Comments on: Heroine for an Hour http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/ K.G. Schneider's blog on librarianship, writing, and everything else Sun, 20 May 2012 03:37:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: kgs http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2651 kgs Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:45:13 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2651 If you're middle management, you're admin. ;) I drive a 12-year-old car with 160,000 miles on it, but it runs like a champ. If I couldn't cross bridges with it, or I had to take back roads because it wasn't fast enough for the highway, then I'd find a way to replace it, if possible--but like you, I'm not planning to trade in my car any time soon, because it does what I need it to do. But a nine-year-old car is not like a nine-year-old computer. You don't need the latest and greatest, but I appreciate how having a reasonably late-model computer with a fast connection makes it easy for me to explore the online world on my personal time--to grow beyond whatever limits The Job sets for me. If you’re middle management, you’re admin. ;)

I drive a 12-year-old car with 160,000 miles on it, but it runs like a champ. If I couldn’t cross bridges with it, or I had to take back roads because it wasn’t fast enough for the highway, then I’d find a way to replace it, if possible–but like you, I’m not planning to trade in my car any time soon, because it does what I need it to do.

But a nine-year-old car is not like a nine-year-old computer. You don’t need the latest and greatest, but I appreciate how having a reasonably late-model computer with a fast connection makes it easy for me to explore the online world on my personal time–to grow beyond whatever limits The Job sets for me.

]]> By: Ruth Ellen http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2650 Ruth Ellen Sat, 15 Jul 2006 18:21:43 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2650 Neither braggin nor confessing. Just stating the facts, ma'am. "You're library admin--we gotta make sure you can grok the walk. " Nah - middle management. And I grok it, just don't walk all of it. Sort of skip through. (Yesterday's walk was challenging the notion that YA librarians shouldn't put up a site on MySpace. Their argument was that somehow this would be endorsing the use of MySpace. Sigh.) When this computer goes kerflooey I'll get a new one. (I also drive a nine-year-old car with 150K miles. It should go another 150k. I LOVE my car.) Then I'll get an MP3 player. And I will, I am sure, love IT. And, hey, by the time I get a new car I'll bet it has a dock for the MP3 player! I, too, like shopping online for music - partly because you can search for stuff you really want, and partly because you can hear the snippets. I like to buy whole albums because there's always something you didn't know you would like on it. Also, sometimes you need a couple of minutes of down-time from listening hard to all the great songs. Makes them stand out more. Ramblingly yours, -R Neither braggin nor confessing. Just stating the facts, ma’am.
“You’re library admin–we gotta make sure you can grok the walk. ”
Nah – middle management. And I grok it, just don’t walk all of it. Sort of skip through. (Yesterday’s walk was challenging the notion that YA librarians shouldn’t put up a site on MySpace. Their argument was that somehow this would be endorsing the use of MySpace. Sigh.) When this computer goes kerflooey I’ll get a new one. (I also drive a nine-year-old car with 150K miles. It should go another 150k. I LOVE my car.) Then I’ll get an MP3 player. And I will, I am sure, love IT. And, hey, by the time I get a new car I’ll bet it has a dock for the MP3 player!
I, too, like shopping online for music – partly because you can search for stuff you really want, and partly because you can hear the snippets. I like to buy whole albums because there’s always something you didn’t know you would like on it. Also, sometimes you need a couple of minutes of down-time from listening hard to all the great songs. Makes them stand out more.
Ramblingly yours,
-R

]]> By: Ryan Deschamps http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2649 Ryan Deschamps Fri, 14 Jul 2006 04:04:40 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2649 Hey I bought <i> Saucer Full of Secrets </i> from iTunes recently -- the whole album. I like the pod more than the tapes. Nothing like having your walkman gradually turn Roger Waters into Barry White and then into Alvin from the chipmunks as the tape gets all messed up from you fast forwarding and rewinding. But the tapes were always better than the CDs. You could always make your own collections and they never (well, almost never) skipped. Ok. The sound of a voice running at variable speeds can be endearing for nostalgic purposes, but I like Pink Floyd at regular speed thank you! The whole tactile thing about CDs -- Now that my CD collection has been reduced to two data DVDs, I can be _more_ tactile with them (now I can throw them like ninja stars without losing the music). And they will collect more dust than they ever would at a music store! Hey I bought Saucer Full of Secrets from iTunes recently — the whole album. I like the pod more than the tapes. Nothing like having your walkman gradually turn Roger Waters into Barry White and then into Alvin from the chipmunks as the tape gets all messed up from you fast forwarding and rewinding.

But the tapes were always better than the CDs. You could always make your own collections and they never (well, almost never) skipped.

Ok. The sound of a voice running at variable speeds can be endearing for nostalgic purposes, but I like Pink Floyd at regular speed thank you!

