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Tommy Douglas on Librarians

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)
Posted 28 March 2007 § Humour § Library § Main Page § Politics § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (2) °

Canadians Still Reading

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)

Posted 28 March 2007 § Library § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Summer 2007 – My Course Picks

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.  

Posted 28 March 2007 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (2) °

The Twelve Types of Library School Students

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 Derrida
Ideal 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 AIMLESS
Summary: 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 ENTREPRENEUR
Summary: 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. Tolkien
Ideal 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 Wilde
Ideal Library Role: Teen Services.




THE MALE
Summary: 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 Salinger
Ideal Library Role: Reference (since so many men think they know everything anyhow)


THE MATURE STUDENT
Summary: 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 Chilton
Ideal 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 Fielding
Ideal 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

Posted 27 March 2007 § Baby § Humour § Library § LibrarySchool § List § Main Page § Photo ‡ Comments (12) °

Buffalo Burgers – Shea's Recipe

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 meat
10 soda crackers made into fine crumbs
1 egg
1 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 Sauce
Minced 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 pepper

The 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.)



Posted 26 March 2007 § Canada § Main Page § Photo § Saskatchewan § Shea ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: ,

Blog Might Go Down

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?)

Posted 25 March 2007 § Blog § Main Page ‡ Comments (3) °

Today Is "Computer Shutdown Day"

So if you're reading this on Saturday March 24, 2007, you lose!  Or something. 

Of course, it's after midnight on Friday March 23, 2007 so technically, I'm not participating properly either.  Of course, I'm too much of an addict rebel to go along with any set day like this anyhow. 

Actually, that's not so far from the truth.  Personally, I'm much much of a fan of constant, consistent, responsible recognition of any good cause.  Just like Earth Day is every day, Computer Shut Down day – or TV Turn-Off day or Christmas or pretty much any recognized or imagined holiday you find value in – should be something that you keep the spirit of every single day. 

For example, if this is a cause you feel is worthwhile, why not cut back on your computer usage for 15 minutes per day every day for a year instead?  That's over 90 hours computer usage saved each year – just about four days worth.  How do you save 15 minutes?  Quit reading any blogger whose entries are more than four paragraphs long! 

I wish I wasn't but I'm also naturally skeptical about any organization that shares less than nothing about themselves, who they are, why they're doing this, how they got started and so on, on their web site no matter how good their cause sounds from the brief blurb which is pretty much the only content on the page.  Oh, and a prominently placed “Donation” button.

I know someone is going to reply and say that it's only symbolic to have a single named day for various causes/celebrations/whatever. But this reminds me too much of people who only dig deep to give to charity during the Christmas season then ignore the related issues the other 364 days of the year.  Or people who drop a $20 on the collection plate at church then don't have a spiritual or pious thought for the other 167 hours of the week. 

Which is all a long way of saying that I'll probably be on my computer tomorrow at some point.  Although the forecast is +18 and I have a garage that badly needs cleaning so  those two factors are going to affect my computer usage more than any newly-coined, virally-spread yet strangely suspicious “day” will. 

Jason (rhymes with Contrarian…if you squint really hard…and how long has it been since I used the “Rant” tag?  Quite awhile.)

[Edit – what a surprise.  Other computer nerds agree with me – although there are a variety of other reasons given to oppose this day in the Digg thread in addition to some of the ones I listed above.]

[Edit #2 – oh, and for the record, I do celebrate the day popularly known as “Christmas” on that day.]

[Edit #3 – anybody know the costs for using a computer/laptop for a year versus activities such as driving the average commuting distance in Canada or choosing to be a meat-eater?  I know the day isn't just about reducing costs/environmental issues and is sort of a “just go outside” message.  But
that is a factor too in how “legitimate” a day like this is to me.  Is there a “Drive Nowhere” Day?  “Don't Have A Cow, Man (Literally) Day?”]

Posted 24 March 2007 § Humour § Internet § Main Page § Meme ‡ Comments (4) °

Friday Fun Link – Free MP3 Audio Books (March 23, 2007)

LoudIt.org offers free MP3 audio books of classic works that you can download or read long with onscreen. (via MetaFilter)

Posted 23 March 2007 § FridayFunLink § Internet § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

UWO FIMS "Spirit of Librarianship" Award – Call for Nominations

Meshell, who recently posted a great article called “Huckleberry Who?” on her blog that ties in nicely to my posts on the question of “Is there a Universal book?“, forwarded me the call for Spirit of Librarianship nomination for this term. 

I try to do a good job remembering to cite where I get my info/links for this blog (although not always successfully).  I also try to remember that my “audience” for this blog continues to become wider so putting a generic “SoL Call for Nominations” headers as I initially did might be mis-leading to some people.  Something anybody putting information on the Net has to keep in mind – it's more rare than it used to be but I still hit web sites that don't list full contact information for the organization or if they do, they won't list a state with the city or an area code with the phone number. 

It's hard to believe the current semester of library school is almost over.  It definitely goes faster when you're not there!  Here's a link to my Spirit of Librarianship page if you want some info on the award, past winners and nominees, etc.  otherwise, go ahead and nominate somebody!

—
Hello everyone,

The time has come again to collect nominations for the Spirit of Librarianship award.

The
Spirit of Librarianship Award is presented each term by the MLIS
Student Council to an MLIS student who “exemplifies the spirit of
librarianship” in their daily life as a student. It is based on a
positive collegial attitude and contribution, a willingness to help
whenever a need arises, and an interest in fellow students. Any current
Master of Library and Information Science student is eligible, except
those on co-op and those who have previously received the award.

To
nominate one of your fellow students, please send an email to
mlisstudentcouncil@gmail.com by March 29th.  In this email please give
not only the name of the person being nominated, but also write a short
summary as to why you are nominating them.  Please note: only
individuals can be nominated for the award.

After all
nominations are gathered, an email will be sent out with a list of all
nominations and explanations as to the voting process.  All questions
are welcome, and can be emailed to mlisstudentcouncil@gmail.com or by
asking a member of Council.

Spirit of Librarianship Committee

Posted 22 March 2007 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (1) °

First Pre-Natal Class Tonight

The woman who teaches the course, Sally Elliott, gets raves from everybody we talk to so I'm pretty excited.  Plus I'll find out if reading “The Poo Bomb” is sufficient preparation for having a child. 

Posted 22 March 2007 § Baby § Humour § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °