Hyvenese = Chinese from Hyvee

Oh the lessons I learn from my coworkers. I've never had their Chinese, but their sushi isn't awful.

I mean, it's not good, but it's not awful.


How does one say goodbye to a friend of 14 years?

From the outside it may appear as if she was only my 7th and 8th grade teacher, but the reality is so much more.

Let’s start from the beginning.

You know how there’s always that one kid that’s better friends with their teacher than their classmates?

The nerd who gets all their jokes and hangs out with them at recess?

That was me.

I blame it on the fact that my siblings are way older than me so I get along better with people who are older.

G Wigger and I bonded over the TV show Friends – the first of many shows we bonded over – and it went from there. I used to write her notes and draw her pictures. I’m pretty sure I was the favorite cause she let me where sunglasses indoors. Again, nerd.

When asked about that later she responded “you have to pick your battles.”

She put up with my tantrums when it came to math – it was not my favorite subject – and even after school got out we stayed in touch. Jump forward a few years and you’ll hit where the nerd in me decided that Jim and I could take over Camp J – no problem. Ha!

We invaded her classroom almost daily for an entire summer cleaning out boxes, updating files, creating schedules, assigning counselors, stuffing lanyards, and then sorting t-shirts and sending out mailings. She called herself Camp J’s “number one fan” and helped out even though she avoided the actual camp like the plague.

It was during all this Camp J prep that 2G was formed.

Every year my old high school hosts a golf tournament as a fundraiser for the school. We decided – having no golf experience whatsoever – that we would start a team of our own and compete. The team was made up of Pastor (our leader and the only one with actual golf talent from the start), Jim O, G-Wigger and myself. We came up with the nicknames Blackstone, Dash Riprock, Homey G-Wigger, and Choot ‘em Lizbet, respectively.

Eventually we’d put those nicknames on bright orange t-shirts so you could see us at all times.



Though, we were told, you didn’t need to see us to know where we were cause we were the loudest ones there so you could hear us from across the course. But hey, our drinking team has a golfing problem – what can we say?

Two out of the four years we’ve competed I was unceremoniously thrown from the cart. Though that might have been partly my fault since I was leaning out to grab wayward golf balls.

Plus I had to save Bertha. Don’t ask.

But it was worth the bumps and bruises.

Golf isn’t the only sport 2G competes in. Softball is actually our specialty. We play scrappy but we dominate. Every game G-Wigger and I would warm up together and after every game we would stop for icecream.

We told her that since the golf tournament is in the summer that she should come back for it every year, however since softball games are usually on Sunday nights in the fall that won’t be an option.

Our team will never be the same.

Sports weren’t our only thing recently. We’d go to movies – see post “At least the baby stopped crying” – or out for jalapeno margaritas.

The adventures are so numerous she even has her own tag. "Homey G Wigger". And only my favorite people get their own tag.

So how does one say goodbye to someone who’s had such an impact on one’s life?

I could thank her I suppose. For sticking with me through the good times and the bad. Tell her how grateful I am for all the times she was there for me. Not just for math but for everything.

But I still feel like that that doesn’t begin to cover how much of an influence she’s had on my life.

So I’ve decided instead of goodbye, it’s just so long for now. We’re gonna pen pal it up. And it’s not the end. She’ll be back for big events – confirmations, golf, and a wedding if it ever happens.

And that makes it easier.




Okay, on to happier, less emotional things.

Took a trip out to Illinois to visit the BFF. Sketch and Edit’s Excellent Adventure. Take Two.

Or is it three? Whatever, either way it rocked.

Minus the 9 hour drive it took to get there, that is.

We jammed. Made camo cake.

Check it out.







Gotta have orange frosting with a camo cake. It actually tasted pretty good.

Other cooking adventures included booze popsicles. Looks like sherbet, tastes like vodka.

Holy crap those were strong. It probably had to do with the fact that it wasn't just vodka it was also mixed with tequila. Knocked us on our butts.

Non-cooking adventures were catching up on Grey's, and we watched a bit of Raising Hope.

Which I’d seen part of like one episode one time, so now of course I had to check out season one from the library. It’s actually quite entertaining.

And then of course we hit up the races cause her boyfriend has a car. Like in the races. With a driver. Who's pretty good. Got second in his heat, but then it got rained out. So we jammed in the trailer. See Facebook for pictures.

It was good to see her. It had been like a year. Or two. More like two.

That should change.



What else? The boyfriend and I are doing great. We’ve been going to a lot of races lately. We hit up the World of Outlaws the other day in Greenwood and my guy won! After I had bought his t-shirt. And it’s awesome, it’s like a pit crew shirt with all the advertisements on it.

Plus he signed it.

I was proud that I picked him and that I got the shirt before he won the race instead of after. Plus he beat the guy who always wins and you gotta root for underdogs.

Races aren’t the only fun things we’re going to, a few weeks ago we went to my sister-in-law’s surprise 40th birthday party. The surprise part being the event we dragged her to Omaha for. It was a Murder Mystery party at a hotel – professionally done, it was fun.

We all had to pick aliases. I was Regina Philange.

Make me proud people, make me proud.

Mom was Cher. Dad was John Wayne. After picking the killer’s name as his alias and being told it was already in use (but not told it was the killer) the boyfriend went with Dr. Emmett Brown from Back to the Future.

I know, how does one pick the name of the killer out of the like 80 million names available? It was amusing.

The problem with their setup was that you had to be paying attention to nametags to figure out who-done-it cause the detectives who were supposed to be solving the crime did nothing but distract you. But that’s okay, we went for the fun of it and it was fun, even though I was forced to walk the cat walk to prove my innocence.

