Tinfoil + Raccoon

Interview with Jonathan Selwood (The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse)

I know. You are all in a deep funk over having to leave Hogwarts.  Book 7 is out, you've already read it, and are trying to cope with the reality that it's all over. Let me recommend something to take you far away from witches, wizard and wands, to a wobbly world of weirdness. In The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse (Harper Perennial, 2007), Jonathan Selwood gives us a  very funny, Vonnegut-flavored read that both embraces and mocks our culture's obsession with celebrity.  First a brief review, followed by an interview with Selwood:

Isabel Raven, a young woman with incredible technical skill as a painter, suddenly finds herself as much a celebrity as the people whose faces she paints into reproductions of classic works of art (think Scarlett Johansson in Venus on the Half Shell, Macaulay Culkin as Blue Boy).  Isabel moves around a Los Angeles that's cracking open, oozing tar and shimmying with the aftershocks of a major earthquake.  While the "pinball theory" refers to a much-lauded, then deeply buried theory developed by her father, a retired physicist, about how the world will end in 2049,  Isabel is a bit of a pinball herself. She bounces back and forth between her manager, a supercreep devotee of primal scream therapy, her celebrity chef boyfriend (who is shacking up with the Latina Britney Spears, one of Isabel's recent subjects), her dope-smoking hippie parents, and a Bill Gates-like neo-millionaire who hails Isabel as a PoMo hottie genius.

Despite the bizarre swirling drama and her resultant occassional freak-outs, Isabel wanders through it all with an underlying sense of ennui that says, "What are you gonna do?"  Being a pop culture voyeur myself, I think Selwood captures the essence of our collective obsession perfectly.  We are, at the same time, horrified and titillated by the freak show. We cluck and gasp and wag our fingers in judgment as we plunk down the dough for another ticket.  We bitch about the cost of the lemonade and popcorn we just bought to munch on while watching what we fear (and hope) is the end of the world. If you're looking for a condemnation of Culture Lite, you'll find no such message here. Selwood drags us down into the tar and gets us to laugh at the mess we're in.  What are you gonna do?  (Interview follows)

Tech Apps in Libraries? WI users value them, but don't use much

Here's a most intriguing report about surveys of Wisconsin library users and non-users done in 2003 and 2007.  What is very interesting to me is that most users are not very interested in technology initiatives. You know, the stuff that many of us spend a great deal of time and energy using and promoting.  The perceived value of these initiatives, however, is somewhat higher than actual interest.  I'm not prepared to comment on it right now, but if anyone else wants to start the conversation, please jump in. 

Along with the user/non-user surveys are other reports, including one on e-books done in 2002. I sure would like to have seen a follow-up to that, as things have changed considerably since then.

The report was funded by the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium and the Wisconsin Library Association Foundation. 

Image Problems? You Bet Your Sweet Database!

While folks were making comments on the hipbrarian article in the NYT Style section this past weekend, I was doing one-on-one bibliographic instruction via IM.  The person I was helping is a non-traditional student (early 30s) working on his first bachelor's degree.  I used to work with him, but still keep in touch because he's talented, thoughtful, earnest, and truly one of the most decent people I have ever met.  Our continued relationship is personal and professional--he bounces ideas and projects off me and I rely on him to steer me away from negative thinking when I'm in a funk.  This summer, he's in a Comp II class and has a bunch of papers to churn out.  Writing is not his strength and he knows it. He's not a terrible writer and could do enough work to just get by, but he's taking his time with drafts and asking for me to read his work. He wants to improve. 

He had started work on his second paper and pinged me via IM. He had a rough thesis statement, and what he wanted from me was advice on how to read the four books he had chosen to use for research.  I said that first I would go to the indexes to look for words related to my thesis, but offered that I'm able to skim and synthesize pretty quickly, a skill that not a lot of people have.  Then I paused. "Wait a minute.  Did you look at ProQuest for articles?"  After a few more questions, it became clear that it had not occurred to him AT ALL to use his university library website, or his employer's website to get started on his research. 

Did I mention that my friend is a webmaster for a public library?  And that he has spent a lot of time trying to make the library's databases as accessible as possible?  Think about this.  If online library resources are not on the radar of a pretty smart guy, in a decent undergraduate program, with mad web skillz and a library job, something is seriously wrong.  (Don't even think about dissing my friend...how many people in your library know ALL its resources?)

