The revolution will be organized.
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Library Linked Data
Over the last year I’ve read and heard a fair amount about library linked data, and I have not yet been able to form a whole and coherent picture of what this means for libraries. I see examples, and I understand the idea and the benefits, but I don’t see how the examples and the…
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The Infinite Collection: OCLC Symposium on Resources in the Digital Age
OCLC held a symposium after their Americas Regional Membership Meeting on digital resources. They brought together Clifford Lynch, Rick Anderson, Bobbi Newman, and Brian Schottlaender to share their thoughts, and it was a thought-provoking and engaging session. It ended up being the one of the best sessions I attended, and I hadn’t even planned to…
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ALA 2011 Wrap-up
I got back from New Orleans last night, after spending five days attending ALA Annual. I decided this year that I didn’t want to haul my laptop around from session to session, so I instead took copious notes in a little steno pad, with the intention of taking some time each evening to write up…
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The Future of Tech Services in Academic Libraries
I had a carefully planned out schedule for my first day at ALA, and as it turned out, most of it got thrown out the window, largely because I misunderstood some of the session descriptions. Thankfully, I didn’t have too many newbie errors like this during the week, and the sessions I attended were interesting.…
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On my Way to ALA
I’m getting on a plane tomorrow and heading to my first ever ALA Annual. I’m hoping to meet lots of new people, learn some new things, talk about the library stuff I love (metadata, technology, and metadata), and eat a TON of great food (ok, I will admit, I think I’m more excited about the…
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I’d say they’re displeased
I’m doing some research for a paper I’m hoping to write (in the next 10 days…) and I came across this quote that I can’t help but call prescient. I’m reading Julian Everett Allgood’s 2007 article, “Serials and Multiple Versions, or the Inexorable Trend toward Work-Level Displays” (yes, it’s thrilling), and he writes, Probably the…
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The Un-standard Standard
I’ve been working with a lot of MARC records lately, from a handful of different libraries, and a handful of different library systems. Over the next few months, I’ll be working with MARC records from approximately 80 different libraries. And what is really striking to me, as someone who is fairly new to libraryland, is…
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ALA Annual in New Orleans
All the arrangements are made and my schedule is quickly filling up: I’m going to ALA in New Orleans next month. I’ve never been to Annual, and I found Midwinter to be fairly overwhelming, so I’m sure this is going to bowl me over a bit. But at least I will have a purpose, at…
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New Amazon Search Feature?
I wish I had time to write a proper post, but these days, time is something I don’t seem to have much of. However, I wanted to mention something I just saw that I think is kind of awesome: Amazon seems to have created a new search feature that groups results based on which words…
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Moving In
As I mentioned in my last post, I just picked up and moved from Walla Walla to sunny California, where I started a new job at the California Digital Library. I’ve been at the CDL now for a week and a half, and although there were some big work culture differences I had to adjust…