Long story.

This week we went fireworks shopping. And you know me with my fireworks. Hit up my mother ship. aka the Dorm Mom's stand. Got some good deals. I'm stoked!

After the 4th he and I are taking a trip to Iowa for another motorcar excursion so look forward to those highlights....

What else?

College World Series! My team won! Go Black Gold! The Cool Aunt was also for Vandy so anytime they did something good we’d text “black gold!” We saw them play live one of the years we went so that’s what we like them.

And speaking of a lot going on, I’ve been working tons on camp stuff. I’m getting excited, it’s coming up! Again this year we have more boys than girls but that may change since they have ‘til July 7th to turn everything in.

I'm really excited for my 7th and 8th graders skit. No HeeHaw this year but they're still singing. Don't worry, they won't hate this one.

And Smo is coming this year. I'm so excited! Gonna be my Skits and Worship helper. Which is good cause there will be lots...

Scale of Awesome’s for you:

Edge of Tomorrow


Scale of Awesome says 7/10. Interesting premise but not a huge fan of Tom Cruise.

Bowfinger


Scale of Awesome says 5/10. So horrible. Yet funny.

300


Scale of Awesome says 5/10. Am I the only person on this planet that didn't like this movie? I feel like it. It's only redeeming quality?



Gerard Butler. And the "This is Sparta" kick. That was badass.

On to the music:

Strong Enough - Cher


a month later and it's still in my head. awesomeness.

and one for an upcoming concert:

From Me To You - Beatles


so excited! debating what my favorite Beatles song is. this is one of many. Probably Hey Jude. Maybe Yesterday. Blackbird. Day Tripper. Paperback Writer. Hello Goodbye. Let it Be. Love Me Do. Yellow Submarine. She Loves You.

Too many good ones to choose from...

And I'm out. I promise it won't take me another month to post.

Do I wanna know why there's a bra in the lost and found?

Happy Belated Women's Murder Club Day!!



Cheers!

I know. Fandom's still here. Get used to it.

We're not going anywhere.

Wow. So it's been a while.

I was thinking about attempting to do a week straight of posting and then I think...how did I used to do that every day? When did I sleep?

Never, really.

Though now I'm lame and go to bed at like 11 so....that needs to change.

We'll see.

Okay, so a lot to ramble about. Guess I'll try going in reverse order.

Today = Wednesday

Day off #1. I have tomorrow off too. I know, it's weird, but I'm loving it.

Not sure what to do with myself so I went running.

You can pick up your jaws, it actually happened. I need to start being healthier cause right now I am the opposite of that even though I have lost weight from giving up pop - though that wasn't the intention it was more to see if I could actually do it - and I also got a perfect score on my blood test.

Didn't even study, rock solid man.

But yeah, the exercising thing is long overdue. On Sunday I had half an hour lunch and work and of course nothing is open (and what was I wasn't motivated to go get) so I ate in the following order: Peanut M&M’s (breakfast), Cheeze Its, and Peanut Butter Crackers (lunch), and then Regular M&M’s (afternoon snack) all from the vending machine.

Our substitute supervisor was making fun of me. I was also in zombie mode that whole weekend so that didn't help.

And speaking of substitutes, the one she's substituting for - aka BossLady - is bailing on me for another branch.

I know.

Everyone my age leaves.

First it was Fearless Leader, then it was Slim Shady, now it's Boss Lady. Next it'll be the New Guy.

Just watch.

Not fair.

But it's okay. I've still got the Queen of the Known Universe there to keep me sane for the day-to-day stuff. Plus the Queen of Awesome is around - though not physically in the building.

Plus KT is a cool cat so it'll be fine. I'm sure.

But that begs the question....who's gonna be the new supervisor?

Someone from within or outside the system....hmmm.....

Stay tuned.

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah, today, so went running, cleaned more of the apartment - aka did a bunch of laundry, dusted a bit, I'm putting off cleaning the kitchen. I think that's my least favorite part of cleaning. No idea why. Is that just me or do other people actually like cleaning their kitchen?

Got some groceries and that was that.

I was gonna watch the second Hobbit but I have yet to get around to it.

Plus I lack the motivation. I'm sorry, the first one was just so looooooooong!

But again, was comparing it the original trilogy, I need to think of it as its own separate entity. Then maybe I'll get through it without fast-forwarding.

Yesterday = Tuesday

Had a TAB meeting in the afternoon. We filmed the rest of Todd Sparkles (our web series) and almost caught an actual fist fight on camera. I'm telling you, it's never boring in the library.

Monday...okay so I don't remember the exact days the rest of this stuff went down but here are the highlights in reverse order.

There was Mother's Day. "Take a picture of me and my creme brulee."



Okay mom. Pretty sure that's her new favorite food. I love Bubby in that shot. I got her books on Alaska and paid for her supper. And then she got me and my brother presents cause apparently everyone else got gifts and she didn't want us to feel left out. Merry UnMother's Day. Kind of like Merry Unbirthday. I dig it. Yay socks!

As mentioned I was a total zombie this weekend cause I didn’t fall asleep until 3 one of the nights. I blame Mixology. I couldn’t sleep so I turned it on. Then I really couldn’t sleep. Yes, I know it got cancelled. Along with many others but I really didn’t watch any of the others so I’m okay with that. Except Trophy Wife. I did watch that. I love Malin Akerman. She’s da bomb.

