Spooktacular Librarian

"Librarian." De Vermis Mysteriis / Fragile Yet Cunning

Monster Librarian

See Also:
The Monster Librarian

Library 2.0

Transdermal Celebration / Ween

Storytime: Hanging On To Every Word

Library Inc

"Library Inc." The Chronicle of Higher Education / Daniel Goldstein.
Washington: The Chronicle of Higher Education Online, October 17th 2010.

"Leaders of the profession fear that libraries will become obsolete if they do not abandon their traditional standards and goals and pursue the latest trends. But the reverse is true: The more libraries align their interests and values with their commercial partners, the less distinctive and indispensable they become."

Sleep With A Librarian

4 Very Different Futures Are Imagined for Research Libraries

"4 Very Different Futures Are Imagined for Research Libraries." Chronicle of Higher Education / Jennifer Howard.
Washington: The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 19th 2010.

"In the brave new digital world, librarians have to figure out new ways to engage with communities whose interest they used to be able to take for granted."

Deskset Librarians

The Postmodern Library in an Age of Assessment

"The Postmodern Library in an Age of Assessment." ACRL 10th National Conference / Kathlin L. Ray.
Denver: ACRL 10th National Conference, March 15th 2001.

"The differences between the modern and postmodern belief systems can be illustrated by the following dichotomies: 

Modern               Postmodern

Determinacy        Interdeterminacy

Individual             Relationships

Certainty             Uncertainty

Distance              Participation

Design                 Chance

Totalization          Deconstruction

Universal             Particular

Stability               Fluidity"

The Librarian's Tale: Too Much Demand For Too Few Terminals

"The Librarian's Tale: Too Much Demand For Too Few Terminals." The Economist / Albuquerque.
London: The Economist Online, October 21st 2010.

"Almost all of America’s public libraries provide free internet access. Over the past two years, hard-hit Americans have been economising by cancelling their broadband contracts at home and looking to public libraries to fill the gap. ... The best way for America to ease the new strain on its libraries is by closing the digital divide."

Come for the free Internet, & stay for the value.

Your Life Work: Librarian

New Library Technologies Dispense With Librarians

"New Library Technologies Dispense With Librarians." Wall Street Journal / Conor Dougherty.
New York: Wall Street Journal Online, October 25th 2010.

"In this suburb of St. Paul, the new library branch has no librarians, no card catalog and no comfortable chairs in which to curl up and read."

Because 'community hub' is intrinsic to 'library', I hesitate to to call this a Library.

Book Love Collage

Stack-Nookie or Librarians Do It with Dewey

Stack-Nookie. I learned a new word.

See Also:

"The Popular Pursuit of Library Sex." Jezebel / Sadie Stein.

"Best of CraigsList: Library Sex." Nerve

Does Taxonomy Matter in a New World of Search & Discovery

"Does Taxonomy Matter in a New World of Search & Discovery." Information Today / Suzanne BeDell & Libby Trudell.
New Jersey: Information Today Online, Vol 34 No 5 September-October 2010.

See Also:
Taxonomy

Friday Warm & Fuzzy

Awwwww

Make Life Easier: Ask A Librarian

"Make Life Easier: Ask A Librarian." Huffington Post / Hack College.
New York: Huffington Post Online, October 5th 2010.

"Of course, in the age of digital information, the actual books contained in the library are no longer students' most important resource at the library -- instead, the librarians are.

Though often overlooked and under appreciated, librarians can make a student's life much easier if they're asked."

Searching For Better Research Habits

"Searching For Better Research Habits: Should Colleges  Teach Students How To Be Better Googlers?" Inside Higher Ed / Steve Kolowich.
New York: Inside Higher Education Online, September 29th 2010.

“Students do not have adequate information literacy skills when they come to college, and this goes for even high-achieving students,” said Asher, the lead research anthropologist at the Enthographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries (ERIAL) Project, which recently studied the search habits of more than 600 Illinois students spanning a range of institutions and demographic groups."

Miss My Boy!

From Cunk Video

Fade to Black / Metallica

How to Raise Boys Who Read

"How to Raise Boys Who Read." Wall Street Journal / Thomas Spence.
New York: Wall Street Journal Online, September 24th 2010.

20 Heroic Librarians Who Save the World

"20 Heroic Librarians Who Save the World." io9 / Katharine Trendacosta.

New York: io9 Online, 2010.

"If information is power, then there's no hero mightier than a librarian."

What Are Books Good For?

"What Are Books Good For?" The Chronicle / William Germano.
Washington: The Chronicle of Higher Education Online, September 26th 2010.

"I've been wondering lately when books became the enemy. ... Part of the problem is knowing what we mean exactly when we say "book." It's a slippery term for a format, a technology, a historical construct, and something else as well.

Maybe we need to redefine, or undefine, our terms.... 

In the sense of having been around a long time, the book has a long story to tell, one that might be organized around four epochal events, at least in the West. In the beginning was the invention of writing and its appearance on various materials. The second was the development during the first years of the Christian era of the codex—the thing with pages and a cover—first as a supplement and eventually as a replacement for the older technology of the scroll. The third was what we think of as the Gutenberg moment, the European deployment of movable type, in the 15th century. And the fourth is, of course, the digital revolution in the middle of which we find ourselves today.

When we say "book," we hear the name of a physical object, even if we're thinking outside the codex. The codex bound text in a particular way, organizing words into pages, and as a result literally reframed ideas."

