I wish I had thought of this!

Here is a website that just made me laugh and reminisce: The Virtual Museum of Cataloging and Acquisitions Artifacts.

I used many of the tools -- electric erasers, the card platens, Kardex trays, etc. KU's Curll Collection card with the title page image brought back a lot of memories -- I still have a card sorter squirreled away and a card catalog cabinet stored away! Ya never know...

The best use of catalog cards (after they leave the card catalog) I have seen yet is the decoration of an elevator shaft at the Los Angeles Public Central Library -- the elevator has a glass window and as you travel up and down the shaft you see all the cards! Check it out!

Looking forward, today I saw a word or tag cloud in action in a database -- Counseling and Psychotherapy Transcripts, Client Narratives, and Reference Works -- and knew what it was! Thanks TLC.

Now what?

Now that I have finished my 23 things -- now what? I have been thinking about this and realized that it was a quick pass -- there is more to learn and do. So I am going to go back and review some of the things I really don't quite get and also move on to some of the extra assignments. Like Second Life. Hmm -- I always wished I had red hair...



In the meanwhile I have been playing with books and reading again -- here I am in my favorite reading chair courtesy of the Coral Springs Art Museum:


The book on the ottoman is River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Appropriate reading for south Florida only a mile or two from the Everglades!

Facebook Angel

Library Angel

Oh no, I have a Facebook account -- let me check -- is my nephew on this? He is the right age to be using it for social networking -- 17. He will think me way cool when I tell him I have an account.


And what is this poking -- I actually found someone I know so he has been poked and invited to be a friend -- he is a former professor of mine so this should be interesting.


As for my Facebook identity -- I do like my privacy -- but here is the picture I put up! Right now I will be silly or is it giddy from finishing my 23 things?

I think Facebook's rep has spoiled it for some people -- I find it a little uncomfortable to be on it but also realize that if it were taken more seriously it would serve as a great networking tool. Should ALA set up an account and urge members to join -- might even help recruitment to the profession!

Finishing 23 Things

Well in truth I haven't finished it all -- still waiting on my Facebook account to be generated but I will go ahead and write about finishing my 23 things. I wasn't able to finish on schedule but that is OK. The point is that I got through all the exercises and played with all the tools being offered. I see a great deal of potential and realized that I both personally and professionally could be doing a lot more. For example I like blogging -- I don't think of myself as a writer but I am doing a lot of it in my blogs and will probably continue it personally. I find I like using anything that has a graphical interface and that comes from my interest in art and book design. I do think visually and love using pictures to illustrate or make my point. In fact I feel my blogs are not complete without a picture! I had played with Flickr in the past but now am getting more serious about it. I have even invested in a digital camera to make it easier for me to use.

How will this impact me at work -- well the ease of setting up and using many of these tools makes me think we can easily incorporate them into our work. I have tried to look at them with library or reading or book implications. I see the communication aspects as well as the promotional aspects. One thing that I had not realized the importance of was tagging -- and you can see that in my blogs -- it wasn't til I got to Del.icio.us and Technorati that I realized oops -- should have tagged those blogs!

Finally I don't think this is the end -- my other realization this is only going to continue and Web 2.0 is going to grow -- and we need to say abreast of it. Despite all of the commercialization and Yahoo or Google generated products Web 2.0 is being driven by a hugh force -- people who have easier and easier access online as the cost of doing so comes down and the user interfaces become less geek or tech-head operated.

So my thanks to the Libraries for supporting this and allowing me to use work time to play!

Shuffling

A few years ago one of my sisters showed me her new Apple Shuffle -- and I immediately lusted after one. I saved my pennies and bought one and have been playing with it ever since. It meant that I needed to install iTunes so I now have it set up on all the computers I use. At first I did think I could only load music on it but one day while checking out the NPR site I realized I could save programs! I love Fresh Air but because of the poor scheduling of it on the local NPR stations I never got to hear it. Now I listen to it when I want to.

Want to listen too? Go to Fresh Air and subscribe.

What I didn't know for a long time was that Podcasts were not just audio -- there is video too -- but with my little Shuffle I will have to watch elsewhere!

On Viewing YouTube and Fontaneda

YouTube is a massive phenomenon getting lots of press --- you can't not know about it -- and its sensationalism. But as I played with it I realized that there are many other worlds on it.

