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All Kinds of Thoughts & Things – None of Which Are My Homework

Scholarly Journal Submission Update
Just finished submitting the revised version of “Useless as Tits on a Bull: User Fees in Alberta Public Libraries” to Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Research and Theory.  As I said before, it's been an extremely educational process, I got some great feedback and even if they don't decide to publish it after this time around, I'm happy that my paper is 100% better than it was before.  (I doubt I'd revise it again it it comes back to me once more – at least while I'm still in school this semester.  It's been far too distracting as is.)  With that said, I would encourage anyone to submit your best essay to them.  Even if it doesn't get published, it's well worth going through the process.  I've asked for permission to reprint the two peer reviewers' comments and I'll likely also upload the revised paper at some point in the future as well. 

The In-Box Exercise
A popular job interview technique is the “in-box” exercise where you're given a hypothetical in-box full of memos, letters, reports, etc. and asked to prioritize everything, explaining your decisions.  That's what my first three weeks of library school have been like with an in-box filled with:
1) revising that essay for resubmission to the journal
2) student council stuff – both my required duties and a bunch of new initiatives we discussed at the last meeting
3) finalizing arrangements for the most ambitious Lunch Bucket Speaker event I've presented by far
4) trying to keep up with readings and assignments. 

In what might be marked as a “fail” in the real-world in-box exercise, the order I listed those things is also basically the prioritiy I've given them (you could probably also stick “write long, rambling blog entries” in at 3.5 before doing homework too!)  I've been amazingly lucky to not have a single assignment due until September 26 (how is that even possible in this program?) but the readings have been pretty heavy so far so that's time consuming as is.  My priorities will definitely re-arrange in the coming weeks…or else I'm in trouble. 

A gazillion years ago, my boss told me that the danger of working in non-profit organizations wasn't that the work was too easy, it was that it was too easy to let yourself get stretched thin.  She said the kind of people attracted to non-profit work tend to be the kind of people who can't say 'no' and get in trouble because of it.  (Er, do you see anyone around here who fits that description?) 

Groccery Checkout
Gotta give a big plug to Grocery Checkout, a locally-owned company that's about to celebrate their one year anniversary in November.  Shea and I have used them a few times this year to order and deliver groceries to us.  Their prices are comparable to most grocery stores, they save you the time and hassle of shopping as well as the expense of getting to the store (especially if you don't have a car and have to take a cab or don't want to always be doing “mini-runs” on the bus.)  They don't offer as many  “specials” as grocery stores do but you're also less likely to do all those impulse buys.  They used to charge a flat fee of $7.95 but recently revised their pricing so that the basic fee is $6.95, if you order over $100, it's $4.95 and if you order over $150, it's only $1.50!  Great for ordering heavy canned goods, great for getting frozen goods home in summer without them melting on the bus, great if you have a household with two or more people and can order $150+ in groceries at a time.  Their delivery schedules vary depending on how busy they are but we put in our latest order last night and had our groceries by 7pm tonight.  Give them a try if you get a chance!

Classmate of the Day Catch-up
Did I ever explain this for any new readers?  In addition to the Friday Fun Links, another recurring feature on this blog is “Classmate/Colleague of the Day” where I name somebody around FIMS who's done something cool or memorable or fun or somehow made my life more enjoyable (ie.  basically, any reason I want.)  So yeah, let's see if I can shotgun a few COTD's for the last week to “catch-up”…

Monday – I didn't get the name but the guy at the Registrar who gave me a form with the University's seal confirming my enrollment without charging me $5 like the woman at the front desk wanted to is my first CotD not connected to the program I think. 

Tuesday – Karina Miki-Douglas did an awesome presentation in our 532 – Journalism class with a display, props, handouts AND free Runts candies.  You could tell she took Instructional Strategies with Jennifer Noon!  (She also won a contest and its her photo of the clock tower that's on the front of the SOGS dayplanner.  Tres cool!)

Wednesday – everybody on Student Council.  We've got a lot of exciting ideas for new projects this term and if we even manage to implement half of them, it would be amazing. 

