..are definitely future public library patrons. I can tell what is going on with them. There are kids that I see in here studying all the time, all the time.
Those same students are asking me for books to read over the break. They come in and browse the books for fun etc.
There is a kid at a table near my office who is here almost every day just flipping through the pages of our art books.
That’s part of why I like libraries so much, there are those types of bibliophiles and I get a glimpse into their passion.
I guess I like to read a lot too, would I hang out in a library all day if I wasn’t getting paid to?
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Death in Pembroke
Driving back and forth to work everyday in Pembroke NC is extremely dangerous.
Today as I was walking into Food Lion to pick up lunch and a woman drove by me through the parking lot at no less than 55mph, right in front of the store. I was literally shaken, I felt like if I had taken one more step forward without looking I would have been killed.
This is daily life in Pembroke NC, people drive terribly here. It may be poverty and lack of education; drug and alcohol abuse could be factors in the general disregard for safety. But I feel that this issue really needs to be addressed before I am involved in a tragic accident.
I called the state police and asked them about this. The unsafe driving issue is not important to them and the cop all in all disregarded my concern. My friend who I work with suggested I visit a Town Hall Meeting to voice my concern and I may do that.
I will say that in Charlotte, which is the largest city in North Carolina, people do not drive as bad as this.
Even if I am not being passed(while going 60mph) on a country road by senior citizens driving a pick up truck with a load of hay in it, it is still lack of regard for basic traffic rules. Use your turn signal to indicate which direction your vehicle is going, turn on your driving lights so people can see your gray car come over the hill, quit talking on your cellphone and pay attention to what you are doing!
I feel at risk every day I am here and I hope taking this job will not be the worst decision I have ever made.
Today as I was walking into Food Lion to pick up lunch and a woman drove by me through the parking lot at no less than 55mph, right in front of the store. I was literally shaken, I felt like if I had taken one more step forward without looking I would have been killed.
This is daily life in Pembroke NC, people drive terribly here. It may be poverty and lack of education; drug and alcohol abuse could be factors in the general disregard for safety. But I feel that this issue really needs to be addressed before I am involved in a tragic accident.
I called the state police and asked them about this. The unsafe driving issue is not important to them and the cop all in all disregarded my concern. My friend who I work with suggested I visit a Town Hall Meeting to voice my concern and I may do that.
I will say that in Charlotte, which is the largest city in North Carolina, people do not drive as bad as this.
Even if I am not being passed(while going 60mph) on a country road by senior citizens driving a pick up truck with a load of hay in it, it is still lack of regard for basic traffic rules. Use your turn signal to indicate which direction your vehicle is going, turn on your driving lights so people can see your gray car come over the hill, quit talking on your cellphone and pay attention to what you are doing!
I feel at risk every day I am here and I hope taking this job will not be the worst decision I have ever made.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Critical Mass and Democratic Society
I don't read the local entertainment rag in Charlotte because I became accustomed to the actually interesting and well written stories in the Village Voice. If I were familiar with Tara Servatius' writing I would have known that, in addition to hating the freedom of access to information that Libraries provide, she also does not care for cycling, she prefers pollution.
http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/the_cycling_epidemic/Content?oid=996069
That's funny that she doesn't like a critical mass blocking traffic to exercise their rights and express their opinions, so sorry Tara, but that that's the point of a critical mass!
http://times-up.org/index.php?page=critical-mass-what
Critical Mass is an event that began in San Francisco in the early 1990s and has since spread to hundreds of cities around the world. It usually occurs monthly (sometimes weekly). as bicyclists spontaneously come together to ride the ordinarily car-clogged streets of their cities. Critical Mass focuses on the rights of bicyclists and the rights of pedestrians on our own streets. It also brings attention to the deteriorating quality of life -- starting with the toxic levels of air and noise pollution -- that cars create for cities.
Bike lift at Critical Mass. It is a leaderless ride, free and open to all, where bicyclists take to the streets to promote bicycling as the best means of urban transit.
Bicyclists are just as much traffic and have just as much right to be on the roads and travel at their own speed as anyone else. Having said that, TIME'S UP! recommends all road users obey all New York City traffic laws, especially one-way street restrictions and traffic lights. Remember, the respect we seek as cyclists must be matched by our respect for the rights of other people, including pedestrians and drivers.
http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/the_cycling_epidemic/Content?oid=996069
That's funny that she doesn't like a critical mass blocking traffic to exercise their rights and express their opinions, so sorry Tara, but that that's the point of a critical mass!
http://times-up.org/index.php?page=critical-mass-what
Critical Mass is an event that began in San Francisco in the early 1990s and has since spread to hundreds of cities around the world. It usually occurs monthly (sometimes weekly). as bicyclists spontaneously come together to ride the ordinarily car-clogged streets of their cities. Critical Mass focuses on the rights of bicyclists and the rights of pedestrians on our own streets. It also brings attention to the deteriorating quality of life -- starting with the toxic levels of air and noise pollution -- that cars create for cities.
Bike lift at Critical Mass. It is a leaderless ride, free and open to all, where bicyclists take to the streets to promote bicycling as the best means of urban transit.
Bicyclists are just as much traffic and have just as much right to be on the roads and travel at their own speed as anyone else. Having said that, TIME'S UP! recommends all road users obey all New York City traffic laws, especially one-way street restrictions and traffic lights. Remember, the respect we seek as cyclists must be matched by our respect for the rights of other people, including pedestrians and drivers.
Do Journalists Really Need a Literate Readership?
Today in Charlotte local "journalist" or free-lance opinion columnist, whatever she is-Tara Servatius posted this gem of an article about the age old question of whether Libraries are still relevant? Isn't she darling?
http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/do_we_really_need_our_libraries_/Content?oid=1262028
Many people think that a several hundred dollar gadget such as an e-reader is affordable for all people. Even the children who used to get story-time 7 days/week at the many branches our fair cities public libraries, why don't they just buy an e-reader? Well you know what, even e-reader books cost something and your library card is a privilege granted to every citizen of Mecklenburg County. This is to keep knowledge and information accessible to everyone, because we want to live in a civilized society.
I don't usually read Creative Loafing, but if I did, I would know that Tara Servatius is a pain in the arse and is an elitist:
http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/the_cycling_epidemic/Content?oid=996069
That's funny that she doesn't like a critical mass blocking traffic to exercise their rights and express their opinions, so sorry Tara, but that that's the point of a critical mass!
Thanks for your hateful opinion Tara and thank you for disabling comments on your article. Free speech is no longer allowed either? There is a book in the Library titled 1984 by George Orwell, let's burn it this weekend?
