Uh oh.... These have been in my bookmarks list (or in my Bloglines roll) for a long time, but sometimes you just gotta go to the web page itself. Be warned if you do...
This doesn't count the obvious humor-related PEHs, like User Friendly, Order of the Stick or Dave Barry's Blog... Drat. Better shut the browser and get back to configuring Drupal!
Currently 64° and sunny. We hit 80° yesterday and probably gonna do it again today.
February 6, 2007
February 2, 2007
Eyes Wide Open
OK, I try not to talk politics here, so if polititalk bothers you, skip this posting.
While walking back from lunch today on the student mall, I saw a crowd of people. Wandering over to see what was going on, I came upon my first Empty Boots memorial, put on by Eyes Wide Open.
It was like being punched in the stomach. I am pro-military but anti-war (yes, that is a possible combination); I come from a long line of military service, went to school on a military scholarship, and have many friends in the military. This war is senseless to me; this was something I knew long ago, but to see the row upon row of empty boots and shoes, all with a tag representing someone dead, was like a physical blow. Before I realized what was happening, I was crying. (Thankfully, the volunteers who organized this were prepared and had boxes of tissues handy. There are some great, strong people who do this.)
If you have not experienced one of these, do so. Regardless of your political party, stance on the war, feelings about G. W., or any of that - visit the exhibit's site and see when they'll be in your area. Then go. Walk through. Listen to the speakers reading the names of the dead. And mourn.
While walking back from lunch today on the student mall, I saw a crowd of people. Wandering over to see what was going on, I came upon my first Empty Boots memorial, put on by Eyes Wide Open.
It was like being punched in the stomach. I am pro-military but anti-war (yes, that is a possible combination); I come from a long line of military service, went to school on a military scholarship, and have many friends in the military. This war is senseless to me; this was something I knew long ago, but to see the row upon row of empty boots and shoes, all with a tag representing someone dead, was like a physical blow. Before I realized what was happening, I was crying. (Thankfully, the volunteers who organized this were prepared and had boxes of tissues handy. There are some great, strong people who do this.)
If you have not experienced one of these, do so. Regardless of your political party, stance on the war, feelings about G. W., or any of that - visit the exhibit's site and see when they'll be in your area. Then go. Walk through. Listen to the speakers reading the names of the dead. And mourn.
February 1, 2007
33 Reasons
"33 Reasons Why Libraries and Librarians are Still Extremely Important" over at DegreeTutor answers the question "Are librarians really obsolete?" Happy to say, the answer is "Hell, no!" My faves are #19, #23, and #32, although the entire list is well put together.
"Today, more than ever, libraries and librarians are extremely important for the preservation and improvement of our culture." Yes!
found via librarian.net
"Today, more than ever, libraries and librarians are extremely important for the preservation and improvement of our culture." Yes!
found via librarian.net
Molly Ivins, RIP
Damn.
The first email I saw this morning when I opened my mailbox was a notice that one of the women I admire the most, who I have read regularly for years and bought all her books and saw her speak whenever possible (including the very memorable SLA keynote in San Antonio), has passed away. Molly Ivins, political columnist and activist and liberal and supporter of women's rights, lost her battle with cancer on Tuesday, January 30th. Her syndicate has posted a tribute by her editor at creators.com, where you can also read a slew of Molly's past columns. You can read other articles about Molly, her passing, and her writings here.
Molly, we will miss you dearly. I hope the margaritas at the party you're at now with Ann Richards and other friends you're seeing again are fabulous!
The first email I saw this morning when I opened my mailbox was a notice that one of the women I admire the most, who I have read regularly for years and bought all her books and saw her speak whenever possible (including the very memorable SLA keynote in San Antonio), has passed away. Molly Ivins, political columnist and activist and liberal and supporter of women's rights, lost her battle with cancer on Tuesday, January 30th. Her syndicate has posted a tribute by her editor at creators.com, where you can also read a slew of Molly's past columns. You can read other articles about Molly, her passing, and her writings here.
Molly, we will miss you dearly. I hope the margaritas at the party you're at now with Ann Richards and other friends you're seeing again are fabulous!
January 31, 2007
Enter the InfoTubeys!
You Can Enter Information Today's 2007 InfoTubey Awards!
