LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

Hey, LISNews has company...Salem Press (they publish literary and history reference libraries in a variety of formats) is looking for the coolest library/librarian blogs around. Here's their contest announcement:

As you are probably aware, blogs about libraries have spread across the web. There are (literally) hundreds of people writing about books, libraries, librarians and related subjects. If you count the blogs that come from specific institutions, spreading local news, there are thousands of the things. Some are funny. Some are brilliant. Others, aren't.

Salem Press' staff includes many fans of library blogs. We're entertained and enlightened by them. So, we've decided to recognize the best efforts in the field. Not only to praise the praise-worthy but also to publicize the good stuff. To that end, we're hosting something we call the Library Blog Awards. We think there should be a well-organized directory of library blogs and a "peoples' awards" program of some kind to let folks know what blogs are best-liked and most widely read.

Go for it bloggers!! Thanks to the Effing Librarian for the tip!

The New Yorker débuts a new photo feature on it's blog today... you submit a photograph of your bookshelf, and we (The New Yorker) tell you what it says about you.

Less than 50 minutes and no charge, if you're picked.

From Book Patrol: It started innocently enough. Over dinner a friend mentioned that he saw a used bookmobile for sale on Craigslist and wished he could by it. That was all the impetus Tom Corwin needed.

He was soon off to suburban Chicago to buy the decommissioned bookmobile. He paid $7500 for it.

Corwin has already garnered the support of the National Book Foundation, the Association of American Publishers and the American Library Association for the project and has signed a deal with Whitewater Films in Los Angeles for the documentary which will be titled "Behind the Wheel of the Bookmobile." The film will also include information on the history of bookmobiles.

Authors that have already signed up in support include Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, Junot Diaz, Tom Robbins and Scott Turow, with many of them to take a turn at the wheel...here they are.

Follow the tour on the website and on Twitter.

Ah, dog earred pages, the traceable cookies of the pre-HTML era.
When I came across this book in the bookdrop today, I saw two pieces of paper sticking out and I was hoping they were the $100 bookmarks the previous patron forgot to take out. But alas, they were just dog-earred pages. Funny thing about them was that the first one was on the chapter about "Body Odors" and the second one was on "Fertility."
Methinks, one could definitely be an inhibitor of the other.

Hi guys...it's Will Manley here. I've had a blog at www.willmanley.com going for about 3 weeks. I would appreciate it if you could mention it. I'm a retired librarian and I write a column for American Libraries (Will's World) and Booklist (The Manley Arts). You can find an announcement of my blog at American Libraries .

Thanks for your consideration.

Will

This will be my 3rd week into my first semester for my MLIS.

Here are some of my preconceived notions before the semester started:

1. I would be one of the few males in the class.
2. There would be a lot of younger classmates compared to other advanced degrees.
3. I could find a full time job and handle the class work with ease.
4. My classmates would be considered my "competition" in the future job search.
5. Again, I thought there would be tons of young, attractive, bookish females in my classes

The reality:

1. Surprisingly, there are a lot more guys in my classes then expected.
2. A LOT of my classmates are older, like "coworker-older;" a few of them mentioned that they are in career transitions while other are forced retirees.
3. Even though my classes are blended courses (online and face to face), the amount of work for projects and papers is pretty hefty. One of my project's requirements is almost a part time job in itself.
4. I never realized the spectrum of careers an MLIS can be used for; quite a few of my classmates are planning to work in law libraries.
5. Yeah, I'm fairly disappointed so far with the guy-girl ratio.

The aim of the International Symposium on Emerging Trends and Technologies in Libraries and Information Services (ETTLIS-2010) is, once again, to bring researchers, academicians, business community and research scholars on a common platform to share their experiences, innovative ideas and research findings about the aspects of emerging trends and technologies in the field of knowledge resource centres and information services.

Access blog at: ETTLIS 2010 http://ettlis2010.ning.com/profiles/blog/list

Hallmark Day

Work yesterday was rough, I don't know what brought all the patrons out but they came out in droves. I didn't have any time to check the Jets/Colts game on my phone at all, but I digress.

When I told the patrons their due date, surprisingly, only one patron out of the near 100 patrons I interacted with actually said, "Oh, Valentine's Day." I never referred to their due dates as that Hallmark Holiday, but I would just say the 14th of next month. It was funny to watch the reaction of the couples that I helped. The females would nudge their husbands/boyfriends in the side and give them a look, while the guys would just roll their eyes. A couple of the guys would just mouth back, "I know."

The most awkward was a preface to a fight on the car ride home: she asked where he made reservations, he seemed to not care and shrugged it off, she gave him "the look," which continued on their way out to the parking lot.

Gotta love those unique patron interactions.

Introduction by Cory Doctorow: Our next guestblogger is the incomparable activist geek librarian Jessamyn West, who, along with other library-hackers like Jenny Levine are part of a movement to redefine librarianship in the information age. I've been enjoying Jessamyn's projects and thoughts for years and it's a delight to have her here. Here's her official bio:

I'm a library technologist working in rural Vermont teaching people on the back end of the digital divide how to use computers. I also help run MetaFilter.com, especially Ask MetaFilter and travel around the world talking about library technology issues. My blog, librarian.net talks a lot about the intersection of libraries, technology and politics.

I'm grumpy about the USA PATRIOT Act, threats to open access and bad laws shaping bad culture.

I like moss, snowshoeing, old books and the color orange.

Article from Publishers Weekly which mentions the ascending titles for these plus other prizes to be handed out by the ALA's ASLC and YALSA divisions next Monday.

Librarians have begun steadily posting results of mock Newbery discussions/events on the ALSC listserv. Consensus there appears to give the nod to When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead as the winner, with a variety of honors going to The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice and All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg. Calpurnia Tate and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon received a couple of first-place votes, too.