This is an example of a post (by Amy Buris Shapiro) that was censored from the comments page of this article:
Libraries offer ...programming for adults and children. They serve as community meeting spaces. They provide a safety net for those who cannot afford home computers or Kindles. Our public libraries are striving to meet the challenges of the new reality of e-books by offering e-books for check out, just as libraries adapted to challenges to their niche by home computers and the internet.
Libraries in five years may not look the same as today, but they will continue to adapt, thrive and offer information to all citizens.
http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/do_we_really_need_our_libraries_/Content?oid=1262028
Many people think that a several hundred dollar gadget such as an e-reader is affordable for all people. Even the children who used to get story-time 7 days/week at the many branches our fair cities public libraries, why don't they just buy an e-reader? Well you know what, even e-reader books cost something and your library card is a privilege granted to every citizen of Mecklenburg County. This is to keep knowledge and information accessible to everyone, because we want to live in a civilized society.
I don't usually read Creative Loafing, but if I did, I would know that Tara Servatius is a pain in the arse and is an elitist:
http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/the_cycling_epidemic/Content?oid=996069
That's funny that she doesn't like a critical mass blocking traffic to exercise their rights and express their opinions, so sorry Tara, but that that's the point of a critical mass!
Thanks for your hateful opinion Tara and thank you for disabling comments on your article. Free speech is no longer allowed either? There is a book in the Library titled 1984 by George Orwell, let's burn it this weekend?
This is an example of a post (by Amy Buris Shapiro) that was censored from the comments page of this article:
Libraries offer ...programming for adults and children. They serve as community meeting spaces. They provide a safety net for those who cannot afford home computers or Kindles. Our public libraries are striving to meet the challenges of the new reality of e-books by offering e-books for check out, just as libraries adapted to challenges to their niche by home computers and the internet.
Libraries in five years may not look the same as today, but they will continue to adapt, thrive and offer information to all citizens.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Research on Library Telecommuting
I read several articles on telecommuting or working from home and these are the main reasons why university libraries should implement a policy on creating flexible working schedules that include telecommuting. This is the outline for the "Action Research" presentation I will deliver to my Organizational Behavior class this evening.
We already work from home. Our primary function is to serve the students, staff and community. Library services naturally must be very flexible, we work many evenings and weekends. When out of town or working at home for other reasons, we need to stay in touch remotely. Establishing a telecommuting policy will address this action already in practice.
Emergency Preparedness. In the event of pandemic illness, the Library should have in place a policy on telecommuting to address concerns of productivity and maintaining services. From Managing Information, 2009
Environmental Conservation. U.S. Telecommuters Save 840 Million Gallons Of Gas Per Year. In an attempt to be environmentally conscious, the Library should have a telecommuting policy in place to conserve natural resources and reduce traffic pollution. From the newsletter: Environmental and Energy Management News.
To increase productivity. There are times when a project is best worked on from home. To be completely undisturbed can be ideal for completion of certain work. From Computers in Libraries, 2004.
Quality of Life for employees will improve. There are many reasons why this could benefit employees and employers, but the overall quality of work should also improve when employees telecommute. For example: When attending a professional development training or conference, employees can be out of the office for several days. If possible, having a day at home following a few days out of the office will allow the employee to fully catch up on email and to hit the ground running upon return to the office.
The Library will continue to trail blaze. Other faculty departments already have telecommuting policies, some merely take it on a case by case basis. To adopt a formal method for making this work could be admired and copied by other university departments.
How to take action. Establish a team of Library faculty and staff to work on developing this policy. Have a trial of suggested methods of implementation. Determine whether this policy will work effectively.
We already work from home. Our primary function is to serve the students, staff and community. Library services naturally must be very flexible, we work many evenings and weekends. When out of town or working at home for other reasons, we need to stay in touch remotely. Establishing a telecommuting policy will address this action already in practice.
Emergency Preparedness. In the event of pandemic illness, the Library should have in place a policy on telecommuting to address concerns of productivity and maintaining services. From Managing Information, 2009
Environmental Conservation. U.S. Telecommuters Save 840 Million Gallons Of Gas Per Year. In an attempt to be environmentally conscious, the Library should have a telecommuting policy in place to conserve natural resources and reduce traffic pollution. From the newsletter: Environmental and Energy Management News.
To increase productivity. There are times when a project is best worked on from home. To be completely undisturbed can be ideal for completion of certain work. From Computers in Libraries, 2004.
Quality of Life for employees will improve. There are many reasons why this could benefit employees and employers, but the overall quality of work should also improve when employees telecommute. For example: When attending a professional development training or conference, employees can be out of the office for several days. If possible, having a day at home following a few days out of the office will allow the employee to fully catch up on email and to hit the ground running upon return to the office.
The Library will continue to trail blaze. Other faculty departments already have telecommuting policies, some merely take it on a case by case basis. To adopt a formal method for making this work could be admired and copied by other university departments.
How to take action. Establish a team of Library faculty and staff to work on developing this policy. Have a trial of suggested methods of implementation. Determine whether this policy will work effectively.
Friday, April 15, 2011
We are Not The Royals
In light of our beloved Kate and William, I am again thinking about how my boyfriend of three years and I will likely not be having a grand ceremony anytime soon. This is a mutual agreement, a bond if you will. We do not want children and we politely decline to make a legal commitment.
I feel comfortable in the agreement to be monogamous, respectful, supportive, best friends. What more could you ask for? If I was Prince William or Kate Middleton and had the entire world breathing down my neck, I might just bite the bullet. But that is very much a political transaction as much as it is a legal contract that settles a lot of material questions. I am pretty sure that if they were not getting married, they would continue to have the same fun, interesting relationship they have enjoyed for many years now.
In this research article titled: Are There Gains to Delaying Marriage? The Effect of Age at First Marriage on Career Development and Wages by Loughran, David; Zissimopoulos, Julie I read this statement, which applies to myself and many of my peers at this time: ...Using panel data methods that exploit longitudinal variation in wages and marriage timing, the authors estimate that delaying marriage increases hourly wages of women by nearly four percent for each year they delay. Marriage timing has no impact on the wages of men.
So really, I have more to lose than to gain by making a commitment at this time. If I wait until near death to actually "tie the legal knot," then I will make quite a lot more money! My boyfriend and I will be a lot happier if we can take more vacations on those extra earning$.
There is a lot of literature out there that has encouraged me to this path and I'm sure there are similar influences for him too, but it seems to me, smart people marry later if they do it at all. I've read The Second Sex, where Simone deBeauvoir essentially states that "marriage and motherhood is the end of the intellectual woman."
