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A grandmother of two recently stood up to an English judge who advised her to stop protesting and take up knitting.
My son's been telling me for years to take up knitting. But I can't knit. As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, and particularly in Plymouth, I will carry on protesting.
"When they are gone I will be happy to pick up some knitting needles and put down my bolt-croppers. And my tin of syrup."
As a response to a recent accusation that I am not a subtle person, a fellow librarian noted,
Good information science is rarely subtle. Good information science is
usually direct and to the point. Be proud of who you are!
Thanks, Bob. :)
How to put things on e-reserve?
How to set up a research consultation?
Articles on Fanny Hill.
Dictionary.
Video we don't own.
Great big staples.
Exhibit on display?
Student from affiliated school with book questions.
Do you have that book again? (MLA Handbook)
Articles on consumer behavior dealing with celebrity endorsements or convenience.
Where can I find this reference book? x 3
Law Stacks.
Little Women.
Industry trends in photography.
My barcode doesn't log me into Ovid.
Can I send citation e-mails to multiple accounts?
Setting up GroupWise web password.
Where's the bathroom? x 2
More barcode problems.
Where are the journals?
That reference book is at the Loop.
Yes, you should replace your ID.
No, you can't check out reference books.
Another book in the Loop. Smell of smoke lingers long after student is gone.
Oodles of dissertation questions.
Yes, those weird fake books that tell you to go somewhere else for your reference book are annoying.
Terrorism (or maybe terrorizing?) and children, and what families & communities can do about it. Hmm.
No, the ethernet plugs were never activated.
Wireless network may be down. Not that anyone would bother to tell us, except our disgruntled students.
Can't renew.
Stats on discrimination.
Absolutely gorgeous. Buy them and frame them! [via LISNews]
Seriously, this is cool. Seattle's new library features "wireless "smart" necklaces that let library staff communicate and respond from anywhere in the building" (SO James Bond), "software that will provide a floor map diagramming each book's location, so the catalog will tell you a book's call number and show you exactly where to find it," and "individual 'sound domes' [that] will play loud music in the young adult section, tunes that are inaudible a step away." Wow.
Ordinarily, I don't believe in forwards. But the one I received about this was so good, I thought I'd find the original source and share the wealth.
Though only your skin, sinews, and bones remain, though your blood and flesh dry up and wither away, yet shall you meditate and not stir until you have attained full Enlightenment. But first, a little nosh.
The haikus aren't bad either.
Hey! Get back indoors!
Whatever you were doing
could put an eye out.
It's not that I don't think it's great of the CDC to provide brief tip sheets on medical issues for scriptwriters. I'm sure this will help prevent the spread of misinformation. But the suggested scenarios are pretty nasty.
The parents of a young child are awakened at night by strange noises in their child's bedroom. They find a bat behaving strangely: not hiding, making strange noises, having difficulty flying. The parents kill the bat and awaken the child. They find no evidence of a bite or scratch from the bat, and the child reports no contact with or bite from the bat. The father saves the bat in the freezer, "just in case." A few weeks later, the child becomes very ill, with fever and flu-like symptoms. The distraught parents rush the child to a nearby hospital emergency room where they are asked about contact with animals. The parents tell doctors about the bat; the doctors suspect rabies. After consultation with the state health department, the doctor seeing the child asks the parents to bring in the bat. It tests positive for rabies and the parents are told their child will not survive.
[via Libronaut DotGov]
Bookslut links to Naomi Wolf's article about Harold Bloom's "sexual encroachment" on her during her senior year at Yale. And yes, maybe she's right that, so many years after the fact, it's not necessary to dredge all this up. But I have to disagree.
I think Wolf's point is well-taken: despite the greater visibility and more intensive prosecution of such inappropriate acts, certain institutions still refuse to take these situations seriously. I know from my experience with Harvard, at the tender age of seventeen, that one of the most terrifying parts of such an experience is the realization that the administration you believed was charged with your safety is far more interested in protecting itself.
I was never in Wolf's shoes, never the target of such an incident, but I was close to someone who was, and my faith in (as I thought of them at the time) grown-ups, let alone Ivy League institutions, was irreversibly shaken. It's why I didn't really want to go to college, once I got home. It's why I did my undergrad work fifteen minutes from my parents' house. The impact of the experience faded with time, yes, but it doesn't surprise me at all that it still haunts Naomi Wolf.
