2018 List of Banished Words

 "Impactful"

-- Thank you so much!

'Join the Conversation' Makes It to This Year's Banished Word List

 I've lived to see the day!  "Join the conversation" has made it to this year's LSSU Banished Word List!

University Releases 2016 Banned Words List (WGN)

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – A university in Michigan has come out with its annual list of banished words.

Each year Lake Superior State University bans words or phrases it deems overused, misused, or in poor taste. Top contenders for 2016 include “vape,” “break the Internet” and “conversation.”

Now if only "disruptive" and "iconic" could make it to next year's list! Puh-leeeeeeezzzzeee!

Library Buzzwords We Can Do Without

Roy has a list of library buzzwords that have outlived their usefulness. My question is, why focus on a bunch of golden oldies when there's such a wealth of current -- I'm almost tempted to say, 'next-gen' -- buzzwords to choose from.

A partial list would include:

• Digital Native
• Discovery Tools
• Library as Conversation
• Emerging Technologies
• Whatever 'cataloging' is called this year

Goodbye Cruel World

I think I’m going to jump off a cliff -- the lords of platitude have won: http://tinyurl.com/3yndb62

The Ugly Truth about Cloud Computing

We used to just call it 'online'.

Cloud Computing : The Un-Definition

I was out on the prowl for articles for this month's CurrentCites, when I came across an interesting article called "Libraries in the Cloud: Making a Case for Google and Amazon" in this month's 'Computers in Libraries'.

Maybe I'm being too picky but I don't think the author gets off to the best start with this definition of the subject:

"Many definitions exist for cloud computing, and a uniform definition is hard to find. In its most basic form, cloud computing is the availability of IT-type needs offered as services, often through a third-party vendor."

I 'spose that's right but frankly you could say the same thing about the guy who comes in and fixes our HP printers when they're on the fritz.

The missing ingredient of course which admittedly the author gets to a sentence or two further down, is 'hosted through the web'. I think I'd have put that in a bit earlier.

In any case, besides that, the article is a good introduction to the subject from a library point of view.

UPDATE: While I'm at it, CiL also has an interesting article on an almost DIY approach to archiving websites called, "Web Archiving for the Rest of Us". They look at "donation-ware" SiteSucker for harvesting and then Apple's Time Machine and FileMerge for version control. Quite resourceful!

MLA Issues New Handbook, Still Insists 'Website' is Two Words

The seventh edition of the MLA Handbook has just come out. The Chronicle of Higher Education points to the considerable effort the publishers have made to give this "bible of the undergraduate paper-writing process" a substantial web component. They have a password-protected website that contains the full text of the manual along with a whole ton of support material.

Good for them! It's great they're making such an effort. But what I want to know is why they still refuse to acknowledge that 'website' consists of only one word. Doing so would be a sign of true progress.

'Conversation' Fails Hillary

Not to be too political here (I really try not to be) but I was reminded by a segment on NPR's Weekend Edition, that the original opening line of Hillary Clinton's campaign was the almost unbearable cliche:

"Let the Conversation Begin"

It's interesting to read in most analyses of her loss to Sen. Obama (here's one), that it was specifically a lack of imagination, flexibility, and attention to detail that proved her undoing.

Perhaps the two are related...

'Disruptive Innovation' About to Edge Out 'Conversation' in Platitude Sweepstakes

It had to happen. The long-reigning champ of "Uber Platitude" may be about to cede its title to a brawney new upstart.

Long a favorite on the Sincerity Circuit, the "Conversation Schtick" received a blow to its mid-drifts after trend-setting "The Onion" declared: "Let the conversation end".

This set the stage for a possible upset in the "Platitude Sweepstakes" with new-comer "Disruptive innovation" (child of plain old Innovation) about to gain the upper-hand.

Its use among geek commentators to indicate innovation that changes everything (as opposed to innovation that leaves everything exactly the same), is growing so disruptively that it looks set to overtake rival "Conversation" in no time.

On the Misuse of the Word, 'Conversation'

Is it me or does the use of the word, 'conversation' for just about any communication between human beings cause others to cringe as well?

First, the guy on our local NPR Station talked of having some politician in for a "conversation" back in March; then Hillary Clinton runs on a platform called "Let the Conversation Begin". Now, a report just out on social networks in libraries is called, "Participatory Networks: The Library as Conversation". It concludes (not surprisingly): "...[T]here is now a need to broaden both the scope and scale of the conversation."

Is there no end to this? It's like using 'luxury' to describe condo units. The word begins to lose all meaning -- or even worse begins to take on the opposite of what's intended -- simply because it's used so much.

When I hear 'conversation', increasingly I think: 'insincere attempt to get my attention for trivial, banal or commercial purposes'. Sorry, but I'm just conversation'ed out.