Friday Fun: #1 Song the Day You were Born
A friend just sent me this fun site: The #1 Song on this Date in History.
It is easy to use and you can have lots of fun looking up what was #1 on the day you were born, the day you got married, or any other occasion.
For me, the #1 song on the day I was born was “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” by The Righteous Brothers. I have also looked up the #1 songs for everyone in my family. It is fun! Give it a try!
I think I am going to incorporate this site in to my Introduction to the Internet class (I just happen to be updating it this month). The song lists go back to 1890 so even older adults will be able to find their #1 song and it will be a fun exercise for practicing mouse skills, following links and scrolling.
So, now we can all share — What was the #1 song on the day you were born? (then we can all have fun guessing what year it was!)
News from Oregon Virtual Reference Summit 2007 – QandA and Ready Reference from Texting Google Mobile SMS (Beta)
I just recently returned from giving a keynote address on June 1, at the Oregon Virtual Reference Summit 2007. Caleb Tucker-Raymond, Oregon Statewide Digital Reference Services Coordinator, organized this wonderful conference that drew participants from Oregon, Washington, and California, but was mainly designed to bring together librarians who participate in L-net: Oregon Libraries Network. My plenary was called “I Was Kind of Confused b4” Interpersonal Communication Research in Virtual Reference” and I gave a workshop on “Exploring Encounters with Chat Users: Analyzing VR Transcripts.” I am willing to share ppt and handouts to LG readers if you send me an e-mail request. The plenary was videotaped and may be on the open web at some point, I will blog about it if/when this happens.
While at the conference, I attended a fascinating panel on: “What Students Need, What Schools Need.” This program brought together the viewpoints of middle and high school librarians, public librarians, and a delightful young junior high student who spoke about VR from the student perspective. After the panel, I congratulated her on her presentation, poise, and enthusiasm for VR. She mentioned that she had heard me speak in the plenary, but at first had not know what the word “plenary” meant, so she had sent a text to Google. I said: “You did WHAT???” She said: “I sent a text to Google (466453) and I put in define plenary and it gave me the definition.” I had her show me and saw that it also returns the URL where the answer was found on the web.
Some of you may already know about (or use!) this service (which is in Beta testing), but it was news to me! (It was also news to my 16 yr. old daughter, the text maven in our house, which helped me to decide to blog about this). Later one of the helpful L-net participants printed out the Google Mobile info page and I found out that not only are word definitions possible, but also you get info on weather, flight updates, movies, translations, currency conversions, driving directions, QandA and more. Google’s example for using their QandA is: abraham lincoln birthday. If any of you have tried this service out please leave a comment telling me what you asked and how it went!
Here we see Google testing the waters, as some libraries are doing, with text reference services. The latest start up I have heard of SMS for libraries was in Australia as reported on the dig_ref listserv this week by Colin J. Bain, Library Services Manager of Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. Their SMS service just started this past Monday (June 4th) and Colin told me that they have only had 2 queries so far about library opening hours. Since they haven’t done any publicity yet, traffic will surely pick up.
Hmmm, now I am definitely going to have to spring for unlimited text messaging on my cell phone.
Marie’s 8 Things
In the interest of being a member of the LG team, here goes my 8 revelations. Warning to all, the below is (almost) totally unrelated to librarianship. Abandon hope all ye who enter here!
1. If you have ever heard me speak, you may be surprised to learn that I had a bad lisp as a kid. My speech therapist advised me to take up public speaking to help overcome the lisp. Now I have a passion for public speaking and have had a career in teaching/librarianship (from Kindergarten through Doctoral courses and every grade level in between) and can’t get enough of either.
2. Following from the above, I admit that the famous YA advocate Mary K. Chelton, of Queens College, has (affectionately I hope!) dubbed me a “great big ham.” It fits.
3. After the lisp removal, I wore braces for 4 years in HS. Yuck! Today kids wear trendy colored braces in JH which are a status symbol of sorts. Not so then, when I endured being called “tin grin,” “can opener mouth,” (and worse unpleasantries that shall remain nameless). I must say, however, that this horrific experience made me a better person, especially later, when I was a school librarian with zero tolerance for vicious name calling or bullying.