Wolf is right to bring these issues to light, if only so that some other young, vulnerable person isn't scared into believing that he or she is the first to suffer in such a way. Or that, by some miracle, he or she will somehow be the last. It is every person's responsibility to speak up, for those who come after, and for themselves.
Had to link this hilarious strip from Unshelved, on trying to teach your patrons to fish for their own research. Ha!
A terrific article on the perils of using Google to back up a claim of popularity or importance, focused on abuses in journalism. But still, I admit, I only linked it because I loved the title. [via LISNews]
Steven J. Bell wrote a thoughtful, intelligent article for the Chronicle of Higher Education (temporary link here) comparing Google's fast and easy results to intellecutal fast food.
His thesis?
James Morris, dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, has coined the term "infobesity," which nicely describes the outcome of Google-izing research: a junk-information diet, consisting of overwhelming amounts of low-quality material that is hard to digest and leads to research papers of equally low quality.
And a possible solution:
Together we must begin by developing search systems and interfaces that provide an appropriate balance between the quality and sophistication of library catalogs and good aggregator databases, on the one hand, and the convenience and ease of Google-like search engines, on the other.
[via LISNews]
If you’ve always wanted to field queries, read to kids during story hour and make book selections, tell us about it.
Thanks to Woman's Day for so appreciating all we do. [via LISNews]
Now I have to go teach irritable freshmen how to search for articles, help grad students track down old issues of The Lancet, and come up with books on frontal lobotomies for drama students.
The recent British Library Mingle attempted to spark romance between some over-educated romantics.
I'm rather on the prowl for a Lara," confessed a nervous, middle-aged Dr Zhivago, as three young Eves discussed the Plantagenets at his elbow. "I'm looking for an ice maiden - but one my own age."
Too bad that the modern library, which opened in 1997, had "none of the sexual charge that used to crackle around the old, round reading room at the British Museum", according to an older "Narcissus seeking Narcissus". [via LISNews]
Well, I know we're all breathing a sigh of relief that the hugely obscene Asimov's Science Fiction is out of the hands of children. [via LISNews]
Asimov's responds:
Reporter Kristi Andersen and the News 8 anchors portrayed Asimov’s as a pornographic magazine. They characterized it as "full of sexual content," "an adults-only magazine," and said that it "contained stories about sex, drugs, and molestation." Probably because it doesn’t fit with their one-sided characterization, they did not mention that Asimov’s is a highly respected literary magazine. Its stories have won numerous awards, including at least 40 Hugo awards and 24 Nebula awards.
More little 'uns who knit. The most adorable little girl contemplating her needles absolutely makes this article.
More kids in Michigan, too.
The Crafts Council of London is presenting an exhibition entitled Boys Who Sew, intended to serve as a "challenge to preconceptions and a play on the presentation of masculinity in textiles."
Craig Fisher's masculinity presents itself through his soft sculptures, which include dynamite and bombs made from furnishing fabrics, and mysterious machines and gadgets of the type you might expect to find on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.
I refuse to comment. It's just too easy.
The Edmonton Journal has a fine story about knitting's popularity.
"It's like Zen," says Eaton. "It's contemplative, rhythmic and comforting, and you end up with something wonderful at the end of the day." (Jil Eaton)
...
"Some 'crafty feminists,' like myself, are reclaiming what have been called the 'lost domestic arts,' ... Others are more interested in freeing themselves from a dependence on what they see to be an exploitative corporate culture. Still others ... figure they can learn to make fashionable items more cheaply than they can buy them." (Debbie Stoller)
The article even mentions knitting circles with a bent for social activism.
Yet more collegiate knitters. Some even knit while doing reading for class. I challenge them to knit ANYTHING complex that way, but I appreciate their enthusiasm!
If you need something productive-looking to do during a five-minute reference desk lull, try the Smithsonian's Library & Archival Exhibitions on the Web. Peruse such illuminating sites as The Naked Researcher, which "seeks to reveal the researcher within everyone"; or Defining Her Life: Advice Books for Women, which features classic text like Farming for Ladies; Or, a Guide to the Poultry-yard, the Dairy and Piggery. [via ShelfLife]
So excited! The Oscars are Sunday night, and tonight I found the official Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences site for the 76th Annual Academy Awards. Much cooler than Oscar.com. However, still none of these sites tell me the exact presentation sequence of the awards. Anyone know?