My company (Information Today) is starting a new contest this year to award interesting library promotional work. We're calling it the InfoTubey Awards! ;-)
We’re looking for videos that librarians have created and posted to YouTube. Each production must demonstrate creativity, humor, and sincerity in marketing a library, promoting library services, or enhancing a library's value. Videos cannot be more than 5 minutes long.
The deadline is Feb. 14. All submissions will be judged by a panel of distinguished information professionals, who will contact winners in March.
Five InfoTubey Award winners will each receive one free 3-day conference pass to the Computers in Libraries 2007 conference (a $449 value). Awards will be presented at a gala event during the CIL conference on April 17 near Washington, D.C.
The entry form is available online. You can direct your questions to InfoTubies@infotoday.com.
C'mon, show us what you've done!
Sent to me by Kathy Dempsey of Information Today - thanks for the announcement!
My company (Information Today) is starting a new contest this year to award interesting library promotional work. We're calling it the InfoTubey Awards! ;-)
We’re looking for videos that librarians have created and posted to YouTube. Each production must demonstrate creativity, humor, and sincerity in marketing a library, promoting library services, or enhancing a library's value. Videos cannot be more than 5 minutes long.
The deadline is Feb. 14. All submissions will be judged by a panel of distinguished information professionals, who will contact winners in March.
Five InfoTubey Award winners will each receive one free 3-day conference pass to the Computers in Libraries 2007 conference (a $449 value). Awards will be presented at a gala event during the CIL conference on April 17 near Washington, D.C.
The entry form is available online. You can direct your questions to InfoTubies@infotoday.com.
C'mon, show us what you've done!
Sent to me by Kathy Dempsey of Information Today - thanks for the announcement!
Welcome to the Library
The UTNE Reader is introducing a new column, "Shelf Life", with the Jan/Feb issue. The UTNE librarian, Danielle Maestretti, writes a great introduction, titled "Welcome to the Library":
"My job does not include shushing. [...] The weathered image of the librarian as a grandmotherly, finger-waving bookworm has been defunct for quite some time. Librarians are more likely to be protecting civil liberties, promoting literacy, and guarding people's access to information than pursing their lips."
Yes! As a fan of not only libraries and librarians but also independent press and activism, I'll be eagerly watching this space for future columns from Ms. Maestretti.
found via MagicMommy
"My job does not include shushing. [...] The weathered image of the librarian as a grandmotherly, finger-waving bookworm has been defunct for quite some time. Librarians are more likely to be protecting civil liberties, promoting literacy, and guarding people's access to information than pursing their lips."
Yes! As a fan of not only libraries and librarians but also independent press and activism, I'll be eagerly watching this space for future columns from Ms. Maestretti.
found via MagicMommy
Gender Bias in Libraries?
I really enjoy reading things from the minority in our profession, the male librarian. In the January 15 issue of Library Journal, Adam Holland writes a Backtalk article titled Gender Bias in Libraries? He has some interesting things to say, but I also found the comments to be illuminating, especially Charles Carr's. (I'm a bit floored by his situation, to be honest.) Go forth and give it a read.
Are you a male librarian who's faced the sardonic smile? If you have a story to share, please do so in the comments.
Are you a male librarian who's faced the sardonic smile? If you have a story to share, please do so in the comments.
January 30, 2007
and wacky hijinks ensued...
so, I converted over to the new Blogger templates and promptly lost half my stuff *sigh* so I've rebuilt everything, and the blog should - if all really did go well - be back to what I wanted. Apologies for any strangeness if you were trying to view the blog this morning.
Have made no progress on the CMS installation because mySQL keeps yelling at me... I believe I've missed a simple step somewhere (it's always that random comma or semicolon that trips you up!) and I'm just not seeing it. I can't stare at it any more this morning, I'm ready to put a shoe through the monitor. Arrgh.
It's cold, and grey, and drizzly. Precipitation is good.
Have made no progress on the CMS installation because mySQL keeps yelling at me... I believe I've missed a simple step somewhere (it's always that random comma or semicolon that trips you up!) and I'm just not seeing it. I can't stare at it any more this morning, I'm ready to put a shoe through the monitor. Arrgh.
It's cold, and grey, and drizzly. Precipitation is good.