There are two more contemporary books that I need to read that address this topic: The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family by Dan Savage and Committed: A Love Story by Elizabeth Gilbert. For a summer project I will read both of these and submit my book report to the blog.
As far as public administration, I think towns, states and the fed need to consider this changing pattern of domestic partnership. There has to be a form of tax revenue that they are missing!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Anime and Manga Cosplay Festival at UNCP
On March 28, you may have seen some of your favorite Japanese anime and manga characters running around the University Center Annex area. You could have seen Yourichi from the manga novel Bleach, Kagome from Inu Yasha or even Claire Redfield from the popular video game and movie franchise Resident Evil.
The Mary Livermore Library has a large collection of Japanese Animation DVD's or "Anime" and also a growing collection of graphic novels that are also called manga. These items are not widely known, but those who enjoy them were thrilled to have this festival to celebrate them!
"Cosplay" focused on the costumes of the beloved characters in the books and movies; the word "Cosplay" itself is a mash up of the words "costume" and "play." I believe this word is appropriated from the science fiction conventions for which this has been happening for decades, think "trekkie."
To promote the libraries collections, to support literacy, to collaborate with many other departments on campus, namely The Asian Studies Minor, who hosted a speaker on April 7, we had this Anime and Manga Cosplay Fest!
The festival itself took place over the course of two and a half hours of singing, dancing, costume judging, video games, crafts, "Magic the Gathering." At the beginning of all this mirth, we reflected with a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the recent tragic earthquake in Japan. The Scotland County Chapter of the American Red Cross was on site to provide information and to collect donations for relief efforts.
The other related event is a lecture from Dr. Anne Allison, a Japanese cultural anthropologist at Duke University. Dr. Allison was brought to campus by Dr. Annika Culver, chairperson of the Asian History Minor. That lecture was followed by discussion and the next day celebrated with a "Cosplay Lunch" hosted by the Office of Multicultural and Minority Affairs.
The amazing promotional poster you may have seen around campus was designed by Margie Labadies ART 2500 class and is truly a work of art. It celebrates the tradition of manga style storytelling with panels featuring the Festival, the Digital Content Consortium (where I will present the promotional poster,) the lecture of Dr. Anne Allison and finally the Cosplay Lunch in the OMMA office.
The series of events in all was a great success; a product of the collaboration by many departments helped to better promote, compare notes, help each other in planning and will be utilized in the future for more campus collaborations. Many people need to be thanked for their volunteer time and donated materials: Dr. Kevin Freeman, Michael Alewine, Robert Arndt, Virgil Oxendine, Angela Carter, Jeremy Salzer, Mia Hawkins, Grant Merritt, The UNCP Book Store, Mighty J's Restaurant and Sodexo.
The Mary Livermore Library has a large collection of Japanese Animation DVD's or "Anime" and also a growing collection of graphic novels that are also called manga. These items are not widely known, but those who enjoy them were thrilled to have this festival to celebrate them!
"Cosplay" focused on the costumes of the beloved characters in the books and movies; the word "Cosplay" itself is a mash up of the words "costume" and "play." I believe this word is appropriated from the science fiction conventions for which this has been happening for decades, think "trekkie."
To promote the libraries collections, to support literacy, to collaborate with many other departments on campus, namely The Asian Studies Minor, who hosted a speaker on April 7, we had this Anime and Manga Cosplay Fest!
The festival itself took place over the course of two and a half hours of singing, dancing, costume judging, video games, crafts, "Magic the Gathering." At the beginning of all this mirth, we reflected with a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the recent tragic earthquake in Japan. The Scotland County Chapter of the American Red Cross was on site to provide information and to collect donations for relief efforts.
The other related event is a lecture from Dr. Anne Allison, a Japanese cultural anthropologist at Duke University. Dr. Allison was brought to campus by Dr. Annika Culver, chairperson of the Asian History Minor. That lecture was followed by discussion and the next day celebrated with a "Cosplay Lunch" hosted by the Office of Multicultural and Minority Affairs.
The amazing promotional poster you may have seen around campus was designed by Margie Labadies ART 2500 class and is truly a work of art. It celebrates the tradition of manga style storytelling with panels featuring the Festival, the Digital Content Consortium (where I will present the promotional poster,) the lecture of Dr. Anne Allison and finally the Cosplay Lunch in the OMMA office.
The series of events in all was a great success; a product of the collaboration by many departments helped to better promote, compare notes, help each other in planning and will be utilized in the future for more campus collaborations. Many people need to be thanked for their volunteer time and donated materials: Dr. Kevin Freeman, Michael Alewine, Robert Arndt, Virgil Oxendine, Angela Carter, Jeremy Salzer, Mia Hawkins, Grant Merritt, The UNCP Book Store, Mighty J's Restaurant and Sodexo.
Train Your Brain at the Mary Livermore Library
Libraries will always fit into that "third place" category for many people; first and second typically being home and work respectively. Third is somewhere like the bar or the gym or another favorite "other place to be." For many students the third place must be the university library, but a lot of people choose to make the place they enjoy spending their time the Library.
Typically, the Library is known to welcome self-study or group study; but there is another mode of self-improvement going on at the Mary Livermore Library that motivates students, staff and community member's alike to reach outside of the normal comfort zone and learn about something entirely new!
This program is called Train Your Brain and it is a new program provided by the myself, the instructional services librarian at the Mary Livermore Library of UNCP. My main job is to provide classroom instruction to classes to show them how to use the Library's resources. Other times I am allowed to be really creative and do something like this! So far the Train Your Brain program has had two GRE Preparation instruction sessions attended by UNCP students, staff and community members, the purpose of the one hour evening session was to provide basic information about preparing for the GRE, how to go about registering, study tips and introduction to the free resources available.
The feedback was excellent and the most frequent suggestion for improvement was to "have more like this." So I listened and there will be another Train Your Brain session on April 14 to recognize national "Money Smart Week," for which the topic will be educating people about investment resources such as titles by popular investment experts such as Suze Orman, exploring free government savings website guides, free online calculators and budgeting tools, plus introduction to free NC Live databases like the Morningstar Mutual Fund Database.
For the installment following that, we will have a series in May that covers basic computer training. There will be two rounds of Introduction to the Internet, Introduction to Microsoft Word and Introduction to Microsoft Excel. This series will begin in May, when most of our UNCP students are off campus, but who knows? Maybe the community will come visit us in full force? I certainly hope to see you there!
Typically, the Library is known to welcome self-study or group study; but there is another mode of self-improvement going on at the Mary Livermore Library that motivates students, staff and community member's alike to reach outside of the normal comfort zone and learn about something entirely new!
