John: Thread Killer

LSW: John: Thread Killer

For people going to ALA, where are you staying?

Monday - Comment - Like - Share

Hilton - maʀtha

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Home (not helpful, I know) :) I have to drive down Sat and Sun - Hedgehog from Android

LOL, Hedge! - Die Leberwurst

Used Air BnB to get a place. eta: Staying in somewhere in Printers Row. - Running Slow

crowne plaza? I think? I remember it's #4 on he map - ellbeecee

I've booked a room at the Hilton (which I typed Jilton initially) - John: Thread Killer

Hilton, I think - ~Courtney F

I'm still waiting to hear if I can go on Friday. There's a program I'm very interested in. If I go, Ill be taking the train in. - Betsy #TeamMonique from FFHound(roid)!

across from the art institute. congress plaza @ grant park. - Marianne

Chinatown Inn (some specific name, but I forget) about 5 blocks west of McC Ctr - awd

Daytrippin' via the South Shore Line. - Catherine Pellegrino

Blu - RudĩϐЯaЯïan

the burnham on 1 w washington. need a roommate, btw... - henry

hey, we get to meet henry! - maʀtha

Also staying at the Hilton. - Laura Krier

In spirit, at the Hilton (despite a $20 incident last time around). In flesh, not going. - Walt Crawford

Palmer House. - kaijsa

wrigleyville. - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

LSW: Joe Boone

'Twas thinking that we could have a real LSW virtual conference using our adobe connect or some such webinarish software. Could we do something like that this summer or fall?

April 24 - Comment - Like - Share

♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫, Deborah Fitchett, Sir Shuping is just sir and 12 other people liked this

Yeeeeeeeeessssss - Marie from iPhone

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We can have parallel snarky and non-snarky tracks, with prizes for people that guess which is which most often. Like arXiv vs. snarXiv. - John Dupuis

I want to moderate the snarky track. - Andy

Depending on the time, would like to come in too. - aarontay

I think it should be at least 12 hours so that everyone can come! - Megan loves summer

Maybe something like noon to midnight eastern time? That will be like 5pm to 5am UT. What is that in Australia or NZ or Singapore? - Joe Boone

Midnight to noon in Western Australia! - Megan loves summer

That sounds like a great idea - John: Thread Killer

Will there be a dance party? - Running Slow

The Dance Party will be in Third Life. [We have to invent this future.] - Joe Boone

We also need an award to present, like the Shovers & Makers or something. And the trophy needs to be a cod slicer. - John Dupuis

you people crack me up - maʀtha

Andy can take on Third Life. He's a futurist. - Running Slow

If I can't moderate, I do want to talk to everyone about 5D printing. - Andy

We could call the Shovers and Makers award simply the S&M award. Leg lamp? - Joe Boone

we tried that 15 years ago and it didn't work. count me in. - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

I think that'd be 4am - 4pm New Zealand time. Give or take some daylight savings. Anyway, doable. I think we should have a session where someone Skypes in to someone with a Scopia connection to someone with Adobe Connect. - Deborah Fitchett

Typical weekday, Friday, or a Saturday? - Joe Boone

potluck! - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

LSW: John: Thread Killer

I want an ILS where I can set the max # of items out. If I place holds, they are all suspended if I am at my max # out. Then, when I return material to the library, the holds automatically become active for the next book. I could choose to have more than my 'max # items out' knowing that it would keep my holds suspended.

April 24 - Comment - Like - Share

Marianne and kaijsa liked this

This would be something I would have to turn on as the patron; it would not come automatically turned on. And that way I wouldn't end up with eight books coming in at once and never getting a chance to read any of them :( - John: Thread Killer

As a patron, I've long wished for a queueing system for holds. This would be the bomb dot com. - kaijsa

lris to lris's feed, LSW

Hey folks, it's Derrick's birthday! I, for one, feel very lucky to know him. Best wishes for your coming year, Derrick.

April 15 - Comment - Like - Share

Kol Tregaskes, the king of the interweb, Mark Kille and 72 other people liked this

Happy! - Jenica

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Most wonderful of birthdays to you, Derrick! - Lily

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Blake

Happy B-day. - Joe Boone

Happy birthday, D! - Steele Lawman

Happiest of days, D! - laura x

A happiest of birthdays to my brother from another mother. - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

Happy day to you, Derrick! - Friar Ticket to Ride

Happy Birthday!! - Hedgehog

Many happy returns of the day, my friend! - Catherine Pellegrino

Thanks everyone! - Derrick

hippo birdie two ewes - LibrarianOnTheLoose

Happy birthday, Derrick! - John (bird whisperer)

Happy Birthday! - Kevin Johnson

Happy Birthday!! - Kathy

Happy happy - WarLord

Happy bday superman! - SteVe C

Happy birthday. :0) - Yvonne

Happy birthday! =) - ronin

Merriest birthday, D! - ωαřмaiden ❤Marrit Woman❤

Happy birthday, sir! - Meg V. Meg

Happy birthday! - Eric - seven eleven

Happy Happy Birthday, D! - Kisha from iPhone

Happiest of birthdays to you Derrick! - Galadriel C.

Happy birthday! - Stephen le Francoeur

Happy birthday, dearest Derrick! - Laura H.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Jefferson, Happy Birthday to you. - Laura Norvig

Enjoy your day, Shug <3 - Starmama from FFHound(roid)!

Happy birthday! - Amandadon't

Happy happy birthday to an awesome librarian! - John: Thread Killer

Happy Birthday Derrick!! - adf

Hippo birdie! - Rebecca Hedreen

Happy Birthday Derrick! Awesomeness should come to you today! - RudĩϐЯaЯïan

Happy Birthday, Derrick. - Greg GuitarBuster

Many happy returns of the day, Derrick! - barbara fister

You're the best, D, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! - Micah from FFHound(roid)!

I think it's now tomorrow here, but happy birthday anyway! - Deborah Fitchett

Hey Derrick. Feliz cumpleaños! - Franc, a rememberer

Thanks again, everyone! - Derrick

<3 Happy birthday, D!! - Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart from Android

Happy birthday, my friend! - Jim #TeamMonique from iPhone

How wonderful life is that Iris and Derrick both are in the world. And alla y'all. - Mary B: #TeamMonique

Still thinking of you, D! - Anne Bouey

Many happy returns! - Megan loves summer

Happy belated birthday Derrick! - the king of the interweb

LSW: John: Thread Killer

This is perhaps a question I already know the answer to, but will the ALA scheduler be ready for use before the April 12 early bird deadline? (and anyone looking for a roommate?)

April 9 - Comment - Like - Share

I'm not sure when the Scheduler goes live, usually a month or so before the conference in the past - but there may be more flexibility now that it is in-house. Have you seen the Preliminary Program? http://ala13.ala.org/prelimi... and was it useful enough? (also, see the "Making the Case to Attend" section (which I find amusing) - awd

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I'll be going regardless, but our budget for conferences/professional development is criminally small ($2500 for the entire library for the year) so I was curious if it made sense to try and go for just one day or just go ahead and buy the whole thing. I'll likely just buy the whole thing because I'll probably go more than one day. - John: Thread Killer

i am looking for a roommate. i'm booked into the the Hotel Burnham on 1 W Washington St ... it's about two blocks from the ALA bus. The double-double room looks something like this:http://www.tripadvisor.com/Locatio... ... - henry

Most of us have to choose which one day we want to go and we buy early bird, so we choose with no scheduling information. - Betsy #TeamMonique

Scheduler is coming out on April 22 - Hedgehog

LSW: Andy

April Fool's Day thread

April 1 - Comment - Like - Share

maʀtha, Angel R. Rivera, Kirsten and Sir Shuping is just sir liked this

Amazon buys Overdrive - Andy

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Michael Gorman embraces RDA - Andy

Edwin Mellen Press sues rest of library world - Andy

eBooks now available to all libraries from all publishers with note, "Sorry about that" - Andy

Anne Rice has turned around again and is publishing under A. Rocquelaure again. - Die Leberwurst

Elsevier becomes a non-profit. - Joe Boone

Apple-Samsung suit settled, both agree that they really aren't innovative except at assimilating other people's work and claiming it as their own. - Andy

Peter Suber, Stevan Harnad and John Wilbanks all join the Scholarly Kitchen as bloggers. - John Dupuis

Cambridge University Press, SAGE, Oxford University Press, and Edwin Mellen press sue one another for the right to call themselves "Most Litigious Academic Publisher." - Steele Lawman

The Annoyed Librarian starts writing positive-themed columns. - Yvonne

For those who *do* like 4/1 stuff: Go to Google Maps, look up an address, hit the Treasure option...and then, crucially, drag the larger/smaller row over to the map. Somebody did some seriously nice programming there. - Walt Crawford

DPLA announces a paywall. - RepoRat

LSW is now sponsored by Jack Daniels. - Andy

Wait - I thought the LSW was always sponsored by Jack Daniels. I'm confused... - WebGoddess

It is. Now we have to wear these NASCAR-like jumpsuits with the sponsor logos on them. - Andy

Ah! All clear now. - WebGoddess

Robert Murdoch bought Elsevier! - awd

That's old news - maʀtha

I'm another year older... that's my excuse this time :) - awd

I am looking forward to my NASCAR-like jumpsuit - John: Thread Killer

Maria Pallante says "let's return copyright duration to its original value! the Founding Fathers would have wanted it that way!" - RepoRat

The US Patent and Trademark office tradmarks the ® symbol. - Joe Boone

LIBSTAPLER! http://pinterest.com/springs... - Laura H.

LSW: ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

Deadline extended to this weekend. Hey, you coming to ALA Annual? or need a way to convince work to send you? I, wearing my ALA LearnRT Program Chair Hat, invite you to submit a proposal to one or two or three of our sessions at ALA Annual In Chicago. Have at it! Workshop titles and links below. PLEEEEEZE..

