personable in philly

The Symbol of Their Passing: Episode Two of Speculative Shorts

2012-01-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

The second episode of Speculative Shorts is a somber, reflective piece by Arthur C. Clarke entitled "The Star" and found in the anthology The Other Side of the Sky, published in 1958 by Harcourt, Brace & World.

Clarke's science fiction contains the known science at the time of his writing (in this case, regarding nebula, novae, and supernovae) flawlessly woven into the speculation and hypothesis that is the foundation of science fiction as a genre. The revelation his characters make (or have made before the story opens) is slowly and painstakingly revealed to the reader, is both personal and universal, and generates an awe that all writers hope to achieve, and the best science fiction does, like in no other genre.

Click HERE for a list of the more recent and the collected works of Clarke.

This second episode is a bit more polished than the first, but I am still on the learning curve. I ask your forgiveness of my amateur quality with the hope you will find this recording bearable and will continue to listen to upcoming episodes.

Speculative Shorts

2012-01-22T00:45:00.000-05:00

Science Fiction, a.k.a. Speculative Fiction, has been a lifelong passion of mine: reading it, watching it, writing it. Now, thanks to the wonders of the Podomatic, I can share it... with anyone who cares to listen! Welcome to the inaugural episode of Speculative Shorts, my very first podcast, wedding my oldest past-time with my newest(podcasting).And speaking of past-time, that brings us to this first - very punny (another love) - episode of "Speculative Shorts":

Phillybrarian Meets Philly Brarians

2011-12-21T19:54:00.000-05:00

Well it's a small world after all...or at least a small profession. A group has formed on Google + and on facebook for Librarians and those interested in Libraries in Philadelphia. The group is known as Philly Brarians (although their search name is Philly Librarians) in both locations. And that's not all: a colleague at the Free Library of Philadelphia also uses phillybrarian as his search name on facebook.Now, I've been using phillybrarian for email purposes since 2007 and thought I was being quite original and clever. So much for original...
...at least its all in the Library Family!
http://www.facebook.com/phillybrarians
https://plus.google.com/u/1/101413775155332151475/about

"We Trust You:" The Street Librarian

2011-12-17T22:02:00.000-05:00

This endearing documentary short was posted on Vanessa Morris' excellent blog, www.streetliterature.com (please check it out, you'll enjoy and be educated), commemorating her blog's 100th post:

Also see the related post here.

With The Pakistani Corridor Closed, Logistics to Afghanistan is Complex, Costly, and Circuitous

2011-12-17T21:28:00.001-05:00

One Grain of Sand: An Inspiration

2011-12-14T12:39:00.000-05:00

"Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist, which is my favorite book, talks about the whole of the universe, and it's contained in one grain of sand. For years I've been saying that, and now it's really starting to expose itself to me. My own grain of sand has been my story. " --Will Smith

"To see a world in a grain of sand,
and a heaven in a wildflower.
To hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour." --William Blake

"I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” --Matthew 17:20

If its all nothing more than a grain of sand, then what's stopping you, what's holding you back? Your story is that infinity is in the palm of your hand and mountains will move at your command! In short, nothing is standing in your way.

Far Future Antiquities Dealer and AI Sentience: The Latest Alex Benedict Novel

2011-12-10T16:01:00.001-05:00

Firebird by Jack McDevitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Titles in the Alex Benedict series always please. The slow and steady building of tension that culminates in a nail-biting, edge of your seat denouement is an experience to be savored. Even better is to enjoy this all wrapped up in tight storytelling; characters that are moody, fragile, courageous, heroic, intelligent, full of doubt all at once; in a far future setting that is subtly alien yet so understandable and easily visualized.

I like to call the Alex Benedict titles "cozy science fiction." Just like being curled up in front of a bright fireplace, wrapped in an over-sized, fuzzy robe, with a hot chocolate (or a vintage wine, if you'd prefer): reading McDevitt is warm, deeply satisfying, never stale, something to look forward to.

Although each title can be read independently, the first title in the series is A Talent For War.

View all my reviews

From Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact: An Earth-like Planet Orbiting a Sol-like Star

2011-12-05T21:11:00.001-05:00

Celebrating the thrilling news that an earth-like planet (Kepler-22b, by name) has been found within the habitable zone of its sun - a veritable twin of our own sun - another exciting detail of this amazing discovery - 600 light years away by the Kepler Space Telescope, here is a short video clip:

http://news.yahoo.com/video/science-15749654/nasa-new-planet-just-about-right-for-life-27500862.html

Here is an infographic on other recently discovered solar systems with planets:

Source Space.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

The Long and Winding Road...To Sci-Fi!

2011-11-22T21:59:00.001-05:00

The Road to Science Fiction: Volume I: From Gilgamesh to Wells by James Edwin Gunn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gunn's 6 volume encyclopedic work on what is science fiction by tracing it's history from the legendary and mythological age of Gilgamesh right up to the 1990's opens well in this first volume.
The introduction is clear, simple, and carefully places these early stories in their proper context of being proto-science fiction ("exhibiting elements of science fiction and fantasy").
The sections of longer stories and short stories are proceeded by a short intro that places the author and the piece of literature in the evolving context of world literature in general.
An understated yet marvelously monumental accomplishment. I'm very excited to delve into the following 5 volumes

View all my reviews

"To heal a sorrowing heart, give something that is dear to your own,"

2011-09-13T14:20:00.000-04:00

14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"There is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort."

So it was that the Maasai people of Kenya donated 14 cows to the United States of America in remembrance of the September 11th attack. This unique and distinctive picture book gives the reader the how and why of possibly the most sincere, apolitical, generous offer of friendship between completely different peoples to come out of the 9-11 tragedy.

The illustrations are very deep and rich capturing both the light of the Kenyan landscape and the depth and texture of the Maasai people's clothing and skin tone. Close-ups from unique angles (an image of the world trade centers in a young person's eye, a person walking across the wide open fields seen from behind and at ground-level)add a sense of impending moment and keep the reader riveted as they read the very simple, straightforward, caring, and poetically powerful language of the narration.

A beautiful, emotional story.
see also: 14 Cows For America website

"To heal a sorrowing heart, give something that is dear to your own,"

View all my reviews

Practical, Plain, Pedestrian

2011-09-07T12:02:00.000-04:00

Mentoring in the Library: Building for the Future by Marta K. Lee

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A short, practical guide to mentoring in librarianship, in all its forms. Detailed, anecdotal, simple, and straight-forward. Pedestrian, not inspiring.

View all my reviews

A Positive Exhortation From Ms. Farkas

2011-08-14T13:31:00.000-04:00

Be the change you want to see

Libraries Across Africa: 4 Informative Clips

2011-07-07T18:01:00.002-04:00

Each LAA (Libraries Across Africa) Library will consist of an anchor building - a traditional library with Librarian, staff, seating, books, magazines, etc. - a ready made e-hub providing 50 computers plus a 50' wide wifi zone around the hub and an IT expert, and an Agora - a roofed open space connecting the e-hub and the anchor building. Thus each Library will speak to the reading, the digital, and the social needs of the community.

The anchor building will be provided by the community to inspire ownership and involvement. The e-hub is a converted shipping container fitted with all the necessary technology, ready to use. The Agora is a nod to the traditional African custom of gathering in an open space to socialize, learn, and foster community.

Not only will the Library provide digital access, it will support personal technology (within the wifi zone), it will provide on-demand publishing, reprographics services, and be staffed by trained IT and LIS personnel.

Advertising branding and promos will help provide income and solar panels will help supply power.

Please watch the four clips following for the fascinating details of this worthy enterprise. And, visit the Libraries Across Africa website.

A Great Hand in Wild Cards

2011-07-04T16:50:00.000-04:00

Wild Cards by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A "mosaic novel" edited by George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones, etc). These short stories jump us through about 40 years of the history of the Wild Card Virus - Xenovirus Takis-A - which was exploded into the atmosphere over New York City on September 15,1946. Most of the population of Manhattan were instantly killed, some survived with strange and terrible genetic disfigurations, a few survived with strange and wonderful genetic empowerments. The terribly disfigured were quickly classified as 'jokers,' the empowered as 'aces.'

The following 40 years of history compares almost identically to the history we are familiar with, but with jokers and aces implicated in the causes and outcomes of events, such as McCarthyism, the anti-Vietnam peace protests, civil rights (for jokers, black and white), Carter's nomination for President.

Watching society's growth from initial segregation of the jokers (the creation of the Jokertown ghetto in lower Manhattan)and co-opting aces in the shameless promotion of 'the american way' around the world to idolizing and mimickry of jokers and absorbing aces into an impotent, aloof celebrity class. The several authors' understanding of cultural and political reaction to these events are revealing, spot-on, and sometimes humorous.

The numerous characters introduced and developed throughout these stories are unforgettable, conflicted, even tortured. How the mighty fall and the humble rise...

From the first story, "30 Minutes Over Broadway!", when the all-american, boy-pilot, war hero sacrifices his life to beat the tired, disaffected, slightly ambiguous, inventor genius, oportunist holding the virus bomb - and loses! - to the Appendix with the "Excerpts from the Minutes of the American Metabiological Society Conference on Methuman Abilities, this original look at the strengths and frailties of Human nature will grip you.

Good and evil are not so easy to distinguish, sometimes. And that might be the most wild card of all.

View all my reviews

The World Like a Bar at 3:30 in the Morning

2011-07-04T12:26:00.003-04:00

Colin Quinn and Jerry Seinfeld's Broadway 'stand up play' Long Story Short: History of the World in 75 Minutes. Jump in at the 2:48 mark. (A poor quality clip, but you can still enjoy the spot-on humor of Quinn's monologue.)

Go to the website for more clips and information

Steampunk Exhibit at Oxford

2011-07-03T00:18:00.000-04:00

Across the Millenia...

2011-06-30T11:14:00.000-04:00

reposted from http://thecosmonaut.tumblr.com/post/6799319403/you

The Sound of Sunshine

2011-06-28T21:52:00.000-04:00

2011-06-26T11:17:00.000-04:00

'Seize the Fire by Michael A. Martin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sieze the Fire was a much more enjoyable read than the previous title in the series, Rough Beasts of Burden, mainly because the well-known characters from the TV and Movie series are true to form, while characters created for the paperback series have interest and hold our sympathies. (I haven't read the first installment of the Typhon Pact series, Zero Sum Game, so can't make a comparison.)

