Just thought I'd drop a line to say that both my e-portfolio and my new blog are now hosted at:
http://geekyartistlibrarian.wordpress.com/
...see ya there!
2.21.2011
Moving Right Along
Ahoy! Hallo there! Why yes, it's me.
Just thought I'd drop a line to say that both my e-portfolio and my new blog are now hosted at:
http://geekyartistlibrarian.wordpress.com/
...see ya there!
Just thought I'd drop a line to say that both my e-portfolio and my new blog are now hosted at:
http://geekyartistlibrarian.wordpress.com/
...see ya there!
2.16.2010
Thoughts on Academic Library Mission
I was planning to write about how reading about the board of trustees duties this week coincided with the abrupt announcement of Dr. Bataille's departure... but I read a classmate's post that mentioned library and museum missions, and it sparked lots of thoughts!
When I first started my MS in library science in 2002, I didn't understand the academic library mission. Library missions tend to be more straightforward in public libraries than university libraries, probably for the same reasons that university missions themselves are complex and the subject of much debate!
At any academic library (meaning college & university libraries, not primary or secondary school libraries) there is definitely the preservation or "conserving knowledge" mission that Bogue/Aper describes. The weight of that mission varies from institution from institution--part of the variance is related to the institutional mission, part of it relates to individual library collections.
We're currently refashioning our UNT Libraries mission statement because it does not adequately express our vision of the libraries. We have a particularly rich preservation mission, because we have a number of unique collections in the UNT Archives (like university records and photographs), the Rare Books Room (old manuscripts, miniature books), the Music Library (LP's from the Library of Congress, jazz scores), etc. This is part of the "conservation of knowledge" mission that Bogue mentions, but it's also simply the physical preservation of old and valuable materials.
The "conservation of knowledge" portion is expressed in the UNT Digital Library, where all electronic theses/dissertations written by UNT students are kept; the same department is also working with university leaders on a digital repository to store faculty research and publications. The subject librarians for each department similarly work with their associated academic departments (for instance, mine is the Dept. of Philosophy and Religion Studies) to collect and preserve all publications by their faculty in that department, particulary print books.
But we have two more imperative missions. The first, perhaps most obvious, mission is to serve the students, staff, and faculty of UNT by providing the information that they need. This is done in all kinds of ways (reference question answering, workshops, collection purchasing, developing new services) and delivered in person, by phone, text message, IM, online chat software, email, fax--you get the idea, any format you want! This mission in large research universities tends to be focused more on support of faculty research, so that the books purchased are oriented more toward faculty needs than those of undergraduates needing term paper resources. Similarly in liberal arts colleges, the library collection tends to focus on general resources for undergraduates, and less in-depth materials that support faculty research (although this is often supported through services like Inter-Library Loan). UNT of course being a mixed-mission university, the libraries are similarly mixed in their collection and service focus.
Finally, the UNT Libraries have also been designated as a federal and state depository library. This is a designation that brings with it a broad collection of nearly one million documents produced by the government that our library is given for free, assuming we meet government regulations of a depository library. As a federal depository, for instance, we are by law required to serve any member of the public with our documents collection. This goes beyond merely helping people look up regulations on adoption or do-it-yourself divorce forms; our documents collection is rich with primary historic resources and many valuable maps and books that are worth thousands of dollars a piece. This is another key piece of keeping American democracy alive: providing the public free and permanent access to the documents that created our government and the documents that our government creates. It's all part of that famous quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the key to a democracy is having an informed citizenry.
So in a broad sense, our particular mission at the UNT Libraries is to preserve a variety of rich, unique collections, to support our university's students, staff, faculty, and to serve the general public. It's a thrilling mission to serve every day, let me tell you!!
I do have to mention that Bogue/Aper's comment on page 21 about digital library access pushed a few of my buttons. I'm a professed bibliophile, but I'm also a hugely geeky techie and love to play with technology--which comes in handy, since my title is Librarian for Digital Collections! One of my primary research interests is library support for distance learners, which goes far beyond mere email reference answers or e-book collections.
Bogue/Aper's statement about the future of libraries makes me feel conflicted, as this great debate in the library world always does. Page 21 says that "we are probably not far from that moment when we will not go to the library but simply purchase a computer disk or other information storage device... and take it home... and have every page of the library available at our intellectual disposal. Such convenience and power, however, may never replace the joy and wonder that comes from browsing the quiet and musty stacks of libraries."
Well... yes and no. Certainly our library catalog can be accessed online, as can many of the e-books, online gov documents, and databases that allow us to access the majority of our journal articles electronically. And that's fantastic--even working in the library, I love being able to email myself articles instead of walk down four floors to make a photocopy. But no, the printed matter isn't going anywhere soon. Full-text searching of our digital collections is a vast improvement on searching a paper index, but talk to any art student about trying to find a certain visual reference for a sketch, and that's much more easily accomplished by visually browsing tangible books than searching using a textbox online. And those unique collections at UNT libraries? We're digitizing them, but researchers will always want to look at the originals, to mine more information from the "real thing," and to touch the actual objects that past giants touched.
Bogue/Aper do acknowledge some of the physical pleasures of books in the "joy and wonder" part of that statement... but as a librarian I have to huffily protest the stereotypical image of "quiet and musty stacks!" My guess is that my personal appearance wouldn't fit into their standard definition of "librarian," either... but that's a conversation for another time and another class.
Hmm. Didn't mean to provide such a wordy post; the words "library" and "democracy" tend to get me very excited!
When I first started my MS in library science in 2002, I didn't understand the academic library mission. Library missions tend to be more straightforward in public libraries than university libraries, probably for the same reasons that university missions themselves are complex and the subject of much debate!