I convinced him to use the books to get started, and assured him that he could find tons of articles about the concepts written about in the books.  First, he tried his university's library website, without much guidance from me.  He came back asking about results from what I figured out was a state union catalog.  That, I told him, would only (mostly) list titles of print sources held by libraries.  I explained that he needed an article database that he could search by keyword and from which he could get full-text articles.  I reviewed the e-resources for the university library--it was just too much for what he was working on, so I told him that he could get everything he needed from the public library. 

I suggested ProQuest again, and he took off on his own, reporting back that he got very few results, none of them useful.  My hunch that he was using subject search was correct. "NEVER start with a subject search," I coached.  I explained that subject headings were made up by librarians and wanna-be librarians who did not think the same way as real people.  At this point, he gave me access to the database so I could offer some more specific advice, and challenged me, "Race you." I came up with an unwieldy list of results in short order. He was not too far behind, clicked on one that looked good, then asked "Where's the article?  All I see is an abstract."  I explained that there were limiters that could narrow his search, including one for "full-text."  Even though I use databases every day, I had to stop and study the interface and make sure I was being very clear, specific and jargon-free in my coaching.  As hard I as I try, I still catch myself using librarianese when working with patrons.  I gave him a couple more tips and he finally started getting appropriate results.  My friend had a "eureka" moment when he realized just what a powerful tool he was working with, and I regret not saving the chat transcript.  It was really a high-fiving/Chariots of Fire themesong  sort of moment.  I typed in "W A T E R    W A T E R" and told him I felt like Anne Sullivan Macy to his Helen Keller.  Maybe it wasn't quite that world-rocking, but I felt an exhilarating sense of victory before the inevitable question of "why is this so damn hard" set in.

My friend apologized for being dense, for not just knowing in his bones how to do this.  I told him that he owed apologies to no one and that, truthfully, apologies were owed to him. Something is really wrong if library services make people feel stupid. While I appreciate the discussion about the nuances and implications of the NYT article, I've found it entirely beside the point of what our concerns should be.  Patrons could give a crap about the image of the folks behind the big desks or in the stacks. I've read recently that the only survey question you need to ask a patron/user/customer is "After using the library today, would you come back?"  (I mean all points of service--phone, web, in-person.) Who wants to come back to a place where they feel stupid and helpless?  It doesn't matter if you do your job in a jacket and tie, stockings and heels, tats and vintage, rumpled Dockers and Birks. It matters even less what you look like, drink, or wear once you're out the door.  What matters is that our users find librarians who are kind, patient, and helpful, a physical space that they can navigate without a map and where they feel welcomed, materials that are useful and accessible, and resources that don't require hours of instruction.  What matters is that when you ask them, "Would you come back," they answer, without hesitation, "yes".

Comment Moderation Now in Use :-(

Ah....the terrorists have won, and I have decided to turn on comment moderation.  Garden variety spam I don't mind so much--it's been more or less manageable, even if inconvenient. BUT, someone has been posting comment spam in the Warriors thread from numerous IPs, with the sole purpose of talking smack.  Since it's largely a group of younger posters who use the comments thread to share their Warriors love and fanfic, I want to keep it a comfortable, fun venue for them.  The Warriors thread, btw, has well over 2000 comments--I love it!

Live What?: The Kids are Alright

The Raccoons, Jr. are now 13 and 16.  The Live Earth concerts are today.  (In general, I think the premise of the concerts is ridiculous. Honestly, what is this huge carbon footprint of entertainment going to do for global warming.  But, that's not what this is about.)   

From the ages of 10-29, I was a total music geek.  I had a subscription to Rolling Stone that spanned 20 years of my life.  I hung out in the one, tiny alternative used vinyl shop in Normal, IL.  I not only read, but memorized liner notes from the vinyl I owned and borrowed from the library.  In junior high, the prime hallway note-passing time, I passed my older friend, Lori Brooks a note that only included the lyrics of "Blues for Baby and Me" from Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. I thought she would understand why those lyrics were so meaningful, but later, on the bus, she just looked at me and said, "Hartman, are you retarded or what?"  I'm just saying that it's good that tattoos were not a big deal until recently, or I probably would have had a body full of liner notes from Born to Run or Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy or More Fun in the New World (and let me now declare my love of Wikipedia for having fairly authoritative articles on all four of those titles).