I did a search on "book collecting" and found a universe inhabited by bibliomanics infected by a disease known as the "gentle madness." Book collectors -- and I don't mean accumulators like me -- are a special people. They love their books and they love the topics they collect whether it be fine bindings or jazz discographies. They can entertain me for hours with the stories about their books. Locally there is a at least one collectors' group known as the Fontaneda Society. They meet monthly at the Bienes Museum of the Modern Book at Broward County Main Library. Members of the Fontaneda Society share stories about their collecting, hear guest lectures and visit collections. It is a interesting group to hang out with and there are some very important local collectors who participate. One always learn something at a meeting.

Here is a lovely YouTube presentation by a collector in Syracuse, NY -- a treat to see her collection:

Winners -- and Losers on Seomoz.org

I poked around this list of resources and there were some real winners and some real losers. I could live a long time without Fuzzmail -- maybe because I already struggle with spelling! Why preserve it! I did try the one line story -- I realized I had that story waiting to get out for a long time -- and now it is written. I popped a widget onto my blog -- see quote of the day. Mostly because I like the word widget! And someone needs to tell Marsha about Yahoo's Upcoming where events can be posted! Some of these items have been around for awhile or variants of them have existed in the past. But they do get better and better.

How useful is all this to know about-- well it opens up my eyes and my mind to the fact that there is a lot going on out there and some very talented and creative people are developing and playing with new ideas and new toys. Keeping up with it all is tough but we need to pay attention and perhaps even make our own.

Using Zoho Writer Recipe Template!

Well this is not really library related but I do make it sometimes and bring to work! Creating Recipe

Name of the Dish: Christmas Fudge
Type: Dessert
Serves: 12

Ingredients

2 cups Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate chips (the best brand!) 1 can sweetened condensed milk (I used Magnolia) 1 teaspoon mint flavoring You can add miniature marshmallows and/or nuts too if you want. Prepare a 9/12 inch pan and cover bottom and sides with wax paper.

Directions

Mix together chips and sweethened condensed milk in a glass or ceramic bowl. Do not use metal. If using marshmallows add now too. Melt together in microwave on high for one and a half minutes. Remove and stir. If too stiff, melt for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove and add peppermint. Add nuts now too. Stir. Quickly put melted chocolate into the waxpaper covered pan. Cool, cut and serve.

Wiki Whacky!

I have already had experience using a Wiki - developed by one of the Ref staff, Robin Kear, a year ago to help the Libraries SACS Review Committee compile it's reports. It served its purpose and it did cut down on the amount of paper being generated and the number of drafts floating around -- I would like to see it implemented for other projects but we would need it on a library server -which will happen.

The idea of sharing and group work done online without having to know how to design a webpage is the saving grace of this product. Collaboration is important -- no man or a woman is an island!

Why Library 2.0? Or Jane Eyre and the OPAC

One of my vivid memories from library school was going with one of my classes on a field trip across Morningside Heights to see a computer -- a room size mainframe. What did it mean for me as a future librarian? I knew it meant change. I had already seen the introduction of OCLC terminals at the Paul Klapper Library at Queens College the last year I worked there as a student assistant and remembered the buzz. But that was it for computers in library school. One visit.

My next experience with computers in libraries was my first month on the job at KU -- where I walked into a library where everyone was being told that they would be getting training on how to use the brand new OCLC system. Along with seasoned catalogers I too learned the ins and outs of searching on OCLC and entering records. But we only saw our results on printed cards that we received in a big box from OCLC periodically. We filed the cards into our card catalog. So much for computers.

In my first month at CU I learned that the library was being wired for OPACs but that Special Collections was not included. I can still recall going down to the Director's office and asking for a terminal -- and the answer was why would we want one in Special Collections! Well - uh -- because we had cataloged material too, I said and we could help people look it up. I had staff who were very upset about having to have an OPAC in the beautiful Rare Books Room but we made it discreet and put the terminal next to the card catalog. For a long time we had students coming in to see the first edition of Jane Eyre -- and telling us it was the only copy in the library. They were using the OPAC and the rare book copy was the only edition in the OPAC! The students were NOT using the paper card catalog!

Segue to sunny south Florida and my first few weeks on the job at Nova. A small room of computers with a network of CD-Roms -- I had seen a CD-Rom but had never handled one. Suddenly I was trying to figure out this whole new world of information retrieval. And they a year or two later I am telneting into FirstSearch. And suddenly the World Wide Web --- remember when we used to say all that! I even put up a website! Exciting.

