diy librarian can now be found at diylibrarian.org. Please update your bookmarks and links, and check out the re-launched DIY Librarian.

I'll keep this site here for archival purposes, but I won't post any more new content here. The new site also has a new RSS feed.

You've lived here for most of your life, or you've spent a lot of time absorbing local culture. Either way, you're capable of thoroughly confusing tourists and Pitt freshman alike.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 70% on yinzerness

Link: The Pittsburghese Test written by jlouise on Ok Cupid

I only lived in da Burgh for 3 years, but when you're a public librarian, as I used to be, it helps to learn the language of your patrons. [via LibraryTavern]

Walt Crawford's analysis of the “biblioblogosphere” (Cites & Insights 5:10) came at a good time for me, as I’m in the midst of rethinking diy librarian’s purpose—not for the metrics, but for Crawford’s comments on the blogs. I had been thinking about refocusing somewhat after my move (I’ve already been attempting to write more about libraries and less about my personal life) and the lists of mottos, mission statements, post frequency, and the like have given me a framework to organize my thoughts. diy librarian lost its motto in the last redesign. I suppose the about page is an approximate mission, and I would characterize my posts as a mix of personal and professional, with a moderate voice. We’ll see how that changes.

Incidentally, I stumbled across The Do-It-Yourself Librarian. Apparently we have been coexisting for some time now (I started in June 2003 and she (?) started in October 2004) so hopefully we can continue to coexist. I like the "Why" in the sidebar:

Why "do-it-yourself"? Because systems is too busy.

In all seriousness, I think this is a very interesting experiment in applying an online concept to an offline product.

Then, I get to the end of the column and find that "Thomas H. Benton is the pseudonym of an assistant professor of English at a Midwestern liberal-arts college." Now why would you need to use a pseudonym to write that books help your research? Are you applying for a job in Ivan Tribble's department and afraid that he'll think your Chronicle column is a blog? Do Midwestern liberal-arts colleges prohibit their faculty from column-writing? It's not as if Benton admits to having had sex in the stacks.

I don't have anything against pseudonymous writers in general, and I understand why many of the Chronicle's Careers columns are pseudonymous (especially those from candidates' perspectives), but I tend to take critiques of my profession a bit more seriously when the authors sign their real names.

Despite the fact that the author himself is a grad student who blogs, he says:

Ultimately, I think the answer to this dilemma is pretty clear: graduate students simply should not blog, and if they do blog they should never do so under their real names.

I see the reasons (not necessarily illegal actions by hiring committees, but simply that students should be putting their efforts into writing that will be recognized in a positive light by hiring committees, i.e. articles in peer-reviewed journals) but they leave me with a queasy feeling. Do we really want to encourage a culture of scholars who are so highly specialized that they don't have any outside interests? Who are so afraid of what a hiring committee might think that they never feel comfortable speaking their minds?

All this is reminding me why I chose to go to library school rather than to pursue a PhD as my advisor was encouraging me to do.

Update: I should have done a little more reading before posting. Professors, grad students, and librarians have all weighed in with differing perspectives (though no one seems to think highly of "Ivan Tribble"). For a breath of fresh air (and examples of how blogging can help advance an academic career), read Matthew G. Kirschenbaum's post.

Partly it's that I haven't had anything to say that hadn't already been said somewhere, and partly it's that I've been busy at work and at home.

One line in particular from "Ivan Tribble" really struck me, though:

But the site quickly revealed that the true passion of said blogger's life was not academe at all, but the minutiae of software systems, server hardware, and other tech exotica. It's one thing to be proficient in Microsoft Office applications or HTML, but we can't afford to have our new hire ditching us to hang out in computer science after a few weeks on the job.

So now, in addition to not being allowed to have blogs, candidates are not allowed to have interests outside of their jobs? Even when said interests might be beneficial to a more open-minded employer? You would think a "a small liberal-arts college in the Midwest" might be interested in well-rounded candidates.

One of my primary motivations for looking into blogging software is that I would really like to have comments. Of course, comment spam seems to be a growing problem, so perhaps I don't want to do that after all. I don't want to trade the time I spend hand-coding for time spent filtering comments.

And, of course, there are other considerations. Do I really want to break the links to all of my pages? Should I choose a .com or a .org?

But change is coming. It's only a matter of when. They can't stay babies forever, you know.

On Tuesday night, before I passed out after the always grueling Chapter Cabinet experience, I scrawled the following in my little yellow notebook. (Actually, Chapter Cabinet was not really a grueling experience this year, for once.)

