Guardienne of the Tomes

Innovative Interfaces (known in LibraryLand as III) and SkyRiver are suing OCLC under anti-trust laws. You can read the full complaint here , and I recommend you do so. It's not an awfully long read, but it certainly is enlightening. K.G. Schneider addressed it so well, you should read her blog post about the situation, which gets right to the heart of what makes this complaint stink. At the risk of being a Ranty McRantypants, I would like to note that if you read the suit, III & SkyRiver are complaining that OCLC's innovation hurts them. Which is fascinating, since librarians have been *begging* III and other traditional ILS vendors to innovate - and making recommendations on how they could do so to fit our changing workflows and services - for decades. Now that they've found themselves behind the curve they want free access to what librarians & OCLC have built over decades. Full disclosure: if you've read my blog, you know that my library's a development...

In an interesting (and long-awaited) move by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (unaffectionately known as T-HEC), Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that "state universities and colleges will no longer be rewarded for just getting students in the door and will be forced to improve student outcomes if they want state support". In effect, what this means to me is that front-loading the university with unsuspecting and ill-prepared students to meet enrollment goals (and, by extension, funding goals), will hopefully no longer be common practice. The law will likely produce some serious challenges, but it also offers a number of benefits compared to the current system. First, another quote from the Chattanooga Times Free Press article on how the funding model impacts UTC: "Twenty-five percent of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s future funding will be linked to the number of bachelor degrees produced. Another 10 percent will be tied to both the six-year...

Library Journal has picked up UTC's early adoption of the OCLC WMS. (As a fun aside, they also linked to both my & griffey's initial posts on the topic, which made me smile.) We are going like gangbusters, with our ILS administrator running on popcorn and donuts as she does dark-hoodoo data munging, Griffey managing various aspects of this enormous project, various smaller area-driven implementation teams handling their business/planning and reporting out both to the larger implementation team and the library at large, cleaning data, and more. I've been able to get my hands - or, more accurately, brain - into some areas I've never fiddled with before. Circ and lending policy matrices for the wireframe; not only which patron records we actually want to move over, but which *parts* of the records, and trying to standardize freeform notes; dealing with home locations, shelving locations, temp locations, and more; trying to reduce the number of patron-types we have; t...

Oh, yes. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's library is implementing the OCLC Webscale Management System, and if all goes according to plan, we will have it up and running in 30 days. You read that right. My library team is implementing a full-scale, whole-hog library system migration to a heretofore unknown system. We’re making The Big Jump. We’re going to live in the cloud (it’s okay, we promise to write). We are divorcing the traditional ILS, taking the kids, and striking out on our own. We are stepping into the future. And we’re doing it in a grand total of... thirty days. Our Library has been batting around an ILS migration for years. We looked at the various vendors and decided that while our current workflows would likely conform just fine to another traditional ILS, it wouldn’t really be changing anything. We’d just get something similar that actually, most of the time, hopefully, would work, and with (again, hopefully) better response to service calls. There wer...

Taking hysterical advantage of Old Spice's invitation for twitter queries (capitalizing on their recent hit commercial ), Andy Woodworth jumped on the internet meme, rallied the Library Twitterati, and asked the Old Spice guy to say something about libraries. And don'tcha know...he did. And it is The Big Awesome. It is impossible for me to see that video without laughing. Andy himself posts about the reaction to the video, about how it got tossed around the internet like a giant beach ball by librarians, library fans, amused writers, and any number of other folks. It was fun to watch. It was fun to be included - it reminded me a lot of how we used to be able to send our names into the Romper Room show, and at the end, the lady would look into her magic mirror and names some kids she could see. It was always exciting to sit and hope she might say my name. This worked the same way - Old Spice certainly couldn't catch the tons of requests they received, but the fact that t...

Today I came home later than usual from work with my brain whirring with ideas, making notes about things to remember to send out to my department and to ask the Keepers of the Data. I absentmindedly microwaved and ate a quick dinner that tasted like a tired gym sock because I was busy churning at a Google doc of things to jump on tomorrow, or Friday, or next week, depending on the project. I did NOT: stressbarf, bake and eat a stresscake, search for new jobs, or generally feel ill about my place in the world. I DID: get excited about my work, get focused on my users, think about the impact of upcoming work on my staff, think about connecting services in new ways, and become excited that I have smart, dedicated colleagues to share this experience with. And tonight while discussing work with a close friend and fellow librarian, I had a striking moment of this is why I do what I do . Because I love it. Because I am *good* at it. Because given the right mix of colleagues, resources, and c...

It is a hell of a thing to get to work with people who love their jobs, truly believe in the mission of their organization, and strive to exemplify service. If you're very, very lucky, know your Ranganathan and read your Arlene Taylor diligently, and do your weeding with one eye on your collection development policy like a good librarian, some of these those people live in your IT department. Sometimes we don't know how lucky we are until things break. I am very, very lucky. It is even more of a hell of a thing to work with people (*cough* Griffey *cough*) who face technological failure (oh, server migration and client update, ye bitches!) with grace, communicating issues and plans for fixes for an essential library service. Add to this that whatever failures are occurring are not within his power to control or fix. And he *still* hasn't kicked or smacked me for occasionally giving him the Query Eyebrow in an attempt to ask what's going on without nagging. So yes, tod...

