August 25, 2006

Vague Request of the Week

"Something to do with marketing - and something about grasshopper and butterfly."

Ok, I did get a little more information. I was also given the name of the publication, and a rough time frame ("last three months or so"). So that gave me some pointers as to where to look for the article. Fortunately, our subscription allows us online access, and by searching for "grasshopper" and then "butterfly" - just to be thorough - I found the article the attorney needed.

July 18, 2006

Take me out, now

Both my boss and another senior researcher are out of the office this week. It's another librarian, a contract librarian, and me holding the fort. Yesterday was busy but ok. Today I have actually hung up the phone and yelled "Shit!" out loud.

I'm already having trouble remembering it's only Tuesday.

June 01, 2006

What's Hot

The University of Virginia library has a "What's Hot" feature for its most popular materials. Currently:

What's Hot at UVA Library
Sex and the city [videorecording]
Lost (Television program)
The United States law week
Sex and the city. The complete second season [videorecording]
Daily tax report
The Sopranos [videorecording] : the complete fourth season
Desperate housewives. The complete first season [videorecording]
Sex and the city [videorecording] : the complete fifth season
Sex and the city. The complete fourth season [videorecording]
Sex and the city. The complete third season [videorecording]
The Sopranos. The complete fifth season [videorecording]
The O.C. The complete second season [videorecording]
The Godfather part II [videorecording]
Crash [videorecording]
Six feet under. The complete fourth season [videorecording]
The Sopranos [videorecording] : the complete second season
The Sopranos [videorecording] : the complete third season
Frank Miller's Sin City [videorecording]
Six feet under. The complete third season [videorecording]
The Godfather [videorecording]

Hottest Authors...
Bureau of National Affairs (Washington, D.C.)
Scorsese, Martin
Spielberg, Steven
Whedon, Joss
Star, Darren
Sherman-Palladino, Amy
Coppola, Francis Ford
Crane, David
Ball, Alan
Kubrick, Stanley
Parker, Trey
Bright, Kevin
Hitchcock, Alfred
Tarantino, Quentin
Gandolfini, James
Scott, Ridley
Berman, Rick
Jackson, Peter
Groening, Matt
Roddenberry, Gene

Hottest Subjects...
Feature films.
Comedy films.
Man-woman relationships--Drama.
Documentary films.
Friendship--Drama.
Films for the hearing impaired.
Funeral homes--California--Pasadena--Drama.
Mafia--United States--Drama.
Law--United States--Periodicals.
Women--Sexual behavior--Drama.
European Union.
Friendship--New York (State)--New York--Drama.
Problem youth--Drama.
Mothers and daughters--Drama.
Journalists--Drama.
Television programs.
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation--Drama.
Science fiction films.
Horror films.
Animated films.

March 14, 2006

Yikes

I was at a vendor presentation about a new product that makes use of news and information feeds via RSS. When the product development guy asked the room full of law librarians if anyone subscribed to RSS feeds, I was the only one who raised my hand. Later, podcasts were mentioned. Again, my hand was the only one that went up.

I suspect that people in the room make use of RSS, more than they realize. I sure hope so.

It's happened

Someone at work just called me Marian the Librarian.

January 09, 2006

Bleary-eyed

It's my first day back at work and I am up to my eyeballs in foreign securities law, federal legislative history, finding books on hedge funds and next on my plate, UK arbitration law. Ack.

December 15, 2005

Kiss My Radical Militant Librarian Grits

Get the gear here (via Jenica)

December 05, 2005

Eyes open, fingers crossed

Interviewing this week for a new assistant. I've written notes on what I'd like to cover with the candidates. But in the end, I hope we find someone with a brain and a good work ethic. If the person could be nice - that nebulous "good fit" - that would be great too.

Please.

November 16, 2005

Sometimes

I really want to tell people what's on my mind. Like:

"PLEASE LISTEN TO ME WHEN I AM SPEAKING TO YOU, YOU BLOOMIN' IDIOT!"

At work, I really hate it when I give someone an assignment, and I explain, in great detail, exactly what I want done, and then the person goes off and does the work in such a way that it's either a) not quite what I want or b) totally fucked up.

It could be that I'm not explaining things clearly enough. Sometimes that's the case, and we clarify the issue. Fine. At the same time, I hate having to explain things that should be obvious. But I do it anyway, and I do it politely.

So when I ask someone "Please take these check requests to Accounting and put a note on each of them telling them to call me when the check is ready" I expect that's understood. But when I don't receive the phone call, and we have to research what happened to the check requests, and I find that there are just sticky notes listing my name and extension on the check requests, I tend to go a little ballistic. Why, with all the paperwork that Accounting gets from the entire firm, why wouldn't they know implicitly that they were supposed to call me? For all they know, it's just a sticky note. (Yes, Accounting could have noted the sticky note and like, called me, but that's expecting too much. Which is why I write long sticky notes saying "Please call me when the frickin' frackin' check is ready!")

