j’s scratchpad

The day after I attended a public hearing for a local library’s budget and the cuts it’s facing, Eric sent me this New York Times article about Ray Bradbury’s support of libraries. A library enthusiast, Bradbury, famous for science fiction works like The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and, of course, Fahrenheit 451, occasionally gives talks and makes appearances in order to raise money for libraries.

“Yahoo called me eight weeks ago. They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? ‘To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.’

“It’s distracting. It’s meaningless; it’s not real. It’s in the air somewhere.”

“The children ask me, ‘How can I live forever, too?’ I tell them do what you love and love what you do. That’s the story on my life.”

Eric didn’t realize I’m a Bradbury fan. I read many of his works while volunteering at my high school’s library. I believe There Will Come Soft Rain was my introduction to his writing. I think my brother handed me his school literature textbook and told me I should read it before I read Fahrenheit 451 as a high school assignment.

PodCamp Boston 4 is being held on August 8-9, 2009 at University of Massachusetts-Boston, Harborside Campus Center. Registration is $ 50.00.

For more information:

http://www.podcampboston.org/

Posted by Rich

The June 4, 2009 issue of The New York Observe has an article called ABC News Shuttering In-House Library in Favor of ‘Digital Research Facility’; Looking To Donate Print Materials:

“Today, yet another bricks-and-mortar media bibliothèque fell victim to the digital age.”

“This afternoon, in an email to his staff, David Westin, the president of ABC News, announced that ABC News will be converting its existing research library on the second floor of its 47th street building into a smaller, more cyber-focused “Digital Research Facility.”

“You will continue to receive the same exceptional service as you have in the past,” he added. “But we’re developing, with an outside research consultant, a state of the art research system tailored to our particular needs. When this new system is completed, you will be able to get the information you need and conduct your own searches from your desktop.”

Mr. Westin went on to inform his newsroom that the changes will result in a “reduced staff” but that some of the current library staff would be staying on through the transition and “perhaps beyond.”

For the whole article:

http://tinyurl.com/o7h8tn

h/t to LISNews:

http://www.lisnews.org

The Paper Cuts newspaper website reports that 10,025+ jobs have been lost in 2009.

http://graphicdesignr.net/papercuts/

Even this furry creature from a popular children’s television show received a pink slip!

http://tinyurl.com/dy9ho6

Posted by Rich

When I last saw my redheaded friend, she suggested I read The Time Traveler’s Wife based on it being a cool science fiction book coupled with a terrific love story. I was surprised to learn in the course of the book the main character, the time traveler, is a librarian at the famous Newberry Library in Chicago because I don’t remember her mentioning that to me. It seems that when people recommend books to me with librarians in them, they often frame it as “Oh, you should read this book with a librarian in it … and the story is about … ” not “Here’s this cool book you should read because … and a character is a librarian.” So here I am using the character who’s a librarian as an excuse to mention this book on this blog about librarianship. I suppose I’m also surprised that I hadn’t heard of (or maybe it’s just that I don’t remember) this book’s connection to librarianship because of the numerous discussions about books with librarians as characters or the other times I’ve heard people mention this book. (It was, after all, a morning program’s book club pick {or so the cover tells me}.)

Anyway … I think it’s a great read. The librarian marries a papermaker, so there’s a bit of discussion about that art form, too. The story hooked me early on. The time traveling element is really cool. There’s a lot of humor and a bit of sadness. Despite it being 500+ pages (I don’t read that many books that are 500+ pages), I didn’t find it to be too long. (Mind you, I’ve read some 200 page books that seemed too long …)

The redhead loves to read; and, I’ve learned she has great taste in books.

Library Journal is holding a free webcast called Consider the Source - The Integrated Library System Marketplace on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 2 pm:

When it comes to selecting an Integrated Library System (ILS), there are many factors to be considered with respect to both commercial and open source solutions. Customer support, third party integration, consortia concerns, underlying platform, and institutional stability are key parts of the equation. More than ever, libraries must consider the source of the software applications that keep all library resources accessible, manageable, and affordable, with the ILS at the center of its operations.

PANELISTS:

Ross McLachlan, Deputy Director, Technical Services, Phoenix Public Library (AZ)
McLachlan will discuss the library’s recent integrated library system conversion, and how Phoenix Public Library reached their selection decision. PPL is using application programming interfaces (API) to foster a Web 2.0 friendly environment for both its staff and patrons. In this environment, PPL is able to take advantage of open source applications and discovery level search tools such as Endeca which can enhance the library’s service and content management.

