La de da

All done.

It’s strange.  I don’t think it has actually hit me.  I was hoping that participating in the ceremony

would make it hit me.  But really…it just hasn’t.

It feels like I’m just waiting for classes to begin.  In between semesters.  Waiting for something.  I guess I’m not sure what yet.

Anyways I start work tomorrow.  I’m excited.  I’m kind of nervous.  I’m ready.  Very very ready.

I’ll keep you updated.  Until then, have a lovely, rainy Sunday.

Hello fair readers!

In case I haven’t blurted out and told you already, I wanted to share some pleasant news that I have been learning how to deal with the past few days.

….

……

I FOUND A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know! It’s so exciting you all just jumped up and shouted “Finally!”.

Me too.

I accepted a Reference/Adult Services position at Calumet City Public Library, a small South suburban library.  I’ll be one of three Adult Services librarians and I will also be in charge of Fiction collection development, some community outreach, and Teen Programming.  I am super, uber freaking excited.  I have some really fun ideas, like potentially creating some kind of fiction collection development blog…pending approval of course.  So we’ll see.

But can someone please explain to me why….after years of being an adamant Fiction reader and now being put in charge of an entire Fiction collection…why oh why is every book that I want to read right now Nonfiction?!?!

Like this and this?!

I know it sounds silly but I want my first post-graduate book to be special.  Something that I will look back and remember that it was the first book I read after being in school for 19 FREAKING YEARS!

We’ll see.

Have a lovely Wednesday.  I’m graduating on Saturday so you better believe there will be a photo blog coming up.  Oh yeah, I know you’re excited.

Hello fair readers!

You might be asking yourself…where in the world did Leah go?  And if you’re old enough to remember it, you can even sing that little song from the show that was based on the PC game.

Remember that show?  Sigh.  Good times.

But seriously, where the hell have I been?  Let me give a little hint.

Yes, that’s right.  My life has basically been overtaken by grad school in the past few weeks.  More so than ever before.

Because guess who is done?  Just take a little guess.  A tiny, itty guess.

The girl with the Information Policy book?  Omg good guess.  Me!

So right now, I’m in the weird period between student and librarian.  Officially, I’m not a librarian until May 3rd.  Yet, course work is done.  Assingments…done.  I guess it’s just all up to the waiting game now.

Still, I would like to share some of my final projects that I worked on this semester.  I would like to think that some of these are a culmination of my graduate career.  So you better believe that I’m going to share the things that have been completely taking up ALL of my time in the past few weeks.

First, my Humanities Public Piece. 

In my resources in the Humanities class, we had to take a topic that bridged over several areas of the Humanities and then design a public piece around it.  I chose to do Pride Month because I have worked at a library that has done LGBT programming before.  It was widely publicized, extremely popular, and rewarding for everyone involved.  Also my boyfriend works at this amazing bookstore that specializes in LGBT lit. and I really saw an opportunity to create some unique programming.  If you would like to view my presentation, click here.

Second, my instructional tool.

I decided I wanted to focus on free, authoritative legal resources on the Web.  All you regular readers know that this is an area that is of special interest to me.  Most legal resources are difficult to find, difficult to use, and insanely expensive.  Legal research should not be for the few, but for the public.

And finally, my National Information Policy presentation.

We basically had to pretend we were being nominated for the Secretary of Information, a position that exists in most countries…just not the US.  I tried to really narrow my policy proposals, as you can see if you watch my presentation.  

There was more.  Papers to be written, evaluations of presentations to fill out.  It’s strange that this is now over.  This huuuuge part of my life…that really only lasted about 1 1/2 years.

This is me 2 years ago…to the month, graduating from Undergrad.

Oh Leah the Library Student…you had no idea what was in store for you.

To everyone at Dominican GSLIS graduating in two weeks….congratulations friends.  We made it.

The mixed tape. I used to spend hours upon hours making mixed tapes.

See that? That is me, aged somewhere between 16-18, making one of probably hundreds of mixed tapes on my parent’s stereo.