4. Acting again on the advice of my speech therapist, I got involved in radio and had my own late night show for 4 years on the College of NJ (then Trenton State College) radio station, WTSR. My air name was “Me” and I played blues and rock n’ roll.
5. At WTSR (still WTSR 91.3 FM to this very day) I recollect that I once had a mad crush on another DJ whose show followed mine. I later found out he was gay (sigh). I should have known better, as his air name was “Peter Pan.” You can’t make this stuff up.
6. I am totally untalented when it comes to athletics, but I’ve been: an assistant cheerleading coach (to purge my intense dislike of cheerleaders, acquired in HS, see #3 above), a girl’s softball umpire, a scouting assistant to a HS football coach, and a choreographer for a HS production of Oklahoma.
7. I have never had the urge to do the following: ski, sky-dive, skateboard, bungee jump, or surf. But I have parasailed in Acapulco, ridden a motorcycle, refinished loads of antiques, and driven from NJ to Houston to cheer the Rutgers football team to its 1st bowl victory ever in the Texas Bowl last December.
8. I have had drinks with Umberto Eco at Erica Jong’s apartment. Read more about this story from my husband Gary’s point of view at his website (note the photo credit for the picture of Gary with Umberto!)
Back to the Future
The follow-up meeting for those who attended the Mid-Atlantic Futures Conference takes place tomorrow morning at the Princeton Public Library. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m really excited about it. No doubt Pete, myself and others will have much to say!
You can finally check out the hand-outs and materials, etc. from the conference here!
Amy’s 8 Things
(Hmmm I kinda like the sound of that)!
So I have been tagged here and on the PML blog – do I have to come up with 16 things or should I just refer you there!? 😉 EDIT: Okay I managed to come up with 8 more – if you’re really bored or interested check them out! 😉
Well, I’ll do 8 here and then see what happens:
1. I like to keep my fingernails really short because I can’t stand typing on the keyboard with long ones. I spend so much time typing that it really is an issue for me and I can now hardly stand for them to be much longer than the very end of the tips of my fingers. This is okay though because I also pretty much prefer them this way and like the way they look. I also like to paint them dark red.
2. When I was little we had a tire swing in the backyard, hanging from a very large, old tree. I used to play outside on that tire swing all by myself for hours! One thing I would do was to “broadcast” my own radio show while I swung around (weird).
3. I have worked in the following places: a 5 & 10 store; CVS; a Mail Boxes, Etc. (no, it wasn’t a UPS Store back then); a Manhattan publishing company; the Clifton (NJ) Public Library; and now at the Paterson (NJ) Free Public Library. It NEVER occurred to me to become a librarian, not even once, for one second, even though I went there ALL THE TIME, until about the year 2001.
4. I used to have a really weird habit of washing my feet before I went to bed. I just hated the idea of putting dirty feet into my bed. I don’t know why I used to do that, and I don’t really know exactly when or why I stopped doing that.
5. I don’t really like to cook. My husband doesn’t really like this fact about me.
6. I have never, ever, ever smoked a cigarette. Not even one puff once to try it. Never.
7. The first car I ever owned, which I bought myself, was a used Nissan Sentra. Stick shift. I didn’t know how to drive stick. I couldn’t even drive the car home myself. While learning to drive it, I once drove it right through the garage door! The only person who finally succeeded in teaching me how to drive that thing was a friend of my mom’s. She was also my brother’s Pre-K teacher and also then became a librarian!
8. I used to be a soccer superstar!
And, I’m not tagging anyone else. I hope that won’t bring me 8 million years of bad luck or something…!!??!?
8 Things (Janie)
Since our entire blog has been tagged (and since I have been too overwhelmed lately to post), this is a good reason to play along with the 8 random things meme. Posts of substance are in the works, I just need a few more hours in my days.
1. In 7th grade I wanted to be a cruise director like Julie on The Love Boat. The funny thing is that being the program coordinator at a public library is very similar in many ways, so I guess I achieved this aspiration.