Each title in the series involves one civilization of the recently formed Typhon Pact (see Star Trek: Destiny), a loose confedration of long-time adversaries of the Federation: The Gorn, the Breen, The Romulans, The Tzenkethi,and Tholians. Sieze the Fire brings us into close contact with the lizard like Gorn, first seen in the original Star Trek episode "Arena," and their complex, caste-dominated, hegemonic culture and admirably fleshed out here.

Image via Wikipedia

S'alath, Gorn starship captain

We are also introduced to the inscrutable, zen-like, amphiboid Hranrarii.

The plot and action are standard seat-of-the-pants, damn-lucky, escape-with-seconds-to-spare, standard Star Trek fare. Not exceptional, but certainly enjoyable

The ending is an abrupt cliff-hanger. Whether this story line continues in Star Trek: Titan #11 or Star Trek: Typhon Pact #5 (Paths of Disharmony) will require the reader to boldly go on reading where ever the publishing leads.

View all my reviews

A Human-Powered Mobile Library for People Living Outdoors

2011-06-23T22:47:00.001-04:00

The Streetbooks Bike

In Portland, Oregon, Laura Molten is 'taking it to the streets.' The self-styled "Street Librarian" has started a venture called Street Books, a bicycle-powered mobile library, serving people who live outside. Books will be available to check out and return, utilizing an old-school card catalogue system. Patrons who wish to be photographed with their book of choice, or offer a book review for others, will be documented on the Street Books website. They will also be able to contribute their own stories from the road as well. You can read more about this unique take on the bookmobile concept -and passionate responses from readers - here at the Portland Mercury.

The Street Librarian

Learning the Leviathan's Language

2011-06-20T11:25:00.000-04:00

Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The latest in Ben Bova's long running series, The Grand Tour, this directly follows Jupiter. I haven't read the whole series, so some of the references to past 'history' and people were vague to me, but not enough to hinder the flow of the story.
The action and plot are strong, the science well-respected, the climax builds suspense to a fine forte before resolving...and leaving the door open to a much-hoped for sequel. Characterization was enjoyable, if a little 2-dimensional, though the POV of the native Jovian species was fascinating.

A very good read in the classic Bova style.
View all my reviews

Happy Anniversary

2011-06-18T08:32:00.004-04:00

Hey! It was 7 years ago this month that I started this blog. 7 years and 6 days to be exact. Pretty Neat!
Here's the first real post from June 12, 2004!

Facebook Folksong

2011-06-18T08:09:00.001-04:00

Four Men and a Tail Fin Off to See the Shuttle

2011-06-15T09:01:00.000-04:00

Wonder's Child

2011-06-06T10:33:00.001-04:00

One of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction, Williamson's autobiography spans from riding with his family in a covered wagon to their homestead in New Mexico right up to the journeys of the Pioneer space probes past Jupiter and on out of the solar system. Seeing the development of science fiction in the 20th century from an insider's perspective is fascinating as is reading about his passion to continue writing even when doing so paid little to nothing in those early years of the pulps and short...moreOne of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction, Williamson's autobiography spans from riding with his family in a covered wagon to their homestead in New Mexico right up to the journeys of the Pioneer space probes past Jupiter and on out of the solar system. Seeing the development of science fiction in the 20th century from an insider's perspective is fascinating as is reading about his passion to continue writing even when doing so paid little to nothing in those early years of the pulps and short stories. A unique and enjoyable read.

Librarians in Gaming

2011-05-24T21:43:00.001-04:00

The winning card created by Richie Graham for a card editor contest held by the Settlers of Catan website and publisher, Mayfair Games. This is for the 2-player card game, Rivals for Catan.

The Patient Persistance of Public Service

2011-05-22T13:23:00.000-04:00

Clothing 'in the future.'

2011-05-21T13:37:00.001-04:00

"Swish!"
"Pockets for coin, cards, and candy for cutie!"

The Man Who Folded Himself

2011-05-14T00:54:00.001-04:00

The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Considered the ultimate time travel book, I would have to agree. Not only is the classic time travel paradox brought forth (ie. if I go back in time and kill my grandfather, I will no longer exist to go back in time to kill my grandfather, therefore I will live to go back and kill my grandfather)and quickly turned on end, but so is the fact that time travel is really not time travel at all. (Can't tell you what it realy is without spoiling the novel for you!)

Dan inherits a belt from his guardian, Uncle Jim. The belt is, in actuality, a time travel device. Dan travels to tomorrow and meets "Don" his future (but not really) self. They travel back to yesterday together ("Don" of course has his own time travel belt) and make money at the race track with "Don's" foreknowledge.

Gerrold does a brilliant job of showing this event from the viewpoint of Dan as he travels forward for the first time and then, 24 hours later when Dan naturally ages into tomorrow and becomes "Don", from the point of view of "Don." That is the amazing wonder of this short novel: the author's fantastic ability to subtly change the perspective of the main character, Dan, as he lives the life of a time traveller. Dan, himself, sometimes does (but most times doesn't) realize the effect his time travelling is having on him. (Because its not really time travelling at all!)

How does a time traveller live? Fall in Love? Break up? Raise a child? Suffer a mental breakdown? Grow old and die? It is all here, and David Gerrold spins a story complex, catastrophic, achingly lovely, and frighteningly isolated.

In the stream of time, no man is an island...unless he is standing on the bank.

One of my all-time favorites. I read the entire book in one evening. Please, give it a try, you won't regret it!

View all my reviews

Finding Voice: A Seven Minute Metta Meditation

2011-05-07T22:06:00.002-04:00

Metta Vihara (Image via Wikipedia)

In Buddhism, Metta, or Lovingkindness, is the first of the four sublime states (compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity are the other three) and (particularly in Theravada Buddhism) one of the ten perfections helping the aspirant to live an unobstructed life, while reaching the goal of enlightenment. Lovingkindness and mindfulness are the two perfections I meditate on and practice the most.

In a talk to an audience of some 300 people in Detroit, Sylvia Boorstein suddenly took the audience into a gentle and beautiful metta meditation. Here is the clip from the program On Being:

Lovingkindness (Metta) Meditation with Sylvia Boorstein

Woe and Worry

2011-05-02T12:38:00.000-04:00

The bloodlust of Empire roared vengeance upon the winds bringing the people to caper in the gaudy-lit streets; their hearts clouded and their minds masked. The dead kept their own counsel in silence.

"Do not rejoice when your enemies fall,
and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble.”—Proverbs 24:17

Fired Up and Deeply Entertaining

2011-04-30T18:38:00.000-04:00

A Fire upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've fallen and don't want to get up from this book. A true space opera epic of galactic proportions populated with characters that you really root for, especially the Skroderiders, Blueshell and Greenstalk, pun very much intended! The aliens and the few humans in this far distant future are carefully and caringly developed, and one of the humans is a Librarian! Godshatter, pack minds, a universe where physical location determines technological capability and the most traded, most valuable trade items are data are all touches that Mr. Vinge has created to make this an unforgettable novel.

There is something about the resolution of this plotline, though, that makes you pause, think, then ask, "At what cost victory?" Sure the evil is contained and vanquished, but gracious! The way it is done!

There is a reason Mr. Vinge has won so many awards and accolades over the years...

View all my reviews

Two Books Too Good to Miss!

2011-04-19T22:03:00.000-04:00

Just received my copy of Lanke's new Atlas... and I'm so excited. Lanke is a personal hero of mine; his lectures, articles, TED Talks are all uplifting and inspirational without forgetting the real challenges facing Librarianship today. Soon as I get a chance to pour over this tome (and reflect on what the reading is conveying: see the second title below!), I'll be sure to type up a review.

Did I mention I was excited?

The Atlas of New Librarianship
R. David Lanke

May 2011
10x10, 408 pp.
1 map, 242 figures, 3 tables
$55.00/£40.95 (CLOTH)
Short
ISBN-10:
0-262-01509-9
ISBN-13:
978-0-262-01509-7

Slow Reading
John Miedema

Price: $12.00
March 2009
ISBN: 978-0-9802004-4-7
Printed on acid-free paper

Praise for Slow Reading:

“Readers make choices in the kinds of attention they give to texts--from scanning, skimming and speed reading to deep reading and rereading. In Slow Reading, John Miedema draws on both his personal reading experience and the extensive research literature on reading to make a powerful case for the deep pleasures of engaged, reflective reading.”
- Catherine L Ross, professor, Faculty of Information & Media Studies, University of Western Ontario

“A little book likely to make a large impact. Slow Reading challenges our notions of what it means to be a reader in an ever more complex information world.”
- Lynne McKechnie, professor, Faculty of Information & Media Studies, University of Western Ontario

“Slow Reading is a reflective look at what it means to simply read in a fast-paced digital age. John Miedema takes us through the psychology, practice and personal nature of slow reading and gives us some background on the more general slow movement. Writing worth reading, and worth reading well.”

- Jessamyn West, founder, librarian.net

In the face of ever-increasing demands for speed-reading of volumes of information fragments, some readers are choosing to slow down. While it often seems necessary to read quickly, many readers share a conviction that reading slowly is essential to enjoyment and comprehension.

The involuntary practice of slow reading has been a subject of much research, but little is known about the voluntary practice. Slow Reading examines the research, from the earliest references in religion and philosophy, to the practice of close reading in the humanities, and the recent swell of interest associated with the Slow Movement. It looks at the diverse angles from which slow reading has been approached in education, library sciences and media studies. Research in psychology and neurophysiology provides a tentative explanation for the ongoing role of slow reading.

Slow Reading brings attention to emerging ideas in technology and culture. The traditional technologies of print and the book have persisted as part of our information ecology because of the need for slow reading and deep comprehension. The theme of locality in the Slow Movement provides insight into the importance of physical location in our relationship with information. Most of all, Slow Reading represents a rediscovery of the pleasure of reading for its own sake.

Myth and "Once Upon a Time"

2011-04-17T21:11:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

Myth, said the Greek statesman Solon, “is not about something that never happened. It is about something that happens over and over again.”