How hard is it to stay on the ball, people? Am I not speaking English? Did I not just take time to tell you EXACTLY what I wanted, in excruciating detail?

This person has since moved on to better and brighter things than toiling as a lowly library assistant, so the only thing I can do is make clear to the next person that when I'm explaining something they had better fucking listen to me.

October 25, 2005

Toot, toot

So this partner calls. He wants a copy of a foreign court's decision. All he knows are the companies involved and that it was "recent." There's nothing more he can tell me.

I have no idea where to start. I search news databases to see if I can find any articles that will give me more information. I call a database help line, and the person helps me find a single newswire article, which isn't in English. I feed the text into Babelfish to see if it's relevant. It is. So I've now gained a little more information - an approximate date, which is more informative than "recent."

I find a website for the country's court system. Again, not in English. I look to librarian mailing-lists for research ideas. A few responses trickle in, but nothing particularly helpful. I call a document service to see if they can obtain a copy of the decision for me. The ballpark estimate is $1000, with translation services at $100/page if I so choose.

Back to the court's website. I start feeding text into Babelfish to help me find my way around. Eventually I find a page that allows users to search for judicial opinions by various fields. I type in a party name and a date range....

I found it! I get a rough translation from Babelfish to make sure, but yes, it's the document I need. I send off an email with the document attached, explaining that the partner would need to get the decision translated.

And the response? Zip. Zilch. Nichts. Nada. A mere "thanks" would have sufficed. A "Wow! That's incredible! Thanks!" would be even better.

A lot of this is way too technical and boring. But it's a big deal to me personally. It's the librarian's equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Anyway, I'm sure something will stump me today, so I better not let my head get swollen. Like anyone would notice, anyway. :p

October 19, 2005

Librarians Love Lucy Liu

(click on image for larger version)

I spotted this Intel ad today on the homepage of the New York Times. Naturally I was curious. Apparently this is part of a new ad campaign.

Let's check against the stereotype. Glasses. Check. Cardigan. Check. Clunky shoes (which I like actually, they look kinda cool). Check. Yeah she's cute, but she's not the ravishing creature seated on her lap, as indicated by her rapt expression.

September 26, 2005

How Not to Annoy The Librarian

1. Do not make your reference request at the last minute. Yes, there are emergencies, but is your each and every request really an emergency, each and every time? Try to focus and plan ahead when you can.

2. In light of #1, must your every email be marked as urgent/high priority? We prefer our emails to beep at us only when the contents are truly urgent.

3. We are here to help you, but we are not your servants. If you would like to use a specific book right away, please consider coming to the library and getting the book yourself, instead of asking one of us to bring it to you. It's possible that we might have existing research projects for other people - like senior partners.

4. Please do not chew gum while talking on the phone with us. It's rude and it's gross, even more so when the sound is amplified DIRECTLY INTO ONE'S EAR.

August 10, 2005

Popular Reading at Guantanamo's Library

From eonline:

AMERICA'S AZKABAN: Harry Potter books and mysteries by Agatha Christie top the list of the most popular reading selections among detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to a prison librarian there identified only as "Lorie."

June 21, 2005

Household Reference for the Inept Domestic Goddess

Surprising Expiration Dates: A handy, who-knew guide for 77 foods, beauty products, and household goods [Real Simple]

Something useful, hurrah!

June 05, 2005

New Yorker digital archive

80 Years of The New Yorker to Be Offered in Disc Form [NYT] For those who hoard their back issues in the event they'll "get around" to reading them, this DVD-ROM set could be a godsend.

May 31, 2005

Gallery of Comic Book Covers

Ben Samuels is a comic book collector who posted some of his favorite covers online: Super-Hero and War Comics, Good Girl & Romance Comics, and Crime & Horror Comics.

May 02, 2005

I am...a librarian!

I've been promoted. Trying to apply the excellent advice on the back cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (Fun movie, by the way).

Not much has changed yet. There will be more reference work, learning by doing. In the meantime, still doing my current duties until someone is found to take on the clerical work.

I haven't let myself get too excited about it yet. Part of me wonders when I'll be found out, because I certainly haven't got a brain the size of a planet.

Still, a raise is a raise. My credit cards and I are due for a reckoning. (We'll just count the iPod as a prescient promotion purchase.)

