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Five Hits

I did this semi-recurring feature a couple times on my old blog but can’t remember what I called it. Five hits? Five Thoughts? Five Things? Anyhew, that’s not important. Here’s your quick hits:

Hockey
If you haven’t watched Battle of the Blades, you should whether you like hockey or figure skating or both or neither. Sunday night was the premier of season two of the show and it was hilarious. My money’s on Theo Fleury but I’d love to see Kelly Chase win, if nothing else than he’s picked the Saskatchewan Children’s Hospital as his charity.

Libraryland
Today was Go Live day for the final group of libraries that comprised Phase III of the Saskatchewan Information and Library Services Consortium. It’s been an incredible year (I duly note that “incredible” is one of my most over-used words on this blog. I’m sure there are others too!) and a great learning experience which I suspect won’t be ending anytime soon. Someday I’ll do a more detailed post with some of my observations about the entire deal but for now, it’s a time to celebrate. (Looks around, takes sip of iced tea.)

Along with a FIMS classmate and fellow Saskie who’s also been heavily involved in the SILS process, we’ve got an application into CLA to present at next year’s conference. We’d like to talk about our experiences as recent grads who’ve been thrust into fairly high responsibility positions (her as an Assistant Director at a city library, myself as a Branch Supervisor at SRL and now in my role as Organization Development Specialist at RPL) with our involvement in the SILS project as an “anchor” for our presentation.

Pace Cuteness
Tonight, he read me “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” from cover to cover which is a first. (Of course, he read it from the back to the front and took occasional side trips to talk about what the animals’ middle names were but otherwise, pretty impressive!) On the other hand, watching the news, they had a story about prostitution and used that typical image of a woman leaning into a car window. Pace’s observation: “Look at that lady and her nice car!”

Politics
Louis Riel Trail and The Accidental Jurist (who recently outed himself – hi Greg!) have both weighed in with their thoughts on Ryan Meili’s withdrawal from the Sutherland race with Jurist providing some particularly insightful analysis of what this will mean for the NDP and for Ryan.

Like my SILS experience, my thoughts on identity politics deserves a much longer post. But numerous commentators – in old and new media – have talked about the impact of a concentrated effort to sell memberships to a particular minority group and the role this played in the (presumptive) success of Naveed Anwar‘s nomination campaign.

To me, I have no problem with this strategy and believe a membership is a membership is a membership (well, most of the time. ;-)) In many ways, it’s great to see Saskatchewan’s increasing diversity represented in the NDP’s candidates (I recently heard that the province’s population growth from minority immigrants is outpacing the growth resulting from births to First Nations people which has long been cited as the main source of growth in our population for the foreseeable future.)

But again, it’s terribly unfortunate that this shift has come at the expense of someone who, to re-use a description I used during the leadership race, had the potential to be a 21st Century Tommy Douglas. I said “had” but maybe I should’ve said “has” as that hasn’t changed.  Lots can happen in politics really fast and if a black man with a Muslim name can become US President within four years, who really knows what the future may bring for Ryan Meili?  Stranger things have happened.  (I also admit that I’m probably still in Stage One of hearing the news – “shock & denial”!)

Random Link(s) Somehow Relating to Popular Social Media Site
AlternativeTo.net is a great way to find new and alternate software to the packages you use now or are familiar with but can’t afford.

Posted 28 September 2010 § Family § Library § Politics § Randomness ‡ Comments (1) °

Music Monday – “Because they’re right in front of you/Because they’re telling you the truth”

Ryan Meili, runner-up to Dwain Lingenfelter in the race for the NDP Leadership Race last year and someone who was seen as a rising star within the party, announced today that he would be withdrawing from the NDP nomination race in Saskatoon-Sutherland.

I’m not sure how long Ryan’s going to leave his site up so here’s the letter he posted there and on Facebook:

Dear friends,

That’s a typical way to start such a letter, but i really do mean it. Through the process of entering political life i have been encouraged from so many directions by people who have become real friends. You have shared your time, your money, your ideas, and your emotions. There have been many rewarding experiences. However, the often negative and divisive aspects of political life have taken their toll on me. For this reason I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for nomination in Saskatoon Sutherland.

Politics, at its best, is about people working together in the service of the common good. I believe in that calling. I also believe i must do what is healthy for me and my family, and that to continue in politics would be to our detriment. I intend to continue to work for a better world, but not by seeking public office.

Thank you all for your friendship, support and understanding. I am deeply sorry for any disappointment this decision may cause.

Sincerely,

Ryan

I have to be honest – although I’m a bit shocked by this announcement, I’m also not surprised. I still had a Google Alert for “Ryan Meili” set-up from last year’s leadership race and had noted that recent news stories and mentions of Ryan included comments which, taken out of context or not, demonstrated an increasing level of frustration with the process and politics in general.

I’ll leave the speculation about the underlying reasons for this decision to others. But I will say that all of the things I wrote about Ryan over the past couple years were things I believed, even when I may have seemed over-the-top with my praise.

I still believe that Ryan showed enormous leadership potential, great intelligence and perhaps some of the strongest progressive credentials the party has seen in a long time. He not only brought me back into the party but inspired me to give my time, my money, my ideas and expertise in a number of different ways. And of course it wasn’t just me – he brought numerous young people and a youthful energy to the party and I really hope the NDP can find a way to maintain that.

He ends his letter asking his supporters not to be disappointed but of course, I can’t help it. But at least I’ll always have some incredible memories of one incredibly wild and crazy ride.

I think this is the first time I’ve re-posted a Music Monday clip. But it’s never been more appropriate – this still gives me shivers.

Posted 27 September 2010 § MusicMonday § Politics ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged:

When Did Librarianship First Enter The Picture As An Option For Me?

We had our annual New Staff Orientation Day on Friday.  It’s a day when we get all of the staff who’ve joined RPL within the past year to come in and hear from the various managers, committee members (eg. OH&S) and others with specialized positions (eg. our Assessment Librarian) about how all of the different areas of the library fit into the larger picture in a way they might not see when they’re just working in their individual branches or units.

I get to give a little spiel about my rather unique role as well (not just because I’m the guy making the agenda!) and this year, I started off by asking the assembled group of newbies how many ever thought they’d end up working in a library at some point in their lives?  Out of a group of ~20 people (including two of our newest professional librarians – three if you count me) only one person raised their hand. And contrary to what you might expect, it wasn’t me shooting my hand in the air!

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve loved libraries since I was a youngster and as evidenced by my work in the publishing and writing communities, even managed to wrangle my way into working in the book industry once I got my English degree.

But that’s very different from actually thinking I’d even work in a library as a professional librarian.  Now, working in libraries was conceivable and did cross my mind on occasion – especially when I was nearing completion of my BA and discovering that, at RPL at least, this would place me at the Library Assistant level which seemed like a perfectly good and realistic career option at that point in my life.  (I should find some of my cover letters from that era – I’m sure I’ve got them somewhere on my hard drive and I’m pretty sure I even applied to RPL.)

But Library Assistant was about as far as it went.  In fact, I was probably like the majority of people in society who didn’t even realise that being a “capital L” Librarian required a Master of Library Science degree, let alone that it was something I would ever go on to achieve.

So, with my opening question from the New Staff Orientation ringing around my head this weekend, I tried to think when the idea of actually becoming a professional librarian first entered my head.

And the answer, as best as I can determine, was when I did a semester exchange to England in 1995.  There were numerous foreign exchange students from around the world at the small college I attended in York England and I became good friends with one who came from the Chicago area.  I can’t even remember what she was completing her undergrad degree in (English too?) but I do remember that she knew she was going to continue on to library school immediately after convocating.

We had many long conversations about all manner of subjects but she is the first person I ever remember enlightening me to the possibility of being a professional librarian.

I returned to Canada, finished my undergrad degree using the popular “four year degree in five years” option then managed find work with the Saskatchewan Publishers Group and later, the Writers Guild of Alberta.  But that idea she sparked in me about library school as a possible career option had lodged itself into my brain as a back-up plan if I convocated but couldn’t find work (a very realistic option when you convocate with a BA – English!)

I did a search of my personal journal files (the beauty of having them computerized) and the first mention in any of them of the phrase “library school” was in October 2001, six years after my England exchange and five years after I completed my BA.

At the time, Shea and I had been in Calgary for a couple months and I’d just been hired at the Writers Guild of Alberta.  But the thought of applying to library school had been growing in my head over that summer as I was searching for work without much luck. That summer was the first time I wrote away to request application packages from the various library schools across Canada.  (The second time, I didn’t need to request the apps by mail.  I went to the site of the only school I knew I’d be applying to and downloaded all of the required forms and criteria.)

Ironically, a brief stint at the U of C libraries as a page before the WGA called, helped cement the idea that if I did work in libraries, it would be at a level where I felt like I was working to my full potential and doing work that was a good match for my skills and abilities.

So anyhow, that’s the story of how I became a librarian – from a seed planted by a classmate over a decade before I entered library school that was always my back-up plan for when I needed a change in my life.

(I’ve stayed in touch with the friend who first planted the seed and am happy to report that she’s currently a children’s librarian, living with her family in Arizona.)

Posted 26 September 2010 § Library § Work ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Saturday Snap – Lined Up At Our Garbage, Er, Garage Sale

Posted 25 September 2010 § Family § SaturdaySnap ‡ Comments (0) °

Friday Fun Link – “It’s A Book” by Lane Smith

Our children’s librarians have been raving about this book and passing it around the library.  I’ve got to say I agree – it’s hilarious!