At any academic library (meaning college & university libraries, not primary or secondary school libraries) there is definitely the preservation or "conserving knowledge" mission that Bogue/Aper describes. The weight of that mission varies from institution from institution--part of the variance is related to the institutional mission, part of it relates to individual library collections.
We're currently refashioning our UNT Libraries mission statement because it does not adequately express our vision of the libraries. We have a particularly rich preservation mission, because we have a number of unique collections in the UNT Archives (like university records and photographs), the Rare Books Room (old manuscripts, miniature books), the Music Library (LP's from the Library of Congress, jazz scores), etc. This is part of the "conservation of knowledge" mission that Bogue mentions, but it's also simply the physical preservation of old and valuable materials.
The "conservation of knowledge" portion is expressed in the UNT Digital Library, where all electronic theses/dissertations written by UNT students are kept; the same department is also working with university leaders on a digital repository to store faculty research and publications. The subject librarians for each department similarly work with their associated academic departments (for instance, mine is the Dept. of Philosophy and Religion Studies) to collect and preserve all publications by their faculty in that department, particulary print books.
But we have two more imperative missions. The first, perhaps most obvious, mission is to serve the students, staff, and faculty of UNT by providing the information that they need. This is done in all kinds of ways (reference question answering, workshops, collection purchasing, developing new services) and delivered in person, by phone, text message, IM, online chat software, email, fax--you get the idea, any format you want! This mission in large research universities tends to be focused more on support of faculty research, so that the books purchased are oriented more toward faculty needs than those of undergraduates needing term paper resources. Similarly in liberal arts colleges, the library collection tends to focus on general resources for undergraduates, and less in-depth materials that support faculty research (although this is often supported through services like Inter-Library Loan). UNT of course being a mixed-mission university, the libraries are similarly mixed in their collection and service focus.
Finally, the UNT Libraries have also been designated as a federal and state depository library. This is a designation that brings with it a broad collection of nearly one million documents produced by the government that our library is given for free, assuming we meet government regulations of a depository library. As a federal depository, for instance, we are by law required to serve any member of the public with our documents collection. This goes beyond merely helping people look up regulations on adoption or do-it-yourself divorce forms; our documents collection is rich with primary historic resources and many valuable maps and books that are worth thousands of dollars a piece. This is another key piece of keeping American democracy alive: providing the public free and permanent access to the documents that created our government and the documents that our government creates. It's all part of that famous quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the key to a democracy is having an informed citizenry.
So in a broad sense, our particular mission at the UNT Libraries is to preserve a variety of rich, unique collections, to support our university's students, staff, faculty, and to serve the general public. It's a thrilling mission to serve every day, let me tell you!!
I do have to mention that Bogue/Aper's comment on page 21 about digital library access pushed a few of my buttons. I'm a professed bibliophile, but I'm also a hugely geeky techie and love to play with technology--which comes in handy, since my title is Librarian for Digital Collections! One of my primary research interests is library support for distance learners, which goes far beyond mere email reference answers or e-book collections.
Bogue/Aper's statement about the future of libraries makes me feel conflicted, as this great debate in the library world always does. Page 21 says that "we are probably not far from that moment when we will not go to the library but simply purchase a computer disk or other information storage device... and take it home... and have every page of the library available at our intellectual disposal. Such convenience and power, however, may never replace the joy and wonder that comes from browsing the quiet and musty stacks of libraries."
Well... yes and no. Certainly our library catalog can be accessed online, as can many of the e-books, online gov documents, and databases that allow us to access the majority of our journal articles electronically. And that's fantastic--even working in the library, I love being able to email myself articles instead of walk down four floors to make a photocopy. But no, the printed matter isn't going anywhere soon. Full-text searching of our digital collections is a vast improvement on searching a paper index, but talk to any art student about trying to find a certain visual reference for a sketch, and that's much more easily accomplished by visually browsing tangible books than searching using a textbox online. And those unique collections at UNT libraries? We're digitizing them, but researchers will always want to look at the originals, to mine more information from the "real thing," and to touch the actual objects that past giants touched.
Bogue/Aper do acknowledge some of the physical pleasures of books in the "joy and wonder" part of that statement... but as a librarian I have to huffily protest the stereotypical image of "quiet and musty stacks!" My guess is that my personal appearance wouldn't fit into their standard definition of "librarian," either... but that's a conversation for another time and another class.
Hmm. Didn't mean to provide such a wordy post; the words "library" and "democracy" tend to get me very excited!
1.26.2010
Ponderings on the "American Idea"
I'm taking a course on the role of higher education in a democracy, and class discussion is bringing up interesting thoughts.
I was fascinated by "A Religious Idea Called 'America'" by David Gelernter (Bradley Lecture, Washington, February 13, 2006). Many of the statements the author makes solidify aspects of America that had puzzled me for some time.
The first of these is what the author refers to as "American Zionism." This is a particularly apt metaphor for this feeling that seems to be inherent in many Americans that America is the best country that ever is or was, a chosen country, perhaps even chosen by God. This is something that I never questioned growing up, but became abruptly aware of when I took my first trip abroad after my sophomore year of college. It seems bizarre now, but before then the "outside world" (meaning anyplace outside of America) was simply an abstraction to me. I believed that other countries existed, that people lived in them, but I didn't truly grasp what that meant. When I landed in Italy, suddenly the rest of the world was concretely real to me. I realized that the faceless people I had imagined living in these countries were individuals just like me, who were simply born somewhere else. I realized that there were other worldviews, other contexts from which to understand world events.
And that made me suddenly question America's historic foreign policy of helping (or meddling, depending on your perspective) in other countries' issues. Helping when asked is one thing, but as we all know, America has done more than that--just look to Vietnam or Iraq, to use the obvious examples. I can see why the potential to free a people and give them a democracy is an attractive idea, but is it our business to do so? Why do so many of us seem to think that it is our right, perhaps our divine right, to decide that a country should be governed in a certain way, and to invade and wage war to ensure that this is so?