Do people still say that? I lost all my street smarts when I became a librarian.

Perhaps I’ll pull out my skateboard and hit up the park down the road. Bond with some hooligans. Catch up on my lingo. Nothing could go wrong in that scenario, right? Hey, it's exercise!

Speaking of librarians, have I mentioned how much I love the blog Librarian Problems lately? It’s fantastically funny and completely true at the same time. Go here.

You get jewels like these:

A PATRON PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THAT HE ENJOYS READING BOOKS WHILE ON THE TOILET


And this:

AFTER HANDLING A STICKY BOOK


And this:

WHEN A PATRON BENDS OVER TO LOOK AT THE BOTTOM SHELF AND JUNK FALLS OUT


And this:

INVESTIGATING A PORN COMPLAINT


Oh yeah, it happens.

There’s also apparently a series on Hulu called The Librarians but I have yet to check it out.

Before that....oh remember on Halloween how my car headlight kept going out and turning back on? I got pulled over twice in one night for it? Well the blinking headlight is back and ticking me off. I knew something was wrong cause it was darker on the left than it was on the right so when I got home I left it on and noticed it was out again. Natural response? I kicked it and guess what! It started working.

Take that world.

Guess violence is the right answer in some situations – though I wouldn’t recommend it. Plus I don’t know how long it will last. The boyfriend took a look and attempted to fix it but the thing about my car is that just to get access to the light you’d have to take off the bumper and we were like ehhh…we’ll do it later. Since it keeps coming back - despite my handy dandy violent tendencies - I'm getting it checked out tomorrow.

What else?

Bubby’s Confirmation - myself, Second Sister, and my brother were all his sponsors so we were pretty proud. He knew all the answers cause he’s smart like that. I was having flashbacks to me having to answer those questions. I still know most of them. I was lucky cause when I did it there were like six of us, but when Second Sister got confirmed she was the only one so she got all the questions. We joked that because of our seating order we could predict what commandment we would get and would recite it over and over until he got to us. Or maybe that was just me. Anyway, we got him a bible and all that. Well, Second Sister bought it but it was from all of us. I got him candy, a table tennis set and cheeseballs.

Cause who wouldn't want cheeseballs for their confirmation? Oh and cash too, now he can buy more cheeseballs.

Before that was Bek’s dance recital. We go every year, she’s super cute. And of course the Men in Black performed at intermission again. They’re the dads who drop their kids off at dance class. I told my brother-in-love that I was thoroughly disappointed that he hasn’t joined in yet. We would totally be in support of that. Though we’d probably also film it and post it places so perhaps that’s why he won’t do it. He’s smart like that. This year’s theme was the circus so of course that meant the inclusion of Afro Circus which meant that was stuck in my head for the rest of the night. Week. Month. It still hasn’t gone away.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about watch this.



There. Catchy, right? For the first hour maybe. Then it’s just obnoxious.

Before all that was girls night with the Queen of Awesome. I am her loyal subject. We had Indian food – it was excellent, though I took half of it home. We talked of libraries and families and of course her tiny children, then she came to jam out at my apartment and met my fat cat.

And he didn't bite her! That's new. He must really like her.

That was the same day the Camp J website went LIVE!! Which means I’ve started getting registrations online – yay for less paperwork. This year we’re actually enforcing the end date for registrations and not accepting late ones which is so much less stressful for us because we’ll know the exact number of t-shirts to order instead of having to over order just in case of late signups. I can also do accurate cabin assignments and not have to worry about switching people around at the last minute AND I can write my skits in advance instead of the Thursday night before camp (which starts Friday at noon). Which is huge for me. The theme this year is Gracebook cause God would friend you. Gonna have to incorporate that into the skits somehow. Ideas?

Did I already ramble to you about the presentation for the stakeholders? For the Strategic Plan? KT and I were tasked with putting together a presentation on innovative library services and programming. We had help with the research and then had to present it to community stakeholders. Library Board President and Vice President included.

I hate public speaking, it is probably my number one fear. Above death and creepy crawly creatures. And people who actually liked the third Mummy movie. And the oncoming zombie apocalypse. Keep calm and flame on.

Anyway KT and I presented and I faked that all was okay until the day of when Superwoman realized the amount of my fear but made me do it anyway. And she said we did good and now wants us to do more stuff. I hope that was a joke cause that's not cool.

And speaking of more stuff at work, I got assigned Food Drive duty again. Yay? No, I'm excited, it's me and KT. I'm just not looking forward to driving big pickup trucks across town and not being able to see out my rearview mirror. And turning around in parking lots. And having to lug full barrels all over town. But other than that....it'll be fine.

Any suggestions for contests?  We did the sculptures and collecting loose change. I think it'd be fun to attempt to fill one of the supervisors offices with food. I'm sure that'd get nixed, but it would be something new and differetn.

That's what I got for highlights. Here are some Scale of Awesome entries for you. First up:

Mississippi Burning


That movie was wildly depressing, I can't believe that stuff actually happened. Scale of Awesome says 6/10, but I do love Gene Hackman.

Can’t Buy Me Love


Funny to see McDreamy playing a nerd. I didn't realize that Drive Me Crazy (Nick Cannon, Christina Milian) was based off that. Scale of Awesome says 8/10.

I was gonna have a full blown 80's movie marathon - have Footloose, Better off Dead, and Say Anything all checked out - but again, have yet to get to them.

Drive Me Crazy


Look familiar? Yes, didn't realize until about halfway through. Guess a lot of movies are based off that one.

Scale of Awesome 6/10. Not as good, but it had its moments.

