I know a lot of people compain about the "verbing" of nouns, but I think language is meant to be played with and adapted. (Punctuation, on the other hand, is much less flexible.) Thus I have no problem with my post title "south park me", and I invite each of you to South Parkify or Simpsonize yourself. Thanks Rebecca for the link to the South Park image generator!
Changing the image of librarians in modern society is an interesting challenge, especially in an time when many see libaries as outdated warehouses for dusty books. Libraries are, of course, dynamic environments providing Internet access and online help, video games and DDR marathons, popular best sellers and car repair manuals, and a million other useful, entertaining and necessary things. Wyoming libraries have a slightly insane and hopefully effective new ad campaign with creative billboards & catchy bumper stickers. I've already seen detractors of this new campaign on the web, but I love it. I want a Florida version (or even a Nova / Broward version). Ideas anyone?
I'm addicted to online quizzes. I will happily waste hours on "What Buffy (BtVS) character are you?" (usually Willow) & "What 80's teen movie star is your guy?" (Ducky). It's no surprise then that while perusing Girl Detective the discovery of a "What tarot card are you?" quiz led to instant clicking and a solid 3 minutes debating whether magic, love or learning is more integral to my life. (Yes, I do take these quizzes that seriously. Yes, I do realize that most of them are made up by sixteen year olds. And, yes, I do occasionally cheat to get the answer I want. I'd rather be Hermione Granger , thank you.)
You are The High Priestess
Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.
The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluctuation, particularly when it comes to your moods.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
The family of Alison Chang says Virgin Mobile grabbed the picture from Flickr, Yahoo Inc's popular photo-sharing website, and failed to credit the photographer by name.
The picture of 16-year-old Chang flashing a peace sign was taken in April by Alison's youth counsellor, who posted it that day on his Flickr page, according to Alison's brother, Damon.
In the ad, Virgin Mobile printed one of its campaign slogans, "Dump your pen friend," over Alison's picture.
The ad also says "Free text virgin to virgin" at the bottom.
The experience damaged Alison's reputation and exposed her to ridicule from her peers and scrutiny from people who can now Google her, the family said in the lawsuit."
virgin-sued-for-using-teens-photo/2007/09/21/1189881735928.html Since Alison clearly didn't want her picture all over the Internet, I'm not including it in this post. I'm extremely hesitant to mark any of the pictures I use in myspace as public because I don't want everybody to able to see my photos and I don't have much in my flickr account for the same reason. The Verizon ad takes privacy rights, copyright and more to a whole new level. This picture is innocous, a cute photo taken at a church picnic, but many people have much more, uhm, iffy pictures in their flickr accounts. You don't want potential employers, or people across the world, to see pictures of you next to the keg at a house party or out at a club at 2 am, so please be careful what you post on the Internet. This goes for pictures of friends and family also, especially children. If you are going to post pictures, mark them as private instead of public so that only friends can view them.
I seek out information zoologic to agrarian,
I know each subject that is found in an encyclopedia
I handle every AV tool and every type of media;
My online databases can locate each journal article,
In physics texts, I can define each elemental particle,
In atlases and online maps, I find the way to Timbuktu,
Identify each capital from Bogota to Katmandu.
I navigate the Internet with speed and perspicacity;
Evaluate each website for its content and veracity:
In fact, in finding information, most utilitarian,
I am the very model of computerized librarian.
I quickly search the Internet
or grab the right book off the shelf;
Then give the patron answers or
I teach him how to search himself,
I speed through every database like Galenet, FirstSearch, Dialog,
My records are all organized, just try my on-line catalog;
My homepage is a marvel of well-documented, helpful links,
It points to sites on modern jazz, hang-gliding and old Egypt's Sphinx!
I know just how to catalog in Dewey and in L. of C.,
I know the best books you should buy and those you wouldn't want for free.
I get you quotes on hot new stocks and find addresses in a trice,
The latest news, a star's birthday, song lyrics or a cure for lice:
In fact, in finding information, most utilitarian,
I am the very model of computerized librarian.
When I can look up online all ephemeral material,
When I can get full text of every page in every serial,
When my computer translates every language and each dialect,
From Hindu texts in Sanskrit to Confucius with each analect,
When every book is digitized and indexed in my database,
When I'm the first librarian to travel into outer space -
And when I've indexed every site on every chromosome and gene,
You'll say a more computerized librarian has never been.
I'm working on an interface directly to the human mind,
So I can capture concepts that have not yet even been defined;
In fact, in finding information, most utilitarian,
I am the very model of computerized librarian.
Lyrics by Diane M. O'Keefe, M.S.L.S. and Janet T. O'Keefe, , M.L.S.
In order to keep our sanity, it is sometimes necessary to check in with the rest of the library world and see how our compatriots are faring. Bloglines allows me to streamline that process, checking for new posts on mulitple librarian blogs in one fell swoop. My blogroll is listed below. Most of theseI just stumbled across today while completing the tlc blogline exercise. If you know of any good librarian blogs, let me know and I'll add them to my list.
Blogroll!
"Eaten any good books lately?" -- Q (to Worf) (Deja-Q)Many thanks to Melissa Karnosh at South Regional / BCC library for the use Captain Picard, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. If only she'd had a cardboard cutout of my favorite character, Q. C'est la vie. Come take a picture with classic Star Trek icons (I've seen two patrons posing with Picard already) and don't forget about the Star Trek matinee on Sunday, September 30 in the Public Library Services department. Beat the geeks with Trekkie Trivia and watch Star Trek II while screaming KHAAAN! with Kirk.
