Pez Librarian

“we clean up and how it’s time to learn”

poplibrarian — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:34:19 +0000

One week ago today, we were wrapping up our 3rd Access Services Conference. I have shamelessly plugged this conference on my blog over the years and now I am going to talk a little about what comes next: learning. Every year we ask for feedback and every year we get no holds barred reviews of our conference. This year is not different. Let me tell you what is different though, the expectations of the audience. Our first and second years were like a treat. No one knew what they were going to get but they enjoyed it when they received it. This year I have noticed that the attendees have a certain expectation of the caliber of presentations as well as the overall feel of the conference. This is no longer a side project for me, it is now part of my job. I am responsible (with help) for creating a conference that fills the void in the professional lives of so many access services librarians and staff. I guess I am starting to feel the pressure. The third year seemed easier somehow. We know what needs to get done and we were able to delegate a little more. We 5 organizers are complete control freaks so this was no easy task. But again, there is a certain expectation that we need to meet each year. It’s like bowling a 300 game your first night of bowling. Everyone expects you to bowl a 300 again and there is so much pressure to perform. You might get a 299 but that 300 is probably not going to happen again for a very long time. That is how I feel about this 3rd year. Our first year was a definitely 300, and each year we are striving to get back to that 300 but we are just going to have to be satisfied with a 299 and so are the attendees. I had to throw a little bowling analogy in there because I missed a league night for this conference (that’s how important it is to me). So our lessons learned this year will hopefully get us closer to that 300 but it probably won’t and that’s ok. As long as we are still providing a conference that has informative and inspiring presentations on topics that are of interest to access services folks, that’s all that matters.

BTW, thanks to the White Stripes for the title from the song “we’re going to be friends” which makes me think about all the wonderful connections made this fall at the 2011 Access Services Conference.

“you were a vampire, but baby i’m the walking dead”

poplibrarian — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:15:12 +0000

This post is brought to you by my recent Concrete Blond phase. This particular song lyric had me thinking about the current zombie trend going on. The AMC television program Walking Dead, filmed in my very own Atlanta, GA, is currently breaking records with cable viewing for their 2nd season and I have to admit, I am totally hooked. Although zombies totally terrify me, I am struck by the popularity of zombies right now. Zombie movies have always been popular, again terrifying, but in recent years, zombies have broken into popular culture as a formidable adversary in books, comics, and now television. What I have noticed is that vampire popularity seems to be dwindling down somewhat. I’m speculating that vampires just aren’t scary anymore. They have been sexualized, and reduced to sensitive and romantic notions. Stephen King, in Volume One of American Vampire,says basically the same thing. He wanted to publish a scary vampire comic and stay away from the current trend. I highly recommend reading this graphic novel if you have the same sentiments, it does not disappoint. Maybe Stephen King can start a new, scary vampire trend. If not, I am afraid zombies are here for a while. I’m scared, are you?

BTW, thank you Walking Dead for breaking with tradition and putting shoes on your zombies, and for filling the void that Breaking Bad left.

Why I Like Ebooks More Than Print and I’m Not Afraid to Admit It

poplibrarian — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:12:43 +0000

Gasp! I know, as a librarian this is something I am not supposed to say. I ‘m supposed to have a huge collection of books, collecting dust so that everyone who sees it knows that I am a lover of books. Although that is somewhat true, I do have a largish collection of books that are on prominent display in my house, it does not come close to reflecting what I have actually read. There are hundreds of books I have read that are not shown on my bookshelf. I may have borrowed the book from a library, friend, or maybe given the item away after I read it. Just because I do not have tangible proof of the item does not mean I didn’t read it and find something meaningful from the text. So, the point I am trying to make is this: I am a lover of reading, not books. And, as a lover of reading, there are numerous reasons to love ebooks above the more tangible print counterpart. Here are my reasons:

Accessibility

Let’s face it. No bookstore in the world can compete with the internet. I have access to thousands of items, literally at my finger tips. Electronically, I don’t have to wait for the mail or even spend a dime on gas. I have immediate access to the title I want to read and can read it within seconds. This accessibility has taken me on a quick trip to ebook addition. It’s almost too easy. There is absolutely no delay between books.

Information

Again, nothing can compete with the internet. I find it amazing that I can search for a book, find titles that are similar, find out the next item in a series, and read reviews all within one page. I am recommended items that are also available immediately. While you can still get all this information and then turn around and get a print copy of an item, why bother when you can get it immediately?

Privacy

I must say that this reason is one of my favorite. Let me be honest, I am not reading the most literary works these days. I need to relax and unwind with something light and entertaining and probably trashy. Do I want the whole world to know what I am reading? No, that is between me and the ebook vendor and I want to keep it that way. I can walk around town reading the most blush-worthy material ever written and no one is the wiser. I don’t have to embarrass myself at a bookstore when the clerk sees a bodice ripper in my hand. Nope, pure anonymity. Just the way I like it.