This program is called Train Your Brain and it is a new program provided by the myself, the instructional services librarian at the Mary Livermore Library of UNCP. My main job is to provide classroom instruction to classes to show them how to use the Library's resources. Other times I am allowed to be really creative and do something like this! So far the Train Your Brain program has had two GRE Preparation instruction sessions attended by UNCP students, staff and community members, the purpose of the one hour evening session was to provide basic information about preparing for the GRE, how to go about registering, study tips and introduction to the free resources available.
The feedback was excellent and the most frequent suggestion for improvement was to "have more like this." So I listened and there will be another Train Your Brain session on April 14 to recognize national "Money Smart Week," for which the topic will be educating people about investment resources such as titles by popular investment experts such as Suze Orman, exploring free government savings website guides, free online calculators and budgeting tools, plus introduction to free NC Live databases like the Morningstar Mutual Fund Database.
For the installment following that, we will have a series in May that covers basic computer training. There will be two rounds of Introduction to the Internet, Introduction to Microsoft Word and Introduction to Microsoft Excel. This series will begin in May, when most of our UNCP students are off campus, but who knows? Maybe the community will come visit us in full force? I certainly hope to see you there!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Great Literary Figures Impressions of Newspaper Reporting
Did you know that Emily Dickinson read newspapers from all over the world everyday? She sometimes responded to the topics she read about in her poems. She was looking for higher meaning in the news, which I think many of us can related to.
Dr. Mark Canada delivered a presentation at the Mary Livermore Library today that blew me away. He was presenting on his new publication titled: Literature and Journalism in Antebellum America: Thoreau, Stowe, and Their Contemporaries Respond to the Rise of the Commercial Press, To be released on April 12, 2011.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was also a "news junkie." Poe, Thoreau, Melville, all writers I enjoy, had strong love/hate feelings about the daily papers and the sensationalism of news. Dr. Canada told us a lot about this and I plan to read his book to find out more. There was no television at this time, so these great literary figures did not have the opportunity to be completely outside of society by not watching television, (like myself)-- but I question if they would watch television. Probably not! I'm giving myself a huge compliment here, but I tend to believe that Henry David Thoreau would not be watching "reality TV." I suspect he would be a rabid NPR listener!
James Fennimore Cooper sued newspapers over controversies. Herman Melville had a critique of newspapers within his great novel Moby Dick. Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe used news (such as hoaxes) to create fiction and science fiction.
What is the importance of news and news reporting then and today? How does this affect our literature and our society? Is there a zeitgeist related to new methods of social networking and will this bring in a new age of literature? I'm sure it will, but I would like to see the "science fiction" of it to know what it means to us.
Dr. Canada did address "What's Next" for journalism, I feel that the story is writing itself as we hold on to every gesture of Newt Gingrich as if it were really worth the time.
Dr. Mark Canada delivered a presentation at the Mary Livermore Library today that blew me away. He was presenting on his new publication titled: Literature and Journalism in Antebellum America: Thoreau, Stowe, and Their Contemporaries Respond to the Rise of the Commercial Press, To be released on April 12, 2011.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was also a "news junkie." Poe, Thoreau, Melville, all writers I enjoy, had strong love/hate feelings about the daily papers and the sensationalism of news. Dr. Canada told us a lot about this and I plan to read his book to find out more. There was no television at this time, so these great literary figures did not have the opportunity to be completely outside of society by not watching television, (like myself)-- but I question if they would watch television. Probably not! I'm giving myself a huge compliment here, but I tend to believe that Henry David Thoreau would not be watching "reality TV." I suspect he would be a rabid NPR listener!
James Fennimore Cooper sued newspapers over controversies. Herman Melville had a critique of newspapers within his great novel Moby Dick. Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe used news (such as hoaxes) to create fiction and science fiction.
What is the importance of news and news reporting then and today? How does this affect our literature and our society? Is there a zeitgeist related to new methods of social networking and will this bring in a new age of literature? I'm sure it will, but I would like to see the "science fiction" of it to know what it means to us.
Dr. Canada did address "What's Next" for journalism, I feel that the story is writing itself as we hold on to every gesture of Newt Gingrich as if it were really worth the time.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Disaster Planning in Literature
In Dr. Barbee's Organizational Behavior class we have discussed some of the ways that societies attempt to prevent, prepare for and contend with disasters. Ernest Hemingway had been witness to many traumatic scenes in his time as a war reporter in the First and Second World War and in the Spanish Civil War.
Hemingway's writing and adventure have always appealed to me, but this story in particular has made me wonder what Hemingway's idea of emergency preparedness was. This being a work of fiction, he is likely using the character to allude to many notions, I am thinking Hemingway feels that adventure leads to many unpredictable events, some tragic. His character seems to not have used good judgment on this particular incident, but does that show that he did not plan well on the whole?
The protagonist is dying due to a thorn scratch that he got on his knee that in the course of several weeks of hunting in Africa turned gangrenous and (spoiler alert!!) killed him.
In his last day he is reminiscing and speaking with his life partner about various aspects of "why did this happen to me?" They are at once speaking literally and figuratively, which appeals to me because I am somewhat philosophical and also interested in emergency preparedness.
Summarily- if the main character and his life partner/travel and hunting companion were truly prepared for an African adventure they would know to keep a wound such as this clean. He admitted that his thorn prick did not seem worth bothering much over when it happened, but it is the straw that broke the camel’s back. If they were taking all proper precautions they would have attended to this injury at the first. But as we see in the story he and his partner are serious alcoholics that make a lot of risky decisions and stumble around harming themselves and others. In planning for organizations and in personal decision making, you want the people who are in charge of travel plans, strategic plans and especially emergency plans to be someone who pays due attention to detail, such as treating a small wound and protecting it from infection.
This measure of planning and prevention is entirely necessary in all decision making and definitely needs to be a part of organizational emergency preparedness. Organizations that do not make long-term, strategic decisions are headed for inevitable decline. Hopefully decision makers will look at the all possibilities and look at the big picture when making decisions. Otherwise they could experience a fate such as the man in Hemingway's story dying early from a thorn puncture.
http://books.google.com/books?id=QjgiXnMHHtIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q&f=false
Friday, February 18, 2011
Dostoevsky and Kafka, friend of the people
Far from being an actual public servant, each of these famous literary figures have played some role in the zeitgeist of the working man. Dostoevsky and Kafka (Russian and Czech respectively) were the sons of upper middle class parents who were able to provide a basic education, which puts them each in a position to be hard-working middle class themselves.
