In my mind, the ASERL spring conference–which I volunteered myself for, in order that Dr. Summers wouldn’t have to drag himself several states away shortly before he hangs up his ballet shoes for the last time–would be an exercise in goodolboyism. ASERL: Association of Southeastern Research Libraries. South. Backwards. Etc. Library directors in three-piece suits […]
Once again there is a flurry of discussion about the LibraryLand practice of charging speakers to speak, and it has become bundled up in another discussion, the role of state library associations [n.b. corrected Freudian slip]. I’ve worked for some great folks, but Bob was the best. I worked for Bob when I ran a […]
…That state associations had outlived their usefulness. I’m posting this here, right now, because it’s repeated in two places by “Librarian in Black” Sarah Houghton, who I otherwise admire and whose company I dearly miss. I corrected her on David’s post, but when I saw it crop up again on her own post, I felt […]
100_2147 Originally uploaded by freerangelibrarian. Some of us had heard rumors flying earlier this week. Two posts on ALA blogs, TechSource and Hectic Pace, confirm the news that Google has bought OCLC. I’ve even heard that one of my favorite blogs will be renamed “It’s All Gooooood.” Those of us who are fundamentally paranoid about […]
I had a great talk with Tom Sloan at SEFLIN today where we talked about what I’d be talking about in May at the SEFLIN directors’ retreat. He thought I had a standard shtick about Web 2.0, but really, I don’t. Every group is different, and every time I talk, I’m different, too. Even if […]
Only through a belated mea culpa from Dorothea did I catch that last month, “In a characteristically provocative talk… Richard Smith, who is on the Board of Directors of PLoS [Public Library of Science], accused traditional subscription-based publishers of acting like slave owners. And he compared open access advocates to abolitionists.” Provocative? How about embarrassing? […]
I’ve been in Gainesville since Wednesday morning, soaking up knowledge about Aleph (Ex Libris’ software) and communing with like-minded souls from around the state. I have about five minutes to write this; I got up early and did some work email, then updated the About page for this blog. I thought that had been done, […]
By way of Dorothea I found this nascent meme. (Yay! I’m in early on a meme! By the time I find them, they’re usually so ten minutes ago.) If you are a library blogger reading this, consider yourself tagged, and add the tag fiveblogs wherever you do such stuff. I read a lot–a lot–of non-library […]
Another year, another list of Movers and Shakers! At some point in the last several years I stopped pouting about not being a Mover and Shaker. I realized that playing a role in selecting the Shakers was really more important. It gives me great pride to see M&S names I’m associated with, either as a […]
New iPod Originally uploaded by freerangelibrarian. I have drunk the KoolAid. I finally broke down and bought Satan’s Music Player, a wicked toy designed to distract us from the ruthless efforts of Jobs et al. to rule us through device hegemony. I feel as if I should buy some “DRM offsets,” the way SUV drivers […]