April 20, 2005

Stalker's Delight

I read an article about ZabaSearch, a people-finder site. It doesn't say what public data it uses, so it's not necessarily the most accurate. I ran a free search to see what it would generate, and the results were unnerving. It had my maiden name, my birth month and year, current and last address. When you click on one of the addresses, you're taken to a page that offers links to satellite photos, the postal service zip code finder, MapQuest and the Weather Channel. While you can ask to have your information removed, there's no guarantee of complete removal. Personally, I'm creeped out. Granted, they're working with public data of some kind, but the potential for abuse is there.

It's impressive, scary to see what a Zaba search can do [SF Chronicle, via ObscureStore]

April 14, 2005

The Librarian, 2d ed.

So there's going to be a sequel to The Librarian: Quest for the Spear. I wonder what the new subtitle will be. Probably not one of the following:

The Librarian: Reference Request

The Librarian: Adventures in Cataloging

The Librarian: Lost Archive

[via Solar Flare Thanks to Richard for the link!]

March 29, 2005

Additional Living Will Links

The Best Way to Keep Control Is to Leave Instructions [NYT] [Bugmenot] Possibly the most interesting aspect of this article are the remarks from the attorney who worked on the Nancy Cruzan case:

[William] Colby, the lawyer in Ms. Cruzan's case, has no living will. Instead, he has a health care power of attorney.

"I think the clearest statement you can make in writing is the statement of who you want to decide," he said. "The gold standard is to arm that person with what your views and values are."

But if he were to become irreversibly brain-damaged, he said, "I don't have a great desire to control what happens to me then." More important would be his family's peace of mind. "I would just want them to feel they're making the best decisions they can make," he said, "with the least amount of guilt."

This article also mentions several sites that offer living will forms, some of which I've mentioned before, having come across them in other articles. Here are the ones mentioned:

Aging With Dignity - (www.agingwithdignity.org or 888-594-7437) "A nonprofit group that provides the documents for $5."

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization - (www.nhpco.org/ or 703-837-1500) Free, state-specific documents are available for download. I explored this site. They ask for your name and email address and you can choose whether or not to be added to their mailing list. Then you're directed to a series of links so you can select the state document you're interested in.

The Medical Directive
"A Web site for a nonprofit group, www.medicaldirective.org, offers documents for $15 along with detailed work sheets describing possible medical situations for patients and families to consider."

March 24, 2005

Some Health Care Advance Planning Resources

Consumer’s Tool Kit for Health Care Advance Planning - Provided by the American Bar Association, specifically the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, this tool kit provides a series of forms that can help as you consider and discuss with loved ones the issues involved in preparing a living will or other comparable document.

Here are some sites offering forms for living wills that I've come across in reading news articles. I'm sure there are many others. Of course, there's the usual route of seeing an attorney for these arrangements as well.

U.S. Living Will Registry
Aging With Dignity

Here's an example of a Georgia living will. (Thanks to mingaling for the link.)

March 22, 2005

Calling Canada

I have to order a copy of an issue from a Canadian newspaper. The paper's website provides contact information, including various phone numbers. I've checked with reception as well as the person who does the office telephone training. I've confirmed the appropriate mechanics of placing an international call from within the office.

STILL. CAN'T. GET. THROUGH. Arrrgh.

That's right, I have a master's degree, but apparently I can't place a call to Canada. Ba dum bum!

Addendum: I sent an email to Customer Service asking for help. Within minutes a very nice woman wrote back and invited me to call her directly at the paper's office in Detroit. As in Michigan. As in the United States. She was just as nice on the phone. Thank you, Pat from Detroit!

March 17, 2005

Andre Norton

Science fiction author Andre Norton dies
[AP via Kansas City Star][Bugmenot for login/pwd]

I've only read a few of her novels, but I liked them very much. (I have an irrational hangup of committing to a whole universe of novels, never mind that I already do this with certain authors.) I didn't know she'd been a librarian, too.

February 17, 2005

Penelope Cruz, Sexy Librarian

Because the field needs to be saved from the bespectacled and dowdy amongst us. Quick onceover reveals that I am not too dowdy today, especially with my funky black socks featuring the London Tube map on them. Whew! From E! Online:

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Matthew McConaughey and Penélope Cruz, who are starring in the upcoming Sahara, joining forces again for The Loop, a love story about a highway patrolman and loner who decides to search out his long-lost parents after meeting a sexy librarian, Variety reports.

Hmmm. This is the second item I've mentioned about these two. Well thank goodness librarians are having their image rescued yet again. When Penelope Cruz can find a specific section from a legal treatise that isn't in your own library's collection, and turn it around in the space of a few minutes - as a PDF attachment via email, no less, then we'll talk. In the meantime...oh, you're no longer paying attention. You're still thinking about Penelope the Sexy Librarian. Yeah, I guess I can't compete with that.

