Thinking About Customer Service

Interesting discussion regarding 'customer service principles' on the ALA Members Listserv. A number of responses include policy guides -- one with the promising title 'Get to Yes'; there are also a few personal lists, as well as this funny video clip.

Current Cites for Aug. 2019

 Current Cites for Aug. 2019 is out! You can find the issue here...

Being the beginning of the academic year, I thought it'd be appropriate to write about an article on the future of academic libraries.

Do Not Climb on Brick Walls

Interesting sign on the entry to the Hobbies, Arts & Crafts Building on the fair grounds in Springfield.

Libraries' Guide to the 2020 Census

 Interesting announcement via the ALA Members listserv:

Today, the American Library Association released the Libraries' Guide to the 2020 Census, a new resource to prepare libraries for the decennial count of every person living in the United States.

Remembering the Spectator - Issue no. 105 (6/30/1711)

 
Talking to a student last week, I tried to remember the quote (and the source of the quote): "I spell like a gentleman and not like a ..." Finally found it: [LINK].

P.S. Initial Google search (with auto-correct) came up with, "I smell like a gentleman..." Ah, no.

So Where the Hell Did That Yellow Peeps Bird Go?

 

Class List from My 2nd Year in College

 List of classes I was taking in Spring Quarter (from an old letter):

1. Shakespeare
2. Latin 102
3. Populism & Progressivism in America
4. French Literature 201

'Publish & Read' Contract

Courtesy of Gary Price's InfoDocket, we learn of the agreement between publisher Wiley Global and "all German publicly and privately funded academic institutions" -- for the purpose of delivering "the benefits of open access to authors" (faqs here). Good move.

Update: Interesting development: UC decides to tell publisher Elsevier where to go (link).

LibraryShelfieDay 2019

Plowing through the style guides in 'Ready Reference', making sure they're all there. #shelfie #LibraryShelfie #LibraryShelfieDay

From the Series, Why We Need Librarians...

 From the Series, Why We Need Librarians (IM edition) ...

Question: "Got the '3rd Symphony' by Copland? I had a look but couldn't find anything."

Answer: "Try 'third'..."

2018 List of Banished Words

 "Impactful"

-- Thank you so much!

Current Cites for Dec. 2018

 Current Cites for Dec. 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

I wrote about a library research project where the investigators decided to scrap everything and go back to the drawing board. Highly unusual (at least for published accounts).

Grandfather's Diary Entry (Berlin, 1917)

Grandfather Leopold Klein, born in Chicago but too sick to leave Berlin at the U.S. entry into WWI, wrote in his diary:

"This 'World War' must end soon. When it does come to an end, the principles of justice, mercy and, above all, reason - which dictates all the rest - must guide the nations concerned in the establishment of peace. Otherwise, these nations will only lay the foundation for later, and greater, world conflict.... If a true peace is not made when the shooting stops, the result may be a truly worldwide conflict - thrusting its horror to the four corners of the earth, a World War which will be the greatest catastrophe humanity has yet experienced." (Berlin, 1917) 

Current Cites for Oct. 2018

Current Cites for Oct. 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

I recommended an article on a new initiative from Europe promoting open access journals. Given the high cost of research journals and databases, this kind of topic is always interesting. In fact, the original link to this article was forwarded by a colleague where I work.

Thank-You Present

 

Thank-you present from student after doing a research consultation. #RefDesk

First Saturday of the Year

 

First Saturday of the school year -- with Jim from Access Services!

Westlaw Edge Plus Raffle Winner

 

Had a great time at the Westlaw Edge (Thomson Reuters) demo today. Breakfast was good, the people were engaging, the presentation was informative. They ended things with raffles for an Amazon Echo, an Apple Watch and an Apple iPad. Guess who won the iPad :-)

Update: Going through some old equipment, I came upon this portable keyboard. How convenient!

Current Cites for June 2018

Current Cites for June 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

I wrote about an interesting usability study published in Journal of Web Librarianship measuring the effectiveness of library research guides. I guess the best take-away from the article might be, 'know your audience'. 

Today's Funny du Jour

 
[At the Salvation Army book section]: Not sure if the Chicago Manual of Style fits in with the other tour guides to Chicago. Will have to talk to Cataloging at the Salvation Army.