Jim Duncan, Director, Networking and Resource Sharing, Colorado State Library
Duncan will discuss the process being used by the state of Colorado in its investigation of the feasibility of a state-wide integrated library system. Categories of concern include support issues and funding sources. Concerns of existing consortia must also be considered. Proprietary/licensed and open source solutions are being reviewed, as is the success of several hybrid systems currently in operation.

Scott Reinhart, Assistant Director, Carroll County Public Library (MD)
Carroll County Public Library is currently in the process of reviewing both proprietary and open source integrated library system solutions. Reinhart will report on the findings, present an overview of ILS options for libraries today, and how to identify the right technology partners for your library.

MODERATOR:

Josh Hadro, Technology Editor, Library Journal

For more information:

http://tinyurl.com/lhxs7b

You also get the latest news/information on library systems at the Library Technology Guides website:

http://librarytechnology.org/

Posted by Rich

The NELA Information Technology Section is holding CMS Day: building a better website with Content Management Systems: Drupal, Joomla, Plone & WordPress on Friday, June 12, 2009 10 am -3:30 pm at the Portsmouth Public Library in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Jessamyn West will be the keynote speaker.

Drupal Darien(CT) Public Library & Paige Eaton Davis, Minuteman Library Network
Joomla Randy Robertshaw, Tyngsborough Public Library
Plone Rick Levine & CMRLS Librarians
WordPress Theresa Maturevich Beverly(MA) Public Library

Registration Fee includes lunch & free gadget

NELA Members: $50 Non members $60

Registration closes on Monday June 8

For more information:

http://nelib.org/its/conference/2009/index.htm

Posted by Rich

As if all of the recent news about folks leaving news librarianship somewhat unwillingly hasn’t made us feel enough like we’re among the last ones at work late on a night with a glorious, exciting weekend beckoning to us once we leave, one of its superstars just took the elevator down to the lobby.

Barbara Semonche has retired.

That would indeed be the Barbara Semonche, champion, heroine, inspiration, and more to many news librarians around the world. Among her many accomplishments and credits is editing News Media Libraries: A Management Handbook, which found its way onto the shelves of many, many news libraries as a sort of quasi-religious tome and how-to manual for the profession. When I first read it, I was new to news librarianship and found it immensely helpful. I think I read it cover-to-cover several times while learning the ropes and writing papers in graduate school. A gem among writings about news libraries, it was the first book of its kind published in decades. A pillar among Special Libraries Association News Division members, she started the discussion list Newslib for the group back in the days when email discussion lists were a new, cutting-edge tool. It grew into one of the most important links between news librarians around the world and will probably remain so for as long as there are news librarians.

I’ve always admired Barbara. Every profession needs at least one person like her. It is up to us to fill her very large shoes. While I’ve been emotionally preparing myself for her retirement, reading her Friday email confirming her depature still brought tears to my eyes and more questions about what’s next for news librarianship to mind.

Barbara, thank you for everything you’ve done for the profession! Congratulations and all the best to you!

Garrett pointed me to this First Monday article about Wikipedia’s Featured Articles and revision patterns:

“Comparing featured article groups and revision patterns correlations in Wikipedia” by Giacomo Poderi

“… This article focuses on Wikipedia’s Featured Articles and shows that not every contribution can be considered as being of equal quality. Two groups of articles are analysed by focusing on the edits distribution and the main editors’ contribution. The research shows how these aspects of the revision patterns can change dependent upon the category to which the articles belong.”

The latest issue of Jottings, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Library and Information Studies newsletter, announced Sarah and David, who hope to graduate this year, are spending a few months in Botswana to intern at two new public libraries. Wow! What great opportunities!

They’re blogging about it, of course:

Sarah Elsewhere

dave 2.0

(Had I been able to go to Africa when I was in grad school, where would I be now?)

(The newsletter gives the students’ full names, however since they do not provide their full names on their blogs, I am refraining from using them.)

Garrett shared some cool links in his weekly email, including news about Google’s search changes I read in The Boston Globe earlier. I’m just going to copy and paste from his email.

How to Search For Certain Colors in Google Images
 http://ow.ly/1owr
(Source: neiljohnford)

…

Top 10 Electronic Reminder Services
 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,234…
(Source: ResourceShelf)

Two new improvements to Google results pages
 http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/t…

…

100 Free Useful Mac Applications (Part 1)
 http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/100-free-us…
(Source: Ellyssa Kroski)

101 Great Free Sites and Downloads You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
 http://www.pcworld.com/article/161342/10…
(Source: digg)