2. My first childhood pet was a goldfish named Goldie. Apparently I was not terribly original when it came to names as a child because I also had a teddy bear named Bear-Bear and a doll named Dollie.
3. I am terrified of bats. This fear is not without reason, but the story is too complex for this post.
4. I used to be able to sing along to the entire soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and can still make it through all of the Time Warp without prompts.
5. I have read every single book by Margaret Atwood, some more than once.
6. I am happiest when I am at the family cottage in the Kawartha Region of Ontario. I could happily spend my entire summer on the lake with nothing but a pile of books, jigsaw puzzles and a canoe or kayak.
7. My family is planning a trip to Disney World this September. The last time I was there was in 1975, the year that Space Mountain opened and it was a really big deal. My husband has not been there since 1977 and this will be Alex’s first trip. I hope it is not 30+ years before we go again.
8. I think Parker Posey is absolutely brilliant and many of her films are among my all time favorites. Party Girl should be required viewing in library school. In fact, when it first came out I was in library school and about 40 of us went to theatre to see it together — including the dean of the school and several professors.
Now my turn to tag. I think this meme requires 8 people to tag, so I am going to tag Pop Goes the Library and all of their blogging team (that takes care of 5 with one) as well as Helene Blowers, Karen Schneider, and Christopher Harris (who was an undergrad at HWS when I worked there as a Reference Librarian… makes me feel old).
8 things (Pete)
Wow, the whole blog’s been tagged. Here goes my part:
- I really, really, really want to visit Australia.
- Every year I walk around the lake outside my office and take pictures of the newly hatched baby ducks and geese. It’s hard not to smile when looking at the fuzzy goodness of baby ducks.
- At any given moment I’d almost certainly rather be playing tennis. It’s very Zen.
- Joe Versus the Vocano is one of my favorite movies and I don’t understand why it’s not more widely loved.
- I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love. A wonderful book!
- I kept a dream journal for years, sometimes recording 10-15 dreams in a night. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio…
- I really, really, really tend to like people. (which is good, considering how many of them there are running around out there.)
- Animals? Not so much. I wish I liked animals, I just usually… don’t. Which is unfortunate considering how many of them there are running around out there. (Baby ducks, and other furry youngin’s excluded, of course.)
8 Things Meme (Tyler)
I’ve been tagged for the 8 Things meme by my Teacozy “real life” buddy. The rules are as follows:
Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
1. I’ve been working on a book for about 2 years now. Since I am anal retentive, the plotline is written out and yet I am only on the second chapter of the book.
2. I’m a guitarist who is unable to tune the note B. I have a gap in my hearing pattern that makes me tonedeaf to the frequency which is known as B, and the higher the frequency of B the worse my tuning ear gets.
3. I have a bad habit of leaving closet doors, silverware drawers and kitchen cabinet doors open. I claim it is to test whether we have ghostly spirits in the house (if the doors slam shut by themselves, that’s a hint)… it’s a total lie. I’m just lazy and forgetful. What’s strange is that:
4. Oddly enough, I am fanatical about making sure the doors and windows are locked and closed when I go to bed.
5. I almost became a received a degree in Organismal Biology and Evolutionary Science. I decided to go with an Science and Education degree instead. If you ask me now, I wish I went with OB instead.
6. I still love going to zoos.
7. I have one major goal in life… I need to visit Australia at some point in this lifetime (see the connection in the last 3 things).
8. My dream job would be a golfer. I don’t need fame and fortune, just enough to play golf and raise a family. There is not enough time in the day for me and golf.
The people I tag are, and I apologize if any have already done so:
Amy and Mary of Pimp My Library
Tracy
Crazy Roommate
Sara
And since the rest of my buddies have all already been tagged… I’ll leave the list as is.
You Don’t Have To
Feeling overwhelmed by everything?
I sure have lately! Finding facebook and loving it somehow pushed me over the edge. I thought of myself as “keeping up” and “in the know,” and then somehow I found myself feeling as if I’m drowning in the sea of incredible, new and fun tools, unable to get a breath!
I was talked down by this post from The Shifted Librarian (Jenny Levine). All I can say is, Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jenny. Your timing couldn’t have been more perfect (sorry for that word ha ha.)