(And yes, I see the irony in posting the YouTube video promoting a book that shows the advantages of old tech over new tech!)

Posted 24 September 2010 § FridayFunLink § Technology § Video § Work ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Facebook is Down!

What does it tell you that my first instinct was to post this link on Facebook?

Whether you like Facebook or not (I’m ambivalent), the Internet sure feels broken without Facebook Like buttons and Share This links everywhere!

Posted 23 September 2010 § Technology ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Awesome Halloween Costume

So cool.

Posted 22 September 2010 § Technology § Video ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Time For A New Tag

Hard to believe I’ve been on my new blog for what, a month and a half now, and haven’t yet had the opportunity to tag a post with “hockey” yet. (Cue happy smiles from the majority of my readership! :-))

But I happened to be at a meeting tonight when my iPhone made that very special ding it hasn’t made since last April indicating a Flames game was starting.  I look forward to hearing that ding about oh, 80+ more times over the next few months!

Posted 21 September 2010 § PopCulture § Technology ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Music Monday – “These cruel men keep running ’round/That’s why Charlie’s coming down”

You may be familiar with CBC Radio’s “Great Canadian Song Quest“, a contest where people could write-in votes for different locations in each of Canada’s provinces and territories then a designated artist/band from each region write a song about the top vote getting spot.  (The first edition was 2009 and featured specific locations.  This year’s version launched at the start of September with the theme being “roads” with nominations for different roads  closing on September 22 to be followed by a couple weeks of voting for the most popular road for each province/territory.)

I recently bought the iTunes album that resulted from the first contest and yes, I’m biased but the entry for Saskatchewan by a band called Deep Dark Woods is probably my favourite track (that or the Hawksley Workman tune for Ontario.)  The song’s about Good Time Charlie’s which is/was a downtown dive bar at the city’s heart – Victoria Avenue and Albert Street – which is now being torn down in favour of a high rise condo/upscale hotel development.  The Plains hotel that housed Good Time Charlie’s has been been around well, long enough that my dad stayed there for awhile when he came to the city for work one summer when he was in his late teens.

I didn’t go a lot myself but it definitely had a reputation as a place where college kids would go to slum it/see the other side/live dangerously or however you want to describe it. (Of course, any bar that featured karaoke prominently a couple times a week can’t be that dangerous, can it?)

Anyhow, here’s the song that came out of the CBC contest (and if you’re voting in round two, feel free to throw to pick “Saskatchewan Grid Roads” as a favourite – a theme which will resonate with pretty much everyone in the province since (useless trivia alert) Saskatchewan has more road miles per capita than any place on earth.)

Posted 20 September 2010 § MusicMonday § Video ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

Purple Cows & Public Libraries

Recently finished Seth Godin”s book “The Purple Cow” which has a main premise that businesses should no longer do mass marketing to the big bulge that is the early and late majority but instead, focus on niche marketing to the much smaller but much more rabid early adopters group who are much more likely to try something new (and potentially remarkable) and if it catches on, will (to mix my guru metaphors) tip it to the rest of the population.

That got me thinking about some of the recent library-related changes that might be considered Purple Cows and a few ideas for what else might do it:

RECENT PUBLIC PUBLIC LIBRARY PURPLE COWS
1. Living libraries

2. Alternate classification systems

3. Popular picks

4. I’m not sure if this is a “recent” trend but I’d argue that whoever first allowed a coffee shop into a public library was creating a Purple Cow.

5. 23 Things/Learning 2.0

Some Random Ideas For Potential Future Public Library Purple Cows

1. Expanding beyond the traditional items for loan (libraries are already experimenting with this from video games to energy meters to mobile devices like laptops and iPads.  But I’m sure there are things we’re not loaning yet that we could be – if Home Depot can have a tool rental, why not a library? Okay, maybe not a great example! ;-))

2. Two similar ideas on how to bring micro-libraries to locations where you might not otherwise have them – library kiosks and Library Outposts

3. Increasingly, libraries are co-locating with other civil agencies (I’m thinking of Shaganappi branch in Calgary but also the upcoming North Central Shared Facility in Regina) so it isn’t hard to imagine a future where the partnerships are more formalized and library staff can pull back from their informal role as social workers/addictions counselors but still direct patrons who need assistance to these nearby agencies.

4. Libraries moving from a role as an information provider to an information generator – almost competing with or even replacing traditional media sources.

5. Library City.  A single location where the library is not only part of a mall or a civic centre or a housing complex but all of the above with the library in the anchor position for all of these other services/amenities!

I had lots of other ideas while reading the book but of course, didn’t write them down.  But I’m highly recommend reading it yourself – it’s a very quick read and will give lots of things to think about.

Library Outposts
Posted 19 September 2010 § Library ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: ,