Thursday – Corey Redekop, who is a recent FIMS grad with a novel coming out next year gave me the honour of seeing previews of the four covers under consideration for it.  (Him and I disagreed about which was the best though!)

Friday – I spent an enjoyable few hours at the Grad Club this afternoon with two PhD students, Tami Oliphant and Margaret Kipp, discussing all manner of things from blogs to intellectual freedom to social bookmarking technology to the publishing industry (Tami is teaching a course on Publishing in Winter 2007 and everybody should take it – it's going to be awesome!) 

Posted 23 September 2006 § Internet § LibrarySchool § List § Main Page § Randomness ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Friday Fun Link – The Faces of YouTube (Sept 22/06)

The Faces of YouTube – heartwarming, melancholy, profound, beautiful all at once. (via MetaFilter)

Posted 22 September 2006 § FridayFunLink § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

"One of Today's Most Challenging, Interesting and Rewarding Environments" – Librarian Job Ad

“Are you interested in putting your library science education and
experience to work in one of today’s most challenging, interesting and
rewarding environments? Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions is recruiting for a Chief Librarian to manage the Detainee Library, under the direction of the Joint Task Force-Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” (via MetaFilter) 

I debated a bit about whether this was appropriate to post over at LibrarianActivist.org but I think that this is exactly where an activist librarian might be able to do some good (assuming they got past the security clearance/job interview of course.)  Probably should've just posted it as a straight link instead of a FFL but feeling that Friday pressure to get something up so this is what I've got.  (Update: I changed it to a regular post instead of a FFL.)

On a slight tangent, someone in the MetaFilter thread pointed out the huge irony in the ad noting that they're an equal opportunity employer. 

Posted 22 September 2006 § Jobs § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

Citation Styles

What is your favourite citation style?  Does it matter?  Discuss. 

Posted 22 September 2006 § Main Page ‡ Comments (5) °

Peer Reviewers Needed – Post-Tracks Journal

I don't think I'm going to add this to the stuff I've got on my plate but thought I'd pass it along in case anybody else was interested.  As the first line says, “Good opportunity and would look good on your resume.”  Thanks to Tara out at UBC for the head's up!

—
Good opportunity and would look very good on your resume.


Call for Peer Reviewers: Post-Tracks Issue 5

DEADLINE: October 13, 2006

Post-Tracks, an online peer-reviewed student publication hosted by Webjunction.org, once again invites interested LIS students to volunteer to serve as peer reviewers. The next issue of Post-Tracks is open to all related issue/concerns/research areas of library education and services at either the academic or public level.

Post-Tracks peer reviewers will be invited to review manuscripts based on their area(s) of interest and coursework. Once a reviewer accepts an invitation to review a manuscript, the reviewer is expected to complete the review within 14 days of receipt of the manuscript.

Peer reviewer applicants should be actively pursuing a masters or doctoral degree in the field of Library and Information Science or be a recent graduate of the past year. Contact Derek Najera, a student at the UT Austin School of Information finishing up his master's and the current editor of Post-Tracks, by email (dnajera@ischool.utexas.edu) to receive an application. All applications should be submitted via email by October 13, 2006. Reviewers will be notified of their selection and matched with papers for review by October 24, 2006. 

For additional information, please contact Derek as well. Thank you!

Derek Najera
Post-Tracks Editor for Webjunction.org
School of Information
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station, D7000
Austin, TX 78712
dnajera@ischool.utexas.edu
Posted 20 September 2006 § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

50 Facts That Should Change The World

Finally finished, 50 Facts That Should Change The World, a  book published by Disinformation Media that I've been plugging away at for a couple months in between school-related and other readings. 

By far, my favourite way to find books is just to wander the stacks at a library aimlessly until I serendipitously find something that catches my eye.  This was the case for this book which jumped out at me while I was over at Weldon one day.  (From a librarian's perspective, it's even more important to design a striking book spine than the cover, I'd say.)

Here's a link to a blog that's reprinted the 50 Facts along with some brief commentary.

The Inner-net – 50 Facts That Should Change the World

Posted 20 September 2006 § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

GG Award Winner, Art Slade, Coming To FIMS – All Details Finalized!