I feel like there's more but I'm totally blanking. I'll add them later.

On to the music.

Begin Again – Taylor Swift


I know some people don't like her but I do. And I'm now officially in love with this song.

Paperback Writer - Beatles


oh...have I mentioned we got Paul McCartney tickets? Um yeah. Once in a lifetime thing that he's coming here and the boyfriend and I are huge Beatles fans so we went for it. I'm stoked. Debating what my favorite song of theirs is. It's like Sophie's Choice. Cause I like this one, Hey Jude obviously, Can't Buy Me Love, Love Me Do, Eight Days a Week, Hello Goodbye...there are too many good ones to decide.

Gonna have to brush up on my Wings music cause I'm pretty sure the only one that I know know is...

Live or Let Die


Looks pretty fun live, gonna be excellent.

And that's all I got. More adventures will follow I'm sure.


oh, for those of you still wondering about the title, stories could be written about the items in our lost and found. i'll leave it at that.

Facebook newsfeed makes me feel like such a stalker.

Facebook newsfeed makes me feel like such a stalker.

She got married?!

He's going back to school?!

She's pregnant?!

Wait, his kid is how old?!

And then it makes me feel old because all of these people are either my age or younger.

Smo is sleeping on my couch - well, studying on my couch - so I'm yelling it all at her but she didn't know either. So I don't feel completely out of the loop, though I have been swamped lately.

First day back at work after being gone for a week and a half. Always hard to go back, but it's worth it.

Today was good, dredged through my 150 missed emails and like 30 incident reports all for stolen items - good god seriously? - updated the TAB website, sent out instructions on volunteer application process - cause it was inconsistent and I'm sick of it - sorted through CD cases - joy and excitement. Tomorrow will be more of the same.

After work went out to see the boyfriend. Pizza Hut for supper and then out to the lake.



What has come to be known as "our spot" is usually relaxing but tonight the teenagers were having a party and blasting really crappy music. We could hear it loud and clear even though they were at the other end of the lake. We were tempted to call the cops just to tell them to play better music but we held off.

I should also mention you can only get to "our spot" by climbing over about 20 giant rocks that move when you step on them. And apparently I'm not the agile farm girl who once climbed to the top of the quonset anymore.

If you don't know what a quonset is it's basically like a giant round building in which you keep your farm equipment such as tractors and combines. Go here

Anyway, it's big.

But snow had drifted against it and I thought, hey I can climb that. So I did.

Mom freaked. Dad got the camera.

One of many defining parental moments.

Other than the crappy music the night was good. Watched some PopUp video on VHS, ran into an old friend at Walmart, showed him the Rebel Wilson and Independence Day videos posted here this week.

Calling it a victory.

On to the music.

Had two songs stuck in my head all day. The second I listened to at lunch so there was reason for that one but the first....no reason to be in my head whatsoever.

The White Stuff by Weird Al.

Which I refuse to post because I hate that song.

But I will post the second.

The Sheik of Araby - The Beatles


lesser known of their songs, but good nonetheless. according to wikipedia the Beatles covered this song in 1962 at their unsuccessful Decca audition with George Harrison as the lead singer and Pete Best on the drums.

interesting.

Special Librarians Dominate Dewey by Cataloging for Their Customers Instead of Other Librarians.

One class down!!

Had our final session tonight, had to give final presentations. They divided up the grad students into different rooms and then undergrads critiqued us.

I was freaked basically the whole day about it.

Recorded it last night and listened to it on repeat all day today.

but here it is, as requested.

Title: Creativity and Collection Management in Special Libraries

Thesis: Special Librarians Dominate Dewey by Cataloging for Their Customers Instead of Other Librarians.

Let me start this off by saying, I have nothing against Dewey. I think it’s a great organizational system that has been constantly evolving through time and that’s why we still use it.

However, Dewey is not customer friendly, it’s overwhelming.

You’ve got baby name books shelved in the middle of the geography and history section.

You’ve got mythology lodged between law and political science.

Without the help of a catalog even veteran librarians sometimes have trouble finding items.

But Librarians are innovators man.

We rise above.

We take the improbable and make it possible.

We are all that and a bag of potato chips.

But there’s something to be said even more for special librarians. As a public librarian – well, a Library Service Associate – I enjoy the variety of material and patrons  that I get to work with on a daily basis. But in a special library it’s very different. Each special library has a specific patron base they focus on. They choose their collection based on the needs of that patron base, not based on what other librarians say they should have in their collections.

1.            Special Librarians Focus Their Collection Development on Their Patrons’ Needs

Part of being a special librarian is getting to know the needs of the patron base that they are serving. They must ask themselves what titles they should add, and what titles they should avoid. One of the Special Librarian Competencies that I read about dealt with this subject. It states that a special librarian must have “expert knowledge of the content of information resources, including the ability to critically evaluate and filter them.” They do this by being aware of relevant material to their specific patron base. While many are open to the public, they’re not based on the public’s needs. Lisa Kelly at the Library Commission said it perfectly – “if the public library has it, we don’t,” because they’re a librarian’s library.

At each of the libraries I visited I asked if there were specific criteria an item had to meet before it was added to the collection and the answer was always the same. They focused their collections based on what their patrons would find the most useful, and if an item didn’t fit that category then it wasn’t added.

What was really interesting was that a lot of the librarians that I talked to had someone above them that could veto items in their collection, but they rarely did because they trusted the librarian’s opinion.

Let’s move on to Collection Maintenance.