Rabbi Sandy Sasso once said, “What happened once upon a time happens all the time.”

The importance of reading folklore and mythology can't be more clearly stated.

Pubic Libraries at Risk Infographic

2011-04-14T22:33:00.001-04:00

Finding Voice: The Examined Digital Life

2011-04-10T01:05:00.001-04:00

Don't unplug! Do reflect, do converse, do balance the simulated with the actual with mindfulness. How would you answer the question:"Alive Enough?"

What is the Path to Integrating Technology into...

Sci-Fi Hip Hop

2011-03-31T20:37:00.001-04:00

2011-03-27T17:37:00.000-04:00

Daughter of Elysium by Joan Slonczewski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Looking for a fine novel of world-building, in the vein of Herbert's Dune, and characters nuanced, new, yet familiar, like Niven's Known Space tales? Slonczewski offers up the five worlds of The Fold: Urulan, L'li, Bronze Sky, Valen,and Shora, all fascinating, all unique, all that remains of humanity after the destruction, long ago, of "Old Torr."

This is a story of cultural immersion, points of view slowly and subtly developed, and the fact that despite the trappings and traditions of societies dearly held, deep down everything is just a twist on basic human beliefs. The Story of Worldbeginning related by young Hawktalon on the Day of the Child holiday is a perfect example. The whole of Hawktalon's culture, on Bronze Sky, is another.

For all the beautifully rendered details of life on Shora, Bronze Sky, and the norms and values of all the planets, the whole novel revolves around the ancient and eternal question of what is human. As Kal Anaeashon, an Elysian, and Hawktalon's father, Blackbear, discuss on p.206:

"For Sharers," Kal went on, "to be human is to share; no other relation exists. For you Clickers, to be human is to serve..."
"To serve children, and one's goddess, and the Dark One."
"And the Dark One. Now, in Elysium, who serves?"
Blackbear thought for a moment, then he smiled. "No wonder your machines seem more like humans."
"More human than the humans, you mean [...]Now, the Urulite view is exactly the reverse of the Clickers: To be human is to master, to master men, women, and chattel... The Valans, now, are like tamed Urulites; instead of mastery, possession of material goods...but for L'liites, to be human is to suffer...they will suffer on...and never come to stand on their own feet."
"And Elysians?"
"To be Elysian is to rejoice. To pursue joy forever. If we don't age, what other pursuit makes sense?"

To the author's credit, as philosophical as this book's foundation is, it is not devoid of action and adventure. Mystery, romance (illicit and accepted), intrigue, deceit, and revolution all can be found in this far-flung story as intricately woven as the long, black braids of Blackbear's "goddess" and Hawktalon's mother, Raincloud.

Come, enter The Fold, and be entertained for light-years.

View all my reviews

Help Navigating the Tyranny of Choice

2011-03-26T22:16:00.002-04:00

A SlideShare Presentation by Ned Potter:

The time for Libraries is NOW

View more presentations from Ned Potter.

Dr. Seuss, Ethically Speaking

2011-03-14T22:25:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Chris Menning on Buzzfeed!

Long Overdue, the Bookmobile Is Back

2011-03-12T19:53:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

The Perambulating Library, England, 1859

"The Internet can help you find what you're looking for, but a library finds you things you didn't even know you wanted. The bookmobile thus is a portable, wandering marvel, that searches you out in a world that more and more waits for you to search instead.” ~Daniel Handler (Lemony Snickett)

Long Overdue, the Bookmobile Is Back (Smithsonian Magazine)

This is a well-written and fascinating article. Please click and enjoy!

2011-03-06T20:09:00.000-05:00

The Grand Design by Stephen W. Hawking

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Usually I enjoy reading Stephen Hawking, but this title was just so-so. The writing style seemed choppy, the humor fell flat, and overall the book just didn't deliver.

The actual, physical book, itself, was beautiful. Hardcover, sewn binding, heavy weight, glossy paper. The book had heft for only being 198 pages long.

One fascinating theory put forth is the idea that, just as we cannot know the future, we cannot know the past. The past is just as unpredictable as the future.

View all my reviews

Favorite Star Trek Episodes

2011-02-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

Image by Getty Images

Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever
Star Trek, The Next Generation: Darmok
Star Trek, Deep Space Nine: Explorers
Star Trek, Voyager: Think Tank
Star Trek, Enterprise: Bound

Reading the Fine Print on an E-Reader Screen

2011-02-28T18:14:00.002-05:00

Sarah Jan-Houghton, Librarian in Black, created The eBook User's Bill of Rights in response to HarperCollins' decision to limit libraries' access to its ebook titles to 26 circulations.

Image via Wikipedia

The more ebook readers become the norm, the more we need to be aware and mindful of access both immediate and long-term. Ebooks are incredibly portable and personal, and the ability to carry 100s of titles in your satchel is a powerful allure. But at what cost? Are you comfortable with the company that sells you the title (or sells your library the title) taking it away at their discretion? Is freedom at the whim of market trends really freedom?

Will we be able to read the fine print on a handheld screen?

Related articles

Clay Shirky + facebook = Curation Nation

2011-02-27T13:16:00.004-05:00

You've read many times in this blog that the nature of librarianship is changing, has to change, to remain relevant in this ever changing world. One of the trends that is coming into focus is the role of the librarian as a creator of information, not just a gatekeeper of materials on the shelf (see Looking Back to See Forward ).

The idea that people naturally like to create things, and will do so if given a chance, as put forward by Clay Shirkey's theory of cognitive surplus, and the fact that people are creatures of communication with a genetic need to conversate, whether by talking, writing, signing, or artistic expression, are two principals that can help the 21st century librarian see through the manic maelstrom of this new millenium. These two principals are the reason for facebook's amazing ubiquity. They are also a call for an aggressive participation on the part of the librarian.

The librarian can no longer be the passive person sitting behind a desk, half hidden by a computer screen, camoflaged in front of a wall of bookshelves, waiting for a wayward soul to wander up with a vague notion they might have a question. People want to talk, people want to create. Librarians want to talk, Librarians want to create. Both People and Librarians exist in a world awash with information waiting to be selected, crafted, packaged, and presented in personal, relevant forms. We are all in this together and are being offered the chance to become creators in our consumer culture.

Librarians, with our experience, expertise, and ease working with knowledge and diverse information delivery systems, digital and print, are perfectly placed to become the personal Passepartout for the creator consumer. No longer is theirs a calling to be the high priest (or priestess) of the holy sanctuary of knowledge, but rather a request for an excellent amanuensis for actualizing information on a person by person basis.

Steven Rosenbaum's new book, Curator Nation, wasn't written for Librarians or about Librarianship, but it is a revealing text for the Librarian wanting to remain relevant.

Star Trek Class: Exploring the Information Age from the Final Frontier

2011-02-24T16:47:00.001-05:00

Star Trek V (Image via Wikipedia)

Syracuse University's School of Information Studies (The I-School) offers a social media class based on Star Trek episodes:

Star Trek Class: Exploring the Information Age from the Final Frontier

The Quad at Syracuse University (Image via Wikipedia)

Censorship

2011-02-21T00:13:00.000-05:00

Madeline Lives!

2011-02-18T18:03:00.000-05:00

Grandson John Bemelmans Marciano carries on his grandfather's legacy with Madeline at the White House.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m32J6OR2HDG9QT/ref=ent_fb_link

Image via Wikipedia

Image by WBUR via Flickr

Purpose of Science Fiction (Slate Magazine)

2011-02-14T21:16:00.001-05:00

The Purpose of Science Fiction: How it teaches governments—and citizens—how to understand the future of technology. By Robert J. Sawyer (Posted Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, at 10:26 AM ET)

Shelley's Frankenstein manuscript (Image by Getty Images via @daylife)

Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, is generally considered the first work of science fiction. It explores, in scientific terms, the notion of synthetic life: Dr. Victor Frankenstein studies the chemical breakdown that occurs after death so he can reverse it to animate nonliving matter. Like so many other works of science fiction that followed, Shelley's story is a cautionary tale: It raises profound questions about who should have the right to create living things and what responsibility the creators should have to their creations and to society.

Think about that: Mary Shelley put these questions on the table almost two centuries ago—41 years before Darwin published The Origin of Species and 135 years before Crick and Watson figured out the structure of DNA. Is it any wonder that Alvin Toffler, one of the first futurists, called reading science fiction the only preventive medicine for future shock?

Isaac Asimov, the great American science fiction writer, defined the genre thus: "Science fiction is the branch of literature that deals with the responses of human beings to changes in science and technology." The societal impact of what is being cooked up in labs is always foremost in the science fiction writer's mind. H.G. Wells grappled with creating chimera life forms in The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), Aldous Huxley gave us a heads-up on modified humans in Brave New World (1932), and Michael Crichton's final science-fiction novel, Next (2006), brought the issues of gene splicing and recombinant DNA to a mass audience.

What's valuable about this for societies is that science-fiction writers explore these issues in ways that working scientists simply can't. Some years ago, for a documentary for Discovery Channel Canada, I interviewed neurobiologist Joe Tsien, who had created superintelligent mice in his lab at Princeton—something he freely spoke about when the cameras were off. But as soon as we started rolling, and I asked him about the creation of smarter mice, he made a "cut" gesture. "We can talk about the mice having better memories but not about them being smarter. The public will be all over me if they think we're making animals more intelligent."
But science-fiction writers do get to talk about the real meaning of research. We're not beholden to skittish funding bodies and so are free to speculate about the full range of impacts that new technologies might have—not just the upsides but the downsides, too. And we always look at the human impact rather than couching research in vague, nonthreatening terms.

We also aren't bound by nondisclosure agreements, the way so many commercial and government scientists are. Indeed, a year before the first atomic bomb was built, the FBI demanded that the magazine Astounding Science Fiction, recall its March 1944 issue, which contained a story by Cleve Cartmill detailing how a uranium-fission bomb might be built. Science-fiction writers began the public discourse about the actual effects of nuclear weapons (see for instance Judith Merril's classic 1948 story "That Only a Mother," which deals with gene damage caused by radiation). We also were among the first to weigh in on the dangers of nuclear power (see for example Lester del Rey's 1956 novel Nerves). Science fiction is the WikiLeaks of science, getting word to the public about what cutting-edge research really means.