Please, for those of you feeling overwhelmed, I highly recommend you read it. Now.
You can’t do it all, and admitting it is okay. This online stuff, it’s
great. We *love* living in this time, right? It’s fun, it’s constant learning,
it’s empowering and alluring if you love learning and information. All of those
tools at our fingertips to learn about and play with, all to help people. It’s
beyond cool.But it’s not your life, nor should it be. You have to learn to let some of it go and then be okay with that (which is the hard part). Michael Stephens talks a lot about how librarians need to let go of the “culture of perfect.” For the younger bibliobloggers I will add that you have to learn to let some of the pressure go. You physically cannot keep up with it all, so beating yourself up over failing to do so is pointless.
What are the library students of today learning?
I have been thinking about this a lot lately and starting to talk to some people about it. I am happy to have found out that Leslie Burger, current ALA President and Princeton (NJ) Public Library Director is also interested in this and is looking (I believe) into ways of assessing and addressing it…..
I just wonder what our current library students are learning and if they are learning about Web 2.0 technologies, customer service and the importance of these things to libraries. If we are spending time and effort to “catch-up” our current librarians, unless we are producing librarians who are “up” on these things, we will be fighting a losing battle.
I have been out of library school since 2003 (and that is even longer ago really than 4 years when you take into consideration how technology and the world changes even faster and faster as time goes by). None of these Web 2.0 things were being talked about then, but they really weren’t on the radar then. I had some wonderful professors. I am sure that there are some wonderful professors now who are teaching these things or who are open to them – maybe the library students are teaching them in some cases! – and I am not disparaging library schools or professors. I just don’t want us to focus all of our efforts on the current librarians only to find that the “new” ones also need such “catching-up.”
You might assume that all “new” librarians are “young” librarians. But this is certainly not the case, just as it isn’t the case that all “young” librarians and people know and embrace all of the Web 2.0 technologies and approaches or realize their necessity in the library world.
A colleague shared this (and he can identify himself, elaborate, or not, I have altered the quote a bit for privacy, and hope he doesn’t mind):
I did a talk for (a class) as recently as October 2006. By show of hands, maybe 2 out of 30 in the class had any idea what RSS is, or read any library blogs.
I found this upsetting (because) RSS IS an information literacy technology. Perhaps it is THE single best technology for allowing us to manage the flow, display, sharing, and consumption of information. As promoters of information literacy, librarians should be ALL OVER THIS.
You know, you could say that perhaps they are using RSS and don’t know it, like many “lay” people who are using it but if you ask them they have no idea that they are! Although I think the point is they should know… However, the part about not reading library blogs is just inexplicable!
I posted about it on another blog and got an interesting reply from a library student:
LibraryNation said…
I’m in library school right now and I’d have to say that there’s a division of thirds in regards to the level of skill we future librarians have: a third of us are really up to
date on technology, web 2.0, and the like; a third don’t know a lot about these
things, but really want to learn more and take all sorts of tutorials and short courses from our IT lab (staffed by fellow students) to expand their knowledge/understanding/use of these technologies. The last third don’t have much interest in learning about these technologies, or perhaps don’t even know that this is something they should be teaching themselves… something that’s vital. Kind of like marketing 😉
… And maybe you’re right about needing to educate our professors. I think they also fall into the three categories: those in the know, those who want to be in the know, and those who think it’s relevant/unimportant or are unenlightened.
Let’s make sure we take an even broader view – look at the even bigger picture – and make sure that the librarians of tomorrow coming out of library school will truly be librarians of tomorrow and not librarians of yesterday!
(Maybe things aren’t as bad as I fear – can anyone help me out here?!)
UPDATE 05/29/07:
I received this message from Leslie Burger –
I’ve just appointed an ALA presidential task force on library education to
take a look at what is being taught in library schools, consider core
curriculum, and how the LIS curriculum needs to match what we need in the
marketplace. ALA Past President Carla Hayden is chairing the TF which
reports back to the ALA Executive Board with the recommendations at the 2008
Annual Conference.
Library Garden 
