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Saskatchewan Targets Alberta For Labour

“Saskatchewan is experiencing the largest skilled labour shortage in the country” according to Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Monte Solberg who recently announced a new program to bring skilled foreign workers into Canada. 

In addition to foreign labour, the Calgary Sun reports that Saskatchewan is targetting workers in Alberta, touting Saskatchewan's affordable housing, shorter commutes and better quality of life overall as reasons to jump across the border. 

People always think of Alberta as the golden child of Canada's economy but Saskatchewan isn't far off with a booming natural resources sector, record employment rates and not one but two Rolling Stones concerts coming up this fall (the only place on the current tour to have an extra show added!)
(via The Saskatchewan Desk)

Posted 17 August 2006 § Main Page § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (0) °

Cheaper Books Coming To Canada?

Books in Canada have been costing up to 36% more than in the US, due to the way the book prices have been fixed to an outdated exchange rate. However, following pressure from unhappy consumers and bookstore owners, most publishers are now reducing their prices.  Random House Canada will begin offering discounts to retailers on books that have been published for more than one year. Retailers should thus be able to cut their prices by 20%. John Wiley and Sons Canada will reduce the prices of all their books, including reprints and new issues, to ensure they are only priced 20% higher than in the US. For more information visit: http://tinyurl.com/zz64r
(er, probably easier to go to the library and read it for free than paying $4.95 for access to this 867 word article!)

(via Writers Guild of Alberta listserv which in turn, was posted via Writing World Issue 6:07 http://www.writing-world.com)

Posted 16 August 2006 § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Bus v. Bike v. (Human) Being

I know that the law classifies bicycles as vehicles and that's why they have to ride on the road rather than the sidewalk.  But to me, that's never made sense.  Except in the busiest areas (downtown, Richmond Row, at the University), sidewalks tend to have a lot less people on them than the number of cars on the same stretch of road. 

Bikes and walkers are roughly moving at the same speed and have roughly the same weight, at least when compared to bikes versus cars.  If there is to be an accident, I'd rather be a walker hit by a bike rider than a bike rider hit by a car.  I don't have a horse in this race either way – I don't have a bike here or a car.  But this thought came into my head as a bus crawled behind a bike rider on Richmond today just past the University gates for nearly a block, unable to pass because the other lane had a constant stream of cars.  The danger of the situation was obvious and I couldn't help but look at the block long stretch of sidewalk with a single person walking on it as an obvious solution to the problem. 

Maybe if bikes were allowed to move freely between both options as needed/preferred, that would be a decent compromise?  Requiring bicyclists to have horns on their bikes would be an improvement too, especially if the law was changed to allow them to ride on the sidewalk more frequently. 

Posted 16 August 2006 § Main Page § Randomness ‡ Comments (9) °

Bruce Fyfe's Spirit of Librarianship Letter of Thanks

Bruce asked me to post this letter on his behalf an an addendum to the speech he gave after he won the Spirit of Librarianship Award at the Destressor last Wednesday.

—
On Wednesday, August 9, I was given the Summer 2006 Spirit of Librarianship
Award. I want to thank the people who put my name forward and I want to
thank all the people who voted for me and for all the terrific people who were
nominated for this award.  I cannot, however, accept this honour alone.
The Spirit of Librarianship resides in all of the people who have made up this
great class.  

This award belongs to all of the people who received nominations.  When
I saw the list of nominations my first reaction was to wonder how I could
choose from such a talented, committed group of people. Each and every one of
these friends is deserving of this award.  Whether it was a commitment to
making the MLIS experience a positive and rewarding one through active involvement
in student government, or commitment to spreading and enhancing the ideals of
librarianship, or their infectious good nature, or their willingness to lend a
hand or sympathetic ear, each one deserves to be recognized. So, Catherine,
Gabe, Linda, Quinn, Becky, Daniella, Jay, Tracy, Mark and Michael, thank you
for making the MLIS program a stimulating, fun, inspiring and all-round
rewarding experience.

The award also belongs to all of my other classmates and to MLIS faculty and
staff who have worked so hard to create a wonderful collegial atmosphere. 
The various performers, storytellers, educators, debaters, organizers, and the
facilitators have each contributed to building this community and must be
acknowledged.  These fine people, by the force of your personalities, your
intelligence and your commitment, have shown us the value of library as
community, as access to information, and as a place that strives to educate
all.

And finally, to all of those who have, by your nature and the force of your
personalities, made the MLIS experience fun – despite the grueling pace and
spirit-crushing workload – thank you.  Perhaps more than any, you
represent the spirit of librarianship.  And, it is fitting, I think, to
end with a quotation from Monty Python:  “You see, I don't believe
that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that's
been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as
librarians.”