And then a stall. Yes the webpages got prettier and prettier and I no longer could create a website on my own.

And now Web 2.0 or in the case Library 2.0 -- another step along the way as far as I can determine. Love it or hate it we are going to use it -- because it does makes things easier and -- for me -- most fascinating -- more interactive. My instinctive reaction is how can we use this and also that we better use it -- because the next generation of users will be using it to find their Jane Eyre. Tagging here I come.

Check out my Slide Show from the Miami Book Fair International!

Books Everywhere -- and Authors Too!

This past weekend my husband and I spent two days totally immersed in the Miami Book Fair International experience -- we looked at books, we bought books, we listened to authors, we talked about books -- all with like minded people! Imagine hundreds of people in a 4 block area on the Miami Dade College Wolfson campus all interested in books and excited about them! What a trip. On one block was the BookTV van, on another Antiquarian Row. Over there was Target's Children's Alley.

We started each day with our free Starbuck's and then we hit the ground running -- from building to building, sitting in on competing presentation by panels of authors. Saturday I checked out Amira Baraka after getting shut out of Wesley Clark and Walter Isaacson. I got to hear Andrea Barrett and Ha Jin. Sunday was even better with a panel on medical history -- loved it-- and then Edwidge Danticut and Francisco Goldman, Donald Antrim, and Diana Ackerman, and ending with a panel on What Orwell didn't Know -- Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics with Frances FitzGerald, Victo Navasky, David Rieff, George Soros and Drew Weston. Wow!

And of course -- I did buy books -- not too many -- see my Library Thing list over there to the side.

Mendelssohn

I was listening to the new classical station in South Florida (89.7 FM) this morning while driving to work and as they played a Mendelssohn piece it struck me how surreal it was that this composer could not have possibly conceived that someday someone would be listening to his music while driving in a car in south Florida. Yet, despite the distance of time and place, his work still resonates. I wonder how we will resonate with our blogs?

As I play with Technorati I search for things that I have an interest in -- rare books -- William Charles Wells -- Spanish Flu. As usual I am not getting too many results back-- not many people interested in what I like. Maybe I should try Brittany!

But yet there were some. I love this one: http://boston1775.blogspot.com/.

Or how about this one -- a book hunter's holiday http://bookhuntersholiday.wordpress.com/
She is having fun!

I see the possibilities of Technoroti and tagging -- googling (note the lc) is not the best way to find good blogs!

Del.icio.us and the Spanish Flu

As some of you know I have a forthcoming articles in American Libraries about the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak and its effect on libraries. I first became interested in the 1918 pandemic in early 1985 after suffering through a bad bout of the flu. Until then I equated the flu with a cold and was shocked at how sick I had become. I wanted to learn more about the flu and after some poking around at the CU-Boulder library I came across Alfred W. Crosby’s Epidemic and peace, 1918. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1976. I read about the horrible deaths people suffered and the extensive loss of life in the 1918 pandemic. Why had I not heard about this before? After that I began to read all I could find – but there was very little published at that time – and talk to people who had either lived through the pandemic or had family stories about it. I realized that my grandparent’s generation had lived through this disaster and that it was something they did not want to recall.

In the late 1990’s there were a spate of books on the pandemic. Gina Bari Kolata’s Flu : the story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it, which was based on her article in the New York Times Magazine, renewed popular awareness on the 1918 pandemic. The SARS outbreak in 2003 brought more awareness and the World Health Organization and United States government began to develop informative websites.

In 2004-2005 there was a flu vaccine shortage. Because I was not at risk I was not able to get the vaccine in 2005 and in January of 2006 I again became very sick with the flu. As I recovered I started to think about what I would do at work if there were a pandemic. I had just lived though Hurricane Wilma which had come through south Florida in October of 2005. I had observed how library staff and users had reacted to a relatively minor local disaster. How would we respond to a bigger one? Could we learn from how libraries had dealt with a nationwide disaster in the past? The 1918 flu outbreak had been a nationwide disaster. I started to do some research.

