participation in our democracy that isn’t funded by news cameras.
#fuckyeahbuttercup
(also, i luv him)
i feel very privileged to have worked in a major media organization (and frankly, loved every gawddamn moment of it), but media and news cameras are the PERFECT reason why critical thinking is more important now than ever.
also, i equate critical thinking with owning your shit. don’t talk about things (thoughts or actions) you aren’t ready to be responsible for. (<momvoice> never end a sentence with a prepostion. </momvoice>)
i’m reminded of a quote from walt whitman from a body shop tshirt i once owned (alright alright, it was the 90s and i was a kid. shuduppayoface.)
“re-examine all you have been told… dismiss what insults your soul.”
dear aggregators, ILS vendors, publishers, computer companies, library-equipment companies, and various “cooperatives”:
some good friends in libraryland are having a rough few weeks dealing with you. this makes me unhappy. first off, i appreciate that:
for the most part you are in this for the benjamins while we are in it for our communities.
to stay competitive you can’t tailor things down to meet absolutely everyone’s needs.
you are responsible to your board members who are mostly concerned with #1.
given all of that (and i’m more “appreciative” than some) i still demand an explanation for the abominable customer service, foggy service contracts, condescending sales reps, tech support folks who treat libraries like guinea pigs for a new bug-tracking system, or ridiculous charges for “packages” (mpow has the economist from 8 different sources – it’s a great mag, but, srsly?).
OH! and these librarians? they are moving into upper management (aka: where the buck stops).
so it’s your call really, continue to treat us poorly and then face the inevitable smackdown when i’m running the library. or up your game now, and become a true partner.
a bunch of librarylanders have proposed sessions for sxsw interactive. talking to non-librarylanders about libraries – [insert sarcastic voice here] what a novel concept! i think it’s great that so many librarians are getting the word out about we do, especially in an environment like sxswi (which just seems like a natural fit for libraries, really. innovacation + community + information = libraries!)
Good libraries are community-minded, technologically-aware, devoted to increasing access to information, and interested in preserving the local cultural heritage. Good newspapers aggregate and curate information for their readers, prioritize the local population, and are the record of a place, a time, a citizenry. Both believe they must tell stories for everyone, not just themselves. Libraries have experience with media production, and are already a known community resource. Supporting communication within their community falls within the library’s mandate to increase access to information. Building on the “maker” ethic, how can libraries help their communities make their own news, write their own stories, publish their own histories?
voting closes this friday, september 2, so go register an account and start voting!
canada lost an inspirational leader on monday. i’m still a bit gobsmacked that jack layton, the man who said “we can look after each other better than we do today” and “don’t let them tell you it can’t be done” died of cancer.
for those of you who have not read his final letter to canadialand, please click here.
i was pretty upset about jack’s death, and on monday, i posted to facebook that “i wanted to live in [jack's] canada.” i was reminded, by my awesome friend barb, that not only could we live in his canada, but “we must… we have no other choice.”
and she is right. if i want to live in the canada jack talked about, it’s on me to do all i can to make that happen.
i always find the “emergency contact” question hilarious. but then i got to thinking, if i needed help and was not in my hometown, who should i contact?
then it occurred to me…
so i’m not new to the internet. it’s been, errr, over 25 years since i’ve been talking to strangers through my computer. i’ve also met a bunch of friends, so you know, the good outweighs the bad.
and i use social media a lot. A LOT. i have talked and blogged about how i fully believe that twitter got me my first job. and how it has helped me meet awesome folk. and how it inspires me daily. so i understand social media. and, not being a n00b, i realize that this diagram, is fairly accurate:
but i do expect social media companies to be straight with me. to tell me when terms of service change, and to tell me when other things, things that are way more important to me than money, like say, WHAT I SHARE WITH PEOPLE, changes. so recently… this happened.
1. linkedin
INORITE? i never thought these guys would get all sneaky. but if you have a linkedin account, be sure to check out this post and be aware of which groups can use your name and photos in their ads on linkedin. (note: read the updates – especially if you run a group.)
2. facebook
alright. i’ve had lots of issues with facebook changing privacy settings on me with no notice. so much so that i now check them every 2 weeks, cuz i don’t trust them. this change is making the rounds now, but i feel like this was actually enabled in the winter? anyway, now all of the phone numbers on your mobile are synced with facebook. you did kinda agree to this by installing the app, but you probably didn’t notice. anyway, to nuke it, just follow these instructions.
all this to say
read everything. i never read the terms of service for itunes, and i’m pretty sure steve jobs n’co now own my house and my first born. i was willing to take that risk in the past, but you know what? i might actually want to keep my first born! if i can’t have a monkey butler, the least i can do is have a kid i can train to get beer from the fridge – right?
so i vow, from this day forward, to read TOS and all the small print for all social networks, and i think you should too. cuz while i like sharing most of my life with everyone, there are somethings my mama don’t need to know.