And we come with the credentials to do this work. Many science-fiction writers, such as Gregory Benford, are working scientists. Many others, such as Joe Haldeman, have advanced degrees in science. Others, like me, have backgrounds in science and technology journalism. Our recent works have tackled such issues as the management of global climate change (Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain and its sequels), biological terrorism (Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl), and the privacy of online information and China's attempts to control its citizens' access to the World Wide Web (my own WWW:Wake and its sequels).

Print science fiction writers often do consulting for government bodies. A group of science fiction writers called SIGMA frequently advises the Department of Homeland Security about technology issues, and Jack McDevitt and I recently were consulted by NASA about the search for intelligence in the cosmos.

At the core of science fiction is the notion of extrapolation, of asking, "If this goes on, where will it lead?" And, unlike most scientists who think in relatively short time frames—getting to the next funding deadline, or readying a product to bring to market—we think on much longer scales: not just months and years, but decades and centuries.

That said, our job is not to predict the future. Rather, it's to suggest all the possible futures—so that society can make informed decisions about where we want to go. George Orwell's science-fiction classic Nineteen Eighty-Four wasn't a failure because the future it predicted failed to come to pass. Rather, it was a resounding success because it helped us prevent that future. Those wishing to get in on the ground floor of discussing where technology is leading us would do well to heed Alvin Toffler's advice by cracking open a good science-fiction book and joining the conversation.

Robert J. Sawyer has won the Hugo, Nebula, and Aurora Awards for best science fiction novel of the year. His latest novel is WWW:Watch, and his Web site is sfwriter.com.

Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2282651/

1967 Soviet Postal Stamp (Image via Wikipedia)

No-Nonsense Buddhism with Red Meat and Whiskey

2011-02-13T20:10:00.001-05:00

Why I Am a Buddhist by Stephen T. Asma

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"No-nonsense Buddhism with red meat and whiskey," the subtitle says it all. Asma brings out the main tenets of Buddhism and looks at them through the prism of being a single Dad raising a very young son by himself. He also applies his love of jazz music and his times as a member of a band to his understanding of what Buddhism means.

He goes out of his way to be respectful of other world religions and makes very few comparisons, but Asma shows that Buddhism is a vibrant, contemporary, clear-eyed religion/way of life that is as much a part of (maybe even more of)this modern day as Christianity, Islam, or Judaism.

View all my reviews

Fangongwuxi (Image via Wikipedia)

African Tech Shines Light on Rwandan Genocide and on Sudanese Voting: Finding Voice

2011-02-10T21:40:00.002-05:00

From the ReadWriteWeb Blog:

No Victim Voiceless: Africa Uses Tech to Shine a Light on Genocide

Each Slide Equals One Victim: Image by michele_p via Flickr

A Saying is a Magical Thing: Finding Voice

2011-02-08T20:33:00.002-05:00

From the On Being blog:

In the culture I come from, a saying is a magical...

Image by fimoculous via Flickr

Pliny, Diderot, and Macfarquhar

2011-02-08T00:07:00.002-05:00

An Early Encyclopedia
Image by LucKyL PhoTos via Flickr

Encyclopedias have long been a favorite interest of mine. Its fascinating how knowledge - and what kinds of knowledge - are perceived and valued from one generation to the next. How to repair a simple engine or make dye are replaced by biographies, algebra and calculus, and the ways of graphic design; the slant has gone from the mechanical and practical to the cerebral and esoteric (an inaccurate, impressionistic statement; please, forgive me).

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/knowledge-through-the-pages-the-evolution-of-encyclopedias-2203767.html

Related articles

The Intent of Her Bequeth: Finding Voice

2011-02-05T12:49:00.002-05:00

From the On Being blog:

Terry Tempest Williams on her mother's journals from onBeing on Vimeo.

I'm troubled by this...

A Place Above Profit With the Power to Baffle the Greedy Ghost of Market Fundamentalism

2011-01-28T22:23:00.001-05:00

Philip Pullman. Image via Wikipedia

"'I love the public library service for what it did for me as a child and as a student and as an adult. I love it because its presence in a town or a city reminds us that there are things above profit, things that profit knows nothing about, things that have the power to baffle the greedy ghost of market fundamentalism, things that stand for civic decency and public respect for imagination and knowledge and the value of simple delight.'" - Philip Pullman.

The link to the full speech this excerpt is from can be found to your right in my Google Reader scroll on this page (Thanks to the Free Library of Philadelphia Blog for posting this!)

The Edge of Chaos: Where You Want to Be

2011-01-27T11:31:00.001-05:00

Image by crumpart via Flickr

“There’s a very interesting scientific insight which says that regions where real novelty occurs, where really new things happen that you haven’t seen before, are always regions which are at the edge of chaos. They are regions where cloudiness and clearness, order and disorder, interlace each other. If you’re too much on the orderly side of that borderline, everything is so rigid that nothing really new happens. You just get rearrangements. If you’re too far on the haphazard side, nothing persists, everything just falls apart. It’s these ambiguous areas, where order and disorder interlace, where really new things happen, where the action is, if you like. And I think that reflects itself both in the development of life and in many, many human decisions.” --John Polkinghorne

Reminds me of a post from last year highlighting a song by Ingrid Michaelson!

Image by crumpart via Flickr

Protagonists help organizations become more...

2011-01-26T21:23:00.001-05:00

Protagonists help organizations become more...

The User Experience Represented in Fiction

2011-01-24T23:57:00.005-05:00

Cover of Behemoth (Leviathan)

It's a very cool thing when two passions meet in the same place. Steampunk is a favorite sub-genre and The User Experience (UX) is a focus in Librarianship that has always concerned and interested me.

Sarah Houghton-Jan posted in her blog Librarian In Black this snippet from Scott Westerfeld's Behemoth with a challenge for Librarians to take a look at their locations, habits, and procedures and to think about how the typical patron might feel walking into their establishment... something all library staff should revisit and discuss on a regular basis :

An hour later Deryn was standing on a broad marble stair….Before her stood…the newest and largest library in Istanbul. Its huge brass columns gleamed in the sun, and its steam-powered revolving doors gathered and disgorged people without pausing. As she passed through them, Deryn had the same jitters she’d felt in the saloon car of the Orient Express. She didn’t belong in any place so fancy, and the bustle of so many machines made her dizzy.

The ceiling was a tangle of glass tubes, full of small cylinders zooming through them, almost too fast to see. The clicking fingers of calculation engines covered the walls….Clockwork walkers the size of hatboxes scrabbled along the marble floor, stacks of books weighing them down.

A small army of clerks waited behind a row of desks, but Deryn made her way through the vast lobby, headed toward the towering stacks of books. There looked to be millions of them, surely a few were in English.

But she found herself halted by a fancy iron fence that stretched all the way across the room. Every few feet there was a sign that repeated the same message in two dozen languages: CLOSED STACKS–ASK AT INFORMATION DESK.

….Did every wee sliver of knowledge have its own number? The system was probably quicker than wandering through the ceiling-high shelves, but what other books might she have found, doing it herself?

She looked up at the calculating engines that covered the walls, and wondered what they were up to. Did they record every question that the librarians had been asked? And if so, who looked at the results?

The Truth Wears Off

2011-01-24T00:01:00.002-05:00

Complementing my earlier blog "Complimentary Nature of Science and Religion"
yet another conversation (from The New Yorker Magazine) that purports that we still have to choose what to believe regardless of how ever much rigorous scientific research is done.

Although many scientific ideas generate conflicting results and suffer from falling effect sizes, they continue to get cited in the textbooks and drive standard medical practice. Why? Because these ideas seem true. Because they make sense. Because we can’t bear to let them go. And this is why the decline effect is so troubling. Not because it reveals the human fallibility of science, in which data are tweaked and beliefs shape perceptions. (Such shortcomings aren’t surprising, at least for scientists.) And not because it reveals that many of our most exciting theories are fleeting fads and will soon be rejected. (That idea has been around since Thomas Kuhn.) The decline effect is troubling because it reminds us how difficult it is to prove anything. We like to pretend that our experiments define the truth for us. But that’s often not the case. Just because an idea is true doesn’t mean it can be proved. And just because an idea can be proved doesn’t mean it’s true. When the experiments are done, we still have to choose what to believe. ♦

Annals of Science, “The Truth Wears Off,” The New Yorker, December 13, 2010, p. 52

No Matter How You Slice It:

2011-01-23T09:19:00.000-05:00

...Pie is Fly!

Its as easy as 1-23 (get it?). Today is National Pie Day!

America Has a Long Way to Go, But There is Hope and Signs That We Will Get There

2011-01-23T01:52:00.000-05:00

“ We saw a white, Catholic, Republican federal judge murdered on his way to greet a Democratic woman, member of Congress, who was his friend and was Jewish. Her life was saved initially by a 20-year-old Mexican-American college student, who saved her, and eventually by a Korean-American combat surgeon…And then it was all eulogized and explained by our African-American president."

—Mark Shields quotes historian Allen Ginsberg on PBS NewsHour.

John Walking Fox: Pre-cursor to Mr. Spock

2011-01-18T21:04:00.001-05:00

Watch the full episode. See more Pioneers of Television.

More On Babbage's Difference Engine

2011-01-18T10:39:00.002-05:00

Here's a 6 minute short on Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, mentioned in the previous post "A Short Note on Steampunk."

The Complementary Nature of Religion and Science

2011-01-17T23:48:00.002-05:00

From Krista Tippett, host and producer of On Being, NPR's weekly program on the big questions at the center of human life:

There is the matter of quarks. Modern quantum physics has come to depend on
quarks as a foundational element in understanding the way the world works. But
in a very real sense, quarks are an article of faith. No scientist has actually
seen one, nor do scientists necessarily ever expect to. They are believed to
exist because the idea of quarks gives intelligibility to the whole of
observable reality.

Image via Wikipedia

These scientific notions give me new, creative ways to imagine the credibility of religious modes of thought. They underscore John Polkinghorne’s personable and passionate message that we need the insights of
science and religion together to “interpret and understand the rich, varied, and surprising way the world actually is.”

Sir John Polkinghorne (Image via Wikipedia)

Quarks and Creation: On the Complementary Nature...

