This article in U.S. News is calling librarians "the hot ticket" which has in turn sparked a fairly lively discussion on NMRT-L. Unfortunately, list archives are for members only, but suffice it to say that new librarians everywhere are less then pleased with the article's sentiments.

Voting members of ALA: presidental candidates are interviewed in the current issue of Juice, so get informed before casting that vote.

Get your Librarian Pickup Lines here.

I took a closer look at Search Portfolio (that I recommended last week) and nice links and all that but $300-800 per year for a subscription to a page of search links? I'm regretting linking to it in the first place.

Free resources on Black History Month from Gale. I like it when commercial vendors do nice things like this every once in a while, because they can.

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published Saturday, February 22, 2003  @ 14:39 | |

I met Nicholson Baker last night and found out that he is a really nice guy. Read more about that here.

At the Online Library is a decent article about services to distance ed students and faculty at academic libraries.

Search Portfolio is a subscrition-based directory of online search tools put together by Rita Vine and other information professionals at workingfaster.com. Have a look at the directory for free until the end of February at this link.

There are still 14 days left to sign the petition in support of the State Library of Florida. Right now the petition is only set up to accept US addresses, but they're hoping to have a more international version up by tomorrow, so check back then if necessary.

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published Friday, February 14, 2003  @ 14:02 | |

It shouldn't have taken me five days to catch up on news, but it did and here's why: due dates are fast approaching for students, which means lots of extra Reference Desk work up for grabs; I'm preparing for a brown-bag-lunch talk that I'm giving at the end of the month for the staff in our library system on how to better manage their "web life" (for which I am indebted to Gary for some of the great resources he introduced at one of his many OLA conference sessions); and I'm working frantically to spend gobs of collection money before the end of the month because if I don't they'll take my budget away. So this is as far as I got with recent happenings in the library universe:

All that talk about the Ottawa Public Library being a haven for porn-delights has resulted in the implementation of blanket filters that they're calling a "temporary measure."

Tales of library theft and book dismemberment in the name of profit.

Library Stuff has been revamped and rehosted. And with nice results too.

That poetry-at-the-Whitehouse gig is today and Laura Bush is rightfully getting all sorts of bad press since she uninvited certain war protesting poets. Unfortunately, we shouldn't really expect much better from someone who has claimed that there is nothing political about American literature.

Those clever kids at McSweeney's know how to put it all into context: Library Science Jargon that Sounds Dirty [via Juice]

LEGISinfo, the latest offering from the Library of Parliament, is a resource for finding information on legislation that is currently before Parliament.

Having eliminated library technicians from school libraries in this city, it's a no wonder that those libraries are in real trouble.

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published Wednesday, February 12, 2003  @ 11:51 | |

I've been out of circulation all week with a mysterious illness that was neither cold nor flu. A lot of sleeping, reading, very understanding colleagues and doting husband have all aided in recovery. Two little tidbits while I catch up on news...

kfsource.com: a new blog for "lawyers, librarians and research geeks."

Behind the Homefront is the new homeland security blog.

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published Friday, February 07, 2003  @ 09:36 | |