A big theme so far seems to be the transparency of technology, the separation of format and content. The keynote speakers definitely get this, but some of the sessions seem very caught up in the technologies.

The blogging session seemed very caught up in technology; no one really made a case for why we would want to do these things.

Well after the conference is over and I'm back into my work, this still resonates with me. Don Tapscott talked about transparency in business (The Naked Corporation) and how technology is facilitating it (even forcing it). Bill Buxton talked about how transparent technology should be.

Last week, I was talking with a colleague about descriptions of our departments that we have to submit every 5 years to apply for our funding. He commented that surprisingly little had changed in what we do over the past 5 years—but we both agreed, after the initial shock, that this was not a bad thing. After all, our objectives have not changed over the past 5 years. The only thing that has changed is the way we accomplish our tasks. Our operations may be more efficient thanks to technology, but technology has not altered what we do.

What struck me in that blogging session ("Blogging and RSSing the Librarian Way") was that the presenters talked about examples of blogging and new innovations like podcasting, but didn't really relate these technologies to library or information services. I guess the assumption is that if you're attending the session, you're interested in using blogs and RSS, but I really wanted someone to demonstrate how you could use a blog to improve an existing service. For example, at my library we're using a blog to replace notices that were routinely sent out by email. The primary motivation? Users were starting to associate my email address with spam! In the old days of the paper newsletter, we were communicating more effectively with our users. The goal of the blog is to use the benefits of both the email (immediacy) and the paper (users can read at their leisure) predecessors in the new format. But essentially, we're still delivering library news.

(And thanks for the compliment, Quinn—I'll do my best to live up to it!)

Not even the numerous iPod drawings could snare me. In fact, I am resolutely iPod-free. I just don't really like to listen to music on headphones in public places. It makes me nervous, because I know that's when the assassin who's been stalking me will swoop in for the kill shot, and I won't hear her coming because I'm listening to the latest U2 single.

After the introductions, Pam Rollo outlined her vision for her presidential term ("The Big WOW"). I thought she was much more inspiring here than in her briefer address to the attendees at large. The important point, for me, was that there is an opportunity for every member to have an impact on the association. This is one of the reasons I really like SLA—and I hope it continues to be true if SLA grows. (There is an overview of her presentation on the SLA Conference Blog.)

Linda Broussard gave a brief presentation called "SLA 101" with key dates, resources (turns out the key to finding things on the SLA website is to look under "Resources"), and contacts for help. I just wish the handout were in a more useful format than printed PowerPoint slides. Even my relatively young eyes don't like to read that small print.

John Lowery introduced Click University, focusing on the ways chapters and divisions can incorporate it into their programming. After a break, we formed roundtables to discuss program planning. Others at my table seemed very excited about using Click University in their chapters, but I have to admit I was drawing a blank. I think Click is going to be a great benefit to SLA members, but I prefer chapter programs to be interactive. I don't want to drive 90 miles to Harrisburg to watch PowerPoint slides with pre-recorded audio. I will, however, drive that distance for a live speaker and time to talk to my colleagues.

(The Click University site doesn't seem to get along with Firefox very well.)

The best part of any LDI for me is always getting programming and fundraising ideas. Fundraising is a real mystery to me, especially since I rarely deal with vendors in my job. At my table, we talked quite a bit about student members and the future of the association, and someone mentioned that SLA could do more to help chapters connect with students in distance learning programs. This really hits home for us in the Central Pennsylvania Chapter because we don't have a library school in our chapter's geographic area, but I know there are some students.

• SLA 2005 Conference Blog. SLA's official bloggers were, of course, blogging away. I didn't post much on sessions for the above reasons, but also because someone beat me to it almost every time.
• InfoToday. Information Today staff, blogging "Live from SLA 2005", wrote quite a bit about the vendors and the exhibit hall, but also covered keynotes, sessions, and Toronto.
• SLA PAM Division Blog. These folks were blogging so fast and furious that I couldn't keep up.
• Science Library Pad. This one mentions a list of SLA 2005 blogs on seedwiki, but I wanted to write my own notes about these blogs.
• Christina's LIS Rant.
• Confessions of a Mad Librarian. "Raw" notes from many of the sessions and keynotes, with a little general commentary.
• Connie Crosby. Law librarian from in Toronto. I met Connie at the last session I attended on Wednesday afternoon. No doubt she was attracted by my blogger ribbon. Or perhaps by the bag of chocolates I was trying to get rid of.
• The People's Republic of Dave. He's only been blogging since May, but he blogged SLA 2005! And, he's another Canadian.