Portability

Speaking of walking around town, this is more about an ereader than the ebook but I love the fact that I ALWAYS have my book. I have an iPhone with numerous ebook apps loaded. I do not go anywhere without my phone, therefore I do not go anywhere without my book, my very trashy book that no one knows I am reading. I have read this trash on the beach, late at night with the lights tired off, in waiting rooms, just about everywhere. And, when I finish a book, there is always a backup available.

Affordability

Now I know bookstores have sales all the time but do they give books away for free? Didn’t think so. I have read for months on free ebooks. Or, books for $2 or less. It can still add up when you are reading a book a day but it is significantly less than you would find with a print item. They can afford to put the ebook on sale. I imagine their profit margin is outrageous. So, I can sort for items by price and find quite a few good books for free. Sometimes a new book in a series comes out and they want to promote it by offering the first in the series free or reduced. Just to grab a new reader.

History

I really enjoy the fact that all of the items I read are stored in a device or on the vendor’s site. If I can’t remember whether I read a title or not, I can just check. If you have read as many items as I have, you will find this feature very rewarding.

Clutter-free

I no longer have books that I need to get rid of, or store in some fashion. These items will not collect dust and will not take up space in my life. Read and move on to the next title. No clean-up necessary.

I am not trying to say that ebooks are better than print books. The message I am trying to convey is that the love of reading and the love of books are two different things. You can love them both but if you are a lover of reading, ebooks are like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Don’t get me wrong, there are still flaws with ebooks as intangible items that compete with tangible ones but that is a post for later. This post is to define all the reasons I love ebooks more than print and not afraid to admit it.

Sincerely,

ebook addicted librarian

“I got every ingredient, all I need is the courage”

poplibrarian — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:09:10 +0000

This first post, after a long hiatus, is inspired by the Eminem song 8 Mile. If you are not familiar with the film, it is about a white rapper (played by Eminem) who is trying to win a rap battle and runs into his own fears of failure and embarrassment. The title song of the 8 Mile soundtrack is a great overview of the film but it also sums up how I have been feeling this last year both professionally and personally. It seems that I have been letting my shyness control my life and in doing so, I am probably missing out on incredible experiences. So, for the last year I have been trying to get out of that natural state of shyness and say “yes” to things that scare me. This includes leading an Open Forum on Science Fiction, being interviewed for a library radio show, even kayaking. This blog, unfortunately, suffers from performance anxiety as well. I have numerous drafts but find it difficult to just publish what I write and not overanalyze or critique it to death. I am sure some of that is just the English Literature graduate and Librarian coming out of me but it slows down the creative process. That is why I think it’s “time for me to just take matters into my own hands” by going out on a limb and risking embarrassment and failure. I need to write more, present more, and take more risks. What do I have to lose?

BTW, the 8 Mile soundtrack kicks ass!

Another Shameless Plug

poplibrarian — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:11:56 +0000

Okay, after what seems like a long hiatus from this blog, I am merely posting to plug my favorite project: The Access Services Conference. Now in our 3rd year.

That’s right.

On behalf of the Conference Organizing Committee, we would like to invite you to submit a proposal for the Access Services Conference 2011, Unlocking the 21st Century Library. This year’s event will be held at Georgia Tech Global Learning Center in Atlanta, GA from November 9-11, 2011.

The Access Services Conference is an opportunity for individuals working in all areas of Access Service in libraries to gather information and communicate with other professionals about Circulation, Reserves, Interlibrary Loan, Student Worker Management, Security, Stacks Maintenance, and other topics of interest.

We invite program proposals from March 11 until 5pm, May 13, 2011. Accepted program proposal submissions should be able to fit within a 45 minute segment including time for questions. Proposals might focus on any of the following areas:

Customer Service Circulation
Interlibrary Loan Consortia Agreements
Leadership
Marketing
Reserves
Security
Space Management
Stacks Maintenance
Student Workers Management
Current technology for access service enhancement

Program Proposal guidelines:
Please submit an abstract, 250 words or less, with the program title and your name. Program proposals will be reviewed by the program committee and those presenters who are selected will be notified by June 6, 2011. Go to: www.AccessServicesConference.org/presenting to submit a proposal.

Please direct any questions to

Catherine Jannik Downey
cdowney@ggc.edu

Death By Committee

poplibrarian — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:44:08 +0000

I have been thinking about committee work a lot lately and how we librarians are expected to be on committees. But, no one really talks about committee expectations or relevance, let alone productivity. A former colleague once talked about how a group of individuals will water-down all great ideas and I am constantly finding that to be true in my committee work. It seems that in order to satisfy the whole group, concessions and compromises have to be made. What happens to the great idea? It dies. Creativity is stifled in this situation and it can be very frustrating for we creative types. It is more that frustrating for we managerial types as well. After contemplating why committee work is so frustrating for me, it dawned on me that I am not good at it. I am a leader and expect ideas to be executed, good or bad. I make room for failure and I make grand leaps of faith. Committees do no such thing. I am stuck in a chair listening, without the power to control the situation. This goes against my nature. So, I guess committee work is what I need to do. It is completely out of my comfort zone. I just wish there were a way to commit and participate without feeling like my head is going to explode. I swear, it will be the death of me.