The library had recently acquired New York Times in ProQuest’s Historical Newspapers Collection database so I thought to start there. In searching I found articles including one that mentioned that NYPL had stopped circulating books. This was a surprise. It takes a lot for a library to do that. In the Times I could read the day to day accounts that tracked the start of the pandemic and its spread. I then decided to read what the library literature said. I found The Library Journal and ALA’s Bulletin of the American Library Association on microfilm at the Broward County Main Library. While at the library for a SEFLIN workshop one day, I used my breaks to read film. I read every issue of the two publications for 1918-1919. While there were no articles or editorials about the pandemic – ALA did not even acknowledge it in its publication – I did notice that in a column called “The Library World” in The Library Journal, that there were reports from libraries, library schools and library associations, which mentioned the Spanish Flu. I realized that these grassroots accounts showed that libraries had been affected. I started looking at library histories and came across Place of learning, place of dreams: a history of the Seattle Public Library.There was a mention of the pandemic. Histories of other libraries such as Boston Public and the Detroit Public Library, also mentioned the pandemic. Going online I started to find library histories for such diverse locations as Brunswick, Maine, Michigan City, Indiana and Norfolk, Virginia– again all with a passing mention.

In April, 2006 I made a trip to New York City to see family and went to NYPL Research Library, a library I have relied on for many years. Remembering that NYT article I called for the annual report for NYPL for 1918 – and found a mention of the pandemic. I recalled that NYPL had had a library school in the early years of the 20th century and realized that there might be other library reports to read. I started to work the catalog and began finding many other annual reports. NYPL has a very thorough collection of reports from all over the country from all types of libraries, both large and small. A bibliographer in the past had done their job well! Over several months I made repeated trips to NY and systematically read my way “across” the country following the pandemic. I found annual reports covering 1918-1919 for Boston, Providence, Hartford, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Kansas City, Missouri, Omaha, Denver, Seattle, and San Francisco. Almost all mentioned and/or discussed the influenza pandemic. Each report also had statistics which verified the impact of the pandemic. Most importantly for me each report had a voice – a library director and his staff telling their story, talking about their work and leaving their account of what happened that awful year. Sometimes I felt I was reading contemporary reports – directors begging, bragging, complaining and flattering their boards detailing their needs and wants, expectations and dreams. These reports were very human to read and I wanted to preserve these librarians’ stories.

In the last ten years there has been a growing awareness of the 1918 pandemic and numerous articles have been written about the local impact on communities and groups including colleges and universities. Two that I found particularly interesting were Rex W. Adams “The 1918 Spanish Influenza, Berkeley’s “Quinta Columna.” Chronicle of the University of California, 1, Spring, 1998 pp. 51-52, and Laura Stephenson Carter’s “Cold Comfort.” Dartmouth Medicine, V. 31, n. 2, Winter 2006. pp. 36-57.

The article really wrote itself. I am actually sort of amazed about my obsession on this topic but I felt I needed to document this history and perhaps help people understand what might happen if we were to undergo such a disaster again. By last spring I had the article written and started to wonder what to do with it. Then one day I was reading American Libraries and saw they were marking their centennial. Perhaps they would be interested and so I sent the editor an email. They were and now the article will appear in the December American Libraries.

I still do research on the topic and right now I am developing a power point illustrating the story. I was getting pretty frustrated about keeping track of images I find online -- I could print them but then lose the paper or I could bookmark them but then have this long list of who knew what! Also I would be on different computers -- at home, at work, at other libraries, etc.

Playing with Del.icio.us was an eye opener -- I could use it to organize these sites! Way cool and it would make my life easier -- Now I can quickly find that video of Teddy Roosevelt again addressing a public crowd as part of a liberty bond drive in 1918 -- an incident that fueled the Spanish Flu outbreak in Baltimore! See: http://www.baltimoresun.com/video/?slug=bal-1918flu-rooseveltvideo

Gutenberg

Dialogues et Chants Royaux, UM's 3 millionth book

One of my fantasy exhibits is to show all the surviving copies of the Gutenberg Bible in one place. And someday I will do it. Not with the paper and vellum editions that survive but with digital and electronic versions -- thanks to technology many have been reproduced. The British Library, the University of Texas and the Library of Congress have made their copies accessible.

Last month I visited the University of Miami for the celebration of the acquisition of their 3 millionth book -- a beautiful manuscript (see above). It reminded me of a purchase I once made. My fascination with Gutenberg goes back to the mid 1980's when I had the unusual opportunity to purchase a leaf of a Gutenberg Bible. Not for me -- but for the University of Colorado as the official 2 millionth acquisitions. A real thrill! A beautiful leaf all the more special as it has a scribal error making it very unique. When I last visited CU Boulder it was the first thing I asked to see.