Make It Hard to Update Software? Guess What: Then People Won't

Ars Technical reports on the vulnerability of 115,000 Drupal websites to 'hacker takeovers'. This even though a software patch has been available for over 10 weeks.

All I can say is, I'm not surprised. I mean, updating Drupal software is not an easy thing. There is no link or button you can click on which gets the job done. Instead, the programmers have built a command-line interface using Drush (or whatever) thus coming up with a method which only a programmer would love. For this reason, when you go through comparisons of CMS's routinely making the rounds, 'easiness of updating' for Wordpress rates as 'easy' while for Drupal, it rates as 'difficult'.

"Difficult"? Is it any wonder then that an almost predictable result is a significant time lag before updating? This is not rocket science.

Current Cites for May 2018

 

Current Cites for May 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

MIT Technology Review devoted its entire May/June issue to blockchain and cryptocurrency. It's something that's getting a whole lot of press so if ever there was a opportunity to actually read anything on it, this is it.

Mentioned in Book

I see I was mentioned in a book (link). The book's title (translated) is "Spirited Resistance from the Outside: Austrians in US Propaganda Units in WWII", written by Florian Traussnig (source). Mention of me comes from a blog post I wrote a few years ago where I discussed my father's role in the allied broadcast program called ABSIE. Interesting. Daddy is mentioned often in write-ups like this; first time however that I ever saw a reference to me.

Google Redefines Email (& Your Rights) :-(

So Google comes out with a number of changes to its Gmail service including "Confidential Mode". As XDA-Developers explains:

"A new Confidential Mode allows you to remove the option for the recipient to forward, copy, download, or print an email. You can also make the email expire after a set period of time."

Huh? Email that someone sends you that self-destructs? Anyone see a problem here? (Ripe for deception & fraud, lack of privacy on the part of the recipient, etc.) Hello, Google, but if someone sends me a message, it's me who decides what to do with it -- not you. 

Interesting Front Page from today's Chicago Sun-Times

 
Interesting front page from today's Chicago Sun-Times. (And yes, I subscribe to their 'digital' edition.) More info here...

[Original Link (no work)]

Opening Day T-minus-1

Waiting for that $10 ticket... (Update: Game delayed a day due to inclement weather.)

50 Years of Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL)

Congrads on 50 yrs to the LITA Journal ITAL (more here)! The 50th anniversary issue includes a short review of tech articles from the 1960s as well as two pieces on (what else?) present-day social media [1], [2].

UPDATE (4/1/2018): I listed the articles as well as the issue on this month's Current Cites.

Current Cites for February 2018

 Current Cites for February 2018 is out! You can find the issue here...

Being involved with Citation management at DPU, I found an interesting study which actually polled faculty as to what system they use. Although the response rate wasn't great, it is a good example -- at least a beginning -- for evaluating reality in these services.

Featured on Good Day DePaul (1/24)

 

A few thoughts on Net Neutrality featured in the student news program 'Good Day DePaul'. My part begins at 8:13:  https://player.vimeo.com/video/252359196#t=493s

1st Saturday of 2018

 #RefDesk: 1st Saturday of 2018! Cold outside so IM was chugging away.

2018 -- So much better than 1918

Some things are just so obvious. 

Current Cites for December 2017

Current Cites for December 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

It's the end of year update and I was already in holiday mode so naturally I went with an article on (what else?) Twitter. Fun and academic at the same time, you might say.

IFLA Library Map of the World

Neat interactive world map provided by IFLA allowing you to find out how many libraries, librarians, etc. there are in countries ranging from Latvia to Papua New Guinea.

See more here: https://librarymap.ifla.org/map

In Support of Net Neutrality

I used the "Express Comment" form provided by the FCC to file my opinion regarding the proposed move by the FCC Chair to end Net Neutrality (17-108, "Restoring Internet Freedom" [sic]):

"Net Neutrality is the modern equivalent of free speech. Carriers are utilities and cannot decide (or favor) specific communications. I already pay more for streaming content AS streaming content. Giving one source any kind of advantage, be it financial or through faster connectivity, is to deny me my right for equal access to _all_ content." #SaveNetNeutrality 

Thought of the Day

See larger image ...

