Family Man Librarian

Below is a smattering of additional thoughts and comments from NASIG 2007:
Karen Schneider’s paranoia and negativity about things like Google, EPA library closings, survival of small press publishers. Her purpose as a vision speaker was to stimulate debate and thought and I think she succeeded in that. I may not agree with her [...]

The main reason I was able to go to NASIG this year was that Anne McKee, program officer for the Greater Western Library Alliance (apparently known as GWLA, pronounced “Gwilla”), kindly invited me to participate in a panel discussion about alternative library careers for serialists. I jumped at the chance to present with friends [...]

I was thinking lately about MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, and other social networking sites. There has been a lot of positive buzz about libraries carving out a foothold in these online spaces as a way to market themselves and to make themselves more accessible particularly to younger generations. This a.m. I saw another positive [...]

Last week I met face-to-face with the students who signed up for LIS578LE: Technical Services Functions at UIUC GSLIS. Overall it was a great time, including an informative meeting with librarians and staff who work in technical services areas at the Main Library at UIUC, followed by a guided tour. This invariably serves [...]

[Update: I forgot, dumb me, to link to the original post. Fixed.]
In a Slashdot posting read this a.m., entitled “Why Everyone Loves Apple,” I found some words that I think are very relevant to libraries, technology, debates about Library 2.0, Web 2.0, you name it. Here is the particular sentence I found to be so [...]

Only recently have I begun to read the T. Scott blog. It’s well worth the time. A recent posting describes the author’s experience attending his first meeting of the board of the Medical Library Association. In particular I just about cracked up over the following statement he made:
“Volunteer organizations are strange creatures. [...]

Readers of this blog may have noticed how little I have had to say lately about things relating to libraries. I’ve needed a break. Today is my first day back since December 16 and I am grateful for the amount of time I have off as a faculty member at my institution. [...]

Ever wish you had chosen a different profession? Ever feel burned out and feel like you’ve beaten your head against a brick wall one too many times? That’s how I’m currently feeling about librarianship in general and my job in particular. I’m just not that excited anymore about things; instead, I feel [...]

I have found that “when it rains, it pours.” Well, sometimes, anyway. We have had an appliance crisis lately, with the washing machine and dishwasher both down and out. After struggling with what we should do, pay for repairs or buy new, we decided yesterday afternoon to go ahead and buy a [...]

Today is a beautiful fall day here in Indiana. The leaves are turning brilliant colors, the temperature is around 70 degrees, and the sun is shining. Better yet, the kids — my hooligans — are all either asleep or calmly watching television. In other words, yes, I get an opportunity to write [...]