Had something like Live Earth occurred during my teen years, I would have been all over it.  I could have told you about the line-up, the politics, the bands.  I was also a news junkie during those years.  Please note that my news came from the three networks, our local newspaper and radio, and Rolling Stone. Something like Live Earth would have made me a totally delirious know-it-all.  So, today, when I asked both of my girls if they had heard anything about Live Earth, they both gave me a blank look.  When I explained what it was, (accompanied by my editorializing), they both shrugged and gave me that, "yeah, so" look.

There are moments in a parent's life when you realize that your kids are not you.  I had one of those moments today and it made me wonder where I'd gone wrong. Sure, both my girls know about global warming.  Juniorina is probably a bit more civicly engaged than Juniorette. That's okay.  (My sister, 18 months younger than me, was much more interested in new hiding places for her pints of peach schnapps and figuring out ways of blackmailing me with her stolen knowledge of the contents of my journal, than she was in writing letters to our local paper about the ERA.  We're both successful and can sit in the same room for a few hours at a time.)   But, despite my disparaging remarks about Live Earth, I was hoping that one of my girls would squee  "Oh, yeah! I forgot...let's watch."   They didn't.

The funny thing, though?  I've been writing this while sitting in Juniorina's room, at her invitation, while we watched the new version of Father of the Bride.  Shortly after I started writing it, Juniorina asked me, "You know that Flogging Molly CD we have?"  I said that we didn't have a Flogging Molly CD, then remembering what I knew about FM, asked if she meant the Pogues. When she described the song she remembered, I verified that it was the Pogues.  I had heard about the FMs, but had never heard them.  Juniorina steered me to a YouTube video clip of Full Metal Alchemist, complete FM "Seven Deadly Sins" soundtrack.  No wonder she thought of the Pogues.  Over the next hour, she had me listen to Keltic Cowboys (Kiss My Irish Ass) and the Hazzards (Gay Boyfriend).  In the midst of this discussion, I told her about the original Father of the Bride, with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor, which we can watch tonight, as a free Netflix download.  In fact, she keeps pestering me to finish up with this post so we can watch it.

My kids live in a much larger world than I did.  They have introduced me to so much that I never would have found on my own.  We share ideas and music and books much more than I ever did with my parents. (I do know that, at this point, I still rule when it comes to who has influenced who more.)  Their iPod playlists include Japanese pop, Rammstein, Broadway showtunes, Celine Dion, King Crimson, O, Brother soundtrack and the Who.  Even though I'd sort of like to be watching Live Earth, I'm happy to put it aside for hanging out with my 13 year-old and watching her pick of the night--the 1950 version of Father of the Bride. 

(PS--no, they would not get my reference to The Kids are Alright.  But, I've got a few years to learn 'em up.)

New Library Comic: Shelf Check

I can't believe I missed this new library web comic.  It's called Shelf Check by poet/librarian Emily Lloyd, whose acquaintance I made when this blog was still in diapers. It's some funny, familiar stuff, folks.  Go have a look!

I'm glad I didn't have food or beverage in my mouth when I came across #7--woulda been spewed across the room.  Probably not funny at all if you've never wandered into Second Life, but there's plenty more non-SL material.

Em--I'm so sorry I didn't herald Shelf Check's existence earlier. Most excellent, Chica!

A little mentee pride: Teen Summer Reading Blog

I've been mentoring Eric since he was a sophomore in college and a work study at my previous library.  I'm still feeling pretty proud about getting a frat boy/football player interested in librarianship as a profession.  Not only did he just graduate from Dominican with an MLS, but he's going into school libraries.  Dude can do story hour, crafts, programing and relate to the gamer kids.  Anyways, he decided to take his library's teen summer reading program online, by using a blog template.   

"Blogs appeal to this age group because it gives people a sense of community," said Elmwood Park librarian Eric Currie. "Young adults are very invested online, like on MySpace, so we figured we'd meet them where they're at."

Have a look at what they've got going on--the participation is amazing! (He would also like to give props to an anonymous, very tall California librarian for the idea.  Here's hoping that she'll find herself in such a supportive organization as Eric, soon!)

ALA Annual 2007: Day 4: June 24: Is Print Ref Dead?

