I get it...It's like a gigantic "shared work" folder. Instead of having a folder in the branch's or cmlinfo or youth services folder on the v-drive, you've got a depot out there somewhere that anyone with the appropriate password can edit. Marvelous!
I can see how this would be much more flexible, being able to work and collaborate from anywhere. I'd imagine that compatibility issues would not be completely vanquished--for instance, if one wanted to save the document into a file on one's own computer? Have to play around with it a little more...
...Maybe after the election. I am totally distracted these days. I keep refreshing msnbc to see if the poll numbers have changed. I'm giddily anticipating the election night party. Oh-Bam-Ah! Oh-Bam-Ah! It has been so long since I've voted for a winner. I'll be glad when we can look back and laugh, and when we can tell our grandkids that, yeah, this Palin woman was actually on the national ticket. ("No! Seriously?" "Yes. Oh yes." "You're making that up, gramps. There's no way." "I kid you not, sonny boy." "You guys must have been freaking out!" "Yup. It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Now run along and fetch grandpa a cold one.")
Friday, October 24, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Of course you care about my opinion...
Thank you for this opportunity to let you know what I think. Favorite movies, favorite sports, favorite music...Hey, I didn't see favorite music. Well, now, I'm glad you asked.
I am a believer in the "Birdseye" theory of musical predilection. You can be raised in whatever tradition, you can be exposed to all manner of music throughout your life, but there is a window during adolescence when the stuff you are listening to is "flash frozen" into your psyche. For the remainder of your life, it will evoke a response like no other type of music.
For me, thankfully, it was american hardcore punk rock. Man, if I'd been born a couple years earlier, I'd have come up listening to disco or some of the dreadful radio music of the mid seventies. Luckily, by the time I was hitting my teenage stride, I was listening to the DKs, DOA, Agent Orange, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, and all that good stuff. A mellower part of me was into Joy Division, Bauhaus, early (i.e. scary and depressing) Cure, the Cramps, and a bunch of others. Oh, and the Ramones, which is its own category.
And so to this day, that music tickles the old hypothalamus like nothing before or since. I listen to and enjoy all kinds of stuff, but throw on some Husker Du...ahhh, oooh, yeah, right there.
And hey, want my opinion on Palin? She's stupid.
I am a believer in the "Birdseye" theory of musical predilection. You can be raised in whatever tradition, you can be exposed to all manner of music throughout your life, but there is a window during adolescence when the stuff you are listening to is "flash frozen" into your psyche. For the remainder of your life, it will evoke a response like no other type of music.
For me, thankfully, it was american hardcore punk rock. Man, if I'd been born a couple years earlier, I'd have come up listening to disco or some of the dreadful radio music of the mid seventies. Luckily, by the time I was hitting my teenage stride, I was listening to the DKs, DOA, Agent Orange, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, and all that good stuff. A mellower part of me was into Joy Division, Bauhaus, early (i.e. scary and depressing) Cure, the Cramps, and a bunch of others. Oh, and the Ramones, which is its own category.
And so to this day, that music tickles the old hypothalamus like nothing before or since. I listen to and enjoy all kinds of stuff, but throw on some Husker Du...ahhh, oooh, yeah, right there.
And hey, want my opinion on Palin? She's stupid.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wiki wiki woo
Okay, Wikis are good. Er, yup.
I don't have any great insights on the topic. Sorry. I see how they are being used by people in the profession, and they are good and useful creatures. Very democratic.
Remember the Husker Du song? "Everybody's an authority/In a free land."
I don't have any great insights on the topic. Sorry. I see how they are being used by people in the profession, and they are good and useful creatures. Very democratic.
Remember the Husker Du song? "Everybody's an authority/In a free land."
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Rant 2.0
Hey there, it's me, Librarian 2.0. I call myself that because it's, like, Web 2.0, but only I'm, like, a librarian. Get it? It makes me cutting edge. Try as we might, we librarians still have a complex about seeming to be on the outside looking in when it comes to our desperate struggle to be relevant to our users. Now it seems we have coopted "2.0", a meaningless designation if ever there was one, to signify our with-itness.
Come on, people, it goes without saying that we continually strive to anticipate our users' interests and needs, to keep pace with technology, to contemplate our changing role in society. We've always done that. You think that back when the 'brary had nothing but books, microfilm and vinyl lps we were just sitting back feeling smug and satisfied? No, man, there's always some new development just around the corner to replace the new development that just sucker-punched you. You can make a game out of anticipating it, but you'll never win.
I agree with these essays, for the most part. We ought to be proactive in packaging and delivering information in a manner that best suits our users. That is, and has always been, our area of expertise. Therein lies our value, and that is how we are, and will continue to be, relevant. Let's not pretend that we're right there at the forefront, on the very crest of the latest wave. We reflect the latest interests and needs, we respond to them. We do not determine them.
What I'm saying, I guess, is that this is nothing new. Even the stodgiest, stuffiest, crustiest old geezer librarian in the mustiest, shushiest, dustiest library-of-old recognized that the mission of the library as an institution depends on the needs and interests of the user. Without that, it's just a big collection of files and records, a tree falling in the woods with nobody around to hear it. The reality of change is constant; only the pace of it is different, thanks to technology. But the essayist/bloggers here think they've discovered it themselves, kind of like the teenager who believes he/she is the first to every have a certain thought or feel a certain way.
If it makes you feel any better to call the latest evolution in library service something like "creating an experience," well, fine.
Come on, people, it goes without saying that we continually strive to anticipate our users' interests and needs, to keep pace with technology, to contemplate our changing role in society. We've always done that. You think that back when the 'brary had nothing but books, microfilm and vinyl lps we were just sitting back feeling smug and satisfied? No, man, there's always some new development just around the corner to replace the new development that just sucker-punched you. You can make a game out of anticipating it, but you'll never win.
I agree with these essays, for the most part. We ought to be proactive in packaging and delivering information in a manner that best suits our users. That is, and has always been, our area of expertise. Therein lies our value, and that is how we are, and will continue to be, relevant. Let's not pretend that we're right there at the forefront, on the very crest of the latest wave. We reflect the latest interests and needs, we respond to them. We do not determine them.
What I'm saying, I guess, is that this is nothing new. Even the stodgiest, stuffiest, crustiest old geezer librarian in the mustiest, shushiest, dustiest library-of-old recognized that the mission of the library as an institution depends on the needs and interests of the user. Without that, it's just a big collection of files and records, a tree falling in the woods with nobody around to hear it. The reality of change is constant; only the pace of it is different, thanks to technology. But the essayist/bloggers here think they've discovered it themselves, kind of like the teenager who believes he/she is the first to every have a certain thought or feel a certain way.
If it makes you feel any better to call the latest evolution in library service something like "creating an experience," well, fine.
Tag!
Okay, the delicious method of tagging is something I can get behind. This makes sense, as anyone used to searching a library catalog would know. How often do you find that the subject you're looking for is too specific or esoteric to merit a heading or a see/see also reference? Kids, I remember when the net got rolling, and it was propelled by these far-flung communities of people with common interests and a common lingo. Of course, back then these people tended to fall into two categories: academics and sexual deviants. Now we are able to more fully sound the depths of the web with the help of people who share our interests and use our jargon, whether we are children's librarians or japanese heavy metal enthusiasts. It has been said that the web is the world's largest democracy. I think it is more like the world's largest high school cafeteria.
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