Thank you to all.  Congratulations to all who have completed your
studies and good luck in the job hunt. And to those continuing in courses or
co-op, best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Bruce Fyfe

Posted 14 August 2006 § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

Theresick (The Feast of Crispian)

I went on a semester exchange to York England when I was in undergrad.  Because of the constant excitement of new experiences and meeting new people and learning new things, I never really got homesick in my four months there, even though everybody warned me that I would. 

But when I got back to Canada, I was depressed and discombobulated and  disjointed for quite awhile.  I talked to a friend who'd travelled a lot more widely than I had about these feelings and she said “You're theresick.”  Theresick?  “It's the opposite of homesick.  You have all the same emotions when you come back from a journey as when you go but they're for the place that you left, not for the place that you come from.  Nobody warns you about it so it's often much worse than homesickness.” 

I went to a party last night for the people who were graduating this semester and that strange term kept popping into my head as I listened to people talking.  Someone observed that the billboards for football tickets
were up again, just like when they arrived last September and that they'd like to go to a game but would be gone by the time this season starts.  Others
talked of the strange feeling of not having anything to worry about,
nothing pressing in the back of their brain for the first
time in twelve months.   Some talked of plans to meet again at future
conferences or during future travels.  Someone talked about how the
Internet made it so much easier to stay in touch but it would never
recapture the shared experience of everybody being here together. 

So many of the people who attend this program have a similar experience to the one that I had in England (or that many people have when doing any extended traveling.)  You spend an incredibly short period of time with a small group of people in very close quarters, bonding before, during and after classes.  Then, all of a sudden, it's over and you don't know when, if ever, you'll see these people again. 

Most cohorts bond quite tightly but for some reason, there isn't as much interaction between cohorts and it wasn't really until second semester until I began to really get to know some of the people beyond those who started with me in January. 

Mike Thibault is one of those people and today I got an e-mail from him that he'd sent after the party ended late last night.  He was wrestling with some of those same mixed emotions and felt that this speech from Henry V summarized things in a way that he never could.  I'm reprinting the speech he sent me with his permission – although I didn't get clearance from Billy Shakespeare.) 

The Feast of Crispian is October 25 which roughly coincides with Fall convocation (October 20) which is fitting as well.

(Here's an MP3 you might want to listen to while you read this.)

This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall see this day, and live old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian's
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother. Be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Mike added this thought to the Bard's very appropriate words: 

We've made it.  We are librarians, and our condition has been gentled and our scars will be shown proudly.

Posted 13 August 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

Why Do Boys Read? Heavy Metal!

GG winning author, Art Slade (who is coming to FIMS on October 23 for the Lunch Bucket speaker series – mark your calendars!), discusses the reasons he became (and stayed) a reader as a young boy on his blog.  His answer?  Heavy metal.

Two thoughts.  Why did I become a reader?  I think mainly because I always had books around and reading was made to be enjoyable and not “work”.  A big part of that was that my parents supported my reading whether it was Stephen King or magazines or Hardy Boys or whatever – no pressure to read worthy literary works.  Why did I stay a reader as a teenager?  I'd accepted that I was more of a “nerd” than a “jock” by about grade six so being a big reader in my early teen years wasn't any more embarrassing.  (I remember our Grade seven teacher made us do 10 book reports during the year.  If you did 15, he bought you a Coke.  I did 52.  He only bought me one Coke.)  As well, our hometown was so small that the lines were blurred.  I played on the hockey and football teams as well as being on yearbook and in drama. 

The other important question.  Which heavy metal influenced my reading?  None off the top of my head but I can say that one thing that links almost all of my favourite artists – Boo Radleys, REM, Radiohead, Hawksley Workman – are obtuse, poetic lyrics and my other favourites are simply poetic – John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen. 

Classmate of the Day: Missed their party last night (too tired after the pool party and a class bbq) but met up with David and Sabina at APK this afternoon for a good visit that I probably wouldn't have gotten at their party anyhow.   They're off to Ottawa tomorrow.  They really did so much to make my first eight months here so amazing and successful and I owe them a huge thanks for that.  I don't know if this analogy works but I was thinking that first term is like kindergarten, second term is like grade eight and (I'm guessing) third term will be like grade twelve.  So getting to hang out with and learn from some middle school kids while I was only in kindergarten was a great advantage in helping me in this program in so many ways.

I'm off to another end-of-term party so hopefully this post isn't too disjointed or has too many errors (compared to usual anyhow.)