The whole tactile thing about CDs — Now that my CD collection has been reduced to two data DVDs, I can be _more_ tactile with them (now I can throw them like ninja stars without losing the music). And they will collect more dust than they ever would at a music store!

]]> By: kgs http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2648 kgs Fri, 14 Jul 2006 02:28:20 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2648 Ruth, are you bragging or confessing? Girlfriend, we need to pull you forward. You're library admin--we gotta make sure you can grok the walk. We gotta 2.0 your digital wardrobe, honey! Fiona, I actually am much happier browsing online. Honestly. I know some people are really into CD covers. But even when I could read the covers--because they were on LPs and therefore not munchkinized--there wasn't anything there for me. I remember squirming on a couch as people passed around the latest Pink Floyd and nodded very seriously. Play. The. Album. Please! Ruth, are you bragging or confessing? Girlfriend, we need to pull you forward. You’re library admin–we gotta make sure you can grok the walk. We gotta 2.0 your digital wardrobe, honey!

Fiona, I actually am much happier browsing online. Honestly. I know some people are really into CD covers. But even when I could read the covers–because they were on LPs and therefore not munchkinized–there wasn’t anything there for me. I remember squirming on a couch as people passed around the latest Pink Floyd and nodded very seriously. Play. The. Album. Please!

]]> By: Fiona (infoaddict) http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2647 Fiona (infoaddict) Thu, 13 Jul 2006 23:10:29 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2647 I'm an incorrigible browser and (yet?) a geek. I browse online stores and yes, after 18 months with an iPod I finally bought something from the iTunes store (well, ok, I had to wait for the Australian version to open ... ), but I love music stores - physical ones. I've decided that humans are tactile creatures as much as we are visual, and that seeing something in 3D - even something as 2D as an album cover - helps us make decisions. How often do you wish you could just touch the CD cover you're about to buy? In reality, what difference does it make? - and yet, for me at least, it generally makes the difference between buying and not-buying. You touch it, and hear the sound of your touch, and smell the item (this is _really_ relevant with books and vinyl which, yes, I also still buy - I love the smell of vinyl records), and then decide. I adore the convenience of iTunes (or Amazon, or anywhere else) and the range of stuff available - instantly! Now! For ME! - is wonderful. But for me, it still can't beat the serendipity of physically walking through a store, flipping vaguely through album covers and sale tables and then finding that album you always meant to buy and somehow never remembering to. Which is why I always say online shopping is complementary to, not a replacement for, physical shopping. :) Oh, and on music order? I used to be a music librarian ... keeping my subject headings under 10 is a strain :). Even so, I rearrange them a lot, partly because it's terribly hard to decide whether Loreena McKennitt is folk/roots or world music or pop/rock, whether Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble goes under jazz or early music, and whether jazz and blues should be separate or together. (And if I create a new section called "minimalism" to house Gorecki and Part and Taverner, do I put Nyman and Glass in there or keep them in soundtracks???) Thank goodness for good ol' pop/rock being straightforward :) Oh, and because rearranging one's book and music collections is soothing ;) I’m an incorrigible browser and (yet?) a geek. I browse online stores and yes, after 18 months with an iPod I finally bought something from the iTunes store (well, ok, I had to wait for the Australian version to open … ), but I love music stores – physical ones. I’ve decided that humans are tactile creatures as much as we are visual, and that seeing something in 3D – even something as 2D as an album cover – helps us make decisions. How often do you wish you could just touch the CD cover you’re about to buy? In reality, what difference does it make? – and yet, for me at least, it generally makes the difference between buying and not-buying. You touch it, and hear the sound of your touch, and smell the item (this is _really_ relevant with books and vinyl which, yes, I also still buy – I love the smell of vinyl records), and then decide.

I adore the convenience of iTunes (or Amazon, or anywhere else) and the range of stuff available – instantly! Now! For ME! – is wonderful. But for me, it still can’t beat the serendipity of physically walking through a store, flipping vaguely through album covers and sale tables and then finding that album you always meant to buy and somehow never remembering to.

Which is why I always say online shopping is complementary to, not a replacement for, physical shopping. :)

Oh, and on music order? I used to be a music librarian … keeping my subject headings under 10 is a strain :) . Even so, I rearrange them a lot, partly because it’s terribly hard to decide whether Loreena McKennitt is folk/roots or world music or pop/rock, whether Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble goes under jazz or early music, and whether jazz and blues should be separate or together. (And if I create a new section called “minimalism” to house Gorecki and Part and Taverner, do I put Nyman and Glass in there or keep them in soundtracks???) Thank goodness for good ol’ pop/rock being straightforward :)

Oh, and because rearranging one’s book and music collections is soothing ;)