The confused and tortured lives of these proletariat have always intrigued me, in addition to being existentialist fiction writers, they have a penchant to look out for the little guy. The primary contributions and explanations I have are:
1.) Dostoevsky's novella "Notes From the Underground" seems to grasp public servitude and the possible misanthropic feelings or malaise that would accompany retirement. He hit the nail on the head for me when I was 20 years old or so and working only part-time in a public library.
2.) As an insurance worker, Kafka did advocate for workers in some capacity. He is known to be the inventor of the contemporary hard hat, used on construction sites today.
I don't know of any other great authors who have made any impact to the workers of the world, I haven't been able to stomach Ayn Rand, but I get the idea that she has something to say about the political economy... There is a lot of reading left for me to do. Suggestions are appreciated!
The confused and tortured lives of these proletariat have always intrigued me, in addition to being existentialist fiction writers, they have a penchant to look out for the little guy. The primary contributions and explanations I have are:
1.) Dostoevsky's novella "Notes From the Underground" seems to grasp public servitude and the possible misanthropic feelings or malaise that would accompany retirement. He hit the nail on the head for me when I was 20 years old or so and working only part-time in a public library.
2.) As an insurance worker, Kafka did advocate for workers in some capacity. He is known to be the inventor of the contemporary hard hat, used on construction sites today.
I don't know of any other great authors who have made any impact to the workers of the world, I haven't been able to stomach Ayn Rand, but I get the idea that she has something to say about the political economy... There is a lot of reading left for me to do. Suggestions are appreciated!
Self-Reflection follow-up: feedback results
I chose to execute a feedback form instead of conducting 10 personal interviews or email requests. I sent the question out at 9p.m. last night and by 12noon today I had nine results, which is enough for me! They are quality responses to this very touchy subject.
I am bold enough to post the results here for your perusal, I'm putting it all out there! As if it really makes a difference, these are obviously the 9 nicest people I've worked with.
9 responses
Summary
What is Melanie like at her best?
She exhibits a postive can do attitude that brings up others around her.Energized, creative, fun to be around. Cheerful and energetic. Fresh, original, energetic. Melanie is very outgoing and personable. She is a good person to work with here at the Mary Livermore Library. She is thoughtful and attentive. She takes charge when needed.Melanie is very entusiastic. She always tries to assist patrons in whatever she in finding needed information. Fun. Customer comes first mentality. Always upbeat. She is enthusiastic and fun to work with
What are Melanie's strengths?
She is exceptionally service orientated and a valued team member.Practicality, creative thinking, personability, engaging. Enthusiasm!Her energy, her enthusiasm. Good communication skills Tries to get students to understand content Goes the "extra mile" to assist library patrons (including going with them to the stacks to locate materials)organization and thoughtfulness. Her enthusiasm for her work, her willingness to help people. Fantastic sense of humor. Very driven to help the customer. Open -minded. Willing to learn new things and is willing to ask for help if needed. She doesn't seem afraid to ...
How does Melanie communicate when at her best?
She communicates best when she is excited and motivated which is most of the time.Well, thoroughly Quickly...:)When she had an instructional tool, like I hand out or a brochure to go over She gives instant feedback. Slowly. Melanie has a tendency to talk too fast occasionally.By sending emails, by calling in person and telling you what she is doing.She is very approachable and extends help. Doesn't wait for questions at the reference desk, seeks out students to help - very proactive. She asks questions if she doesn't understand something
How does Melanie seize new opportunities and ideas when at her best?
She is very willing to try new things. In our library her outreach efforts would be the best example. Conciously and deliberately She is always looking for opportunities to connect the Library with the students and the community at large.She jumps at the chance to network and share information I can't answer this question. She begins new endeavors and plans for them. She asks for the opinions and critiques of coworkers.She goes forward, reaching out to be the best she can be.Is open to new ideas but a bit reluctant to dive into new technologies.She tries it out and shares with others how it wen...
When faced with adversity, how can you expect Melanie to react?
She is very calm and focused. She handles stress well.with determination and a smile. Usually calm if she feels confident - sometimes harried, but that happens to us all from time to time.Be quiet at first,Don't know.I think she will rise to the challenge.I expect Melanie to look at her situation and see how she can move forward to make things better in the long run.Will always offer options and new ways to solve problems. Very positive.
Given a problem-solving challenge, will Melanie perform to a level that benefits the organization?
Absolutely.Yes. I believe so. She has only been here since summer, but from what I have seen, she is willing to analyze problems and come up with solutions and is accepting of the solutions of others.Yes I think that Melanie values the importance of libraries and will do what it takes to make sure the organization as a whole succeeds.yes. If needed she will ask for assistance.I think Melanie would perform at a level that benefits the organization.Yes, she is willing to work with others and is very open to new ideas and ways to solve issues.
Can Melanie be relied on?
Consistently Absolutely. Yes.Yes Yes.Yes Melanie is very reliable. Yes. yes
How does Melanie work with and help others when at her best?
She is patient and upbeat She is always willing to help She is a team player. She doesn't feel that she has to be in the limelight. I like that about her.She brings knowledge and energy to projects From what I've observed, Melanie works closely with students to make certain that they succeed. She also works closely with faculty to ensure that they get the bibliographic instruction classes that they request. Melanie works well with others.She offers her opinions and listens to what other have to say.She takes time to assess a situation and will then work through things. She will work with people ...
Is Melanie a team player?
Absolutely. We miss her!Yes See above, but yes. I really like the look of this survey. I need you to show me how you created the banner. Hope this helps. Michael.Yes I believe so.Yes Yes, Melanie is willing to help others on the team Yes, with good directions given. yes
I am bold enough to post the results here for your perusal, I'm putting it all out there! As if it really makes a difference, these are obviously the 9 nicest people I've worked with.
9 responses
Summary
What is Melanie like at her best?
She exhibits a postive can do attitude that brings up others around her.Energized, creative, fun to be around. Cheerful and energetic. Fresh, original, energetic. Melanie is very outgoing and personable. She is a good person to work with here at the Mary Livermore Library. She is thoughtful and attentive. She takes charge when needed.Melanie is very entusiastic. She always tries to assist patrons in whatever she in finding needed information. Fun. Customer comes first mentality. Always upbeat. She is enthusiastic and fun to work with
What are Melanie's strengths?
She is exceptionally service orientated and a valued team member.Practicality, creative thinking, personability, engaging. Enthusiasm!Her energy, her enthusiasm. Good communication skills Tries to get students to understand content Goes the "extra mile" to assist library patrons (including going with them to the stacks to locate materials)organization and thoughtfulness. Her enthusiasm for her work, her willingness to help people. Fantastic sense of humor. Very driven to help the customer. Open -minded. Willing to learn new things and is willing to ask for help if needed. She doesn't seem afraid to ...