February 20 - Comment - Like - Share

Kathy, $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian, Caitlin and 2 other people liked this

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Submission Form Deadline March 29th ish (http://tinyurl.com/learnrt... ) Saturday, June 29th, 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

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That Was Great, Now What? Submission Form Deadline March 29th ish, 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/learnrt...) Sunday June 30th, 10:30 am - 11:30 am - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

Best Practices in Training Submission Form Deadline March 29th ish, 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/learnrt... ) Monday July 1st 10:30 am - 11:30 am - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

bump - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

hahahahahahahaha I so have a title I want to use... - RepoRat

Do it. - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫ from FFHound!

saturday bumpus - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

thanks, Mo. I haven't presented at ALA since 2008. I figured it was too much bureacracy. But Chicago is one of few places my employer might pay to send me for ALA... - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

We are trying to make the presentations as much about current and relative work as possible. Please apply so I have some stuff in the presentations. - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

wednesday pinball bump - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

another day another bump - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

Now this is me BEGGING people to apply. Really. You. Yes You. - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

OK I missed this...I still have four days, right? - John: Thread Killer

Yes, you still have time. Deadline EXTENDED TO March 29th. (or 30th) or April Fools day, cause I like you all. - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫

Bump de bump - ♫410 I Coach 'em Up♫ from FFHound!

LSW: Blake

So after a thorough review of every RSS Reader out there I think I've settled on http://newsblur.com/ though I'm also considering http://theoldreader.com/ but I found it a bit too basic. Has anyone else settled on anything?

March 26 - Comment - Like - Share

Greg GuitarBuster, Amit Patel, bob and 4 other people liked this

Currently running Tiny Tiny RSS, impressed by Newsblur. Do you have a sense of how well Newsblur handles feeds that don't validate? TTRSS just drops 'em on the floor. - RepoRat

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I think I've settled on newsblur as well. It works the way I want a reader to, mostly, and though there are features I'm not sure that I'll use, the basic is what is important to me. I don't have an answer for RR's question, though. ETA: I also really like the ipad app. - ellbeecee

huh. Nope, if you can point me to one I'll add it and see what happens. I liked tinytiny as well, but kept going back to newsblur, and it's work a buck a month to have someone else host it. - Blake

I feel like it's 2004 all over again, but I can never go back to a desktop RSS reader. I think I'll settle on Old Reader, mainly because it's free for now and doesn't have limits on the number of feeds. - Royce's favorite Anna

I've settled on relying on you to point out/post the important stuff. - LibrarianOnTheLoose

try hangingtogether.org? - RepoRat

I sort of like Feedly so far (currently pulling from Google but says it ports everything over). The app is flakey on my phone, though - Megan loves summer

hangingtogether.org successfully added to newsblur. - Blake

I didn't hate Feedly but found it too... flashy or something? - Blake

what's an RSS reader? :P - holly #ravingfangirl

Feedly works for me. - Jenica

real answer :I gave up GR long ago and use Netvibes for the few feeds I keep track of. - holly #ravingfangirl

Still waiting to see if google will change their minds... - aarontay

I've been using feedly while I wait for Old Reader to import my feeds. I've got feedly set to default to just the list format and like it well enough, and the app works fine on my phone (Android) - Kirsten

I'm using Feedly. - Jason P

Feedly is just not quite right for me - though maybe I haven't used the list format enough. I really could whip through feeds in GR with just the keyboard commands and a few spare minutes. I want that in my next feed reader... - WebGoddess

Old Reader sounds good. I'm going to give it a go. - Jason P

i'm trying old reader. i was #22,000 on the list but it's now done importing :) - Christina Pikas

huh. i thought i settled on Feedly last night. Now I want to look at NewsBlur again...ETA: oh yeah. Newsblur wanted me to create an account with them. I don't wanna. - ~Courtney F

I've been using Feedly, but I do see that it isn't doing well on adding new feeds (pretty consistent failure, actually). Maybe I'll try Newsblur. - Walt Crawford

Netvibes is replacing GR and igoogle for me. - JffKrlsn from Android

Is there one or another that allows easy sharing (to Twitter/FB/Email) ? - Hedgehog

Newsblur has sharing, but I haven't looked at it real hard because I don't share. MINE MINE ALL MINE. - RepoRat

I don't like that NewsBlur only lets me have 64 feeds unless I upgrade to a premium account. Maybe I need to weed or maybe I need to suck it up and pay $$. Or maybe I should just keep using Feedly like I have been for the past week or so. It's ok. - John: Thread Killer

@Reporat.... sideeye at your Pinboard/Twitter account. Uh huh...right. - Hedgehog

I don't share everything I read, just everything I bookmark. And actually, not even that -- only the stuff I bookmark for my courses. - RepoRat

Netvibes has share to Twitter, Facebook, or email, but I haven't used that feature. - JffKrlsn from Android

Am using Netvibes but I haven't worked out what keyboard shortcut I'm accidentally using that makes the page do things I didn't expect. These things take time. - Deborah Fitchett

Using Feedly - the transfer was super smooth, I like the app well enough (though I'm still getting used to navigation), and I like the Chrome extension. I haven't had any problems worth shopping around for something better. I've had a Netvibes workspace for ages and fiddled with the idea of using it as a replacement, but after importing all my feeds, I didn't like the way it looked. - Grumpator

This thread is coming up at a good time for me. I didn't like Feedly and am trying Bloglovin, which is still not quite right. I want super simple and no magazine-layout! Will try the others listed here, and also add them to my RSS LibGuide as suggestions for places to look for GR replacements. - kaijsa

I've been using GR and Feedly over the past year. Like Feedly well enough though adding new feeds and organizing is kinda hinky. I was bemoaning those lacks on Twitter last night and somebody from the Feedly group said they are working on those issues. Hmmm - Marge LW

this whole thing makes me sad and cranky (as if i don't have enough to be sad and cranky about lately). i was > 30000th in line to have my feeds imported to old reader (now, after most of a week, i still have 20000+ people ahead of me). tried fever--i don't love the UI and since my hosting is on dreamhost it's kinda oversubscribed so the performance is crap. was going to try tiny tiny... more... - henry

plus: do not love feedly at all. - henry

One of the other things I don't like about theoldreader is it being free. I don't have much confidence they'll be around for long, or at least free for long. - Blake

Katy S to Katy's feed, LSW, The Reading Room

What are your favorite picture books?

March 20 - Comment - Like - Share

rodiiii, Kirsten, Christina Pikas and 7 other people liked this

"Are You A Cow?" And other Boynton books. Also Seuss and Jan Brett. - Gimminy

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When I was a kid, Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, and the D'Aulaires. As an adult, the illustrators from the golden age of children's book illustration in the early Twentieth Century. Dulac, Rackham, Nielsen... - Spidra Webster

I love "Kat Kong" by Dav Pilkey, Neil Gaiman's Wolves In The Walls, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, and This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen, I've recently become very taken by Olivier Tallec's Waterloo & Trafalgar. It grows on me every time I look at it. - Katy S

Where the Wild Things Are, The Runaway Bunny, Goodnight Moon, most of Peter Spier's work, Kitten's First Full Moon, most of Beatrix Potter, and an ancient Little Golden Book called Gaston and Josephine. And Grumpy Bird! - laura x from BuddyFeed

mine are all obscure and from the era when i was doing storytime regularly. Biggest Frog in Australia by Susan Roth and The Blushful Hippopotamus by Chris Raschka. But I like lots of others too. those are just ones that i own. :) - holly #ravingfangirl

Raschka does very nice work! - Katy S

Robert McCloskey: Blueberries for Sal; Time of Wonder. Maurice Sendak: In the Night Kitchen. William Steig: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Dr. Seuss: Yertle the Turtle. - Stephen le Francoeur

One of my favorite illustrators is Barbara McClintock (especially in the two Adele and Simon books). - Stephen le Francoeur

Frederic by Leo Lionni. Owen by Kevin Henkes. - Stephen le Francoeur

I Am a Bunny by Richard Scarry. - Stephen le Francoeur

Jam by Margaret Mahy because I have a plum tree too. Hairy Maclary From Donaldson's Dairy et seq. by Lynley Dodd because I'm a New Zealander. The Video Shop Sparrow by Joy Cowley because of its combination of political cynicism and adorable idealism. - Deborah Fitchett

THe Book that Eats People. There is a Monster at the End of this Book. A Visitor for Bear. Blueberry Girl and Instructions by Gaiman. - Hedgehog

where is the green sheep? green hat blue hat (and others by boynton), a lift the flap book by marion dane bauer - Christina Pikas

Richard Scarry, Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are - awd

Goodnight, Gorilla. Hug. - Laura Norvig from iPhone

my kids loved Pat the Bunny - awd

I love the work of Peter Sis, the only artist/author I have had sign for me at ALA. "Little Gorilla" is a sweet book for very young children. For somewhat older children, Alfred Lobel's books are delightful ("Frog and Toad" and many more). - Steele Lawman

ALL THE THINGS by Oliver Jeffers. I have a soft spot for The Jolly Postman and The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. And let's not forget the library propaganda that is Carlo and the really nice librarian by Jessica Spanyol. Oh, and Banana by Ed Vere. - Heleninstitches

The Knufflebunny books by Mo Willems. Blueberries for Sal. Practically any board book by Sandra Boynton. Everywhere Babies. Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long. Fox in Socks. - Catherine Pellegrino

I thought i posted this last night, but Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm http://www.amazon.com/Animal-... (Geese are mean, there's a cat named Max who leaves "gifts" at the front door...it's a fun book) - ellbeecee

I loved Golden Books as a kid. Also: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Where The Wild Things Are, The Jolly Postman, Each Peach Pear Plum, Tikki Tikki Tembo, Ping, When Hubert Lost His Hum, Caps For Sale, Make Way For Ducklings, Are You My Mother?, Hairy Maclary, Where's Spot?, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, There's a Hippopotamus on my Roof Eating Cake, lots of Mr Men, John Brown Rose & The Midnight Cat, Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, Waddle Giggle Gargle, Dogger... - Headless Gnad Kicker

Everything by Steven Kellogg and pretty much anything illustrated by Bill Peet. Pecos Bill (by SK) was one of my favorites. - MontglaneChess

Oooooh, The Very Cranky Bear! - Headless Gnad Kicker

Baby Wombat's Week <3, Fox in Sox, When The Wind Changed, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?, The Little House. - Headless Gnad Kicker

The d'Aulaires' Greek Myths. Checked it out of the library constantly. I memorized every story, and traced & copied every illustration. Haven't seen a copy in 30 years but those pictures are still clear in my mind. - Starmama from FFHound(roid)!