So what does this have to do with TLC? Well I tried using Rollo to make a finding aid for locating Gutenberg Bibles. It is set up but will need some work!

Shelves and Shelves of Books

I read. I always have at least two books going and a third about to start, not including trying to finish last Sunday's New York Times and the most recent New Yorker. What can I say? I read. I don't even have cable TV. On the bedstand is Nancy Pearl's two books -- Book Lust and More Book Lust. Just in case... I run out of things to read and have to quickly find something. Not that that will happen. The house is decorated with bookcases. I read.

LibraryThing would cost me money as I have many books I could easily add. I found it easy to use as it can search by ISBN -- but harder if your book doesn't have one.

About the random books shown to the left. Four have personal stories of where or why they were purchased that make them part of my library. You Are Here was acquired at an ALA conference. When I saw it it brought back memories of an exhibit I did at KU -- Delightful View: Pictures as Maps, Maps as Pictures. Northern Borders reminds me of a Vermont trip, where it was bought for $1.00 at the Norman Williams Library book sale. Cumberland Island purchased in St. Mary, Georgia after a day on that beautiful island which I had visited while in pursuit of William Charles Wells. The Fall of Rome bought after seeing the author win a prize for history writing while at a conference in Oxford. I got him to autograph it! And the fifth from the library in the neighborhood --Sharp's Rifles -- because I read.

Where have I been?

I looked at the date of my last post -- Oct. 19! Where has the time gone!! Well work for one thing -- it certainly does keep me busy! And we all were in Reference -- October was quite a month -- the highest stats in almost two years and more activities and events then we could fit on a calendar. That's over but wait til April! The other busy month!

My weekends, when I am not working, are spent doing fun things -- here is one recent activity -- a field trip north to look at quilt exhibits with members of my quilt guild. Here we are at FAU's library after viewing an exhibit of book quilts -- no, not books about quilts but books that are also quilts or is it the other way around? Whatever! The Arthur and Meta Jaffe Center for the Book had a recent competition for "artist" quilts that could be books as well. All of the entries were very clever!

Her Ladyship

I am but of humble roots but with a good cuppa tea I can rule the world with style!

I simply could not resist this Image Generator which is called myposhtwin.com. At least I didn't add all the bling or a mustache to the picture!

There is Library Service and Then There is Library Service

Guess which one had the best service

Last week I took a little trip back north to visit family. While there I went to two public libraries -- two very different libraries. In one there was no welcome -- in fact once I admitted I was not from the area -- there was virtually no assistance. And forget about getting online! Ha- no guest log-ins -- only 15 minutes on a stand up computer and only after I had to personally chastise two teens who were flipping the time share on the machine before I could step up to use it after waiting. The librarian just watched us and offered no assistance when I complained.

At the other library though service -- and with a smile. My questions answered, even a follow up by the librarian who found me in the stacks to give me what I had asked for. As for computer access -- free wifi! Guess which one I went back to. Why -- because I felt welcomed even though I was "not from the area."

Neither library knew I was a librarian -- I don't use that as leverage to get service!

Now the interesting thing is that the library with the best service had the least resources -- the collection is old, the staff has little or no privacy and the building is small. But the staff certainly had the right attitude. And that is what makes library users come back!

On a clear day...

I took this photo last year about this time -- I was flying to Boston and it was one of those amazing, clear, autumn days you see in the northeast. It shows most of New York City, particularly Queens, where I was born and where I was raised.

To me this is a photo of my early years and of my family. When I look at it I see the house I grew up in, the schools I attended and the places I worked. I can almost pick out the streets where my family lives today. With my finger I can trace the roads and streets I travel on when I go to visit.

Here is a closer view of "home" from Google Maps:


View Larger Map

RSS feeds

Well that was fun! I think I figured it out -- here is a link to my public feeds: http://www.bloglines.com/public/nora-quinlan
What ever that means! Am I obsessed with news and pending disasters or what!

What surprised me about this exercise is that many sites I do visit do not have RSS feeds -- World Health Organization, RBMS, etc. Hmm -- are we ahead of the curve or what!

From a hand press to this -- what a life.

Professional Genealogy

I have been thinking a great deal about genealogy lately what with the new collection from the Genealogical Society of Broward County and the new genealogy databases. We all understand family genealogy but have you ever considered your professional genealogy? Artists, musicians, and academics keep track of it -- and so should we as librarians. I like to think that I am descended from a very prominent library "family."

I can trace this family tree from my employment at the University of Kansas (1978-1983) -- there I worked for Alexandra Mason (Sandy). Sandy was the head of Special Collections for almost forty years as well as the Spencer Librarian at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at KU. Sandy was a true librarian and is considered by many to be a leader in the rare books world. Sandy taught me a great deal about rare books and special collections but also about being a librarian. Service as one's number one priority, an understanding of the "big" picture, working as an equal of faculty and university administration on a common mission to enrich the student experience. Most importantly, the value of teaching and passing on to others a love of the history of the book and access to information.

Sandy started at the University of Kansas in the 1950's working under then library director Robert Vosper. Bob Vosper was from UCLA and went back to become University Librarian at UCLA as well a to teach at the UCLA library school. Vosper was president of ALA from 1965-66.
While at KU, Vosper worked with others, including Sandy, to build and develop the library's collections, including the development of a special collections. For a discussion of what this evolved into see: http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/25th/special_collections.html

Vosper had trained under Lawrence Clark Powell, the noted librarian and writer, who also had been the University Librarian at UCLA. For a wonderful tribute to Powell see: http://www.library.ucla.edu/special/scweb/lcpindex.htm

To follow in the footsteps of these great librarians has been a learning and growing experience for me -- sometimes a challenge, but always an inspiration.

Seattle, Jan 07

Seattle, Jan 07-08
Originally uploaded by noraquinlan

Yes! Another library! Click on the picture for the full Flickr effect!

ALA in Seattle, Jan 07

Seattle, Jan 07-10
Originally uploaded by noraquinlan

ALA has given me many opportunities to check out libraries! While in Seattle for ALA Midwinter I added two. Click on the picture for the full Flickr effect!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Printing Presses I Have Known

Hole and Corner Press, KU, 1981

I was 22 years old when I started my library degree at the School of Library Service at Columbia University in 1975. Somehow I had managed to obtain a full scholarship which to this day I am grateful for because otherwise I could not have been able to go to library school. The library school was located on an upper floor of the Butler Library. When you took the elevator up you got off in front of the room housing the Book Arts Press.

What was the first thing I saw on my first day at school? A big printing press! Boy -- did I want to learn more about that! But I was not in the rare books concentration -- I just wanted to be a reference librarian -- so not for me to play with. Still I hung around, ingratiated myself into the good graces of the keeper of the press and within the year I was learning how to set type in a composing stick, lock up a form on a press with furniture and quoins, mount a tympan and mask the frisket, run proofs and print a job. Very fun.

While working at KU, I was the proprietor of the Hole and Corner Press and taught classes on the history of the book. And while at CU I expanded what became the Eaves Press and taught a printing class through Continuing Education.

So what does this have to do with TLC 2.0? Plenty -- From printing press to blog I continue to learn and use ways to transmit information easily and inexpensively. Just in different media.

Libraries I have worked at over 30+ years

In my office at the Spencer Library, KU, 1982

Martin Van Buren HS Library, New York City: Student Aide. Where I learned to shelve!

Paul Klapper Library, Queens College, CUNY: Student assistant at the Reserve Desk; Reference; Acquisitions. During my three and a half years there I learned about reserves, rode book trucks in the stacks and saw my first OCLC terminal!

Collegiate School Library, New York City: Library Assistant. Typed cards and put in book pockets for almost a year -- all while in library school.

Spence School Library New York City: Library Assistant. More cards to type and more book pockets pasted in. My desk was in the hallway!

Metropolitan Museum of Art Library: Intern. While working on my MA in art history I got to see the back side of the Met and order lots of art books.

Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas: Assistant Special Collections Librarian. My first "professional" job -- I knew nothing about rare books when I started but served a wonderful "apprenticeship" and gained valuable experience working with some great people.

Norlin Library, University of Colorado: Head of Special Collections. Eight years on my own staying true to the course. The hardest thing I ever did.

Richter Library, University of Miami: Rare Book Cataloger. A surprisingly good collection to catalog in.

Broward County Library: consultant and volunteer. Where I wrote a report and got to see it come to life as the Bienes Center.

Einstein Library, Nova University later NSU: Reference Librarian; Reference Instructional Librarian; Assistant Head of Distance Library Services. A scrappy place with a lot of ambition. Put up with a lot because we had a library dream.