2.            Special Librarians must constantly maintain their collection to stay relevant to their patron base.

According to its website the Law Library of Congress (2012) has a “collection of over 2.65 million volumes spanning the ages and covering virtually every jurisdiction in the world” (para. 1). Obviously, the special libraries we visited don’t have that kind of space.

Take Tom’s library at the Regional Center. It’s a one room library, filled with both nonfiction, fiction, plus magazines, and internet computers. Tom took over the job from a lady who kept everything. He said he worked with the Library Commission to weed down the collection.

At the Law Library they must have the most recent material because laws are constantly changing and you don’t want to give someone bad information. The problem with that is that updating is expensive. And according to Sandy Plazcek at the Law Library, 95% of their items don’t even check out.

Since expanding is often out of the question, a lot of the libraries have resulted in working in a consortium of sorts. The Law Library used to be able to purchase and keep all of the state statutes, but now divide it up so groups can make sure certain ones are current. The same is true for the State Library. They used to have all of the states’ statutes, but because of spacing issues now they exchange statutes with states if they need them.

But even though their spacing is limited, they still have their eyes out for their customers, by making sure if they don’t have a needed item there, they still have access to it.

Now there is also the option to go digital. This saves space and can broaden your patron base. In his article “The Future Is Boundless” Christopher Harris (2010) says, “Collections won't lose their bookish quality even if print volumes are replaced by ebooks. It's the same information, the same stories that we treasure, only in a new format. Our brains must be made to recognize this new interpretation: library = books, but books = ideas (not containers).”

The majority of the libraries I visited had websites. Some even with their own online resources like the Library Commission’s Books in Series database. Many had technology available in house with internet computers or databases, but none had completely digitized their collections.

So we’ve talked about collection development and maintenance, now we’ll move on to creativity in action. This section shows how much special librarians know their patrons.

3.            Special Librarians Have To Be Creative to Draw Attention to Their Collection

In the article “Issues Facing Academic Law Libraries - New Challenges, New Opportunities” Linda K. Fariss talks about the different challenges of working in an Academic Law Library. According to Fariss (2012), “Law libraries, like all types of libraries, are looking for ways to re-invent themselves” (p. 37). And that’s what libraries have to do these days to get peoples’ attentions. Special librarians, like all librarians, are focused on getting people to use their resources. They’re always coming up with ways to get people interested. But, with limited space and budgets they really have to be creative.

Some examples of creativity that I’ve run across throughout the semester include:

State Library – Secret passageways

-              Not only is the building historic, but it has secret passageways? That house secret books? Who can resist stopping by?

Law Library – Minigolf tournaments

-              The law librarians know that law students can use a break every once in a while, so they host an annual mini golf tournament in the library. An event like this not only provides fun for potential customers, but it’s also a way to show off their collection.

Regional Center – Wii for recreation

-              Tom got a Wii for recreational purposes and also added more “let’s get it going” material to his collection.

Library Commission – Talking Books

-              The Library Commission knows that there are readers out there who are disabled and can no longer read, so they’ve come up with a solution. Talking Books. They record anything from best sellers to magazines and mail them out for free.

State Penitentiary – Legal Aides

-              Sam’s library is divided into two sections, the legal library and the recreational library. Since most of the prisoners there do a lot of their own legal work Sam hires a few of them to be legal aides and assist the other inmates. This encourages inmates who don’t know the processes to come into the library and get help.

Synthesis:

So, let’s go back to my original thesis: Special librarians dominate Dewey and catalog for their customers instead of other librarians.

Let’s break that down.

Special Libraries Cataloging for Customers:

Special librarians could care less about what other librarians say they should have in their collection. While yes they may take their advice, it’s them that truly know the needs of their patrons. They know them because they have a passion for their job, their collection, and their patron base. Or they would work somewhere else.

Tom has a big self-help section at the Regional Center because that’s what his patrons like to read. While some people are worried about censorship and would be hesitant about including books on suicide at that particular library, Tom knows that his patrons can use it for research. He’s also able to work with the staff there to make sure that the books fit in with each individual’s treatment plans.

While some would be apprehensive about being a prison librarian, Sam loves it. If you were to ask someone on the street what material they thought would be in a prison library you would probably get a blank stare, and then a mentioning of legal documents. But Sam’s library is so much more than that. His material does have to be approved from his bosses, but he still includes items like the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy claiming “prisoners have the right to read bad fiction too.”

Special Libraries Dominating Dewey:

Special Librarians dominate Dewey by coming up with their own organizational systems, especially the smaller ones.

Let’s stick with Tom and Sam’s libraries.

Tom does use a form of Dewey, but he doesn’t divide up the youth and adult, shelving the Harry Potter novels by JK Rowling in the R section of the fiction. Most likely because of limited spacing issues, but also because he knows his patrons will find them there.

My personal favorite example and the basis for this entire presentation shows exactly how special librarians dominate Dewey by cataloging for their customers instead of librarians…Sam at the prison library, knows his inmates won’t read Romance, so he shelves Twilight and other paranormal romances in the Horror section.

Final Thought:

I focused this presentation on the collection management in special libraries, but special libraries are so much more than their collections. All of the librarians that I met this semester have so much passion for their jobs, but another common theme I ran across at every single library I visited was that they focus on the needs of their borrowers. And that’s why there’s something to be said about special librarians. 

aaannd the feedback from the undergrads was good.

apparently i seemed confident and enthusiastic about material.

ohhh, "perfect voice and volume level" i think that's a compliment.

"great volume throughout presentation. understood you clearly."

