shinylib

Registration is open for InfoCamp PDX, a…

Registration is open for InfoCamp PDX, a one-day unconference for the information community. If you’re a librarian, visual or user experience designer, information architect, web developer, or in a related field and you’re excited about connecting people with information, InfoCamp is for you. [it's also dirt cheap, woo]

Saturday, February 4, 2012 at the Q Center on N Mississippi Ave in Portland.

Visit the website to learn more and to register!

InfoCamp Portland

Register here! InfoCamp PDX is a one day unconference for people excited about connecting people with information. This includes visual and user experience designers, librarians, web folk and other……

I meant to do wintry cards this year, I…

I meant to do wintry cards this year, I did…but I failed to. Sry world! (:

InfoCamp PDX registration is open!

InfoCamp PDX registration is open!

InfoCamp Portland

Reshared post from Rebecca MacKinnon

Rebecca MacKinnon originally shared this post:

"Last night I had a horrifying dream that a group of well-intentioned middle-aged people who could not distinguish between a domain name and an IP address were trying to regulate the Internet. Then I woke up and the Judiciary Committee’s SOPA hearings were on. It’s exactly as we feared. For every person who appears to have some grip on the issue, there were three or four yelling at him. "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/the-nightmarish-sopa-hearings/2011/12/15/gIQA47RUwO_blog.html

The nightmarish SOPA hearings

Make it stop.

Reshared post from Wael Hazzazi

Wael Hazzazi originally shared this post:

It's art, baby: cover your walls in discarded QWERTY keys

Have you ever looked at your bedroom wall and felt that it was a few thousand keys short of the perfect decoration? This is the thought process of artist Sarah Frost, who has taken plethoras of keys from discarded QWERTY keyboards and covered walls with them. The masterpieces range in size from a single wall to entire rooms, consisting of parts procured from sources like individual homes, small businesses, government offices and Fortune 500 companies. Check out her website below for more info…

I cannot possibly overstate the value of…

I cannot possibly overstate the value of cross-training in any job environment, but particularly in libraries.

I just arrived at work to find the inmates running the asylum – or at least the student workers looking bewildered because no one from circ was in the building. A/V had to unlock the doors to let patrons in, but no one knew the ILS passwords…except me.

Our circ lead arrived, harried and frantic from having had to open another campus library. Looks like 1/2 of today's districtwide circulation lead staff is out sick. She was amazed to find me there running the circ show (briefly, let's not overstate things). She told me that she loves that circ folks know just enough tech services info to know what to write down for review, and that they can generally at least get patrons started on reference tasks, and that tech services can cover circ as needed…and I think the unspoken bit was that reference only knows how to do reference.

Then I told her I used to be a circ lead at a different college and she broke into a huge grin. "I had no idea…and thanks for that!"

Student debt communication fail, direct…

Student debt communication fail, direct from my inbox:

Your request may take up to 10 business days to be reflected on your account.

Log in today for current account information.

We appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

Customer Service

Sallie Mae
I like how it might take 10 days to update my account but I can log in (today!) for current info.

This has come up several times in several…

This has come up several times in several circles over the past few weeks – the frustration of random strangers adding you to their circles on G+.

I understand, because I'm neurotic and anal retentive, the frustration over lopsided lists and a lack of understanding as to why these people would add you…but I don't understand the general hysteria over it all.

I can suss out that some of the randoms are librarians or other sorts of infonerds. Some of them don't share a language with me, have no idea what I am posting, and no discernible reason for adding me. I suppose they add me simply because they can. Random people wanted to befriend me on FB as well, still no idea why.

Being added to someone's circle doesn't entitle them to any of your content as you only share with the people you choose. Randoms add me on a daily basis – unless they are infonerds, photographers, or friends of friends I am never going to add them to a circle.

I recognize that as an information professional, I may have a different approach toward sharing of my content via the innernetz. I'm just curious as to why there's such a general and loud "ACK!" when the randoms encroach, as they are wont to do.

The Status Quo Has Got To Go!

The Status Quo Has Got To Go!

A highly challenging view of the current situation in academic libraries and suggestions for survival in today's difficult climate.

I still fail to understand why ASL students…

I still fail to understand why ASL students are universally among the noisiest of our library patrons. This mystifies me because they are generally in here doing sign-related homework. It's often laughter-related noise, so I'm happy to know we have happy students, but oy…