Skip to content

Pegasus Librarian Posts

A Less Modest Proposal: DUCAS

Published by Iris on Sunday, May 14th, 2006

I’ve been inspired by Congress’ care for school children. The idea that they’re willing to take radical and questionably popular steps to safeguard these developing minds really gives me the warm-fuzzies. So, in the spirit of safeguarding school children from influences that could harm them, I propose my own bill: DUCAS. DUCAS has the potential to save children from a leading cause of death. Yes, that’s right, I will save these children from obesity. I will Delete Unhealthy Calories At School.

Here’s my thought process. Calories cause us to be fat. Not all of them, I know. But you never know which calorie will glom on to your ribs or stomach. In fact, I would argue that while children are unlikely to meet an online predator very often, they are quite likely to ingest one of these fat-causing calories fairly frequently if not every day (thinking of the kind of food they serve in schools). In order to save children from these potential killers, I propose that we shield students from all calories at school. Who’s with me?

Are you ready to stop obesity and all the negative health and social effects associated with that condition? Do you love this nation’s children? Then join me in proposing legislation that will radically change our nation’s future; join me in proposing DUCAS.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Congress for drafting DOPA (PDF), which continues to inspire me. I would also like to thank Jonathan Swift for keeping imagination alive and for not being afraid to take radical measures to solve national problems.

2 Comments

What I’ve Been Pondering Lately

Published by Iris on Saturday, May 13th, 2006

Well, this week was – um – difficult. Last night at work we were all so tired at work that we couldn’t even leave! We just stood around and said things like, “Well… I guess I should get going,” and then continued to stand, staring blankly at the walls, not moving. In the midst of this, a desperate student came up to us in danger of not being able to turn in her writing portfolio (required of all sophomores and due last night) because her file was corrupted and she’d lost her bibliography. She had the parenthetical citations, but not the bibliography… That was fun. Oh, and that day had started with the most tense and uncomfortable meeting I’ve ever attended. (Yes, the CMS evaluation committee strikes again.)

Anyway, we’re still trying to figure out how to revamp our research guides, and we’re not alone. My vision is that we’ll end up with a system that not only helps us to store and organize stuff we find online and elsewhere in a “librarian’s view,” but that also allows for a combination of carefully crafted “static” pages and dynamically generated pages of research resources and tips. I want to be able to leverage all sorts of metadata, allow tagging, allow for controlled vocabulary, deploy RSS, and basically do everything possible to help users discover research help as easily as possible. I guess I’m envisioning Pathfinder 4.0.

Also, as some of you know I’ve been roped into my first conference presentation ever (granted, it’s just a 15-minute segment of a larger presentation, and it’s at a small, mostly informal regional conference, but still…). I’m supposed to present on the future of the catalog. (They asked me to present on the future of the OPAC, but there’s no way I’ll be using that term.) So I’ve been gobbling up anything I can find on this topic and was thrilled to run across Meredith’s interview with Casey Bisson over on Information Wants to be Free. And the comments are great, too. Thanks Meredith!

BTW, if anyone knows of things I absolutely must know, read, or mention I’m begging you, please let me know. (I’ll be presenting right after Dinah Sanders, project manager at Innovative Interfaces. Yikes! Why oh why did I say I’d do this?)

2 Comments

Inside Google Book Search

Published by Iris on Saturday, May 13th, 2006

Google’s started a blog about its Book Search project. Hopefully this will help remedy a lot of the secrecy surrounding the inner workings, agreements with libraries, and other discussions about the project. However, notice that they’ve turned off the comments…

Comments closed

Alliance Second Life Library 2.0 Introduction

Published by Iris on Friday, May 12th, 2006

Recieved via Lori Bell on Web4Lib:

Alliance Library System/OPAL will provide an introduction to the Alliance Second Life Library 2.0 in the OPAL auditorium on Wednesday, May 31, at 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Speakers will include Greg Schwartz, Tom Peters, Lori Bell, Kelly Czarnecki, Jami Lynn Schwarzwalder, and other librarians involved in the project. They will explain what they are doing, show you what is happening and answer questions about the project. Book discussions, training sessions, and other programs are currently being offered to current virtual residents. The goal of the project is to promote the real library and online library services to adults who might not otherwise use the library.

What is Second Life? Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by nearly 200,000 people from around the globe. There are shopping malls, events, homes, lands of different types, and best of all, participants can contribute content, buildings, and other digital creations. The group is also working on a library for the Teen Second Life Library to open in the fall.

No registration is necessary. If you are interested in attending, please come to the OPAL online auditorium at http://67.19.231.218/v4/login.asp?r=67955673&p=0
Type your name, click enter to go into the room. A small software applet will download to your computer as you enter the room. You may want to check the software before the program to make sure it works on your computer. All you need to participate is a computer with Internet connection, sound card, and speakers.

If you have any problems with the software, please contact Tom Peters, OPAL Coordinator, at tapinformation@yahoo.com or Lori Bell at lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com.

Comments closed