I think it's going to be tough navigating between enjoying the outdoors, soaking up some Toronto culture, and attending sessions and meetings. But, as a friend just emailed me, it will be nice to be in a city with so many options!

Really, what it boils down to is mistaking format distinctions for content distinctions. Just because there are a lot of superhero comics doesn't mean that all comics are superhero comics. Just because many blogs are personal diaries or poorly written rants doesn't mean there aren't also some highly professional blogs out there. Or maybe in terms Cronin might identify with, just because some free photocopied zine doesn't interest you, it doesn't mean all magazines are trash.

When I worked in a public library, we tried to get a pay phone so that the reference desk wouldn't have to double as a phone service, but we were told our location wouldn't generate enough revenue. Up until that point, I had incorrectly assumed that pay phones were indeed a public service, like street lights.

There's loads of anecdotal evidence that people who read graphic novels and listen to audiobooks are also big readers of regular books.

W and I discussed this, and came up with a tentative list of graphic novels that we wouldn't consider genre fiction: From Hell (Alan Moore), Cerebus (Dave Sim), Maus (Art Spiegelman), and others, which I'm forgetting just now. It seems to me that if you're bothering to make the distinction between population or genre fiction and literature, that you would make that distinction regardless of format. There is a difference between listening to the latest Nora Roberts on tape and listening to Moby Dick, and there is a difference between reading Spiderman and reading Maus.

Too often I hear librarians and teachers say things like, "At least they're reading," as if simply reading words, even if the content is pure fluff, is better than engaging yourself intellectually with something in another format. Yes, reading "regular" books is a worthy activity, but it doesn't mean that other forms of literature (graphic novels, comic books, audio books, etc.) are therefore not worthy.

I haven't quite decided what I will post here as opposed to on the official conference blog, but perhaps that will become obvious once I get to Toronto.

But here's another reason to be afraid: using fingerprints may actually be less secure than other means of identification.

Your fingerprint can be stolen with far less effort than it takes to get your alphanumeric password. Every time you touch an object you are leaving your biometric 'password' behind. (Anil's Doublespeak [via LibraryPlanet.com])

One more thing: Happy Friday the 13th.

On a related note, the cover story of my local newspaper's weekend section is about Free Comic Book Day. Don't forget, it's tomorrow!

I often do presentations without PowerPoint also—by simply forgoing slides altogether. I only use slides when I need them, which is usually to show something visual like an organization chart, rather than something textual like (ack!) a bulleted list.

If I could be a librarian....I would spend most of my day with my nose buried in a book.

But I don't think most people really think that we spend all day reading. I doubt this blogger thinks that is an accurate depiction of librarianship any more than this is an accurate depiction of farming:

If I could be a farmer.....I would grow fields upon fields of lavender. I would have a small group of cows mincing around somewhere ... I would live in a beautiful big 12 bedroom farmhouse with a verandah that went all the way around the outside, and I would refurbish my farmhouse into a Bed and Breakfast.

I've always wondered, when we sit around bemoaning our public image, if other professions are any happier with the way they are perceived. I mean, plumbers can't be happy with their stereotype, can they?

Anyway, this was fun, and I just want to quote my favorite line out of this meme:

If I could be a missionary... I would point out that there are so many more positions.

The basic issue is that NIH wants to provide public access to federally-funded research while publishers want to protect their profits, and researchers, who need to publish in peer-reviewed journals in order to get tenure, are caught in the middle. Martin Frank sums up the quandry of researchers:

having to choose between pleasing their funding agency or their publisher, both of which are equally important career-wise. (quoted in Life After the NIH, Library Journal, April 15, 2005)

The NIH, in its Public Access Policy implementation guidance, briefly addresses the copyright conundrum:

Authors and/or their institutions should ensure that their PMC submissions are consistent with any other agreements, including copyright assignments that they may have, or enter into, with publishers or other third parties.

So, in short, the onus of negotiating between access and restrictive publishers' contracts remains on the researchers (and by extension on their institutions). I wonder what role libraries should play? (Not in the Open Access movement itself, but in providing guidance to our clients--users, patrons, customers, whatever.) As the librarian for a NIH-funded research center, what, if anything, should I tell my researchers as the new NIH policy goes into effect? (It was effective yesterday, actually.)

I agree with Carroll that the leadership and initiative for Open Access must come from tenured faculty. But they will have to make conscious coices about which journals they publish their work in. I guess it will take quite some time for the prevailing culture of academic publishing to change.