The Entertainment Software Rating Board likely received hundreds, if not thousands of emails regarding the recent talk of Blizzard implementing Real ID , and the discovery that friends of friends could see your real identity whether you had approved them or not (among other concerns). As a former WoW geek (with aspirations of returning), I saw both sides of this argument - how a good implementation could reduce trolling, but also how it could compromise folks who strongly prefer (and in some cases, need) to keep their online and IRL identities separate. I added my voice to the chorus with an email to the ESRB cautioning them to take a good look at the proposed implementation to ensure fairness and that important parts of privacy were maintained while increasing transparency to improve gameplay and forums. The ESRB sent me a nice canned response, which I (correctly) assumed was due to the volume of contact they had about this one issue. Unfortunately, the privacy watchdog...forgot to us...

My parents were married for 26 years. That entire time, if you opened our medicine cabinet, you'd find two tubes of toothpaste. My dad was an Aquafresh or die man, and Mom was a Colgate consumer. Never the twain shall meet, and over 3 decades of knowing each other, and two and a half of living together, neither would compromise on their preferred brand of toothpaste. It seems bizarre, but as I get older I notice this about myself, as well. I use one brand of toothpaste (to be fair, I tried one or two others, particularly as a broke college student, but wasn't happy.) Until last week, I've used one brand of soap for the past thirteen years. When I think about it, other than with family, I haven't had a significant relationship with a HUMAN that lasted so long. The only reason I swapped soap was because my last visit with my mother, I noticed she was traveling with a new brand, and I had forgotten to pack my own. And so, in a random hotel shower, I used her soap. And fell...

May was a light reading month, given the move and starting the new job. I'm planning to get back on the wagon for June. I've got a number of creative nonfiction books (both CNF and how-to-write CNF), there are some poetry collections I want to read, and I really need to start chipping away at my copy of Shahnameh, which has lain idle on my nightstand. In any case, Books read in May 2010: Marked by Elisabeth McNaughton Brazen Temptress by Elizabeth Boyle Ransom by Julie Garwood Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil by Barbara Monajem Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell Sweet Ruin: poems by Tony Hoagland

While discussing the recent Friendfeed thread on LIS schools and student placement with my good pal, former bosslady and library management mentor Mary Chimato, some interesting things came up that I really think are worth sharing. I hope this post is particularly helpful for new grads or current (or newly matriculating) library students. My intent is not to discourage new librarians - I openly advocate for folks to join the profession. It is a career I love, and I think many would find it fulfilling. But I advise them to come in knowing what the hardships may be. The big thing, when it comes to hiring. The big thing, when it comes to looking how resumes and CVs are structured with relation to the job requirements. The big thing you need to walk into LIS school thinking about: How do you know you really want to work in libraries? Using the library as a patron - much as we all appreciate that you do so - is very, very different from actually working in a library. Unless you have done ...

There is a really fantastic discussion going on right now about LIS programs, asking about whether schools should still be churning out graduates in a depressed economy with few available jobs. Definitely go read the (still-growing) thread. The MLS is not useless - it imparts skills and knowledge that I have found a necessary foundation for my career in librarianship. This is not a discussion of what the degree is "worth," and I don't appreciate the arguments made that it is worthless. Questions in the thread cover questions such as whether huge programs (see SJSU) are problematic, whether programs bear the responsibility for curbing enrollments in a reflection of markets, and whether a SLIS is easier to cut than other program because it doesn't generate grant money or rich alumni. I suppose where I'd like to come in on the discussion is the fact that other graduate programs are naturally limited in growth. They advertise themselves based on student/faculty ratio...

Seeing some discussions of air-conditioning (and those poor souls lacking it) on Friendfeed lately have me thinking about the progression from "luxury" items & services to "necessaries." I grew up without air conditioning. The humid, hot summers of Long Island for a fat kid were miserable without A/C. I always considered it the height of luxury when I visited someone's house (or, ahem, the freezer section of the grocery) and they had the magical cooling machine. My father, who worked outside in all weather in all seasons, suggested I drink a great big glass of suck-it-up-atine. Instead, I lived in the pool or held my face to the cool floor tile in the basement. When I got to college, there was an airconditioning control in each dorm room. I called Housing and asked if we got charged extra tuition if we used it. (They were very kind and did not laugh at me. At least, not while I was still on the phone.) By the time my roommate arrived, I had grown accustomed ...