February 14, 2005

Backup Plan

I know, it's been all-death, all-the-time around here.

When I was in the middle of my last host-change, shifting files over for the Armoire (and bitching up a storm), Mike told me that backing up my site was no big ordeal - and then did it for me to show me how easy it was. But then he said that I shouldn't get so worked up anyway, it's "just" my blog.

I thought that remark was odd coming from him, a fellow blogger. Part of the panic about losing my site had to do with the blog being a part of my identity, that this was something I was personally invested in. Losing the site, I explained, would be like losing a part of myself.

He still wasn't convinced. I think he even told me, teasingly, that if that's what I really believed, it was kind of sad.

Do you still think that's true, Wheelz? Am I really so wrong?

Considering the sadness we're going through right now, with people posting comments to Mike's last post, checking the site in the hopes that we'll somehow see something new from him, I think it's safe to say that blogs really do give us the sense - and the presence - of someone's identity. And even if one were to say that Mike's site doesn't fully capture his life and experience, it still contains some of his essence, which explains why we want so much to make sure his site doesn't simply vanish.

So it occurred to me - right now no one else has admin rights to my site. What would happen if something suddenly happened to me, or to one of my other friends, or someone that I only know virtually? That certainly has been the experience for not a few of Mike's readers.

In an episode of Coupling, a British sitcom, some of the guy characters explain that they are "porn buddies" - meaning that if one of them were to die, the other would make sure to rescue his buddy's porn stash, thus preventing embarrassing post-mortem revelations to his buddy's family, as well as having the added bonus of inheriting his buddy's porn collection.

Do guys really do this? I don't know. But the idea is there, regardless of the specific content. It's an archival question, on a personal level. Considering how fully I've embraced blogging, I'm certain that I plan to continue the Armoire for the long term. I don't pretend to think that my site is a record worthy for future generations, but it seems to me that it would be a good idea to have designated blog buddies - people you trust who would be willing to preserve your site in some fashion, for the sake of the rest of us who will miss you, desperately, once you're gone.

Addendum: Hmmm. I never thought I would write something connecting death, blogging, librariana and porn but I guess there's a first time for everything. Or maybe, probably, this isn't even the first time someone has had this thought.

January 28, 2005

On Modern Technology

A secretary called the library in a bit of a panic. This is the same woman I helped the other day by cutting and pasting clean copies of articles we'd sent to her attorney into fresh Word documents (she was getting lots of HTML code that she didn't want). Believe me, it was easier to do it than to explain how she could do it herself.

So she called again. She wanted to know if the library accepts requests for recording television programs and could we possibly put the recording in a digital format that could be played on a computer. We don't. Strangely enough, our catering department does - because they also set up the conference rooms with A/V equipment, along with the nice spreads of food. The program is this weekend, however, so they wouldn't be able to do that.

So I volunteered to record the desired program myself. I called the secretary, and she was over the moon. Then she asked me if I had the "special equipment at home" to do this. I paused, then explained, "Well, I have a VCR and can record it on tape." This way the attorney would at least have a copy of the program on tape and if possible we could see about transfer to a digital format.

Then she asked what kind of tape.

"Uh...videotape."

She was so grateful. She said she'd tell the attorney that the library doesn't normally do this kind of thing but that I graciously offered to do this for him. I said I'd be happy to do so. But holy smokes...I don't think this woman knows that VCRs exist, let alone that those of us with VCRs are out of step with the DVR people.

January 27, 2005

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Database (Or, BTVSDB)

Buffyology "Every Buffy character, episode, cast member, writer and director and every word of every show, in a searchable database."

It's still in progress. Submissions, cross-references, corrections, etc. are encouraged.

January 05, 2005

Grading the Charities

The American Institute of Philanthropy is a nonprofit charity watchdog and information service. They provide a letter-grade list of some of the top aid organzations that are accepting donations in the wake of the tsunami relief effort.

[via A Girl Named Bob]

December 30, 2004

Foreign Aid - It's All How You Measure It

Foreign Aid: An Introductory Overview of U.S. Programs and Policy [Order Code 98-916, dated 4/15/04] From a report prepared by the Congressional Research Service, a division under the Library of Congress:

"The United States is the largest international economic aid donor in dollar terms but is the smallest contributor among major donor governments when calculated as a percent of gross national income."

