Libraryman

*edited from image on this page: www.libraryclipart.com/alasymbolspage1.html

With all thanks to Helene Blowers, who made this, believe it or not, to use in a workshop we did together. I know it sounds crazy, but it fit *perfectly* as a demo of what the workshop was talking about. We didn’thave time to use it during the event, so here you are:

Things are looking good for our Guild! We have been having quite a lot of fun playing and chatting and I can happily report that there are now 55 characters in our happy little library-centric guild. A good estimate is that these characters are represented by 35-40 different people (including three from Australia. Hello mates!). By my own unscientific estimation I would say that about 2/3 of the characters would be considered “regular” Guild players.

If you are interested in giving the game a shot you might want to consider dropping me a line first. If you do that I will hook you up with the refer a friend program with someone in our guild. It will make the game a lot easier for you and will also get you and your Guild partner and bunch of cool extras that really add up. Also, if you have a partner or significant other, my strong advice is to play together. WoW can be a lot of fun as a team and we’ve already seen couples in the guild having a great time together helping each other (and benefiting from Refer-a-Friend for sure *ahem* Rosz!) And with that, we bring you…pretty pictures!

Here is a nifty logo some of us will soon be wearing on t-shirts:

And here are some stats for the guild. You’ll need to click to see the larger version if you are interested in more details. More female characters and plenty of hunters. Lots of other fun details here if you are so inclined.

There are also a ton of screen shots that guild members have been taking over the last several months. You can find that pool of images here. Enjoy!

A brief video snippet (with added graphics) that describes why the “hi-fi” in “hi-fi sci-fi library” is key to our present and future success.

Fighting the forces of evil and oppression with your high fidelity library/librarians!

Just saw this quick, 3 minute summary of LITA2008 pop up on their blog, complete with my ugly mug. Enjoy!

AL LITA2008 video/post is here.

And…you know, you can always hear the “hi-fi sci-fi library” song and watch its video here.

Thanks again to all who attended LITA and were so generous with their support and time. Hope you enjoyed the session! An Internet Librarian (IL2008) post is coming soon.

Not sure how the joke will go tomorrow, but…shhhhhh! I am gonna rick roll the heck out of my LITA “hi-fi sci-fi library” keynote session attendees tomorrow. It is already a pretty funky presentation that talks about libraries, the content, community, hardware and software environment all in a way that sets up a series of stories taken from science fiction. Throw in a rickrol and who know what will happen. Wish me luck!

It looks like Pandora (and their amazing Music Genome Project) might be in trouble. The “Where the heck did my internet radio go?!” kind of trouble. And it’s not just Pandora in very immediate danger, it is internet radio at large (including my second favorite internet radio station, Radio Nigel). You really do care about Pandora and internet radio, really you do. Here are a few reasons why and an ask as well:

I’ve been fascinated with Pandora and their content delivery model for years now. Pandora tries to demo a new kind of service model to libraries. If they go bye-bye they’ll never be able to work with us. Work with us? What am I talking about? While I haven’t blogged about it before, I know for a fact that Pandora loves and supports libraries. I personally know a group of librarians and libraries that Pandora folks help in a pretty significant way. I’d be happy to talk to you about it in person if you have questions. In the meantime, let me offer my Pandora shirt as an inkling that I am being honest about this.

So here’s the ask. And it doesn’t come from me:

“From: tim.westergren@pandora.com
To: ***************
Subject: PANDORA urgently needs your help: Bill Just Introduced to Save
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:18:21 -0700

Tim”

Initial response to the above looks positive (today anyway), we’ve all seen tables like these turn on a dime. Please don’t let smart but very, very sneaky lawyers from gigantic corporations take away one of the best things going on the internet!

—————-
Now playing:
Dean Gray - St Jimmy The Prankster
&
Dean Gray - Novocaine Rhapsody

(Maybe) You’ve heard the song and seen the video. Now you can see the presentation that inspired them both!

-Hi-Fi-Sci-Fi-Library: Technology, Convergence, Content, Community, Ubiquity and Library Futures.
LITA National Forum - keynote - October 18, Cincinnati, OH
Description:
So you think it’s an interesting time to be a librarian now? Just wait! Through an examination of past trends, current tech, emerging tech, academic futurism and a dash of pop culture, we’ll take a realistic peek at where library technology is headed. We’ll then take this information and start planning what we can do now to ensure that libraries not only continue to offer our vital service, but that our role and positive contributions to society increase - perhaps quite dramatically.