NB: i’m less worried about facebook these days, since Anonymous is set to take them down on november 5.
some folks worry about using social media in their library/organization. while there is lots to think about, remember that your social presence should have a personality, and that personality can even be (dare i say it?) FUN!
so when someone from your community uses twitter and asks you a fun question like this:
an appropriate response is:
it’s okay to engage your community in new and fun ways. we should all try it.
i had a really busy spring. it was both awesome, and exhausting. (errrr, i’m still trying to catch up. sorry if you’re still waiting to hear from me.)
i attended 10 conferences in 12 weeks. wait, WHUT? (plus, at some point in there, i want on a truly awesome west coast roadtrip with kendrak and megvmeg for 9 days. i think it was between CNI and CREPUQ, but i can’t really be sure.)
at some of these conferences i spoke at (one i did precon, gaming night, panel presentation, AND postcon), others i just got to learn about fun things, and one i was on the organizing committee.
here are the gory details:
computers in libraries – washington, dc – march 20-24 – presented
CNI spring meeting – san diego, ca – april 4-5 – learned
CREPUQ technologies mobiles – trois rivières, qc – may 6 – presented
IMLS workshop on library-based publishing – salt lake city, ut – may 11-13 – presented
canadian library association – halifax, ns – may 28-29 (lost the badge!) – presented
THATcamp prime – fairfax, va – june 3-5 – presented/learned (it’s a camp, you do both!)
curatecamp – austin, tx, june 6 – learned (HI DECLAN – remember how hot it was?)
open repositories – austin, tx – june 8-10 – learned (MORE HI DECLAN – remember bbq?)
special libraries association – philadelphia, pa – june 10-15 – organized/presented
tedXlibrarians – toronto, on – june 25 – presented
please note: before the haters come out… a number of these i covered on my own dime because i just wanted to go to them, and there’s no reason mpow has to send me to just anything i want to go to. also, dates may not be actual conference dates – for many i did precons, postcons, or had a metric tonne of meetings. and i had to say hi to declan because he got all cranky last week about not being in any of my #libday7 posts and yelled at me on the twittermachine.
i learned a lot about libraryland, awesome new services i want to try out at mpow, and how to bring the revolution. but what i want to share right now, is what i learned about conferencing.
things i now know
NEXUS PASSES ARE THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE. at YUL it means a quick security line as well as speedy customs line, both filled with people who are used to traveling so are hyper-efficient at getting through the line. (no, lady. you can’t bring a litre of moisturizer in your carry on.) if only YYZ had a NEXUS line for security if you’re connecting. seriously? grrrrr. the pass is well worth the 50$ (lasts 5 years).
having a sippy cup that seals completely, like this one, is one of the best things to travel with. coffee, water, bourbon… whatever ya got, you can take it with you. you can run out of your hotel room and rush to the first session (i am never late in the morning. nope, not never) with coffee in hand.
a sippy cup, and baby wipes. because everyone who travels is gross and covered in germs and half of them should probably be wearing hazmat suits. plus, when you forget to seal the package properly and they dry out, you can at least use’em as kleenexes.
how to pack for 3 back-to-back conferences and two weeks of travel in only a wee-bit-too-big-for-carry-on suitcase. lean towards underpacking (you can always run into an old navy and pick up a shirt after spilling tomato soup down the front of yourself – not that i ever had to do that) and two pairs of shoes max in your luggage. you can do it.
also, how to do laundry in a hotel. (many thanks to the awesome front desk staff in philly who not only gave me free soap, but gave me change when i didn’t have any, because “hon, we know you don’t want to be doing laundry while you’re staying in a hotel.”)
my passport number, by memory.
before arriving, map the nearest grocery store to the hotel. and the nearest liquor store.
if you’re in a hot place (HELLO AUSTIN) brew some coffee at night and put it in the frigo for the morning so you can still get a jolt of caffeine but not be drinking something hot in 104F weather.
that 104F = 40C. which is WAY TOO HOT to do anything other than be in a pool with a lone star in your hand. (i tried to have that be a session at curatecamp, but they didn’t go for it.) (cuz then giarlo woulda had to do a cannonball.)
mexican martinis are brutal. trust me on this one. there is no need for more than one. and after drinking them, you should never cap off the night with shots of cheap tequila.
always travel with acetaminophen and antacid. (possibly related to my previous point. you’ll never know.)
having a conference buddy is great. i didn’t have a partner-in-crime for a few this spring, and on occasion found myself thinking “stranger danger” at receptions and wanting to run back to my room to watch bad tv and eat ice cream. if there’s someone that you keep bumping into at conferences and you really gel with, do it.
whenever possible, try and do something non-conferencey to stay sane. visit friends in town, go to a museum, play hooky from a social event to just chillax.