]]> By: Ruth Ellen http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2646 Ruth Ellen Thu, 13 Jul 2006 23:09:30 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2646 Can we start a game of "More Luddite Than Thou?" My computer runs on Windows ME. iTunes doesn't work on Windows ME. (And I have been advised not to try to upadate my operating system.) My 9-year-old car doesn't have a CD-player. I still make tapes of my CDs so I can play them in the car. Not particularly proud of any of this - just not willing to buy a whole new computer just so I can have iTunes or a whole new car just so I can have a CD-player in the car (which I wouldn't have to do if I had iTunes, because then I would have an MP3 player and could get one of those car adaptors...). Can we start a game of “More Luddite Than Thou?” My computer runs on Windows ME. iTunes doesn’t work on Windows ME. (And I have been advised not to try to upadate my operating system.) My 9-year-old car doesn’t have a CD-player. I still make tapes of my CDs so I can play them in the car. Not particularly proud of any of this – just not willing to buy a whole new computer just so I can have iTunes or a whole new car just so I can have a CD-player in the car (which I wouldn’t have to do if I had iTunes, because then I would have an MP3 player and could get one of those car adaptors…).

]]> By: Laura http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2645 Laura Wed, 12 Jul 2006 15:22:19 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2645 Sheesh. . . I'm so old school that not only do I still buy CDs, I still listen to (and make!) tapes, sometimes using tracks from LPs. I do have an iPod, and I do use it (though in two years I still haven't gotten all my CDs ripped to iTunes and loaded in). I don't have a CD burner, though, and I just have a tape deck in my car (and I haven't gotten around to buying one of those gadgets that will play your iPod through your radio), and I often like listening to music on the stereo, and. . . it's all massively confusing. Sheesh. . . I’m so old school that not only do I still buy CDs, I still listen to (and make!) tapes, sometimes using tracks from LPs. I do have an iPod, and I do use it (though in two years I still haven’t gotten all my CDs ripped to iTunes and loaded in). I don’t have a CD burner, though, and I just have a tape deck in my car (and I haven’t gotten around to buying one of those gadgets that will play your iPod through your radio), and I often like listening to music on the stereo, and. . . it’s all massively confusing.

]]> By: JSS http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2644 JSS Tue, 11 Jul 2006 14:38:17 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2644 I know everyone else has commented, but here are my observations: I have several friends who need lots of hand-holding with computer issues. Upgrades in operating systems and/or software are h*ll for them. These are bright people, but they just had the time to sit and play with their pc's to figure out how to do what. I don't like binders for cd's or dvd's, even though I have a lot of dvd's in binders to save space. I love liner notes. The first thing I do when I buy a new cd is to look at the liner notes. The good ones have the lyrics plus a personal message from the artist or group. The best ones have lyrics, a personal message, and a brief note at the top of the lyrics about the song. Some albums are meant to be heard in a certain arrangement. Frank Sinatra's "In the wee small hours" comes to mind, as does Rosemary Clooney's "Brazil". The Indigo Girls often arrange their albums by alternating songs penned by Amy and Emily. Having lost a hard drive with over 40 GB of MP3's recently, I'm very glad I have the original cd's. I still haven't managed to re-rip everything. I really need to get Diana Krall back on my PC. That's all. I know everyone else has commented, but here are my observations:

I have several friends who need lots of hand-holding with computer issues. Upgrades in operating systems and/or software are h*ll for them. These are bright people, but they just had the time to sit and play with their pc’s to figure out how to do what.

I don’t like binders for cd’s or dvd’s, even though I have a lot of dvd’s in binders to save space.

I love liner notes. The first thing I do when I buy a new cd is to look at the liner notes. The good ones have the lyrics plus a personal message from the artist or group. The best ones have lyrics, a personal message, and a brief note at the top of the lyrics about the song.

Some albums are meant to be heard in a certain arrangement. Frank Sinatra’s “In the wee small hours” comes to mind, as does Rosemary Clooney’s “Brazil”. The Indigo Girls often arrange their albums by alternating songs penned by Amy and Emily.

Having lost a hard drive with over 40 GB of MP3′s recently, I’m very glad I have the original cd’s. I still haven’t managed to re-rip everything. I really need to get Diana Krall back on my PC.

That’s all.

]]> By: Ryan Deschamps http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2643 Ryan Deschamps Tue, 11 Jul 2006 04:36:01 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2643 If the story were about setting up a Blackberry, I think Karen could legitimately be considered a pusher. There you go for a job title: Our library is looking for an energetic, creative and enthusiastic heroine to become our new "Virtual Technology Pusher III." If the story were about setting up a Blackberry, I think Karen could legitimately be considered a pusher.

There you go for a job title: Our library is looking for an energetic, creative and enthusiastic heroine to become our new “Virtual Technology Pusher III.”

]]> By: kgs http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/comment-page-1/#comment-2642 kgs Tue, 11 Jul 2006 01:05:07 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/07/07/heroine-for-an-hour/#comment-2642 *groan* :-) *groan* :-)

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