Beyond the Core

I want to tip my hat to Bill Jacobs and the Science-Technology Division of SLA for putting together this great list on "Expanding Sci-tech librarianship beyond the core duties." It's a great starting point for answers if you're asked "Well, what do you bring to the party?"

From finding obscure references, through helping someone get or keep their CV up-to-date, to scientific literary analysis - we ARE your superpower! Don't be afraid of our skill sets - put them to use!

This is what a librarian looks like!

The ever-amazing Bobbi Newman, of Library Day in the Life fame, has created a new web site to bust the stereotype, one picture at a time - This is What a Librarian Looks Like. Yes! Look at us all in there, hiking, playing, dancing, eating, drinking, being serious, being goofy - wow, yep, just like "normal" people. Love it!

This is my own entry, to try and better illustrate my own job a bit. The hair color may change, but the second office stays the same...

Wait, what? February?

Holy smokes, I haven't written since I thanked SIRLS back in November! Things I've done since then:

• Presented "Especially Embedded: Integrated Librarianship in Special Libraries" at the SLD Business Meeting at the Arizona Library Association conference;
• Had a lovely holiday season;
• Started to become one with JIRA and DOORS;
• Attended SLA Leadership Summit in lovely Atlanta, GA. Not only did I get a lot of neat ideas and some really good networking in, SLA made me a Fellow!

And now it's February and hey! Librarians are in the news again, this time for defending their no-filtering rule. The latest, "Seattle libraries: No sleeping or eating allowed, but porn-watching OK", brings up the usual problems... we are not censors, and fight for the right for anyone to access whatever information they wish. But... how do we keep the innocent from seeing things the not-so-innocent may be viewing on a public computer? It's a thorny issue for sure, and I feel for the Seattle librarians.

Thank You, SIRLS

On November 3rd, as noted earlier, I participated in the SIRLS 2011 Dickinson Lectures. I'm pleased to say that lectures were recorded and are now available, along with the final slide decks, via the SIRLS website.

• Download the podcast from iTunes
• View my slide deck on Embedded Librarianship as a PDF

Beware the Sixth-Level Cataloger

I like the online comic Questionable Content anyway (not to mention the fact it's the source of a great library-themed Tshirt) but today's just rocks, on several levels. One, it's QC. Two, it's a guest comic by Bill Barnes, one half of the Unshelved creative duo. Third, well, hey! Laser eyes!