 

Below is an e-mail I just sent out to the department’s mailing list.  I really *really* want a good crowd out for this event so I have a mission for you, faithful readers. 

I want you to subtly (and not so subtly) do everything you can to make sure we have a standing room only crowd for this event!  Talk it up to your classmates, remind your friends (sneak a note into their day planners), if necessary, frog-march them to NCB2985 on the day!  This event isn’t limited to FIMS students either so if you want to bring your local librarian, your child’s teacher or your book club, go right ahead.

I’ve accepted “Oh, I forgot all about it” as an excuse for people missing Lunch Buckets in the past but Art’s basically agreed to come two hours out of his way to visit FIMS so I want to have a jam-packed room to welcome him!

(Revealed: the secret techniques of the successful event organizer – beg, bribe and berate!) 😉 

—
Hi all,



We’re having a very special guest speaker on October 23 that I’m especially excited about so I really hope you can come out!

For those of you who are new to FIMS or don’t know about it, I’d like to tell you a bit about the Lunch Bucket Speaker Series.  It’s a recurring event I initiated in January 2006 to bring authors, publishers and others from the wider Canadian book industry to the FIMS community.

In the past nine months, we’ve had authors (including a recent FIMS grad who has a book coming out – http://shelf-monkey.blogspot.com/), a local literary publisher, the Executive Director of an international literacy organization, a panel discussion of students who have worked in libraries before coming to FIMS and more.  With that said, this guest speaker tops them all!

Who: Governor General’s Award-Winning Author, Art Slade (http://www.arthurslade.com/) along with local Young Adult Author, Maggie Wood (http://www.maggielwood.com)

Time: 12 – 1pm
Date: Monday October 23
Location: NCB 285

* Books will be on sale at this event and this is a great chance to not only meet and ask questions of two highly regarded authors but get signed copies of their books.

E-mail me if you have any questions (jason@hammond.net).  Otherwise, I hope to see you there!

Jason

PS – Just to clarify, the Lunch Bucket series is not connected to the Department’s “Brown Bag” speaker series which focuses on presenting faculty and student research.  The only similiarity is that it too is a great series whose events you should make every effort to attend as well!

Posted 19 September 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (0) °

Rob Schremp Charity Shootout Goal

I have no idea what to write about so how about, to celebrate the beginning of NHL pre-season hockey, I link to this news clip of Edmonton Oilers prospect, Rob Schremp (formerly of the Memorial Cup winning London Knights), making an amazing move during the shootout of an exhibition match between the Oiler rookies and the U of A Golden Bears.  (Just ignore that the freeze frame is of a basketball player.  You'll see why when you click on the clip.)

Only one other thought: I couldn't make this move if you gave me three rolls of duct tape, a barrel of crazy glue and spun me around a merry-go-round on my way to the net to get me spinning! 

Posted 19 September 2006 § Main Page § Sports ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Distance Courses: The Good, The Not-So-Good and the Miscellaneous

I'm taking “Advocacy and Library Issues” with former CLA President, Wendy Newman, as a distance course this term.  This is my first ever distance course (I took French 101 as a distance course back in 1993 or so but was in the classroom in front of the instructor while the other students were at sites around the province via video links- this was pre-Internet – so that doesn't really count.) 

So, after the first week, here's some thoughts on the good and not-so-good about it.  This is perhaps a timely list as the department offered an unprecedented (as far as I know) six classes by distance this term.  That's not a huge deal except the rules say that you can only take one distance course per term so that can cause some issues if two of the courses appeal to you or, even if they don't, because it severely limits the number of regular courses left for you to choose from. 

If I could suggest one change in this policy, I'd let students take up to two distance courses, especially when so many are offered.  Maybe a ratio would work – if less than five distance courses are offered (like in the summer semester), you can only take one.  But if more than five are offered, you can take up to two? 