"looked comfortable"

"good citations they were very supportive."

"very comfortable speaking in front of an audience" HA!

"thought you made very good points. they were all clear and abundantly supported. rock on."

oh, but i'm informal.

i'll take that in spades if i pass.

"strong speaking voice and eye contact backed up points"

"cool gestures" okay?

"passion"

"great use of humor. makes presentation memorable"

wow, this one's handwriting is even more atrocious than mine.

wasn't sure that's possible.

i think it says...."catchy, dewey must go" ummmm "yes know your customer's reads" no, needs, it's "needs" yes looks like "mia" no that's not right, is it nice? yeah, "nice" i think "just" no it's "job speaking as the expert on this topic. you did well including visits and librarians in your presentation"

yikes.

"engaging, conversational tone, lots of energy, talked a bit fast at times"

yeah, i get that a lot.

but if "informal" and "fast" are the worst they got I think I'm good to go.

Pending final posted grades that is. I'll keep you posted.

on to the music:

haven't heard this one in a while

All My Loving - The Beatles
lost count how many clips he pieced together, but it's cool.


all-in-all it was a good day. totally bizarre though as i was only at the work branch for three hours. one of which was a staff meeting, then i was off desk, then i was on desk, and then i was at lunch and off to a meeting before leaving at 3 for class.

after which i met up with the boyfriend since he's leaving tonight. he and his dad are going to seattle for a week and a half.

to pick up a motorcar that he bought.

see how nice of a girlfriend i am that i let him get away with that?

and say nothing?

but i'm sure he would have plenty to say about my weird hobbies.

or obsessions rather.

Women's Murder Club, Charlie's Angels, ancient Egypt, blogging, mis-matching my socks, Silver Lining's Playbook, chocolate, the list goes on.

anyway, the only things i said were to have fun, take pictures, and text me at least once a day.

cause i'm bossy like that.

Then you begin to make it better.

Class today was fun. Talked about databases and search engines. Then listened to a few presenters talk about ask-a-librarian software.

Basically it's a messaging service where you can chat with a librarian if you have a question.

Or apparently if you're bored. Someone using the username Justin Bieber asked me if I liked pie. When I didn't answer he threatened to mug me in the parking lot.

I was tempted to have the security guard to walk me to my car, but then I was like, Justin Bieber? I think I could take him.

It was fun to see everyone again. I got to know a few of them at conference so it's fun to joke around after class.

Which has become the usual routine. Which is why I love the program.

So I left my usual note under the Cool Aunt's door and headed back to the apartment.

To jam with my big fat cat.

She leaves me notes as well. With presents. I need to take her out for some margaritas after Vegas.

Technically, I could be done with the homework for the class by the end of the week. All we have left is a search engine chart - aka find 3 and compare them - then there's a reference interview - where we interview a reference librarian, a specific one who Maegan, Sam and I are meeting hopefully either this Thursday or next - and then add a few sources to RefWorks and email them to her.

If we do meet on Thursday I can write the paper right after.

Or when I get back from Vegas.

Which is the more likely scenario.

But I have until the 8th of December.

But if I get everything done in November then I'll be free and clear for all of December.

For that class anyway.

Now it's all about writing my paper on Koha for Info Tech and then working on a different one on adult programming for Adult Services.

Gotta come up with a series of programs for adults to take place over a year, ideas?

Will work on that tomorrow, gonna crash now.

The Vegas countdown continues. Library Goddess was giving me tips today, I'm stoked. 6 days and counting. Apparently I'm supposed to go see some sort of Beatles meets the Circ De Sole show thing that's there cause I'd love it. Or the Library Goddess will smack me.

Sounds like fun, I love the Beatles and circus stuff is fun. I don't think I've actually ever been to any kind of circus.

Or maybe I have and I was too young to remember it.



I'm aware this is boring, but I'm feeling boring tonight. Instead of being motivated and working on the homework that would free me up in December I made supper instead and started season two of Burn Notice.

Tomorrow it is.

Hey Jude - The Beatles


I'm out for the night.

Have a good one.


Legitimate 11:50 PM post.

This will never be true ever again.

Holy HOLY crap tag in use.

You say stop and I say go, go, go!

What is it national "let's drive like an idiot" week?

Yesterday almost got smashed into four times by four different people.

Today was more of the same, truck driver swerves on the interstate to pull over in the middle of nowhere plus the guy directly behind me slamming on his breaks.

And then he rides my tail right after it.

Wouldn't you think to like back off if something like that just happened?

To be more cautious?

Whatever.

Fearless Leader might just be an honorary space cadet.

As in the Sleep-Deprived Space Cadets.

Which is me and Space Cadet #1. As in the one who called me dirt. Long story go here: My Life in Closed Captions: What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all ab...

Cause the both of us are very spaced out in the morning, today Fearless Leader and myself were very spacey throughout the day.

But we got the job done and done well so it's okay.

It's just one of those it's Friday and almost the weekend and it's a holiday weekend so you have all these other thoughts on your mind through the day.

Anyway, it was a good day.

Swimming in a sea of estrogen, not a male employee on the floor at all today which was weird. Like apocalypse 25 man.

That's what Slim Shady and I say every time we get to work together.

Which is like never.

I think we're up to 25 as of today and we've been working there for about two years.

Anyway, I got to work with her and Fearless Leader and Girlscout and The New Girl, all of which happen maybe once every couple weeks.

Maybe.

So having a whole day was almost a shock factor.

Maybe that's what made the day feel spacey.

After the spacey stuff I headed out for dinner with the boyfriend.