A Short Note on Steampunk

2011-01-15T20:50:00.001-05:00

Science fiction is history that hasn't happened yet. As an avid history fan and an avid science fiction reader, for me steampunk is the perfect confluence of both passions.

The Baldwin 60000 Locomotive is housed at the Franklin Institute (Image via Wikipedia)

Victorian times are a great setting as they were the bridge between the pastoral, pre-modern society that came before it and the industrial, post-modern civilization that came after. So much nuance, great diversity on a social, economic, intellectual, and spiritual level, with no one idea, theory, or belief dominating. The old giving way, the new not yet fully formed. It was a culture going through great change.

Considering Frederick Pohl's statement, "Science Fiction is the literature of change." (Pohlemic. May, 1992), its no wonder steampunk is so enjoyable and seems so organic; the "steam" and the "punk," as it were, are meant for each other!

Have you read Gibson's and Sterling's The Difference Engine? Its what popularized and, I dare say, kicked off the whole steampunk sub-genre. One of my all-time, lifelong favorites; I highly recommend it (although the ending may disappoint). The real Difference Engine (invented by Charles Babbage in the 1840's) was at the Franklin Institute, here in Philadelphia, some years ago. I wonder if it still is...

Detail of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No.2 (Image by Ric e Ette via Flickr)

Babbage's Engine: That's a real-life steampunk story, in itself!

What a Difference 89 Years Can Have

2011-01-13T22:31:00.000-05:00

"The fact that he was stopped by a footpad smote Tom Swift's mind as not a particularly surprising adventure. He had heard that several of that gentry had been plying their trade about the outskirts of the town. To a degree he was prepared for this sudden event."
--Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive, Or, Two Miles a Minute By Rail. Victor Appleton. Grosset & Dunlap. 1922

Popular children's fare less than a century ago.

Random Acts of Culture

2011-01-10T22:48:00.002-05:00

Nigger: the power and purpose of words

2011-01-09T23:16:00.004-05:00

I've heard the professor that edited this latest edition of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn did so to avoid the controversy of the "N-word" and allow teachers and readers to delve into the greatness that is Mark Twain's seminal work without the distraction. Seems reasonable enough, I guess, but it also seems like this editor is on a slippery slope...with this reasoning, another editor could say he went ahead and standardized all the dialogue - removing all the slang and regional accents - to help readers enjoy Twain's work without the distraction. In the end, any change will make the author's book something else and therefore derail the author's intent. For example:

Twain published Huckleberry Finn in the 1885 (1884 in England). One reason he wrote this novel was in response to the worsening racial tensions of the times. The modest gains made right after the Civil War in rights and equality were being lost and Twain wanted to make a point. His use of the "N-word" - although much more acceptable then than now, of course - is purposeful, cynical, and ironic. Jim is the most positive, helpful, 3-dimensional adult in the novel and probably the one character LEAST like the definition of the controversial epithet. And yet, Jim is called a nigger throughout.

By the editor removing the word altogether and substituting it with the vapid "slave," he undermines Twain's social message in writing the book. Using the term "slave" also connotes the idea that people of African decent can't be anything other than a slave, not even a nigger. A whole other discussion could be why is "slave" more acceptable than the "N-word?" Many of my colleagues, associates, and friends have stated the "S-word" is not acceptable, either.

Sheltering children from real-life situations in literature will only make them ill-prepared to handle real-life situations when they occur in their lives. Bruno Bettelheim makes this very point in his book The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (Vintage Prss, 2010; Random Houose, 1976). One of the many values of literature is it allows us to experience and work out our personal responses to the challenges, confrontations, and dangers of real life in the comfort of our own home. Of course, a crucial component to this value of literature is parental involvement and adult role models for young readers. Without adult guidance and feedback, the best in literature might be missed. Let young readers read unadulterated classics and allow them an adult with which to talk about what they've read.

Removing the "N-word" from just ONE edition of Huck Finn while the word is so prevalent in song and on the street is, at best, confusing and, at worst, a worthless gesture.

Objectivity and the Librarian

2011-01-03T13:26:00.003-05:00

[Objectivity] means escaping from the prison of one's egocentric illusions and cultural prejudices, and understanding the nature of other people as they are independently of oneself, and other things in general as they are independently of humankind in general. That we can do this is one of the chief glories of the human mind. It is not always easy, and may cost painstaking effort and lead to unwelcome results, but it is always like a fresh breeze . . . (from In Defence of Objectivity and Other Essays, Andrew Collier)

Andrew Collier is a philosopher of the American Critical Realism school, which is, itself, part of the broader philosophy of science called Transcendental Realism, formulated by Roy Bhaskar (see here for a brief introduction to these theories and their inter-relationship).

As you have grown to expect, if you are at all familiar with this blog, it's always about the Librarian and Librarianship, so I wanted to explore the support - and reward, ultimately - this quote and this philosophy offers the librarian in dealing with community and the challenges therein.

It is obvious that any professional working closely with the public, whether a defined, prescribed community/group or the broader citizenry of a town, city, or culture, must develop a certain amount of empathy,
or at the very least a certain amount of knowledge, about the individuals of that community. "You gotta know your customers," in short. This applies to shopkeepers, teachers, pharmacists, nurses, doctors, police, librarians, and many other public service professions.

Andrew Collier describes Objectivity as the way to achieve that empathetic connection. His definition praises this as a "glory of the human mind" and "a fresh breeze." Personally, I've always thought of the very best librarians in terms of Empathy, Caring, Concern, never as Objective. The word itself always struck me as dehumanized. An object, after all, is a thing.

But, Collier takes his term from a different point of view. To be objective is to be focused, to be aware, and the focus and awareness is directed to "understanding the nature of the other person," which of course encompasses the traits of empathy, caring, and consideration. Isn't that when Librarians are at their most effective?

Even more crucially Collier clarifies by adding ..."independently of oneself..." There it is: the essential key to being the best Librarian! And, as Collier rightly states, "It is not always easy, and may cost painstaking effort..." but all the education, schooling, experience, and books one reads (and needs) to be a good librarian, if a librarian does not try to understand the nature of the library patron/customer/user independently of the self, then that librarian cannot be the best; will miss the mark more than get it.

No one said Librarianship was easy (if they did, they'd be lying), but to experience the incredible lightness, enlightenment, and "fresh breeze" of understanding and being understood by another human being is worth all the painstaking effort and one of life's great rewards, isn't it?

Looking Back To See a Way Forward: Librarianship in the 21st Century

2010-12-22T22:28:00.001-05:00

The more things change the more they stay the same, but can you keep up? Do you need to keep up?

Professional public librarians are at a crossroads in history (again). Quite possibly other librarians are at a crossroads, too, but as a public librarian, in fairness I can only speak about my slice of the profession. Is tradition and "what-we've-always-done-and done-well" still good enough or do we need to find a new role in the communities that we serve?

Our communities, our society, the services our patrons seek are all changing. The percentage of adults reading fiction is only 50.2% (up from 46.7% in 2002, but still only half of all adults); even reading picture books may be declining. Bookstores, both chain and independent, are closing and sales continue to be down in the publishing industry. These facts are inter-related and, of course, are just a few examples of important changes that public librarians cannot ignore. The librarian who is fluent in fiction, can beautifully promote picture books, liaise literarily is a laudable and accomplished person...and, increasingly, a rare artisan practicing a specialized craft.

From personal experiences, the experiences of many colleagues, and stories shared in blogs and newspaper articles, these honed and honorable skills of the traditional librarian make up a decreasing percentage of each day's work. More and more of a librarian's day is spent helping people with practical, life skill situations such as writing a resume, filling out job applications, learning how to use a computer, navigate the web, sign up for an email account. Many patrons come into the public library wanting to know where to find a good lawyer, a good doctor, a free clinic, the local politician's office, with whom to lodge a citizen's complaint. All this and so many more esoteric and unusual requests have crossed the librarian's desk since there have been librarians looking to help, but taken alongside the decline in the number of readers and the decreases seen in the publishing industry, the way librarians are being asked to serve - by their own clientel! - is changing.

There will always be a need for the traditional librarian. For those librarians who wish to honor and maintain that time honored way of librarianship, may they excel. The very best will fill the niche, the rest of us will have to cope with the new demands and adapt to the new role of the profession.

R David Lankes of Syracuse University's I-School and Cal Shirky of New York University are two prominent speakers talking about ways to adapt to the new paradigm. They talk of "The Library as Conversation," and Participatory Librarianship, and "Cognitive Surplus," all crucial concepts in gaining an understanding of dealing with the changing nature of the profession.

Lankes, Shirky, and other speakers acknowledge that the library will remain the clearinghouse of information that it has always been. But the information will no longer be archived, the information will be created and generated when needed by the librarian (and library staff) and even by the patrons. An interactive, creative commons of information based on the needs and the creativity of all who use the library. These concepts are fresh and relevant and...

...reminiscent of what the library was in ancient Athens and Alexandria: a place where people gathered to learn by discussion and the sharing of ideas with printed material available or created as needed. The librarians not only knew the collected printed material stored at the library, but knew who was an expert on what topics, arranged for those experts to meet and talk with each other and the patronage of the library, and also coordinated the activities of scribes and negotiated with owners and sellers of scrolls.

Librarinahip in the 21st Century will be an exciting and eye-opening proposition. The librarian need only look to the ancient roots of the profession... as articulated in the very modern theories and conversations of visionaries like Lankes, Shirkey, and a growing number of library professionals across the nation.

The Consequence of Doing Things With Consequences: Cory Doctorow's Makers

2010-12-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

Makers by Cory Doctorow

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Perry Gibbons and Lester Banks just want to make things. Lester, in particular, is ceaseless with his inventiveness, building mechanical, calculating computers out of flattened tin cans and any other pieces of junk he can get his hands on. Perry is more the software guru/business genius, but in an unconscious zen-like way. Together they create The Ride in an abandoned strip mall near Miami and a Seussian shanty town arises around it. Once Perry and Lester are approached by and agree to work with investment giant, Landon Kettlewell, and the Edward Murrow of the news blogs, Suzanne Church, starts covering their work, things take off and the New Work Movement is born, grabs the nation's economy, and then crashes and burns.

Doctorow paints a near future world that rushes into one socio-economic endeavor after another (the fatkins revolution is particular bizarre and ultimately tragic)and highlights the joyful, miraculous, irresponsible life of manic entrepreneurship against the controlling, elephantine, constancy of the established, global conglomerate.

Lives are built up, destroyed, built up again. Friends become enemies; enemies become friends. And by the time you breathlessly reach the chaotic conclusion everyone actually finds peace, happiness, wisdom, and their place in the world.

View all my reviews

The Library Routes Project: What Are Your Library Roots and Your Library Routes?

2010-12-20T16:47:00.000-05:00

http://libraryroutesproject.wikkii.com/wiki/Main_Page

The Library Routes Project was set up in October 2009 (see About for more details), to bring together the thoughts and experiences of Information Professionals on how they got where they are today, and why they chose to work in libraries at all.

The idea is to document either or both of your library roots - how you got into the profession in the first place, and what made you decide to do so - and your library routes - the career path which has taken you to wherever you are today. As well as being interesting of itself, it will also provide much needed information and context for those just entering the profession or wishing to do so.

A Library Without Staff is Like a Coral Reef Without Fish

2010-12-19T23:42:00.001-05:00

R. David Lankes Speaks at The Free Library of Philadelphia on The Library as Conversation

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1481211646054597416

Cognitive Surplus: The Example of Kenya's Ushahidi

2010-12-19T23:03:00.000-05:00

eBooks, Me Economics, and Cognitive Surplus: Storytelling in the Digital Age

2010-12-19T22:23:00.004-05:00

(From the Article) "Not only is this a digital age, where anyone can self-publish, but more and more people can use technology to state a position, tell a story or stimulate a community of like-minded souls. Clay Shirky writes about "cognitive surplus", the time available to contribute to online, community activities, at the expense of less time, say, watching television."

The future of books is a real page-turner

Barry Jones, The Sydney Morning Herald (online)
December 13, 2010 - 3:00AM

Fifteen years ago, Nicholas Negroponte published being digital. As a dyslexic, he didn't enjoy reading and even apologised for writing a book to disseminate his ideas about "bits" versus "atoms" in the Information Age.

He noted that the publishing industry had to decide whether it was in the information delivery business (bits) or the manufacturing business (atoms). He concluded that it was hard to compete with the qualities of the printed book, but cautioned that this would change and that the change would happen quickly. Rupert Murdoch penned an enthusiastic endorsement of the book on the back jacket, saying it "brings the endless possibilities of the future into a sharper focus".

In 2010, Murdoch's vision is blurry as to how the publishing industry can adapt and profit from the information delivery business.

Nick Bilton, a technology writer with The New York Times, has updated some parts of Negroponte's story. Bilton enjoys reading but famously cancelled his subscription to the Times's paper edition because he was getting his "news" elsewhere.

Bilton ties it all into storytelling, an activity that will continue in printed or electronic form. When in electronic form, storytelling may benefit in ways that no one can yet articulate. This is one reason why the Book Industry Strategy Group, established last year by Kim Carr, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, is seeking public submissions about the future of the industry. It is seeking ideas from writers, educators, librarians, publishers, retailers and - most importantly - readers about how to enhance the Australian publishing industry as an important sector of our economy, society and culture.

Will the "deregulation" of the publishing industry, where anyone can self-publish, result in more stories of highly variable quality? Of course it will - just as the printing press did. But it may lead to some new and innovative ways of storytelling, ways that engage the reader in different or deeper ways.

Books in electronic form, or ebooks, are becoming popular at the expense of printed books, or pbooks. Why? It's not just about price. Anyone who spends several hundred dollars on an electronic book reader, an eReader, is not doing it to save money in the first instance. It's true that ebook titles costing about $10 are more attractive to the price conscious than the same pbook at about $30. But there's more to the story.

Where Amazon and Apple have got it right is the immediacy of purchasing an ebook. Both the Kindle and the iPad come with wireless connectivity to the Amazon and Apple stores, respectively. If you have an Amazon account, the Kindle comes preconfigured with your details so you can buy a book at 3am if you so desire. Bilton calls this ''Me Economics'', which is really just instant gratification in book buying. But it beats late-night television.

Other eReaders, such as Kobo and Sony, didn't have wireless connectivity when they were released. While cheaper than the Kindle or iPad, they lacked the usability of these in this crucial area. But there has been rapid development and there is now a wireless Kobo offering.

Amazon went further from the start and there was a Kindle application for the iPhone and, later, for the iPad. With these you can purchase your ebook using your iPhone, start reading a few pages then settle down later to finish it on your Kindle or iPad. Amazon remembers where you got up to on one device and opens it at that page on the other device.

It's this sort of experience that sells the idea of ebooks, not just the price of an ebook. And it's this level of experience that other sellers of ebooks have to offer. Then we start to look at the relative prices of ebooks from different sellers.

In what could turn out to be the biggest news in the ebook area this year, last week Google announced the availability of what was formerly known as Google Editions, initially in the US. The significance of this announcement is that Google is not producing an eReader like the Kindle or iPad but applications that will run on a range of eReaders produced by different manufacturers that support the ePub and PDF standards.

And, of course, eBooks can be read on the web - what else would you expect from Google? - and the page you are up to will follow you as you move from device to device. Not to be outdone, Amazon has announced that Kindle for the web will be available soon. What can one say but watch this space.
But are all books suitable in ebook form? No. Books with lavish colour photography do not shine on a monochrome eReader.

How about The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a child's bedtime ebook? I don't think so. Perhaps, though, what delights a child in a bedtime book can be digitally enhanced. You tell us.
And what about people who like the smell of books or the feel of books, or the cover artwork, or who just want to scribble over the pages? These sorts of people will mix up their reading habits and buy pbooks and ebooks.

Public libraries are starting to offer access to ebooks via downloads or by access to subscriptions taken out by the library. We want to hear about these initiatives and your experiences with them.

Schoolchildren will agree that carrying an eReader with all their textbooks on it beats carrying a heavy school bag. And textbooks form a large part of the book industry in Australia.

Can we hear your thoughts?

Barry Jones is the chairman of the Book Industry Strategy Group. Ideas can be submitted to www.innovation.gov.au/bisg until January 31.

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/ipad/the-future-of-books-is-a-real-pageturner-20101212-18u27.html

It's a Library Card

2010-12-17T20:10:00.000-05:00

It's A Library Card!

One Fine Tea Company

2010-12-12T12:39:00.010-05:00

Serendipitea
A little cup of friendship

With a bag of tea:

When you drink this

Think of love from me.

I wish we could sit down together

And have a cup of tea

But since we can’t,

When you have this one,

I hope you’ll think of me.

The Librarian Militant, The Librarian Triumphant

2010-12-04T14:49:00.000-05:00

Librarianship only survives if we, librarians and the communities we serve, take it up, renew, refresh it, and constantly engage in what is next. It is in that conversation that we find what a triumphant librarian is. Someone who wakes to see a better day for their community, and works to make the next even better, and the next day after that."

R David Lankes' "Virtual Dave" Blog Post

Philadelphia: The Birthplace of Healthcare | Marketplace Money From American Public Media

2010-11-21T21:13:00.001-05:00

Philadelphia: The Birthplace of Healthcare Marketplace Money From American Public Media

The Chronological Evolution of a Genre

2010-11-20T20:23:00.000-05:00

More Soviet Science Fiction by Isaac Asimov

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Introduction by Asimov alone is worth the entire book. In trying to compare Soviet science fiction to American, Asimov proposes a three part time-line to the genre: 1) Science Fiction as Grand Adventure; 2)Science Fiction as a discourse on Technology; 3) Science Fiction as a sociological discourse. He then breaks these thirds into three parts - "gambits" - each (What If stories, If Only stories, and If This Goes On stories) and even shows how some American and Soviet/Russian sci-fi blends different parts and gambits of the time-line.

His explanation is quite conversational and easy to understand. Never thought of sci-fi in such an evolutionary/chronological way before! Fascinating!

View all my reviews

11 Great Places

2010-11-20T14:16:00.005-05:00

Check out my Great Places Within 6 Blocks of Home Series on my facebook page (click here).

No. 7 in the Series: The Apothecary Kitchen Herbiary

No. 11 in the Series: A Regular at The Mermaid Inn

Sweet on Tradition: The Berley Brothers of Philadelphia

2010-11-18T15:45:00.001-05:00

Davina Soondrum pours candy into century-old molds at The Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia. For more photos, view the audio slide show below. (Todd Vachon)

For some people in Philadelphia, the holidays begin when the Berley brothers start making clear-toy candies. The hard-candy treats molded into intricate figurines can only be made when the weather turns dry and cold as the brothers keep alive a century-old tradition.

Six years ago, Eric Berley and his brother, Ryan, opened Franklin Fountain, an old-time ice cream and soda shop near Penn's Landing. But they needed more space to make ice cream and candy, so they bought Shane Confectionary next door. That candy store had been continuously run by the Shane family since 1911. The brothers are bringing the shop back to its original turn-of-the-century condition.

"Hey, why not get into a fun new business like candy," said Eric Berley. "And throw in historical preservation."

While the downstairs shop is being restored, the original candy-making equipment in the second-floor kitchen is operational. The industrial gas rings were made in the 1920s specifically to handle special copper pots used to boil sugar.

"Those are hand-made pots," said Ryan Berley. "So the actual materials and tools are hand-made, like the candies are."

Ryan Berley himself looks like a relic from the past, wearing a jaunty bowtie and a generous application of Brylcreem, as he heats a sugar syrup that will be poured into iron molds made in the 19th century. After cooling, the hard candies will pop out in the shapes of delicate sailboats, horses, rabbits, a steam fire engine, a bicycle.

"Carrying those traditions on is part of us identifying ourselves as Americans," he says. "This is an American tradition, just as a soda fountain is American tradition. Americans need our own traditions that we can pass onto our own children and grandchildren."

Those American traditions are seemingly recession-proof as Franklin Fountain expands into its new, old-fashioned digs.

At the end of the day, Ryan Berley says, people will always want ice cream.