Moving in. While I hate looking at all these boxes and wondering where the heck I'm going to put everything (apparently the loss of 200 square feet of space is more significant than I thought), I do love the fact that when you are initially unpacking, everything has its place. I am a bit of a scattered person, and I inevitably start building up piles, but I do like that initial honeymoon of the move-in period. Most particularly, I love unboxing and shelving my books. My personal library is much smaller than it was a few years ago - carting eight to ten thousand books every 18 months moving crosscountry got old after the fourth move. I sadly (okay, I was *devastated*) weeded my own collection. Now I try to take advantage of used bookstores that buy back books, or give you credit toward merchandise. This allows me to go off on my various obsessions and change my collection around, and the books I keep are those I am very attached to. I am usually guilty of claiming that I am "Lo...

This is my penultimate day of work. I've been juggling a few posts that I want to finish, but then I read Sarah Glassmeyer's LibPunk ruminations (for the LibPunk Essay Contest ). I thought I'd toss my hat in the ring with a few haphazard thoughts on the subject. What LibPunk is to Me To me, LibPunk is unconcerned with whether or not it is considered a profession at all. LibPunk is more concerned with actual results than titles, accolades, the "rock-star" status or lack thereof, figuring out how to improve and augment services with little to no additional resources, and putting a big ole boot in the hindquarters of naysayers. A replacement of passive aggression with aggressive aggression. A focus on users while acknowledging the staff work necessary to create the best user experience. In effect, I like to think LibPunk is all the things I want librarianship to look like, and wearing some snazzy boots while doing it. Using Our Powers for Awesome "With great p...

The Facebook Beef. Everyone is taking sides on either extreme. It's either "I want to lock my social network down so no one can access anything and I am an island of internet" or "Don't be an idiot, everything on the web is billboard-worthy and privacy is a thing of the past." The debate has many of us on FriendFeed wanting to shake people like Etch-a-Sketches. You can be holier-than-thou ("You should expect this from a monetized company!"), smug ("Told you this would happen.), an apologist ("Maybe Zuckerberg means well and is just forwarding the case for open networks,") or suspicious ("I heard if you get your settings wrong, companies and applications can steal your pictures and use them for ads."). In any case, most people are missing the point. It's not the nerds, social networking experts, librarians, Alex Scobles or other techgeeks Facebooks awful privacy settings take advantage of, though we're teh ones bitch...

Prayer of the Beleaguered Manager And Yea, though I walk through the Valley of Management, I shall fear no performance issue, for the Man With No Name sits over my shoulder, and his glare it doth soothe me, and his six-shooter proclaims that we will take no shit. And we shall get resources to those that worketh, and we shall make the lives of those that worketh easier, and woe unto those who would throw a wrench into the good works of staff. Amen.

Dear University of Alabama Libraries, Yes, we want to encourage folks to enter the profession. However, I'd take issue - and there have been other grumblings - at the way you've decided to implement your plan. In your job ad, you state the following: Qualifications: Master’s degree in Library & Information Sciences from an ALA accredited institution, or a Master’s degree in instructional technology or a related field received since December 2009. So, only if you graduated in the past 5 months are you eligible for this job. I am curious as to whether this is because: A) An MLS received six months ago is terribly out of date (as in, "You poor thing, you probably don't even know what an RSS feed is. I bet you even still use the blink tag in your html. How quaint. *clucks sadly* Bless your heart!"); B) You have an internal candidate and wanted to write the job description to fit them as well as possible to weed out other applicants (understandable, but better t...

Keeping track of my reading is probably one of the best things I started doing this year. (Going back to my gym and personal trainer in Chattanooga once I'm moved will likely be the other.) Books Read in April 2010 Damaged by Alex Kava High Windows: poems by Philip Larkin Sestets: poems by Charles Wright Bells in Winter; poems Czeslaw Milosz Here, Bullet: Poems by Brian Turner Bethlehem In Broad Daylight: Poems by Mark Doty Slantwise: poems by Betty Adcock Messenger: New and Selected Poems 1976-2006 by Ellen Bryant Voigt Broken by Karin Slaughter Jane Kenyon’s Collected Poems by Jane Kenyon Captive Heart by Phoebe Corr The Uncertain Certainty: Interviews, Essays and Notes on Poetry by Charles Simic Gravity: Stories by Michael Davis

Looking ahead at the Google calendar I am just started to use rigorously, I can see that November 2010 will be a busy month! November 5, 2010 is the Brick and Click conference. If you're going (and I hope you are, it's a highly recommended conference by folks I respect and admire), try to stop by and see me. I'll be presenting on "Managing the Multigenerational Library" and on "Leveraging Technology, Improving Service: Streamlining Student Billing Procedures." Making the month an all-Access bonanza, the 2010 Access Services Conference is November 10-12. I will be attending at least as a committee member (presentations pitched, but we'll see), and am very much looking forward to it, as I've heard that even in it's inaugural year of 2009 it one of the most useful conferences Access folks had attended. It is also relatively close to my home-to-be in Chattanooga, which is a lovely bonus. And then, of course, Thanksgiving is the 25th, and I have...