MacWorld Gets It
Macs & libraries together! In the January 22 issue of MacWorld, in an article titled "Find the good stuff fast", one of Sarah Milstein's recommendations is... us!
Use your local library
"A lot of the great stuff that lives on the Web is kept in places that normal search engines can’t find easily or at all. For specialized databases of newspaper and magazine articles (often including the articles’ full text), academic abstracts, and much more, try your local library’s Web site."
Read the whole article here.
Use your local library
"A lot of the great stuff that lives on the Web is kept in places that normal search engines can’t find easily or at all. For specialized databases of newspaper and magazine articles (often including the articles’ full text), academic abstracts, and much more, try your local library’s Web site."
Read the whole article here.
January 29, 2007
ILI Calls Out for Speakers
(For this one moment in time, I'm actually caught up on blogs! I know it'll only last for a minute or two, but it's a kinda nice feeling.)
Internet Librarian International has put out their Call for Speakers. Two of the suggested topics are web design and content management, so I'm tempted to put in an abstract for this conference and try for London instead of Monterey! Hmm...
With that in mind, I'm now off to install the first CMS on the webdev platform...
Internet Librarian International has put out their Call for Speakers. Two of the suggested topics are web design and content management, so I'm tempted to put in an abstract for this conference and try for London instead of Monterey! Hmm...
With that in mind, I'm now off to install the first CMS on the webdev platform...
January 26, 2007
Friday Fun
No real library-related posting here, folks, just some Friday afternoon fun with character generators:
Have a good weekend, everyone!
South Park Me, via South Park Studio
M&M Me, via Become an M&M
Have a good weekend, everyone!
January 24, 2007
When Libraries and Warcraft Collide
Richard Akerman, over at Science Library Pad, has photodocumented his World of Warcraft library quest. Being married to a huge WoW addict has brought with it a lot of appreciation for online games, and a deep conviction that I should never, ever, ever try out WoW - I know myself and I know it would just suck me right in! I'll continue to appreciate it through my hubby and great posts like Richard's. (The new expansion has some truly beautiful, if somewhat creepy, scenery!)
Things that Don't Happen Here
Apparently we should be on the lookout for flying pigs, because it snowed in Tucson this past Sunday night. If you ever want to see a truly amusing spectacle, watch Tucsonans if it ever snows again - we all become capering fools *grin*
January 19, 2007
LibraryThing is hiring!
LibraryThing is looking for a sysadmin/DBA. Oh, man, this would be SO cool. Pity I'm only a midlevel DBA and nowhere near Maine or I'd give this a try. (I bet they'd be nice in their rejection letter!)
Currently cold, grey, and raining. Yay for rain!
Currently cold, grey, and raining. Yay for rain!
The Sinus Cold of Satan...
...has had me pretty well pinned down for the last week, but I can see the light of humanity at the end of the tunnel, at long last. Expect more musings and babblings next week!
January 11, 2007
OS: The Upgrade
So, as part of the whole "let's install a CMS and see what it can do" process, I realized that my dev server was a bit out of date and needed a whole upgrade. I didn't realize this all at once, but over a couple of days of struggling to upgrade mySQL. Finally, it hit me like a Homer Simpson moment: D'oh! I was running CentOS 3, with the versions of mySQL and php (and everything else) that went with it. CentOS 5 is due out soon, so it was time to upgrade to 4.
As I type, the webdev system is churning away. As my first experience with upgrading an OS in this system, I have to say I'm impressed with the user-friendliness of the process. Of course, knowing which CD image to grab is a good first step *ha* but after that, it's a graphical process with handy little "What's going on now" information panels. (I like knowing what it's doing.) So, by CoB today, I should be (if all goes well, and I didn't just jinx it!) running CentOS 4 along with mySQL 4.1.20 and php 4.3.9. These will allow me to install the selected evaluation CMS applications and get on with it! (Plus, it gives us some needed insights into how the upgrade to the live server will go... although we're going to put that off a bit longer.)
w00t, as the kids say.
