Sweet vindication

My moment of MLIS glory has finally arrived in the guise of an MFA class, Principles and Problems of Literary Study. It’s a foundation research methods in the humanities course, and the professor heartily assured us that we would be good friends with the library by the time it was done. I smiled a small but knowing smile. When we talked about primary sources, he mentioned ongoing digitization projects at several libraries and I was like, I know all about it! When he mentioned that a lot, though not yet all, humanities research can be done through the library’s online resources, I thought to myself, yup and I already know how. Our first assignment was to immediately trek over to the library and collect our assigned critical texts for next week’s individual presentation. At this point he scared me a little by saying that it took a bit of digging to find some of the titles in the catalog (sometimes the titles didn’t work but the author did and vice versa), but I know that says more about ALEPH than anybody’s research skills. So off we went, and I quickly found my book and made for the checkout counter. I didn’t get very far. I couldn’t help but see a fair number of my classmates standing in the midst of the PN’s and PS’s with bewildered looks upon their faces. A couple had already given up and were heading downstairs to complain. I cut them off at the pass (very politely and non-imposingly I hope) and asked if I could help, since I worked there and all. Naturally, the books were there, it’s just not all that easy to find stuff in Library of Congress if you aren’t used to it. I got a couple of handshakes and a little respect out of the deal, even if I probably have now signed myself up as the go-to classmate when library work is required. I don’t mind a bit. I am so happy when I see the right book matched up with the right person. I also now have at least one idea of a librarian’s natural ally in any given department: the prof who teaches foundation research courses.

On the flip side

The start of the fall semester here at the university where I work means that I am now officially experiencing the dual in “dual degree.” After two semesters of solid libraryness, I am plugging back into my English lit roots and getting started on the MFA portion of this program. I’ll still be taking library classes, but probably only one a semester from now on because it’s a race to the grant finish line to see if I can squeeze in the 18ish credits left on the MLIS plus the 48 this one takes before I lose the funding that made this whole thing feasible in the first place. So I’m off to the races with four English classes: two workshops, Melville (to whom, if you recall, I owe the title of this blog), and the core lit theory class that everyone has to take. I’m pumped. On the library side I’ll be balancing all this humanities stuff out with Information Sources for Science and Technology, but that doesn’t start for another week.

In working life, my internship has rotated into Collection Development. For the past two days I’ve been learning about how all these books end up in the Tech Services mailroom, waiting to be cataloged and linked and put on the shelves. As the process stands right now, the pre-ordered selection process is whole lot of work and most of it tedious, but I am already enjoying thinking about the library on a more macro level. The inflow of brand new books that we plan is part of what keeps the stacks vibrant and relevant to the scholars at work on campus. And it’s fun to think that I’m getting to see the titles before anyone else does. Too bad I don’t get that much of a say just yet, but maybe I’ll be able to slide that approval slip for Talk Talk into the order pile if I am crafty….

The Manolo says

This past Monday, my fabulous mother-in-law started a fabulous new job as media specialist at a museum magnet middle school. One of her many considerations was, what shoes can she wear that simultaneously comfort the feet she is standing on all day long, meet teacher dress code, and impress the fashion savvy South Florida chillins? I advised her to query the Manolo, who regularly offers customized advice on just such dilemmas. There must have been some major synchronicity going on, because the Manolo had just answered such a query from a librarian who needed the super fantastic shoes on a “flip flop budget.” Here is his answer: low heeled boots by Franco Sarti. Check his post for pics and a link to buy. It seems like sound advice, but be warned that Manolo spares no one, not even sensible librarians, from the rigors of saving your pennies for the super fantastic. The price on these puppies is still more than I have ever spent so far on a single item of clothing (wedding dress excluded). Also, one must wonder about tall boots in tropical climates. But they are fun and a down to earth take on the boot craze, and maybe there’s a knock off somewhere that would be a little more wallet friendly.

Best quotation on DOPA I’ve read so far

The so-called Deleting Online Predators Act is about senator’s campaigns, not children’s safety or education. This quotation from Christopher Harris at Infomancy pretty much explains why:

“Filter a website, and you protect a student for a day. Educate students about online safety in a real world environment, and you protect your child for a lifetime.”

Exactly.

New Orleans Tivo Alert

What a good idea: HBO gave Spike Lee all the money he asked for to make a documentary about New Orleans after Katrina. According to the NY Time story, it will air 21 and 22, in two two-hour segments, and in its entirety on the first anniversary of Katrina, August 29. It’s titled “Levees” and the reporter describes it as a “gumbo of a film” that “lingers on the politics of disaster response, the science of levees and storms, the city’s Creolized culture, the stories of loss.” I can’t wait. And I hope lots of people watch it and see a little bit of what we saw and start feeling something again. Since I got back, I want to talk about New Orleans every other minute, just to remind people that it is maybe the biggest problem in our country right now. Lee is quoted as saying it’s less a documentary about a hurricane than a listen in on discussions about “Politics. Ethics. Morals…This is about what this country is really going to be.” New Orleans should be a wake up call: this is the future. Things will happen and no one in power will care, nothing will get fixed, and we will all be on our own.

Not directly Katrina related, but related to national values, yesterday in my ALA Direct I read this alarming quotation:

“My opinion is, no one dies if the library closes. We have to look at parts of the budget that reflect people’s ability to live—not to enjoy life, but to live.”

—Medway, Massachusetts, Finance Committee member Phil Giangarra, in “Medway May Axe Library,” Milford Daily News, May 11.

You kind of have to take him at his word–if homes and electricity are optional for the people living in New Orleans, how can we argue that libraries aren’t optional for all of us?

First we’ll take Manhattan

The New York Times has opened nominations for this year’s Librarian Awards. Although this particular contest is only open to public librarians, they say that later this year they will kick off a contest for academic librarians, too. 21 public librarians from around the US will be selected. It does say you need to have an MLS to be nominated, which bugs me just a little because while the profession has a good reason to require an MLS, it doesn’t seem like it makes much difference to the public. There must be plenty of people with the title librarian out there who are doing a great job sans degree. In any case, nominate your favorite public librarian by September 15 for a chance to be recognized by maybe the most influential newspaper in the country and win a nice chunk of change.