Also The Snowy Day, & other books with Peter, which later Jayden also loved. That collage style was fascinating to me when I was little, still appealing. - Starmama from FFHound(roid)!

Bear Snores On (Karma Wilson http://www.karmawilson.com/books...) Marsupial Sue Presents "The Runaway Pancake" (John Lithgow http://books.simonandschuster.com/Marsupi...) and we've been on a tear with Dr. Seuss, currently loving Fox in Socks - John: Thread Killer

OH! I have to second/third/fourth Where the Wild Things Are and anything from Richard Scarry (not the Busytown Mysteries, but the older stuff) - John: Thread Killer

Oh, The Rainbow Fish! Marcus Pfister - Heleninstitches

I love many of the above, PLUS: anything by Mitsumasa Anno -- these are charming, wordless, beautifully drawn books. Like Anno's Alphabet, Anno's Journey, Anno's Magic Seeds http://www.amazon.com/Annos-M... - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

Many people have listed my favorites (Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are) but I'd add the Serendipity books, as well as the Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. - Jennifer Dittrich

The Cow who fell into the Canal by Phyllis Krasilovsky and illustrated by Peter Spier. But looking at the list of books posted already, wanna go "Me too" Hairy McLary ....Flossie and the Fox ... some of my education students have an assignment this week to read 10 picture books.... what a pleasure! - Ingrid Thomson

Starmama: D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths still in print; still the best resource for kids..and I loved it like you did! - Marge LW

In a non-historical love fest way: anything by Min Grey; Mo Willems; Lois Ehlert; Kevin Henkes; Denise Fleming; Jan Thomas - Marge LW

THE SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS by Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano - Steven Perez

Love anything Mo Willems, especially the pigeon books. My kids are also into Leo Lionni. Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler also fun. - Julie Gilbert

I Like Me, Never Spit on Your Shoes, Voyage to the Bunny Planet, Martha Speaks (of course), several illustrated by Barry Moser, also Jerry Pinkney, the Roly Poly Pudding, The Velveteen Rabbit (my absolute childhood favorite), definitely the The Snowy Day, Mama Do You Love Me, The Paperbag Princess - maʀtha

LSW: Andy

LSW gets a mention and a link in the "How to Become a 21st Century Librarian" article: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013...

March 20 - Comment - Like - Share

Yvonne, Joe Boone, LB: #TeamMonique and 8 other people liked this

so membership might go up? might want to dust off the badges ... - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

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that reminds me, i need to send the link to this room to my mentee. - kendrak

We have badges? I want a badge. - Betsy #TeamMonique

does that mean we need to behave ourselves again? - ellbeecee

that implies that we have done so in the past. - DJF

i thought we had honey badgers. - Andy

The LSW room's description has been changed to welcome the throngs of new members. - Steele Lawman

Kendra has a manatee? Cool! - LB: #TeamMonique

I didn't think we needed "no stinking badges" - Jason - The Opaque from Android

LB, you know those kooky Californians. - Steele Lawman

hahaha, i just emailed him and forgot to link to LSW. - kendrak

If he's a good librarian, he should be able to find it. - Andy

This will be more exciting than that time when the Pants-Free Task Force and the Trouser Interest Roundtable introduced those competing resolutions into LSW Council. - Andy

Tony Orlando! - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

I hereby declare the LSW Council is out of order. Throw the Bums Out! - awd

Especially Andy - awd

You're just against Largely-At-Large Councilors like myself, Aaron. Conflict of interest!!!!!! - Andy

knock knock knock - John: Thread Killer

THERE ARE TOO GDAM MANY LSW COUNCILORS LARGELY AT LARGE IN HERE! OUT! OUT! ALL OF Y'UNSES! - awd

With my luck that joking shout would be the closer of this thread... which is not what I'm going for ... so I'm replying to myself... is that a +1 or a -1 rating? - awd

I'm screenshotting it right now and sending it to the proper authorities. - Andy

well, drat, there goes my chance to be LSW President4Lyfe... - awd

It's bad enough that the LSW-California chapter councilor has the same power as the LSW-North Dakota chapter councilor, but those 700 largely-at-large councilors really do mess things up. It's amazing that LSW (or, in SoCal, The LSW) manages to have any working organization at all...oh, wait. Never mind. - Walt Crawford

For next year's LSW Midwinter Meeting and Bake Sale, I propose that we go someplace cheap and warm. All those in favor of Somalia, raise your hands. - Andy

By the way, is Tony Orlando the guy who built the city next to DisneyWorld? - Andy

LSW 2014: Vegas Edition! (you said sunny and warm!) - awd

We can have The LSW 2015 at my house but you'll have to share a bathroom. - Marie

I'm sorry to inform you: Tony Orlando has been postponed. - Steele Lawman

peeps and pretzels! - Marge LW

LSW: laura x

And for today's webinar fun, ALATechSource on iPads in Libraries.

March 14 - Comment - Like - Share

Kirsten and Meg V. Meg liked this

Ten minutes of introductions. - laura x

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Phablet? PHABLET? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! - laura x

Sounds like I made a good choice in skipping this... - John: Thread Killer

I was just talking about phablets with a friend today. It's a horrible neologism for a horrible device. - DJF from Android

The chat participants had a long debate about the iPad mini and whether or not it is a phablet. Gah. - laura x

dear chat participants: WHO THE HELL CARES. - Catherine Pellegrino

Can you make phone calls on it? Then no, it's not. - DJF from Android

LIBRARIANS. - laura x

it's PHABULOUS ;) - ellbeecee

WTF is a phablet? #lazy - kaijsa

portmanteau word PHone+tABLET - Pete #TeamMonique

Grody. The word they're looking for is smartphone. - kaijsa

^^ yes. And OMG I'm glad I missed that. - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

Phablet! - maʀtha

This portmanteau sucks. - Andy

I wonder if I need a dongle for my phablet... - maʀtha

*waggles eyebrows* - DJF from Android

*peers coyly over top of librarian glasses* - maʀtha

Because of my personal preferences, I always carry my dongle with me. - DJF from Android

I bet you do - maʀtha

martha ++ - jambina

Do you want me to show it to you? - DJF from Android

*guffaws* - maʀtha

LSW: awd

Tablets in libraries: * If you have them, what are your people doing with them? * How integrated are they with your institutional networked resources (networked printer queues, shared drives, etc.)? * What tasks or abilities are "must haves" for your tablets? * What would you want to be able to do with a tablet in your library?

March 14 - Comment - Like - Share

I've been channeling the voice of reason and moderation on this one at MPOW... and it's freaking people out a little I think... - awd

14 more comments

Is this "tablets for staff," "tablets for patron checkout/rental," or "services available to/customized for tablet-using patrons"? - RepoRat

I haz an ipad for students in a magazine-writing class (and their prof). They create magazines for the ipad & need something to test their designs on and look at other magazines on iPad for inspiration. Hardly anyone else checks it out (bc I'm not marketing it widely). Many of these students borrow it after their semester to take with them on interviews so they can show the interviewers their work. #win It's circulated 22 times since July 2012. - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

I just gave tablets to department heads. We use a Citrix online interface with the Citrix Receiver app (set up by the city) to log in with our network credentials and access all our software and documents (and remote into your desktop if you want). This includes our timecard software, our financial software, and more. It works great. We also have 20 iPads we use for children's and teen programming and I'm looking to add 10 more for adult programs. They are not connected to our printers...yet. - John: Thread Killer

We recently got a Kindle Fire HD, an iPad 2, and a Samsung Galaxy Tab something or other. So far, we've been circulating them to staff with the idea that we would, eventually, like to have some sort of tablet loaning program. We just aren't sure how it will work or what it will look like. - laura x

We have iPads available for checkout. Our base-level instruction classes use them for the tour portion of the class. And I've noticed one student regularly uses one to Facetime, but I don't know what other students use them for and haven't even really noticed them in use (but if they're laying flat on a table I can't tell which are ours and which are theirs; just don't notice tablets in use much, period). - Kirsten

We have two sets: one for circulation and one for instruction. The circulating iPads have a selection of apps, but we encourage folks to link them to their own iTunes accounts (we completely wipe and restore upon return). We have a user survey about why/what/how of using iPadsand could share some results if you want. They are imaged by IT and you can print over wifi with them. They aren't linked to other drives, etc. - kaijsa

The instruction set NEVER circ. We use them for specific activities, including an adaptation of NCSU's iPod touch orientation; as a very mobile lab to take to other building locations; instead of laptops sometimes; for other library use, including taking to meetings or conferences, registering people for classes or workshops, or librarians playing with them to figure out uses. I just... more... - kaijsa

See, this is my question: How cumbersome is it for staff to have to wipe and restore them each time? - maʀtha

