We're Not Dragons in Pearls, Say Librarians, We're Just Misunderstood

"We're Not Dragons in Pearls, Say Librarians, We're Just Misunderstood." Sydney Morning Herald / Dan Harrison & Kim Arlington.
Sydney: SMH Online, May 24th 2011.

"SCHOOL librarians have poured their hearts out to a parliamentary committee, telling how they are stereotyped as dragons in cardigans, derided by colleagues who think they do little more than check books in and out, and are starved of the resources to do their jobs properly.

A report by the House of Representatives education and employment committee yesterday backed the librarians, declaring it ''indisputable that the value of teacher librarians' work has been eroded over the years and undervalued by many in the community.'' ...

The report found librarians felt undervalued, unrecognised and professionally isolated, under constant pressure to justify their existence as administrators hunted for savings. NSW is the only state in Australia that mandates each school to have a teacher librarian."

Dragons in pearls, I kinda like that.

Where I'm Going / Cut Copy

How Do Public Librarians Constitute Information Literacy?

"How Do Public Librarians Constitute Information Literacy?" 5th International Conference on Qualitative Research in IT / Andrew Demasson, Helen Partridge, & Bruce Christine.
Brisbane: 5th International Conference on Qualitative Research in IT 29-30, November 2010.

"Public libraries are considered to be perfectly situated for developing and promoting information literacy as well as for encouraging lifelong learning on a community-wide, state-wide, nation-wide and international level. (Bundy 1999; Harding 2008; Leininger 2005) Not only are they a living source of information, they provide a means by which economic barriers to learning and literacy can be overcome and through which information networks can be established and maintained. They, unlike private and academic libraries, can become an integral part in the life of each and every member of society because membership or patronage is unrestricted. Subsequently, they are the organizations best placed to bring information literacy - awareness and implementation - to the general public."

11 Answers for Libraries in 2011: Part One

"11 Answers for Libraries in 2011: Part One." Librarians Matter / Kathryn Greenhill Fremantle.
Australia: Librarians Matter, January 5th 2011.

"We love to talk, talk, talk in libraries.

This post was going to be “11 conversations we need to continue in libraries in 2011″ in a nod to Dave Lanke’s post The Librarian Militant, The Librarian Triumphant. He posits librarianship as not a building or a collection but “a conversation you are having” – that we must keep fresh and responsive."

Twelve Theses On Libraries & Librarians

"Twelve Theses On Libraries & Librarians." Faith & Theology / Benjamin Myers.
Sydney: Faith & Theology, February 16th 2010.

"The library is the most solid and enduring item in the whole apparatus of intellectual life. In time our academic fads and fashions, our schools of thought and indeed entire disciplines, will pass soundlessly into the abyss of history. But the library endures – in fact it grows only stronger, driving its roots down ever deeper while the wreckage of history piles up around it. The library’s sheer material presence testifies to its ontological priority in intellectual life: ideas are fickle and intangible, they occupy no fixed location, but the library fills space and time with an imposing materiality. It is the mind’s anchor holding fast beneath the storms and currents of time."

I love this passage.

Information Literacy Framework

Embrace / Pnau

We Are The People / Empire of the Sun

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.''

Wall of Birds / Nathan Jurevicius

Things I Hate/Love About Researching My Family Tree

"Things I Hate/Love About Researching My Family Tree." Chiprowe.com / Chip Rowe.
Australia: Chiprowe.com, 1994-2009.

"Genealogists never seem to realize that no one wants to hear about their ancestors."

Book Sale

An Architect's Rendering

Faithful Few Keep Dewey Alive in Download World

"Faithful Few Keep Dewey Alive in Download World." The Age / Natalie Craig.

Australia: The Age Online, May 2nd 2010.

This is Awesome, Australia

"Shush! If You're On Level Four." Biological Sciences Library.
Australia: University of Queensland, September 28th 2008.

"Due to recent complaints about noise levels, library staff will now be practising their finely honed shushing skills on level 4 of the Biological Sciences Library. If you wish to make noise in the library, please do so on one of the other floors, e.g. levels 1 to 3, although preferably do not make too much noise."

Library Use #4: Storage of Information

Standing on the Shore

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"Standing on The Shore." Empire of the Sun / Empire of the Sun.

Recorded Live in Australia: 2009.

Eclipse Broadcast

"Eclipse Broadcast." / Empire of the Sun.

Recorded live.

Australia: 2009.

See Also:

Empire of the Sun