How does Melanie communicate when at her best?
She communicates best when she is excited and motivated which is most of the time.Well, thoroughly Quickly...:)When she had an instructional tool, like I hand out or a brochure to go over She gives instant feedback. Slowly. Melanie has a tendency to talk too fast occasionally.By sending emails, by calling in person and telling you what she is doing.She is very approachable and extends help. Doesn't wait for questions at the reference desk, seeks out students to help - very proactive. She asks questions if she doesn't understand something
How does Melanie seize new opportunities and ideas when at her best?
She is very willing to try new things. In our library her outreach efforts would be the best example. Conciously and deliberately She is always looking for opportunities to connect the Library with the students and the community at large.She jumps at the chance to network and share information I can't answer this question. She begins new endeavors and plans for them. She asks for the opinions and critiques of coworkers.She goes forward, reaching out to be the best she can be.Is open to new ideas but a bit reluctant to dive into new technologies.She tries it out and shares with others how it wen...
When faced with adversity, how can you expect Melanie to react?
She is very calm and focused. She handles stress well.with determination and a smile. Usually calm if she feels confident - sometimes harried, but that happens to us all from time to time.Be quiet at first,Don't know.I think she will rise to the challenge.I expect Melanie to look at her situation and see how she can move forward to make things better in the long run.Will always offer options and new ways to solve problems. Very positive.
Given a problem-solving challenge, will Melanie perform to a level that benefits the organization?
Absolutely.Yes. I believe so. She has only been here since summer, but from what I have seen, she is willing to analyze problems and come up with solutions and is accepting of the solutions of others.Yes I think that Melanie values the importance of libraries and will do what it takes to make sure the organization as a whole succeeds.yes. If needed she will ask for assistance.I think Melanie would perform at a level that benefits the organization.Yes, she is willing to work with others and is very open to new ideas and ways to solve issues.
Can Melanie be relied on?
Consistently Absolutely. Yes.Yes Yes.Yes Melanie is very reliable. Yes. yes
How does Melanie work with and help others when at her best?
She is patient and upbeat She is always willing to help She is a team player. She doesn't feel that she has to be in the limelight. I like that about her.She brings knowledge and energy to projects From what I've observed, Melanie works closely with students to make certain that they succeed. She also works closely with faculty to ensure that they get the bibliographic instruction classes that they request. Melanie works well with others.She offers her opinions and listens to what other have to say.She takes time to assess a situation and will then work through things. She will work with people ...
Is Melanie a team player?
Absolutely. We miss her!Yes See above, but yes. I really like the look of this survey. I need you to show me how you created the banner. Hope this helps. Michael.Yes I believe so.Yes Yes, Melanie is willing to help others on the team Yes, with good directions given. yes
Monday, February 14, 2011
Library Zombie Policy
I had a long, feverish illness last week that allowed me to have a dream that addresses a policy that most libraries have not yet covered. With the Library Bill of Rights under consideration (see ALA: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/index.cfm)Namely, Part I Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves... And Part III A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
I'm talking about zombies here, but you get the idea. Probably because I felt terrible myself and was too ill to go to work for 3 days I felt some compassion for a person who has fallen victim to the flu or even a brain altering craving for human flesh, either way, the librarian must serve the community and the information needs therein.
Probably because I loved Zombieland, I created some rules and policies of my own, in my dream. Any patron will need to stand 3 feet away from the librarian during the reference interview. If the person, zombie or not steps toward the librarian, the librarian stops, raises her hand and announces that the boundary is being crossed. If the patron persists in the invasion of space, then a warning dart is administered. If the patron is clearly out of control, AKA a Zombie, then there is a gruesome procedure required. I will leave this to the policy manual writers for detailing, but let's just say that Game-Over Graham probably addresses this in his book "The Black-belt Librarian."
Feel free to use this policy, or a version of it in your next revision of a library policy manual. I hope you don't need it, but you never know.
I'm talking about zombies here, but you get the idea. Probably because I felt terrible myself and was too ill to go to work for 3 days I felt some compassion for a person who has fallen victim to the flu or even a brain altering craving for human flesh, either way, the librarian must serve the community and the information needs therein.
Probably because I loved Zombieland, I created some rules and policies of my own, in my dream. Any patron will need to stand 3 feet away from the librarian during the reference interview. If the person, zombie or not steps toward the librarian, the librarian stops, raises her hand and announces that the boundary is being crossed. If the patron persists in the invasion of space, then a warning dart is administered. If the patron is clearly out of control, AKA a Zombie, then there is a gruesome procedure required. I will leave this to the policy manual writers for detailing, but let's just say that Game-Over Graham probably addresses this in his book "The Black-belt Librarian."
Feel free to use this policy, or a version of it in your next revision of a library policy manual. I hope you don't need it, but you never know.
Reflecting on Self-Assessment
In the Organizational Behavior class I am taking right now, we are talking a lot about "reflection." Using reflection to gauge the success or shortcomings of an event, performance or other job related activity is very helpful to coming to the best possible outcome. We have studied this in a case study of a woman who was dealing with some really large problems in the NYC juvenile justice system. I have also experienced this in real life. Of course, when you have a problem, mulling it over is a great way to work out the kinks. Even if the work issue isn't a "problem" per se, reflecting is a great way to ensure the best outcome in a scenario, to minimize risks and to avoid "decision debacles" as it is phrased in our textbook.
I have been using reflection or journaling for a long time now, I don't know that I would have made it out of my teens without it. Using self-reflection to monitor growth and changes in behavior or environment is a great way to get ideas out and to come back to look at them later. Professional reflection is kind of new to me, but I realize that we all practice it everyday, when you consult with a colleague, when you ask for the advice of a mentor-figure, when you call your mom on the phone and run a work-scenario by her for an outside opinion.
Of course all of these are biased in their own way and it is really difficult to push away the bias that we have in ourselves and that held by the others around us. What we have read about in our text book, "Managing Human Behavior in Non-Profit Organizations by Denhardt, Denhardt and Aristigueta is that to be a productive civil servant, especially a leader, one needs to be self-reflective everyday and know ourselves well enough to be a good judge of how our reactions effect others, how we are perceived and we perceive ourselves.
To begin on this self-reflective journey, in the second chapter of our book, we completed several personal assessments, the results of which can be interpreted and used in various ways to figure out what we need to know about ourselves, so we better understand our roles in our organizations. Here is a list of the 5 different assessments we took:
* Reddin's Personal Values Inventory
* Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO)- Behavior
* Locus of Control
* Career Orientation Inventory
* Emotional Intelligence
These are all related to our wants and needs in our careers and personal lives. I always knew that I was more of a nurturer, but these quizzes have really revealed to me that I am not a hard-nosed manager type, which is just fine with me, that is not why I'm enrolled in the MPA program. In fact, it always amazes me that power-hungry people want to run a library, there doesn't seem to be very much gratification in that, but perhaps it is satisfying to push around book worms? I digress.
A lot of these outcomes are open to some interpretation, but they are based in scientific psychological methods, so they should be a fairly useful guide. Many people do rely on this self-reflective information for decision-making.
Here is my one-line summary for each test:
* I am human oriented, rather than power, achievement, industry or financially oriented.
* For FIRO, I scored a 14 for wanting to be included, I scored a 2 for wanting control, I scored an 11 for wanting affection. There you have it!
* I have an internal locus of control, meaning if I did not do well on an exam I do not say "the poor grade on the exam was the result of the teacher not explaining the material." I would fully take responsibility for my grade.
* Career Orientation: Highest score in SV and EC.
* I stay in control when under attack.
This is great stuff, but it is a little biased because it is my own self-reflection. The really neat thing about this class is that our first big assignment is to send a survey to our current and former colleagues to ask them what they think about the same aspects of our personalities. Dr. Barbee is having us ask the questions in a "positivist" manner, but you never know what kind of responses we will get?
I'm very interested to see the results! Though I haven't refined the quiz yet, I want to keep it short and sweet, but it may be too short. Here are the questions that I will post to the blackboard site to see if my classmates can help me work out the questions.
The purpose of this brief, six question, survey of my professional colleagues is to compliment a self-assessment study for a course in the UNC Pembroke Master of Public Administration Program titled "Organizational Behavior."
If you know of any other colleagues that can speak to the questions below, do not hesitate to send this survey to them.
Please try to remain anonymous, if possible; but please also try to be as candid as possible, providing detail. Accuracy is more important to the results than anonymity.
1. What is Melanie like at her best?
2. What are Melanie's strengths?
3. When faced with adversity, how can you expect Melanie to react?
4. Given a problem-solving challenge, will Melanie perform to a level that benefits the organization?
5. Can Melanie be relied on?
6. Is Melanie a team-player?
I will report in on another journal entry when I get some survey results in and begin writing my self-reflective paper!
I have been using reflection or journaling for a long time now, I don't know that I would have made it out of my teens without it. Using self-reflection to monitor growth and changes in behavior or environment is a great way to get ideas out and to come back to look at them later. Professional reflection is kind of new to me, but I realize that we all practice it everyday, when you consult with a colleague, when you ask for the advice of a mentor-figure, when you call your mom on the phone and run a work-scenario by her for an outside opinion.
Of course all of these are biased in their own way and it is really difficult to push away the bias that we have in ourselves and that held by the others around us. What we have read about in our text book, "Managing Human Behavior in Non-Profit Organizations by Denhardt, Denhardt and Aristigueta is that to be a productive civil servant, especially a leader, one needs to be self-reflective everyday and know ourselves well enough to be a good judge of how our reactions effect others, how we are perceived and we perceive ourselves.
To begin on this self-reflective journey, in the second chapter of our book, we completed several personal assessments, the results of which can be interpreted and used in various ways to figure out what we need to know about ourselves, so we better understand our roles in our organizations. Here is a list of the 5 different assessments we took:
* Reddin's Personal Values Inventory
* Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO)- Behavior
* Locus of Control
* Career Orientation Inventory
* Emotional Intelligence
These are all related to our wants and needs in our careers and personal lives. I always knew that I was more of a nurturer, but these quizzes have really revealed to me that I am not a hard-nosed manager type, which is just fine with me, that is not why I'm enrolled in the MPA program. In fact, it always amazes me that power-hungry people want to run a library, there doesn't seem to be very much gratification in that, but perhaps it is satisfying to push around book worms? I digress.
A lot of these outcomes are open to some interpretation, but they are based in scientific psychological methods, so they should be a fairly useful guide. Many people do rely on this self-reflective information for decision-making.
Here is my one-line summary for each test:
* I am human oriented, rather than power, achievement, industry or financially oriented.
* For FIRO, I scored a 14 for wanting to be included, I scored a 2 for wanting control, I scored an 11 for wanting affection. There you have it!
* I have an internal locus of control, meaning if I did not do well on an exam I do not say "the poor grade on the exam was the result of the teacher not explaining the material." I would fully take responsibility for my grade.
* Career Orientation: Highest score in SV and EC.
* I stay in control when under attack.
This is great stuff, but it is a little biased because it is my own self-reflection. The really neat thing about this class is that our first big assignment is to send a survey to our current and former colleagues to ask them what they think about the same aspects of our personalities. Dr. Barbee is having us ask the questions in a "positivist" manner, but you never know what kind of responses we will get?
I'm very interested to see the results! Though I haven't refined the quiz yet, I want to keep it short and sweet, but it may be too short. Here are the questions that I will post to the blackboard site to see if my classmates can help me work out the questions.
The purpose of this brief, six question, survey of my professional colleagues is to compliment a self-assessment study for a course in the UNC Pembroke Master of Public Administration Program titled "Organizational Behavior."
If you know of any other colleagues that can speak to the questions below, do not hesitate to send this survey to them.
Please try to remain anonymous, if possible; but please also try to be as candid as possible, providing detail. Accuracy is more important to the results than anonymity.
1. What is Melanie like at her best?
2. What are Melanie's strengths?
3. When faced with adversity, how can you expect Melanie to react?
4. Given a problem-solving challenge, will Melanie perform to a level that benefits the organization?
5. Can Melanie be relied on?
6. Is Melanie a team-player?
I will report in on another journal entry when I get some survey results in and begin writing my self-reflective paper!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Academic Library Autopsy Report, 2050
This article has raised some controversy:
http://chronicle.com/article/Academic-Library-Autopsy/125767/
Brian T. Sullivan is a librarian at Alfred State University in NY, not far from where I grew up by the way. This article is a fussy, worrying, hand-wringing view of students need for "us," the librarians. It sounds like a person with low-self esteem asking "do you really like me?" The answer is, they usually don't even notice you. Right? But they like you when you give them what they need, just like anyone else. You like a waitress when they bring you the food you ordered, only they may do it in a more charming manner.