Mixing songs into a specific order for someone is a special thing. It takes time and patience. Dedication for not just whoever the mix is for but also to the music. And everyone has a different tactic for it. I know many people who strongly believe that mixes for others should contain music that they might not know about yet.

Me…I choose to make things from the heart. Some songs, or even all, will probably be known to the listener. But just to know that I think of that song and them….that is the message. It’s like a letter or a card. But in music.

So when I came across The Shifted Librarian’s blog about Muxtape, I was just really pleased. While not as personal, time consuming or really as heartfelt as a mixed tape/CD, this new website rocks socks.

Seriously…you should play around with it. You just upload songs, organize them, and then play them. So, fair readers, here is my Spring Mix to you.

Enjoy.

http://yolaleah.muxtape.com/

Hello fair readers!

I hope your Vernal Equinox and your potential Easter celebrations went smooth and hopefully with much less snow than mine did.

(photo taken by Yenna, posted on Flickr with the tag “Winter sucks”…I agree)

But all this winter snow in Spring has given me some time to stew and grow more and more annoyed with this article:

Our Public Libraries Are Being Turned Into Video Arcades

and the fuddy duddy librarians who are rallying around it, as if this was a good point.

I would like to take one particular response to the article and break it down into it’s ridiculous components. Why you ask? Because it’s sad. And angering. And wrong.

Posted by anonymous in response to the LISNews blog about the article:

Wow. Just wow. That’s right people. Librarians like that actually still exist. Sad, yes?Let’s debunk that statement.

“this is just part of the problem with public libraries since they forgot what they were in the early nineties”

What is a library? According to the free online dictionary:

li·brar·y

(lbrr)

n. pl. li·brar·ies

1.

a. A place in which literary and artistic materials, such as books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, prints, records, and tapes, are kept for reading, reference, or lending.

b. A collection of such materials, especially when systematically arranged.

c. A room in a private home for such a collection.

d. An institution or foundation maintaining such a collection.

2. A commercial establishment that lends books for a fee.

3. A series or set of books issued by a publisher.

4. A collection of recorded data or tapes arranged for ease of use.

5. A set of things similar to a library in appearance, function, or organization: a library of computer programs.

6. Genetics A collection of cloned DNA sequences whose location and identity can be established by mapping the genome of a particular organism.

So there’s a definition. But truly, a library is what a community makes of it. A library can be as big, or as small, as the school, city, business or organization it serves provides it to be.

So libraries can be this:

But libraries can also be this:

(this picture was taken by The Shifted Librarian at DOK Delft, one of the hippest libraries in the world)

Needless to say a library, a building, an inanimate object, does not forget what it is. A community, a school….people change it when they see a need for change.

Back to the hater:

“and decided to become this hybrid amazon.com/barnes and noble/arcade/rec center ordeal that we have now”

This comment implies that a library cannot change to keep up to date with the times. That a book-store style of library, or a library catalog that has pictures and words that everyone understands in it….are bad things. Let me direct you back to a blog I posted about librarian stereotypes. If change does not occur, if keeping up to date with modern trends…not just in libraries but in the whole world

If these things do not occur, then it is logical that the entity will cease to exist. I recommend this poster reads a little something called The Origin of the Species by means of natural selection by Charles Darwin. Check out the bit on survivial of the fittest. Apply.

Let’s continue:

“I am a young adult librarian”

Really? Well that’s quite a surprise. Because most teen librarians that I know…totally rock.

“and soon we will be losing ref desks for kiosks so that we are encouraged to wander around and bother the patrons ala target employees”

First, Target employees certainly do not walk around bothering people…or even asking if you need help. They are few and far between. And would it really be so bad to get rid of those awful reference desks that scare the bejeezes out of most patrons? Wandering around and asking people for help…well that’s just helpful. Not bothersome.

“this is sad. the video game aspect, while i don’t agree with it, isn’t the libraries fault. we have books here. we just have adult and children too stupid to read them now“

As soon as I read that sentence…well it took every bone in my librarian body to not pick up a volume of the OED and chuck it across the reference section.