Are We Stingy? Yes [NYT] If Americans are offended by Jan Egeland's criticism about the West - as in wealthy industrialized nations, not just the United States - that rich nations are "stingy" for not donating even 1% of their GNP for humanitarian/foreign aid purposes, then maybe we should examine why we're so quick to take offense. And hey, let's make a horrific disaster on the other side of the world all about US and OUR hurt feelings. (This calls to mind that scene in Dr. Strangelove when the President calls Russia to explain that a nuclear bomb is accidentally heading to Moscow and the President whines "Well, how do you think I feel?") Good thing individuals are willing to dig in their pockets, because we're not exactly getting a rousing call to action from the Man Who'd Rather Be Clearing Brush than Leading the World By Example. For instance, Amazon's tally of donations to the Red Cross - encouraging people simply by setting up a link - is now at $5,734,758.29, based on 91,095 donations.

Aid Grows Amid Remarks About President's Absence [Washington Post] And let's not ignore the opportunity take political cheap shots during times of tragedy. Josh Marshall aptly notes about this same article: "President's latest response to the tsunami tragedy: badmouth Bill Clinton."

December 29, 2004

Red Cross Sets Up FamilyLinks Resource

FamilyLinks (http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/) is a website that has gone live as of today. It's been set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross to serve as a resource for people trying to locate their loved ones in the wake of the tsunami.

December 05, 2004

I Am A...

This is for sale at fredflare. Their description: Librarians are totally the new "It" girls! Whether you're a real librarian or just play one on TV, you'll look zainy brainy with this sweet red pin. Shhh! About 2"

Tonight's the premiere of The Librarian: Quest for the Spear, starring Noah Wyle. Pretty silly, what I saw of it. (I fell asleep.) I thought the description was a joke at first - Wyle plays Flynn Carsen, a brilliant 30-something who has 22 degrees and finally gets kicked out so he can gain life experience as opposed to living as perpetual college student. Why he just didn't become a professor, I don't know. Carsen is a hapless Indiana Jones, accompanied by a fellow member of the Library staff - a beyond cool-and-icy blonde, a Lara Croft type. Bob Newhart appears in the film early on - his scenes were funny.

This is probably closer to the life of a librarian, at least in public libraries.

November 22, 2004

Tapped Out

Late last Friday, I sent around polite but harried emails to the local listserv asking if anyone had a particular book available for borrowing. No responses. I needed to get it by noon today for an attorney. After maybe twenty phone calls, no luck anywhere. I even called libraries in other counties. Finally, I find a specialty bookstore that has it available and I place an order and arrange for a courier. Just after arranging for Absolute Rush Delivery (And Step On It!), I find out the attorney needs it for his meeting...tomorrow morning. Love those fake emergencies. I'm exhausted from all the stress.

I woke up early to make a green bean casserole for the office potluck. When the recipe is on the side of a soup can, I can't really take credit for the cooking. But I made a wicked discovery - those French's fried onions are really good, straight out of the can. But to my pleasant surprise, by the time I came to the conference room to fix myself a plate, my casserole was totally gone.

Of course, maybe I wouldn't be so tired if I hadn't stayed up late re-learning how to install Movable Type on my new host. I think I've totally effed it up and will have to start from scratch. And I was so close too. Feh.

But I get to leave early today. No longer will I have furry caterpillars for eyebrows. I've been good, I haven't tweezed for, like, thirty whole days. And oh, how I was sorely tempted. Maybe I'll go for some dramatic brows, not the super-skinny pencil lines, but perhaps more diva than simply natural. We'll see.

November 16, 2004

Backlog

Researching invoices, making multiple phone calls to resolve billing issues, is time-consuming and very, very frustrating, especially when I have a giant stack to work through and the vendor is being a money-gouging hardass. I didn't need a master's degree for this. *sigh*

The Digital Future

The Library of Congress is presenting a lecture series, Managing Knowledge and Creativity in a Digital Context. The first lecture was yesterday, 11/15, and featured David Weinberger, who discussed blogging. The lectures will air on C-SPAN. A video archive of the first lecture, and presumably the subsequent lectures, is available from C-SPAN here.

November 01, 2004

The Librarian

Our heroine holds in her hand a precious spark, whose source lies in the heart of the original divine flame brought down from Mt. Olympus - the gift of Prometheus to humankind. Using both the Spark of Knowledge and her uncanny ability to read minds, Lady Crumpet indefatigably pursues her mission: to help her fellow truth-seekers fulfill their quests, and requests, for information.

Created using HeroMachine [via Watermark]

October 29, 2004

"Oh, You Haven't Done It Yet?"

Some of the pushiest people in the firm are from Marketing and Recruiting. They're the ones that think nothing of making extremely broad requests at the last minute and expect immediate turnaround. It's not like we don't have requests from the attorneys or anything.