We got iPads this year, for all the librarians, with instructions to "play with them". I use mine instead of printing out docs for meetings, for subject department visits (got a doohickey to plug into the ceiling projector connections, too), testing out the mobile sites and apps for databases, etc. Finally figured out how to remote connect to our patron records and set up my webchat. Also handy for checking FF in boring meetings - Rebecca Hedreen

We have a charging/syncing cart. It's pretty easy to wipe them, but you do have to re-synch them one-by-one to the profile set up on iTunes. This takes a couple of minutes, and there's usually a patron waiting for them as they come in. They never really have several to deal with at once, as iPads are nearly always all checked out. - kaijsa

@RR student checkout is what we're planning... most likely we're going with windows-based tablets so the sync into our M$ network fileshares and printers, etc... In my world, I'm thinking it will be more of "lighter laptop" and less of a tablet - I am looking for anecdata on what tablets are actually used for -- we are trying to avoid "consumption-only" devices and I was hoping to hear more about true "production-uses" of tablets... but that is not where it seems folks' experiences lie. - awd

@Aaron, my students are using them for production, if I understand "production" right: they make / test their magazine design on the iPad. @martha et al, one of the reasons I don't promote it more is 'cause I don't want to wipe & resync every time. I do clear the safari cache (most) every time tho. - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

They're awesome for ethnography projects. You can take photos, record audio or video, use Dragon or similar to transcribe voice to text, type notes, annotate pdfs or other images. That's all production, but I also have no problem with people using tablets to read, search, watch, etc. - kaijsa

laurax, our Friends raised us money (without asking us) for an iPad lending library, so now we're stuck doing it. I'll let you know how it goes, since we're in similar communities. Oy vey. - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

Please do. We are at sea. - laura x

LSW: Deborah Fitchett

Volcano time!

March 13 - Comment - Like - Share

Sir Shuping is just sir liked this

ALL THE SYSTEMS. Everything computer-based can now go die in a fire. Bring back the card catalogue and those cool hole-punch index cards. - Deborah Fitchett

24 more comments

dry hacking coughs - RepoRat

Google. - RepoRat

budget cuts - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

passive-aggressive (and sometimes just aggressive) territorial bs - Katy S

Google - John: Thread Killer

The Symposium from Hell. Also, Google. - Nikki D.

What Katy said. And, darn, Google now too. - Jen

Google. - Catherine Pellegrino

Blerg. - Marie

Google. - Andy

Barging ahead with something expensive but stupid because it's "too late" to change course. - Laura Norvig from iPhone

Whaddya got? - Steele Lawman

Yeah... what Laura said. - Julian

Indifference. - Die Leberwurst

I'm unhappy with google, but I'm sticking with budget cuts. 5th straight year of 'em. - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

All of the ILLs! - ωαřмaiden ❤Marrit Woman❤

Hives - maʀtha

My commute - Hedgehog from Android

Sinuses. - Julian

cancelled meetings that leave me stranded at the wrong campus spinning my wheels for over an hour - LibrarianOnTheLoose from BuddyFeed

Ditto Laura. with addendum: buying something expensive but stupid because the Friends think it's a good idea, even though they didn't ask you... - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

Anxiety. You go. You go now. No one likes you. - Andy

silly "download managers" on journal sites that use java. - aarontay

less than fulsome tech documentation and my office neighbour's radio. - Heather

Happy to report that the volcano works almost instantly on radios. - Heather

RepoRat to RepoRat's feed, LSW

Official Google Reader Blog: Powering Down Google Reader - http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2013...

March 13 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Pete #TeamMonique and John Dupuis liked this

Heads-up. Also, !#@$%^$#@!#@$% - RepoRat from Bookmarklet

42 more comments

NONONONONONONONONO - jambina

anyone have alternatives to greader? - Sir Shuping is just sir

I just saw that this second and clicked over here to wail THEY BE STEALING MY RSS! - Deborah Fitchett

If your feeds are low-velocity, the Firefox plugin Sage might do; it's what I use at home. If you need something server-side that'll poll feeds and hang onto stuff so it doesn't age out... I don't know. But that's what I need for work, I'm afraid. - RepoRat

shit. i use it to combine and export feeds so much! - kendrak

I need something web-based. Once I started writing my own on the grounds "How hard can it be?" but it turned out to be pretty damn hard. - Deborah Fitchett

Well damn. - Heather

+1 to the web based and synced. Read on multiple devices. I also mash up feeds via bundles and re feed to work Sharepoint. I am wondering if they didn't include in their users the use via third party apps :( - suelibrarian

Any chance this is an early April Fool's? No? Arrrgh. - Megan loves summer

^^^ what Deborah said. *wail* - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

blerg - lris

It looks like I *could* just use Outlook for my professional ones (not that I love the web interface but it exists for when needed) and find something else for my home ones. - Deborah Fitchett

Maybe nobody at Google reads blogs anymore. Grrrr. - laura x from BuddyFeed

I predict lots of librarian posts about feedreader alternatives. - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

Sorry but FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK! - Stephen le Francoeur

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - Catherine Pellegrino

what Francoeur said, basically. Anyway, Dan Cohen just tweeted that CHNM built a feedreader plugin for WordPress that they're gonna release shortly. I have hopes. - RepoRat

I'm hunting for something that will work on an iPad--my main reading venue. No joy yet. Lots of now useless Goggle Reader integration. - Heather

Time to reinstall Feedly everywhere (phone, tablet, browsers). - Stephen le Francoeur

Should I be surprised that the Feedly site is down now? - Stephen le Francoeur

like the rest of tonight: lots of *sigh* - John: Thread Killer

I would like to add several f-bombs to the pile. I wasn't crazy about Feedly on an Android tablet, but at this point if it works and stays in freaking business I guess I'll take it. - Amandadon't

checking out Newsblur - jambina

Metafilter is on the case: http://ask.metafilter.com/237169... and so is Lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com/5990456... Feedly, Newsblur, and The Old Reader are getting mentioned a fair bit. - Catherine Pellegrino

Boo. Hiss. And what others have said. And after I added 500+ liblogs to my feeds... Arrggh. - Walt Crawford

[And using Bing as my primary search engine is feeling better and better all the time. Although I'll stick with Gmail. For now.] - Walt Crawford

*DuckDuckGo fistbump*, Walt. - RepoRat

+1 for DuckDuckGo. Would be grateful for any workable alternatives to gmail. - Deborah Fitchett

LET'S ALL JUST NOT FREAK OUT... I AM FREAKING OUT... LET'S ALL REMAIN CALM... I AM NOT CALM - Blake

From your 948 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 15,786 items, clicked 226 items, starred 49 items, and emailed 39 items. Since August 1, 2011 you have read a total of 300,000+ items. - Blake

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - JffKrlsn from Android

:( - Elenius from Android

this is the worst news i have heard this year - Jason - The Opaque from Android

You may not be in the minority. Those who don't give a damn typically won't comment here. (Re DDG: Tried it. Still like Bing better, but DDG's in my magic Firefox searchbox pulldown menu...along with IMDB, WorldCat, WolframAlpha and Blekko.) - Walt Crawford

I read it less for library blogs than I used to but more for library journals. For me it's not about people (I use FF and Twitter for that) it's about information. I discovered its imminent demise by adding a feed for the ezproxy changelogs so I'd know of any important upgrades. - Deborah Fitchett

I also use it to monitor the publication of data sets in our self serve repository. - suelibrarian

Newsblur is what I'm looking at. I've been bracing for this ever since they shut down the sharing capability in GReader (I was one of those that had a strong GReader community that has now migrated to G+ though not with the same verve.) - Sarah from FreshFeed

Grumble grumble grumble. I have always been a GReader girl. Very annoyed by this. - Hedgehog

This also knocks out many apps and services. Even flipboard is affected I think if you use it the way I did..Switching to one of the other cloud rss readers wont solve this part. Also google reader storage of all the items..all gone right? - aarontay

I'm going to set up a fever instance since I have my own hosting. newsblur has slowed to a crawl and i don't really love its interface ... I like netvibes better but it, too, is overwhelmed. - henry

Netvibes kept my folders intact when I imported the OPML (unlike Outlook, boo hiss). I'll have to test more things once the servers stop being overwhelmed. - Deborah Fitchett

CHMH might develop an open source reader - via PressForward. - barbara fister

I still have a Bloglines acct, so I'm trying that (but it appears to be a Netvibe skin, so might just try Netvibe itself). If I get energetic, I'll try Feedly and The Old Reader as well. One of 'em should meet my modest and peculiar needs. NOT looking for "turn your feeds into a magazine/newspaper." Not. At. All. - Walt Crawford

LSW: laura x

I have a weird love of ILS vendor demos. Right now I'm hearing all about Innovative. Did you guys know that discovery layers are a thing?

March 12 - Comment - Like - Share

LibrarianOnTheLoose, RepoRat, LB: #TeamMonique and 4 other people liked this

I still don't believe that. - kendrak

16 more comments

NO WAY! - Joe Boone

For real! Patrons don't like to search the way librarians do! - laura x

See my previous comments about how vendors need to skip the background on the market segment and just talk about THEIR product. - DJF

don't patrons like to search and search and search and search and maybe find something eventually? - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

How do I like David's comment? (I did ILS demos last year, this year I got to do VoIP demos) - John: Thread Killer

It's really a wonder people don't muffle me at these things. - laura x

It's TOTALLY A FAD. In five years, those discovery layers will be gone and we'll be back to good old LAST-IN-FIRST-OUT, the way Dui intended. And all that digital crap they're shoving into our catalog? EFF THAT. Books. That's what the catalog is ABOUT, people. - RepoRat

you mean like federated searching? (kidding!!) - maʀtha

you can also get an obfuscation layer - maʀtha

otherwise known as the "link resolver" - RepoRat

Ironic, since theirs isn't really a true discovery layer...sigh. And I love "obfuscation layer". That would be our old Horizon catalog's HIP interface. - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

ROTFLMAO @ "obfuscation layer" - LibrarianOnTheLoose

Obfuscation later is perfect. - laura x from BuddyFeed

Hmm *so* going to steal that joke at a presentation I giving later... - aarontay

Here's a sample search: global warming. (It's always global warming, isn't it?) - JffKrlsn from Android

Yes it is! Is it a innovative thing only or ? - aarontay

Voyager was nothing but "obfuscation layer." Try finding The Sun Also Rises in any Voyager catalog. - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

LSW: awd

One M. Gorman will be a speaker at my local-regional consortium's spring meeting, what shall I ask him?