We were originally going to see Titanic but the theater hours there are weird so we hit up Applebees instead. Good food, and highly amusing because he knows people wherever we go.

The man's a popular dude.

We talked nicknames, swing dancing and his hatred for the song "Wild, Wild West" by Escape Club. Apparently if there is a wedding it will be on the "no play" list.

After dinner we jammed for a while, drove around town then I headed out for the parentals.

Tomorrow means helping the "easter bunny" stuff eggs meanwhile getting my car fixed as there is something up with the tire. And at some point I have a bunch of movies checked out that I should watch - stoked for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, got both the original with Alec Guinness and the new one as Gary Oldman rocks.

"Hello Goodbye" The Beatles

i'm sorry but in what decade were those clothes fashionable?
makes me wonder if in ten years from now we'll look back and be like "what were they thinking?"
i feel like paul is seducing the camera throughout the song which makes me laugh.
but then i'm like, what's the name of the dude next to him? cause you got paul, john, ringo and...??? i'm sure he went on to do great things but at the moment i'm totally blanking. will have to google it later.

On Moonlight Bay

Drama Drama Drama.

Started off the day overloaded with computer questions, then I was constantly running all over the building patrons to items and running supplies all over the place, after that I got yelled at - by a patron while I was helping another patron - it was one of those days.

And what's worse is that we called it as "one of those days" before 11AM. We open at 10.

But it's alright, I stayed busy which made the day move fairly quickly.

Plus Mom stopped by to pick up some books and drop off some fruit, woohoo! I love fruit. I'm weird like that, sorry.

And that was my day.

Aside from homework stuff - emailing my professor about an assignment - and summer reading stuff - emailing my contact about a presentation and getting that all finalized.

So I guess I was productive.

There's so much stuff on my to-do-list right now it's crazy.

First off there's class. Tons and tons of homework due in February, which is fine cause it's class. If there was no homework I wouldn't learn anything, you can only take away so much wisdom from a lecture. But this week I need to schedule an appointment to meet with a cataloger - one not from our system - to talk about the whole processing thing. Then add my input to a group MARC wiki thing, which hopefully I don't completely suck at. Plus read a chapter and some articles and write up a paper on those and submit it. And these are just things that I need to do within the next week and a half.

Then there's Summer Reading stuff, there's a serious amount of planning that goes into this whole extravaganza.

We've got a TAB meeting on the 7th to plan for more Summer Reading stuff, which means I need to make another phone call to a different contact tomorrow so I can figure out if they're interested.

I'm also supposed to be editing a story, well two, for a friend which I've started but am nowhere near finished.

Plus I got a call from my dentist and need to set up an appointment with him and one with Mom to meet with our tax dude cause apparently I need to learn how that works.

Then! There's camp! Which is fastly approaching, but before that even I need to scan all my sheet music, upload it, and e-mail to about 10 people. Yeah. Said I would do that back in August. Look how long it's been and I still haven't gotten to it.

AND! Second Sister is due next week and who knows when that is all going to happen.

So yes, my vacation is officially over and I'm back to the real world. Which isn't so bad. I kinda like the real world.

But it's busy.

And constant.

And constantly busy.

So I should sleep while I can.

"On Moonlight Bay" The Beatles with Morecambe and Wise

funny stuff. though doris day's is classic.

OUT!

This time I'm not leaving without you...

"What should I post about?"
"Your favorite candy bar."

Twix. I like Twix. Or anything with caramel. And nuts. Like snickers. Although, for some weird reason, I've started to like Almond Joy's. and I hate coconut, so it doesn't make sense. Unless someone has two coconuts and they're banging them together. sorry, monty python reference. "message for you sir!"

Oh and M&M's, I'm a fan of those as well. And rolos, laffy taffy's, what's the name of those giant taffy bars that have a strawberry flavor and they're covered in sprinkles? Milk Duds. Maybe some Reese's. I used to hate them. No reason whatsoever. Weird chocolate prejudice. Now I love them. How could you not love chocolate and peanut butter?

Quote of the day:
"If you think your memory is bad the rest of the world is doomed!" JS, always good for my ego.

Glee-Loving Boss is back, huzzah! We missed him. Plus now there will be less of me running around with my head cut off. Or maybe that was just another excuse for my crazy. "You're always here!" (patron said to me tonight. yes i pretty much live there.) And before today I hadn't been to the other branch in like a week. and I only went there today because more people were sick. As long as they tell me where to go it's fine. And never boring.

"stale chalk. right.... i'll put that in the blog. how do you spell stale?... that's not how you spell stale."
see, i am paying attention to our phone coversation. totally awake enough to be coherent.

We'll go with "songs of the midwest" maybe i'll make it a midwest week.

"You and I" Lady Gaga

video doesn't make sense bit creepy but whatever. orgy filmed in nebraska.

let's switch it up a bit.

"Kansas City" Beatles version

just ignore the crazy screaming fangirls.


out!

Oh Darlin' Please Believe Me

Things I learned today at the library:

-Rasputin was poisoned, shot and drowned.

-An Angler on the Amazon hit a beehive with his stick. In order to avoid the angry bees he jumped into the river and was eaten by piranhas.

-When in doubt shelf-read the jNonfiction. That place is always a disaster area.

A random collection of knowledge I know. That's the beauty of public libraries. The information is limitless, unlike academic or special libraries. Booyah.