And no, the typo in the sentence does not make it any better.

Talk about a total loss of hope.

Not just in libraries…or even librarians…but humanity as a whole.

It’s sad.

So I suggest to reading this to cleanse your palate of that awful taste of bitter librarian:

Videogames and Martinis: 25 years later

It’s much more useful than calling someone stupid….which as librarians we should all know….is just no excuse for poor service.

Have a lovely week, fair readers! And do yourself a favor, play some video games.

Hello fair readers!

I have the day off today, which is a pleasant little surprise. So this morning I have just been playing about on the internet. Catching up on missed blog postings and all of Pitchfork’s news on SXSW…which I’m not at. And that makes me sad.

But this has basically led me back to multiple band’s Myspace pages, which in turn is bringing about a sense of….nostalgia maybe?

I eliminated my Myspace page just about a year ago. For a few reasons really. I had stumbled across the fact that News Corp. had bought it out…and that’s a little creepy.

Also I was just plain sick of the spam.

Various versions of that girl requesting friendship over and over again. Ugh.

But there were good things about Myspace.The quirky, clunky html codings of your friends, in all it’s glory and occasional ridiculousness.

I guess there is something a little endearing about being able to create your own code….or in most cases use Thomas to create your own code.

As much as I love Facebook, I have to admit missing that touch of personalization.

But what I miss the most, hands down, is the music.

There are bands that I discovered through Myspace that I now love and probably never would have found…ever…if it weren’t for the website. Just to name a few:

Tycho

Ulrich Schnauss

Goddamn Electric Bill

VHS or Beta

And that’s just a few.

I had actually first been introduced to Myspace in 2002 as a “music website”, which is kind of funny considering what most people use it for now.

Still I find myself returning to it, every now and again, to try and find some obscure little band’s music that just hasn’t made it’s way to ITunes yet…like Fleet Foxes, for example. And everytime I go back I wonder….Are there hundreds of bands that I’m potentially missing out on because I no longer have a Myspace page? Should I recreate my Myspace?

……

nah.

I’ll just have to find other ways to get my social networking music fix.

Well have a lovely weekend fair readers! And if you are at SXSW….I hate you.

(jk…kind of)

Dear fair readers,

My sincerest apologies for my severe lack of posting in the past week or two. I know that excuses are no excuse, but what can I say? My to do list is catching up with me.

This week alone I have one presentation on Hoover’s, another for Humanities class on Scientology, a paper on privacy for my Info Policy class, one phone interview for a job, and one second interview for a different job.

Oy vey!

So, you might wonder, what am I doing to keep completely sane?

Oh Nintendo DS Lite! Your accessibly simple, yet educational gaming saves my sanity every time!The Nintendo DS has oodles of educational games that you can pick up, play for 30 minutes or so, and then go back to whatever things you really should be doing atm. My current favorite is My French Coach.

Through a series of games and quizzes and an excellent “coach”, I can refresh my memory of all those lovely high school french classes with Mdm. Roselle.

So next time someone tells you that video games rot your brain, tell them to bugger off in french. (Va t’en! Tu es tres stupide!) Or your could tell them to read up on their Jenny Levine. She’ll tell them what’s up.

So again, my apologies fair readers. If you need something to do, I recommend gaming. It’s good for your brain.

Happy Monday!

Hello fair readers!

It’s that time again. The Oscars are upon us and as usual for this time of year, I realize how many great movies I have yet to see.

This is also that time of year when we realize how very wrong past Academy Awards have been

So very very wrong.

But regardless, they sometimes do get it right

Thank goodness.

But really that’s not what this post is entirely about. This is my version of the Academy. A small, rather insignificant one. But still, my awards for the best of film stuff are as follows:

Best Film of the Year

Paprika

Words barely describe how overlooked and amazing this Satoshi Kon movie is. Creative. Moving. Beautiful. Just hands down and overall my complete favorite film of the year. Plus, what the hell Academy? How come animation is never in the film of the year catagory? Ever? Ugh. Check it out:

Best Animated Film of the Year

So of course I’m starting out with my two favorite categories. Would you expect any less? And btw, this one is an insanely difficult decision. It really comes down to two films. Persepolis and Ratatouille. But since I can reuse Persepolis in another catagory (I know, I’m such a cheater) my favorite animated film this year was Ratatouille.

