Librarything

I keep meaning to write about this service that I have been playing around with for a while. I can't remember where I heard about it. Basically it's a way to keep your books you own or want to own organized. It has always bothered me, ever since I learned to read, that a few weeks after I finish a book, I end up forgetting the details of the book. I even stopped reading for a while because I felt it was pointless to keep reading if I was just going to forget everything. A few years ago, after deciding to pursue my Masters in Library Science I brushed those feelings aside and just READ. This site provides a place for me to write down my thoughts as I read and essentially lets my brain off the hook.

I can't wait to be able to focus my entire day on exploring these different aspects of information, literacy and education.

Ramblings from Wordstock

This weekend I volunteered at Wordstock, Portland's book festival. It was a great time. Most of the time when I tell people that I want to become a librarian they say, "No, what do you really want to be?". It was very nice to be surrounded by people who are on the same wavelength.

I spent most of my time waiting for authors to check in prior to their talks. I got to meet a few very nice authors, none of whom I have heard of. I will have to make a point to get their books from the library.

The festival reminded me of the ALA conference I went to in Seattle but with a focus on printing, publishing and authors. I didn't get as much insight into the publishing world as I wanted, but I did find a really cool website called book crossing (www.bookcrossing.com). Basically it is a loosely organized 'library' (and I use the term library loosely). People read a book, leave it in a public place and log it's location on the website. The website allows for searching by title, author or location. It's basically a literary Geocashing adventure. It may not be well organized, but it fills the randomness void that everyone has in this overly structured world.

Don't get me wrong, structure is a wonderful thing, but so is randomness. That's how I seem to live my life, highly structured, but full of randomness. I really need to explore this whole idea of opposites working in tandem (ying and yang-esqueness).

LSSI

http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=7281603

I am not sure how I feel about for-profit businesses jumping in to run a library. The whole notion of the "bottom line" puts me on edge. I know not all businesses are 'evil' but, from watching THE CORPORATION and working where I work, I have a skewed view of greedy SOBs.

From looking at their site I can see how mixing NPO with FPO can result in positive improvements. There was a quote from the ALA on the site:

"….the evidence supports the conclusion that outsourcing has been an effective managerial tool, and when used carefully and judiciously it has resulted in enhanced library services and improved library management."

Like any plan, outsourcing has the potential to be both positive or negative...it is all in how it is managed and implemented.

Intellectual Freedom

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Last week attended a talk about Intellectual Freedom given by the ALA's top authority on the subject. I routinely joke about not being proud to be an American, but after being reminded of our basic freedoms, I have a renewed pride in our political system (despite the current political majority).

I wanted to summarize my notes from the meeting.

• Intellectual freedom is more than a library value it is an American value.
  
• Intellectual freedom applies to ALL "US-Persons"
• There are two ways to limit freedom
  
• TyrannicalGovernment
• Tyrannical Majority
• The greatest threat to freedom is ignorance
• Marketplace of ideas: The basic theory that ALL ideas have the right to be heard. The theory depends on the assumption that bad ideas will fizzle out and good ideas will rise to the top. The marketplace of ideas also is a place for people to go to learn and defend themselves against the bad ideas that have occurred throughout history. The library provides access to the 'Marketplace of ideas'
  
• What is protected in the following senareo: a. research a bomb, make a bomb, or set off a bomb?
• I've been told that James Madison said something to the effect of: The greatest threat to Democracy is an uninformed populace.
  
• Individual Rights and individual responsibilities: Individuals are responsible for their behavior or actions NOT the institution that provided the information about the behavior or action.
• State laws cannot restrict freedoms more than the constitution, but they CAN give more freedoms.
• Never assume: A patron slammed down a book and started complaining about it's trashyness. The librarian was gearing up to give their intellectual freedom speech, took a second to ask, "What do you want me to do?" The patron said, "Find me a better book!!" It ended up that the patron wasn't concerned about the books presence in the library.
  
• Some professors want to ban books that contradict popular theories because they don't believe students can intelligently deal with conflicting ideas. For example, the book Black Athena deals with alternate views of Greek origins. This is a glaring example of how we are losing the ability to discuss opposite points of view.
  
• Example of how the 'Marketplace of ideas' helps people defend their ideas: A while ago a white supremacy group
  

I am sitting in the library at PCC trying to come up with various ideas to keep this space interesting.

• Reactions to various listserves
• Book reviews
• Questions about future class syllabuses

Library Closings in Toronto

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/254809

I hope this kind of story shows other communities how necessary libraries are. I was thinking of going to school in Toronto, to study library science, now I am not so sure. I am sure the city government doesn't completely affect the university but I want to be able to be in a supportive community.

It's too bad that the really important things in life aren't quantifiable. It's also too bad that all things in life need to be quantifiable to be considered important. I mean, how important is it that the company I work for sell five million dollars worth of widgets? Who cares? Economists might, but I ask; what's more critical, a country that has buying power or a country that has mental power?

To me it's common sense.