a pixelated life

Our ILL department sent me a TARDIS today. Best. ILL. Ever.

Thu, 31 May 2012 19:34:37 -0400

Our ILL department sent me a TARDIS today. Best. ILL. Ever.

Beautiful 1892 four-volume set we just came across in the...

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:30:16 -0400

Beautiful 1892 four-volume set we just came across in the offsite library. Link to record.

Beatrice the pug is not impressed with tumblr. Does not smell...

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:16:35 -0400

Beatrice the pug is not impressed with tumblr. Does not smell like food.

It’s a sad little grill, but it will get the job done.

Sun, 27 May 2012 14:49:12 -0400

It’s a sad little grill, but it will get the job done.

As a good manager...

Mon, 21 May 2012 18:52:24 -0400

“The incentive that you want to give people is to do the right thing…. It’s [your] job to enable people to do their best work, to protect them from people who would try to undermine that, and to make sure that they have the tools and resources they need to get it accomplished without anybody screwing with them… A [good] leader is somebody that you trust to do the right thing.”

From Back to Work, Ep. 58, about 56 minutes in.

program or be programmed? meh.

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:51:52 -0400

Look, I love programming. I also believe programming is important … in the right context, for some people. But so are a lot of skills. I would no more urge everyone to learn programming than I would urge everyone to learn plumbing.

As someone who has neglected his Codecademy account for months now, I can sympathize with the idea. As much as I love the idea of coding, I’d much rather be focusing on other types of problems (some of which may require a talented coder to conquer).

Graduation day. Left early to avoid traffic but now have to wait...

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:24:40 -0400

Graduation day. Left early to avoid traffic but now have to wait 40min to get into the library! Oye.

My MLIS graduation robes came in the mail today!

Thu, 10 May 2012 19:50:04 -0400

My MLIS graduation robes came in the mail today!

Just North of Something Important: Good lord, a mixed-race person who is president of the United States...

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:35:20 -0400

Just North of Something Important: Good lord, a mixed-race person who is president of the United States...:

barthel:

Good lord, a mixed-race person who is president of the United States just endorsed gay marriage several years after passing health care reform. Do you know how many of those things were inconceivable 5 years ago? You can be happy about this without having to be happy about everything else the man or the country does. Tomorrow morning we should certainly go back to being unhappy about drones and torture and global warming and everything else, but for today, let’s not pretend this was inevitable. This moment is a reasonably big deal. It’s a good thing, and it didn’t have to happen, but it did. The fact of its happening can be good without saying anything about the goodness of the person doing it. There’s still a ways to go, but this had to happen before we got there, and now it has. Hooray. Have a small drink.

A good day to be awake.

Crap. I'm a hipster.

Wed, 09 May 2012 21:54:10 -0400

Crap. I'm a hipster.

John Hamm is my hero.

Wed, 09 May 2012 21:51:08 -0400

John Hamm is my hero.

thepinakes: It’s not much, but this is a little display I put...

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:24:11 -0400

thepinakes:

It’s not much, but this is a little display I put together in honor of Maurice Sendak (1928-2012), drawing from our K-12 Educator’s Collection.

I’ve been playing this on loop for the last 30 minutes.

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:21:00 -0400

I’ve been playing this on loop for the last 30 minutes.

thepinakes: flaneurette replied to your post: Is it true that you’re sort of library/internet...

Mon, 07 May 2012 20:03:33 -0400

thepinakes:

flaneurette replied to your post: Is it true that you’re sort of library/internet famous?

I think this is due to your post about being interviewed. She said you were famous…which made me wonder the same as the person asking! :^P

Right, that makes sense.

I think that was just a bit of flattery on the part of the Cardigan Librarian. Between twitter and tumblr I have a fair number of friends and followers, but hardly enough to qualify as famous!

Daniel is being modest: he is totally internet famous. I’m pretty sure there is a fan club. If not, I’m starting one.

"May the 4th be with you (and also with you) We lift up our lightsabers (we lift them up to the..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:45:17 -0400

“May the 4th be with you (and also with you) We lift up our lightsabers (we lift them up to the Force) Let us give thanks to the Force (it is right and just).”

- via Kate K.

Alt-Annual 2012

Thu, 03 May 2012 19:13:45 -0400

Alt-Annual 2012:

thepinakes:

The inimitable @johnxlibris has created Alt-Annual 2012, a community guide for the upcoming ALA Annual this June in Anaheim, California with suggestions for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free food options, food trucks, specialty food venues, local breweries and coffeehouses, health food stores, comic book shops — everything the traveling librarian might need to know to get away from ALA and experience real life and its best comforts.

Check it out and contribute!

It’s a group effort, so please help us flesh it out! There must be more to the Anaheim CC area than the Mouse.

Found 20 yrs of copies of The Wampus: a USC comedy mag from...

Thu, 03 May 2012 18:39:51 -0400

Found 20 yrs of copies of The Wampus: a USC comedy mag from early 20th C. Here, we see a young man defending Tommy Trojan. Nov. 1940 issue.

Just call me operator

Thu, 03 May 2012 11:27:00 -0400

From CHE article on “The Plaid Avenger”:

Perched behind his 20-inch screen, wearing one of his trademark plaid jackets, Mr. Boyer fields questions pinged in as instant messages. He responds on Ustream, a free Web platform that lets anyone broadcast a video feed through a Webcam.

When I think about the virtual reference desk, this is what I think about… but with more screens… and the Matrix.

Harvard vs. Yale: Open Access Publishing

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:02:25 -0400

Harvard vs. Yale: Open Access Publishing:

thepinakes:

Earlier this week, Yale university student, Emmanuel Quartey, posted a video interview with the school’s librarian, Susan Gibbons, in which he asked her about open-access publishing. Her response was far more ambivalent than the Harvard faculty council’s. Though she noted that open-access journals are more accessible, she worried that asking younger faculty to publish in open-access (presumably less prestigious) journals could jeopardize their chances to attain tenure. In essence, prestige would stay put but tenure would move away from younger Yale professors. So, the library would continue to support both open and closed-access journals. You can read her full answer below or check out the video interview above

—- One of the problems with open access publishing — as much as libraries and academia may want to support it — is that many open access journals support themselves by charging author fees for publication. This can be a perfectly fine model, but it can’t be the only model. Expecting junior faculty, with their tenuous employment, limited income and uncertain futures to bankroll their own attempts to publish is throwing yet another financial barrier between established academics and the up-and-coming.

Personally, I’d like to see more IHE’s go back to publishing the work of their own faculty. Would also be a good opportunity for libraries.

ALA Afterparty - Librarian Wardrobe Walkoff Contest

Wed, 02 May 2012 14:25:10 -0400

ALA Afterparty - Librarian Wardrobe Walkoff Contest:

thepinakes:

The fine folks behind the ALA Think Tank and Librarian Wardrobe are ready to strut their stuff on Saturday, June 23 near the close of this year’s Annual Conference of the American Library Association. Put on your finest and party with the finest. I won’t be at ALA this year, but I’ll be at this shindig — in spirit.