According to a BBC News story, a survey of over 1000 people determined that only 10% could place such classic literary quotations as "Now is the winter of our discontent." Apparently, 71% had no trouble placing "If only you knew the power of the dark side."
When asked to complete the line "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your..." from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, some people said swords or money rather than ears.
Lend me your money. This doesn't really surprise me, but still.
I would love to know how many people would list popular movies as the original source of classic quotes, like the Shakespearean lines in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
This also got me thinking about the Lord of the Rings film cycle. Are there any quotes in those films as memorable as the ones from the Star Wars saga? Much better movies, but maybe not so quotable. [via LISNews]
The Daily Herald highlighted the North Suburban Library System's 15th annual legislative breakfast.
State Sen. Wendell Jones of Palatine was among the legislators who talked about Gov. Rod Blagojevich's plan to provide a book a month to Illinois children during their first five years of life. This plan, if used by all, would cost the state $26 million in 2005 to promote literacy.
But Jones added his voice to those who believe this money would better serve the public by going to libraries.
Really? You think? I'm pretty sure my mom and I checked out 20-30 picture books every week when I was little. One book a month would not have done the job. And why pay for one book a month for each kid, when among them (and their future siblings, and the next generation of kids), those kids could share so many more books ....
Has anyone else noticed that news about kids who knit is all over the place lately? Here's stories from Oregon, Washington, and New Jersey (same school).
I have this fear. First we get the articles about the old women who knit. Then the young women. Then the teenagers. Then the children. Then it's not cool anymore.
Then again, yoga is still considered hip, so maybe we'll be ok. I just hope we won't have to do anything drastic to stay acceptable. I don't think I can knit in downward-facing dog.
Nice to see my alma mater is picking up stitches, too.
I wish I'd been able to teach that mini-course at Norris, though. I applied, but apparently I just wasn't good enough.
As a birthday present for Dr. Seuss (100 years!), the US Postal Service [pdf] will premiere a commemorative stamp! [via PR Bop]
I was also excited about the stamps devoted to Mary Cassatt and the efforts of the Wright brothers.
Thanks to Randy for noticing that blog has been immortalized in the Oxford English Dictionary. [via PodBayDoor]
Disturbing comments fielded in a basic library skills session this afternoon:
Where do babies come from?
Wouldn't lesbianism be a good synonym for feminism?
Also, should freshman be throwing things because they are bored or annoyed? I mean, aren't they adults?
Youch. Bookslut may think Ursula K. LeGuin answers a Harry Potter question with grace in this Guardian inteview, but her comments seem harsh to me (although largely accurate, more's the pity).
Q: Nicholas Lezard has written 'Rowling can type, but Le Guin can write.' What do you make of this comment in the light of the phenomenal success of the Potter books? I'd like to hear your opinion of JK Rowling's writing style.
UKL: I have no great opinion of it. When so many adult critics were carrying on about the "incredible originality" of the first Harry Potter book, I read it to find out what the fuss was about, and remained somewhat puzzled; it seemed a lively kid's fantasy crossed with a "school novel", good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited.
As recommended by Kelly Girl Amy, I had to purchase one of these adorable clicky row counters, which I somehow failed to notice is called a Clover Kacha Kacha! I am wondering if there's a way to string it on a cord around my neck while knitting, to make kacha-ing more efficient.
Nice little article on a knitting cafe that opened recently in NYC.
Paige West, an anthropologist at the Columbia University, describes people in urban areas as "alienated from the products of their daily work — they never see a material product of their labor."
But knitting helps, she says, allowing the development of a social relationship between objects and people, as well as providing a material byproduct of their efforts.
"People can develop a social relationship with the objects and the people" allowing "some sort of production from which you can see the sensuous item straight away."
I about died when I saw this one. Many thanks to Library Stuff for the link.
Locus Magazine published its 2003 Recommended Reading List which, I'm delighted to say, includes lots of titles I haven't read yet. Hurray! Of course, when I'll have time to read them is another matter entirely. (via LISNews)
The New York Times (registration required) looks at how libraries can be a good resource when web searching fails.
