Category: Observations

  • CDs and DVDs – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.

    Microwaving a CD, originally uploaded by AlpinePhotographer. I’m supposed to be getting ready for the TRB Annual Meeting, but I’ve been bogged down with pulling PDFs of other conference proceedings off of discs. It’s a weird skill to have – figuring out how to bypass the auto-run software, locate the files, and locate the single…

  • Digging in your heels in the face of professional adversity

    (Photo source: The Guardian) So a while back I decided Leighton Baines is my football hero when it comes to the library profession. (Yeah, that doesn’t make much sense, but work with me, OK?) I’ve been trying not to feel sorry or down this past month, but holy cow are there too many deadlines. I…

  • Freight data makes me feel like a failure

    Freight, originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk. Yesterday I got one of my least favourite types of reference questions: somebody wanted freight data. Not just that, but freight data about how much it costs to ship dry goods in different types of container ships. Why do I hate freight data? It’s opaque. It’s inaccessible. It’s expensive.…

  • Teamwork: Collaboration, sharing, and all the stuff we should stop talking about and just do.

    Spain La Liga Soccer, originally uploaded by NotiZulia. OK? Last time I talked about collaboration here it was right after Spain won the World Cup and I used them as an example. Now I’m revisiting it a few weeks after most of the La Furia Roja played against each other in El Clásico. Barcelona embarrassed…

  • Not all of us can be the Best: How to measure your impact?

    George Best #1, originally uploaded by sahmeepee. I’m trying to follow Sarah Glassmeyer’s advice and start working my horrible Association Football analogies and metaphors into my library writing. (Soccer to the most of you.) First I wast thinking about spinning Stanley Matthews into one. He was a vegetarian teetotaller and class-act. Instead, I’m going to…