As always, I will start with the Annoyed Librarian.
In the posting, Future Less Imperfect, AL writes about a document discussed at the recent ALA conference in New Orleans. This document is "Envisioning ALA's Governance in the 21st Century" by the "Future Perfect Presidential Task Force." I cannot link to this document because it is only available on the ALA listserv, not the public. According to AL, this task force consists of people who have never served on the ALA Council or really know anything about ALA governance. There is another document that discusses ways to make the ALA Council more effective. The "Future Perfect" document wants to eliminate the Council altogether, and replace it with a participatory democracy.
They also want the ALA to offer free video streaming and audio archives of the conference and sessions. This is supposed to alleviate fiscal issues surrounding conference attendees. AL points out that the only fiscal issues being alleviated would be those of librarians not in attendance. It wouldn't be fair to the librarians who did pay for the conference, or the ALA itself, or the vendors in the exhibit halls. The free streaming would increase the costs of the conference, because someone would have to pay for the video and computer technology. This could possibly lead to lower attendance in the future for the conference. The costs would have to be made up by charging more to a lower amount of attendees and charging more for the vendors.
Another issue raised was the creation of new ALA division devoted to "diversity." This division would be free to join, but has to be funded somehow. Maybe some of the other divisions would hand over part of their money to fund the new division. According to AL, the concern with racial or ethnic diversity in librarianship is related to lower percentage of minorities graduating high school or college.
The "Future Perfect Presidential Task Force" also wants the ALA to explore alternative cities for its conference. They would like to see the conference held in a city that may be less expensive than the "tourist cities" the ALA usually picks. Annoyed Librarian agrees with this, but also suggests that many "alternative" cities many not be equipped to deal with a conference of such a large magnitude.
There is also a desire to increase voter participation. According to AL, most people don't really care about the ALA proper, but participate mostly in their divisions. She thinks that maybe the ALA should divide up into it's divisions, since they are the ones that actually address issues, put on programs, etc.
My thoughts:Some of the ideas of the task force are interesting and should probably be considered by the ALA. Having the conference in more affordable cities is a good idea, if one can be found capable of handling such a large conference. Of course, they might desire a city that has some entertainment value as well. I don't think the streaming idea is a good idea, unless there is some sort of fee involved. It doesn't seem fair for people to pay to go to the conferences, when others get to watch it free from the comfort of their own home.
The second post of the week was Rounding Up. It is basically just a recap of all the reading that didn't get looked at while AL was at the conference.
In the article "This Librarian is Smashing Stereotypes, One Tattoo at a Time, " AL was disappointed by the over zealous headline. The article is really about a library circulation clerk, not librarian, who is a recent MLS graduate. The interviewer mainly asks about her tattoos, but doesn't really get into any other stereotypes.
The blog post Search for America's Most Glamorous Librarian has AL wondering if all professions are focused on the looks of their professionals, or if it is just because 85% of librarians are women.
Street Librarian is a blog posting about a woman in Portland who peddles around a box of books and checks them out to homeless people. AL believes that this is an illustration of a great social failure.
AL also discusses Google+, wondering if it will indeed be bigger than facebook. She is generally not impressed with Google products overall.
The last thing discussed in this blog post has to do with an issue for the Office of Intellectual Freedom. It seems that a man in prison in Michigan is suing the state because it doesn't allow inmates to have pornography. If the ALA wanted to get involved, they could pass a resolution on this because the "Prisoner's Right to Read" states that "material with sexual content should not be banned unless it violates state and federal law." AL claims that it doesn't since state libraries allow Penthouse and Playboy. Of course, if a resolution like this would be passed, it would surely get ALA many headlines.
My thoughts: I did find the "Search for America's Most Glamorous Librarian" interesting. Many people do think of librarians as being dowdy, old women with buns and eyeglasses. That is so far from the truth. It is nice to see someone trying to show librarians in a more fashionable light. Of course, I don't think librarians should have to dress this way. Everyone should be able to dress, for their job, as comfortable as they want. AL's question does remind me of a story I read a few weeks ago about a Harrods shop girl fired
HeyJude had a couple of interesting posts this week.
The first blog posting of the week is Things Worth Tweeting About. She discusses one of the upcoming classes she will be teaching, Social Networking for Information Professionals. This course will use new media tools and explore ways of using them to empower library services. HJ also discusses the fact that the Google Wonder Wheel has been taken offline. This was used by educators, libraries and students for keyword discovery and to spot new word relationships and concepts. Librarians used it to identify new words to search for on a topic. Teachers used it to assist students in coming up with ideas for research projects. Google Real time also seems to be offline. HJ also talks a little bit about Google+, but is still undecided. The really interesting thing discussed in this posting is the new phase-change memory from IBM. It can handle 10 million write-erase cycles while a typical flash memory can only be overwritten 3-10 thousand times.
Flipback books are the last thing HJ comments on in this blog. These books are supposed to be the competition for the e-reader. They are small, 12x8cm and weigh little more than an IPhone. These books are more convenient than regular books because of their size. They are made with excess Bible paper, thus accounting for their light weight. They are able to be read using one hand, making them perfect for commuters on buses or trains.
My thoughts: Pretty generic post this week. Nothing too thought provoking. The new phase-change memory drive is interesting, though. Wonder if it will be really expensive? The flipback books are really interesting too, but do people really want a book that small? Seems like it would be hard to read.
The second posting this weeks is called Creative Commons Elements Beautifully Explained. This is just a video, explaining what Creative Commons is. It is a website, where people can share their art, be it drawings, photos, books, or whatever. Other people can use this artwork for their own use, in different levels. The artist decides which license level he will have for his artwork, and the user must comply.
My thoughts: The video did a very good job of explaining exactly what Creative Commons was about. The idea of artists sharing their work for so many others to use is quite wonderful. They realize that it is all about getting their art out there, to the public, in any way possible. They determine how much someone can alter their work, and I think it would be a great honor for someone to use another's work, as long as the correct attribution is there, of course.
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