March 11 - Comment - Like - Share

Steele Lawman liked this

Some questions for discussion include: Questions for discussion for Michael Gorman Presentation ACLCP Spring 2013 Which technology-based initiatives has your library recently implemented? Why were they added? What were some of the considerations before doing so? Which technology-based initiatives is your library investigating for implementation? Why? What are some of the factors being considered? Which technology-based improvements have enhanced such services as ILL, cataloging, training and preservation at your library? What were the actual benefits? Were there any drawbacks? - awd

7 more comments

what's the goal of the questions we're providing? watching him sputter entertainingly? - RepoRat

What do you think about makerspaces and 3d printers in libraries? (Those being the "blog people" equivalent of 2013...) - John Dupuis

Mr. Gorman, you have been an outspoken critic of online communities and social knowledge creation in the past. Has anything happened to change your position in recent years? - Steele Lawman

Oooh, nice one, Steve. - Catherine Pellegrino

Mr. Gorman, you have expressed concern about non-librarians being involved in the BIBFRAME design effort. Could you explain how this jibes -- or doesn't -- with your opinion of MARC designer Henriette Avram? MARC itself? - RepoRat

Mr. Gorman, you don't have a MySpace page, do you? - Steele Lawman

Mr. Gorman, why do you hate fun? - Andy

Mr. Gorman, tear down this wall! (I guess that's not a question) - John: Thread Killer

LSW: John: Thread Killer

I'm formatting ebooks and I just want to give some love and admiration to Walt because I wouldn't be able to do it without his book: THE LIBRARIAN'S GUIDE TO MICRO PUBLISHING. Thanks Walt!

March 8 - Comment - Like - Share

Bill Hooker, Angel R. Rivera, Betsy #TeamMonique and 14 other people liked this

You're welcome. I would say "tell your friends" but you're doing that. So, thanks to you also. - Walt Crawford

I tell everyone I can. I'm hoping to make this into a program at my library (potentially even making the library into a publisher). - John: Thread Killer

I must admit: You're one of those I would think wouldn't really learn anything from the book that you didn't already know, so I really do appreciate the compliment. - Walt Crawford

Louise "Weezy" Alcorn to Louise's feed, LSW

Please, librarian friends? Send me some really GREAT *Library* (esp. public) websites, with a few words on WHY you think they're fab. I'm looking for inspiration. Thanks!

February 27 - Comment - Like - Share

Betsy #TeamMonique, Amandadon't and Laura Norvig liked this

I love Multnomah County's site. It's clean and pretty and I find it very easy to use. Extra props for their multi-search, which works better than most I've seen. https://multcolib.org/ - kaijsa

12 more comments

Oakland PL used to have the WORST website, but they've recently re-vamped and I think it's an impressive upgrade: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/ I'm not sure if I just find it amazing in comparison to how awful it used to be... - Laura Krier

http://www.aadl.org/ it's a little busy I'll admit, but the functionality and content is pretty fantastic. They do almost all of their own in-housing coding as far as I remember (the catalog is one of my favorites). They're pretty heavy on community interaction which is something I think they do well -- esp. when they break out their Summer Game. Innovative in the sense that you can interact online with the library almost as much as you can in person. - MontglaneChess

The plight of the non-patron: I note one thing on all three websites, remarkably--or, rather, I don't note it: Any indication of *what state* the library is in. (Or an address, but since all three are library systems, maybe that's more forgivable.) I always thought that lack was amateur-hour; I guess I'm wrong. - Walt Crawford

I don't have any particular favorites, but things I generally want to see on the home page are the catalog and when the library is open. - laura x

I'm pretty happy with my local PL - http://library.nashville.org/ It's generally fairly easy for me to find the info I'm looking for, and I like that the downloads are front and center. - ~Courtney F

We're in the process of re-doing our website and we use the Salt Lake City Public Library http://www.slcpl.lib.ut.us/ and the Princeton Public Library http://www.princetonlibrary.org/ for inspiration. Both are clean, mostly black and white, with small highlights of color. They're both busy in their own different ways, but I feel like they convey information pretty clearly. - John: Thread Killer

Yay Nashville--the footer locates it in Tennessee. - Walt Crawford

Walt, I see that Salt Lake does not give an address (it's a system, so...) nor state, but that Princeton does have its address in the footer. Which is good, since our current director came from Princeton, IL, not NJ. - John: Thread Killer

Even a system should include the damn state. It's evident in SLCPL's URL, to be sure. So yay for Princeton as well. (Yes, Livermore PL--which has two rarely-open branches--does include the state on what's an OK website; there are a bunch of other Livermores.) http://www.cityoflivermore.net/citygov... - Walt Crawford

Sorry for the strong language in the preceding comment. We watched Star Trek 4 (The Voyage Home) last night, and I picked it up from Spock. Who picked it up from Kirk. - Walt Crawford

I generally prefer to see the hours of operation on the main page of a lib website as well. I've just gotten so used to having to poke around in About Us sections over the years that I barely register the total fail of most libraries that never do that. My current hero is the recently redone website for the Ada Public Library (whose old webpage actually had no hours listed *anywhere* that I could tell). http://www.adalibrary.org/ Both hours AND a state listed! - MontglaneChess

Although the Ada home page doesn't actually *show* the hours--it has a nice bold link to them. (The hours shown on the home page are for computer classes.) - Walt Crawford

sorry, iPad post failure. thanks, everybody, for the suggestions! - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

LSW: John: Thread Killer

Anyone have a recommendation on where to get inexpensive earbuds? These would be for us to sell for use at computers, with playaways, etc.

February 28 - Comment - Like - Share

no, but I'd also like to know the answer. :-) - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

This is what I've found so far...but I don't know ANYTHING about these retailers... http://www.buyextras.com/cheapea... and http://www.encoredataproducts.com/ear-bud... and http://www.outletpc.com/c7148... - John: Thread Killer

LSW: Walt Crawford

LSWers: Am I mistaken in my impression that this group does a pretty good job of being civil while openly debating issues, without requiring a moderator? And that when one of us goes a little overboard (raises hand!), we're pretty good at restoring order without slandering one another?

February 26 - Comment - Like - Share

John Jackson, John: Thread Killer, Sarah and 13 other people liked this

I only ask because LSW seems to have been brought up as one of those mean-spirited groups where only the brave go and where character assassination is par for the course. - Walt Crawford

70 more comments

That's my impression as well. Things do get out of hand occasionally, but in general we self-moderate pretty well. That said, I can think of a couple of people who would have experienced us as pretty hostile... - lris

I think our culture here is also a little more tolerant of snark than some people would find comfortable. - lris

^^^^^^^^^ that, yes. As a group, we're not Minnesota nice, or librarian nice, or sometimes nice at all. We also, as a group, hold some opinions that aren't exactly mainstream in librarianship. - RepoRat

I think for the most part we're pretty civil, every once in a while it does get out of hand and things seem to get a bit personal. but this is my go to spot for asking questions because I know that folks will be honest with me and there's such a wide variety of libraries and people represented here - Sir Shuping is just sir

I will say for us that what blows up here stays here. I have yet to hear of ANY argument here (and we've had some lulus) that's moved off FF -- no legal threats, no "those Bad People OMG" blog posts, no contacting of anybody's boss, none of that stuff. I'm gunshy enough that this is honestly a major reason I stay here! I trust people to let me be an ass without ruining my career over it. - RepoRat

we don't behave like we're in high school - jambina

We have a lot of inside jokes, which I think can be difficult for people who are new to the community but overall I think we do a pretty good job of self policing - Hedgehog

i think some really sensitive people left so this might have been their opinion. as for me, i find it warm and welcoming... but i'm not very sensitive at all... i'm not sure how much debate we actually have because i think we mostly agree on the hot button issues. - Christina Pikas

Not only are you good at civil fucking discourse (http://sennoma.net/?p=419), you include "outsiders" like me without hesitation when we stumble into your threads via someone we follow! - Bill Hooker

I think the problem that a lot of people have with LSW is that maybe we're not as respectful of status or position as they might like. And that we tend to get more pissed off when people tell us to be nice. - John Dupuis

Great responses. Thanks. - Walt Crawford

And, it must be said, questions are answered and help offered. - Pete #TeamMonique

I have referred to LSW as my key professional network, and will probably do so in the future. And as I place where I can ask possibly-stupid questions and get worthwhile (or at least interesting) answers. Those places are rare. (Also, I don't feel as antique here as I might at some other places...) - Walt Crawford

I haven't seen anything blow up in a while. I think we have lost some people in the past due to conflicts. I do think that we do our best to self-regulate. Also, I hope we never lose our sense of fun here. We aren't just about libraries, we are about building relationships and not taking ourselves too seriously. Putting the social in professional networking, as it were. - maʀtha

Actually, I'll put it another way: Without LSW, I would probably have shut down Cites & Insights and stopped writing and speaking by now. But don't get any ideas... - Walt Crawford

There's a lot less grandstanding here- not *none*, but far less than in other spaces. Some days I want to stab library twitter in the face with a spork - Pete #TeamMonique

oooh, we haven't had any spork action in a while... - maʀtha

Perhaps some folks beyond the usual suspects would like to comment? I'm interested in your thoughts on this, lurkers :) - maʀtha

As a relative newcomer to this space, I find that I can ask real questions here and get real answers. I agree that the snark factor could put some people off for sure, and I agree that the relatively minimal regard for heirarchy and status might throw others off. But for me participating has been helpful, supportive, entertaining. - LibrarianOnTheLoose

I have to admit, when I first read that I had to look twice to be sure it was being posted to LSW. I'm relatively new, and I like the snark and the honesty. - Rebecca Hedreen

I also encourage lurkers to chime in, especially if there are any who might have otherwise negative opinions about LSW. And, Walt, where did you see that negative opinion? Is it on the ALATT Fb page mentioned in a thread elsewhere, cause I checked that Fb page and it is *way* more of a hot mess than LSW. - John Dupuis

I think here it's more 'I work in a library' rather than 'I r srs librarian'-core-persona stuff - Pete #TeamMonique

I'm fairly new around here, but after just a limited amount of time I was comfortable with the idea of throwing out questions to the community! I got the sense right off the bat that this was a community where people were generally very supportive and nice, plus lots of great snark! The format here seems way less intimidating than list-servs for some reason, so I've been much more comfortable asking for help and everyone has really helped me grow as a professional in my first full-time job. Thank you! - MontglaneChess

John: ALA TT. A "moderator" seemed to be telling people that if they couldn't play nicely they should go somewhere like LSW. I may have misread it; this particular moderator gets on my nerves sometimes. - Walt Crawford

WE WILL NOT ACCEPT TT REFUGEES. there. i said it. ; ) - jambina

What's interesting to me is that some weeks ago, the code4lib mailing list had a moment of reflection of what is was as a community and suffered a bit of shock when an poll suggested that a lot of folks who belonged to the list, didn't feel part of the community. Maybe there's a natural life cycle that online discussion go through because it seems that ALA TT is going through something similar now - copystar

I think the whole libanana thing is crazy. How could those involved not know it would end in teeth knashing? Does that make them trolls? From this distance, its fascinating to watch - copystar

I don't even get what the libanana thing was except some people got these slicers sent to them. It was all weird to me. - ellbeecee

Also, I hope that new people will ask if they don't get the inside jokes, or anything else, for that matter. - maʀtha

Damn, there are days where I love being blonde and clueless. Which is pretty much every day when I'm not also trying to tempt people into the evils of erotica. Admittedly, some of my blindness is purposeful. As soon as I catch a whiff of intertubez DRAHmah, I do a 180 and run. If it's a group I have experience with and like, I'll make my way back after the dust settles. LSW is one such group and one that rarely causes me to stick my fingers in my ears and go "LAH-LAH-LAH-LAH" :) - Katie

Also, I'd totally prefer a flask over a banana slicer ;) - Katie

There is no way that this thread will not go thataway now that "banana slicer" has been invoked. - Catherine Pellegrino

Hence why I'd prefer a flask. The contents of which mellows out dealing with any trolls :D - Katie

banana slicer? - Pete #TeamMonique

I think we have a new tagline, folks! "LSW is one such group and one that rarely causes me to stick my fingers in my ears and go "LAH-LAH-LAH-LAH" Admins, please to make it so. - maʀtha

It must be one of those inside jokes, Pete. - maʀtha

I've been so grateful to have LSW as both an information hub and a personal outlet this past year as I make my way through grad school and enter the professional world. I don't always ask the strong debate questions, but I know the value of being able to ask them here. Y'all are my edge. - Lily

See, I'd assume that someone sending me a banana slicer had evil intent, since I'm (literally) deathly allergic to bananas. Fortunately, I'm neither a librarian nor a library rockstar, so... Also, I love the tagline. - Walt Crawford

Now I have a vision of Walt being held up by a banana at a conference breakfast: "Watch out, Walt, I'm armed." - maʀtha

I'm pretty new here, and I tend to be a loooong time lurker in new communities. It usually takes me a while to become a big poster or commenter. However, I felt remarkably comfortable quickly posting questions and participating here, so for me at least LSW has felt very welcoming. I think it's precisely because of the informality and lack of hierarchy. - Amandadon't

I agree with Iris - and point to elevated snark (with civility) as a reason I like LSW and why I trust the help given here. All online communities have a life-cycle, but I don't see LSW going down in flames, even when it cycles out. It is more likely to be a mutual decision or a move to something else en masse. I would participate more if my work permitted it, but I jump in when I can, and always feel welcome, even when disagreed with. So there. Also, SPORK. - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

I lurk on LSW and sometimes post, but I find it very welcoming and very useful. - Sarah

Also what is the ALA TT? I'm blanking... - Sarah

the people who send out banana slicers??? - maʀtha

A Facebook group, ALA Think Tank, not sure what the official ALA connection is. 2,700+ members. Approach with caution: http://www.facebook.com/groups... - Walt Crawford

Huh. - maʀtha

LSW has it's flareups just like anywhere else... we've had our share of *ragequits* in the past and I'm sure we'll have them again in the future. We're certainly not the original LSW cadre anymore (and that is both regrettable and a good thing if that juxtaposition makes any sense) - awd

Also, I blame LSW for getting me onto Twitter in the first place. There, I said it. Me having a scarily large platform is all your fault. - Katie

That and the fact that it's the perfect vehicle for when I let my ditzy motormouth side loose. - Katie

I like that it's a place where can speak what's on their mind, even if it doesn't jibe with the majority mindset (and that cursing is tolerated) - John: Thread Killer

I do miss some of the departed folks. I hope they might return someday. You know who you are. - maʀtha

I will never forget Katie's Reading List countdown on Twitter. - laura x

Also, if this ever stops being a place where we can take trivial things seriously and serious things trivially, I'm out. Srsly. - laura x

Well said. - maʀtha

Oscar Wilde is our patron saint. - laura x

Well said, both (all). And I wish he'd return also. (And others, if there have been others. I don't think The Great McK was ever here, although I suppose he'd be welcome too.) - Walt Crawford

I'm with laurax (and Wilde) re: trivial things. - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

(I keep trying to *like* this thread but it won't let me do it more than once, dammit.) - Betsy #TeamMonique

I don't know, LSW seems to take pride to be seen to be misfits or rebels or even not to be in the majority position, but I really wonder if this is true given many individuals here are quite high up in the food chain or at least influential. Unless we are rebels because we speak our minds.... I don't get the in-jokes because I am fairly new and perhaps some cultural differences but they don't bother me much. - aarontay

Would it be fair to say that ALA TT tilts more to public libraries and LSW to academic in terms of membership and topics? - Stephen le Francoeur

I never got that LSW took pride in being misfits: There are plenty of M&S here and not a few in higher-up positions or with fairly high profiles in other ways. What I do see in LSW is a healthy disdain for the idea that hierarchy=superiority, that people with high profiles are more worth listening to than others, or that M&S are truly The Chosen Ones. - Walt Crawford

*snort* chosen ones. I'm pretty sure we all, here, know that having a M&S award and/or a cool title and/or a fuckload of responsibility and/or a rockstar librarian profile mean precisely nothing. I've got all of those, and I'm both highly effective and a total fuckup, just like I'm very well-educated and thoughtful but also clueless and in need of a kick in the head. It just depends on the discussion, the day, and the audience. - Jenica

Both LSW and ALATT defy attempts at classification, Stephen... "As soon as we say LSW is [FOO]" it morphs into [BAR], in an almost endless cycle - awd

I mostly lurk, but haven't felt excluded or uncomfortable, and I personally haven't witnessed any blowups. I've been in and out of LSW for years, so maybe I missed something. In any case, I find it a valuable source of information that's often relevant to me, or at least amusing, so thanks to you all! - Grumpator

People are using bad words. Please unsubscribe me from this list. - lris

Done. You're unsubscribed from LSW-L@DRAMA.COM. - Walt Crawford

I was a little perturbed by LSW references in ALA TT threads; someone even said, "Leave the debate stuff to the LSW". Which is odd since both groups engage in serious and frivolous discussions as part of the norm. Quite frankly, I don't know why people would make a comparison since it's like comparing anonymous substance abuse support groups; the people who frequent them are looking for... more... - Andy

LSW is like an anonymous substance abuse program. :-D - lris

hookers and blow? (someone had to) - maʀtha

shovers & makers? I am neither a M&S or a S&M (heh), but I do like LSW. - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

I check in on LSW once a week, but I never post or comment because I never have anything to add. Still, I find the discussions are civil, rational, and usually very interesting...I learn quite a bit sometimes. OTOH, I never looked at ALA TT until just now. Weird vibes and definitely not somewhere I'll be visiting again. - Wilk

LSW: John: Thread Killer

Not sure if I'm just being cranky when someone sends me a link to a page and asks, "Can you download all these apps to the iPads?" (~30-40 apps) or if I have a point in wanting something more formal?

February 26 - Comment - Like - Share

And when they get indignant when I tell them, "I'm not going to drop everything and load 50 apps onto the iPads" I don't know how to respond. - John: Thread Killer

ellbeecee to ellbeecee's feed, LSW

Anne Of Green Gables Is A Sexy Blonde On The Cover Of A New Paperback Book Set - http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievh...

February 6 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Stephen Mack #TeamMomo liked this

Have we discussed the WRONGness of this yet? - ellbeecee from Bookmarklet

26 more comments

Oh, what the crap. - Jennifer Dittrich

whut? - Mary Carmen

What about the carrot-tops? - Heleninstitches

No, no, no, NO NONO NONONONONONO!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Headless Gnad Kicker

Oh thank goodness. I knew there'd be kindred spirits here. - ellbeecee

so rather than the title character, they picked a different character from the book for the cover? did someone else need more exposure? - Christa

sadness - John: Thread Killer

Maybe that's Josie Pye? - Mary Carmen

Maybe it's meant to be Rachel Lynde. - Headless Gnad Kicker

Ruby Gillis was blonde, I think. - RepoRat

and the publisher is an on-demand self publishing company? wtf? https://www.createspace.com/ - Christa

Are they rewriting Anne of Green Gables as some kind of story not appropriate for early elementary? That cover is very teen/adult. - Hedgehog

but it's also part of Amazon, Christa? Yeah, it's strange. - ellbeecee

Well, she *does* get into the cordial #onlythingIrememberaboutAnneofGreenGables - Meg V. Meg

Christa/ellbeecee - I think Anne of Green Gables is public domain, so someone's put together an ebook version of their own (using Amazon's Createspace platform) to sell. With a completely WRONG cover image. - Deborah Fitchett

AUBURN - maʀtha

Hedgehog - I remember someone getting very adamant with me that there is an adult version because the version they were given from a children's department (not an abridged version, the actual book) couldn't possibly be right. The copy from the YA area couldn't be the right one, either. She insisted there was an adult version of the book. Now, I'm not saying there isn't some adult fanfic out there for it, but it was an interesting conversation. :) - Katy S

Christa: CreateSpace isn't a publisher, it's a service agency that will produce any legitimate book (which any PD book is). CreateSpace plays no role in the creative decisions. (Yes, it is a division of Amazon.) - Walt Crawford

There is so much wrong with that. Shirt, hair color, lack of freckles on her face, etc. - Running Slow

As I noted on another thread: Very clever "author": Packaging several public domain texts, adding a sure-to-be-controversial cover, using CreateSpace (=no upfront costs): Controversy equals probably a big handful of sales. For finding or creating one cover. Cha-ching! - Walt Crawford

Yeah. She was totally blonde. And wore plaid shirts. And a 21st century hairstyle. Gah. This, of course, is part of why authors like to retain copyright. It's not all about money. (Not defending here, just noting.) - laura x from BuddyFeed

hmmm. i'm not sure LMM would have cared though. I mean, yes, she would think the cover was stupid. (I imagine her wanting to know wtf Ruby Gillis was doing on the cover of her books, wearing THAT of all things.) But the woman wrote for product contests, when she was starting out, and she had an incredibly hard life. I think she might be pleased as punch that people are still reading... more... - Marianne

Katy, I wonder if the person in question had come across one of the later volumes when Anne is an adult, and not realized it? - Marianne

Marianne - I think she saw the movie version on PBS and had no idea that it was actually based on a children's book. I suspect that she didn't think she was the type of adult who would like a children's novel. - Katy S

Remember Megan Follows in that episode of "Made in Canada"? http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Betsy #TeamMonique

blonde Anne with an E is wrong. - maʀtha

They were talking about this on my local radio station this afternoon! - Headless Gnad Kicker

maʀtha to maʀtha's feed, LSW

Toying with the idea of going to ALA this summer. I've never been.

January 22 - Comment - Like - Share

I did a quick search and don't see an ALA thread. Who is going or maybe going? - maʀtha

24 more comments

maybe. depends on whether SLIS needs another booth babe. - RepoRat

I will be there for a day trip; not sure which day. - Catherine Pellegrino

You could wear the jacket at the booth. - maʀtha

I'll be there, probably fri-mon - ellbeecee

I'll be there, probably fri-mon as well - RudĩϐЯaЯïan

I'll be there at least fri-mon, maybe longer. - Marianne

I will be there for Friday-Monday. - Hedgehog

I will be there. Am already booked in the Palmer. - kaijsa

I'll be there Fri-Tuesday - ~Courtney F

I'll be there, days dependent on when my family's free for a 48 hour trip to Rockford, and I can confirm that (no surprise) Griffey will be there as well, as he his my roommate. - Jenica

i just booked my hotel for chicago. plenty of ala-sponsored $200/night rooms left. other rooms out there if you're willing to explore. looking for a roommate (room rate is $165/night plus tax). - henry

I'll be there. - Caitlin

Me! Me! - Chelle Chelle Ro Ro

I'll be there since it's so close; I'll likely be staying with friends who live in Chicago - John: Thread Killer

I put in for it at work at got the initial approval, but we'll see how things go with the budget. - Katie

As noted, I will indeed be there. ALA Annual is a circus, loud and busy and if you're doing it right, fun. - Jason Griffey

Thursday to Wednesday... If you want a Circus... wait til 2014 -- ALA Las Vegas! - awd

I'm there Fri-Tues with possible early play days since its a short train ride away - Marge LW

Going! Rochelle is my roomie! - maʀtha

Missed my chance, eh? ;-) - DJF from Android

so, I finally will get to meat Martha? (plus others, of course, but mostly Martha ;) ) - ellbeecee

Yep! - maʀtha

DJF, you snooze, you lose - maʀtha

Since you'll be in Chicago, you should know that there are direct flights from there to here. - DJF

:) - maʀtha

Marie to Marie's feed, LSW

Gah, a URL shortener tricked me into clicking over to a Skitch post. KAAAAAHN

January 22 - Comment - Like - Share

John: Thread Killer and Scoble, Alex Scoble liked this

I hate when that happens. - RepoRat

Your post sounds like my avatar lol - John: Thread Killer

heh, sure does! - Marie

LSW: John: Thread Killer

I think I'm going crazy. We moved to a new ILS. I've got five of our six selfchecks working, the sixth won't communicate to the new ILS server. Our selfcheck support says there's a problem with the port. All six machines are using the same port; why would five of them work and one not?

November 29 - Comment - Like - Share

Could that port be closed on the one machine for some reason? I hate computers - John: Thread Killer

Which ILS, and which vendor for self-check? - Julian

LSW: John: Thread Killer

What's a good database to know what mythology books were available to someone in 1935? I've been searching through Google Books with a date range and not getting what I'm looking for.

November 27 - Comment - Like - Share

RudĩϐЯaЯïan liked this

It very well could be that what I'm looking for does not exist. This is for a writer who likes Pausanias' description of the Stymphalian birds (the sixth labor of Hercules) but does not think her protagonist would have read Pausanias. - John: Thread Killer

10 more comments

LC - maʀtha

British Library - maʀtha

Gale's LitFinder? Not sure of the dates it covers. - Marie

Well, the Loeb translation of Pausanias' Description of Greece came out in 1918 which would put it in the ballpark. - Heather

Worldcat.org? - Rebecca Hedreen

Not sure this will help, but this post outlines how to extract books from OpenLibrary / Internet Archive and break those books down by LC and gender: http://sappingattention.blogspot.ca/2012... - copystar

Better link: http://bookworm.culturomics.org/ Haven't tried this yet - copystar

I don't know but one obvious such mythology book would be Bulfinch. - Deborah Fitchett

worldcat, with a date limit of pre-1935 publications? - RudĩϐЯaЯïan

also, NUC baby!!. - RudĩϐЯaЯïan

+1 Rudi!! National Union Catalog, pre 1956 imprints will get close. - $tephanie•Cog$ciLibrarian

LSW: Marie

If I ever keynote a conference my speaker contract is going to require a Georges St.pierre entrance to the podium.

November 17 from iPhone - Comment - Like - Share

Galadriel C., Steele Lawman, Kirsten and 5 other people liked this

I'm tempted to finagle it so that you keynote at NASIG next year just so I can see this. - Royce's favorite Anna

20 more comments

If this means you'll eventually go down into the audience to choke people into submission, I can get behind this idea. - Andy

^^^ ha! I need to make this happen. - Marie

I always wanted a full-on pro-wrestling Ric Flair style entrance. I just can't afford the feathered robes. http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Jason Griffey

That's some teased hair right there, Jason. - Andy

I've always liked the Stone Cold entrance. http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Andy

I like to think my entrance would be http://www.wwe.com/videos... but I'm sure it would be more http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Jason Griffey

I favour Kane's entrance myself, complete with the pyro at the podium before I start. Then, after my brilliance has laid waste to the assemble masses, I would depart to the Undertaker's funeral dirge. - John Dupuis

I wonder when Fake Library Statistics will start noting the number of Sekrit WWE Fans among librarians? (It's been years, but once upon a time...) - Walt Crawford

There are at least two at my library, and they're not sekrit about it. - Betsy #TeamMonique

I am a bit partial to John Cena: <http://www.youtube.com/watch...>. Or: <http://www.youtube.com/watch...>. - Julian

You gonna get Vaseline rubbed on your eyebrows? :) - John: Thread Killer

Now I just want to see a presentation done inside of an octagon. - Andy

I love Georges' entrances for a mix of class and showmanship. If you drop the "class" part, I also love Mayhem Miller's old Pride entrances: http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Steele Lawman

I am not secret in my love for the pro wrestling. Willing to bet I'm the only librarian with his face on an official WWE piece of merchandise, though. :-) - Jason Griffey

Don't be coy, Jason! - Steele Lawman

Oh, ok. I was the lead playtester and helped with some of the design of the WWE Collectible Card Game, called Raw Deal. They featured me on a card in 2005 as a joke: http://flic.kr/p/dv3MYQ I was the lead playtester on most of the sets that got released, was their World Championships judge for years, etc. BELIEVE IT....OR NOT. :-) - Jason Griffey

I'm impressed. So, with all these WWE folk around: What former WWE personage has done best as a non-wrestling actor (where you can define "best")? [As opposed to "what WWE personage has been in the most wonderful film," where Andre the Giant wins in a walk.] - Walt Crawford

You killed my answer already (Andre by a mile) but my vote goes to Rowdy Roddy Piper in They Live. Either that, or Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) on Saturday Night Live. - Jason Griffey

I would have said Rowdy Roddy Piper for exactly the same movie, but I think Dwayne J. has pretty much established himself as a solid actor who is no longer The Rock, in quite a few movies now. I guess for "wrestler as actor," Piper still takes the kilt. - Walt Crawford

RRP would get my vote too. - holly #ravingfangirl

Just getting back to that. Awesome, Jason. - Steele Lawman

LSW: John: Thread Killer

We started charging fines for children's material at the beginning of the year and every time someone comes in to complain that we "never told them" I waver between sympathy and frustration. It won't help this issue, but I was wondering what you have done to communicate to your public?

November 8 - Comment - Like - Share

Do you have the ability to customize your receipts? Can you add a message? A bookmark, or whatever, that goes in EVERY batch of YS materials that gets checked out, with a verbal prompt? - Chelle Chelle Ro Ro

7 more comments

We can, and we did, and we put up signs by every selfcheck, and all the circ staff told people about last Dec and the first few months of this year, we put it in our newsletter, we put it in the newspaper...every person who complains asks why we didn't call/email/mail them directly - John: Thread Killer

in this case, we could have worked with local schools to make announcements, too... - John: Thread Killer

Instead of those big beer panels, how about ones for changes like that? It might just be big enough for people to notice. - Running Slow

Oh, well, then. Pfffft. How about First fine is waived, and that serves as their notice? Also, I hate fines, but understand. - Chelle Chelle Ro Ro

I think you've given them adequate notice. The "we were never told" belies that fact that people simply ignore signs, notices, etc. that would have given them 'adequate notice'. - Andy

What Rochelle Rochelle says especially if, when you waive first fine, you can note it on your system. Love patrons but some will milk this "I didn't know" ad infinitum. - Marge LW

Yep, we've done all those things. We just continue to run into first time people and at this point I'm like really? It's been 11 months... We mark the patrons account when they have their fine waived so that they don't get anywhere after the first time, but I wonder how many of them just don't come back - John: Thread Killer

It's the first time they have been late in a year? Good for them! I'm late all the time :p - Hedgehog

John: Thread Killer

finally watching HUNGER GAMES...not sure it would make sense if I hadn't read the books...

October 30 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Philosopher had trouble understanding some of it watching movies only. I explained what had been left out, he opted not to read the books. - Hedgehog

My wife has opted to read the books and skip the movies :) - John: Thread Killer

LSW: DJF

Do you ever get a reference question where your first response is, "Good luck with that."?

October 9 - Comment - Like - Share

N. Ansi, Lily, Louise "Weezy" Alcorn and 14 other people liked this

Heh - maʀtha

42 more comments

When do I not? - Anne Graham

Totally. Last week it was, "I need primary sources for my senior comp on this aspect of European culture, in English, and preferably accessible in a location closer than Chicago." - Catherine Pellegrino

Exactly, Anne. - LB: #TeamMonique

"Alexander Pope claimed to be a Catholic, but I would like to find contemporary evidence that he wasn't." - DJF

Yeah, my boss mentioned the other day that she once had a student looking for primary sources on King Solomon. - Jason P

Jason, I'm pretty sure this counts: http://www.imdb.com/title... - LB: #TeamMonique

Sure, but where were you when that poor undergrad needed you? - Jason P

Probably answering the question about Duane Allman's ghost. - LB: #TeamMonique

Ha. Yes. My most memorable one was the student who wanted peer reviewed scholarly studies of the gender dynamics of pro wrestling, and had to have only things that were available NOW. I agreed that it was an awesome research topic, but that given the resources available to us at the time, I would do the best I could... - Jenica

Yes. - ellbeecee

Oh yes! A professor sent a student over to find something obscure. We didn't find it, but we did find a dissertation that stated that the author had looked in vain and ended up using this other thing instead. The student was OK with that! - Rebecca Hedreen

Yup. Often students hoping for extensive trials on something that is going to be nearly impossible to measure. - Hedgehog

Had one last week. A Cochrane review even confirmed that insufficient research had been conducted on x, but the student kept saying that he wanted to find it anyway. Good luck with that. - maʀtha

Student wants recent peer reviewed articles on economic and social aspects of cybercrime/internet crime that has been cited A LOT. According to this student, 10-14 citations is not a lot for something published 3 years ago. - Joe Boone

gosh, this almost makes me miss working reference - John: Thread Killer

The best thing about vref is that I can laugh when I see the question ;) - DJF

This thread is awesome. Related, I think, are the questions where my first response is "Well, absolutely all of your assumptions are wrong". - Amandadon't

Yeah, all the time. Mostly it's something like, "Yeah, really, no one have ever done this before. It would make a great PhD thesis." A favourite from a few years ago was a 1st year engineering assignment to design an arcology megastructure. You could piece something together with a bit of lateral thinking, but it was challenging. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - John Dupuis

Oh yeah, a high school student on the acoustics of tap dancing and the "perfect tap" or something like that. - John Dupuis

Do you have an English translation of German patent law? - Chris Z.

Oh, yes, the "all of your assumptions are wrong" ones are great. I had another senior comp student who was trying to find evidence to show that older Americans aren't politically engaged. I kept saying, "um, you do know that they vote more than any other demographic, right?" - Catherine Pellegrino

Really, faculty need to help us out with this. Students need to understand that just because they come up with a great research question, it doesn't mean that evidence exists to support their position. Or, maybe they have to pull bits of evidence from lots of different sources, that no one perfect source exists that exactly matches their thesis (see lateral thinking above). - maʀtha

The question I referenced above was about methadone replacement therapy. It is so standard and accepted that it seems like there should be more research comparing it with counseling alone. Instead, there are tons of studies about the effectiveness of using counseling in addition to methadone replacement therapy. There are studies comparing methadone replacement with other opioid replacement therapies or drug therapies. - maʀtha

...and that even if they did find that one perfect source that exactly matches their thesis, well then: their paper has already been written. By someone else. #oops Faculty could also help us out by actually attempting to complete their own assignments. I think many of them (in one particular department I can think of) would discover the impossibility of the restrictions they place on the students right quick. - Catherine Pellegrino

Also, here in the Twin Cities, students are understandably very interested in studies of Somali or Hmong populations. So much work needs to be done. I'm always telling students, "You could be the person to conduct this study and publish it" and they look at me like I am a crazy person. - maʀtha

Yes, so true. - maʀtha

One does have to admire the optimism of the undergraduates who think that absolutely everything has been figured out and published, though. - DJF

(btw, asking him to consider adjusting his approach after reading this carefully http://dx.doi.org/10...) - maʀtha

What martha said re: the "perfect source". This has to be the thing that I get the most at the desk, the assumption that they will find the one article that already has all of the things in it. Trying to describe the analysis/synthesis process at the ref desk makes me weep for actual writing instructors. - Jason Griffey

My favorite are the students who have great research questions, but can't seem to understand that no one has done it yet. Why, yes, I think researching parking trends on campus is a great idea. Unfortunately, we have no records. You'll need to go to the parking office. Please deposit a copy of your paper with us when you're done. - Anne Graham

Yes, the perfect source! One professor here had what I thought was a great assignment: students were given a list of 10 or so questions that could only be answered by an analysis of primary sources in their field. They were told that some questions had been answered already in the scholarly literature but that some have no answers yet, & their job as students was to figure out which... more... - Amandadon't

Amanda, that IS a fabulous assignment. And I am totally stealing it to add it to my collection of "research assignments that are not a Research Paper." - Catherine Pellegrino

I like it. I often tell students that, depending on the assignment, a thesis that says more research needs to be done on x is totally legitimate, especially if they are allowed to do a lit review. - maʀtha

I will say that some students totally *hated* it: Not everything is on the Internet? There is no perfect source? Why am I struggling with this when the professor already knows the answers? But IMHO it was one of those assignments that inspired angst in a good way, because it stretched the brain. - Amandadon't

I had a gentleman who wanted to find an estimated value for his antique smoking pipe (his claim, not mine, and having seen the pipe, not likely antique). He didn't want to go to an antique expert because they are 'liars and thieves who would just tell me a low price so they could buy it from me cheap'. As you can imagine, there is a severe lack of online resources for this question and in ruling out experts that left us with nothing. - Andy

Amandadon't, because the profs don't know the answers to the OTHER questions they assign? - DJF

Ha! Now why didn't I think of that pithy response? - Amandadon't

"Yes, the perfect paper about violence on television and the effects on adult children of divorced parents in rural areas exists. It was written 27 years ago." - Joe Boone

Andy, I've gotten that identical antiques question, with the same limitation. Though not a pipe. I think it was some random china figurine. Oy. - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

Hmm--well, this "antique" is going on ebay for....$3 d - Hedgehog

Andy, when I worked in a public library I got questions like that all the time with the same reason for not going to an antiques appraiser. Or art appraiser. And let me tell you, a lot of people think their random original artwork by someone you've never heard of is supervaluable and can't understand why the artist is not listed in the few reference books we had on the topic. - LibrarianOnTheLoose

Oh, yeah, that one drove me crazy. Artists not listed in any reference. The Google machine helps a bit, but then I rarely have authoritative info, and no pricing info (unless they're Thomas Kinkade, and don't even get me started...) - Louise "Weezy" Alcorn

Yes! One was at a public library when asked for an "authentic manual on how to levitate" and the other was at MFPOW when asked how long after it rained would it be dry enough for a tennis match to resume on a grass court. For the second, I found a reference manual that included a formula for calculating water evaporation from soil and did indeed say "good luck with that." - Galadriel C.

John: Thread Killer › Comments