USA Today Predicts: No Future for Librarians or Communicators; We Predict: No Future for USA Today Predictions

[Update: Opps, after a little consideration, original authors decide "Libraries and Librarians Aren't About to Disappear"]

The library ed group ALISE* sent out a rather indignant response to a recent article in USA Today. The article's title was, "Careers: 8 Jobs That Won’t Exist in 2030" and it listed a number of professions whose days were counted. First on the list was "Librarian". Librarian, you might ask, why librarian? Well, because, according to the article, books are dead, and so are libraries.

But wait a minute, ALISE counters in its response, "librarians do more than simply check out books". Of course anyone who has stepped into a library in the past 10-20 years would know this.

But rather than rush to judgement based on this first point, it might be helpful to have a look at one or two of the other supposed dead-end careers. For example, last on the list is, "8. Social media manager". That's doomed as well? Why of course, the article responds cheerily: "who needs these experts when we’re all becoming experts?"

Okay, wait a second. We're all becoming experts? Nice to know but even if we ignore the technical side of things (and that's being really generous), there's still the social and communication parts. What about them? Has their evolution down through the ages ever given the impression that they'll someday somehow become the equivalent of child's play? Good news if true!

Since that doesn't seem likely, someone should tell the USA Today author that communication will always require skill, that it is too important to leave to just anyone who walks through the door, that it remains a difficult task, no matter what our level of technology, because either people don't know or don't wish to know and in a world with less than perfect agreement, we are about as likely to say bye-bye to our media managers as we are to our librarians. They both continue to perform essential tasks.
_____________
*Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE)

Bye-Bye WebDesign-L

Anyone who had anything to do (technically speaking) with the World Wide Web back in the early days would know Steve Champeon and the email list, WebDesign-L. Steve was the 'list-mom' and he managed a true center of communication for web designers and web developers in that period.

Well, Steve announced on the list that he had decided to shut the thing down. In the past few years it may not have been the hive of activity that it once was. People move on; times change; communication methods evolve. Still WebDesign-L played an absolutely crucial role in the development of the web, at least from a technical perspective.

Steve, thanks for all your support! It truly was of historical proportions.

Domain Suggestions from GoDaddy

Houston? Huh?

UPDATE: Needless to say, this post went up more than two weeks ago -- i.e. more than two weeks before the current tragedy. Coincidence, that's all.

90th Anniversary of Germania Broadcast - Thanks to All!

Monday, July 24th was the 90th anniversary of the Germania Broadcast (background). We celebrated this pioneering German-American radio show in typical 21st century fashion : namely through Facebook posts and Twitter feeds. Daddy would have been proud to know that his work spanning more than 40 years was recognized by such worthy groups as the Consulate General of Germany (hence the photo above), the Goethe Institute and the Chicago History Museum. Thank you to all!

90th Anniversary of 1st Foreign Language Radio Show in Chicago/USA

 

Just a reminder: July 24 marks the 90th anniversary of the Germania Broadcast, one of the first foreign language radio shows in the U.S. Starting in 1927, it was produced in Chicago by my father William L. Klein. The program ran for more than 40 years and was an integral part of Chicago cultural life (particularly German-American, naturally). More info here: http://www.germaniabroadcast.net/ 

Leading up to the event, I'll be posting on a number of topics including what kind of music and entertainment they actually played plus a look at all the amazing events they sponsored including concerts, festivals and even trips abroad: [link]

Finally, I'll be publishing the complete brochure which they put out in 1952 to celebrate the 25th Anniversary: [link]

Registration at ALA 2017

 Of course, I registered in advance! First day at the American Library Association's 2017 Conference.

TechWeek Reception at CapitalOne HQ

 Reception at the extremely nice HQ of CapitalOne.

Opps, Maybe Not the 'Future' After All

 

Interesting how titles tend to change over time. I was going through a number of old posts and saw a reference to an article in Newsweek from 10 years ago, extolling the virtues of the recently released Amazon Kindle. The title of the article was, "The Future of Reading". Since it was a relatively old link, I clicked on it just to make sure it still worked. And it did -- only the title of the article now read, "Amazon: Reinventing the Book".

That was funny. Did I get the original title wrong? I went to my best friend, Archive.org and looked the thing up -- and sure enough, the original title was "The Future of Reading"

So between 2007 and now, apparently the Kindle no longer rated as the "Future" of reading. This is understandable. For every true 'revolution' in technology, there are always a dozen (or more) false starts. This was one of them.

Staats-Zeitung, My Uncles and Abraham Lincoln

I saw Sidney Blumenthal discuss his book "The Political Life of Lincoln, 1849-1856" at Printers Row Lit Fest over the weekend.  He talked about the critical role local newspapers played in the anti-slavery movement -- some of which Lincoln wrote articles for.  One newspaper in particular was the Chicago-based "Staats-Zeitung".  This rang a bell for me as I recalled my uncles Julius and Ernest being involved with the same paper in the late 20s early 30s. Below is a copy of the newspaper's listing from the "Illinois Newspaper Directory & History" (1934).

Current Cites for May 2017

Current Cites for May 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

I couldn't resist recommending something non-library this month -- an interview with Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the WWW. His advice for "young computer scientists" was what you might expect from a true innovator, namely, "ignoring conventional wisdom and following their own instincts."

Current Cites for Apr. 2017

Current Cites for Apr. 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

The article I recommended almost seemed like an April Fool's joke when I first saw the title, "The Rewards of Predatory Publications at a Small Business School". But nope, it was serious -- the argument being, if you don't understand the 'incentives', you won't know how to counter them. Um, okay.

Group Shot at Drupal MidCamp 2017

(Yeah, that's me on the right, front row.) Drupal MidCamp was held at DePaul this year. Here's a link to the larger image...

No Dear, ISPs Are Not Websites

 Snider, Mike: "ISPs Can Now Collect and Sell Your Data: What to Know About Internet Privacy Rules", USA Today (4/4/2017).

So here's an analogy: if 50 years ago AT&T (or whatever they called themselves back then) had kept records of all your phone calls and then started selling that information to the highest bidder -- would they have gotten away with it? I don't think so. (In fact, interesting research topic.)

ISPs are not websites. They're governed by different rules, regulated by different agencies and golly-molly, ya just can't get on the internet without them. That makes them a utility and frankly, there's no similarity to Facebook, Google, etc.

But, hey, we're living in a free country! There's nothing keeping those ISPs from setting up their own groovy websites so they can take advantage of the same benefits. Problem solved!

Hippy Talk Circa 1970

 Early 1970s article from the Chicago alternative magazine 'The Seed'. Love the hippy talk: "head shop", "trick", "bust" and "rap".

Usability-Thursdays

MPOW: I set up shop at the computer lab in the Student Center and then hustled out to the hallway to ask students if they had time to test out a page. Some had to go to class. Others said yes (8 in total).

Results went on the writing pad and my cellphone served as a stopwatch.

Funniest moment: Someone who does webwork for another dept. said, "I wish we did testing too."

Current Cites for Jan. 2017

 Current Cites for Jan. 2017 is out! You can find the issue here...

First Books of 2017

Actually I've had the 'Handbook of Usability Testing' for years -- the first edition, that is.

Something funny about that article title...

Something funny about that article title...

Looks Like Uncle Julius

Found this picture in a book titled, "German Chicago: The Danube Swabians and the American Aid Societies". That older fellow with the bowtie sure looks like my Uncle Julius.

Behind the Scenes in WYSIWYG

 Looking at the 'plain text' behind the WYSIWYG. I'm impressed:

<hr />
<p>&nbsp;
<h3>Alumni Receptions 2017</h3>
</p>

Email Outside of Work? France Says 'Non Merci'

A couple of interesting articles on the law just passed in France regulating (remember that's not outlawing!) emails outside of work.

Deutsche Welle reports:

From today, organizations with more than 50 workers will need to start negotiations to define the rights of employees to ignore their smartphones and not be forced to check and send emails on weekends and in the evenings.

Engadget comments:

French companies will be more likely to respect your work/life balance -- even if they don't mark certain hours as off-limits, they can't make unexpected requests that force you to drop everything.

Distinguished Guest in Library

 Welcoming distinguished guest in town for the holidays.

At the Reference Desk with an Eye on a Couple of Things

Wednesday evening. Seventh game of the 2016 World Series. Audio was off but we could take a peek at the video every once and a while if only to check the score.