As I type, the webdev system is churning away. As my first experience with upgrading an OS in this system, I have to say I'm impressed with the user-friendliness of the process. Of course, knowing which CD image to grab is a good first step *ha* but after that, it's a graphical process with handy little "What's going on now" information panels. (I like knowing what it's doing.) So, by CoB today, I should be (if all goes well, and I didn't just jinx it!) running CentOS 4 along with mySQL 4.1.20 and php 4.3.9. These will allow me to install the selected evaluation CMS applications and get on with it! (Plus, it gives us some needed insights into how the upgrade to the live server will go... although we're going to put that off a bit longer.)
w00t, as the kids say.
January 9, 2007
Next Steps in the CMS Investigation
Well, I have to say, teh intarwebs r0ck! No, seriously, thanks to input from friends, fellow systems librarians, the syslib and web4lib lists, online forums, and the absoutely fabulous OpenSourceCMS site, I've narrowed the "what should we install for testbeds" list down to two web CMS applications and two wikis. The advancing apps are:
* Drupal
* WebGUI
* TWiki
* MediaWiki
My office walls are covered with comparison charts with lines, circles, stars, and arrows all over them, which I point at if someone comes in and asks what I'm up to. I'm also giving a talk Friday to our engineering team called "What's a CMS anyway, and why do we care?", hopefully the first step towards buy-in by my staff. We'll see how it goes.
Now that I've decided what to install and test, I have to upgrade the OS on the webdev server, so that'll be next up this week. Probably won't get to an actual installation before next week, but I'm looking forward to it!
* Drupal
* WebGUI
* TWiki
* MediaWiki
My office walls are covered with comparison charts with lines, circles, stars, and arrows all over them, which I point at if someone comes in and asks what I'm up to. I'm also giving a talk Friday to our engineering team called "What's a CMS anyway, and why do we care?", hopefully the first step towards buy-in by my staff. We'll see how it goes.
Now that I've decided what to install and test, I have to upgrade the OS on the webdev server, so that'll be next up this week. Probably won't get to an actual installation before next week, but I'm looking forward to it!
5 Things You Don't Know About Me
As usual, I'm late on the meme, but hey: it's my first meme since starting this blog!
1) I'm a military brat who spent my formative teenage years in the Benelux region of Europe. Until I got to college, I had never met anyone who'd never left the town they grew up in before. (I didn't think people like that were real!)
2) I went to college on an Air Force scholarship to study aerospace engineering.
3) I still have my tonsils.
4) I like disco. (OK, my husband knows - and deplores - this.)
5) I hate vi. (Long live emacs!)
It's currently 75° and sunny; a really beautiful day. However, they're forecasting a strong possibility of SNOW before the end of the week! If such a thing occurs, I will definitely capture an image for posterity.
1) I'm a military brat who spent my formative teenage years in the Benelux region of Europe. Until I got to college, I had never met anyone who'd never left the town they grew up in before. (I didn't think people like that were real!)
2) I went to college on an Air Force scholarship to study aerospace engineering.
3) I still have my tonsils.
4) I like disco. (OK, my husband knows - and deplores - this.)
5) I hate vi. (Long live emacs!)
It's currently 75° and sunny; a really beautiful day. However, they're forecasting a strong possibility of SNOW before the end of the week! If such a thing occurs, I will definitely capture an image for posterity.
January 4, 2007
University Place Library Rocks
A big shout-out to Tami and the other great librarians* at the University Place Library (part of the Pierce County Library system). They're doing amazing things in a former auto-parts store, and they're a kick to talk to. If you're in the area, stop in and say hello!
*yes, I mean all of you!
*yes, I mean all of you!
The Cycle Continues
Happy New Year, everyone!
Yes! US News & World Report has released its "Get-Ahead Careers of 2007", and one of the first ones mentioned is: (drum roll, please) Librarian!
Yes, folks, from being on last year's CareerBuilder unpopular jobs list, to this year's best careers. Ah, the sweet smell of success! (And a slight desire to go "neener neener", although at whom, I'm not quite sure.)
It's 70° and sunny. (Neener!)
Yes! US News & World Report has released its "Get-Ahead Careers of 2007", and one of the first ones mentioned is: (drum roll, please) Librarian!
Yes, folks, from being on last year's CareerBuilder unpopular jobs list, to this year's best careers. Ah, the sweet smell of success! (And a slight desire to go "neener neener", although at whom, I'm not quite sure.)
It's 70° and sunny. (Neener!)
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