Today's Story : Burger on Bench

 
Out on the green with a number from 5 Guys.

Our Current Predicament (Academic Library Edition)

Digitization in an Emergency: Fair Use/Fair Dealing and How Libraries Are Adapting to the Pandemic (Ryan Clough, ARL Blog):

“Like every other major institution operating during the coronavirus pandemic, research libraries are confronting sudden and radical shifts in their daily realities. Foremost among these challenges is the near-total loss of access to paper books and other physical library holdings. As of today, nearly every ARL member in the United States and Canada has closed its brick-and-mortar facilities and discontinued or severely limited access to print collections.... This emergency is truly unprecedented in modern times, even during times of war.”

More here...

Alas No ALA 2020

 

The news came out on Tuesday (3/24/2020): No ALA in Chicago this year :-(

Already for a couple of days, I was wondering if maybe the organizers were taking a chance: you know, maybe things would clear up by June. Apparently not. Below is the official announcement sent to members already registered for the event. There's always next year, I guess.

Important Update for ALA Annual Conference Attendees

The American Library Association has made the difficult decision to cancel the Annual Conference & Exhibition scheduled for June 25-30, 2020, in Chicago.

We wanted you to be among the first to hear the news. We are grateful to you for registering for the conference and know that you share in our disappointment that we will not be meeting this summer.

We will be in touch in the coming days and weeks to discuss your registration and provide information about potential alternative engagement opportunities.
Thank you for your continued support of ALA and we ask that you be patient with us as we work through this unprecedented situation.

Home Rule

We got the notice last week that the university (library included) would shut down. Students had to move out of dorms. Instructors had to reconfigure their classes -- not just for next quarter (Spring 2020) but for finals happening that very week. For the foreseeable future, we'll be handling library questions from home using email and IM (instant message). At the moment it's all about what to do with borrowed materials and when will the library reopen.

Schools across the country (not to mention world) are experiencing the same. I have absolutely the greatest sympathy for both our students and faculty. This is something none of us will ever forget.

Current Cites for Feb. 2020

 

Current Cites for Feb 2020 is out! You can find the issue here...

Wrote about an interesting study that looked at the characteristics of transfer students at the undergrad level. Rang a bell.

Snack time at the RefDesk

 

People at work were kind enough to bring in some munchies.

ALA Annual 2020 in Chicago

 

Yahoo! The ALA Annual Conference is coming back to Chicago! Me? I'm already registered.

Update (3/25/2020): Bummer, ALA Conference for 2020 cancelled! More here...

#SaveDotOrg

 

One way to demolish the Internet is to take over its address names.

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

"This month it was suddenly announced that the nonprofit that owns the .ORG domain registry was planning to sell it to a private equity firm, Ethos Capital. This could impact the millions of individuals and organizations that have a .ORG website, subjecting them to potential censorship and leaving the door open for price increases on domain registration and renewals."

More here and here.

Year-end & Decade-end Achievements

 
I managed to finish off both these guys!

Interview with WGN-TV

Tuesday, Nov. 5th, 2019 was an important day -- or rather important evening. It was when WGN-TV broadcast the interview with me [link here] produced by the excellent reporter, Erik Runge. The actual interview took place a few days earlier at the DePaul Library.

The topic was my experience in West Berlin both before and after the Wall came down. The segment also included other witnesses both here and in Berlin. The fact that the reporter included so many other photos of me -- from my days in Paris to a shot of me in lederhosen at 4 years old holding on to Mayor Daley -- made the whole thing seem so much like a personal biography.

That said, I truly appreciate how the reporter let me have the last word. For so long the east side of Berlin was a symbol of oppression while the west side observed tolerance and liberty. It truly was a triumph of democracy -- something I shall never forget.

Update: Erik Runge and the good people at WGN-TV aired a follow-up segment on Thursday evening. The title was, "Lessons from the Fall of the Berlin Wall Still Ring True, 30 Years Later" [link here]. As the title suggests, the piece looks at the lessons from this period together with what people born afterwards think about it. My own comment which they include was to agree that lessons were drawn but that people can forget them -- if only (one hopes) temporarily.

Current Cites for Sept. 2019

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

Usability studies on the effectiveness of library research guides are popping up all over the place. The one I recommended appeared in the latest issue of Information Technology and Libraries. Naturally in the meantime another example popped up -- this one in the latest issue of Journal of Web Librarianship. Hot topic!

First Saturday of the New School Year 2019

1st Saturday of the school year with colleague Jim from the West Desk. Note: folder was carrying all the articles I've been going through for a research project.

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.