ALA Annual 2007. Day 4. June 24, 2007

Reference Books Bulletin: Is Print Reference Dead?
"Experts discuss whether the print reference collection is a thing of the past, or whether it still has a place in the increasingly electronic world of reference. Speakers include Denise Beaubien Bennett, Reference Librarian, Marston Science Library, University of Florida; Ruth Fischer, Partner, R2 Consulting; Sue Polanka, Head of Instruction, Paul Lawrence Dunbar Library, Wright State University. Carolyn Mulac, Booklist/RBB Editorial Board Chair, will moderate."

Despite the academic-only panel, I was interested in hearing this discussion, as we are taking a hard look at our print reference collection.   The short and resounding answer is "Not dead yet, but dying."  All three panelists offered not only antecdote, but compelling evidence that reference budgets should be more focused on acquiring and making accessible, electronic reference sources.

There was acknowledgment that print is still viable, but much less so. To maximize use of  existing print ref collections and staff resources, these suggestions were offered:

• ID and segregate reference material at point of selection--rather than spending time looking at material when it comes in, know where it's going to go when you order
• Eliminate reference sublocations.  specialized reference collections are a barrier to access.
• Reduce size of print ref collection--aggressive weeding increases a collection's usability (many libraries thinning reference collections 50-75% and even more.
• Limit selection to titles that are truly better in print--almanacs, field guides (and ONLY if these sources get used).  "Encyclopedia" in a title does not an encyclopedia make.
• Circulate the ref collection.

How much is print reference used?

• 1990 study at Wright State University that demonstrated that only 50% of the reference collection was used ONCE in five years.
• Stetson University 2005: 9.7% of print reference collection used
• Wright State U (2006): Only 6.2% of collection saw any use.
  • They responded by weeding 1/3 of print collection
  • They purchased the Gale online ref package.  Only 200 titles, but those saw significantly more use than the print colleciton.

Reasons why print is dying:

• Catalog information for p-titles is limited to title in most cases
  • e-ref is very browsable online--TOC, indexes, etc.
• Preferences of contemporary users who expect 24/7 access, searchability, full text delivery.
  
  • digital natives
  • distance learners
  • convenience-seekers
• P-content is invisible
• Print indexes are too hard to use
• MLS/MLIS students are not required to take reference. Most get out of school with only one (or fewer) ref classes
  • a 1987 study showed that reference collections were too large and impossible to learn
  • does this mean they are not providing good ref service?  NO.
• Print is....print.  E-resources offer interactivity and multimedia. Many resources are dynamic and frequently updated

Problems with e-reference

• E-ref is more expensive than p-ref in many cases (with justifiable reason)
• No good aggregators for all e-titles
• May have to pay annual maintenance fee, even with no new content 
  

Transitioning to e-reference

• Communicate what you are doing and why, to patrons
• Training--staff and patrons
• Make sure your e-resources are searchable in catalog
• Include FREE, authoritative sources in catalog.

ALA Annual 2007. Day 3. June 24: LIVE! Author reading stage.

For some reason, I was wide awake before 7, so I slid out to the convention center so that I could have reliable wireless and do final preparation for my LIVE! Author Stage emcee gig.   Around 9  went back to my room to shower and get all gussied up, and was back at the Convention Center by 10:30.  I grabbed some lunch and ran into Blake, then headed to the Public Programs booth around 11:30.  There was a low level of alarm as a someone had scheduled a tech panel on the LIVE! stage that was scheduled til noon. There were bunches of people there, and I think they would have stayed without vigorous encouragement to wrap it up.

I gave introductory remarks and thank-yous before the first reader, Lois Lowry was introduced by a YALSA member. Lowry is a favorite of librarians and drew a crowd almost as large as the tech panel, which I found heartening.  Even though she was introduced by a YALSA member, I got to meet her--she noticed my name tag and said that her father had grown up in La Crosse.  She read for awhile (The Giver, perhaps?)  and did some Q & A before ending her very busy ALA schedule.  Lowry's reading was our first clue that not all was right with the microphone. If we were not right up to the mic, we couldn't be heard, but if we got close enough to be heard, a lot of sounds came out as pops. It was finally resolved much later in the progam. 