The presentation is stuffed full of multi media, special effects and lots of realistic, yet fun and thought provoking surprises designed to get your mind chugging along as is contemplates the future of Libraryland. A future populated with hi-fi sci-fi libraries!

These two intro slides will be running at as people are filtering into the room (they are slightly clipped here, click to see the whole slide):

Hope to see some of you there!

Today over on friendfeed, Greg Schwartz (of Uncontrolled Vocabulary fame), posted this:
“Oh boy, it’s LJ Movers and Shakers nomination season again. Where does the time go?”
And within seven hours there were almost 50 comments. Some are typically irreverent and fun, but others are more pointed. So what is this award really about?

Well, the Library Journal Mover & Shaker Award recognizes “emerging leaders in the library world.” This is the eighth year for the award (and special print supplement to the regular magazine). Each year LJ “profile(s) 50-plus up-and-coming individuals from across the United States and Canada who are innovative, creative, and making a difference. From librarians to vendors to others who work in the library field”.

In my conversations and observations, the general consensus out there in Libraryland is that this is a very good thing to have happen each year and that it is a valuable “thing” to receive. There are some exceptions to this more general opinion though which are interesting to note.

In Greg’s friendfeed discussion thread on the subject some folks put forth the idea that this whole “Mover & Shaker” business is mostly just a marketing tool. I wouldn’t disagree, but it isn’t just a marketing for LJ in my opinion. I think Libraryland should honor their own more than they do. This recognition tool is for a specific segment of our profession. And I think it is important. I would also say that I think we need a couple other awards of this size that embrace the folks that don’t fit into the category of this award. Wouldn’t be a total blast to work on coming up with those award criteria?

But *this* is the award that the largest number of my closest Libraryland colleagues are involved with. And I have personally seen the positive impact receiving it has had on several careers. So the award get my vote of support. And I don’t say this lightly either. I have had lengthy conversations with more than one very high profile winner of this award that really thought it was mostly bunk. I respect their opinion on this, but also know that they have the luxury of not really caring about this. Besides, I believe that even if they didn’t care about getting it, that the award provided more attention to their work. And their work is just magnificent in my opinion. So, I still say this is a valuable event/award/honor to hold.

A couple folks observed that there have been cases where people became more isolated in their library after receiving this award. I’ve heard that too, and know it a real concern for some. From my observations this is a more rare exception. An exception that is amazingly frustrating and intolerable, but an important thing to note.

So I’m here to encourage you to vote for the next round of LJ Movers & Shakers.

I can think of several folks just right off the top of my head that would be fine Libraryland reps for this award. I know there really are hundreds of others. In fact, I’d LOVE for you to list other names in the comments! Here are a few I wold love to see get this award:

Jason Griffey
Cindi Trainor
Greg Schwartz
Bobbi Newman
Josh Neff

And, I have to confess that I posted this to the discussion we had today about the award:
“So is there a way to try to get nominated without coming across like an egocentric jerk? *ahem*” So, no, I haven’t ever been selected as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker award winner.

So who do you think should be on the list this year??

Straight from the OCLC HR dept today: “We have regional openings that need to be filled immediately and we need your help!”. So, even though I don’t often mix business with the pleasure of blogging, today it will happen. Here goes:

If you are a software engineer or Web/User Interface Designer, if you are talented, hard working and motivated, AND if you would like a good job, with good pay and benefits in a very livable city, well then you may be reading the perfect blog post.

The following jobs are open right now. Perhaps one of them is just the thing you have been looking for?:
Sr. Software Engineer - Job ID 1614 (Seattle, WA)
Consulting Software Engineer - Job ID 1613 (Seattle, WA)
Consulting Software Engineer NL - Job ID 1612 (Boulder, CO)
Associate Product Manager - Job ID 1590 (Boulder, CO)
Sr. Software Engineer NL - Job ID 1577 (Boulder, CO)
Sr. Web and User Interface Designer - Job ID 1524 (Open Location/Remote)
Sr. Software Engineer - Job ID 1511 (Seattle, WA)
Sr. Software Engineer - Job ID 1343 (San Mateo, CA)

You can find details about these, and other jobs at OCLC, here:
www.oclc.jobs

So if you have mad skills and are interested you might drop me (or another person with an OCLC connection) a line. OCLC is motivated to find the right people to fill these roles quickly!