Ratatouille was clever, endearing, and hilarious. It was adorable and cute without being cheesey (please…excuse the rat/cheese pun..it’s unavoidable). And frankly…after catastrophes like this

I was genuinely concerned about the fate of Pixar. Thankfully they have not fallen into the realm of total crap. Thank you film gods.

Best Foreign Film

And here is my cheating cheater ways of sneaking in, yes that’s right…count ‘em, three animated films into my best of 2007 list.

Words can hardly describe my joy when I heard that one of my favorite graphic novels was being turned into a movie. And it’s a truly amazing film. Unique animation that I have never seen the likes of and just as striking as the books. I was so pleased.

Best Director

This is another tough one…but for various reasons and some obvious ones…I’m going with Wes Anderson.

The soundtrack alone is enough to throw him into this category. But the film, overall, is one of his best. It was, as usual, poignant without being completely pretentious. Quirky without being annoying. And visually stunning.

Best Actor

Two words. Cillian Murphy.

Ridiculously beautiful. Fantastic actor. And when you pair him with Director Danny Boyle? Well amazing things happen. Murphy was such a commanding presence in Sunshine. So well played.

Best Actress

So I’m was a bit torn on this one…like many of these other categories. But really the one actress who comes to mind is Julie Delpy in her self-directed film 2 Days in Paris. She is a brilliant actress and made a film that was enjoyable without running into the realms of self-indulgent. She managed to balance both direction and acting…something that certain actor/directors (ahem) have a very difficult time managing.

Now I could probably keep going but for the sake of time, I’m just going to end this here. Overall 2007 was not a shabby year for film at all.

Enjoy the weekend, fair readers, and have a lovely time watching the Oscars.

Law Library’s Cute Signage! (feat. Natalie Dee comic)

Originally uploaded by leah the library student

Hello fair readers!

Yet again, it’s a busy busy day today filled with homework doing and humanities researching. However I want to post about the uber cute new signage at the law library where I do reference a couple times a week. Pritzker Legal Research Center has a fantastic staff and I just love love love that they included a little Natalie Dee comic for the available headphones.

Users can also check out cords, laptop locks, lamps, powerstrips…just about anything your little law student heart would desire for a long day of legal researching.

As always, three cheers!

Have a lovely Thursday.

Hello fair readers!

Yes, it is Friday night. I know. But I have to work all day tomorrow. So what am I doing with my time?

That’s right. Go ahead. Laugh.

But seriously, I have discovered, with a wee bit of help from friends and blogs, two uber cool and free legal research tools.

That’s right. FREE. A word that doesn’t commonly come joined with the words “legal” and “research” very often.

That’s because of these two culprits

for the most part. And not that those publishers are by any means evil…at least…I don’t think so. They just charge oodles of cash for access to legal information.

So, as you can see, I was pretty psyched when I found out about these free websites that are actually quite progressive and efficient.

The first, and probably my favourite of the two, is PreCYdent Search Engine.

So. Freaking. Cool.

You can search for opinions and statutes, and then you can rate them, tag them, create PreCYdent widgets, put a PreCYdent facebook application on your facebook page….and lots of super cool 2.0-ish tools that are usually just not connected with legal resources.

The second, also free and cool, resource is The Public Library of Law.

This has LOADS of great, easy to locate info. Case law, statues, regulations, court rules, and omg even legal forms. I’m about to pass out….seriously.

I highly recommend librarians, particularly in public libraries, check out these amazing resources. The will be great tools for members of the public to start off their legal research. They are easily searched and don’t have hidden fees…at least not that I have encountered. It’s refreshing to see the legal research world opening up to 2.0 concepts.

I have said this before, but I will always say it again…three cheers for progress!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.