Oh, and I'm happy to report that the two jobs I didn't get offered went to FIMS classmates and if it wasn't meant for me to get those jobs, I'm happy to hear it was a couple people I know. (I spent an enjoyable day yesterday showing one of my former classmates/new colleagues who is originally from Ontario around Regina.)
On that note, I am
officially inviting any and all of you to apply for jobs in
Saskatchewan. Our streets aren't paved with gold like Alberta but the
straw that we use does have a similar colour! 
Friday, March 30
Friday Fun Link - Stupid Management Tricks at Circuit City (March 30, 2007)
by
Jason
on Fri 30 Mar 2007 03:21 PM CST
There’s nothing fun about this week’s post but it’ll likely get your blood boiling. A recent MetaFilter post explained how Circuit City was losing too much money
so their brilliant idea to improve the bottom line was to fire their
top earning employees (3400 of them) and then offer to re-hire them at
a lower wage.
As always, some great discussion ensued including a link to a Fast Company story about how Wal-Mart is like the tiger that eats its own tale. By always demanding price cuts from suppliers, they end up eventually putting the suppliers out of business completely.
There
was a happy note in the discussion though - the John Lewis store group
in the UK who list maximizing employee “happiness” as the company goal,
announced that they were sharing 155 million pounds in profit among all 68 000 of their staff from the back room to the board room. That means an average bonus equivalent to nine weeks’ pay for most.
(via MetaFilter)
A Response to Rory Litwin Re: Librarian Stereotypes
by
Jason
on Fri 30 Mar 2007 03:06 PM CST
A librarian at LPL named Kevin Moore started a Facebook group called "No, I don't look like a librarian" and a few people uploaded humourous pictures of themselves in various "non-librarian" activities to illustrate the point. Rory Litwin, on his blog, Library Juice, posted this in response:Yes, you do look like a librarian!Regarding the Facebook
group, No, I don’t look like a librarian!…. Yes, you do look like a
librarian! I am not joining the group because I think really I do not
look unlike a librarian, and I think most of the people who joined that
group look like the librarians that they are. And there is nothing
wrong with that! We look smart! We are smart! We look approachable and
helpful! We are approachable and helpful!Don’t be ashamed of what you are!! Embrace it!Filed under: Web culture, The Profession by — Rory Litwin @ 8:19 pmI like Rory Litwin, love his blog but think he sort of (well, completely) missed the humour in this group. I mean, if you are a librarian then of course, you look like a librarian! But so much of our profession is obsessed with THE STEREOTYPE so why not have some fun and play with it? (as I did in my recent "Librarian Types" entry) Librarians drink alcohol and swear. Librarians play guitar and go swing dancing. Librarians lift weights and go rock climbing. And librarians use technology to show others that they do all of these things.
I don't want to get into a flame war with Rory (because he's bigger than me and could kick my butt!) But I think it's kinda funny that his sour-faced response is probably the most stereotypically librarian thing to happen around this whole non-event. 
Thursday, March 29
Why You're Not Getting Anything Done...
by
Jason
on Thu 29 Mar 2007 01:21 AM CST
Here's something for everbody back at FIMS as the semester comes to a close...
Wednesday, March 28
Tommy Douglas on Librarians
by
Jason
on Wed 28 Mar 2007 04:27 PM CST
One of the books I've got on the go right now is an oral history of Tommy Douglas called "Touched By Tommy: Stories of Hope and Humour About Canada's Most Loved Political Leader, T.C. Douglas"I thought this anecdote about librarians was funny:"Everyone was saying nice things about John Archer. He was leaving the Legislative Library to go to Queen's University. He was well liked and had been helpful to all Members of the Legislature. As Tommy would say, they were pouring a gallon of syrup on a lone pancake. They were overdoing it; one backbencher on our side of the House said, "John Archer has been most helpful to me," and went on and on. At the conclusion, the member said, "Yes, I find if you want information, you go to the Library, if you want the right information, you go right to the horse's mouth."Quick as a flash, Tommy said, "I'm glad you got the right end of the horse!" There was no more syrup after that!- Ed Whelan
This story is particularly apropros in light of the news that the BC Government is shutting down their Legislative Library:
Tuesday March 27th retired British Columbia Legislative Librarian Joan A. Barton spoke movingly to forty members of the Victoria Librarians Association of the long history of the Legislative Library, now threatened with closure. The library was established i 1863, with Dr. Helmkin's private collection at its core, as Thomas Jefferson's was for the Library of Congress. (Dr. Helmkin was British Columbia's first doctor, who married a daughter of Sir James Douglas, the first governor.)
The Legislative Library is part of the national and international network of libraries which serve not only as sources of information, but as a repository of recorded knowledge in a way the ephemeral Internet does not.
Ms Barton urges that those outside British Columbia protest this closure, with most of the collection being boxed and stored. It is important that the Premier and Speaker realize that this action is a blow to the reputation of the Province nationally and internationally.
Protests may be addressed to the Premier:
Premier Hon. Gordon Campbell: <premier@gov.bc.ca>
and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly:
Speaker Hon. Bill Barison: toll free number and feedback form
http://www.leg.bc.ca/speakers-message.htm
Those within British Columbia might wish to address their protests to their own Members of the Legislative Assembly:
http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm
It is particularly important that MLAs from the interior hear from
their constituents.
The local paper, The "Times Colonist"' reports on the story.
(via CLA mailing list)
Canadians Still Reading
by
Jason
on Wed 28 Mar 2007 03:16 PM CST
See below for some happy-making stats from a recently released survey.
Two questions occur though - how do they correct for the people who over-represent their reading habits? (Even if asked anonymously, some might be inclined to say that they read more than they do. What's the term for that? Where you try to please the researcher or give them the answers they want to hear?)
My other question - what's the impact of the Internet on traditional forms of reading? This blurb ends by saying that magazine reading is down slightly and newspaper reading is down more substantially but doesn't speculate about the impact of the Internet on that (I didn't read the full report so maybe it's covered in there?)
But anyhow, I
rarely pick up a print newspaper anymore and very infrequently buy a magazine either. But I do read stories online from
CBC, Canoe, Globe and Mail, etc., I read online articles from Rolling Stone, MacLean's, Time plus numerous aggregators of all types of news in its most broad sense. (NewsVine,
Google News, sites like MetaFilter, etc.)
On that note, did you hear Life magazine is ceasing publication but will continue as a web-only publication?
---
Canadians continue to support cultural activities
Reading
In 2005, as a leisure activity (not for paid work or studies):
* 86.7% of the population 15 or older read a newspaper (22.6 million Canadians);
* 78.2% read a magazine (20.4 million Canadians); and
* 66.6% read at least one book (17.4 million Canadians).
About four in 10 Canadians read at least one book each month in 2005.
The 17.4 million Canadians reading at least one book is slightly larger than the 15.9 million Canadians going to at least one movie at a theatre or drive-in.
Between 1992 and 2005, the rate of book reading remained stable, with two-thirds of the population reading at least one book in 1992, 1998 and 2005. The stability of book reading in Canada is in contrast to the findings of a recent American study entitled "Reading at Risk". That report, prepared by Hill Strategies Research for the National Endowment for the Arts, showed that the proportion of Americans reading any type of book in their leisure time (not for work or school) decreased from 60.9% in 1992 to 56.6% in 2002.
In Canada, magazine reading decreased slightly and newspaper reading decreased more substantially between 1992 and 2005.(From http://www.hillstrategies.com via Sask Writers mailing list)
Tuesday, March 27
Summer 2007 - My Course Picks
by
Jason
on Tue 27 Mar 2007 10:54 PM CST
The remainder of my cohort who are still at FIMS are trading info on our Yahoo! group about the courses that might be interesting/useful/fun for summer term and so I, of course, had to chime in with my thoughts. Here's what I wrote to them:---Hey all,
If anybody's interested, I combed through the end-of-term evaluations
that are in a binder in the GRC and recorded the profs/courses that got
over a 6.0 out of 7.0 in their evaluations during the past year or so.
Of course, this shouldn't be the be all and end all of how you make your
choices but it might be a good starting point (or a tie breaker if
you've got a couple courses you can't decide between.) My personal
opinion is that the profs that get these marks are all but guaranteed to
give you a good experience.
The list is on my blog.
I took a quick look at the course list and here are some of my
recommendations (obviously with my public library bias firmly in place):
746 - Collection Development for Academic Libraries - Horoky (I took it,
it was excellent. My only regret is that it didn't have more practical
assignments like Witten's does but I think the instructor might be addressing this in
the upcoming session of her class.)
757 - Social Software - Etches-Johnson (heard from many that it was
excellent no matter your comfort level with technology. Also, the
instruction was just named one of Library Journal's 2007 "Movers and
Shakers" so that's a good indicator of what she brings to her work.)
776 - Children's Materials - McKechnie - (I believe Lynne's proposal to
split children's lit into more than one course has been approved so this
will be specifically about children 0-7 years rather than children AND young adults 0-18 years as our course was
last summer. At any rate, my personal opinion is that Lynne is the best
instructor at FIMS and you should take this course, even if you have no
interest in children's librarianship. Seriously. Plus you get a great
field trip to Toronto!)
561 - Conservation and Preservation - Spanner (if you're into this area,
I think his course has a good reputation.)
759 - Web Usability - Nickerson (like Lauralee said, an excellent prof.
Good at teaching to the wide range of tech levels in the class.)
(Note: I heard through the grapevine that Gord mentioned me somehow during his course selection presentation. I'm guessing it's because I use red links on my site - he hates that!  )
And you know what? I might even be inclined to take Jenn Pecoskie's
Reference Course. Jenn and I had a really good talk right before
I left FIMS and based simply on that, I'd be willing to give her a
second chance. Plus this course does sound really interesting.
The Twelve Types of Library School Students
by
Jason
on Tue 27 Mar 2007 05:09 AM EDT
This is a post I started near the end of library school and meant to post during my furious last week of longish, library school-related entries. But I never got it finished so I thought it would make a good 500th post for this blog instead.
Yep, I've been at it just over a year and I'm averaging around a post and a half a day! (But with a baby on the way, by this time next year, I'll be lucky to be celebrating 600 posts.  )
Disclaimers
1) Yes, I know these are stereotypes. Yes, I know that you can be both an activist and a mouse. Or a geek and an academic. Or in reality, probably all library students have a bit of all of the following "types" in them. What I'm trying to say is: this is for fun - put away the PC instincts for a minute and have a laugh!
2) I'm not specifically describing any specific person I knew at library school in these write-ups although I am combining many characteristics of many people. Still, the standard novel's disclaimer applies: "Any resemblance to people living or dead, is entirely coincidental."
You can play along at home. Pick the two or three types that best define you and add them to your business card, ie: Jason Hammond, "Mature Party Geek"
Now, on to the dumb stereotypes... THE ACADEMIC
Summary: An overachiever who attends library school more for the "school" part than the "library" part. Will be one of those rare souls who does all the assigned readings. Upon completion, will immediately enter the PhD program believing that practical library experience is beneath them. Dress: Tweed, preferably with elbow patches.Typical Quote: "I believe it was Foucault who observed that visual culture has a
genealogy that needs exploring and defining in the modern as well as postmodern period."
Favourite Book: The Spectre of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning, and the New International - Jacques DerridaIdeal Library Role: Future Library School Professor
 THE ACTIVIST Summary: Angry at everything, this person has a cause that they will gladly share with you (whether you ask or not.) Dress: Tie-dye. A bandanna is a distinct possibility as well.Typical Quote: "I'm boycotting <fill in the blank> because <fill in the other blank>."
Favourite Book: No Logo - Naomi Klein
Ideal Library Role: Community Outreach
 THE AIMLESSSummary: Comes to library school once they realise that their degree in 18th Century French Lit won't get them a job much beyond Wal-Mart Greeter.
Dress: Varies but they tend to wear the same thing everyday as decisions make their heads hurt.
