sam

sam
Originally uploaded by grretchen.

this is my nephew, samuel robert

penny

penny
Originally uploaded by grretchen.

this is my niece, penelope jean

holy crap.

i'm an aunt.

o.O

“talk about depressing…”

the keynote speaker today gave a very thorough overview of handheld technology, where it’s at, who’s using it, where it’s going, and why we should care. depressing is hardly what i would call it, but apparently at least one person in this room disagrees (unless she exclaimed “talk about depressing!” as a lament of how far behind the times her own library is).

i understand information overload and how that can be frustrating, but depressing? i like it when my profession acknowledges new ways of communicating as valid and interesting and useful, because i happen to think they’re valid and interesting and useful. that’s the cool thing about humans: they’re always evolving and adapting and creating. communication is what makes us human. sure, now we have to find ways to make our institutions respond to the incredible flexibility of the human mind... but isn’t that what we’re all about? libraries, to me, are the brain-trough. who wants to eat slop all the time when, really, we can fit a five star restaurant in there.

anyway, when i get back i’m going to do some research and make sure our web site is “mobilized.” we never know how people are going to want to view it, and if someone tries it and it doesn’t work i doubt they’re going to complain. they'll just chalk it up to the library not meeting their expectations. why not let that intrepid adventurer have a pleasant surprise instead?

technorati tag: cil2006

rude.

as proof that even libraries can be rude, bigoted asshats:

we were coming back from a very pleasant dinner last night, waiting for the elevator, minding our own business, when some smartass from this very conference says to me, in reference to my septum ring, “do you get good reception with that?”

why yes, in fact, i do.

jerk.

i resent the fact that men of a certain age feel entitled to make comments on my personal appearance. does an extra hole in my nose affect my ability to do my job? no. does it make me a serial killer? no. does it infringe on anyone else’s right to pass by, unmolested? no. is it, then, anyone’s goddamn business? NO.

if you feel the need to stare, fine. it is an unusual accessory.

want to ask questions? great. i have answers. no it doesn’t hurt, yes i can still blow my nose, and i happen to like it, that’s why.

insult me for no apparent reason? only if you want trouble.

technorati tag: cil2006

wikis

i am currently on lunch after having attending my first (and second) session(s) of the conference, "Wikis in Action." i was really excited about wikis before i got here, and now i'm even more hyped up about them!

i've been thinking we need to do something to make our resource guides and pathfinders more dynamic, easier to use, and, most importantly, easier to update. as it stands the librarians send me a word file that i then turn into a pdf document and upload to our web site. any time something changes the documents have to be edited and then re-uploaded. very simply, this is a pain in the ass. it's incredibly inefficient, and it's the furthest thing from timely. most of the time the librarians, understandably, don't want to edit and resubmit their documents for one tiny change so they wait until they have a few changes to make to do the work all at once. this results in resources guides and pathfinders that are, like, sooo last month. not good.

a wiki would let us make instant changes to our resource guides and pathfinders. this i knew. what i hadn't considered were all the other cool things we could do with a wiki.

for example, the circ desk has procedural manuals. they are constantly wrestling with putting screenshots into word documents. it seems like every two days they're printing out a new and/or revised page for their manual. if we had a wiki they could go in, edit one screenshot or one sentence, and boom. done.

same goes for committee work. i hate those emails that go around and around until the subject line reads "re: re: re: re: re: re: re: RE: re:".

so, i've got a list of fabulous ways we could use a wiki and a list of possible wiki softwares. i have a feeling we might have to wait to implement a wiki-like substance until after the college has decided on a content management system (which would mean that we wouldn't really be installing a separate wiki software at all since one would be included), but who knows. maybe IT will let us install one as a stop-gap measure.

oops, lunch is over. now i'm off to a session on blogging!

technorati tag: cil2006

cil2006

well, we made it to dc. we even made it to the hotel. and, best yet, there's some free wifi floating around the fourth floor.

two observations: the dc metro looks like an underground space ship and people get drunk here REALLY EARLY.

i saw a bunch of librarians in the lobby (i can spot them a mile away), but sadly they are at the bar in packs and i am so not a pack animal... i think i will hibernate tonight and venture out after sleep and food in the morning.

or maybe i will do some incognito exploring of this place tonight so i can look all with it tomorrow.

technorati tag: cil2006

bah.

they killed my college: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/14071271.htm

women's history month

i've been really busy in the last few years deconstructing gender. i felt like i had the luxury of redefining who i am to myself and how i live in the body i was born with. i decided i don't have to be what the world thinks of as a woman; i can be my own kind. i even considered abandoning the category of "woman" altogether, prefering to avoid the accompanying heinous conglomeration of stereotypes. after all, what is the gender binary but an elaborate excerise in rationalization for a system of ingrained oppression?

girls are just more emotional than boys
boys will be boys
what does she expect, dressed like that?

but what i haven't acknowledged is that it doesn't matter what i think about myself, how i view myself, what i believe my value in this world is. it doesn't matter that i believe in self-determination. it doesn't matter that i refuse to accept without question the requirements imposed on me because of an accident of genetics, or that i think any requirements based on what you fuck with are meaningless. in fact, it doesn't matter if i think at all, because as long as i have a uterus, that is what defines me.

i am just a walking cunt in the eyes of the government, and so are you, and we already have all the proof we need.

UPDATE: see the new santorum: bill napoli