Alvin Sherman Library, NSU: Director of Reference. Where we get to live the library dream.

Collecting Libraries

The previous blog entry showed me at the UPSI library in Malaysia. I went there last December to teach a Fischler School of Education DSO. A few days later I took a train to Singapore where my first stop was the Singapore National Library. I had a wonderful tour!

Here I am in front of the library.

Collecting Libraries

As I work on my blog I am going to be adding pictures of me in exotic locales with one common theme -- there is a library in the picture -- one of my little life jokes -- I love busman's holidays!

It's not all books!

The Oxford English Dictionary, the definitive dictionary of the English language, gives the following definition of librarian:

1. A scribe, copyist. Obs.

2. The keeper or custodian of a library. (This word has supplanted the older library-keeper.)

3. A dealer in books. Obs. rare1.

Hence librarianess, a female librarian; librarianship, the office or work of a librarian.

Do I really do any of this? Not really! Sometimes I wonder if I am really a librarian! So what am I? The business card says Head of Reference -- (recently changed to Director).

Hmm... let me see what OED says for director:

• 1. a. One who or that which directs, rules, or guides; a guide, a conductor; ‘one that has authority over others; a superintendent; one that has the general management of a design or work’ (J.). director-general, a chief or supreme director, having under him directors or managers of departments.
  b. spec. A member of a board appointed to direct or manage the affairs of a commercial corporation or company.
  c. spec. A member of the French Directory of 1795-9: see DIRECTORY n. 6.
  1798 CANNING Elegy xiii. in Anti-Jacobin (1852) 134 The French Directors Have thought the point so knotty. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 15/1 The executive power was entrusted to five directors..The directors had the management of the military force, of the finances, and of the home and foreign departments.
  d. Eccl. (chiefly in R.C. Ch.) An ecclesiastic holding the position of spiritual adviser to some particular person or society.
  e. Mus. = DIRECT n. 2. Obs.
  f. A small letter inserted by the scribe for the direction of the illuminator in the space left for an illuminated initial.
  g. One who directs a film or play, etc. (see DIRECT v. 5c). orig. U.S.
  
• 2. The dedicator of a book or the like. Obs.
• 3. a. One who or that which causes something to take a particular direction.
• b. One who aims a missile. Obs. rare.
• c. Surg. A hollow or grooved instrument for directing the course of a knife or scissors in making an incision.
• d. ‘A metallic rod in a non-conducting handle connected with one pole of a galvanic battery, for the purpose of transmitting the current to a part of the body.’ Syd. Soc. Lex. 1883.
• e. An apparatus for directing a torpedo.
• f. Perspective. (See quots.)
• g. Geom. = director circle: see below and cf. DIRECTRIX 2b.
• 4. attrib. and Comb. director-circle (of a conic), the locus of intersection of tangents at right angles to each other; so also director-sphere (of a surface of the second degree); director-plane, a fixed plane used in describing a surface, analogous to the line called a DIRECTRIX; director-tube (= sense 3e).

Well we can forget 2,3, and 4!

1.a. pretty much describes it though:
1. a. One who or that which directs, rules, or guides; a guide, a conductor; ‘one that has authority over others; a superintendent; one that has the general management of a design or work’ (J.). director-general, a chief or supreme director, having under him directors or managers of departments.

I like that word "rules" though I am sure reffies would yelp. Let us stick therefore with directs or guides. I like it as an action word so lets look a the good old OED again for "direct". Couple of choices here --

nope, not
A. 1. trans. To write (something) directly or specially to a person, or for his special perusal; to address. a. To dedicate (a treatise) to. Obs.

Cound be 2. a. To address (spoken words) to any one; to utter (speech) so that it may directly reach a person. arch. . Though that says anyone -- so I could direct my dogs!

I like b. To keep in right order; to regulate, control, govern the actions of. Sort of librarinish too! (on the QT to non-librarians -- librarians love to have things in order!) but if this is what I do all day then my office wouldn't be a mess!
Nope.

AHA!-- there it is:

5. a. trans. To regulate the course of; to guide, conduct, lead; to guide with advice, to advise.

That is what I do all day -- I don't always have control but I can guide, conduct and lead.

Want to play with the OED? Go to:

http://dictionary.oed.com/

Easy and hard

It is easy for me to do all of the goals except one so 6.5 is not bad. The one that is the hardest is keeping the end goal in mind -- I do get distracted by new, shiny things!