Got a note in my chair last night from one of my coworkers to obtain copies of an associate survey from one of the trade magazines. Another coworker and I had just spent several hours, staying late to distribute candy and trinkets and flyers promoting the library - hand delivery to every person's desk or office. So this request was something I'd planned to do today, but I had to get to other ASAP items first.

Before I could get to it, the girl from Recruiting called. She's one of those sleek, polished, model-skinny, effortlessly pretty Asian girls who through no fault of her own makes me feel like a frumpy dumpling. We each fit our department stereotypes, I guess. I said that I'd gotten the request but I hadn't had a chance to work on it yet, thus raising the title question, in those very words.

It was expressed very nicely, but there was definitely a sense of disappointment, and the barb of accusation. I mean, when you put it that way, how am I supposed to take it? But whatever. I let her run through her explanation of why it's necessary - hey, it's the same technique that I use to get others to help me out. So I said I'd do it and went ahead and looked for it, to avoid another call.

The issue isn't even out yet. It's in next month's issue, which is probably arriving today or early next week. I'm not the only one in the library looking out for it, as it's one of the big issues that's requested.

I'd console myself with some chocolate left over from last night's treat delivery, but feeling too ugly at the moment. Fucking hormones. Sudden mood swings and "troubled" skin is just as much a curse for me at 30 as it was at 13. It doesn't help that the gal at my salon told me not to tweeze before I see her in a month because we need to "train" my brows to grow on the same cycle.

I don't need a costume for Halloween. I'm already hideous au naturale.

October 28, 2004

Is This Really Necessary?

I've been on the phone for over twenty minutes, trying to order a single book from an industry organization....Twenty-five minutes now. Usually I order over the phone so I can speak to a live person and ask any questions if necessary. We've never ordered from this vendor before, and apparently their system requires that our account be set up before purchasing anything. Lucky me - the system is aggravatingly slow, and I don't feel any better that the customer rep makes me repeat everything I've told him and keeps saying "one second, one second."

Total call time: 28:18 Arrrrgh!

October 20, 2004

The Paperback Revolution

From the site description:

Welcome to The Paperback Revolution, an online exploration of the history of paperback books.

From the 1935 launch of Britain's Penguin until 1960 – the year in which dollar sales from paperback books first surpassed those of hardcovers – the paperback revolutionized the readership, marketing, distribution, circulation, and reception of books and reading in the United States, Canada, and many other nations. This website begins an investigation into this history with the dual aim of inspiring further interest and research into both paperback history in general and in our local repository, The Edmonton Collection.

Fascinating. Definitely something to explore further.

October 18, 2004

Manic Monday

It was busier than usual, although I suppose one could always attribute it to being Monday. (You just hope not every day at the office is a Monday.) I'm finding it hard to write. It's been either insignificant nit-picking or impotent political teeth-gnashing. My life seems so small right now. I'm feeling insubstantial. I don't feel like I'm doing anything particularly well.

One of my co-workers is leaving for a job out of state. He's probably going batty whenever I bring him yet another item to catalog, since he's only here for a few more days. He's a really nice guy. I'm sorry we didn't get to know each other better beyond the chats in the coffee area. I don't have a shot at moving into his job, nor do I particularly want to, not without more real reference and research experience under my belt. But I did get a taste of it today:

• In several instances, I had to answer my boss's second line. In this case the partner needed to find out something ASAP. When he described what he needed and why, I was genuinely excited. I felt personally invested. I felt we the firm were taking up a real, worthy cause. And so I started some preliminary web searches before taking it to my boss after she finished her other call. I even found a document that was included in the materials provided to the partner.

• I had to work on an obscure interlibrary loan. My best bet were the local universities, who charge fees, but I found a corporate library who had both editions of the book I needed. Not only that, the librarian was in the area and actually brought the books to my office. I love how helpful librarians can be to each other!

• Another attorney called from out of the office. She needed exhibits to a recently filed complaint in a major industry lawsuit. The court clerk was unhelpful, so a call was made to a document service. These services cost a pretty penny, but they deliver what you need.

• Another needed copies of foreign treaties. In English. Even though the parties were non-English-speaking countries. I thought I was just going to turn this request over to my boss, but I was given the project to do myself (until I presumably got stuck). I did manage to find official copies, albeit in a non-English language. Thank goodness for friends in other law libraries! (Thank you thank you thank you. I SO owe you, Z!)
  

None of these were things I planned to do today. I managed to update a budget spreadsheet, but that was it. Otherwise, it was one of those days where you catch your breath as you furiously shut down your computer and pack your bag and leave before the next call comes and you've already stayed half an hour later than usual.

October 15, 2004

Trashing the Vote: Can We Stop Them?