Typical Quote: "I don't know. Maybe?"Favourite Book: Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre
Ideal Library Role: Academic librarian since they love being in school
 THE BOOKWORM
Summary: Often confused with The Mouse (see below), The Bookworm is slightly different in that they aren't necessarily shy, they're just always reading - in class, on the bus, in the elevator between floors 1 and 2. Dress: The absent-minded professor style - mismatched socks, uncombed hair, wrinkled shirt and pants. No time for these details when there are books to read!Typical Quote: "Did you read <insert name of any book on Globe and Mail Fiction or Nonfiction Top Ten list>? It was great!"
Favourite Book: Publisher's catalogues.Ideal Library Role: Acquisitions Librarian
 THE ECCENTRIC
Summary: In
a world that attracts mildly eccentric personalities, the true library
school eccentric is a special case. Freed from societal norms, they
indulge in such unique activities talking to themselves, talking to talking to computers in the lab, talking to books on the shelves. Dress: Outlandish - underwear on the outside, clothes inside out. Random accessories of many colours. A range of hats.
Typical Quote: "My cat talks to me."
Favourite Book: The dictionary (working on reading it from cover to cover)Ideal Library Role: Children's Librarian (seriously)
 THE ENTREPRENEURSummary: This person believes overdue fees are a good source of revenue for libraries, charging patrons for priority placement on holds is a better source of revenue and an in-house Starbucks would be the best source of revenue. Likely ended up in library school after being rejected by an MBA program.
Dress: Suit and tie, even on "Casual Fridays"
Typical Quote: "Why shouldn't Coca Cola have naming rights to the children's section?"Favourite Book: How To Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Ideal Library Role: Vendor rep or library consultant
 THE GEEK
Summary: Obsessed with computers, not so much with social interaction (unless Facebook counts.) Dress: baggy comfortable clothes, often sweat pants or a mumu. Shaving and haircuts optional. Typical Quote: "There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't."
Favourite Book: The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. TolkienIdeal Library Role: Systems Librarian
(Another
disclaimer: I had a long debate with a colleague about whether I should
include this and the following sections as they're not really "types"
and theoretically, the only two items on this page that possibly
violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But again, this post is
just for fun, I'm completely aware that all of these entries are
trafficking in dumb stereotypes and I think it's a shame that a guy who
spent so much time reading "Mad" magazine as a child would self-censor
now. In fact, the bigger crime is that I wasn't able to make these
sections a lot funnier so if you're going to be offended by something,
be offended by that!)
 THE HOMOSEXUAL
Summary: Librarianship is known as one of the most progressive, liberal professions on earth (slightly to the left of South American freedom fighter) and this is part of the reason library schools attract such a high percentage of gay students. Dress: Pink for the men, plaid for the women. Typical Quote: Female: "In a male-dominated society..." Male: "In a male-dominated society..."
Favourite Book: The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar WildeIdeal Library Role: Teen Services.
 THE MALESummary: Men are a minority at library school, filling anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 of the spots. Yet, they are a majority in terms of library upper-level management positions (this stat is based on my sample size of the four upper level managers I know. But I suspect it's pretty accurate.) Male library students, being more sensitive than typical men (we cry during the national anthem before Hockey Night in Canada), tend to feel sincerely guilty about this imbalance.Dress: Jean, t-shirts, backwards ball cap. Typical Quote: (about men in library school) "If you're a man in library school, it's likely that you're either gay, married or weird. Possibly all three."
Favourite Book: Catcher in the Rye - JD SalingerIdeal Library Role: Reference (since so many men think they know everything anyhow)
 THE MATURE STUDENTSummary: Returns to school after a long absence of working and/or raising children. Tends to sit at the front centre of the classroom and often believes the class is a personal dialogue between them and the professor.
Dress: Librarian chic
Typical Quote: "Well, what I've found while working in the real world..."
Favourite Book: The Wealthy Barber - David ChiltonIdeal Library Role: Management (they've already got the experience!)
 THE MOUSE
Summary: The librarian stereotype come to life. Quiet. Bookish. Mousy.Dress: Glasses on a chain. Cardigan. Sensible shoes. Hair in a bun.Typical Quote: "Shhh!"
Favourite Book: Fanny Hill (or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) - John Cleland (the flip side of the mousy stereotype - the horny librarian within!)Ideal Library Role: Cataloguing.