I find it difficult to define ethics outside of a specific moral code (as is discussed in James Campbell's Understanding John Dewey, chapter 4, the idea of ethics as a secular moral code). I find it difficult to define "right" and "wrong" without a specific code or criteria. I'm sure that some of this difficulty is because I was brought up in a religious home, and my natural pattern of thinking has been defined by a specific moral code. However, regardless of my own beliefs, I believe that America as a country is defined by and exists in large part to protect religious freedom, and as such should be ruled in as secular and nonbiased a manner as possible. It's simply difficult for me to define how that governing should run, what moral code it should adhere to, without having something specific against which to judge that government's actions.
This post doesn't specifically relate to education thus far, but I have had similar intellectual struggles with education in similar manners. How can we teach a variety of worldviews, values, and perspectives in an honest manner to students? Is disclosing our own personal perspective a helpful insight, a cautionary disclosure of our bias, or a harmful influence that creates more bias?
The more I study and think, the fewer answers and more questions I have.
I was fascinated by "A Religious Idea Called 'America'" by David Gelernter (Bradley Lecture, Washington, February 13, 2006). Many of the statements the author makes solidify aspects of America that had puzzled me for some time.
The first of these is what the author refers to as "American Zionism." This is a particularly apt metaphor for this feeling that seems to be inherent in many Americans that America is the best country that ever is or was, a chosen country, perhaps even chosen by God. This is something that I never questioned growing up, but became abruptly aware of when I took my first trip abroad after my sophomore year of college. It seems bizarre now, but before then the "outside world" (meaning anyplace outside of America) was simply an abstraction to me. I believed that other countries existed, that people lived in them, but I didn't truly grasp what that meant. When I landed in Italy, suddenly the rest of the world was concretely real to me. I realized that the faceless people I had imagined living in these countries were individuals just like me, who were simply born somewhere else. I realized that there were other worldviews, other contexts from which to understand world events.
And that made me suddenly question America's historic foreign policy of helping (or meddling, depending on your perspective) in other countries' issues. Helping when asked is one thing, but as we all know, America has done more than that--just look to Vietnam or Iraq, to use the obvious examples. I can see why the potential to free a people and give them a democracy is an attractive idea, but is it our business to do so? Why do so many of us seem to think that it is our right, perhaps our divine right, to decide that a country should be governed in a certain way, and to invade and wage war to ensure that this is so?
I find it difficult to define ethics outside of a specific moral code (as is discussed in James Campbell's Understanding John Dewey, chapter 4, the idea of ethics as a secular moral code). I find it difficult to define "right" and "wrong" without a specific code or criteria. I'm sure that some of this difficulty is because I was brought up in a religious home, and my natural pattern of thinking has been defined by a specific moral code. However, regardless of my own beliefs, I believe that America as a country is defined by and exists in large part to protect religious freedom, and as such should be ruled in as secular and nonbiased a manner as possible. It's simply difficult for me to define how that governing should run, what moral code it should adhere to, without having something specific against which to judge that government's actions.
This post doesn't specifically relate to education thus far, but I have had similar intellectual struggles with education in similar manners. How can we teach a variety of worldviews, values, and perspectives in an honest manner to students? Is disclosing our own personal perspective a helpful insight, a cautionary disclosure of our bias, or a harmful influence that creates more bias?
The more I study and think, the fewer answers and more questions I have.
7.10.2009
Busy Week...
I'm currently at a conference on civic engagement and deliberative democracy called "No Better Time" at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. It's incredibly cool, and their conference logo this year was made using Wordle! On Saturday, I'll fly directly to Chicago for the rest of ALA Annual (hey, if anyone's free Tuesday morning/early afternoon, want to join me on an architectural boat tour?). Rather than flood my blog with live-blogging sessions, I'm posting notes on my wiki and brief thoughts/greetings/blatherings on my twitter feed.
I return on Tuesday evening and shall immediately collapse.
I return on Tuesday evening and shall immediately collapse.
6.17.2009
Mac & iPhone Tidbits
Great quote:
"If we had a dime for every blog rumor about an Apple tablet we've seen, we'd have at least enough for a large soy-based coffee beverage from Starbucks."
MacWorld reviews iPhone 3.0.
For iPhone OmniFocus users (and if you have an iPhone without OmniFocus, let me encourage you to check it out--it's the best task-management tool I've ever seen):
"The Coolest Feature You’re Probably Not Using"
"How to Avoid Paying the iPhone 3GS Upgrade Tax"
In Other News...
Rebecca Blakeley has posted some fantastic resources for reading up on Iran and the current conflict, as well as background info.
"If we had a dime for every blog rumor about an Apple tablet we've seen, we'd have at least enough for a large soy-based coffee beverage from Starbucks."
-- Dan Ackerman, "Five things still missing from Apple MacBooks" from CNET.com
MacWorld reviews iPhone 3.0.
For iPhone OmniFocus users (and if you have an iPhone without OmniFocus, let me encourage you to check it out--it's the best task-management tool I've ever seen):
"The Coolest Feature You’re Probably Not Using"
-- Brian, The Omni Mouth
Going from 3G to 3GS?"How to Avoid Paying the iPhone 3GS Upgrade Tax"
-- Brian X. Chen, Wired.com
In Other News...
Rebecca Blakeley has posted some fantastic resources for reading up on Iran and the current conflict, as well as background info.
4.28.2009
Research Update
I blogged earlier this semester about three projects I'm researching:
And a brief note, in case I haven't mentioned it here before (I've been tweeting it alot): the task management software OmniFocus (and specifically the iPhone version, although I also have the original program on my Mac) has saved my life this semester. It's tracking my personal errands, house projects, work projects, school research, you name it. It's amazing, and if you have an iPhone it will be the best $19 you've spent.