(By Peter Crimmins; Photography by Todd Vachon. Newsorks.org November 18, 2010)

Invariably Pleasing

2010-11-15T23:51:00.000-05:00

Variable Star by Robert A. Heinlein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Take the solid and trusted frame of a Heinlein "Juvenile" and give it to one of the punningest and positivistic writers in the genre today to fill in and flesh out. From this rare and unusual pairing you get Variable Star, a sum that is more than its parts.

The only thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars was the "deus ex machina" Robinson pulls near the end of the novel and just barely gives a possibly believable reason for. Other than that the way Robinson and Heinlein so smoothly blend without ever losing each one's distinctive style is really quite phenomenal and deliciously enjoyable to read.

Variable Star will invariably please.

View all my reviews

2010-11-10T00:32:00.001-05:00

"Science fiction, outside of poetry, is the only literary field which has no limits, no parameters whatsoever." - Theodore Sturgeon

We're Black and White, We Wear Tuxedos, and Music is Our Weapon

2010-11-06T12:57:00.000-04:00

Dreaming in Science Fiction: Metropolis and the ArchAndroid, Wondaland and the Thrivals

The Readers' Advisory Guide to Street Literature: Coming Soon!

2010-11-03T16:57:00.001-04:00

Street Literature: Book Coming Soon!: This is the book cover for my dear friend Vanessa Morris' upcoming text, The Readers Guide to Street Literature, published by the American Library Association.

First Bookless Library on a University Campus

2010-11-03T14:38:00.001-04:00

By Christi Fish
Public Affairs Specialist
University of Texas at San Antonio

(Sept. 9, 2010)--University of Texas at San Antonio officials announced Thursday the opening of the Applied Engineering and Technology (AET) Library, the nation's first completely bookless library on a college or university campus. The 80-person capacity library, which caters to College of Sciences and College of Engineering students, is a satellite of the larger John Peace Library on the Main Campus.

Electronic research is central to the AET Library. Instead of storing printed volumes, the library offers students a rapidly growing collection of electronic resources including 425,000 e-books and 18,000 e-journal subscriptions. Skilled science and engineering librarians are available during library hours to help students who need research assistance.

UTSA's electronic library is catching on quickly with students, who are finding that the library staff is more available to assist them now that they don't have to circulate and reshelve books. Publications that students want to read also are more accessible because the online format allows many students to simultaneously access the same volume.

The trend to move higher education library collections online began in October 2000, when Kansas State University opened the Fiedler Engineering Library. The branch library's collection is completely electronic with the exception of a series of reference books and a few journals that are unavailable electronically. Earlier this year, Stanford University continued the trend when it removed all but 10,000 printed volumes from its Engineering Library.

UTSA designed its bookless library to engage students in an online format within a contemporary new space. The library features ultra-modern furniture and space age decor with 10 desktop computers, a printer, a scanner and five large LCD screens. To support student study sessions and spontaneous collaboration, the library also offers a series of group study niches and three group study rooms outfitted with whiteboards. The spaces reflect an emphasis on teamwork, communications and problem solving, skills integral to the success of professional engineers and scientists.

"As our campus becomes a national research university, it is important that we continue to create communities that engage students," said Krisellen Maloney, UTSA dean of libraries. "In this library, we encourage collaboration. We want to hear our students talking and solving problems together. This is the beginning of their training as professional engineers and scientists."

With the eLibrary open, UTSA is exploring ways to take the bookless concept even further. In the next few months, there are plans to start providing pre-loaded collections of eBooks on eReader devices such as iPad or Kindle for students to check out and take home.

A Bunch of the Best Librarians Doing What Bunches of Librarians Do Best:

2010-10-30T00:18:00.001-04:00

...being helpful, resourceful, encouraging, and non-judgemental.

These are my colleagues, mentors, supervisors, and friends. I am so proud, humbled, and grateful to know each and every one of them.

Beautiful

2010-10-24T12:32:00.000-04:00

Everything about you beautiful is;
About you, Beauty, too true, is!
You are the color of everything beautiful:
Let me name the colors of your beauty.

Hazel-Green, clarity seen;
Smiles sunrise from red horizons
Pure white snow as spoken;
In deep, dark, rich coffee-Kahlua.

Brown loam:
Down home inspiration;
Earth to sky light reflection
Jump back, snap! Reverberation:
Curve of back and breast, ululation.

Straight and firm,
Under your groove, soothe.
Silk-quiet-smooth.
Gentle-rimmed,
mind-rhymed,
Flexed, flew!

Lioness cub, brown gold:
The down low?
Purr-fect!

Everything about you, beautiful, is
Everything You...is...

Beautiful!

An Underground Nook for Books: Successful Public Libraries Are Where You Find Them

2010-10-23T17:27:00.001-04:00

Located down a flight of stairs, just outside the turnstile entrance to the No. 6 train on the northwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 50th Street. The door is next to a MetroCard machine. There is no street-level sign announcing its existence. “You see the same people all the time,” Ms. Britt, library patron, said. “You can’t find this place unless someone tells you about it.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/nyregion/24joint.html

The Name is Bigger Than The Library:
Terence Cardinal Cooke-Cathedral Branch of NYPL
(Piotr Redinski, New York Times, 10.21.10)

Move Over, Nancy Pearl; Meet Kee Malesky!

2010-10-23T11:11:00.002-04:00

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130729448

Drifting Down the Commercial Path

2010-10-23T00:47:00.000-04:00

A cautionary tale from the world of university libraries that public libraries should ponder.

Daniel Goldstein writes in the October 17, 2010 issue of the Chronicle Review section of The Chronicle of Higher Education that university libraries have forgone individualized and specifically maintained research collections and replaced them with package deals from mega-vendors that offer homogenized, dumbed-down, "good enough" information to patrons. He postulates that university libraries are going from a customer service model to a commercial service model. He summarizes the incremental and economic reasons that this has happened.

I've excerpted (below) a part here that seems to me the most crucial aspect of his argument as far as public libraries are concerned. It boils down to this: is identifying and locating known items to answer patrons informational needs the whole mission of public libraries (and public librarians) or is there more to the services offered by public libraries? The answer to that question will suggest how pertinent Mr. Goldstein's interesting article is to public librarianship. I particularly like his last paragraph. I'd be interested to read your comments on that question and on Mr. Goldstein's concern.

The excerpt:
Libraries now regard their users as customers whose needs should be met in order to secure their allegiance. While an emphasis on improving service is a good thing, it matters how you conceive of the service to be improved. Libraries today are mistaking a part of their mission for the whole, treating one of their most basic, mechanical, and least-distinctive tasks as their dominant, if not sole, patron service.

According to both the professional literature and information-vending companies' usability studies, a library's chief task is to meet the information needs of its patrons. "Information needs," in this context, is understood as identifying and locating known items. True, university libraries do a lot of this work and do it well, but so do public libraries and the GE Answer Center. For university libraries, retrieving what is known should be only the beginning. They are laboratories of the mind, unique places where questions that have never before been asked can be formulated and answered; they are centers of teaching where patrons can learn about the organization and the production of knowledge. And much more.

There are far-reaching implications to disregarding so much of what a library does in favor of an impoverished, customer-service-centric model. In technical services—the behind-the-scenes part of the library that brings in materials and prepares them for us—it is becoming commonplace to hear that "good enough" (read: incomplete) item records and metadata are sufficient. These records may be "good enough" for base-level handling and inquiries, but they are insufficient for the task of answering new and unusual questions—precisely the sort of inquiries at which university libraries should excel.

In public services—the part of the library dedicated to connecting patrons with resources—the dominance of the customer-service model has led to a devaluation of both expert knowledge and systematic inquiry. Libraries should be facilitating thorough and precise research inquiries; instead they are trending in the opposite direction, toward a reliance on dumbed-down discovery tools that will deposit "good-enough" results in a patron's lap. Libraries and their commercial partners envision a future when, to a patron, libraries look a lot like Google: a vast, undifferentiated mass of information queried by a simple search box.

Libraries have already drifted too far down the commercial path: Research and educational values must be restored to their primacy of place. "Good enough" and one-stop shopping are no substitutes for systematic research. Technology cannot replace human expertise. The business world has many valuable tools and resources to offer, but libraries must insist that scholarly requirements take precedence over commercial interests.

The need to realign library values is especially urgent in the realm of monographs. Electronic publishing of academic monographs is still at an early stage, but it is growing fast. As it is developing, e-monographic publishing is following the path of e-journals and will, therefore, reproduce many of the same problems—spiraling prices, homogeneous collections, greater numbers of low-quality monographs. Libraries will provide access to titles owned by the publishers, who will offer them up in preset packages accompanied by complex licensing agreements that constrain their use. (Existing e-book licenses, for example, generally prohibit interlibrary loans.)

Moreover, as has happened with journals, the idea of the book as a coherent object is undermined. Some of the existing e-monograph platforms assign authorship to each chapter, and each chapter is a separate file. On first (and second) glance, the chapters appear to be stand-alone essays rather than connected parts of an elaborate, extended analysis.

It is time, now, to articulate a plan for e-books that better serves the needs of the academic community. University libraries should opt out of the e-book market until it conforms itself to the values, needs, and wallets of academe.

For universities, the libraries' experience is a cautionary tale. Commercial practices, technologies, and innovations often seem to benefit and support the academic mission of universities. But commercial innovations are not value-free, and it has proven very difficult for libraries to embrace some components while rejecting others.

As a result, the identity of libraries as academic institutions has been compromised. Leaders of the profession fear that libraries will become obsolete if they do not abandon their traditional standards and goals and pursue the latest trends. But the reverse is true: The more libraries align their interests and values with their commercial partners, the less distinctive and indispensable they become.

Daniel Goldstein is an arts, humanities, and social-science librarian at the University of California at Davis.

My Blog's International! Who'da Thunk It?

2010-10-21T13:49:00.001-04:00

A heartfelt thank you/Дякую /valeu/고마워요 to everyone who uses their valuable time to read and ponder my simple blog postings. It is sincerely appreciated!

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You're Never Too Young

2010-10-19T18:47:00.008-04:00

Essential building blocks of Librarianship?

