Library Stuff

The Shark Journal entry (bottom of page) for the simply brilliant Sorted Books Project is wonderful.

Thanks to Marena for the link.

Michael points to a YouTube that tells us It's going to be ok.

Did I mention that I'm staying in the Wonder Tower here at the Disneyland Hotel? I feel like I should have super powers.

So I'm here in Anaheim, staying at the Disneyland Hotel (see freaky photos of my hotel room fittings), and I'm getting deja vu to ALA in Orlando some years ago, where I also mixed Disney with librarianship.

Whenever I encounter the Disneyverse, I always remark on the truly exceptional level of customer service I always receive. Down to the guy trimming the topiary (though, really, this one was just disturbing from that angle), the employees are pleasant and helpful. I know, because a friend trained with Disney some years ago, that there is a draconian aspect to this - be cheerful or find work elsewhere - but as corporate-wide requirements go, there are worse.

Now I'm off to finish my presentation for tomorrow.

The folks at the New Hartford library, which had no flood insurance and which lost 80% or so of its collection and computers, has set up a fund for those who would like to donate.

UPDATE! - The State Library of Iowa has sent out the following info, for helping all THREE (3) of the most-affected libraries:

In response to the numerous e-mails and phone calls we've received about how to donate to three of the worst flood-damaged libraries in Iowa, we have learned the following.

Checks can be made out to:

Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation
500 First St., SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401

The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library 30 Sixteenth Avenue SW Cedar Rapids, IA 52404-5904 Please write "Flood Relief" in the memo line of your check (More information is available on their Web site, http://www.ncsml.org)

Friends of the New Hartford Public Library P.O. Box 292 New Hartford, IOWA 50660

All checks are tax deductible.

The latest American Libraries Online has some photos from Midwest flooding, including the one I pointed out earlier of the New Hartford library.

Another hard hit library is the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, which is a unique resource. My buddy David Muhlena, the library director, informed me that they got two (2) semi loads of artifacts and materials out before the waters hit, but had to leave materials and their working files behind because the water was on its way. They're back in now, and working hard to remove mud and "gunk" from the library. Best of luck, Dave!

As we get reports from eastern Iowa, my mind is reeling. Things are bad, and not looking to get better soon. The Iowa River through Iowa City isn't expected to crest until tomorrow, with potentially devastating results.

My buddy Mike Dargan of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Library has a photo of the damage to the New Hartford Library. Cedar Rapids is going to be just as bad, I expect, but on a much, much larger scale. Once they can finally get in, that is.

So very scary.

I'm off to PLA in Minneapolis tomorrow. I'll be blogging the conference for PLA, so catch me at the PLA blog.

My brother's blog covers it.

I found this very interesting. Santa Fe Library (friend works for them) has a calculator to show you the value of the library services that you use.

http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/2008/03/library-value-calculator.html

Thanks amym for the link.

GREAT blog post from David Pogue in the NYTimes Circuits section on the reality of kids and the Internet. Like him, I recommend the completely amazing PBS Frontline documentary (completely available online, free) on Teens and the Net.

Interesting Opinion Today piece in NYTimes yesterday about Steve Jobs' attitude to reading:

Every now and then, someone who is brilliant says something stupid — often the result of spending too much time riding a jet stream of high praise. Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple Inc., did such a thing last month when he all but declared the death of reading.

...Reading is something else, an engagement of the imagination with life experience. It’s fad-resistant, precisely because human beings are hard-wired for story, and intrinsically curious. Reading is not about product.

...True, reading is down, somewhat, from 1992, especially reading of literature. So what? People are eating fewer vegetables than they used to - or should - but that doesn’t mean carrots have no future.

As I mentioned last month, I got written up in the December issue of American Libraries for some work I did blogging for the MaintainIT project about wireless. The MaintainIT folks very kindly made note of the AL write-up, and gave me some kind compliments.

I'm very pleased with what they're doing over there, as I think it's helpful esp. for smaller libraries, who sometimes feel left out in the technology cold. I'm delighted I can be of some help, because really, why should they have to reinvent the wheel?

For that librarian on your gift list:

2nd Draft Recycled Microfilm Accessories
Yes, that's right, Microfilm Bling!

From Molly at LU.

Jenna Freedman just sent this to the LU list, and I couldn't stop laughing.

This has been making the rounds via email:

More than half of the systems responsible for managing the nearly 17 million titles in the Library of Congress catalog have tested positive for prohibited "performance enhancing" content, according to an Inspector General's report expected to be published next month.

In a public statement issued by the IG, he stated that "The use of taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and other performance enhancing content often referred to under the catchall term 'metadata' has long been suspected by Library fans. For much too long, Library owners have simply turned a blind eye, choosing not to question how their high-priced key assets had been able to break one long-standing performance record after another. As long as they were seeing the performance, nobody wanted to question or acknowledge how it was being achieved."

The investigation was triggered by anonymous tips and overheard conversations between certain unnamed staff members alluding to "a card catalog on steroids."

continued...

[From Jenna] I thought it needed a home on the web, and so posted it, with permission http://jenna.openflows.com/loc/steroidscandal