And thus ends my flagrant advertising. (But seriously, busy techie librarians, try it out!) Or at least consider some form of task management software, no matter what computer or handheld you've got.
- practices & experiences of academic librarians embedded in online courses
- factors that affect the adoption of electronic reference in academic libraries
- ...and a project on educational background of academic library deans (with fellow librarian Annie Downey)
- embedded librarians project:
- finishing up the presentation portion of the project (organizing it as 6 case studies, with trends and discussion)
- writing lit review for written portion of project
- since this is for a client (as well as my class), I'm planning to format it as a thick binder with tabs for the lit review/trends, each institutional case study, and will also include a matrix of activities, as well as a summary of commonalities and differences in experiences across the case studies
- electronic reference adoption study:
- this is a paper for a statistics course, so it's a statistical analysis...
- I downloaded the Academic Library Survey datasets from NCES (National Center for Educational Statistics) for 1996 - 2006 (though in the end for various reasons I was only able to use 2000 - 2006; I hope to include the other data this summer)
- reformatting all the data and framing it correctly took quite a while!
- I performed an ANCOVA for a binary response variable using the program "R"
- I did some related analyses, and created graphical displays for each
- I'm now writing the results as an article (it's my first quantitative methods article, and it's proving a bit of a tough writing job for me)
- education of academic library deans study:
- Annie's got us a head start on the lit review
- we plan to do the majority of the data gathering this summer
- we're currently working on an abstract to propose to ASHE for this fall
And a brief note, in case I haven't mentioned it here before (I've been tweeting it alot): the task management software OmniFocus (and specifically the iPhone version, although I also have the original program on my Mac) has saved my life this semester. It's tracking my personal errands, house projects, work projects, school research, you name it. It's amazing, and if you have an iPhone it will be the best $19 you've spent.
And thus ends my flagrant advertising. (But seriously, busy techie librarians, try it out!) Or at least consider some form of task management software, no matter what computer or handheld you've got.
4.16.2009
She's Alive!
...just barely. Was in Houston for a whole week for the Texas Library Association's Annual Conference--thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being a Program Planner, and am now thoroughly enjoying not working on that at all for awhile!
In my personal life, we moved into a new house--in the middle of a semester of fulltime work, fulltime school for me... so that's why I haven't been around much. The general theme of my life at this moment is: "Eeek." And also, "Is it May yet?"
May 15th, I get a tiny piece of my life back. I'm looking forward to having the time to explore several class projects in more depth--two of them have potential as pilots for more in-depth research projects, and I have a separate research project I've wanted to work on for awhile now. All three revolve around libraries, and two of them are directly related to library interfaces with distance learning.
I'd better get back to all of it--just wanted to let this poor little blog know I haven't abandoned it!
In my personal life, we moved into a new house--in the middle of a semester of fulltime work, fulltime school for me... so that's why I haven't been around much. The general theme of my life at this moment is: "Eeek." And also, "Is it May yet?"
May 15th, I get a tiny piece of my life back. I'm looking forward to having the time to explore several class projects in more depth--two of them have potential as pilots for more in-depth research projects, and I have a separate research project I've wanted to work on for awhile now. All three revolve around libraries, and two of them are directly related to library interfaces with distance learning.
I'd better get back to all of it--just wanted to let this poor little blog know I haven't abandoned it!
3.06.2009
Tips on Getting Published
Great question in the comments today, and my answer ended up being so long that I'm going to make it an actual post. (Thanks, Joan!)
Question: Any tips on how to get involved with publishing. I've been a librarian for 2 years now.
Hi, Joan!
Note: with many thanks to Dr. Marc Cutright and his Fall 2008 EDHE 6500 "Essentials of Academic Publishing" course.
Well, what I did was subscribe to a couple of blogs that compile librarian publishing/presenting opportunities. When I found calls for chapters, articles, or book reviews that fit my interests or job duties, I always submitted something.
Here are the two I read the most:
Book reviews are a great way to get started. They are usually short (about 1,000 words is average), you sometimes get a book for free, and editors are often dying to get someone to offer to write them. Most faculty lean toward writing articles because they often count for more toward tenure--so there is a lack of good reviewers out there.
Look up a journal online that you read a lot, or that fits your interests/job well (for instance, I chose the Journal of Web Librarianship because I'm interested in digital collections and distance learning). Find the contact information for that journal's book review editor; they are often posted, but if not, write the journal editor and request that information for the review editor.
Write up a professional inquiry letter, expressing that you're interested in reviewing a book for them. You can suggest a book you already have in mind, or they may have a list of books on the website that you can choose from, or you can simply ask if they have books that are in need of reviewing. Sometimes they will give you a free copy; if they don't have one available, you can also contact the publisher directly and let them know you're reviewing it--sometimes they will then send you a copy. (I have had both experiences.) Sometimes you're on your own, although I've written five book reviews and haven't had to pay for a book yet.
In the letter, also clearly state your professional credentials. If the journal has a particular focus, mention how that is related to you and therefore why they'd be interested in having you as a truly qualified reviewer. For instance, when I wrote to the Journal of Web Librarianship, I mentioned that I am a digital collections librarian. When I wrote to the International Journal of Comic Art, I mentioned that in addition to my MLS, I have a MA in Art History and am an avid comic reader--pointing out that I have some critical, scholarly background in the visual arts.
The cardinal rule is to never, ever, ever, send out an unsolicited book review or article in its entirety, until the editor agrees to publish it. Just send out a letter first, inquiring if they are interested. I've heard horror stories where three months go by without a response from the editor, so the person sends the review/article out to another editor, who then publishes it just as the first editor decides to publish it, as well. Huge problem. If you've just sent a letter, there's no risk of mutual publishing.