Yesterday I read that Nader's been thrown off the ballot in Pennsylvania, because the petition seeking to add him contained bogus names and addresses, leaving the number of valid signatures well below the required amount. It's possible Nader has better ideas. But I don't like him and I think he's a shit. No matter what he says, he's a spoiler. Of course if Kerry were a better candidate, someone who could appeal to progressives and moderates, the election wouldn't be so close. Of course, who knows how accurate the numbers are going to be anyway, given that there are organized efforts all over the country to fix the vote. It's not just the issues with electronic voting machines. It's tampering with voter registration through whatever means possible.

My first awareness today was in Paul Krugman's column, which outlines voter registration issues going on all over the country, but especially in swing states:

Earlier this week former employees of Sproul & Associates (operating under the name Voters Outreach of America), a firm hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters, told a Nevada TV station that their supervisors systematically tore up Democratic registrations.

The accusations are backed by physical evidence and appear credible. Officials have begun a criminal investigation into reports of similar actions by Sproul in Oregon.

Republicans claim, of course, that they did nothing wrong - and that besides, Democrats do it, too. But there haven't been any comparably credible accusations against Democratic voter-registration organizations. And there is a pattern of Republican efforts to disenfranchise Democrats, by any means possible.

Block the Vote [NYT] [Bugmenot]

Here's the story from KLAS-TV, the Nevada local news outlet that's investigating the story. You can read the story and also see it presented as a news segment. There is footage of ripped-up voter registration applications and the reporter even goes so far as to contact one of the people who thought he had registered and was shocked to find out his application had been trashed. And guess what? KLAS has another story that connects Voters Outreach of America to Ralph Nader; apparently the group obtained petition signatures to get Nader on the ballot in Arizona, and perhaps elsewhere.

At Daily Kos [via Zeebah], I read more about Nathan Sproul of Sproul & Associates. He was a former head of the Arizona Republican Party. Of particular note is how Sproul & Associates, operates as Voters Outreach of America but posed as America Votes - a real, Democratic voter registration outreach organization - during voter registration drives. And they're doing this in public libraries! Leave it to librarians to compare notes and figure out some of what's going on.

The more I find out about stuff like this, the more I fear that there will be riots.

October 08, 2004

The Week That Things Were Settled

Well, I still have lots of backlog at work, which is pretty much my own fault. However, this is the week when several bizarre situations apparently have been resolved:

1. We've had trouble getting our issues for a particular publication on time, since at least 2002, going by the history of our unusually thick vendor file. In fact, it got so bad that we never received a single issue for one of our multiple copies during the entire year of the last subscription period. I made calls; they were never returned. (My predecessor faced similar non-responses, according to her copious notes.) About two weeks ago I sent an email spelling out the ugly details. I made a phone call to the appropriate person on Wednesday, asking that she call me back that day. I didn't have the will to call her back, even though I'd promised my boss I'd crack some heads. Miraculously, she called me back today. We had a businesslike, professional conversation, during which I got our copies consolidated under one account number AND a year-long extension on our subscription, which I'd just renewed. I would hop up and down, but I'll have to wait and see if we get all of our copies of next month's issue first. At least I got the publisher's concessions in writing, so that will be the piece of paper I wield when I next go on the rampage.

2. Yesterday, I discovered that a book order that I thought was pending had actually been delivered at the end of August. To our office, signed for by someone in the mailroom, but not delivered to the library. WTF? was of course my first thought, as I very sweetly and slightly desperately asked the mailroom to find it, like, NOW. Today, I thought to check with the partner we'd ordered it for. Apparently the mailroom delivered it directly to him, even though the publisher confirmed for me that the addressee was the library.

3. In the personal arena, I'd bought a Neil Finn bootleg on eBay. In late August. The guy shipped it on 8/31, well within the acceptable timeframe. After not seeing a package for all of September, I notified the seller, who said he would refund my money or send another copy. I told him I'd wait a bit longer, although I wasn't hopeful. It arrived this week. Yippee!

October 03, 2004

Librarians in Love

A wedding announcement for a couple of librarians appeared in the Sunday NYT. There's no picture in the web copy, but their picture in the paper is adorable - they're obviously besotted and look really happy together. Given that many couples who get their announcements in the "women's sports pages" are lawyers or i-bankers or some other moneyed or connected set of people, it's nice to see my profession represented. ;)

September 21, 2004

Storage Lust

This is a 24-drawer hardwood cabinet that holds 288 CDs. (I would require several.) It comes in oak, cherry and white, and looks like the wooden library card catalogs of yore.

Addendum: There's also a smaller version. I'm between the oak and the cherry.