 THE PARTY ANIMAL
Summary: Exuberant personality who believes it is their mission to personally change the traditional stereotype of librarians, mainly by consuming copious amounts of alcohol. Dress: Bar clothes, heavy make-up, styled hair, pack of cigarettes at the ready.Typical Quote: "One more round! Class doesn't start until 8:30 a.m."
Favourite Book: Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen FieldingIdeal Library Role: Public Relations & Marketing
Here are a couple other links to sites with a similar theme:  Something Awful Forums - A brief summary of 99% of the people you will ever meet in college (Be forewarned - these descriptions are quite rude but also, dead on much of the time.)
Librarian Types
Monday, March 26
Buffalo Burgers - Shea's Recipe
by
Jason
on Mon 26 Mar 2007 04:07 PM CST
Buffalo was rare to non-existent from what we could tell in Ontario. One of the specialty meat vendors in the Covent Market Garden told us that this was because Ontario didn't have the land to raise them like we did out west. Made sense to us but if you don't eat a lot of buffalo (yes, I know - properly bison in North America) you are missing out. It's the best tasting meat and on top of that, healthier than pretty much any other meat including chicken, pork and fish (scroll down for the chart.) It's low fat, low cholesterol and low calories. Most bison meat on the market is raised in the wild and organically grown because if there are two things buffalo don't like, it's pens and needles. <groan>I'm very lucky that Shea's family are part-owners of a herd of about twenty buffalo so we get a regular supply (although our last supply had to be stolen right out of her brother's freezer when he wasn't home - don't tell!) Any cut is good - roasts, steaks, etc. - but I have a special fondness for the plain old burgers because Shea makes them so that they're amazing.Her recipe is flexible but here's the gist of it:
BUFFALO BURGS
1 lb ground bison meat10 soda crackers made into fine crumbs1 egg1 TBSP Montreal Steak Spice Rub (my mother-in-law taught me to put Tablespoon in capitals in recipes so it's obvious. Great tip!)1 TBSP Bullseye BBQ SauceMinced red onion to taste (a thick slice or two for us)A few shakes of Worchestire sauce A good few shakes of hot sauce (we're partial to Cholula Mexican hot sauce)Salt and coarse ground pepperThe hardest part is getting the ingredients in proportion so the meat sticks well and doesn't fall apart on the grill but isn't too dry either. Cook on a barbeque and prepare to be amazed. Seriously, when Shea made them the other night, I wolfed down one then another two without even using a bun or condiments. (Er, I shouldn't admit that in public.)
Sunday, March 25
Blog Might Go Down
by
Jason
on Sun 25 Mar 2007 01:00 PM CST
I haven't looked at my traffic stats for awhile so imagine my surprise when I log in today and see that I'm really close to my bandwidth limit. I had an issue with this shutting down the blog back in November and December but had my bandwidth limit doubled, figuring that would suffice until I was out of library school and presumably my traffic would drop off.
Instead, while it took me nine months to reach my initial bandwidth limit, it only took three months to double it to the new limit.
I think a lot of people who read the blog before still do since I'm still writing about library related issues a lot (even if I'm not writing as directly about my experiences at library school.) Plus I've gained a lot of new readers - joining the Sask Blogs aggregator got me a lot of new visitors. Plus there's the simple fact that the Long Tail is a reality - the more I post, the bigger of a "back catalogue" of posts I have to attract hits which builds my traffic faster.
If you're a regular reader, try to guess which post of mine gets the most hits? One of the papers I've uploaded? My "50 Ways To Improve FIMS" master rant? Nope, it's a throwaway post from April 2006 (literally, the title is "Sometimes I Post Just To Say I've Posted That Day") I've even gone back and added a disclaimer in the hopes that somebody hitting that page explains how they found it. My best guess is that it's because I've got a couple rare pop culture references on it - one to Eminem and one to Darth Vader.
Anyhow, every word I type is taking up more bandwidth so I'll stop now. I've got a call in to the support of my blog hosting company and hopefully this can be addressed before the site goes down. But if not, it should be back up on Monday. (I use a Canadian company but am still surprised they don't apparently have tech support on Sunday. What is the world coming too?)
|
|