My favorite library conference is the very small annual conference held by APLIC-I. I enjoy the conference so much partly because it is so small and specialized. I get a chance to talk to colleagues who really understand the problems I face every day. And, while it may not bring in big-name speakers, I think the presentations are often better for it. The speakers are often more willing to do a little research to understand their audience -- many times the speakers are APLIC-I members and understand their audience perfectly.

While I'm heaping praises on it, I should mention that I am on APLIC-I's board of directors and thus a member of the conference planning committee. The reasons I wanted to be on the board, though, are exactly the reasons I mentioned.

All of this is a roundabout way of saying that I'm finally getting around to blogging about this year's conference, which was held March 28-30 in Philadelphia. I'm just going to mention a few of the highlights for me. If you're curious, you can look at the conference program.

On Monday, we toured the Library Company of Philadelphia. Another advantage of a small conference is being able to take all of the attendees on a tour. I have a bad tendency to have difficulty mustering enthusiasm for historical sites, especially from the period covered by this collection (colonial to the end of the 19th century). This tour, however, was truly interesting, and the librarians did a great job of seeking out items in their collections that would appeal to APLIC-I (for instance, books and pamphlets on reproductive and sexual health).

The highlight on Tuesday was a talk by Michael Carroll from Villanova, who is on the board of directors of Creative Commons. Everyone raved about the talk. Carroll was both clear and engaging (perhaps not what we expected from a lawyer) and I loved watching the reactions to Creative Commons' short film Get Creative. One really exciting thing for me was finding out about Yahoo!'s Creative Commons search -- and going back to my hotel room, logging on, and discovering that diy librarian shows up in the search. In fact, right now it's the second result if you search for "diy".

A traditional part of the APLIC-I conference experience is the banquet. This year it was held at the Marrakesh: Authentic Moroccan Restaurant (whose website appears to be temporarily down). Not that the APLIC-I group is particularly uptight or anything, but it was still fun to see a group of librarians rip into a whole cooked chicken with their hands (no utensils here!).

On Wednesday, Susan Rohner and Claire Twose gave a presentation on the Population Digital Library they created at Johns Hopkins. I was a bit skeptical about the project when I first heard of it, but after their talk I'm pretty excited about what they've accomplished. They really see the digital library as more than just a collection of links on a website.

Tuesday and Wednesday also featured panel discussions called "APLIC Librarians Respond to Change", which was an opportunity to hear semi-formal talks from our members. It was interesting just to hear how each participant chose to look at change; some focused on increasing electronic resources, some on funding shifts (something that can be very common in population and reproductive health), and some on organizational change. I participated in the panel on the second day, but I don't have any kind of formal presentation or even notes to post here. Towards the end of my talk, I got distracted because I thought I had used up my time allotment (when in fact I wasn't even close) and strayed completely from my notes. In the end, perhaps my talk was better without those few paragraphs anyway.

I've been wearing a Free Comic Book Day pin on my jacket for several weeks, and it's a great conversation starter. At the bus stop, in the elevator, in bars, people all want to know if it's for real. Yes, I say, there is such a thing as a free comic! I've been such a good promoter that my local comics shop has promised me a generous commission (50% of free) plus FREE COMICS.

Free Comic Book Day was also reported on LISNews.com and YALSA is one of the supporters.

While I was visiting the site, I noticed that there is a Tiny Mix Tapes Automatic Mix Tape Generator. Fun!

Because I had to do all of this manually, I had a chance to skim through all of my posts and revisit some of them. For instance, my Top 10 Favorite Movies, written exactly one year ago today. The top 3 are probably still the same, but I might revise the rest of the list.

The labor-intensive nature of my posting is good for contemplation, but also acts as a safety valve. Walt Crawford (whose new blog I have been enjoying) sums it up pretty well. I've probably written at least twice the number of posts that actually made it to this blog.

That said, I am not going to keep maintaining two manually-coded feeds for very long. So, if you're reading this in an aggregator, please subscribe to the new feed. Thanks.

Oddly, the only obituary I've been able to find is in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

That is my hope, anyway. I haven't posted in a month because I've been working on a redesign. It turns out that back when I was young and foolish I didn't write HTML as robustly as I could have. So, in the process of retooling the diy librarian stylesheet, I had to go back and fix all of the archive pages. (As you may know, I do all of my coding by hand. It may be tedious at times, but it is a labor of love. Any irregularities in color or texture are a natural result of the hand-crafted nature of this blog.)

I have saved up many things to write about during my hiatus from the blogging world, and those that have stood the test of time (days or even weeks in some cases) will appear here soon.

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