“When you’re seeing 20 things in your mind, just can’t slow things down”

poplibrarian — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:44:12 +0000

While listening to 20 Eyes by the Misfits on my way into work today, I was struck by this particular lyric. It seemed to sum up exactly how I have been feeling lately. Overwhelmed and a little unfocused. I have started to lose my motivation and hoped that a well-deserved vacation would give me rest and relaxation that my mind so desperately needs. However, upon returning to work, I find that it only postponed the work that is piled on my desk and really did nothing to reignite the determination and motivation that I normally possess. Perhaps I am at the point in my career where a change is desperately needed. I am already quite aware of my need for constant change. Boredom seems to be my Achilles heel. However, change never happens fast enough and I do not have nearly enough control over anything to get the results I want (another post later). So, what is a bored Pez Librarian to do? Read, write, assess, and try not to let my mind “take an overload”. Plus, obsessing over the 2010 Access Services Conference is a nice distraction from everyday work.

Up Your Nose With a Rubber Hose

poplibrarian — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:04:43 +0000

There was a semi-recent article in American Libraries titled: “The Faces of Circulation“. The article was a “rant” about the lack of respect for Circulation in libraries. This short article just amplified my suspicion that Circulation is looked down upon by Reference in just about every library around. I find it really interesting that this “us vs. them” mentality is so prominent. While I can go on an on about how this battle has affected me and my career, both good (Access Services Conference) and bad (post MLS career choices), I instead choose to contemplate where this contentious relationship began. At what point in the history of libraries did this relationship go south? My best guess is when the Reference Librarian became separate from the borrowing of materials. Many libraries, small, public in particular, still have the “I find the book you need; I check it out to you” model. Larger libraries focus on the more departmental model that currently exists. And there you have it: Reference (the research) and Circulation (the delivery). These are two integral pieces of the puzzle, although not the most important ones (there is still cataloging, acquisition, managements, etc.). The ultimate goal is the same, is it not? To satisfy the user’s research needs.

As our library moves closer to a combined services desk I am constantly worried about the affect that performing Circulation Services is going to have on the Reference employees. I need not worry about my own folks, we will be just fine. Circulation is an ever-evolving and fast paced department that can handle the pain. But it’s not the work that I am worried about. It’s the culture. And by “culture”, I mean stigma. There is a certain stigma attached to working Circulation and is hard to get past. We will have to put down our gloves and get past the “us vs. them” thing. We will all be “them”.

A recent conversation prompted the title of this post (catch my pop culture reference?). And while my original intention of this post was to rant about how awesome Circ is and how stupid the battle between Circ and Reference is, what came out is the realization that we are merely tools. All of us. Take that any way you want.

Shameless Plug

poplibrarian — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:46:34 +0000

Access Services Conference 2010, Innovative Approaches to Access Services

On behalf of the Conference Organizing Committee, we would like to invite you to submit a proposal for the Access Services Conference 2010, Innovative Approaches to Access Services. This year’s event will be held at Georgia Tech Global Learning Center in Atlanta, GA from November 10-12, 2010.
The Access Services Conference is an opportunity for individuals working in all areas of Access Service in libraries to gather information and communicate with other professionals about Circulation, Reserves, Interlibrary Loan, Student Worker Management, Security, Stacks Maintenance, and other topics of interest. The conference is focused primarily on academic libraries but we welcome participation and proposals from all types of libraries.

We invite program proposals from March 8 until 5pm, May 14, 2010. Accepted program proposal submissions should be able to fit within a 50 minute segment. Proposals might focus on any of the following areas:

Customer Service Circulation
Interlibrary Loan
Consortia Agreements
Marketing
Reserves
Security
Space Management
Stacks Maintenance
Student Workers Management
Current technology for access service enhancement

Program Proposal guidelines:
Please submit an abstract of 300 words or less with the program title, your name, title, and affiliation. Please also note if your proposal is for a single presenter, panel, or roundtable discussion. Program proposals will be reviewed by the program committee and those presenters who are selected will be notified by June 1, 2010. In order to submit a proposal, please go to “Call for Proposals” on the conference website www.accessservicesconference.org to submit your proposal.

Please direct any questions to

Catherine Jannik Downey
cdowney@ggc.edu

Vendors or organizations interested in sponsoring the Access Services Conference please contact

Denita Hampton

dahampton@gsu.edu

“Eh, What’s Up Doc?”

poplibrarian — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:49:28 +0000

I recently received a piece of mail addressed to Dr. Karen Glover. Well, I do not have a doctorate and have no plans on ever getting one. This lead me to thinking about why one would get a doctorate in Library Science and what the benefits would be, besides bragging rights. I could only think or find one area that would require a doctorate: teaching. So, if you have no desire to teach library school students, what is the point? This then began a search for doctorate programs in Library Science where I found 35 institutions providing a PhD program in Library or Information Science. I was surprised to find so many since I have met very few individuals who have earned the degree. I suppose you could use the degree to secure a Dean position at a large academic library but I don’t know that it’s really a requirement at most institutions. Perhaps there is something I am missing. Please enlighten me. Maybe you will change my mind about pursuing a PhD. Until then, I might frame that piece of mail since I will probably never see it in writing again.