eat fruits and veggies whenever they cross your path. when in the conferencezone it won’t happen often, so just do it. it also helps to have awesome vegan friends who take you to fantastic restos once you have eaten nothing but texas bbq for a week straight. (for the record, i was quite happy eating texas bbq for a week straight. salt lick and ruby’s. yes.)
in the “whenever you can” vein, if you’re doing back-to-back conferences, nap whenever the opportunity arises. it’s okay to skip the networking breakfast for a bit of a lie-in, and if there is really no session that floats your boat, and no colleagues you want to hang with during that time, go decompress in your room for a bit. you won’t learn anything if you’re zonked.
montréal, je t’aime. (i knew this already, but home is so good, it deserves a mention.)
*includes saturday, since i forgot to post this yesterday
FRIDAY: (aka: thanx jeebus it arrived.)
today was a big-ass chunk o’unproductive. i feel terrible. epic plans to get stuff done and… less epic was had. this happens rarely, so i’m not going to stress about it too much, but… ya. i do not like it when i can’t just GSD.
but i have awesome colleagues who a) understand that some days are just ZOMG TOO MUCH TO DO I CAN’T START DOING ANYTHING IMMA SIT IN MY OFFICE AND WONDER WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE TO STAY IN MY PREVIOUS JOB, and b) don’t make me feel like a douche for having days like this.
one of the things i did manage to take off my to-do list, was to get up my nellie mcclung poster (sent to me by the lovely david). the awesome ed, who is in the office beside mine, who drinks coffee on a similar schedule to mine, and who wants to make academic libraryland rock as hard as it can, made me feel all productive about getting it up.
otherwise the day amounted to a ginormous chunk of email-triaging, meeting-planning, association-thinking, and generally sorting out my office. also, another colleague brought me a thermometre to try and see just how cold my office is. after 2 hours it registered between 15 and 16 degrees (celsius. seriously americans, it’s you and liberia that are holding to the imperial system. grow a set and join metricville!) that is redonkulously cold. i was not shitting you about the wool blanket in my office.
the day ended with a GREAT talk with a professor in the library school. we are planning a bunch of presentations and publications looking at scholarly communication and digital curation from both a scholar’s and a practitioner’s experience. librarians and LIS researchers talking about the same topic in the same article? kookytalk, i know. but if you know carolyn and i, it makes total (and terrifying?) sense. (i guested in a class of hers on IRs, and it was genius. “in principle, the IR does x, y, and z. amy – how does it work in practice?” “errrr, kinda like a, b, and c.” we need more of this in LIS schools – k?)
i got home, made dinner, made chicken stock (protip: a bit of parmesan rind in the stock and it’s waaaaay richer and yummier), then sat down and sent out a bunch of emails that i should have done while at work. i also did a quick wireframe of the new scholarly communications site i’m going to build in august (which is weeks away – right?). so, see? not totally a write-off of a day!
SATURDAY: (aka: sometimes, as an academic librarian, you work on the weekend, either on a desk shift, or at home. c’est comme ça. if it needs doing, DO IT.)
got up earlier than normal so that i could devise a plan of attack for the weekend.
okay, really, i got up at the same time, but instead of listening to the CBC all morning, and reading non-libraryland things (which i truly love about my weekend mornings – connecting back to my community in ways other than through the library), i read my starred google reader posts cuz i need to either respond/bring to some colleagues/write up a pilot project proposal cuz i want to steal the idea.
11:30am-3:30pm. ma belle maman had a big birthday this week, and my brother has us over to fête her. the fête was not nearly as fête-ish as it could have been, so i have plans to continue it throughout the year. (ma, if you’re reading this, pretend you didn’t see that part. k?)
3:30-8: pick up an xbox kinect. i used to play video games. i enjoy the distraction, i enjoy the silly fun. and since i haven’t played one regularly in 15 years (WHERE MY SEGA AT, YO?) everything is different! also, libraries are doing a lot with gaming these days, and i generally feel like if people are going to mention “innovative” and my name, in the same sentence, then i need to know all the fun stuff that folks are doing out there. (also, after just boxing on the kinect for 2 hours straight… seriously? i am in love.)
get home all ready to get my “kinect adventures” on, and realize i can’t get the monitor out of standby mode, cuz i don’t have the remote. thankfully the previous owner will be home around 7:30pm so i can pick it up. all is good. game on, literally.
9-midnight: read articles, network on the friendfeed, facebook, twitter, IM, email, whuteveryagot, and setup some more of the xbox. (i forgot to buy speakers for the downright-ancient, but insanely-ginormous-and-FREE VGA monitor i was given, so setup is kinda half-assed.)
1:30am: write this thinger. will likely play kinect sports games til… 3am? mebbe 4am. too fun. also, i’m terrible at these games, but i care not at all.