August 17, 2004

Books About Librarians

I'm currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife for my book group. Until I picked it up (there were too many holds on the title at the library, so I had to buy it), I had no idea that one of the main characters is a librarian - at the Newberry in Chicago.

Librarian Career Romances A grad student working on her MLIS presents this site as her online portfolio. The profiled novels date from the 1940s to 1960s, with examples of cover illustrations and brief excerpts. Titles include Kitsy Babcock, Library Assistant and The Loveliest Librarian. From the latter: "The light changed, and Katie walked briskly across the main street. Decidedly beautiful, Katie carried with her that continued air that lovely girls often do. Katherine Anne Dugan had long ago realized that being pretty helped her to be a better librarian, actually stimulating interest in learning and reading."

Finally, books that speak to me and my place in the profession! Can Lady Crumpet, Law Librarian be far behind? On the other extreme...

Librarians in Pornography A survey of "hard core pornographic paperback novels [which] covers 49 books published between 1978 and 1988." Some summaries are available, with brief notes as to the stereotypes. Unsurprisingly, the language is quite explicit. Memepool notes: "When a librarian encounters pornographic novels about librarians, one can only expect a catalog of pornographic novels about librarians will soon follow." [via randomness]

August 16, 2004

SIBL featured in 'Manchurian Candidate'

Saw the update of The Manchurian Candidate over the weekend. The most notable aspect for me was the use of NYPL's Science Industry and Business Library (SIBL) as a location. Quite appropriate for the film's aesthetic, as that library is quite sleek and high-tech. At one point Denzel Washington, who plays Major Ben Marco, needs a place to hide out and do research. He gets a visitor's pass made (his photo taken and everything) - in order to borrow a micro-tape recorder to listen to some tapes he's found. He also looks up news items using microfilm and Google. We don't see him consulting a librarian for assistance (beyond getting his visitor's pass, which probably wasn't done by a librarian anyway). He does get criticized later for producing material that's supposed to prove the existence of sinister big business/government conspiracy - because he got it from the Internet. So that's at least a nod in the right direction of rigorous evaluation of one's sources, especially online material.

[Note - potential spoilers follow.]

If I'm devoting my response to the film to the brief scenes set in the library, it's because the film itself is otherwise quite disappointing. I'm not categorically against remakes; changes had to be made in order to make it work in the present day. But there's nothing new about ties between big business and politicians; what's terrifying are the power players who are behind the scenes, who aren't the elected officials, who aren't accountable to constituents. This was at the heart of Angela Lansbury's character in the original. Meryl Streep's version of the character, as a senator in her own right, who's already in the pocket of Manchurian Global (now "Manchuria" is the multinational company, the stand-in for Halliburton, as opposed to the threat of Communist control by China), seems more fantastically monstrous, which just doesn't work. Also, the change of the mental trigger, applicable now to both Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) and Ben Marco (Denzel Washington), is both silly and visually less compelling. We go from the visual impact of the game of solitaire as the trigger device, the connection between the image of the Queen of Diamonds and terrifying mother-figure Angela Lansbury, to a particular recitation of the brainwashed victim's name - the mental change for the Shaw or Marco is shown by the world sudden seemingly overbright to them. The use of the card game as the device had to change, had to be updated, but the new solution seems obvious and clumsy for what's supposed to be the latest developments in brainwashing. These aren't the only problems, just some of the big ones. It's a shame - I really wanted to like this.

August 13, 2004

Gawker Interviews Columbia Librarian

Never thought I'd be writing that. A brief Q&A with Deborah Wassertzug, who works as one of the university's journalism librarians.

August 09, 2004

X-Patents Discovered at University Library

Lawyers Unearth Early Patents [NYT] X-patents refer to the first 10,000 patents issued by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many of these are missing, the original files having been destroyed in a fire in July 1786 - ironically, while a more fireproof building was under construction. Two lawyers, researching the inventor Samuel Morey, discovered 14 of these X-patents in the Dartmouth College Library.

July 30, 2004

Library Songs

I'm sure there are other collections or lists out there. But here's the one I've found so far.

July 27, 2004

Civil Service, My Foot

I placed an order for documents to a state department last Friday. Hand delivered. The order was accompanied by a cover letter requesting that we get a phone call when the material was ready, so we could send over a courier. We never got the call, and the package was shipped out. Yesterday. We have the package now, so it's fine. But I guess my cover letter was merely useful for showing off our letterhead.

The letter also requested certification, which the department doesn't do. So guess who gets to call the department's legal counsel to try to request it yet again? Why is this my province, and not the attorney who requested these documents, or his paralegal? *sigh*

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

Addendum: Had to leave a voicemail. Rats!