I love snarky explorations into thoughtful topics, but his 6 points about libraries no longer being the sweetheart of the university is just searching for compliments. Some of these points are valid concerns, but his sixth point invalidated the entire argument in my opinion. He's saying, I'm paraphrasing, "yes, we do all this well, but the bottom line is money and not enough students use the library to justify the cost." Yes, libraries are expensive, but who would go to a college that didn't have a library? We will always be the "third place," if you will. Not just a big building to sit in between classes, that happens to have books. But if you go on a college tour, even 20 years from now, there is going to be a certain amount of questions about why there isn't a "Resource Center" or "Learning Commons." The terminology for where the information is housed can change, but people still know where the haven is, it's in the big building that is incomprehensible even to many of the the professors who teach here.
If you go into a library, you may or may not care who is lurking in the corner waiting to be at your service, but you know that they are there. Whether it is a cranky senior citizen or a too-cool-for-the-library hipster, someone who works in the library will help you find a book or an article or even something on the internet. Our internet is better than your phone, because we have been searching for things longer. We even know about the fancy parts of Google right? Did you know about Google.com/unclesam? This is the part of Google that will search just .gov or .mil sites and has a lot of amazing information such as free medical information or economic statistics that could help your business.
We will also help you with a lot of technical aspects of whatever device you are using, whether it is an Ipad that you checked out from the circulation desk or your own laptop with the very easy to use ; ) recent release of BlackBoard... The librarian will be that person who helps you out with something or will at least listen to you gripe about what is happening in your research endeavors, even if it something we cannot resolve.
In addition to formal, classroom style instruction on how to use this vast body of resources, newly available right at your fingertips, we will help you analyze the materials and put together a fairly readable paper. I have pointed many students to something that looked great, but then it just didn't fit with what the professor was asking for in the assignment. Finding exactly the right articles has been tough for me many times and I have many many years experience using these materials. I will admit, I cannot see a time in the near or distant future when a new student jumps right in and has no fear in conducting their research.
Sullivan states.
I will admit, I'm really not too worried about databases becoming so intuitive and easy to use that people no longer need us, even in 2050. The way things are now, I feel like perhaps 10% of students, at best, know how to conduct scholarly research. I could only hope those ridiculous database vendors DO get their act together. When they do, the database will need a "read my mind" feature, because it really seems like half the battle is convincing a student that peer-reviewed and published articles are somewhat more useful in your paper than something off the internet, like a dumb blog post. Students still don't always read the articles or have an understanding about the importance of what this research is for them, so maybe in 3050, people who work in libraries need to be worried.
I even do readers advisory still; this is very exciting, sometimes students do something called "leisure reading." This is when the student either has enough time to read something out of the curriculum or they have just had enough of the subject they think about all day long and need a good book to unwind. Books are TV to some people, a way to decompress. At the Mary Livermore Library we have a collection of several thousand digital books available for download through a consortium that provides us with access to these--- many people use this for work and fun. The most recent non-course-related readers advisory was to a new student browsing the collection who used to work the Kindle helpdesk at Amazon. She still knows where to go to get the good stuff! Either way, we can usually help you find what you need in print or electronic format, for work or for pleasure; the resourceful people will still be hanging out with us here in the Library in 2050.
http://chronicle.com/article/Academic-Library-Autopsy/125767/
Brian T. Sullivan is a librarian at Alfred State University in NY, not far from where I grew up by the way. This article is a fussy, worrying, hand-wringing view of students need for "us," the librarians. It sounds like a person with low-self esteem asking "do you really like me?" The answer is, they usually don't even notice you. Right? But they like you when you give them what they need, just like anyone else. You like a waitress when they bring you the food you ordered, only they may do it in a more charming manner.
I love snarky explorations into thoughtful topics, but his 6 points about libraries no longer being the sweetheart of the university is just searching for compliments. Some of these points are valid concerns, but his sixth point invalidated the entire argument in my opinion. He's saying, I'm paraphrasing, "yes, we do all this well, but the bottom line is money and not enough students use the library to justify the cost." Yes, libraries are expensive, but who would go to a college that didn't have a library? We will always be the "third place," if you will. Not just a big building to sit in between classes, that happens to have books. But if you go on a college tour, even 20 years from now, there is going to be a certain amount of questions about why there isn't a "Resource Center" or "Learning Commons." The terminology for where the information is housed can change, but people still know where the haven is, it's in the big building that is incomprehensible even to many of the the professors who teach here.
If you go into a library, you may or may not care who is lurking in the corner waiting to be at your service, but you know that they are there. Whether it is a cranky senior citizen or a too-cool-for-the-library hipster, someone who works in the library will help you find a book or an article or even something on the internet. Our internet is better than your phone, because we have been searching for things longer. We even know about the fancy parts of Google right? Did you know about Google.com/unclesam? This is the part of Google that will search just .gov or .mil sites and has a lot of amazing information such as free medical information or economic statistics that could help your business.
We will also help you with a lot of technical aspects of whatever device you are using, whether it is an Ipad that you checked out from the circulation desk or your own laptop with the very easy to use ; ) recent release of BlackBoard... The librarian will be that person who helps you out with something or will at least listen to you gripe about what is happening in your research endeavors, even if it something we cannot resolve.
In addition to formal, classroom style instruction on how to use this vast body of resources, newly available right at your fingertips, we will help you analyze the materials and put together a fairly readable paper. I have pointed many students to something that looked great, but then it just didn't fit with what the professor was asking for in the assignment. Finding exactly the right articles has been tough for me many times and I have many many years experience using these materials. I will admit, I cannot see a time in the near or distant future when a new student jumps right in and has no fear in conducting their research.
Sullivan states.
I will admit, I'm really not too worried about databases becoming so intuitive and easy to use that people no longer need us, even in 2050. The way things are now, I feel like perhaps 10% of students, at best, know how to conduct scholarly research. I could only hope those ridiculous database vendors DO get their act together. When they do, the database will need a "read my mind" feature, because it really seems like half the battle is convincing a student that peer-reviewed and published articles are somewhat more useful in your paper than something off the internet, like a dumb blog post. Students still don't always read the articles or have an understanding about the importance of what this research is for them, so maybe in 3050, people who work in libraries need to be worried.
I even do readers advisory still; this is very exciting, sometimes students do something called "leisure reading." This is when the student either has enough time to read something out of the curriculum or they have just had enough of the subject they think about all day long and need a good book to unwind. Books are TV to some people, a way to decompress. At the Mary Livermore Library we have a collection of several thousand digital books available for download through a consortium that provides us with access to these--- many people use this for work and fun. The most recent non-course-related readers advisory was to a new student browsing the collection who used to work the Kindle helpdesk at Amazon. She still knows where to go to get the good stuff! Either way, we can usually help you find what you need in print or electronic format, for work or for pleasure; the resourceful people will still be hanging out with us here in the Library in 2050.
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