Lowry was followed by poet and youth services librarian Nina Lindsay who read from Today's Special Dish, a wonderful volume with emphasis that makes the domestic and everyday, an intimate, lovely experience.  There's no way to predict or guarantee an audience, and I was pleased to see a very attentive group show up for Lindsay's reading and signing. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Lindsay before she read.

Next up was the author I was most looking forward to meeting--Steve Almond.  Almond is an essayist, novelist and humorist--an off-the-hook kind of writer who was instructed by his publisher to keep his selection at a PG level. Thing is, there's not much from Almond's upcoming title Not that You Asked, that is even close to PG.  The reading stage is also a difficult venue--it's on the exhibit floor, people come and go, and it's really noisy.  We'd all expected a much larger audience for him--Candyfreak was a big book, and humor is usually a draw.  But, confoundingly, he didn't draw much more of an audience than Lindsay. All that, combined with the increasing microphone problem made for a not-so-happy Almond.  He polled folks on what they wanted him to read about: pad thai or heavy metal.  Heavy metal won out and having read the piece beforehand, I knew there would be some squirmy, blushing librarians.  When he was done with the reading, folks appeared to not understand that he was done, and it took a few seconds for a brief round of insultingly polite applause.  "Thanks for your overwhelming response," he quipped.  He didn't exactly take it out on the audience, but let's just say that it was unsatisfying for all parties involved.  Sorry, Steve!

During one of the earlier readings, Penguin came by the booth with their two authors, John Shors and Dinaw Mengestu, just to say hi and to get a look at the stage. Both authors were very approachable and conversational and interested in hearing about the other readers. Shors read from Beneath a Marble Sky, a novel which imagines the story behind the building of the Taj Mahal. Shors does an amazing job of writing from a woman's perspective. I would loved to have heard him read in a more intimate setting. His prose is lush and written to be read aloud.

Chick lit author and force of nature Claire Cook arrived during Shors' reading, and appeared in support of her latest title, Life's a Beach. She wrote Must Love Dogs, which was turned into a film with John Cusack.  My god, did that woman know how to work a room!  As soon as Shors was off the stage, she was setting up the podium and her signing table, and greeting folks in the audience. Cook is a talker, and clearly, her fans adore her.  There was a line for her book signing that lasted through at least the next author and perhaps into the one after. 

First time novelist Jon Clinch, made me feel bad that I didn't like his book, Finn, more. I enjoyed talking with him through much of Cook's stage time. With a marketing background, Clinch understands the value of presentation. He was open and cordial to the PPO staff and me, and was a commanding reader.  Someone who stopped by the booth during his reading commented that writers must be the best readers of their own work.  I shared that it was my experience that writers are not necessarily the best, or even particularly good, readers. Finn, while a bit dark for my tastes, is an intense, engaging read, and focuses on the story of Huck's father, Pap Finn, "a strange sad monster."

My favorite author of the day was up next.  I had put off reading Dinaw Mengestu's The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears until my flight to DC.  I was thinking that the title was too literary or sounded too much like an Oprah book.  In short, I was being lazy and avoiding a challenge. I didn't even look at it until I was on the plane.  I'm so glad I cracked the spine--it was an amazing book about the experiences of three African immigrants who have been in the states for 15 years. The three, who maintained their friendship despite their different paths,  were still, in many ways, outsiders.  The setting was in DC, and made me think about the Capital as more than the pictures and stories from textbooks, as a place where people live.  Beautiful Things is a book I intend to read again.  Mengestu was awesome to work with--friendly and engaged, and genuinely appreciative of the custom introduction I gave him. 

Keir Graff, a senior editor at Booklist, read from his first novel published under his real name, My Fellow Americans, a sort of dystopian noir with a post-9/11 spin, set in Chicago. I had the pleasure of talking to him a couple times during the day before he read, and he was just as gracious and friendly as everyone else. Also heartening to me was that two of the authors (Cook and Graff Clinch) did not publish their first novels until they were at least 45. All I need to do is write, and I might find that there's hope for me to grab hold of that long-held author dream. 

This is my favorite gig at conference, by far, and I hope to be invited back next year.  My work with the Public Programs Office is very satisfying.  PPO directly affects librarians and patrons, providing opportunity and support for a wide variety of programs.  They are also responsible for some of the most enjoyable and informative programming and  learning opportunities at conference.