Posted 13 August 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Friday Fun Link – Book Mooch (August 11, 2006)

Book Mooch is a new web site which
helps facilitate the exchange of used books you no longer need for
books you really want, all for the cost of postage. (via MetaFilter)

Posted 12 August 2006 § FridayFunLink § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

Spirit of Librarianship – A History

The Summer 2006 Spirit of Librarianship winner was announced at the Destressor on Wednesday afternoon.  Bruce Fyfe came out on top in a very close race. 



It was a great event with a number of nice touches – they gathered all the nominees on the stage to be acknowledged before making the announcement, all nominees received certificates (not sure if this happened last term) and I guess just the fact that student council arranged to have the stage and a mic this time rather than making the winner accept from the top of a chair was good too!   Kudos to Lindsay and Gillian and everyone else involved in organizing the event. 

I think this is an appropriate time to unveil the “Spirit of Librarianship” web page that Sabina and I were working together to compile for the last couple of months.  As I say on the page, hopefully this will help create some institutional memory about the award and perhaps allow future students, alumni and even people in other library schools who don't have access to the student council intranet site to learn more about the award (especially since my Wikipedia page about SoL got deleted! )

Classmate of the Day: Another first as CotD goes to not a student or alumnus but to Professor Sam Trosow and Computer Services Coordinator John Fracasso sent over a couple pitchers of beer to the students gathered at the Grad Club after class around 4:30pm today.  With my impeccable timing, I arrived just in time to get the final pint from one of these pitchers!

Oh, and because our final Children's Lit class tomorrow morning was cancelled due to the scheduled guest speaker being unable to make it, I am now officially done my second semester of library school!! 

Posted 11 August 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page § Photo ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

End of Term Pool Party – This Friday Afternoon

Christina and I are planning to have a pool party on Friday afternoon to
celebrate the end of the semester and one of the last chances for many
of us to spend time together before some of us go off to co-op placements or off to the real world. 


We're planning to start at 2pm and go until 4 or 5pm so that people can
go off to any other events and parties that are planned for that night.



What to bring: bathing suit, towel, sandals, drinks and snacks (if you
want) and pool toys (if you have them).  If you bring alcoholic
beverages, please don't bring anything in glass bottles.  We'll have
plastic cups as well.

There's a convenience store in our building for anybody who wants to buy snacks/drinks while they're here.  There's parking behind the building – best to approach from the north and turn into our building on the west side of Richmond so you're not turning against traffic. 


The pool isn't heated but the water's been very warm with the recent
heat and is quite enjoyable. There is a change room by the pool but it's
mostly used for storage so if there's not room for you to change in
there, come to the pool when you arrive to get a key from Christina or
I.  Then you can come up to change in one of our apartments.  Same plan
for anyone who needs a bathroom break during the afternoon.



Please e-mail me (jason@hammond.net) directly if you're coming so we'll
know how many to expect.



Where: #804 (Jason) or #809 (Christina) 1231 Richmond St “The Dorchester
Apartments”

When: Friday August 11, 2006, 2pm until whenever

Why: The forecast is 26 and it's the last day of classes



Cheers,



Jason & Christina

Posted 10 August 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page § Photo § Randomness ‡ Comments (0) °

Standing Order: The Relationship Between Canada's Book Publishers and Public Libraries

When I first considered doing an independent study, I remember talking to Lynne and her recommending that I look through some of the past studies that were archived at the GRC.  I went and paged through them and have to admit, I checked specifically to see which was the shortest one.  “Okay,” I thought.  “If I can get 30 pages like this other person did, I can do this.” 

I've just printed the final version of my individual study to join the others in the GRC archive (final version but there's probably a few mistakes still in there.  I've read it so many times, it doesn't even register anymore.  And I've done nearly 30 (!) different drafts of this project over the semester) and the funniest thing is that I'm probably submitting one of the longest individual studies they'll have – 50 pages of text in the actual document, 10 pages of appended comments from people I interviewed, 6 pages of slides (which would've been another 30 pages if I'd printed one slide per page with notes instead of 6 slides per page).  Oh, and a few pages for bibliography too!

So if you're looking for some light reading for the semester break, here you go:

Standing Order – The Proposal (20 kb PDF)
Standing Order – The Document (230 kb PDF)
Standing Order – The Presentation (with speaking notes) (643 kb PDF)

Lynne has suggested that I try to get it published somewhere so any feedback or suggestions towards my next revision would be appreciated (although not acted on in any type of timely fashion.  I need a break from this project!)

Posted 09 August 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: