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.