Here's a screenshot of what the window for viewing class lectures looks like:


GOOD
– obviously, the biggest advantage is that, outside of a few set times for chat sessions and in-person meetings, the student can work on their own schedule.  You can read the discussion board in the morning when you get up or in the evening before you go to bed.  If you work Monday to Friday, you can view the lecture on the weekend. 
– working in your underwear while drinking a beverage of your choice might also be considered a related benefit by some people
– since the course is comprised of a combination of video lectures, PowerPoint slides, a discussion board, chat sessions and other related items, you can view (and re-view) any of these items at any time.
– not sure if they do this but presumably there could be some cost and/or time savings for professors in that once the course lectures are recorded, they can be re-used in the future
– being a distance course co-offered with U of T's FIS program, this particular class gives us a great opportunity to interact with some of our colleagues from another school that we wouldn't normally have.  I've already met one person from Regina who I wouldn't have met otherwise for instance.

NOT SO GOOD
– people have to be fairly comfortable with technology to do everything the course requires (although to be fair, nothing is too complicated.  The biggest “techie” thing I had to do was change my Java settings to allow me to cut & paste into their discussion board's “Compose” window.  And strangely, I still can't figure out how to embed my picture in my required “Introduce Yourself” post.)
– for some reason, you can only play/pause the lectures but not rewind which would be helpful in those times where you just miss a comment and want to skip back a few seconds.
– although the software we're using (Blackboard Academic Suite) is fairly robust, there are minor annoyances – no way to view only unread messages and things like that.  There are also no newer technologies like blogs, wikis, RSS feeds integrated which might make it more effective.
(Update: sounds like some of my issues might be because I'm using FireFox and their tech support person suggests I log-in with IE.  Yuck.  It's horrible when any site, let alone one for a University, has to tell you which software to use!)
– I find the system slow to click around in sometimes giving me memories of having 56k dial-up access again.  The software is part of the U of T Portal system and I'm not sure if that's part of the reason or not.
– related to that last point, there are a couple extra complications dealing with a U of T system for us at UWO.  I don't think we can change our generated passwords to something easier to remember without a U of T UserID for instance.
– this hasn't happened yet but there's always the concern that tone is harder to convey in a virtual environment.  As someone with a sometimes sarcastic, sometimes dry sense of humour, I am very aware of the problems this can cause.
– minor annoyance but they only offer the video in Windows Media or RealPlayer format, neither of which I'm a huge fan of. 

OTHER POINTS
– it's a different form of interaction to only communicate with classmates and the instructor virtually.  Some people like it, some people don't.  It may be better for introverts, worse for people who aren't as comfortable with technology for instance. 
– this depends on the person as well but some people could find it harder to focus on the lectures/assignments than in a classroom setting (it's the old argument about how to run a home office and yet maintain a division between the two). 
– you also have to be very self-motivated to keep up on everything when there are no regular class sessions.
– the video window you watch is fairly small (typical YouTube 320×200 size) although you can right click and change it to full size view which is easier to watch

Posted 17 September 2006 § LibrarySchool § List § Main Page ‡ Comments (7) °

An Unofficial Guide to UWO FIMS Library School

I’ve had a couple chances to plug my blog in front of the new semester of students in the last couple weeks (and have had a few compliments on the content from people who’d checked it out – thank you very much!) 

But obviously not everybody’s going to take the time to browse or search through the whole thing going back to February to see every little thought I’ve had about this program.  So I thought it might be helpful to make one central post that collected links to a sort of “Best of” my thoughts on library school and libraries, maybe even link to it from the sidebar so that it’s always front and centre for any future students who may be looking for information.

Jason’s “Best of” Blog Posts About The University of Western Ontario’s Library School and Libraries in general

 

You can also scan through the category and keywords for “library school” for less specific but hopefully still relevant posts.

Here are some posts, both re-posted on my blog and found elsewhere, of relevant library school-type information:

 

 

 

 

 

 


Hmm, this is probably a good place to link to the assignments I’ve been brave enough to upload as well. 

Selected Library School Assignments I’ve Uploaded

  • My Statement of Intent – I know I linked to it above but it fits in both categories.  Again, it also leads to three other Statements of Intent as well so you can see the different ways people approach it.

 

 

And here’s a link to the page that Sabina and I made for the Spirit of Librarianship Award.

Finally, here’s a list of posts that are relevant to life as a working professional librarian…

Posted 16 September 2006 § Blog § LibrarySchool § List § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °