LE@D Video Shoot (aka Goofy Librarian Skilz)

I used to work for the Center for Distributed Learning at UNT, back before I thought it was a grand idea to both attend school full-time and work full-time. In any case, they were a grand crew of people who had the amusing pleasure of finding out lots of my previously-hidden geeky secrets. Thus, I soon gave up my pretense of being a dignified young professional and acted more like my goofy self in their company.

Thus, when their LE@D (Lifelong Education at Desktop) program needed to shoot a video starring a goofy librarian... I was the first person they thought of.



So yesterday, I spent the morning over-acting my goofy heart out, while being followed around the third floor of the library by a mass of professional-looking camera equipment. The video's scenario is that I'm a librarian trying to take an online LE@D course, but I can't find the time to take it--I'm being interrupted at the reference desk, circulation, public computers, the breakroom, and finally make my escape to a stall in the women's restroom to finish. (I'll post a link here when the video's done on April 1st--both because you all deserve a good laugh and because I'm making a habit of humiliating myself online as much as possible.)

I'll say one thing--I now understand why, in addition to needing a script and camera, it's so important to have a director. You can read, "Starr looks up at patron and seems mildly frustrated by the interruption," and it seems simple, but when it comes to actual expression, body language, etc.... it's surprisingly complex.

So, er, I won't be running off to La-La Land anytime soon to pursue an acting career. But it was certainly an enjoyable experience, and Dr. Arlita Harris, the visionary behind the whole project, not only made it fun but graciously sent me flowers afterward. A big thanks to the CDL folks for thinking of me!

Comey of Errors

The whole Houston trip was an interesting saga, briefly summarized here:

• nearly missed plane from DFW
• workshop was amazing, met some interesting people
• got four fantastic hardbacks of Tufte's work
• stuck in traffic for an hour and half on the way to Houston Hobby
• missed 6:30 flight--last flight of the day!
• spent 45 minutes trying to find another flight or lodgings
• was picked up by a family member
• back to the airport at 4am, flew to DFW at 6am
• drove directly to Denton for work to meet 2 of the 4 deadlines from last week

Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not get any sleep.

Anyway, this is my week of playing deep catch-up at work, so I'll still be lying low on the blog-radar. I'll try to post more info about the workshop next week.

Loving LexisNexis (Database Training)

Since LexisNexis recently updated their "Academic" database--oh the joy of full Shepardizing citations!--we invited our lovely LN representative, Priscilla, to come train our Docs and Reference librarians in it. I took notes on my wiki, primarily because I can't remember anything longer than five minutes unless it's written--but the other librarians expressed an interest in them, so I posted them to our library wiki, as well.

Which got me to thinking... maybe there are other librarians who'd like them, too! So, just in case you're wondering about the amazing depths hidden within the LexisNexis databases, here's a place to start:

• Lexis-Nexis Academic Training
• Lexis-Nexis Congressional Training
• Lexis-Nexis Statistical Training

I have to say, I learned a bunch during this two-hour session, and I'm amazed at the wealth of information. I could have been using Congressional and Statistical a lot more, had I realized the treasures within.