Little Librarians Kit:

Little Librarian is the first personal library kit made just for kids! It encourages reading and is powered by creativity and imagination, not batteries! Little Librarian provides book lovers with everything they need to transform their book collection into a library. Kids can practice the important skills of organizing, sharing, borrowing, and returning. Book pockets, check out cards, library cards, and bookmarks are just like the ones from the real library. Little Librarians will issue overdue notices and awards. Favorite books can be stored in the reading journal and shared with friends. To get started just add books!

Let's Play Library! Each Little Librarian Kit contains:
-7 File Folders
-15 Book Pockets
-15 Book Cards
-4 Library Cards
-4 Reading Awards
-2 Bookmarks
-6 Overdue slips
-1 Reading Journal

Ideas for Play:

Friends, moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, dolls, and stuffed animals are great library visitors! Here are a few more ideas!

-Set up a library in your house

-Transform your books into a personal library

-Have a library class at your pretend school
-Set up a city and include a library

-Use the book pockets and book cards to keep track of readers in a book pass group

-Host storytime at your pretend library or school

-Write a story and host a reading at your home library

-Keep track of your summer reading in the reading journal

-Start a book club at your home library

-Turn your car or minivan into a book mobile

-Create a summer reading challenge and pass out awards

-Parents can use this kit as an incentive to help motivate their children to read

2010-10-18T09:16:00.001-04:00

Hiding behind subtle and humorous puns that will delight science fiction readers (Skywalker, L. is a client of the main character, the detailed descriptions of the time machine and time travel, the hilarious use of techno-babble and mention of his time machine’s “Niven Rings” are some examples), the author weaves a poignant tale of a son not only searching for his father, but his relationship with his father as well.

Similar to the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde, Yu’s characters know they are living in a fictional universe, in fact in “Minor Universe 31.” Indeed, the main character is Christopher Yu, himself, who is given a book written by his future self that he must read (and write) in hopes of unraveling the mystery of his father’s whereabouts and is the very book being reviewed here. Confusing? Don’t panic, the whole thing arrives at a revealing, and touching, personal conclusion.

Yu’s work will delight those who like a unique, “pushing-the-envelope” kind of book, those interested in exploring the relationships fathers and sons can develop, and sci-fi fans everywhere.

Librarians Are Not in the Thing Business, They Are in the People Business

2010-10-15T23:02:00.003-04:00

Continuing my previous post (The Less Mentioned Aspect of 21st Century Librarianship):
a talk given by R. David Lankes of Syracuse University, tying in theories of Library as Conversation; User Defines Context; Knowledge is Action; Librarians Create Knowledge Building Opportunities, Don't Collect Artifacts; Connection Management, not Collection Management and so much more:

The Less Mentioned Aspect of 21st Century Librarianship

2010-10-12T00:50:00.001-04:00

Philadelphia, PA-2008-Library Patrons Gather

Catching up on my professional online reading today, I became aware of a pattern amongst the many excellent blogs, postings, and comments (see "So You Want To Be a Librarian" as one example). There was an awful lot of talk and advice on how best to be a technologically savvy librarian.

Technology has long been a part of the librarian's arsenal of information retrieval and dispersal; anyone remember mimeograph machines, reel-to-reel movie projectors (and tape players, for that matter), overhead projectors, punch card readers, dial telephones, pneumatic tubes? It is crucial that Librarians are cognizant and conversant with current technology.

And it is just as crucial that Librarians become cognizant, conversant, and comfortable with the cultural mores of the communities they serve and the staff they work with from Volunteer to Page to Director to Trustee. One of the first things a new librarian must do, whether serving in an urban, suburban, or rural public library; whether serving as a school librarian; whether serving as a law librarian, academic librarian, medical librarian, is learn the people using the location as well as the PCs they may want to use.

I dare say that learning the people aspect of librarianship is far more complex than the technological aspect. How to service the homeless; what arrangements to make to best facilitate elder services; how best to facilitate the professor-student relationship; make available the latest medical news to doctors and administrators; how best to promote beginning literacy skills are all crucial questions that have as many responses as there are patrons.

Libraries have always been social gathering places both formally and informally. In the 21st century that role will only grow as communities realize their library is a natural place to gather for book talks, lectures and readings, yoga, speed-dating events...you name it. (see Houston (TX) Public Library's response to this realization. see Brooklyn (NY) Public Library's response. see My Post in this Blog: Library As Heart of the Community, March 29, 2009.)

Philadelphia, PA - 2005 - Library Regulars

There are a couple of Library Theories that grapple with these issues of the social aspect of the library. "Library as Place," (The Library as Place: History, Community, and Culture. ed. Buschman, John E. and Gloria J. Leckie. Libraries Unlimited: Westport, Conn. 2007) and "Library as Conversation" (Participatory Networks: Library as Conversation. Lankes, R. David. Presentation given at AMIGOS Members Conference, Dallas, TX, 2007.http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/presentations/2007/Dallas.pdf accessed October 12, 2010). Both provide a fine, theoretical foundation for the Librarian to base the practical applications of dealing with the individual, the user group, the community-at-large.

Philadelphia, PA - 2010 - Everyday Use of Libraries sans Technology

From this solid foundation, Library Degrees (both Traditional and I-School) can be created as a balance of technological instruction with an equal amount of cultural competency and sociological skills. Outside the halls of academe, an active and encouraged mentoring program in the agency/location, and the library system as a whole, can provide invaluable on-the-job training and serve as a bridge between the theory of library school and the actuality of the profession.

As important and necessary as the ever evolving parade of technology is to the modern library, just so are the parade of diverse and varied people from all walks of life clamoring for the Librarian's special skills.

Love and Peace In The Dwarven Underground

2010-10-11T15:29:00.000-04:00

Gauntlgrym

A book written with joy and love for the characters protrayed: old friends, indeed, spanning 20-plus years of the author's life; a philosophical musing on Life, Purpose, and Fulfillment clothed in rich and fine garments of Good vs Evil, High Adventure, Heritage and Tradition, Friendship and Love. RA Salvatore's Gauntlgrym will move you, I unabahedly assert, and will bring tears to your eye - tears of joy, of just reward - by the time you finish the epilogue.

I will only add, then say no more - for you should experience this read as a well-earned, joyous discovery much like a certain Dwarf King does when arriving, after a lifetime's faith and questing, at a particular throne room - that you will find humor, comfort, satisfaction, and pleasure in Mr. Salvatore's latest be you a long-time fantasy afficionado or newly come to the genre.

May we all be so blessed, after a long life well-lived, to have the opportunity to say,"I found it, Elf."

Magical Realism, Native American Style

2010-09-26T21:27:00.001-04:00

Zadayi Red by Caleb Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dahzi was born to the Galayi people amidst rage and violence. By the webbed fingers on his left hand, he was known to be the One to Fulfill Prophecy. With the help of a spirit guide, Su-li from The Land Beyond the Sky-Arch, a shape shifter, his grandmother and mother - both Medicine Chiefs - and his own wits and true nature, Dahzi grows into manhood and prophecy overcoming assassins, tradition, and his own self-doubt, earning the new name, Ulo-Zeya, given by the Thunderbird, itself. As was the custom of his people, he wore a Zadayi disc around his neck, blue on one side, red on the other, with the red side facing outward, meaning victory and success.

Magical Realism, Historical Fiction, and Fantasy combine in Caleb Fox's debut novel, a unique and captivating retelling of a Cherokee Legend. History, tradition, and his own imagination take us into the time and world of a people where magic co-existed with reality, tradition was respected and discarded, and the people's very way of life endangered.

Not quite like anything else I've ever read.

View all my reviews

In Memoriam: Librarian Carolyn Wicker Field

2010-09-24T13:52:00.001-04:00

In Memoriam: Librarian Carolyn Wicker Field

By Lauren Barack September 14, 2010

From insisting that children's librarians wear hats and gloves when visiting schools to the hot dogs and Boston baked beans she served at annual parties for her staff, Carolyn Wicker Field, the former children's coordinator for the Free Library of Philadelphia (FLP), was a force within the Philadelphia public library community--especially for children whom she felt deserved the absolute best.

"She expected that you had to put out more effort and enthusiasm than everyone else," says Hedra Packman, director of library services at FLP, who trained with Field in the 1970s. "But she believed it was all for the children, and she also did it herself."

A memorial for Field, who died on July 24 at the age of 93, is set for Saturday, September 25 at the Skyline Room of the Central Library at 11 a.m., and all are invited to attend, as well as submit their thoughts and memories of Field, a children's librarian who helped shape literacy for Philadelphia students and the face of children's publishing.

"She would tell librarians that if they found a hole in their collection to let her know," says Betsy Orsburn, FLP's chief of the office of Public Service Support. "She'd say, 'I'll tell the publishers.' She was tied into them and to authors."

In fact, writers and illustrators so valued Field's opinion that they would send her manuscripts with the understanding that her comments would be honest, and at times brutal, says Packman.

"And as a result they loved her," adds Packman. "She was a very strong character whose strength was used as an advocate for children and for children's literature."

Authors Jerry and Eileen Spinelli recall meeting Field after publishing the first of their many titles and experiencing the shock of this "energetic stick figure" who knew their names as if they were already fixtures in their field, recalls Jerry Spinelli.

"In the years to come we would travel the country and discover that she was known and loved everywhere," says the Spinelli's by email. "And never was her name uttered without a smile on the speaker's lips. It occurs to us now that it was never a review nor an editor nor the sale of a book-but Carolyn's voice pronouncing our names across a room in Philadelphia that day that marked our official welcome into the world we now so happily inhabit."

While at FLP, Field established the Children's Literature Research Collections, and the Spring Book Review and Storytelling Festival among other series and programs. Highly-respected among her peers, Fields served as the president of the children's division of the American Library Association (ALA), now known as the Association for Library Service to Children, and of the Pennsylvania Library Association, which named the Carolyn W. Field Award in her honor for the best book for young people by a Philadelphia author or illustrator. She herself published children's literature reference books-and even served as the librarian in her retirement community.

Her life-and life's work-will be remembered by all those who ever met or worked with Field in her decades of service to the Philadelphia community, and to authors, illustrators, and children all over the world.

"She sat in meetings doing needlepoint and yelling at people," says Packman. "And if she was running a session at an ALA meeting and you left, she would say, 'That person leaving is probably the person who needs this the most!' No one who met her would ever forget her."