One of my favorite librarians, Joe Janes, gets his two cents in:
"When Google doesn't work, most people don't have a plan B," said Joe Janes, an associate professor in the Information School at the University of Washington in Seattle, who is teaching a course on Google this quarter. "Librarians have lots of plan B's. We know when to go to a book, when to call someone, even when to go to Google."
Thanks also to librarian Joe Thompson of the Baltimore County Public Library, for pointing out "Good information still costs money, and people forget that[.]"
It's worth noting that Jenny over at Shifted Librarian has some insightful comments on this article and what it means for libraries.
People have their own ways of finding information, from asking friends to searching Google. We don't have to be the intermediary for every information transaction. What we need to be is ready to step in when that transaction fails. Teach people to fish, but help them find the fish when they're casting in the wrong part of the lake. But to do that, you have to be prepared, waiting in the wings, and increasingly those wings aren't in your physical building. We need to integrate our services into the user's environment.
(via LISNews)
Well, not really.
For three days next week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Feb. 14, volunteers will count how many hours patrons use computers or study quietly, how many make trips to the restroom, make copies or send faxes.
...
They also will be asking patrons to answer questions and give recorded testimony about how and why they use these libraries and whether they would be willing to get less or pay more.
It's an interesting project, but I wonder what the data would be used for. Do we charge a quarter for bathroom use if you're not a tax-paying member of the community? However, given how the participating libraries seem to be suffering for lack of funds, I understand they may have intelligent motives for estimating actual use of their facilities and resources. (via LISNews)
An intriguing commentary on the frustrations of using the online catalog, and of teaching others to use it. Honey, I feel your pain.
This is not just about availability, but about the near-impossibility of teaching undergraduates the kinds of search heuristics that will reliably produce useful material on most research subjects. ... I used to be a punk and think that was about Luddism and sloth, but I’m realizing that the fault lies less in ourselves and more in our tools.
(via LISNews)
For wanting to read freely, that is. Freedom to Read week begins on February 22. (via LISNews)
Ok, I had to link to this. T.E. Lawrence identified as a sadomasochist based on a new uncut version of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Never read it, don't know anything about the man, but this article just cracked me up. (via LISNews)
Thanks to PC World for highlighting the joys of your local public library web site. (via LISNews)
At last, the new Rowan pattern books are out! And they are yummy. I'm fascinated by the new yarn cotton braid. If anyone gets a chance to try it, let me know how you like it!
So last winter, on the el, I lost the hat my sister had given me that year for Chanukkah. I was furious at myself, and did all the call-the-CTA stuff every day for a while, but no luck finding it. So here's the photo she had on her digital camera of it. There's still time! If you see someone wearing it on the el, accost them! Steal it back!
I miss you, o hat.
Jodi is knitting some fab socks these days at Kelly Girls. 
We've had a parade of newcomers, some of whom have turned into regulars, but tonight was just a small group: Jodi, Nancy, and me. Nancy was swatching for a felted bag, Jodi was finishing the main body of a felted bag, and I was casting off the Harry Potter scarf I'm knitting for a neighbor. It's not quite like the ones in the movies, but it's a good approximation.
Apparently the novel I'm reading for my first review as a Bookslut contributor is up for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the British SF prize. I admit I'm enjoying Coalescent a lot so far. Yes, it has bad cover art (although I have the US cover, not the British), and yes, the book itself is bright yellow once you take the cover off (great for train reading, really), but it's a bizarre and fascinating mix of near-future society and ancient Rome. (via Bookslut)
IKEA is a fully immersive, 3D environmental adventure that allows you to role-play the character of someone who gives a shit about home furnishings. In traversing IKEA, you will experience a meticulously detailed alternate reality filled with garish colors, clear-lacquered birch veneer, and a host of NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS (NPCs) with the glazed looks of the recently anesthetized.
Read the text-adventure walk-thru. (via Morning News)
Apparently the CTA doesn't think that people waiting forty minutes in sub-zero temperatures on a windy Chicago street need heat lamps as much as el riders, who often wait up to ten whole minutes outside, or even hide in the station and pound up the stairs when the train is announced. Thanks for the sympathy, guys. I'll mail you my frost-bitten fingers next week. (via Gapers Block)
Looks like the genius who brought you the gut-bustingly hilarious Weight Watchers cards has a book deal! Hurray and congrats to Wendy McClure. (via Gapers Block)