That's a huge long mess of information, and trust me, I've got more if you're interested--just leave another comment, or email/IM/tweet me. I just took a course in academic publishing last semester, so it's fresh on the mind!
Question: Any tips on how to get involved with publishing. I've been a librarian for 2 years now.
Hi, Joan!
Note: with many thanks to Dr. Marc Cutright and his Fall 2008 EDHE 6500 "Essentials of Academic Publishing" course.
Well, what I did was subscribe to a couple of blogs that compile librarian publishing/presenting opportunities. When I found calls for chapters, articles, or book reviews that fit my interests or job duties, I always submitted something.
Here are the two I read the most:
Book reviews are a great way to get started. They are usually short (about 1,000 words is average), you sometimes get a book for free, and editors are often dying to get someone to offer to write them. Most faculty lean toward writing articles because they often count for more toward tenure--so there is a lack of good reviewers out there.
Look up a journal online that you read a lot, or that fits your interests/job well (for instance, I chose the Journal of Web Librarianship because I'm interested in digital collections and distance learning). Find the contact information for that journal's book review editor; they are often posted, but if not, write the journal editor and request that information for the review editor.
Write up a professional inquiry letter, expressing that you're interested in reviewing a book for them. You can suggest a book you already have in mind, or they may have a list of books on the website that you can choose from, or you can simply ask if they have books that are in need of reviewing. Sometimes they will give you a free copy; if they don't have one available, you can also contact the publisher directly and let them know you're reviewing it--sometimes they will then send you a copy. (I have had both experiences.) Sometimes you're on your own, although I've written five book reviews and haven't had to pay for a book yet.
In the letter, also clearly state your professional credentials. If the journal has a particular focus, mention how that is related to you and therefore why they'd be interested in having you as a truly qualified reviewer. For instance, when I wrote to the Journal of Web Librarianship, I mentioned that I am a digital collections librarian. When I wrote to the International Journal of Comic Art, I mentioned that in addition to my MLS, I have a MA in Art History and am an avid comic reader--pointing out that I have some critical, scholarly background in the visual arts.
The cardinal rule is to never, ever, ever, send out an unsolicited book review or article in its entirety, until the editor agrees to publish it. Just send out a letter first, inquiring if they are interested. I've heard horror stories where three months go by without a response from the editor, so the person sends the review/article out to another editor, who then publishes it just as the first editor decides to publish it, as well. Huge problem. If you've just sent a letter, there's no risk of mutual publishing.
That's a huge long mess of information, and trust me, I've got more if you're interested--just leave another comment, or email/IM/tweet me. I just took a course in academic publishing last semester, so it's fresh on the mind!
3.03.2009
This Year in Publishing
I kept wondering for awhile if any of my writing work would pay off. I've been writing and submitting things for over two years, and I'm just now beginning to see the results!
I submitted two encyclopedia articles two and a half years ago, and they are finally being published in the Facts on File Encyclopedia of American Popular Fictionm due out any day now (eee!). Two book reviews that I completed in 2006 and 2007 but had delays were also just published in the Journal of Web Librarianship, released in January at the same time my book chapter with Suzanne & Annie came out.
I've now got two book reviews pending completion--one submitted and one in the works, one for the International Journal of Comic Art, and one for ImageText. And then I'm working on two research projects, and one more on hold until summer, that I'm hoping to send out starting in May. Whew!
Presentations are certainly easier to pitch and have quicker pay-off, but I'm determined to shift my professional development toward publishing. I have a far smaller travel budget now, and even more so I simply don't have the time for traveling as much, with the course load I've got. I'm hoping to make a habit of having several writing projects going on at once, in order to produce a good body of work each year. We'll see how it goes.
I simply struggled for a long time to find things to write about. Book reviews are pretty simple (and I really enjoy them--getting encouraged to read and discuss books, what's not to love?), but my article ideas tend to require an inordinate amount of research time that it's difficult for me to commit at the moment. Two of my current research projects take quantitative analysis, and one is a qualitative study.
I'm curious to know what other academic librarians are publishing.
I submitted two encyclopedia articles two and a half years ago, and they are finally being published in the Facts on File Encyclopedia of American Popular Fictionm due out any day now (eee!). Two book reviews that I completed in 2006 and 2007 but had delays were also just published in the Journal of Web Librarianship, released in January at the same time my book chapter with Suzanne & Annie came out.
I've now got two book reviews pending completion--one submitted and one in the works, one for the International Journal of Comic Art, and one for ImageText. And then I'm working on two research projects, and one more on hold until summer, that I'm hoping to send out starting in May. Whew!
Presentations are certainly easier to pitch and have quicker pay-off, but I'm determined to shift my professional development toward publishing. I have a far smaller travel budget now, and even more so I simply don't have the time for traveling as much, with the course load I've got. I'm hoping to make a habit of having several writing projects going on at once, in order to produce a good body of work each year. We'll see how it goes.
I simply struggled for a long time to find things to write about. Book reviews are pretty simple (and I really enjoy them--getting encouraged to read and discuss books, what's not to love?), but my article ideas tend to require an inordinate amount of research time that it's difficult for me to commit at the moment. Two of my current research projects take quantitative analysis, and one is a qualitative study.
I'm curious to know what other academic librarians are publishing.
- Are you writing similar research-oriented articles?
- Or focusing on library issues and practitioner-type pieces?
- If you have faculty status at your institution, are your articles ranked by type as far as tenure or a performance review?
- How pressured do you feel to publish--or are you motivated to publish for your own reasons?
3.02.2009
It's March Already?
My personal and professional blogs are both suffering from my schedule, as you may have noticed. (Note to self: after my residency for this PhD program is complete, never again register for full-time courses... or, at least not while simultaneously working full-time and commuting a couple hours a day.)
I keep thinking of blog posts but not writing them down--so here are a few of the things I'm working on at the moment:
Hmmm. It is May yet?
I keep thinking of blog posts but not writing them down--so here are a few of the things I'm working on at the moment:
- fleshing out our WW poster collections page (inspired by the Northwestern's great pages)
- adding a FAQ page to the WW poster page (we get a lot of questions about purchasing reproductions and finding information on artists)
- uploading all those lovely CRS reports from Wikileaks
- I finally downloaded the UNT Libraries LibX toolbar, which is quite handy for showing me which books that I'm browsing on Amazon are held at UNT
- researching the practices of librarians embedded in online courses
- researching the adoption of electronic reference in academic libraries, and how this was affected by a variety of factors
- ...and a project on educational background of academic library deans with fellow librarian Annie Downey, which I think is pretty much stalled until summer
Hmmm. It is May yet?
1.19.2009
Time to Archive!
The End-of-Term Harvest(EOT) project partners have been busy harvesting things before the
inauguration tomorrow. I'm also getting ready to add more content to the CyberCemetery, because who knows what website changes we'll be seeing in the coming days! I'll be on the watch for agencies or commissions that end with the Bush administration. I welcome any help other librarians (or interested folk) are willing to give--please let me know if you hear of a particular website that is being taken down and needs to be quickly archived.
I hope you are all able to watch tomorrow's historic ceremony!
inauguration tomorrow. I'm also getting ready to add more content to the CyberCemetery, because who knows what website changes we'll be seeing in the coming days! I'll be on the watch for agencies or commissions that end with the Bush administration. I welcome any help other librarians (or interested folk) are willing to give--please let me know if you hear of a particular website that is being taken down and needs to be quickly archived.
I hope you are all able to watch tomorrow's historic ceremony!
1.08.2009
The Prodigal Blogger Returns!
I'm up to my ears in web updates, email, and things I haven't remembered that I've forgotten, so I'll make this quick. I just had to share that you can now purchase Academic Library Outreach: Beyond Campus Walls; my print copy arrived on Tuesday! It's my first published book chapter, so I'm a little beside myself--my deepest thanks to my coauthors, Suzanne Sears and Annie Downey. They provided the real "meat" for the chapter, I just helped mash it all together.
And today I got a second surprise--I received three copies of the Journal of Web Librarianship, Volume 2 Number 4--with not one but two of my book reviews in it!
Thanks to my Essentials of Academic Publishing class last semester, I've already got another book review I'm shopping around, and nearly done with a paper. And then there's the research project Annie and I have started on... whew! Never a dull moment.
Hopefully I can stick to my writing schedule despite this semester's near-insane course load... my publishing class had me doing well with at least an hour of writing each week day, but I fell off the wagon in November. Ah well, here's to the second try!
And today I got a second surprise--I received three copies of the Journal of Web Librarianship, Volume 2 Number 4--with not one but two of my book reviews in it!
Thanks to my Essentials of Academic Publishing class last semester, I've already got another book review I'm shopping around, and nearly done with a paper. And then there's the research project Annie and I have started on... whew! Never a dull moment.
Hopefully I can stick to my writing schedule despite this semester's near-insane course load... my publishing class had me doing well with at least an hour of writing each week day, but I fell off the wagon in November. Ah well, here's to the second try!
12.13.2008
December
In my daily agenda book, there are three or four little post-its with ideas I've been hashing around and other things I'd like to blog about. Unfortunately, November and December visited me with a certain vengeance--too many work projects and final schoolwork projects only begin to tell the story.
Today begins three glorious weeks off, weeks away from both both and school. I would love to think that I'd use this time to catch up on this blog... but eh, let's not push me. ;)
Today I also get on a plane to meet my husband in Kharkov, Ukraine. He's been there for the past month (also visited for a week in September and another week in October). We plan to let him wrap up work there and then spend a few days vacationing in Kiev, then spend the night in London on the way back, and arrive back in town the evening of Christmas Eve. (I will try to periodically check my personal email a bit while we're gone.)
I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, a great New Year, and any other holidays you're celebrating... like No School for a Month, that's one of my personal favorites.
Today begins three glorious weeks off, weeks away from both both and school. I would love to think that I'd use this time to catch up on this blog... but eh, let's not push me. ;)
Today I also get on a plane to meet my husband in Kharkov, Ukraine. He's been there for the past month (also visited for a week in September and another week in October). We plan to let him wrap up work there and then spend a few days vacationing in Kiev, then spend the night in London on the way back, and arrive back in town the evening of Christmas Eve. (I will try to periodically check my personal email a bit while we're gone.)
I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, a great New Year, and any other holidays you're celebrating... like No School for a Month, that's one of my personal favorites.
10.16.2008
Officially a Mac
And it's done! I went with the 13" MacBook, will be upgrading to 4GB RAM in the next week or so, Adobe CS4 will be shipped to me after release (yay!), and Alex couldn't resist getting us a family MobileMe account.
Last night, we charged and started up the MacBook, which is dubbed, like my previous two laptops, Interceptor. Um... yeah, there actually is a crazy story behind that. Our computer naming scheme is... sigh... Star Wars vehicles. You can't blame one of us more than the other for that; Alex and I really are that equally geeky.
Our machines, old and new:
Last night, we charged and started up the MacBook, which is dubbed, like my previous two laptops, Interceptor. Um... yeah, there actually is a crazy story behind that. Our computer naming scheme is... sigh... Star Wars vehicles. You can't blame one of us more than the other for that; Alex and I really are that equally geeky.
Our machines, old and new:
- Alex's desktop: Executor (Darth Vader's flagship, a Super Star Destroyer)
- my old desktop: Jadesfire (um... it's from a Star Wars book, let's leave it at that embarrassing revelation)
- our Wii (yeah, it counts!): Tiiderian (after the shuttle Tiderian, and Wii's two-i-name... yeah)
- my laptop(s): Interceptor (after the TIE Interceptor--because it's small and maneuverable, get it?)
- our router: TieBomber (mostly because it's small)
- the printer machine: PrintBoy (okay well it had to fall down somewhere)
- Alex's hoped-for MacPro: he's currently debating names, but my favorite option is Death Star
10.15.2008
I'm a PC... No Wait, I'm a Mac!
I've done a lot of research and thinking and pro-con-ing over the last two weeks, and now that Apple has finally shown its hand, I'm close to a decision. Yes, I'm joining the Apple Cult, after many years of wistful envy. Alex getting a MacBook Pro for his work machine, which often comes home with him, pretty much sealed the deal. For years, we've been trying to decide on some kind of primary media server and content backup system, and about all we ended up with were a few small external hard drives that I remember to backup to about once every six months. But with Time Machine on his MBP, as soon as Alex boots up, his machine is auto-synched and backed up to our external hard drive.
Um... sign me up.
And add to that:
All that to say: tonight at the Apple store, I hope to make my final decision. It's come down to this:
The only real differences between these two machines are: screen size/resolution, weight (the 13" is a full pound lighter), better graphics card option, and the 15" has an ExpressCard slot that I could put a SD card reader into. But for the $400 price difference, I'm leaning toward that 13"! I can always hook it up to a monitor or two at home/work if I find I'm needing more screen real estate.
But any final Mac-user advice would be appreciated!
Um... sign me up.
And add to that:
- If I use a non-Mac laptop and mp3 player, we have to rip all our content in more than one format. Or we rip it all through iTunes as mp3s--which I started doing, and now my non-Mac laptop is putting music in three different places: iTunes, Vista's "Music" folder, and the old-style Windows "My Music" folder, which I have unsuccesfully tried to nuke several times. This makes me crazy.
- iPhoto, and Cover Flow, and everything else about Macs that is so darned gorgeous. Gimme.
- Adobe CS4 is available for ridiculously dirt cheap both through my educational discount, and another $300 off for buying it with a MacBook or MacBook Pro. Again: Gimme.
- LED screen.
- Huge trackpad.
- Illuminated keyboard.
- Alex and I compared file-loading on both our machines last night. Yeah. Wow.
- And lastly: the things automatically hibernate when you close them! This may seem a silly kind of a feature, but if you knew the amount of time I spend every evening booting my laptop up, waiting for everything to load, then waiting for Firefox to show up... yeah. And then I have to wait again, whether I hibernate it or shut it down. And hibernating it screws up my machine after about a day.
All that to say: tonight at the Apple store, I hope to make my final decision. It's come down to this:
13" MacBook, 2.4GHz, +4GB memory, 250 GB hardrive
vs.
15" MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz, +4GB memory, 250 GB hardrive
vs.
15" MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz, +4GB memory, 250 GB hardrive
The only real differences between these two machines are: screen size/resolution, weight (the 13" is a full pound lighter), better graphics card option, and the 15" has an ExpressCard slot that I could put a SD card reader into. But for the $400 price difference, I'm leaning toward that 13"! I can always hook it up to a monitor or two at home/work if I find I'm needing more screen real estate.
But any final Mac-user advice would be appreciated!
10.06.2008
Confession
Yes, when I received this message from LexisNexis this afternoon, what immediately drew my eye was not the message about the Congressional Record*, but those amazing shoes and how on earth I could get a pair.
Sigh. Bad librarian!
*NOTE: I am neither endorsing nor slamming the LexisNexis product. This is purely an admission of guilt, not an advertisement, review, critique, or other value judgement about anything beyond how awesome those shoes are.
Sigh. Bad librarian!
*NOTE: I am neither endorsing nor slamming the LexisNexis product. This is purely an admission of guilt, not an advertisement, review, critique, or other value judgement about anything beyond how awesome those shoes are.
Librarian Fangirliness
I'm not saying I was obsessively bit by the Twilight bug or anything (yeah yeah, we can discuss the last book later).... but here's a little something from libraryland to further the girlish shrieks of delight.
Of course, it can't beat the Yoda or Batgirl READ posters... or the other DC ones, or all the LOTR ones, or Neil Gaiman and Sandman. But still.
I can see I need to add quite a few items to my Christmas wishlist... furthering my family's evidence of my intense geekery and nerdishness.
Of course, it can't beat the Yoda or Batgirl READ posters... or the other DC ones, or all the LOTR ones, or Neil Gaiman and Sandman. But still.
I can see I need to add quite a few items to my Christmas wishlist... furthering my family's evidence of my intense geekery and nerdishness.
10.02.2008
Thursday Meanderings
Want to help NPR fact-check the VP debate tonight, using Twitter? Sounds like a cool project. Yet another fascinating use for Twitter--this application is not only addictive, but surprisingly useful. It's become my first web-based source for news, since I can glance at my page at any time of day and see headlines from CNN, NPR, stock analysis, NASA, State Dept., etc. etc.
My guest-blogging month is complete now at FGI; here are all the posts:
And don't forget, fellow Texans, Monday Oct. 6th is the deadline for voter registration!
My guest-blogging month is complete now at FGI; here are all the posts:
Now I've got to get on two PowerPoints for DC, plus finish getting an OPAL ready for next week. Oh, and there's that matter of getting the new nodes published on the ALA GODORT website. And and and... yeah. Deep breaths, one item at a time, eh?
And don't forget, fellow Texans, Monday Oct. 6th is the deadline for voter registration!
9.21.2008
Book Review: Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia is a dreamy, jeweled treat of a graphic novel. It provides two stories interwoven throughout the book, alternately sad, romantic, momentous and light-hearted. The storyline does not strictly follow the video game series on which it is rather loosely based, but captures the flavor of that world filled with princes, adventure, and sand dunes.
It would be a mistake to dismiss this as another comic rip-off marketing scheme. Don’t think of this as a video-game adaptation, regardless of how much you may have loved the 1989 video game. This is a work of art unto itself.
First Second Books once again shows off their high production quality here. The pages are thick and glossy, with brilliant color. The softcover is attractive and sturdy with glittery gold foil detail; First Second produces the best-bound paperbacks I’ve seen. The endpaper is decorated with a lovely map. The more books I see from this publisher, the more I purchase, as much for the production quality as for their unusual art and narratives.
The script, developed by original the game developer Jordan Mechner and written by A. B. Sina, is lyrical and surprisingly funny by turns. At times, the shift between stories is difficult to detect—but this is part of the point. The dialog in a few scenes sounded a bit modern for the setting, but in its defense, the characters that spoke in this style were the ones I connected with most.
The art is simple and expressive, and is best displayed in the many sequences that are completely wordless. These read like poetry, and nontraditional panel shapes are used to great effect. LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland create memorable characters, and even produce a flicker of empathy for the villains. I love the loose, fluid feel of the line; it’s balanced with strong color that evokes various moods with alternating cool and warm palettes.
The violence is fittingly graphic and a few well-placed moments of horror give the story serious resonance. My favorite sequences were those that told portions of the backstory in a flat style that recalls medieval Persian illuminated manuscripts. These scenes conveyed the feeling of an ancient legend, while lending authenticity to the setting.
My only complaint is that the narrative runs a fine line between poetically ambiguous and frustratingly vague. The story feels pleasantly dreamlike, but on the last page I feel slightly dissatisfied, as if nothing has actually happened. The plot is circular rather than traditionally resolved… but in the end this is a good thing, as it encourages me to immediately pick it up for another reading.
If you’re looking for a fairy tale that has gravity enough for an adult, I highly recommend this novel. And do yourself a favor and buy a copy, because it’s a tale you’ll be returning to sooner than you think.
Note to parents: There are scenes with violence, including numerous beheadings, and some suggested nudity. Most of this is tamer in execution than I’ve seen in most graphic novels today, but the context of the action—killing infants, beheading women and the elderly, cutting out tongues and eyes—is such that it may be disturbing for young ones. No profanity here, but I’d still say this merits a PG-13 rating.
FGI Blogging & Fall Classes
Rather than re-post my recent FGI blog posts here, I've simply including a link to the feed.
In other news, I'm reading two comics, graciously donated to me by First Second Books. I'm reading Drawing Words, Writing Pictures, a textbook on creating comics, and Prince of Persia (based on the awesome old video game). I'll be posting my thoughts when I finish them--I plan on reviewing one of them here, but will likely submit the second review for publication. So far, I am enjoying them both quite a bit--as usual for First Second, the text and art are fantastic, and the printing quality is stellar.
My posts will again be haphazard this season, as I'm thick into another semester of full-time school plus full-time work (after this spring's also-full-time load, I will have completed my PhD's residency requirement, and perhaps be able to take it a little slower). I have to say, though, that despite the incredible amount of work this is taking, I'm enjoying all three classes--even, to my surprise, my required statistics course. Granted, I don't enjoy all the homework, but thus far the instructor's recorded lectures are doing a great job of illuminating the dull textbook.
My "Finance in Higher Education" course is heavy on the required reading, but it's such fascinating and practical information that I appreciate it. But by far my favorite class is "Essentials of Academic Publishing." For one, it's hard not to enjoy a class where your professor mentions publishing as welcome "bling" on your CV. For two, who wouldn't appreciate a course where your final project is 1) of your choosing, and 2) something that you'll be able to use professionally, since it involves getting something academic published? For three, I just love writing, and being able to read about it, write about it, and discuss it with others is great. The class is forcing me to make time for writing--huzzah!
Now, if only I had classes that forced me to make time for exercise, healthy cooking, and cleaning house... hmmm.
In other news, I'm reading two comics, graciously donated to me by First Second Books. I'm reading Drawing Words, Writing Pictures, a textbook on creating comics, and Prince of Persia (based on the awesome old video game). I'll be posting my thoughts when I finish them--I plan on reviewing one of them here, but will likely submit the second review for publication. So far, I am enjoying them both quite a bit--as usual for First Second, the text and art are fantastic, and the printing quality is stellar.
My posts will again be haphazard this season, as I'm thick into another semester of full-time school plus full-time work (after this spring's also-full-time load, I will have completed my PhD's residency requirement, and perhaps be able to take it a little slower). I have to say, though, that despite the incredible amount of work this is taking, I'm enjoying all three classes--even, to my surprise, my required statistics course. Granted, I don't enjoy all the homework, but thus far the instructor's recorded lectures are doing a great job of illuminating the dull textbook.
My "Finance in Higher Education" course is heavy on the required reading, but it's such fascinating and practical information that I appreciate it. But by far my favorite class is "Essentials of Academic Publishing." For one, it's hard not to enjoy a class where your professor mentions publishing as welcome "bling" on your CV. For two, who wouldn't appreciate a course where your final project is 1) of your choosing, and 2) something that you'll be able to use professionally, since it involves getting something academic published? For three, I just love writing, and being able to read about it, write about it, and discuss it with others is great. The class is forcing me to make time for writing--huzzah!
Now, if only I had classes that forced me to make time for exercise, healthy cooking, and cleaning house... hmmm.
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