I love my family. After shelving all morning I got lunch with Mom and Oldest Sister who then proceeded to follow me on my errands. Or I followed her. Whatever it was we went to the same places after lunch. Both needing cat food we hit up Petsmart. Then for groceries and entertainment - plus a vacuum cleaner for her - we jammed at Target. All while putting off more homework.

Which I did. Eventually. And posted. And commented on my classmates postings. Now tomorrow is all about finishing Shackleton's Way and posting for that. Then I'll be done until class next week. I think. I should probably double check that.

I think tomorrow is a halfday. Again, should check on that. But I'm there this weekend. Which I know. I think. Maybe. I don't have my book in my back pocket at the moment so I'm useless. I remember nothing. Much like Nora Ephron.

Songs of the night:

"Oh Darlin'" The O'Kanes

1987. Fabio in shades. Not really. But he could pass for him.

But I'm guessing you were thinking it was this one:

"Oh Darlin'" The Beatles


both are pretty catchy. i'd post the 'across the universe' version of it but the video is too depressing. gotta love stage drama. killed the song.

Off to bed. Then a halfday. Perhaps. I think. I'll check tomorrow. OUT!

Hello Koha!

And Ziva, my first official post from my shiny red laptop. Although it's not actually all that shiny anymore. I've had it since like I don't even remember, like 2 years ago and all I've used it for is camp stuff. Forms, schedules, website, pictures, etc. Now I have all my files transferred over - music included, that took the longest - all that's left is to hook up my ipod and it will be official. Except it can only be synced to one computer at a time and if I switch it to here it deletes everything. Which is fine because I have everything on here now. But it like deletes my playlists too. Which bites, because I have a lot of them. I know, my life is so rough. *I can hear my sister's voice saying that to her dog...or cat...who's dumb as a post...* I'll figure it out.

Okay, first day with Koha, our new fancy system at work. Yeehaw? Well, so far we're only on its offline component since not everything has transitioned from the other system. So I got to spend the day staring at barcodes. No names, no titles, just barcodes. Oh, and I hit "enter" a lot. That was exciting.
Plus sent out the motherload of all explanation emails. But no one else was doing it. I mean, Superwoman set us up with some basic guidelines but then she left and all this other stuff came up. So I man-ed up. Or Woman-ed up. Let's go with that. Female solidarity and all that crap we say when we're playing softball. "Back up! Their women can hit!" my favorite quote from another team's pitcher.

Anyway, I basically came up with detailed instructions about what to do with all the stuff that was incoming to our branch and outgoing and all that while we can't check anything in or process any holds. Then sent it to the whole branch - but just the one, not all the staff at all the branches, that would be horrifying. I did that once about a missing item and am still spazzed out.
After all that joy I spent the rest of the afternoon in the backroom organizing the delivery, packing up donations and avoiding that dude that is trying to find a loophole on getting me to date him. Mentioned here: My Life in Closed Captions: This Magnet Moment... I don't date patrons! Well, not anymore. Just say no. That's what "big brother" coworker says. So I told him no, I don't date patrons. Now he's looking for a loophole. So, while he tries to find that, I'll continue to avoid him. Which is why this afternoon, after I separated all the delivery on to carts, I decided it was time to pack up the donations. And it worked!...until I ran out of tape. It was funny, because I really wanted to get through them all because we're going to need the space, so I scavenged the supply cabinets and found ducttape! But then I ran out of that too. Which sucked. So half the donations are boxed up and the rest are still on the shelf.
I had avoided him all afternoon until I ran out of tape - the second time - but as I was emailing Space Cadet, as she is in charge of supplies, I could see him coming to the desk out of the corner of my eye.
He comes to the side of the desk,
I get up,
go to the other desk,
open a drawer,
look for an imaginary object,
don't find one,
see him coming to that desk out of the corner of my eye,
also see Joe Studley approaching on my other side,
I turn around and head back to the original desk when I hear,
"Can I help you?" Not the person he was wanting to talk to but it'll do.
Aww, Joe Studley. My hero. He's the lead singer in our work band, btw - "Joe Studley and the Lost in Transit". Mentioned here: My Life in Closed Captions: Joe Studley and the Lost in Transit

Aside from barcodes, emails, delivery, donations and avoidance I don't think there was much else. Oh wait, I forgot. Barf chips and Face Aerobics. That pretty much sums up my day. Haha. I found the "barf chips", as someone had labeled the deodorizer stuff, when I was searching for tape - the first time - and the Face Aerobics was a VHS tape part of the donations. I didn't know there was such a thing as Face Aerobics. But apparently there were all the rage in the exercise scene. Back when VHS was still a viable format. I'm joking. I don't know anything about exercise trends. But I do own a bicycle. That counts right? Nevermind that it only has one wheel. Which is more of a long story. That I think I've told you already as well. My Life in Closed Captions: "Cause even after three text messages, four missed... Yep. Definitely told you before.
Crime-ony. Have I seriously been blogging since November? I'm going to run out of amusing anecdotes here soon. Next it will be all, "this one time, at the library..." That was my best American Pie impression.

I'm going to hit you with a music rec (or 2) before I crash and burn. Songs for the day, aka the ones blaring in my headphones while I boxed donations in the back, are older. Not like old but older.

Coldplay "Yellow"

and yes, second sister, i am currently singing jimmy fallon's troll doll lyrics.
I actually like Coldplay. I think this was their first major hit that put them on the board. Definitely worth listening to.

The Beatles "I Saw Her Standing There" performed live in '64

"How could I dance with her mother when I saw her standing there...." WHAT?! You mean those aren't the words?! Kidding. I sing it like that anyway, it's more amusing that way.


Out!