In Study, Children Cite Appeal of Digital Reading

"In Study, Children Cite Appeal of Digital Reading." New York Times / Julie Bosman.
New York: New York Times Online, September 29th 2010.

"Many children want to read books on digital devices and would read for fun more frequently if they could obtain e-books. But even if they had that access, two-thirds of them would not want to give up their traditional print books. ...

The report also suggested that many children displayed an alarmingly high level of trust in information available on the Internet: 39 percent of children ages 9 to 17 said the information they found online was “always correct.”

Lord Jesus Christ Cast out of Belchertown Library for Bad Behavior

"Lord Jesus Christ Cast out of Belchertown Library for Bad Behavior." MassLive / Patrick Johnson.
Massachusetts: MassLive Online, September 28th 2010.

"Asked how many people have been banned in his 21 years as director, Maloney said “Lord Jesus Christ is the first - and I suppose I’m going to burn in hell because of it.”

Enter the iPad.

Got an iPad today. Yep, it's pretty cool.

I caved. I bought it. I had to. Furthermore, it's sweeet.

Clancy Whitefield

2004-2010

"Those things that hurt,
instruct."
~ Benjamin Franklin

For Better or For Worse / Lynn Johnston

Ebooks Don’t Cannibalize Print, People Do

"Ebooks Don’t Cannibalize Print, People Do." Black Plastic Glasses / Evan Schnittman.
London: Black Plastic Glasses, September 27th 2010.

"I was given two free print books and I wound up purchasing them on my Kindle anyway!

Why did I do this?  Because ever since I started using a dedicated ereading device and platform I have found the convenience of having all the books I am reading and want to read all in one device far more convenient than toting around one print book at a time. In fact with the Kindle platform, I can read on my MacBook Pro, Kindle, iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry. I read on these devices when I have spare moments, when I travel, when I am in the doctor’s office waiting room, when I don’t want to think about work for 30 minutes and I want to escape. And since they all synchronize to the cloud, I am always exactly where I left off on any device I want to use.

As a result, I read and purchase far more books than I ever have before (save when I was in college) because I now have my books —and the ability to get most any book I want — at all times and in all places. And because I am an ebook reader, I shop for virtually all of my reading in ebookstores.

Therein lies the rub." 

A to Z of the Shortest Book Titles

A to Z of the Shortest Book Titles / AbeBooks.

In a Digital Age, Students Still Cling to Paper Textbooks

"In a Digital Age, Students Still Cling to Paper Textbooks." The New York Times / Lisa W. Foderaro.
New York: New York Online, October 19th 2010.

"They text their friends all day long. At night, they do research for their term papers on laptops and commune with their parents on Skype. But as they walk the paths of Hamilton College, a poster-perfect liberal arts school in this upstate village, students are still hauling around bulky, old-fashioned textbooks — and loving it. “The screen won’t go blank,” said Faton Begolli, a sophomore from Boston. “There can’t be a virus. It wouldn’t be the same without books. They’ve defined ‘academia’ for a thousand years.”"

The Book: Perfectly Evolved.

The Incredible Value of the Local Library (A Visual Tour)

"The Incredible Value of the Local Library (A Visual Tour)." The Simple Dollar / Trent Hamm.
America: The Simple Dollar Online, September 24th 2010.

"As I’ve said before many (many) times, the local public library is the single biggest entertainment value available to you. Unlimited books, DVDs, CDs, audio books, civic groups, films, presentations, live performances, and countless other opportunities are available at your public library, either in your own town or in the nearest significantly-sized town. The best part? It’s all free."

Value of Academic Libraries

Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report / Association of College & Research Libraries.
America: ACRL, 2010.

How To Open A New Book

Libraries Will Survive

Library School: Hurts So Good Pt 1

Worth a double-click, sorry about the formatting.

Access Belies Privacy

"Libraries Warn of Censorship, Privacy, Cost in Google’s Digital Library." Wired / Ryan Singel.

San Francisco: Wired Epicenter Online, May 2009.

Algonquin Park 2010

& We're Back. Live. On the Air.

For those curious readers, 

wisdom teeth extraction

had me down & out.

But we are back, & live on the blogosphere 

to bring the power of shush.

Seven Things I Hate About Librarianship

"Seven Things I Hate About Librarianship." Dances With Books.
America: Dances With Books, September 17th 2010.

Frank Zappa Sez

"If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want to learn, go to a library."

Is This the Final Chapter for Paper Books?

"Is This the Final Chapter for Paper Books?" Sydney Morning Herald / John Elder.
Sydney: Sydney Morning Herald Online, September 26th 2010.

"Brett Osmond, head of digital publishing for Random House, says the one thing he's sure about is ''people have been making predictions every day, and I don't want to be one of them. It's too early to make firm predictions, but I don't think anything's dying.'' ...

''We don't have a lot of information yet, but it looks like older readers are buying them. The revolution is in play … but predictions of the traditional book being dead are premature.

''They will continue to have a viable place in the market … because it's human nature to be attracted to objects and to have momentoes of the things that we love.''

Osmond is also optimistic about the future of bookshops. ''One thing you get from a little bookstore, where the people working there have read a good number of books, is a curating service. They are able to give the sort of informed advice to customers that isn't available in the digital world.''

Radical Militant Librarian

October