Meredith

That sucks. :( Our credit union put a hold on our checking account because of a transaction at the Apple store. Totally embarrassing when I didn't know that had happened and I went to the bookstore and got my debit card rejected when I tried to buy a $10 book. - Rochelle

I think I will be finding a new credit card company. This is not the first time they've done this. My poor husband was at the supermarket and had the card declined! - Meredith

This happened to me when I was out of the country, after I called the bank to tell them I would be having international charges. - Dragon Goldmaple

:(( - JA Castillo

sucks - VAL D.

I received a 'phone call from my credit card company after spending around £400 in the online Apple store to check it was a genuine purchase. I'd spent over £900 at Amazon the previous week and didn't hear a peep from them! - Timothy Griffin

Apple is a known target of credit card scammers? - DJF

Internet Fraudsters like to use Apple's online service to buy gift cards. They'll repeat it in chuncks of 300-500 untill the card is dead. #SeenItBefore #WorksForABank - Christian (Simply X)

I'm glad they're checking for fraud. My problem is with the fact that they never bothered to try calling before shutting off the account. - Meredith

Agree--it would be much better if they'd call. - Abigail

Sense, sensibility, and what Laura sez. Don't be intimidated by any of those names. - Walt Crawford

Guess I'm just feeling out of practice and out of the loop, so not sure I'm a great choice as a futurist at this point. - Meredith

I don't know any of those people, so they can't be that important ;) Everyone's version of the future is different. You're bound to have some creative and unique ideas. - Kenton

Well thanks folks. :) - Meredith

You'll bring what you always bring, Meredith: intelligence, enthusiasm, & a strong sense of balance. - josh neff, Fun Dip of FF

Are you frickin' KIDDING me? I know what you bring to the table: a reality check that won't bounce. All those people know is the view from 20,000 feet. You live in the real world of constrained budgets, unwary students and colleagues and faculty, and limited influence. Trust me. That panel needs you more than anyone else on it. - D0r0th34

You probably have the best sense of what kind of service college students need now and in the future, since you talk with them everyday. - Joe....

As far as I can tell, what everybody else said plus OMG cute baby! - Elaine Nelson

I guess that's true. I hadn't thought of the fact that I'm the only one on that list who is a front-line public services librarian right now. - Meredith

what Dorothea said - oh, a LIBARIAN WORKING IN A LIBRARY! kookytalk that. - jambina

Yeah, I'm going to echo a couple of comments here. I love hearing from front-line librarians alongside people like these. Joe was my adviser in library school, and I know he works a shift at the reference desk, but being a professor is very different than being immersed in the practice of librarianship. Same goes for those others. - Kaijsa Calkins

agree (1000) with Dorothea. You're actually doing this stuff! Plus, you can point out all the other librarians who are working hard to keep it relative in this day and age--not just offering theories. - Abigail

Ooh, I like what Dorothea said - a reality check that won't bounce. Meredith, I think you are an intelligent, articulate, and yet down-to-earth and approachable librarian. I think you'll be great at this, and I for one am interested in your view of the future of libraries. :) - Laura H.

To put things in perspective I suspect I'm not the only one who is intimidated by a superstar librarian like yourself. :) - aarontay

Thanks everyone! I'm feeling a lot less anxious now. :) Probably the hardest thing for me is playing the role of a futurist -- I am much more of a now-ist and I'm just not thinking in terms of 2020 or even 2012. I'm sure I'll come up with something. :) - Meredith

Definitely what Dorothea said! Talk about what the future looks like on the ground. So important in panels like this! - Sarah

Coming back a bit late: Some of us would say the future evolves out of a considered present--and since you think about what's happening and are actually grounded in that present, you're likely to be a breath of fresh air on the panel. (Sounds like an awfully big panel, though...five plus "several"?) - Walt Crawford

they may have overstuffed the panel expecting a drop or two - D0r0th34

We track stats by shift rather than time, so there's no data to support what I know to be true. - Meredith

Gotcha. Why don't y'all track by time for a month? It could be useful and help - Sir Shuping

We did last year and our head of reference didn't really understand how to use the data to do anything useful with it. She thinks the times we offer coverage are good as is. I pick my battles. ;-) - Meredith